Method Description, Instructions and Tips for Success

General Description

NOTE: I am in the process of revising my Barrows techniques based on recent updates. This takes some time to do; in the meanwhile, the methods here should still work well.

Barrows is one of the most popular minigames in RuneScape, because it is fun, has good rewards (including a chance for Barrows gear, some of the best in the game) and gives you combat and Magic XP as well.

The Barrows is a dangerous place, and even though some players are able to complete the minigame with middling combat levels, they are taking grave risks -- and even if they are successful, they use so many supplies that it doesn't end up being a very good moneymaker anyway. By high levels (level 70 or so) you are able to do enough damage to complete the minigame reasonably quickly, although it isn't until very high levels that you can do the Barrows efficiently.

A complete guide to the Barrows is beyond the scope of this moneymaking guide. However, I have outlined for each of the three variations here my suggestions for how to do the Barrows in a way that maximizes the number of runs per hour (and hence rewards), while minimizing the cost of supplies.

My method relies on the use of melee weapons to fight Ahrim and Karil, and a red salamander on the magic setting for the melee brothers. The salamander does high damage at a fraction of the cost of magic spells, and I use red rather than a black because it is 90% as good for 50% as much cost per attack.

The main trade-off in doing the Barrows is deciding whether to do one chest per trip or more than that. If you do one run per trip then each run is easier, and your cost of supplies is much lower because you can recharge prayer between trips (saving on prayer pots) and you also don't need food of as high caliber. The advantage of doing multiple runs per trip is that you save the travel time getting to the Barrows, so you can get more rewards. In my testing I found that at high levels (level 70 skills or thereabouts) the single trip method is preferable, while at very high levels you can do an extra half a chest per hour by doing five chests per trip. This does require you to use more supplies, especially prayer potions (since you can no longer recharge prayer between each visit). But the value of the extra rewards is greater than the cost of the supplies, and running to the Barrows over and over is boring, so my very high method is based on five runs per trip.

The final, extremely high level variation is one that involves nine runs per trip, relying on the special properties of the Saradomin godsword. While I generally avoid putting techniques in this guide that rely on expensive equipment, the Saradomin godsword is ideal for the Barrows because it allows you to heal on the fly, and also get back small amounts of prayer for fighting Barrows brothers without having to waste prayer potion doses. The technique I describe here shows you how that sword lets you do nine chest runs per trip while using very little in the way of supplies.

You can expect a Barrows item about 1 in every 18 chests, which is what my figures are based upon. This means you get around one armor piece every 3-4 hours on average. Of course, it's all luck, and you can get 2 or even 3 items in one chest, or dry spells that last for dozens of trips.

One final tip: When you are fighting with prayer, you may notice that you have enough prayer points that you won't run out soon, but that some will be wasted when the Barrows drains them. In these cases, when meleeing, you can help your cause by enabling Piety or other combat-enhancing prayers.

Specific Method Details

Teleport to your house, recharge prayer and head through your Kharyrll portal to Canifis; go to the bank.

Equip the first 9 items listed in the Equipment section; the ring is a "safety net" in case you make a mistake. Put the spade and godsword in your inventory. Add to those a stack of house teleport tablets and 4-dose versions of these potions: four Saradomin brew, two super restore, two super attack, two super strength, and two prayer.

Take out and equip a stack of tarromin tar and get out 8 full strawberry baskets. Now withdraw additional Saradomin brew, regular restore, super attack and super strength potions (of any size), drink one dose of each in order and return the rest to the bank. Fill the rest of your inventory with salmon (or other cheap food).

Head southwest from the bank, go through the trap door behind the bar and take the usual path through the swamp, over the bridge and south to the boat. In Mort'ton, go east and then northeast to the Barrows.

Be sure your salamander is on "Blaze", which is the magic setting. You are now ready to fight.

The first run is easy because you have lots of prayer; do Dharok and Verac first using the salamander with protection from melee, then Ahrim and Karil, and then Guthan and Torag without prayer On subsequent runs you will start by healing yourself mostly full, then drinking 1 or 2 Saradomin brew doses, followed by one each of super restore, super attack and super strength. The Saradomin godsword will usually allow you to do the whole run with only the prayer you get from that single super restore dose.

Start with Dharok, finishing him off using your initial prayer. Then use the prayer that is left to kill Verac. Now you should be out of prayer, but don't reach immediately for the prayer potions -- they are there mainly for emergencies and special cases. Let's say you are out of prayer, and Ahrim is next. Enter his crypt, click the special attack on your sword, and wait for a "ghost face" to appear. Switch to your prayer interface, click his crypt and attack him. You should get at least five points of prayer; slap on protection from magic, and continue fighting. If you get an especially good spec, put Piety on too. If you are full (or overfull) on hitpoints, I even recommend starting the battle and waiting to take some damage before using the special. Of course it doesn't always work, but it usually does. Use the same basic technique with Karil -- with a bit of luck, I can three-hit Ahrim or Karil and never use any prayer potions or food. You can do the same thing if you have to deal with Ahrim, Karil or Verac in the tunnels -- special and then put on prayer (in the case of Verac, switch to the salamander after the spec is done). The only one I don't recommend messing around with is Dharok. If he's your "tunnel brother", then use your extra prayer potions -- that's what they are there for.

It takes some practice, but pretty soon you should be able to do most runs with only a single Saradomin brew, super restore, super attack and super strength dose at the start. Also remember that you do have some food available if you need it -- each strawberry basket is worth 30 points.

I recommend getting a kill count of 12 before collecting your reward; focus on the blood worms and small rats as they are the easiest to kill. On your last run, open the chest, collect your rewards, then hit your teleport tablet. At your house, recharge prayer, go through your portal to Canifis, and go to the bank. Heal up, get out more supplies, and repeat. With this method you should be able to do 9 runs in about 72 minutes, which is around 7.5 trips per hour. But if you are having bad luck and running low on supplies, do not hesitate to leave early and come back.