Strategies for Barrows
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This article is a strategy guide for Barrows. Information on mechanics, setups, and tactics is on this page. For the hard mode strategy guide, see here.
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Recommended levels and equipment[edit | edit source]
Presets[edit | edit source]
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 1000 |  1000 |  1000 |  1000 |
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- Example gear:
- Warpriest hybrid armour which requires 25
/50 /75 and is a free drop from the God Wars Dungeon. - Bandos godsword requires 75
and costs 1,048,200. - Staff of light requires 75
and costs 6,646,024. - Royal crossbow requires 80
and costs 357,550.
- Optional boosts:
- Illuminated Book of War is a free quest reward from Horror from the Deep and One Piercing Note.
- Obsidian cape is a decent all-style cape costing 367,335.
- Amulet of fury is a decent all-style amulet costing 1,060,775.
- Ring of Fortune is a decent all-style ring costing 1,077,097.
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- Any augmented melee platelegs will do, as long as it has Mobile and Undead Slayer
- Ranged weapon (if killing Akrisae)
- Barrows amulet to instantly kill up to three random Barrows brothers (except Linza), optional
- Abyssal scourge, master spearwork of annihilation and gloves of passage for Linza
- Augmented tier 80 or 90 defender for corrupted sigil chance, if desired
Strategy[edit | edit source]
Completing the Barrows minigame involves both defeating the brothers and traversing the underground tunnels to loot the rewards chest.
While underground in the barrows, an unnatural energy will continually sap the player's prayer points every 18 seconds or so. This drain starts at 80 points and increases by 10 for every brother/sister killed, up to 160 prayer points in total. This is usually indicated by one of any seven defeated brothers' faces (Linza does not count as an appearance, but will contribute towards the prayer drain), although not killing any brothers still causes the same effect. Therefore, try to minimise the time spent in the crypts or catacombs to reduce the amount of prayer drained. If the player has completed the hard set of the Morytania achievements, the prayer drain effect is cut by 50%.
Killing the Brothers[edit | edit source]
Dig on top of the crypts to enter them. The brothers are summoned by investigating their sarcophagus within the crypt; when disturbed, they will spawn and immediately attack the aggressor. They may only be attacked by the player who summoned them. If the brother is not killed when the player leaves their crypt they despawn and must be summoned again, returning with full health. However, if the brother is dealt a fatal hit just as the player leaves, then the kill will still count. Each brother defeated will be listed in the bottom left corner of your screen.
For maximum loot potential, each brother must be killed before looting the chest. 5 of the brothers (or 6 after completing Ritual of the Mahjarrat or Kindred Spirits and 7 after completing them both) will be at rest in their crypts. The last brother (chosen from any brother except Linza) will not be found in their crypt and will instead be lurking about in the catacombs. The last brother's sarcophagus will lead to the tunnels below and he will be fought there. Recommended kill order:
| Name | Weakness | Susceptibility | Pray against | Notes |
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 Linza the Disgraced
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 Fire spells
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 Inquisitor staff
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 Melee
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Optional fight requiring completion of Kindred Spirits. Strongly recommend freeze spells if fighting as you will take significantly less damage (Entangle on normal spellbook or Ancient Magicks ice spells - requires completion of Desert Treasure). Has a little over ten times as much health as the other brothers. Can rebound moderate damage towards players for each attack taken. Very long and tedious, recommended to skip if not using tier 90+ weapons or barrows amulets. |
 Dharok the Wretched
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Fire spells
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Inquisitor staff
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 Melee
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Highest potential to hit hard, fight him while you still have food |
 Akrisae the Doomed
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 Bolts
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 Hexhunter bow
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 Magic
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Optional fight requiring completion of Ritual of the Mahjarrat. Can use protection prayers that provide full immunity but can be disabled temporarily via Snipe, Havoc, Smash or Dragon Breath, swapping to the player's last used combat style every 1,500 damage taken. Skip if taking only one combat style or not taking barrow amulets. |
 Verac the Defiled
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 Earth spells
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Inquisitor staff
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Melee
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Next highest potential to damage, as he can ignore armour rating |
 Guthan the Infested
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 Air spells
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Inquisitor staff
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Melee
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Potential for longer fights, fight him while you still have food |
 Torag the Corrupted
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 Water spells
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Inquisitor staff
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Melee
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Least dangerous melee brother, fight him with magic last |
 Karil the Tainted
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 Stab
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 Terrasaur maul
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 Range
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Fight after the melee brothers as he can drain Magic, but fight before Ahrim, as Ahrim can drain your Strength |
 Ahrim the Blighted
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 Arrows
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Hexhunter bow
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Magic
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Not a very dangerous fight; stat draining of Karil and Ahrim put this brother strategically last |
Lower-levelled players should focus on using armour switches to have the best hit chance and defence against each brother's attacks. If you are struggling then focus on using switches only for the chest and legs slots. Hybrid armour could also be used instead of armour switching but this is not advised as it does not provide the same damage bonuses as power armour. Abilities such as Debilitate and Anticipation can be used on any brother to reduce damage taken for a period of time. Offence-wise, it is recommended to only use basic and threshold abilities. Even at a low level, these fight should not be long enough to warrant the use of damage boosting abilities such as Sunshine, and almost every damage-dealing ultimate (such as Omnipower) do not deal enough damage to warrant their use. Saving adrenaline near the end of the fight will also allow you to use Regenerate to recover lost life points.
Bringing nature runes to use either Entangle or Snare (79 and 50 Magic respectively) to bind the melee-using brothers is also recommended. If done properly, you will not need to use any food as they will probably not get the chance to attack. Simply cast the binding spell on the brother then step away and continue fighting. Be mindful of how long your bind lasts (entangle lasts 24 seconds; snare lasts 18), and be ready to cast the spell again when the effect ends.
The order in which the brothers are killed may make a difference to some players. When choosing an order, it is important to consider how each brother may affect the future fights. Low-levelled players should ignore Linza and Akrisae if they're available as they will unnecessarily prolong loot times.
The tunnels[edit | edit source]
Searching the last sarcophagus will lead to some catacombs below the crypts. The map is a 3x3 grid (each room being 1x1) and a narrow path on all four cardinal directions. Upon entering the crypts, you will appear in one of four corners in the 3x3 grid. One of the four doors can be interacted with, while the other three remain sealed shut and cannot be opened at all. A randomly generated path is set to the centre of this grid where the chest is lying, ready for the taking.
There are monsters in the centre of the edges of this 3x3 grid:
- Bloodworms in the southern room
- Normal and giant crypt rats in the western room
- Skeletons in the northern room
- Normal and giant crypt spiders in the eastern room
Killing the monsters adds to "creatures killed", which increases the drop rate of various items like dragon helms and crystal key parts. They do not affect the drop rate of barrows equipment. The maximum potential one can achieve is by killing the crypt monsters until the sum of their combat levels equals 1000. Players with at least level 70 stats and equipment should be able to increase their killcount quickly by using multitarget abilities. The exact equation that is used is explained more here.
Each time a door is opened, a monster will appear and attack the player immediately, consisting of either a bloodworm, normal crypt rat/spider or skeleton. If any brothers haven't been defeated yet either, they also have a chance of ambushing the player as they pass through the door. This only occurs to brothers whose sacophagi can access the crypts.
The door that leads to the final room containing the loot chest has a lock that must be disarmed by solving a simple puzzle. There are four possible puzzles, each with 2 incorrect solutions and 1 correct solution. The solution to a puzzle is always the same. The interface that shows the puzzle may be interrupted by combat. Monsters will not be aggressive when you are standing right in front of the door, so kill anything that is attacking you before attempting the puzzle.
Solving the puzzle correctly will open the pathway to the centre room. Providing an incorrect solution will lock you out of that path and shuffle the path.
- Solutions
Decreasing number of sides
Rotating arrow
Rising grey space
Clockwise grey space
In the final room is the chest containing your loot. Investigating the chest will open it and spawn the brother whose tomb was used to enter the crypt. If that brother was defeated while traversing the tunnels, no brother will spawn to intercept the player, even if they haven't been defeated yet.
The chest may be looted at any time, even before the final brother is dead; however, doing so will prevent that brother's items from being added to the loot table. It will also not count towards the Beasts tab/soul reaper (unless the brother who was spawned was Akrisae).
Rewards in the chest may be collected into the inventory. Completion of the hard Morytania achievements will double the amount of runes obtained from the chest and allow the loot to be banked from the chest. Having a luck enhancer equipped when you loot the chest will not affect Barrows or rare items; instead, it adds an extra table in the drop rolls. This table has a chance of adding an extra item to your reward chest. It is highly recommended for all players to simply teleport out of the tunnels once they have looted the chest.
After the chest has been looted, your screen will begin to shake as the tunnel collapses. You will begin to take damage at short intervals if you stay inside the tunnel. You have two options: teleport out, or traverse the maze again to the room you entered from and escape via the rope.
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