Aberrant Spectre - Access and Combat Recommendations

Access Directions

A ring of slaying teleport is the fastest way to get to the Slayer Tower quickly; if you can't make them yet, walk northwest from Canifis, or use the "C K S" fairy ring . Go up the spiked chain (level 61 Agility) and you're in the spectres' area. The room south of the chain is usually the best spot, unless there's already more than one person there (one other player is fine).

If you have learned how to make Slayer helmets, you can fight aberrant spectres in the Desert Slayer Dungeon instead -- you cannot fight there with just a nose peg, unless you are comfortable using prayer and being constantly near death from the smoke. The smoke won't kill you, but it will take you down to near death. This is very risky, but you can do it if you feel comfortable with it.

It is actually faster to get to the spectres' lair in the Slayer Tower than in the Pollnivneach dungeon, but I recommend the latter location for a few reasons. First and foremost, the dungeon has many more spectres than the Slayer Tower, which is always crowded. Second, they aren't aggressive there, which means you can pause without being attacked constantly. Third, the area is multicombat, so you can use combat familiars to help with kills (though I don't do this myself) and also use a cannon. Finally, there's even a small Summoning obelisk right in the room!

To get to the spectres use a ring of slaying to teleport to Pollnivneach (or get there another way). Run to the well and descend it, then run north to the room with the Mighty Banshees. Bear east or west and go through the magical barrier, then down the stairs. The spectres occupy the entire large chamber in the middle of the bottom floor.

Equipment

Melee strongly advised both for faster kills and to take advantage of the Salve amulet, since spectres are undead. You also need a nose peg or they will hit you for massive damage. As an alternative, you can wear a Slayer helmet. The Slayer helmet gives you the Attack and Strength boosts of the black mask if you have spectres as your Slayer assignment. Note, though, that these bonuses do not stack with the Salve amulet bonuses. Therefore, I recommend you choose your gear as follows. If on a Slayer assignment, wear the Slayer helmet with an amulet of fury or amulet of glory. If not on a Slayer assignment, wear the Salve amulet with a nose peg and fight in the Slayer Tower. Or, if you want to fight in the Desert Slayer Dungeon, wear the Slayer helmet with the Salve amulet.

These monsters hit very hard, so prayer gear is advised for high level players; very high level players can get by using food, especially due to the need to frequently bank drops.

As with any combat on monsters that do damage consistently or require prayer, a godsword, especially the Saradomin version, is very useful here.

You can use a cannon in the secondary location... lots of fun and lots of herbs! If you do this, prayer is strongly advised!

I recommend the use of the Ardougne Cloak 3 here, as it provides a +6 prayer boost and gives you a teleport direct to an altar for prayer restoration.

Supplies

The supplies you bring with depend on the number of trips you plan to make and where you are fighting. Since spectres have so many excellent drops and even though it may not seem like it, you are better off to keep all of your herbs rather than leaving some on the ground,

unless you only care about killing them as fast as possible.

At very high levels, my recommended method is to take very short trips. This means sipping a super set at a bank and store the rest (to make room for more drops), and bringing cheap food for consumption while fighting; see below for more details. Players who want to stay for longer amounts of time will of course need more supplies.

Familiar

Use a macaw here, period. Even though you have to bank more often than you would if you used a beast of burden, you get much better herbs with it, and spectres are near the top of the herb droppers list.

Combat Notes

As long as you remember your nose peg or Slayer helmet and wear other appropriate gear, these guys are no problem at all. They have low defence and are very quick to kill for high-level players. If fighting without prayer, though, be sure to pay attention -- their magic attack is strong and they can do a lot of damage.

Most players fight these for their drops, and maximizing return means banking frequently. I now take advantage of this need to bank frequently by using stat boosting prayers instead of protection prayers. I start at the bank, wearing my magic defence gear and a ring of Slaying, along with the Ardougne cloak 3. I take out 10 salmon and a ring of duelling, and drink a super set and store the rest of the potions. Then I go to the spectres and fight them using Turmoil to speed up kills; you can also use Piety if your Prayer level is lower. It takes me about 6 minutes to use up my prayer, during which time I eat the food I brought (whether I need it or not), and usually my inventory gets filled with herbs and other drops. Then I use the Ardougne cloak 3 to teleport to the Monastery, recharge prayer, use the duelling ring to bank at Castle Wars and repeat the process.

Note that fighting with a Slayer helmet and amulet of fury didn't yield much faster results than using a nose peg and Salve amulet (e). This is probably because the helmet bonuses are +15% while the amulet gives +20%.

If you accidentally come to the spectres without a nose peg, your stats will be massively reduced. This may mean you can no longer use regular teleports or access the spiked chain Agility shortcut to escape! Instead, run southwest and hide by the stairs, then use Home Teleport (in the Slayer Tower) or run up the nearest stairs (in the Desert Slayer Dungeon).

Fighting with a cannon in the Desert Slayer Dungeon is a great way to get lots of XP and drops, and is also a lot of fun, but be sure to pay attention or you'll die quickly. Also, plan on making many banking trips and returning quickly using a ring of slaying. Remember that as long as you pick up your cannon and put it back down at least every 25 minutes, you can leave it there, bank and it will still be in the same spot when you return.

Drop Notes

These are one of the best drop monsters in the game in terms of overall item value. You can get over 150 herbs per hour from these, even without a cannon, in addition to lots of high level herb seeds, good alchable items and the occasional dark mystic robe bottom. On top of that they are balanced charm droppers, so you won't get a lot of them overall, but a nice percentage will be the much-coveted blue charms.