Strategies for Barrows

The Old School RuneScape Wiki also has an article on: osrsw:Barrows/Strategies

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.

This page covers strategies for effectively playing the Barrows minigame.

Getting there

• Drakan's medallion - This is the fastest means of travel to the Barrows, having a teleport directly to their graves. Furthermore, it can be used to teleport directly south of the Burgh De Rott bank, which players can enter to be healed. Requires the completion of The Branches of Darkmeyer.
• Max Guild PvM portal - This option is just as fast as Drakan's medallion; however, it requires level 99 in every skill.
• War's Retreat PvM/Reaper Portals - just as fast as the above methods without needing level 99s but does however require you to have killed the Brothers at least once.
• Games necklace - After gaining enough points from Temple Trekking, a games necklace can be used to teleport directly to Burgh de Rott, which is only a short walk from the Barrows.
• After completing Nature Spirit, the swamp boat in the middle of the swamp can be taken (for free) to the bridge between Mort'ton and the Barrows.
  • The fairy ring in Mort Myre Swamp can be accessed by code BKR. It's only a short distance from the ring to the swamp boat.
  • In Search of the Myreque unlocks access to the area under the bar in Canifis, which provides a faster route to the swamp boat.

A map of the Barrows (click to view a larger version)

The Brothers

 

Combat info
Level						LP
150						12,000
Style
Weakness
Immunities
For full info, see here
talk • view

15012,000NoneFor full info, see here

Ahrim the Blighted is the magic-using brother of the group. He uses fire spells, and with every attack, he has a 1/4 chance of draining your Strength level, and can also cast spells to lower the player's Attack, Strength and Defence levels. Ahrim is easily taken down with ranged attacks; however higher-levelled players with stronger equipment can defeat him with any style.

Ahrim's tomb lies in the centre of the graveyard. Defeating Ahrim adds the following items as potential loot to the chest:

Item		GE value
	Ahrim's hood	555,489
	Ahrim's robe top	1,558,927
	Ahrim's robe skirt	913,376
	Ahrim's staff	5,377,758
	Ahrim's wand	679,825
	Ahrim's book of magic	965,127
Total Value:		10,050,502

 

Combat info
Level						LP
150						12,000
Style
Weakness
Immunities
For full info, see here
talk • view

15012,000NoneFor full info, see here

Dharok the Wretched is a melee-using brother who attacks with his greataxe. He uses strong melee attacks that increase in power as his life points are lowered. He is weak to fire spells; however, any magic spell will work with at least tier-70 equipment. Higher-levelled players with stronger equipment can defeat him with any style.

Dharok's tomb is the north-east mound. Defeating Dharok adds the following items as potential loot to the chest:

Item		GE value
	Dharok's helm	403,897
	Dharok's platebody	1,106,071
	Dharok's platelegs	567,763
	Dharok's greataxe	549,589
Total Value:		2,627,320

 

Combat info
Level						LP
150						12,000
Style
Weakness
Immunities
For full info, see here
talk • view

15012,000NoneFor full info, see here

Guthan the Infested is a melee-using brother who attacks with his warspear. His attacks have a 1/4 chance of healing him for the damage he dealt. He is weak to air spells; however, any magic spell will work with at least tier-70 equipment. Higher-levelled players with stronger equipment can defeat him with any style.

Guthan's tomb is the south-east mound. Defeating Guthan adds the following items as potential loot to the chest:

Item		GE value
	Guthan's helm	360,087
	Guthan's platebody	1,136,624
	Guthan's chainskirt	607,484
	Guthan's warspear	1,322,270
Total Value:		3,426,465

 

Combat info
Level						LP
150						12,000
Style
Weakness
Immunities
For full info, see here
talk • view

15012,000NoneFor full info, see here

Karil the Tainted is the ranged-using brother of the group. He attacks with his crossbow, and with every attack, there is a 1/4 chance that he will drain your Magic level by 1. Karil is easily taken down with melee attacks; however higher-levelled players with stronger equipment can defeat him with any style.

Karil's tomb is the southernmost mound. Defeating Karil adds the following items as potential loot to the chest:

Item		GE value
	Karil's coif	479,533
	Karil's top	1,674,641
	Karil's skirt	911,359
	Karil's crossbow	3,581,762
	Karil's pistol crossbow	555,524
	Karil's off-hand pistol crossbow	495,400
Total Value:		7,698,219

 

Combat info
Level						LP
150						12,000
Style
Weakness
Immunities
For full info, see here
talk • view

15012,000NoneFor full info, see here

Torag the Corrupted is a melee-using brother who attacks with his hammer. His attacks have a 1/4 chance to drain 5% adrenaline. He is weak to water spells; however, any magic spell will work with at least tier-70 equipment. Higher-levelled players with stronger equipment can defeat him with any style.

Torag's tomb is the south-west mound. Defeating Torag adds the following items as potential loot to the chest:

Item		GE value
	Torag's helm	360,471
	Torag's platebody	973,308
	Torag's platelegs	560,703
	Torag's hammer	371,140
Total Value:		2,265,622

 

Combat info
Level						LP
150						12,000
Style
Weakness
Immunities
For full info, see here
talk • view

15012,000NoneFor full info, see here

Verac the Defiled is a melee-using brother who attacks with his flail. His attacks have a 1/4 chance to hit regardless of armour rating. He is weak to earth spells; however, any magic spell will work with at least tier-70 equipment. Higher-levelled players with stronger equipment can defeat him with any style.

Verac's tomb is the north-west mound. Defeating Verac adds the following items as potential loot to the chest:

Item		GE value
	Verac's helm	347,629
	Verac's brassard	1,023,642
	Verac's plateskirt	532,835
	Verac's flail	379,197
Total Value:		2,283,303

 

Combat info
Level						LP
115						12,000
Style
Weakness
Immunities
For full info, see here
talk • view

11512,000NoneFor full info, see here

Akrisae the Doomed is a seventh wight added to the Barrows after completing Ritual of the Mahjarrat. He attacks with his war mace, using basic magic attacks, and unlike the other brothers, has no offensive set effect. Instead, Akrisae has the ability to react to a player's combat style and pray against it, completely negating damage. Using the ability Smash temporarily disables his prayers if it hits; however, it does not last very long. Ranged and magic attacks are the best styles of combat, however. He is weak to bolts, although any ranged weapon that is tier 80 or higher should not miss.

Akrisae shares his tomb with Verac, residing in a secondary room in Verac's crypt in the north-west mound. Defeating Akrisae adds the following items as potential loot to the chest:

Item		GE value
	Akrisae's hood	367,359
	Akrisae's robe top	976,436
	Akrisae's robe skirt	561,815
	Akrisae's war mace	355,360
Total Value:		2,260,970

 

Combat info
Level						LP
150						150,000
Style
Weakness
Immunities
For full info, see here
talk • view

150150,000NoneFor full info, see here

Linza the Disgraced is an eighth wight added to the Barrows after completing Kindred Spirits. She attacks with her hammer, using basic melee attacks. Like Akrisae, Linza does not have any offensive set effects; instead, it is defensive. When damaged, there is a chance for the attack to be reflected onto the player, dealing 600-800 reflect damage. Linza still takes full damage when the set goes off however, and it can be reduced like a normal attack.

Compared to the other brothers, Linza is significantly stronger, possessing 150,000 health and an increased defence level, so it's best to use Magic against her. She is weak to fire spells, although any tier 90 or higher magic weapon should not miss.

Linza shares her tomb with Ahrim, residing in a secondary room in Ahrim's crypt in the centre mound. Defeating Linza adds the following items as potential loot to the chest:

Item		GE Value
	Linza's helm	2,568,628
	Linza's cuirass	4,046,955
	Linza's greaves	3,957,079
	Linza's shield	2,269,008
	Linza's hammer	4,017,071
Total Value:		16,858,741

Playing

There are two parts to playing the Barrows minigame: defeating the brothers, and traversing the tunnels.

Killing the Brothers

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 even 7 after completing them both) will be at rest in their tombs. The last brother (chosen from any brother except Linza) will be lurking about in the catacombs.

The brothers who are resting in their crypts are summoned by investigating their sarcophagus; when disturbed, they will immediately begin to attack. 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 resummoned 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.

The last brother's sarcophagus will lead to the tunnels below (covered in the next section) and he will be fought there. Linza is the only wight that will never appear in the catacombs.

Each brother defeated will be listed in the bottom left corner.

Barrows amulets

Barrows amulets are an item that may be obtained from looting Barrows: Rise of the Six chests. They are tradeable on the Grand Exchange, but have a buying limit of 100. 30 untradeable ones are obtained after completing Missing, Presumed Death.

Barrows amulets may be used to skip up to 3 of the brothers' tombs per run. Amulets cannot be used on a sarcophagus while the brother inside is spawned for you. If you accidentally spawn a brother when attempting to use an amulet, leave the tomb and come back. Amulets do not work on the sarcophagus of the final brother in the catacombs; instead, it must be used on the reward chest in order to kill off that brother for that run.

Which brother to skip?

Below is a suggestion for choosing a priority for which brother to use the amulets on:

1. Akrisae - Requires 2 styles; however if you are only here for kill count, Akrisae may be ignored completely
2. Dharok - Highest potential to do serious damage, especially to lower levels
3. Karil - Strong against magic, which may be your most used style; helps negate switching styles
4. Ahrim - Neutral against magic, which may be your most used style; helps negate switching styles
5. Verac - Potential to deal damage, as he can ignore armour rating; however still not very dangerous
6. Guthan - Potential for longer fights, but only for lower levels
7. Torag - Effectively drains 1.2% adrenaline per attack, which is relatively negligible

Barrows amulets do not work on Linza's tomb.

Kill count

If you are here solely for kill count, you must defeat all 6 of the original brothers. Whether or not you have completed Ritual of the Mahjarrat and Kindred Spirits, Akrisae and Linza can be completely ignored. Using Barrows amulets will not prevent you from receiving kill count. When killing the final brother, pause momentarily before looting the chest, to ensure the game will recognise him as defeated.

The tunnels

A map of the tunnels

The last brother will lead to a tunnel below the crypts. Upon entering, you will land in a room with 4 doors, only one of which may be opened. In the centre of the crypt is a room with a chest. This room also has 4 pathways leading to it, but only 1 can be used. Your objective here is to traverse to the centre to loot the chest.

Monsters

Every time you pass through a door, a monster will spawn. Usually this is one of the type of monsters already in that room; however, there is also a chance that any of the undefeated brothers will spawn, including the brother whose tomb you used to enter the tunnels.

Monster kills are tracked separately from the barrows brother with a kill counter below the list of defeated brothers. Defeating monsters increases the chances of certain rare item loots, such as dragon helms and bolt racks, but your monster kill count has no effect on the rarity of unique Barrows equipment.

Linza is guaranteed to never appear in the catacombs.

The puzzle

The door that leads to the 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 move the puzzle door to a different hallway.

Solutions

• 

  Decreasing number of sides

• 

  Rotating arrow

• 

  Rising grey space

• 

  Clockwise grey space

Looting

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 is Akrisae).

Rewards in the chest may be collected into the inventory or deposited into the bank.

Escape

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.

The fastest and most convenient way to escape is to simply use Drakan's medallion with the "Barrows" option (1), teleporting you outside the mounds whilst leaving the medallion's charge intact. Without the medallion, you may make your way back to the rope used to enter the catacombs, unless running low on supplies, where you should teleport out instead to restock. Alternatively players with access to the interior of the Max Guild may chose to teleport there and use the PvM portal instead. Players who also have access to War's Retreat and have attuned a portal to the Barrows may use War's Retreat teleport to quickly leave and access the Barrows through the attuned portal.

Equipment

High-level

As the Brothers all have level 70 stats, players with high stats (90+) and equipment (tier 80+) can simply power through every brother. They do not need to be killed in any order, and barrows amulets may be used on any brother without much discretion.

Recommended equipment for All (with magic equipped)

Slot	Item (most effective → least effective)
	Ghost hunter goggles	Warpriest helm	Dragon Rider helm	Akrisae's hood
	Dragon Rider amulet	Amulet of fury	Amulet of glory	Drakan's medallion
	Ghost hunter backpack	Cape of Accomplishment	Warpriest cape	Dragon Rider cape
	Ghost hunter body	Warpriest cuirass	Dragon Rider body	Akrisae's robe top
	Ghost hunter legs	Warpriest greaves	Dragon Rider chaps	Akrisae's robe skirt
	Abyssal wand	Wand of treachery	N/A	N/A
	Chaotic staff	Armadyl battlestaff	Staff of light	Polypore staff
	Abyssal orb	Ahrim's book of magic	Grifolic orb	N/A
	Royal bolts	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Culinaromancer's gloves 10	Culinaromancer's gloves 9	Superior Dragon Rider gloves	N/A
	Silverhawk boots	Superior Dragon Rider boots	Dragon Rider boots	N/A
	Sixth-Age circuit	Berserker ring	Ring of Wealth	N/A
	Reverence aura	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Holy wrench	Sign of life	N/A	N/A

Inventory

		100
			1000

For mid level players, it is more beneficial to focus on the brothers' weaknesses to ensure a smooth trip; however, with tier 70+ magic equipment, a single spell element should suffice. Air is recommended for the sake of conserving inventory space. It is probably not necessary to bring armour switches, as higher-levelled hybrid armour should suffice with decent Defence levels (80+).

Depending on your exact strategy, you may or may not need prayer potions. When using prayer, always be sure to bring extra potions, as simply being inside the Barrows' tombs or crypt can drain your prayer points. Depending on your armour, you may need more or less food than the example shown.

Bringing combat boosting potions is highly recommended for mid-level players to keep accuracy and damage as high as possible.

Recommended equipment for All (with magic equipped)

Slot	Item (most effective → least effective)
	Warpriest helm	Dragon Rider helm	Akrisae's hood	N/A
	Dragon Rider amulet	Amulet of fury	Amulet of glory	Drakan's medallion
	Cape of Accomplishment	Warpriest cape	Dragon Rider cape	N/A
	Ganodermic poncho	Garb of subjugation	Grifolic poncho	N/A
	Ganodermic leggings	Gown of subjugation	Grifolic leggings	N/A
	Abyssal wand	Wand of treachery	N/A	N/A
	Staff of light	Polypore staff	N/A	N/A
	Abyssal orb	Ahrim's book of magic	Grifolic orb	N/A
	Culinaromancer's gloves 10	Culinaromancer's gloves 9	Superior Dragon Rider gloves	N/A
	Silverhawk boots	Superior Dragon Rider boots	Dragon Rider boots	N/A
	Sixth-Age circuit	Berserker ring	Ring of Wealth	N/A
	Reverence aura	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Holy wrench	Sign of life	N/A	N/A

Inventory

			1000
		1000	1000
		1000	1000

Players with low combat levels may have the hardest time creating an equipment set up to take on the Barrows brothers as they will likely have to focus on not only offence for attacking the brothers, but defence as well to survive their attacks.

Players with low combat stats are recommended to take armour switches that allow them to have a stronger defence rating against each brother. The most important slots are your body and legwear slots. To keep equipment switching to a minimum, it is recommended to only bring switches for those 2 slots, and to use hybrid/all equipment in every other slot.

When using magic, it may be effective to use either Entangle or Snare (79 and 50 Magic respectively) on the melee brothers to bind them in place. Doing so will allow you to attack from afar, minimising damage.

Using barrows amulets, it is possible to use magic exclusively. By skipping Ahrim and Karil, you will only have to fight the melee brothers. This significantly reduces the amount of supplies required for a full run; for players who have trouble killing every brother in a single inventory, using only magic is recommended.

The only caveat with this method is the cost and supply of barrows amulets. They are currently 12,347 on the Grand Exchange. Even with sufficient funds to purchase amulets, only 100 can be purchased every 4 hours. It is recommended to stock up on amulets ahead of time to avoid being stuck unable to skip a brother.

Invention perks

Using good perks on augmented items through Invention and Ancient invention will greatly increase the damage dealt and thus increase overall profit per hour.

• To unlock Invention you need level 80 in Divination, Crafting, and Smithing, and for Ancient invention you need to purchase and read the 'Ancient gizmos' blueprint.
• For two-handed weapons, simply add both the weapon perks given below onto it.
• Click on the links in the Perk column to view the gizmo configuration required to create it.

This has a level requirement of Invention 85, or Invention 68+ with extreme invention potions. All prices factor in the number of tries required to get each perk at level 85.

Slot	Icons	Perk	Cost	Effect
Main-hand		Precise 6	1,589,925 for 1 x Small crate (historic)	Precise increases your minimum damage by 1.5% per rank of your maximum damage.
Off-hand		Equilibrium 4	657,053 for 2 x Small crate (timeworn)	Equilibrium increases minimum hit by 3% per rank, and decreases maximum hit by 1% per rank.
Body		Crackling 4	1,132,861 for 0.5 x Large crate (vintage)	Crackling periodically zaps your combat target for 50% per rank of your weapon's damage.
		Relentless 5	1,132,861 for 0.5 x Large crate (vintage)	Relentless gives a chance to prevent adrenaline from being consumed when using abilities.
Legs		Absorbative 4	540,317 for 2 x Ganodermic gloves	Absorbative gives a 20% chance of reducing damage by 5% per rank.
		Mobile + Venomblood	350,721 for 100 x Powerburst of vitality (4)	Mobile allows you to Surge twice as often. Venomblood makes you immune from all poison-damage.
Total cost per set			5,225,407

This has a level requirement of Invention 99 with extreme invention potions. All prices factor in the number of tries required to get each perk at level 99 with extremes.

Slot	Icons	Perk	Cost	Effect
Main-hand		Precise 6 + Genocidal	1,589,925 for 1 x Small crate (historic)	Precise increases your minimum damage by 1.5% per rank of your maximum damage. Genocidal deals up to 7% extra damage depending on how far you are through your Slayer task.
Off-hand		Equilibrium 4	657,053 for 2 x Small crate (timeworn)	Equilibrium increases minimum hit by 3% per rank, and decreases maximum hit by 1% per rank.
Body		Biting 2 + Mobile	1,579,617 for 84 x Huge blunt adamant salvage	Biting forces a +2% chance per rank to critically hit opponents. Mobile allows you to Surge twice as often.
		Crackling 4 + Relentless 3	4,804,104 for 3 x Hand cannon and 1 x Large crate (vintage)	Crackling periodically zaps your combat target for 50% per rank of your weapon's damage. Relentless gives a chance to prevent adrenaline from being consumed when using abilities.
Legs		Impatient 4 + Devoted 4 (Devoted is optional)	1,723,776 for 0.2 x Virtus wand (level 9+) 2,258,644 for 1 x Zamorak godsword (level 9+)	Impatient gives a 9% chance per rank for basic abilities to generate 3 extra adrenaline. Devoted has a chance each hit of replicating the Devotion ability for 3 seconds.
		Enhanced Devoted 4	2,870,221 using 700 x Crystal flask	Gives a chance on each hit of replicating the Devotion ability for 3 seconds.
Total cost per set			15,483,340

A recommended perk for a shield is:

Slot	Icons	Perk	Cost	Effect
Shield		Turtling 4	1,006,973 for 1 x Small crate (historic)	Turtling increases the duration and cooldown of Barricade by 10% per rank.

The recommended perks for weapon switches are:

Slot	Icons	Perk	Cost	Effect
Sunspear		Planted Feet	4,439,222 for 0.5 x Orb of the Cywir elders (level 9+)	The duration of Sunshine and Death's Swiftness is increased by 25%, but they no longer deal periodic damage to your target.
Excalibur		Wise 4 + Mobile	2,776,665 for 12 x Crystal ward	Wise provides +4% additional experience, up to 50,000 XP per day. Mobile halves the cooldowns of Surge, Escape, Barge, and Bladed Dive.

This has a level requirement of Invention 120 with extreme invention potions. All prices factor in the number of tries required to get each perk at level 120 with extremes.

Slot	Icons	Perk	Cost	Effect
Main-hand		Precise 6 + Genocidal	1,356,744 for 1 x Small crate (historic)	Precise increases your minimum damage by 1.5% per rank of your maximum damage. Genocidal deals up to 7% extra damage depending on how far you are through your Slayer task.
Off-hand		Aftershock 4	58,375,935 for 1.5 x Anima core legs of Zaros (level 9+)	After dealing 50,000 damage, create an explosion dealing up to 40% per rank weapon damage to nearby enemies.
Body		Biting 4	45,343,788 for 0.3 x Noxious longbow (level 9+)	Biting forces a +2% chance per rank to critically hit opponents.
		Relentless 5 + Crackling 4	19,575,098 for 9 x Large crate (vintage)	Crackling periodically zaps your combat target for 50% per rank of your weapon's damage. Relentless gives a chance to prevent adrenaline from being consumed when using abilities.
Legs		Impatient 4 + Mobile	10,280,397 for 1.5 x Virtus wand (level 9+) 2,258,644 for 1 x Zamorak godsword (level 9+)	Impatient gives a 9% chance per rank for basic abilities to generate 3 extra adrenaline. Mobile allows you to Surge twice as often.
		Enhanced Devoted 4	2,870,221 using 700 x Crystal flask	Gives a chance on each hit of replicating the Devotion ability for 3 seconds.
Total cost per set			140,060,827

A recommended perk for a shield is:

Slot	Icons	Perk	Cost	Effect
Shield		Turtling 4	1,006,973 for 1 x Small crate (historic)	Turtling increases the duration and cooldown of Barricade by 10% per rank.

The recommended perks for weapon switches are:

Slot	Icons	Perk	Cost	Effect
Sunspear		Planted Feet + Aftershock 1	25,667,570 for 0.5 x Anima core legs of Zaros (level 9+) and 1 x Orb of the Cywir elders (level 9+)	The duration of Sunshine and Death's Swiftness is increased by 25%, but they no longer deal periodic damage to your target.
Excalibur		Wise 4 + Mobile	2,776,665 for 12 x Crystal ward	Wise provides +4% additional experience, up to 50,000 XP per day. Mobile halves the cooldowns of Surge, Escape, Barge, and Bladed Dive.

Main article: Optimal PvM Perk Setup

This has a level requirement of Invention 120 with extreme invention potions. All prices factor in the number of tries required to get each perk at level 120 with extremes.

Slot	Icons	Perk	Cost	Effect
2-handed		Precise 6 + Ruthless 1	23,031,716 for 1.5 x Armadyl chestplate (level 9+), 1.5 x Armadyl chainskirt (level 9+)	Precise increases your minimum damage by 1.5% per rank of your maximum damage. Ruthless increases damage output by 0.5% per rank for 20 seconds whenever an enemy is killed.
		Aftershock 4 + Equilibrium 2	175,120,916 for 4.5 x Anima core legs of Zaros (level 9+)	Aftershock creates an explosion dealing up to 40% per rank weapon damage to nearby enemies, every 50,000 damage. Equilibrium increases minimum hit by 3% per rank, and decreases maximum hit by 1% per rank.
Total cost per weapon			198,152,631

Other helpful items

• Ghost hunter equipment - Wearing 3 out of the 4 pieces grants a 10% damage and exp boost against the brothers
• Ectoplasmator/Attuned ectoplasmator - Grants prayer experience for defeating the brothers
• Bonecrusher - Grants prayer experience by burying bones of killed monsters
• Demon horn necklace/Split dragontooth necklace - Use with the bonecrusher/attuned ectoplasmator to regain prayer points from killed monsters/brothers
• Enhanced Excalibur - Heals 40% of life points over time; this special can be used every 5 minutes and does not use any adrenaline
• Dragon defender (or better) - having this item equipped or in your inventory is required to have a chance at receiving a corruption sigil, which is used to create the corrupted defender, blighted rebounder, and the tainted repriser.

Strategy

High-level method

Main article: Money making guide/High level Barrows

As the Brothers all have level 70 stats, players with high stats (90+) and equipment (tier 80+) can simply power through every brother. They do not need to be killed in any order, and barrows amulets may be used on any brother without much discretion.

Linza should be skipped if not going for the Graverobber title, as her high health greatly hampers kill rates. Any player intending to battle her should attempt to start with full adrenaline and use Vulnerability at the start of the fight so she takes 10% more damage for a minute.

Mid-level method

Mid-level players cannot power through the brothers as quickly as high-level players can; however, they can still manage fairly well with proper strategies and levels.

Linza should be avoided completely.

Killing order

Killing order may make a difference to some players. When choosing an order, it is important to consider how each brother may affect the future fights. Below is just one example for kill order:

1. Dharok (Weak to Fire spells and North East) - Highest potential to hit hard, fight him while you still have food.
2. Verac (Weak to Earth spells and North West) - Next highest potential to damage, as he can ignore armour rating
3. Guthan (Weak to Air and South East) - Potential for longer fights, fight him while you still have food
4. Torag (Weak to Water and South West) - Least dangerous melee brother, fight him with magic last
5. Karil (Weak to stab and South Middle) - Fight after the melee brothers as he can drain Magic, but fight before Ahrim, as Ahrim can drain your Strength
6. Ahrim (Weak to arrows and Middle) - Not a very dangerous fight; stat draining of Karil and Ahrim put this brother strategically last

Killing

With proper armour rating and prayers, it is unlikely that any brother except for Dharok will be able to do a significant amount of damage. 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. For most players, these fight will 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 the expense of 100% adrenaline. Saving adrenaline near the end of the fight will also allow you to use Regenerate to recover lost life points.

Low-level method

Low-level players will have to plan their fights strategically to minimise the use of food and supplies. If you have trouble fighting all brothers in a single inventory of supplies, you are allowed to restock at a bank without any penalty. For players with Drakan's medallion, one method is to teleport to Burgh de Rott and heal in the bank, and then back to Barrows, saving large amounts of food. No charges are consumed due to the relatively short distances.

Like medium-levelled players, low-levelled players should completely ignore Linza.

Magic only method

1. Ahrim / Karil - Use an amulet on these brothers, order does not matter
2. Dharok - Highest potential to hit hard, fight him while you still have food; recommended to use your final amulet on him
3. Verac - Next highest potential to damage, as he can ignore armour rating
4. Guthan - Potential for longer fights, fight him while you still have food
5. Torag - Least dangerous melee brother, fight him with magic last

Killing

Lower-levelled players will want to focus on having the proper armour to defend against each brother's attacks. 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 bind the melee-using brothers is also highly recommended. If done properly, you will not need to use any food as they will probably not even 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 40 seconds; snare lasts 20), and be ready to cast the spell again when the effect ends.

Players using the magic only method will not need to worry about equipment switching. Players who opt to use multiple styles will need to make sure they are using the proper armour before beginning. Using mismatched equipment greatly reduces accuracy; double check your equipment before starting a fight.

Looting

Killing the regular monsters inside the crypt is not necessary to increase the chances of obtaining a unique piece of Barrows equipment. Only killing the brothers has any effect on this (fully explained here). That said, killcount does increase the chances of receiving rare, non-Barrows items; e.g., dragon helm. Having a ring of Wealth 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.

All regular monsters inside the crypt are extremely weak compared to the brothers. Lower levels may need to take on monsters one at a time to increase their killcount. Players with at least level 70 stats and equipment should be able to increase their killcount quickly by using multitarget abilities. The maximum potential one can achieve is by killing the crypt monsters until the sum of their combat levels equals 1000. The exact equation that is used is explained more here. One should note however, certain rare rewards require more brothers to be killed (ex. to have a chance at a Dragon med helm, you need to have killed at least 6 brothers).

It is highly recommended for all players to simply teleport out of the tunnels. Only players with no means of returning to the Barrows quickly should consider running through the crypt again to escape. With the use of the Canifis lodestone and the swamp boat, almost every player should be able to return in a timely manner.