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Soulegleon’s Armored Zombies Guide

Table of Contents
I. Intro
II. Gear
III. Method
IV. Extras
V. Credits



I. Introduction


What are Armored Zombies?

Armored Zombies are a certain monster that is involved in the “Defender of Varrock” quest. In that quest they are killed and drop a “Red Mist” that you capture in a bottle to use to get past a door. An Armored Zombie is an undead creature which makes it so you can get the bonus from the Salve Amulet (e) (+20% Attack and Strength), these monsters are also very close to an Altar (just a few steps away and up a ladder) which allows you to use Piety (+20% Attack, +23% Strength, and +25% Defence).
Armored Zombies have decent drops, but the best part about their drops are that they are noted or are runes (both stackable and valuable), which allows you to take nearly everything they drop! Armored Zombies are also known as A-Z’s.


Why should I kill Armored Zombies?

Well for starts they are amazing exp (matching up with the experience gained via Pest Control), these monsters can give you nearly 90K exp in Attack, Strength, or Defence per hour. These monsters are not only great exp but they have decent drops (nearly all noted drops or runes) and they also drop charms, which are used in the Summoning skill. The only drawback to Armored Zombies is that you must have started and gotten to a certain point in “Defender of Varrock” and it helps immensely to have completed “Kings Ransom” and have unlocked the Piety Prayer.
Although almost all levels can access Armored Zombies I suggest that you have at least 80 Defence.


General Information



Combat Level: 85
Hitpoints: 85
Max Hit: 8
Race: Undead
Attacks: Melee and Range (two different types)
(The range one is significantly stronger, but there is near no way to tell the difference between them and the melee ones)

Drop Table (items that you will keep):
(Red do not have to be picked up but are suggested and Green are highly suggested)
Coins (51-392)

Blood Rune (3)
Death Rune (3)
Chaos Rune (12)
Nature Rune (3)
Cosmic Rune (6)

Mithril Arrow (4)
Adamant Kiteshield (Alchable)

Half Key
Shield Left Half
Champion Scroll

All Charms

Noted Drops:
Plank (9)
Oak Plank (5)
Teak Plank (2)
Pure Essence (3-15)
Eye of Newt (1-4)



II. Gear

Gear Table:
Helm: Void Knight Melee Helm
Amulet: Salve Amulet (e)>Salve Amulet
Body: Void Knight Top
Legs: Void Knight Bottom
Weapon: Abyssal Whip>Saradomin Sword>Godsword
Shield: Rune Defender>Dragonfire Shield> Adamant Defender>Toktz-ket-xil>Unholy Book>Book of Balance>Other
Boots: Dragon Boots>Rune Boots>Climbing Boots>Other
Gloves: Void Knight Gloves
Ring: Warrior Ring/Berserker Ring>Other OR Ring of Wealth
Cape: Fire Cape>Achievement Cape (t)>Achievement Cape>Obsidian Cape>Other Capes


Inventory Table:
Teleport: Games Necklace>1 Click Teleport>Other
Food: Pineapple Pizza>Monkfish>Other
Pots: Super Set>Zamorak Brew + Restore + Super Defence>Normal Set
Special Attack Weapon: Dragon Dagger (p++)/Saradomin Godsword>Other
Pouch: Bunyip>Unicorn Stallion


(For training Strength either use a Saradomin Sword or train on controlled with a Abyssal Whip (Highly suggested if your stats are relatively even and you plan on training them in the future)
For Camping at Armored Skeletons you will not be able to pick up any drops except for the charms, bring double the super sets and 2 more Bunyip Pouches and 1 Summonging Potion




III. Method

How to get there

The Cyan line indicates the path that you should take to get there (vie games necklace).
The Green line indicates the path to the bank using the games necklace.
The Red dot indicates the teleport spot for the games necklace.
The Blue dot indicates the altar and ladder.

Dungeon Map:

The Yellow NPC dots are the places where they spawn.
You should never have to pass the Red Line when killing Armored Zombies


Technique
Lair Picture:

Altar Picture:


Steps
1. Use Games necklace teleport to Clan Wars.
2. Run south west to get to the chaos altar ladder.
3. Equip Special Attack Weapon.
4. Pot up.
5. Renew Prayer Points if needed, activate Piety.
6. Walk down the ladder.
7. Attack and kill Armored Zombies (specials then primary weapon).
8. Head back to step 5 when you are out of prayer points.
9. Re-dose your pots and re-use your specials attacks when needed.
(Re-dose when you reach half the level that was boosted [e.g. you are boosted 19 levels, re-dose when you reach 9 levels above your stat level)

(Descriptive Steps)
Now that you are at the Chaos Altar (if not take a step back to “How to get there”) right behind the altar there is a ladder, climb down. You should be in a hall with 5 Armored Zombies, activate Piety, drink your potions, and use your special attacks then switch to your primary weapon. Continue to attack Armored Zombies till you reach 0 prayer, then go up, recharge your prayer at the altar right next to where you exit (you DO NOT have to run around the altar to recharge your prayer). Head back down and re-dose on your potions when needed (I suggest you re-dose when you reach HALF of the boosted level [e.g. if you are boosted 19 levels re-dose when you reach 9 above your normal stat]). When you need to bank rub your Games Necklace and go to Bounty Hunter or teleport out and head to a bank, after you do one of these teleport to Clan Wars with your Games Necklace and head back down to the Armored Zombies.

When attacking the Armored Zombies and you are down to about 50% HP summon your familiar and use a scroll or let it heal you. Use the food only for emergencies (when your health icon next to the mini-map starts to flash or you are below or at 8 hp [this should never happen though]). Use Auto retaliate, having a lighter inventory (don’t take extra unnecessary equipment) as you want to always be able to run to your next target (usually you shouldn’t have a problem with this).

Rewards Breakdown
These are a few of my tests that I have taken for suit to rewards:
Note: There will be a plus (+) at the end of the best one if you just want to see that (green is also just as significant as a (+) and red is not recommended).

The Gear:
Experience Table:
Bandos with gear – exp per hour (average) 85K
Full Void Knight with gear – exp per hour (average) 95K (+)
Proselyte with gear – exp per hour (average) 85K
(these can be increased by doing certain things, head to “Tips and Tricks” section to find these out)

Rewards Table:
They all seem to come up with near the same amount of rewards (drops are very random so it is very hard to get the amount that is exact) – average GP made per hour 145K

Trip Time Table:
Bandos with gear – Most profitable (experience and GP wise): 2-4 Hours (+)
Void with gear – Most profitable (experience and GP wise): 1.5-2.5 Hours
Proselyte with gear - Most profitable (experience and GP wise): 2-3 Hours
Note: Bandos still is not as good as Void even though you can stay longer.


The Inventory:
Pots Table:
Super Sets – Cost: 4.3k – Massive Experience bonus (+)
Zamorakian Set – Cost: 1.2K – Great Experience bonus
Normal Set – Cost: 1.6K – Decent Experience bonus

Food Table:
Pineapple Pizza – 1 HP Costs: 24 GP – Great Profit Increase – Less Inventory Space taken (+)
Monkfish – 1 HP Costs: 21 GP – Greater Profit Increase – More Inventory Space taken

Pouch Table:
Bunyip Pouch – 1 HP Costs: 10.6 GP – Greater Profit Increase – No Scrolls Used (+)
Unicorn Stallion – 1 HP Costs: 10.5 GP (plus pouch cost) – Less Profit – Scrolls used (takes more attention)

Teleport Table:
Games Necklace – Cost: 830 – Less Inventory Space used – Few seconds lost in banking (+)
Games Necklace + Teleport Crystal – Cost: 1.1K – More Inventory Space used – Few Seconds Faster Banking

(the “1 HP Costs: [=] GP” means that you spend that much GP on 1 HP [just divide the cost of the item by the amount it heals])





IV. Extras

Tips and Tricks
1. They will be aggressive for approximately 10 minutes.
2. Respawn time is approximately 3 seconds.
3. If you go up to pray at the altar and can’t find your most recently killed Armored Zombie, look on the piles that have red mist hovering over them.
4. When getting low on prayer points slowly make your way towards the ladder.
5. If you are going for max experience and don’t care about money re-dose on pots every 5 minutes (this will add an additional 2-5K to your EPH [Experience Per Hour]) (This means you should take 3 super sets 4 per hour) and don’t pick up any drops (this will add an additional 2-5K exp per hour). Also it helps if you have all your chats off except for Public Chat (so you can ask world crashers to switch).
6. The best spot to stand is near the Ranger when the monsters are aggressive (the Ranger is the 2nd north spawn spot.)
7. When they are aggressive do not click on them, let them choose who you attack (they are very random when attacking).
8. They are NOT immune to poison.
9. If you are taking more damage than your Bunyip can heal, activate the rapid heal prayer.
10. When you reach 10 summoning points you should dismiss your familiar (rick click on it for instant dismiss) and then summon your new one.
11. If you click on your potion right before your damage splat appears then you will drink the potion without a stall time.
12. The best way to get rid of a world crasher is to politely ask them to switch worlds and tell them most other worlds are open.
13. The Red Mist that is “dropped” by the Armored Zombies will last for approximately 30 seconds.
14. Recharge your prayer regardless of whether or not you have finished off your current target.
15. Armored Zombies are dominantly Gold Charm droppers (the rest of the charms are dropped evenly).
16. The Archer tends to wander more north, I suggest you stay to the south end of the cave because the archer is stronger than the melee zombies and they make it harder to move around to pick up drops (because they do not move with you).
17. I suggest you have the effect sound on (not the music) because then you can tell when your prayer runs out (makes a sound) and time when to drink pots or pick up drops (because you can hear your whip slashing).



V. Credits
Truthscape Forums

Very nice guide.

This is one of the (few) good uses for void melee: The ability to use a salve amulet AND piety overcomes it's nonexistant attack bonus.

You might find dharoks to be decent also, btw. 95k xp/hr though, with profit, is superb.

Ooooo well thats some nice graphics.
Really good stuff

Lord Klotski wrote:Very nice guide.

This is one of the (few) good uses for void melee: The ability to use a salve amulet AND piety overcomes it's nonexistant attack bonus.

You might find dharoks to be decent also, btw. 95k xp/hr though, with profit, is superb.

Seconded the nice guide part.
I never found much use for void melee, so I never got the 200 points for it. I do have full void range, which I hardly ever use anyway, but that's besides the point.

I may take use of this as I start to study for finals soon ... >:D

This is a very nice guide! I had wondered if the drops there would be worth it - now I know! Thanks!

I read a guide for these zombies on either Tip or Zybez. Your guide is much more detailed and looks great. Thanks for the info!

Terrific guide! I don't think I'll be doing these, because I'm maxed on melee. But if I weren't, I'd certainly prefer doing these over Ape Atoll. Profit ftw!

I'm a bit confused over this part of the guide:

Food Table:
Pineapple Pizza – 1 HP Cost: 24 GP – Great Profit Increase – Less Inventory Space taken (+)
Monkfish – 1 HP Cost: 21 GP – Greater Profit Increase – More Inventory Space taken

Pouch Table:
Bunyip Pouch – 1 HP Cost: 10.6 GP – Greater Profit Increase – No Scrolls Used (+)
Unicorn Stallion – 1 HP Cost: 10.5 GP (plus pouch cost) – Less Profit – Scrolls used (takes more attention)

What's the deal with the HP and GP you have listed for these?

One other minor correction is in item 9 of the Extras section, I believe it should say "activate the rapid heal prayer".

Hope you don't mind the constructive criticism. And thanks for the contribution!

Great guide! I remember when I was doing the quest, thinking these guys would be a decent moneymaker ...then I finished the quest and forgot all about them. Thanks for the reminder!

By the way, I believe that it is more efficient (solid profit-wise) to bank (store herbs, etc.) when they turn unaggressive and return. It's ridiculously close to clan wars that banking time is completely negligible if done efficiently.

Do they drop bones? If they do you might suggest using bones to peaches tablets in order to get some more length out of your drips (ie run out of food or something). It will stop you from taking food in with you. Then all you have to worry about is the cost of the runes.

dragon bro a wrote:Do they drop bones? If they do you might suggest using bones to peaches tablets in order to get some more length out of your drips (ie run out of food or something). It will stop you from taking food in with you. Then all you have to worry about is the cost of the runes.

They barely hit you anyways; they do not do a lot of damage with piety.

One fault I see with this guide is that a lot of XP is lost to KO hits on the zombies due to their low health.

(Say the zombie has 2 hp left. You hit a hit that would have hit a 38, but only deals 2 damage because of the low remaining hp. You just lost 144 xp (that's not counting the hitpoints xp you lose)

Doomedrusher wrote:

dragon bro a wrote:Do they drop bones? If they do you might suggest using bones to peaches tablets in order to get some more length out of your drips (ie run out of food or something). It will stop you from taking food in with you. Then all you have to worry about is the cost of the runes.

They barely hit you anyways; they do not do a lot of damage with piety.

One fault I see with this guide is that a lot of XP is lost to KO hits on the zombies due to their low health.

(Say the zombie has 2 hp left. You hit a hit that would have hit a 38, but only deals 2 damage because of the low remaining hp. You just lost 144 xp (that's not counting the hitpoints xp you lose)

Wow, way too efficient for me...lol. Great observation, though...I had never looked at training that way before. NTE all the way!

Heard this was good but never tried, very well written!
Kudos and thanks!

Doomedrusher:

With a whip, we are talking about losing about 13% of the "maximum possible" XP (based off max melee stats and a guess at max hit). Even if they had 110 HP (Highest level shade with piety) it would be 10%....not exactly a huge difference. You'll always lose XP from KO hits.

very nice guide! Hadn't thought of these guys as a training monster...

Thank you guys for all the posts.
To those who gave constructive criticism: Thanks a ton!

Never though this guide would get so many posts



Also I will try to add in all the things you guys have suggested

Lord Klotski wrote:Doomedrusher:

With a whip, we are talking about losing about 13% of the "maximum possible" XP (based off max melee stats and a guess at max hit). Even if they had 110 HP (Highest level shade with piety) it would be 10%....not exactly a huge difference. You'll always lose XP from KO hits.

Monkey guards technically have ∞ HP; so 0% loss if your accuracy is sufficiently large.

Doomedrusher wrote:

Lord Klotski wrote:Doomedrusher:

With a whip, we are talking about losing about 13% of the "maximum possible" XP (based off max melee stats and a guess at max hit). Even if they had 110 HP (Highest level shade with piety) it would be 10%....not exactly a huge difference. You'll always lose XP from KO hits.

Monkey guards technically have ∞ HP; so 0% loss if your accuracy is sufficiently large.

Yeah, but no salve (20% loss?) lol.

Okay ...my 2cents...all you efficiency dudes need to relax ...stop crunching numbers and enjoy RS for what it is ...a game ...give your brains a break before your heads explode!

Mak 1027 wrote:Okay ...my 2cents...all you efficiency dudes need to relax ...stop crunching numbers and enjoy RS for what it is ...a game ...give your brains a break before your heads explode!

Haha I love to enjoy RS but sometimes its nice to save a few hours on training (by doing it efficiently) so you can spend more time doing PVP things ...


@Doomedrusher: 1st post: I found that I was able to bank all valuable herbs withing an hour (I pick up Kuarms and Ranarrs) so I had no problem with inventory space (with banking every hour or hour and a half).
2nd post: You have a point but you are still missing out on the 20% Attack and Strength bonus that Salve Amulet (e) gives (Monkey Guards aren't exactly undead :\)