Turoth - Access and Combat Recommendations

Access Directions

For the primary location, use a ring of slaying to get quickly to the cave; if you can't make them yet, access the fairy rings and dial in code "A J R"; the cave entrance is just to the east.

Walk west past the cave crawlers; if you have level 81 Agility, use the spiked blade jump shortcut to take you to the pyrefiend room, then walk west to the basilisks room, and use the crevice shortcut to the turoths.

If you have level 62 Agility (or can get to that with a potion or pie), then walk around through the rockslugs and cockatrices and take the crevice shortcut to the turoths.

If you can't get to level 62 Agility, you must walk all the way through the dungeon, past the cave crawlers, rockslugs, cockatrices, pyrefiends, basilisks and jellies to the turoths. This takes a while, so a super energy potion is useful.

You can also fight these monsters in the Desert Slayer Dungeon in Pollnivneach. To access them there you must complete the Smoking Kills quest and wear masked earmuffs or a Slayer helmet.

Get to Pollnivneach using a slayer ring or whatever other method you prefer. Run south from Sumona and go down the well, then run north to the Mighty Banshee area. Run west and pass through the magic barrier there, then go down the stairs and south through another barrier. The first time you visit you will have to kill the Mightiest Turoth, a boss-level turoth monster. You need the same gear to fight this monster as other turoths but it is much tougher, and it summons swarming turoths to attack you. Once dead, you can access the turoths in this spot easily.

To get to the turoth room in the Chaos Tunnels, use the rope northwest of Edgeville, where the gargoyles are. Take the northwest portal and run west past the mummies, then take the northwest portal to the monks of Zamorak. Run northeast and take the portal to the dust devils, then the portal just NW of there to the black demons, and run west past them. Take the portal there to the room with the earth warriors and bronze dragons.

Go north and take the portal in the northeast corner to the turoths.

Equipment

The various types of turoth constitute one of two special Slayer monster types that must be killed using special equipment; the other is the Kurask.

For meleeing, you must use a leaf-bladed spear or leaf-bladed sword. The spear can be purchased from any Slayer master, while the sword is a rare drop from turoths and kurasks, or can be bought from players. The sword is far superior to the spear, being both faster and more accurate -- it increases kill speed by 25% or more. And of course, you can use it with a shield or defender.

Rangers must use either broad arrows with a standard bow, or broad-tipped bolts with a crossbow. You can buy the arrows at a Slayer master, but the bolts can only be either made using the Fletching skill or bought from players. You must buy the ability to make broad-tipped bolts from a Slayer master by trading in 300 Slayer points. They increase kill speed by a decent amount compared to the arrows (around 15%).

Mages must use the Magic Dart spell with a Slayer staff; the staff can be purchased from any Slayer master.

Very high-level meleers can get by with rune/granite/dragon armor; those below combat level 110 or so may be better off with Barrows armor.

Safe spots are a bit of a hassle in the primary location, though you can find some in the Chaos Tunnels and plenty in the Desert Slayer Dungeon. Ranging or maging in either Slayer dungeon is only recommended if you are high enough level to "tank".

Supplies

Super sets are advised for meleeing, and you'll also need food for healing. If you plan to stay for a long time, then a single inventory of food may not be sufficient. You'll need to supplement with a healing familiar, Saradomin brews, Bones to Peaches runes/tablets, a beast of burden familiar carrying extra food, and so forth.

Note that I used pineapple pizzas in my drop logs, but that's because they were cheap in 2008. You can and should use more economical food now.

Bring fire runes for alching; the turoths reliably drop nature runes (though bringing some isn't a bad idea anyway, if you have the inventory space.)

Familiar

While a beast of burden would be useful here -- because of the many unnoted drops they provide -- I still prefer a macaw. It provides a significant boost in the percentage of good quality herbs you receive.

Combat Notes

You can fight just one type of turoth, but as they are all pretty much the same anyway in terms of stats and drops, it's more convenient and faster to just fight all the different types at once, simply attacking whatever is closest.

Each of the three locations has a different assortment of turoths. In the Fremennik Slayer Dungeon, you'll find mostly the level 83 and 85 turoths, with a couple of 87s and one 89. The Desert Slayer Dungeon has two sprawling rooms. One has a mix of levels 83, 85, 87, 88 and 89; the other is mostly the higher level ones (and thus preferred if you want to maximize XP on an assignment.) Finally, the Chaos Tunnels contain just a small number of 83s, 87s, 88s and an 89.

Which spot to choose? If you can make rings of slaying and a Slayer helmet, you're likely better off fighting these in the Desert Slayer Dungeon than anywhere else. They are easy to access there, and since the area is multicombat, you can use a combat familiar. Otherwise, use the conventional Slayer Dungeon location unless you want to use a combat familiar, in which case the Chaos Tunnels are a better bet.

Meleeing these monsters is quite straightforward; just whack them until dead. As mentioned above, the leaf-bladed sword is far better than the spear, if you are able to buy one or are lucky enough to get one as a drop.

Ranging and maging are slower than meleeing -- especially with the sword -- but are a good option for those who like to balance their combat stats while doing Slayer, because while ranging and maging may take longer than meleeing these, the difference in speed is lower than it is for many other monsters where you can use a better melee weapon. If you want to mage or range without tanking, try the Desert Slayer Dungeon -- it is easier to trap the larger turoths along the walls there.

Drop Notes

Often avoided by players because of the need to use special equipment, turoths have obtain an entirely undeserved reputation as having bad drops. In fact, they are good sources of many useful items: nature runes, herbs, herb seeds (only high level), alchable items like rune daggers and adamant full helms, and the occasional light mystic robe bottom. They also drop level 3 clue scrolls and are a decent source of charms (mostly green).