Desert strykewyrm

Desert strykewyrm
Release																				8 February 2010 (Update)
Members																				Yes
Actions																				Investigate, Attack, Examine
Race																				Strykewyrm
Examine																				Burrowed: I'm pretty sure there's something under there. Above ground: I dread to think of how many of these are in the sand.
Combat info
Combat level																				103
Life points																				10,000
Aggressive
Poisonous
Combat experience
XP																				805
XP																				376.6
XP																				265.6
XP (2H/MH/OH)																				48 / 32 / 16
Slayer info
Level																				77
Assignment																				Desert strykewyrms, Strykewyrms
Master
Offensive
Max hit
647															296															296															2,000
Style																														Rate
																														4 ticks (2.4s)
Combat levels
74																				74																				74
Accuracy
1,650																				1,650																				1,650
Defensive
Armour																				Weakness															Susceptible
1,526										74
Base hit chance
90															65															55															45
Immunities
Immune															Not immune															Not immune															Not immune
Advanced data
NPC ID															9465
Links															bestiary • MRND
FAQ • doc

Desert strykewyrms are Slayer monsters located east of Al Kharid, through the east gate. They require level 77 Slayer to kill.

A wyrm initially appears as a mound on the ground; the mound may be still or be moving about. Before battle can be initiated with the wyrm, a player must investigate the mound by clicking on it. This causes the player's character to perform the Stomp emote, after which the wyrm bursts out of the ground.

Desert strykewyrms are an excellent source of various noted items, and the occasional focus sight, which is needed to create a full slayer helmet.

Players should use a Mask of the Yellow Wyrm (or its helm variant Helm of the Parched Wyrm) when killing these to take advantage of its benefits.

Killing a strykewyrm is one of the elite Desert achievements, Staff on Stryke. The player must be equipped with an ancient staff and full slayer helmet when doing so (upgraded slayer helms will not work; corrupted slayer helmet does work; mighty slayer helmet also works).

Locations

Location	Levels	Members	Spawns	Map
East of Al Kharid	103		12	Maplink

Attacks

The desert strykewyrm's standard attacks are Melee and Ranged. The wyrm will usually use melee and only occasionally use ranged when the player is not within melee range. This attack however, rarely hits and even if it hits, it usually does not hit over 100.

The desert strykewyrm also has a special attack which consists of it burrowing under the ground, moving toward the player fighting it, and then bursting out of the ground which can deal 500-2000 damage. Running over the strykewyrm right as it bursts out of the ground will hit the player twice with its special attack, possibly adding up to 4000 damage.

The special attack may be avoided by running 2-3 squares away from where the player was standing when the wyrm starts to burrow. Timing is important; hesitating a moment when the wyrm burrows could cause the wyrm's special attack to hit. Many players run directly away from the wyrm when it burrows, but depending on your reaction time, this might not be a good idea, so running to the sides is a good idea for those with laggy computers or if they are too slow to react to the attack.

Sometimes the desert strykewyrm will be stunned when it emerges from the ground. It will not be able to use its special attack until this wears off.

Tips

When running away from the special attack, it is best to click on the ground itself instead of the minimap, as the player can react to the tactical situation in the area. A player should not click on another mound when trying to get away, as the player will run up to (not onto) the mound and stop, which might leave the player too close to the surfacing wyrm.

Desert strykewyrms have a high amount of health for their level, but have low defence, making it quite easy with powerful weapons to cause a large amount of damage. The wyrm's special attack can be disabled by standing near any kind of obstacle. There are cacti and bushes around their area, but they are relatively spread out and few in number.

This special attack occurs on average once every 15-20 attacks. Depending upon how fast the player can kill a desert strykewyrm, the special attack may or may not occur with each wyrm battle, but one special attack per 2 or 3 wyrms is very likely.  

For players who have difficulty moving out of the way in time, it is advised to range strykewyrms from a distance. Range them at the maximum distance of your crossbow/shortbow/shieldbow so that you will have more time to spot and avoid their special attack. Desert strykewyrms are more resistant to ranged than they are to melee, but the ranged attack they use at a distance will also deal very low damage to a player wearing ranged armour.

It is also possible for players to avoid the desert strykewyrm's special attack by using the Escape ability. This requires a good reaction time, as the player will be sent back a few squares, thus wasting good combat time.

While on slayer task, Tuska's Wrath is a recommended ability. Activating Tuska's Wrath manually when the desert strykewrym is at or near to full health will give maximum advantage and potential instakill.

Drops

Charms

Nothing	1	1	1	1
80–81%	4%	2%	12%	0.9–1.1%
Represents a 90% confidence range based on a sample of 44,827 kills. 1 item is dropped at a time. Add data to the log (requires JavaScript).

Main drop

	Item	Quantity	Rarity	GE Price	High Alch
	Death rune	15	Uncommon	5,025	930
	Water rune	2–100	Uncommon	352–17,600	6–300
	Law rune	15	Uncommon	4,110	1,125
	Air talisman	1	Uncommon	1,475	2
	Earth talisman	1	Uncommon	187	2
	Fire talisman	1	Uncommon	253	2
	Body talisman	1	Rare	1,579	2
	Mind talisman	1	Rare	1,009	2
	Water talisman	1	Very rare	728	2
	Nature talisman	1	Rare	2,225	2
	Cosmic talisman	1	Rare	1,136	2
	Medium bladed mithril salvage	1–2	Uncommon	3,952–7,904	1,800–3,600
	Tiny bladed rune salvage	1	Uncommon	8,171	8,000
	Focus sight	1	Very rare	161,938	1,800
	Cadantine seed	1	Common	730	38
	Avantoe seed	1	Uncommon	2,347	38
	Kwuarm seed	1	Uncommon	452	38
	Toadflax seed	1	Uncommon	1,274	20
	Irit seed	1	Uncommon	723	38
	Watermelon seed	1	Uncommon	868	33
	Ranarr seed	1	Uncommon	11,687	11
	Poison ivy seed	1	Uncommon	249	99
	Cave nightshade seed	1	Uncommon	966	106
	Cactus seed	1	Uncommon	837	59
	Lantadyme seed	1	Uncommon	906	38
	Dwarf weed seed	1	Rare	3,860	38
	Maple seed	1	Very rare	1,969	28
	Magic seed	1	Very rare	39,089	253
	Grimy guam	1–4 (noted)	Common	386–1,544	18–72
	Grimy marrentill	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	1,238–4,952	1–4
	Grimy lantadyme	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	4,067–16,268	1–4
	Grimy avantoe	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	803–3,212	1–4
	Grimy cadantine	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	1,899–7,596	1–4
	Grimy dwarf weed	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	4,512–18,048	1–4
	Grimy harralander	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	1,086–4,344	1–4
	Grimy toadflax	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	3,855–15,420	1–4
	Grimy irit	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	480–1,920	1–4
	Grimy kwuarm	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	2,553–10,212	1–4
	Grimy ranarr	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	3,963–15,852	1–4
	Grimy tarromin	1–4 (noted)	Uncommon	234–936	1–4
	Coins	200–440; 1,201–4,500	Common	200–4,500	200–4,500
	Waterskin (4)	2	Common	1,322	36
	Super defence (2)	1	Common	5,070	118
	Potato cactus	3; 5–18 (noted)	Common	3,045–18,270	3–18
	Yew logs	10 (noted)	Common	4,300	960
	Pure essence	120 (noted)	Common	14,760	240
	Swordfish	2	Uncommon	312	480
	Adamantite stone spirit	3	Uncommon	114	Not alchemisable
	Goat horn dust	3 (noted)	Common	2,511	21
	Uncut sapphire	1	Common	528	15
	Uncut emerald	1	Uncommon	330	30
	Uncut diamond	1	Very rare	893	120
	Uncut ruby	1	Rare	387	60
	Rare drop table	1	Rare	Not sold	Not alchemisable

Tertiary drops

	Item	Quantity	Rarity	GE Price	High Alch
	Court summons	1	Rare	1	1
	Spirit sapphire (m)	1	5/2000	Not sold	Not alchemisable
	Spirit emerald (m)	1	3/2000	Not sold	Not alchemisable
	Spirit ruby (m)	1	2/2000	Not sold	Not alchemisable
	Starved ancient effigy	1	Very rare	Not sold	Not alchemisable
	Sealed clue scroll (hard)	1	10/1280	1	1
	Sealed clue scroll (elite)	1	3/1280	1	1

Rare drop table

This monster has access to the rare drop table.
Luck-enhancing items are not required to access the table, but they will increase the chance of accessing the rare drop table and may also improve the loot received from it.

Rare drop table:

Rare drop table Item Quantity Rarity GE price High alch value Coins 250–500 Common 250–500 250–500 Coins 50 Common 50 50 Uncut sapphire 1 Common 528 15 Uncut emerald 1 Common 330 30 Uncut ruby 1 Common 387 60 Uncut diamond 1 Common 893 120 Uncut diamond 45–55 (noted) Rare 40,185–49,115 5,400–6,600 Uncut dragonstone (m) 1 Uncommon 5,714 600 Uncut dragonstone (m) 45–55 (noted) Rare 257,130–314,270 27,000–33,000 Loop half of a key (m) 1 Common 9,175 1 Tooth half of a key (m) 1 Common 9,197 1 Crystal triskelion fragment 1 (m) 1 Very rare Not sold Not alchemisable Crystal triskelion fragment 2 (m) 1 Very rare Not sold Not alchemisable Crystal triskelion fragment 3 (m) 1 Very rare Not sold Not alchemisable Dragon longsword (m) 1 Common 56,658 60,000 Off-hand dragon longsword (m) 1 Common 56,429 60,000 Dragon spear (m) 1 Rare 36,075 37,440 Battlestaff (m) 180–220 (noted) Rare 669,420–818,180 756,000–924,000 Rune javelin 5 Rare 895 1,870 Huge plated rune salvage 1 Uncommon 38,065 40,000 Huge plated rune salvage 18–22 (noted) Rare 685,170–837,430 720,000–880,000 Shield left half (m) 1 Rare 76,300 66,000 Dragon helm (m) 1 Uncommon 57,952 60,000 Rune arrowheads 113–137 Common 23,730–28,770 678–822 Onyx bolts (m) 135–165 Very rare 846,855–1,035,045 1,104,165–1,349,535 Water talisman 68–82 (noted) Rare 49,504–59,696 136–164 Earth talisman 68–82 (noted) Rare 12,716–15,334 136–164 Raw lobster 135–165 (noted) Common 54,810–66,990 22,950–28,050 Raw shark (m) 225–275 (noted) Uncommon 192,825–235,675 40,500–49,500 Big bones 68–82 (noted) Uncommon 29,852–35,998 68–82 Dragon bones 180–220 (noted) Rare 646,200–789,800 180–220 Drakolith stone spirit 25–35 Uncommon 5,250–7,350 Not alchemisable Necrite stone spirit 2 Common 516 Not alchemisable Phasmatite stone spirit 25–30 Uncommon 6,450–7,740 Not alchemisable Phasmatite stone spirit 2 Common 516 Not alchemisable Necrite stone spirit 25–30 Rare 6,450–7,740 Not alchemisable Runite stone spirit 3 Common 2,799 Not alchemisable Orichalcite stone spirit 25–35 Rare 4,850–6,790 Not alchemisable Lantadyme seed (m) 14–16 Uncommon 12,684–14,496 532–608 Dwarf weed seed (m) 14–16 Uncommon 54,040–61,760 532–608 Magic seed (m) 4 Uncommon 156,356 1,012 Palm tree seed (m) 10 Rare 34,560 1,520 Grimy torstol (m) 90–110 (noted) Uncommon 251,010–306,790 90–110 Grimy snapdragon (m) 90–110 (noted) Uncommon 111,420–136,180 90–110 Super restore (4) (m) 45–55 (noted) Uncommon 154,395–188,705 8,100–9,900 Prayer potion (4) 45–55 (noted) Uncommon 395,055–482,845 5,130–6,270 Flax 450–550 (noted) Common 43,650–53,350 1,350–1,650 Molten glass (m) 45–55 (noted) Common 41,400–50,600 45–55 Soft clay 450–550 (noted) Uncommon 873,000–1,067,000 450–550 Yew logs 68–82 (noted) Uncommon 29,240–35,260 6,528–7,872 Yew logs 675–825 (noted) Rare 290,250–354,750 64,800–79,200 Teak plank (m) 45–55 (noted) Uncommon 32,715–39,985 13,500–16,500 Mahogany plank (m) 270–330 (noted) Rare 501,660–613,140 243,000–297,000 Vecna skull (m) 1 Very rare 775,214 6,000 Cheese+tom batta (m) 1 Very rare 608 1 Blurberry Special (m) 1 Very rare 17,069 18 Hazelmere's signet ring (m) 1 Very rare 2,147,483,647 300,000

Universal drops

Universal drops are dropped by nearly every monster and skilling action outside of Daemonheim.

These items are dropped alongside main drops.

	Item	Quantity	Rarity	GE Price	High Alch
	Key token	1	Rare	Not sold	Not alchemisable
	Mimic kill token (m)	1	1/10000	81,727	Not alchemisable

Achievements

• Staff on Stryke ( 25) – Kill a desert strykewyrm wearing a Full Slayer Helm and wielding an ancient staff.
• Sand in My Loot ( 0) – Obtained a collection of unique drops from Slayer monsters located within the Kharidian desert.
  • Focus sight drop

Update history

This information has been compiled as part of the update history project. Some updates may not be included—see here for how to help out!

• patch 28 November 2022 (Update):
  • Desert, Ice and Jungle Strykewyrms no longer require a Slayer task to attack.

• patch 30 March 2020 (Update):
  • Lowered the brightness of the sun over near the Desert Strykewyrms east of Al kharid.

• patch 16 April 2018 (Update):
  • Corrected functionality of desert strykewyrms' ranged attack.

• ninja 1 August 2016 (Update):
  • Desert Strykewyrms now have 10,000 lifepoints (up from 8,000), a max hit of 710 (up from 296) and greater accuracy.
  • Players can now investigate Strykewyrm mounds from a distance, allowing players to stomp a mound when using ranged and magic combat styles.
  • The delay in switching from mound to Strykewyrm has been reduced.

• patch 20 August 2013 (Update):
  • Desert strykewyrms no longer stop attacking player randomly.

• patch 13 August 2013 (Update):
  • Strykewyrms no longer show two combat overlays.

• patch 14 January 2013 (Update):
  • Fixed an issue where Desert strykewyrms and cannons were not behaving as expected.

• patch 11 December 2012 (Update):
  • Flattened some tiles near the Desert Strykewyrm area to stop drops from disappearing under the ground.

• patch 24 October 2012 (Update):
  • Players can no longer stand underneath a strykewyrm for so long before it decides to knock the player back.

• patch 7 September 2010 (Update):
  • Strikewyrms would not perform their special attack if they thought you had a pet cat.

• patch 3 March 2010 (Update):
  • Strykewyrms can no longer lose focus on the player they were attacking.

• update 8 February 2010 (Update):
  • Added to game.

Trivia

• Using the stomp emote to attract the strykewyrm is possibly a reference to the sandworms (Shai'Hulud) from Frank Herbert's Dune novel series, which share some common characteristics.
• The release of strykewyrms was hinted at by the Twitter hint, "Three strykes and they're out!" Additionally, the encrypted message from the Chaos Elemental in Chaos Elemental Letter 14 contained the phrase 'from beneath you, it devours' - this possibly relates simultaneously to the burrowing nature of the strykewyrms and also that they were slayer-related content. 'From beneath you, it devours' is a recurring phrase in season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
• Desert strykewyrms, along with the rest of the strykewyrms, were the first monsters in RuneScape that made use of particle effects.
• If a player runs behind an obstacle just as a strykewyrm burrows into the ground, the strykewyrm will disappear. Although it will seem to respawn normally, it will leave no drops. This will not count towards a kill, and it has not been fixed yet.
• As of 1 February 2018, the highest kill count for this monster was 29,724 kills.
  • This had increased to 30,593 by 6 May 2018.
• There was a bug where the desert strykewyrm's ranged attack would always miss, regardless of the player's armour rating. This was patched on 16 April 2018.
• Prior to the update on 28 November 2022, the players were required to be on a slayer task to damage this creature.