RuneScoop.com - Waterfiend Guide - Introduction, Prerequisites and Recommendations

Waterfiends are water-based demons that complement their fire-based cousins, but until fairly recently, nobody knew much about them. They were introduced into the game along with the Ancient Cavern that brought us the much celebrated mithril dragons, but waterfiends themselves were mostly ignored, except for the occasional Slayer task. And with good reason: despite a fairly modest combat level of 115, they are very tough little critters, with two different attacks that force you to use food and pay close attention to what you are doing.

When Summoning came along, Jagex revamped these monsters, giving them one of the most attractive charm drop rates in the game. They give a charm on nearly every drop—about 95% of kills—and of those charms, about 85% are crimson. This is important, because crimson charms are the fastest for training Summoning—they give the most XP except for blue charms, and those cannot be obtained in large quantities anywhere. To really level up Summoning you need crimsons, and waterfiends are one of the best ways in the game to get them.

In addition to their charms, waterfiends also provide plenty of other useful drops, some of which are of immediate benefit to Summoning, while others can be sold for cash. The techniques I’ve developed will show you how to make the most of your waterfiend encounters, so that you get the maximum number of charms, while still turning a profit on other drops even after accounting for the cost of supplies. Along the way I will also share an advanced multicombat technique for very high level players who want to get even more charms and are willing to pay for the privilege.

To get to the waterfiends’ primary location, you need to have permission to go into the Ancient Cavern. This feature is part of Barbarian Training; to begin, you speak to Otto Godblessed in his house near Baxtorian Falls, southwest of the Barbarian Outpost. After speaking with Otto, begin working on the Barbarian Firemaking training. The first task is easy—you learn how to start a fire with a bow—and then Otto will ask you to retrieve some chewed bones from the Ancient Cavern and build a pyre ship with them. The only way to get chewed bones is by killing mithril dragons, so that’s as far as you have to go in order to access the cavern. Once in the cavern you don’t actually have to get the bones.

Note that starting the Barbarian Firemaking training requires a Firemaking level of at least 35.

Waterfiends are only level 115, so they are not the toughest monsters around. Now, they do hit pretty hard for level 115, but still, it’s not like you need maxed stats to kill them. However, if you want to be able to kill them quickly and efficiently, that’s a different story: high levels are definitely important in that case. My techniques are generally oriented towards those who do have very high combat numbers, usually in the 90s or at least the 80s. In Table 189 you can find my recommendations for both single and multicombat waterfiend killing. These “minimum” requirements don’t mean you cannot kill waterfiends with lower levels, but they are what I feel is necessary to have reasonable success using my methods.

**Table 189: Recommended Combat Skill Levels for Fighting Waterfiends**
Skill	Minimum / Recommended Level for Single Combat	Minimum / Recommended Level for Multicombat	Notes
Attack	85 / 95	95 / 99	Important to ensure a high hit rate.
Defence	85 / 90	95 / 99	The higher, the better.
Strength	85 / 95	95 / 99	Speeds up kills.
Constitution	85 / 95	99	With the other levels needed for multicombat fighting, you should be maxed in Constitution anyway.
Magic	85 / 90	90 / 95	You won’t be maging, but they use two different magic-related attacks, so having a high Magic level reduces the damage you take. This is especially important for multicombat.
Prayer	70 / 95	92 / 95	Higher Prayer levels let you get more points from prayer restore potions and stay in combat longer. It also enables the use of higher level prayers and curses. I recommend at least level 70 for conventional methods, so you can use the Piety prayer; 95 for the Turmoil curse is preferable. For multicombat methods, level 92 for Soul Split is mandatory, and level 95 strongly recommended.
Summoning	52 / 96	95 / 95	Multicombat fighting of waterfiends is best done with an iron titan familiar. For single combat, you’ll use a beast of burden instead, and level 52 for a spirit terrorbird is recommended, with level 96 for a pack yak obviously better. You can use a war tortoise at level 67, but the high cost of these pouches makes the benefits debatable.
Herblore	-- / 90	-- / 94	See below for more details.

It may seem odd to see Herblore in that table, but Jagex’s decision to create untradeable high level combat potions has essentially made it into a combat skill. While you don’t strictly need to be able to use the advanced “extreme” potions for killing waterfiends, they have a noticeable positive impact on kill rate.

Level 90 Herblore is required in order to use the full complement of extreme melee potions: extreme attack, strength and defence; this is recommended for single combat. My multicombat method uses Saradomin brews to boost defence and so only level 89 would be needed there (for extreme attack and strength). However, inventory space is at a premium with that method, and level 94 to be able to make super prayer potions is a distinct advantage.

Note that it is possible to use certain boosting items (like Greenman’s Ale beer) to make potions at a level below that nominally required; you can still use the potions after the boost effect wears off.

There really aren’t any non-combat skills of particular relevance to killing waterfiends.

One of the nice things about waterfiends is that they aren’t boss level monsters, and that means you do not need the very best of gear to fight them. There is certainly an advantage to wearing the best gear possible in each slot, but this is one place where using “second-best” equipment won’t impose a big penalty. The only place where having the right item is important is your weapon, and this isn’t a place where a godsword or other very pricy piece of equipment is essential.

While waterfiends can be killed using any combat style, they are killed fastest using melee. And since charms are what we’re after, kill speed is very important. Waterfiends are strong against slash and stab attacks, and weak to crush, so a crushing weapon is essential. The two most common choices are the Saradomin sword and Zamorakian spear, both fast two-handed weapons from the God Wars Dungeon. I explore weapon options fully in my discussion of waterfiend challenges and strategy.

Waterfiends have both magic and ranged attacks, but the ranged attack is actually an “arrow” of magical water, and acts more like a “magic-based ranged” attack than a conventional projectile. This means that regardless of which type of attack you try to protect against, you need high magic defence. The usual choice here is Karil’s leather top and skirt, which provide good magic defence, have no melee penalties, and are not very expensive.

Most players supplement their chosen weapon and high magic armor with support gear that provides a balance of magic defence, strength boosting and prayer enhancement. An amulet of fury, “Barrows” gloves (from Recipe for Disaster) and dragon boots are typical for their respective slots, and most players use a berserker ring. Cape choices include the fire cape (for strength and defence bonuses), skillcape, or the red or blue “Soul Wars” cape, which is ideal for methods using prayer (it gives a +12 prayer bonus). For the head, the helm of Neitiznot is a common choice, but some players prefer the dwarven helmet for its crush attack bonus.

To these general equipment needs, you will have to add potions and food, the exact amounts greatly depending on both your levels and the method you are using. Combat boosting potions are always recommended: extreme sets if you can make them, and super sets otherwise. The basic single combat technique can be done with relatively inexpensive food, and no prayer potions are required unless you are trying to speed up kills. The advanced multicombat method demands lots of prayer potions and the use of Saradomin brews for healing.

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