Dagannoth - Access and Combat Recommendations

Access Directions

Access to Waterbirth is easiest if you are on Lunar Magicks -- just teleport directly. You can also now use the highest-level Fremennik sea boots if you complete that area's achievement diary. Otherwise, take Jarvald's boat from the docks in Rellekka.

To get to Rellekka you can use the enchanted lyre, teleport home and exit your portal if your house is in Rellekka, take the fairy ring to Miscellania (code "C I P") and sail to Rellekka, or run up from Seers' Village.

Once on Waterbirth Island, go west to the large number of snape grass spawns and then south to the dungeon. The level 90 dagannoths are right near the entrance.

I sometimes prefer to bank in Jatizso before going to the dungeon. It is quick to get from the bank there to Rellekka, and I don't have to waste any inventory space on items or teleport runes.

Equipment

These monsters may be only level 90 but should not be underestimated -- they hit frequently and hard.

Mid-level players should use prayer gear when fighting dagannoths. Even in a single combat area, they can hit for a lot of damage, overwhelming your ability to keep up using food, and necessitating frequent banking.

Higher-level players have several alternatives. The safest and simplest is to use prayer gear, but this does cost you more money because of the need for prayer potions. If you do use prayer, remember your holy wrench. Also, if you've completed the Ardougne Achievement Diary, use the Ardougne cloak 3, as it provides a +6 prayer bonus; if you've finished Nomad's Requiem the Soul Wars cape is even better (+12 prayer!)

If you don't want to use prayer, you can try using a combination of a healing familiar and Guthans. Just be sure to bring lots of decent food so you don't waste too much time using the slow warspear.

Another option is Dharoks, which is quite effective here. Again, you can do this with or without prayer, but Dharoking these monsters without prayer is quite dangerous, so you need to pay attention. Dharoking with prayer is very effective when combined with a cannon, but you must use prayer in that case, and it gets expensive rather quickly.

Those who have completed the quest Blood Runs Deep have the option of using the "legendary" battleaxe Balmung, which is intended specifically for fighting dagannoths. It does hit hard, but it is very slow, so there is little net benefit over using a whip and defender combination. It is less effective than Dharoks. That said, it has the advantage of being much safer to use. Also, if you are on a Slayer assignment you can use Balmung with your slayer helmet and prayer boosting gear to tear through the dags.

Extremely high level players looking for the "ultimate" meleeing experience can try Dharoking without protection prayers, using extreme sets (level 90 Herblore required) and the Turmoil ancient curse (level 95 Prayer). This lets you get over 200 kills per hour without a cannon, but again you must pay attention, and you still use quite a few prayer potions.

Supplies

If fighting without prayer, bring good food and two super sets; a healing familiar may be useful if you have a high enough Summoning level (though you might prefer a beast of burden.)

For prayer-based combat, bring five or six 4-dose prayer potions (depending on your Prayer level), and two or more Zamorak brews. You can also use super strengths if the boost from the Zammy brews isn't enough for you. If Dharoking with prayer, you need more prayer potions, as well as if you are using Piety or Turmoil to speed up kills. If Dharoking without prayer, strawberry baskets are an ideal food -- 345 LP in each slot, 69 LP healing increments, and dirt cheap.

Bring plenty of fire runes for alching (they drop natures). Alch the Fremennik helms (the generic ones, not the special ones), shields and blades; the cloaks and shirts aren't worth the bother.

Don't forget cannonballs if cannoning, and consider bringing a chisel to get free Crafting XP from gems and oyster pearls.

Familiar

A beast of burden is very useful for taking home some of the wide variety of drops you get from these monsters. An alternative if fighting without prayer is to use a healing familiar, but the beast is usually better in my experience.

Combat Notes

If fighting with prayer, just keep an eye on your points and top up whenever you get below 2/3 full or so. Be extremely careful if fighting without prayer, as they can do a lot of damage fast if it runs out.

Dharoking greatly speeds up kills here; I've found that using the crush setting seems to work best. But realize that this is a dangerous place. Always Dharok near the dungeon entrance, and I advise never going below 100 LP. While the level 90 dagannoths only fight with melee, it is possible for level 88 dags to sneak into the main room if someone opens the gate to the level 88 area to the east. On rare occasions I've seen them stray very far from their home room! Similarly, be careful if letting them hit you to get your LP down for Dharoking -- if you lag at the wrong time, you're toast.

If using a cannon, I recommend setting it up just south of the little pond just east of the entrance to the dungeon. It's single combat, so you can't kill a lot of dagannoths at once, but it definitely speeds up kills. Pick it up every 20 minutes so it doesn't degrade.

I have actually had great success combining a cannon with Dharoks to rack up XP, charms and drops. This does require a lag-free connection and some concentration, however.

If Dharoking without protection from melee (or deflect melee), I recommend setting that prayer/curse as your quick prayer/curse, so you can turn it on if needed. Extremely high players using curses can also occasionally turn on soul split to get some LP if needed.

Drop Notes

These are excellent drop monsters that provide a variety of useful items. They are a primary source of dagannoth hides, used to make the special rock-shell, spined and skeletal armor, as well as in Summoning. They also give decent numbers of law, nature and water runes, lots of money in alchable items, some seeds and herbs, and other items.

Add to that lots of crimson charms and the occasional warrior, farseer, archer or berserker helm, and level 90 dagannoths are clearly worth fighting.