Horror from the Deep

The Old School RuneScape Wiki also has an article on: osrsw:Horror from the Deep

For the achievement, see Horror from the Deep (achievement).

This article has a quick guide. Quick guides provide a brief summary of the steps needed for completion.

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Horror from the Deep (#63)
Release date								17 November 2004 (Update)
Members								Yes
Voice Over								No
Official series								Fremennik #3
Age								Fifth Age
Timeline								Heroic
Start area								Fremennik Province
Combat								NPC combat level 80–89
Advanced data
Quest ID								281
Quest create ID								62
Official difficulty								Experienced
Links								Quests

Horror from the Deep is an experienced quest revolving around the mysterious disappearance of Jossik, keeper of the Lighthouse near the Fremennik Province. As the title suggests, the investigations lead to the discovery of very dangerous creatures living beneath the lighthouse.

Official description

“

The Lighthouse protecting Kandarin's north-western coastline has mysteriously stopped operating, and contact with the Lighthouse-keeper Jossik has been lost. The council would greatly appreciate it if somebody could discover for them what has happened to this most vital landscape feature.

”

Overview

Start point	Speak with Larrissa, who is outside of the Lighthouse, north of the Barbarian Outpost. Show on map	2004#12
Member requirement	Members only
Official length	Medium
Requirements	Quests: Horror from the Deep Bar Crawl (miniquest) 35 Agility
Items required	Items from the tool belt are not listed unless they do not work or are not automatically added. For fixing the bridge: 60 steel nails 2 normal planks (can be obtained during the quest, just north of the fenced-in area of the Barbarian Outpost) For fixing the lighthouse mechanism: Molten glass 1 swamp tar For activating the wall: 1 Fire rune 1 Water rune 1 Earth rune 1 Air rune A sword of any type that you are willing to lose An arrow of any type (except ogre and training) you are willing to lose
Recommended	43 Prayer Ability to defeat a level 100 and level 84 monster, the second one being tricky. A melee weapon (ideally a slash weapon), a ranged weapon (ideally thrown weapons), and runes for all four elemental spells to switch amongst in combat. Necromancy does not work against the Dagannoth mother. Games necklace and quick teleport tabs are very helpful to reach the Lighthouse during the quest. Houses by Rellekka are also helpful transportation methods. Lighthouse Teleport for quick teleportation to Larrissa
Enemies to defeat	Baby Dagannoth (level 84) Dagannoth mother (level 100)

Unattended

Fixing the bridge to the Lighthouse.

Travel to the Lighthouse by using an enchanted lyre, a games necklace teleport to the Barbarian Outpost, a House Teleport, if your house is in Rellekka, or any other method that you wish. Start the quest by speaking to Larrissa, who can be found standing just outside the lighthouse entrance.

Larrissa tells you that she thinks that her boyfriend, who resides in the lighthouse, has gone missing as she hasn't seen him for a few days. To further her fears, the light is switched off and the front door bolted shut, which she says is unlike him.

Diary of the Presumably Dead

A player speaking to Gunnjorn.

When you offer to help search for her boyfriend, Larrissa suggests you speak to Gunnjorn at the Barbarian Outpost for a spare key to the lighthouse and then fix the broken bridge to the east.

To be able to pass the guards and enter the Agility course to talk to Gunnjorn, you must have completed the Bar Crawl miniquest.

• Travel to the outpost by either using a games necklace teleport or by going south, across the basalt platforms. Talk to Gunnjorn, in the Agility course (next to the Talent Scout) and get the lighthouse key. You can also get two planks here; they respawn just north of the outpost.
• With 60 steel nails in your inventory, use the planks on both sides of the broken bridge located east of Larrissa. You can cross the broken bridge by doing a small jump, so just hop to the other side and fix that part of the bridge.

The fixed lighthouse.

Go back and talk to Larrissa again, who now tells you to enter the lighthouse and search for Jossik. Inside the lighthouse, climb to the 1^st floor^[UK]2^nd floor^[US] and search the bookcase. Retrieve and flip through the lighthouse manual, ancient diary and journal, which tell you about the history of the lighthouse and its inhabitants.

• On the top level, use molten glass and swamp tar on the lighting mechanism, then light it. The lighthouse will now be fixed.

Elementary

The fully unlocked door.

Go down to the basement of the lighthouse, where you will find a small cavern with a strange wall, having six empty slots fitted into its frame.

• Use all of the basic elemental runes on the wall, (fire, water, earth, and air)
• Use your sword and your arrow (any type, but remember that you will not get them back).

This is your last chance to prepare for the fight.

Preparation

If you haven't prepared for this fight with armour and runes for casting magic, teleport to any place with a bank to ready yourself. If you only brought a games necklace, then use it to teleport to the Gamers' Grotto or Burthorpe Troll Invasion and bank there. While you are there, you may wish to pick up any quick teletab to any city or your POH, just in case you are close to death, to save yourself.

Inventory

• It is recommended to bring at least two types of attack styles, that is, either magic, melee or range.
• Bring good armour (at least rune equipment, dragon hide armour, or mystic equipment), enough combat runes to cast several of each elemental spell (wind, water, earth, and fire). If possible, equip a ring of life and bring a one-click teleport just in case things get messy.
• Stock with prayer potions and a super set.

Combat

The fight with the Dagannoth mother.

If you cannot see the colour changes very well, look to the chat box. There would be a message "The Dagannoth mother turns (colour)..." Also, you can change the graphics to "safe mode" to brighten the scene, allowing you to see her colour clearly. Using the wrong type of attack incurs splash damage.

• By default, her first form is always white. The cycle of the colour changes of the Dagannoth mother seems to be totally random.
• She can detect prayer and will automatically switch to an attack type different to your protection prayer. By default, she ranges at a distance and melees up close.
• If you stop attacking her at any point or take too long to finish her off, there is a possibility that she will disappear and you will have to start the fight again.
• If a player has reasonable defence, they could consider using attack-boosting prayers instead, because the Dagannoth mother has a rather poor accuracy.
• Necromancy attacks do not work.

Get ready to face the mother!

The Horror

Jossik, injured in the dungeon below the lighthouse.

Once you are ready, walk through the unlocked wall and down the ladder. You find Jossik alive, but hurt and resting against the dungeon wall. He tells you that his search for his lost uncle, Silas, had brought him past the secret door, but he was attacked by a monster who was able to trap him there.

As he is talking, he announces that the monster is coming back. A cutscene plays where a dagannoth appears from the water. The monster can be fairly easily disposed; put on protect from melee and range or melee it, as you need to save your runes for its mother.

After you defeat it, try to help Jossik up to the surface, but he tells you that that wasn't the monster that had attacked him. A cutscene will show the Dagannoth mother emerging into the cavern, and engaging you immediately into battle.

Colour	Attack Weakness
White	Air spells (Wind Strike, Bolt, Blast, Wave, and Surge) Smoke spells (Smoke Rush, Burst, Blitz and Barrage)
Blue	Water spells (Water Strike, Bolt, Blast, Wave, and Surge) Ice spells (Ice Rush, Burst, Blitz and Barrage)
Brown	Earth spells (Earth Strike, Bolt, Blast, Wave, and Surge) Shadow spells (Shadow Rush, Burst, Blitz and Barrage)
Red	Fire spells (Fire Strike, Bolt, Blast, Wave, and Surge) Blood spells (Blood Rush, Burst, Blitz and Barrage)
Orange	Melee attacks (Slash > Stab/Crush)
Green	Ranged attacks (Thrown > Arrow/Bolt)

The God Books

After you defeat the Dagannoth mother, congratulations. You have survived the Horror from the Deep!

As a reward from the Dagannoth mother, you obtain a rusty casket. Go to the 1^st floor^[UK]2^nd floor^[US] of the lighthouse and show it to Jossik. If you had a full inventory when defeating the Dagannoth mother, you will not receive a rusty casket. Instead, you must talk to Jossik, who will have picked it up for you.

You may now choose a book affiliated with three gods: Saradomin's Book of Wisdom, Guthix's Book of Balance or Zamorak's Book of Chaos. Be sure to choose the same book twice in a row when he asks if you are sure about your selection.

Rewards

• 2 quest points
• 4,662 experience
• 4,662 experience
• 4,662 experience
• A damaged god book of your choice
• Dagannoth Mother is unlocked in Dominion Tower
• Access to The Lighthouse Store and the dagannoth caves underneath (There are level 77 and 78 dagannoths. The level 77's use an inaccurate ranged attack, while the level 78's use a much more effective melee attack)
• The ability to request Dagannoths as a slayer task if the Mask of the Dagannoth is owned
• 2 Treasure Hunter keys (Ironman accounts will not receive these)
  

Music unlocked

• Out of the Deep
• Lighthouse

Achievements

• Horror from the Deep ( 0) – Complete this quest.
• Desert achievements
  • Elite - Sun Shade ( 25) – Plant a dominion marker in the desert, with all its achievements complete, including killing Sunfreet.
    • The Dagannoth mother needs to be killed in a special match in the Dominion Tower.

Required for completing

Horror from the Deep is directly required for the following quests/miniquests:

• Blood Runs Deep
• Recipe for Disaster
• Recipe for Disaster: Defeating the Culinaromancer

It is therefore an indirect requirement for the following quests and miniquests:

• Aftermath
• Azzanadra's Quest
• Battle of the Monolith
• Children of Mah
• City of Senntisten
• Full comprehension of Curse of the Black Stone
• Desperate Creatures
• Desperate Measures
• Full comprehension of Desperate Times
• Dishonour among Thieves
• Full comprehension of Evil Dave's Big Day Out
• Extinction
• Eye of Het I
• Eye of Het II
• Fate of the Gods
• Full comprehension of Heart of Stone
• Full comprehension of Hero's Welcome
• Kindred Spirits
• Koschei's Troubles (miniquest)
• Mahjarrat Memories (miniquest)
• Full comprehension of Missing, Presumed Death
• Nomad's Elegy
• Once Upon a Time in Gielinor: Finale
• Full comprehension of Once Upon a Time in Gielinor: Fortunes
• One of a Kind
• Sins of the Father
• Sliske's Endgame
• Tales of Nomad (miniquest)
• The Light Within
• The Mighty Fall
• Twilight of the Gods

Additionally:

• Rag and Bone Man/Wish list (unless you have started The Fremennik Trials)

Transcript

This article on a quest has an associated dialogue page. Click here for a transcript of possible conversations and other messaging encountered throughout the quest. Click here for a transcript of the quest's journal entry.

Credits

Horror from the Deep
Developers
Developer			Mod James
Art & Graphics
Graphics			Mod Joe, Mod Neil
Quality Assurance
Quality assurance			Daniel G
Audio
Audio			Mod Ian
Other
Quest Help			Mod Mog, Mod Ingrid

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 9 August 2021 (Update):
  • Added a left-click option to fix the light in the Lighthouse during Horror from the Deep.

• patch 8 January 2018 (Update):
  • Typos in the quest overview screen for Horror from the Deep have now been corrected.

• patch 24 July 2012 (Update):
  • The Horror from the Deep bridge now shows which side of the bridge players have or haven't fixed.

• patch 5 July 2011 (Update):
  • A grammatical error in this quest has been fixed.

• patch 24 June 2010 (Update):
  • Stopped the occasional spawning of two Dagannoth Mothers during Horror from the Deep.

• patch 3 December 2009 (Update):
  • Corrected the reward listed by the Advisor system for Horror from the Deep.

• patch 9 June 2009 (Update):
  • Corrected the striking of a few requirements in the Horror from the Deep quest.

• patch 19 May 2009 (Update):
  • Improved consistency in the examine message for items in Horror from the Deep.

• update 17 November 2004 (Update):
  • Added to game.

Cultural references

• The name of the quest may be a reference to H.P. Lovecraft and the X-Com game, Terror from the Deep.
• Silas' diary contains numerous references to American poet Walt Whitman's verses, particularly his poem Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.

Trivia

• The quest was originally named Lighthouse Quest.
• When you complete the quest, the scroll says: 'Congratulations! You have survived the Horror From The Deep!' This is one of the only quests that say something different to having completed a quest, along with My Arm's Big Adventure, Recruitment Drive, The Giant Dwarf, Troll Romance and One Small Favour.
• It is impossible to obtain a book of Armadyl, Bandos, or Zaros as a reward for the quest. You can only choose to buy those books after you obtain one of the three books of Guthix, Saradomin or Zamorak.
• With the release of Legacy Mode, the combat level of most monsters and NPCs were scaled down. While the Dagannoth Mother was downgraded from 120 to 84, the Baby Dagannoth remains at 100.