Barrows

The Barrows (AKA burial mounds or tumuli) is an Activity which challenges the player in a fight against the six Barrows Brothers, in order to reap rewards such as coins, runes, Half key, dragon medium helmet, Bolt Racks and rare Barrows equipment.

Note: This is a Dangerous Activity. If you die here, you will lose your items!

Background
The Barrows brothers were powerful, ancient warriors of Saradomin who fought in the God War of the 3rd Age. Their powers were granted to them by a mysterious stranger whose identity is currently unknown. As the brothers and their accompanying army progressed further into enemy territory in Morytania, the stranger continued to follow them until the brothers became weaker after establishing a strong reputation as near invincible warriors for the course of the war.

Finally, the brothers were grievously wounded in battle and died of their infectious wounds simultaneously in the army's camp. The army spent several days and nights holding off the enemy army to construct burial mounds, the Barrows, to honour the fallen brothers.

As the army began its retreat, the stranger who had given the brothers their powers cast a magical spell on the tombs, corrupting the bodies of the brothers for whatever purpose he decides to use them in the future.

If players read the crumbling tome found on a table, in the hut adjacent to the entry gate for the minigame, they can read a detailed account of how the brothers came to be buried.

General Advice
It is recommended that before attempting the Barrows players should have a combat level of at least 70, level 43+ Prayer (for using the protection prayers), level 50+ Magic, level 55+ Slayer (for using the Magic Dart spell) and level 61+ Hitpoints. Players are also advised to turn their "Accept Aid" option off before fighting the brothers, as other players may attempt to use Tele-other spells in order to distract potential grave robbers. It is recommended that players wear a Ring of life when fighting the brothers.

Time taken and kill count do not affect the chances of getting a Barrows item from the chest; only killing the Brothers will affect this, as only the armour of the Barrows brothers that have been killed will be available from the chest. However, many players believe that kill count does affect the minor drops from the chest - runes, coins and bolt racks.

Quests Needed

 * Priest in Peril
 * Started Nature Spirit

Recommended

 * It is advisable to complete In Search of the Myreque to access a shortcut from Canifis to The Hollows, where they can then take a boat to Mort'ton. (Beware of Ghasts!)
 * In Aid of the Myreque gives the player access to a bank inBurgh de Rott, which is close to the Barrows.
 * Darkness of Hallowvale allows the player to do the Burgh de Rott Ramble minigame, which can be used for fast access from the Paterdomus area to Burgh de Rott and then Mort'ton.

Useful

 * A Fairy Tale Part II for access to the fairy ring transport system.

Reaching the Barrows
The Barrows are located to the east of Mort'ton, in Morytania. Walking directly to Mort'ton requires passage though the Mort Myre Swamp followed by a long, winding path to Mort'ton. This is quite time consuming, so using the Canifis shortcut to The Hollows or the Burgh de Rott Ramble minigame is faster.

The entrance to the shortcut from Canifis is located south of the Hair of the Dog tavern in Canifis. Enter the underground room from the entrance, go through the secret door to the south, and travel the tunnel to The Hollows. Leave the tunnel and continue south, crossing the bridge strung between two trees and then going to the rowboat. Beware of Ghasts in The Hollows! The boat take you to Mort'ton, right next to the bridge leading to the Barrows.

The Burgh de Rott Ramble can be used as a quick way to the Mort'ton area, but it can be a bit dangerous for lower-level players. Prepare for the ramble and go to western Morytania to the bridge leading to the Paterdomus area. Choose one of the strongest people to escort (the Mage or the Adventurer) and choose the safest route (Route One). Turn off auto-retaliate. If you get a combat encounter, run to the nearest evade point. This allows the player to get to Burgh de Rott quickly, usually without taking any damage. Once at Burgh de Rott, go north to Mort'ton and east to the Barrows.

There are several ways to get the region with the Canifis shortcut and the Burgh de Rott Ramble starting point:
 * Go to the Paterdomus area east of Varrock and then through the tunnel north of the temple or the shortcut (requires level 65 Agility) south of the temple.
 * Use an Ectophial (from the Ghosts Ahoy quest) to go to the Ectofuntus just north of Port Phasmatys and walk west from there.
 * Use the Ancient Magic Kharyrll Teleport to get to the Hair of the Dog pub in Canifis.
 * Build a Portal Chamber in your house (50 Construction required) and create a teleport to Kharyll (Canifis). The portal teleports you to the Canifis pub. To make best of this, place a Chapel in your house, near your Portal Chamber if possible, so that you can quickly recharge prayer and then teleport.
 * Use the Fairy ring teleport system. Coordinate CKS goes to the ring west of Canifis near the Mort Myre Swamp gate and Burgh de Rott Ramble start. Coordinate DLS goes to the ring in a cavern that is connected to the Canifis-Hollows tunnel (the shortcut beneath the Mort Myre Swamp). Coordinate BKR goes to the ring in the north-central part of the Mort Myre Swamp, but this is useful only if the player must walk to Mort'ton the long way and cannot take the shortcut or ramble instead.

What to Take
The Barrows is an excellent example of the delicate balance of the combat triangle between the three combat classes, as it is best to use Magic against the melee brothers, Ranged against the mage (Ahrim), and Melee against the ranger (Karil). However, despite his high magic defence bonus Karil also has a very low Magic level, making him more susceptible to Magic than may be expected. Also, Ahrim is fairly weak to melee as well, and saves players inventory space if they don't bring a bow and keep their obtained bolt racks in their arrows slot.

Magic
There are several strategies using Magic spells that work well at the Barrows:


 * Magic Dart: This method requires level 50 Magic, level 55 Slayer and a Slayer staff. This is the most effective method; doing up to 20 damage and uses one death rune and four mind runes. These runes are often regained from the chest, making this method very cost-effective. Your maximum hit using this spell is determined by 10+ 1/10th of your Magic level so hypothetically the maximum you can hit is 20 (99 Magic using a skillcape boost, or even higher with a magic potion or Magic essence potion). It has been confirmed by Jagex that yoeur magic attack bonus does affect how accurate this spell is, but the difference is so slight, and the magic defence and magic level of most brothers is so low that this spell will still work when wearing melee armour such as rune or even barrows, but wearing Mystic robes as mentioned does help to hit slightly more accurately but adds to costs and sacrifices defence.


 * Ancient Magicks: Players must have completed the Desert Treasure quest to use these spells; having at least level 58 Magic to use Ice Rush is recommended. This method isn't very cost effective, but is fast in killing the brothers; players may want to take an Ancient staff for auto casting the spells. The best spells to use are ice spells which will freeze and damage the brothers. Blood spells, on the other hand, allows players to receive 25% of damage done to the brothers back in hitpoints.


 * Normal Magic: Starting at 35 magic, players can also use fire bolt to kill the brothers. This is a cheap and low-level alternative, and can be very effective when coupled with the Chaos gauntlets from the Family Crest quest.


 * God Spells like Flames of Zamorak and Saradomin Strike especially Claws of Guthix with Void Knight armour for the extra bonus. Claws of Guthix can be especially useful because it can be autocast with the Void Knight mace.

Ranged
Vital when killing Ahrim if you are not meleeing; it is best to use rune arrows or adamant arrows, wear your best ranger armour (black dragonhide armour works well and can also be used as melee armour), and wield a magic shortbow, crystal bow or even a dark bow. The magic shortbow special attack is very useful against Ahrim. A Rune crossbow with mithril bolts may also be used.

Melee
The best way strategy for players who have low to average melee stats is to use melee only when killing Karil, as he is relatively weak to melee attacks, especially slash attacks. Wear your best melee armour, and use an effective weapon, anything Dragon and above is fine. Players with 80 or above attack and defence stats can bring full Veracs, a combat potion, and a (super) defence potion to melee every single brother with prayer. Verac's set effect, Defiler, will activate often, allowing you to hit the brothers more frequently. You will save a lot of runes in the long run, if you die you'll lose Verac's helm, the most expensive piece of the set. Players can interchange their weapons for this method; a whip and rune defender or even a godsword would be a fast and effective way to melee the brothers.

General Inventory
Players should wear their highest magic attack bonus to the barrows (for example Mystic robes), a ring of life and wield at least 30 arrows (more are required for several trips).


 * Spade (essential)
 * Bow and best Ranged armour
 * Melee weapons (dragon or above)
 * 1-5 Prayer potions (depends what level you are, level 100s should only take 1)
 * Runes (differs depending on the type of spell to be used)
 * Food - Lobsters, swordfish, monkfish or sharks, are recommended.
 * Ectophial (filled), or another fast teleportation method.
 * Stat boosting potions (not essential)

Melee armour isn't really required as Protect from Melee will be on for much of the time, however, in the "maze" where numerous monsters may attack the player and prayer is drained at a rapid rate.

For players who plan to attempt Barrows without prayer potions, this is the suggested inventory.

No Prayer Potions Inventory

 * Spade (essential)
 * Bow and best Ranged armour
 * Dragon Dagger (p), (p+), or (p++), (p++ recommended) and/or whip
 * Runes - 100 deaths and 400 minds per trip
 * At least 14 pieces of food - Swordfish or above (Sharks highly recommended, but monkfish work fine too)
 * Fast teleport - Ectophial or teletab (teletab to house with a Kharyrll portal and a chapel are recommended)

This method differs greatly depending on which combat style the player is using, if the player is using magic, then armour with a high positive magic attack bonus is required, if the player is using melee; armour with a very high melee defence bonus will be needed, the most common no prayer potions method is to use existing prayer points and to hope that Dharok is not the tunnel brother, the second most popular method is ancient magicks, after this, a very small percentage of the 110+ combat community use melee on all brothers, hoping to break them down by sheer force before they get killed. (see the Lesser techniques section)

Suggested Equipment
The ficrst set-up will give you a higher magic bonus. The seond set-up will give you a higher melee defence bonus, which may be useful if you plan to tank-mage Torag and/or Guthan. Don't worry about splatting too much; the brothers' magic levels are extremely low. You'll probably hit almost as well as you would if you wore mystic robes.

For those who are attempting to complete Barrows without using prayer potions, this is the general set-up.

No Prayer Potions Equipment

 * Any Melee Barrows helm (Preferably Verac's for prayer bonus) > Helm of Neitiznot > Berserker Helm
 * Any Melee Barrows plate (Preferably Verac's for prayer bonus) > Granite Plate > Rune Platebody > Fighter Torso
 * Any Melee Barrows legs (Preferably Verac's for prayer bonus) > Dragon Plateleg/skirt > Rune Platelegs
 * Infinity boots > Dragon boots > Wizard boots > Rune boots > Mystic boots
 * Any RFD gloves - preferably barrows or dragon
 * Ring of Life > Fremennik ring > Lunar ring > Beacon ri
 * Arrows/Bolts/Bolt Racks
 * God Cape > Fire Cape > Cape of Achievements Trimmed> Obsidian Cape or Untrimmed Cape of Achievements
 * Charged Dragonfire Shield > Dragon Square Shie > Rune Kiteshield > Rune Defender
 * Fury Amulet > Glory Amulet > power amulet > Phoenix Necklace (Heals hp below 20% by 30%)
 * Slayer Staff

The Brothers
The six Barrows brothers are buried in six different tombs. Players have to enter each brother's tomb by using a spade on each mound.

Each tomb contains a specific Brother, as shown in the left thumb.

One of the tombs will not contain a brother, and will instead lead to a small tunnel maze. Players should kill the other 5 brothers before proceeding into this maze.

After defeating five of the Brothers the player may enter the maze. Inside the maze, players have to find the chest and kill the sixth brother. Players may enter the hidden tunnel prior to killing the five brothers in their tombs. This method, however, will place the remaining brothers in the tunnel, as well as the brother who would have already been in the tomb. This method could lead to longer Barrows runs as encountering the brothers is random in the tunnel. Note that any unkilled brothers will not have their armour and weapon added to the chest's possible loot. See Barrows Equipment for more information on these items.

Remark : If the player dies, logs out or leaves during their trip to the barrows, the amount of brothers killed will not change; for example if you had a kill count of 3, you will still have the same kill count when you return. The only way to reset this is by looting the chest.

Killing the Brothers
The Brothers have special abilities. The best way to fight the brothers is to use Magic; four of the brothers wear armour that is weak to magic-based attacks. Any high-hitting spells (blast spells, wave spells, or god spells) will work well; using Bind, Snare or Entangle or the Ancient Magicks ice spells work well as the brother will be rendered immobile (this is especially useful when fighting Verac). Magic Dart is a very popular spell to use as all runes required to cast the spell are possible chest rewards.

Recommended order
This is the recommended order of killing the brothers, regardless if you plan to use prayer potions. The names next to the brothers indicate their passive abilities.

Dharok the Wretched (Level 115) - Wretched Strength: Uses melee. Strength rises as his health becomes depleted; he can hit up to 58 damage, hence it is advised to have high Hitpoints to attempt the Barrows. Magic is the most effective combat style to use.Protect from Melee is a necessity, as he can kill any player with 2 hits when at low health. Karil the Tainted (Level 98) - Tainted Shot': Uses ranged. Lowers the player's Agility level by 20%. His hits are very fast and accurate; kill him quickly using melee and Protect from Ranged. If you brought along a Dragon dagger then use your special attack on him, as he has a low stab/slash defence. Note that only players with a high combat level (95+) should do this. Verac the Defiled (Level 115) - Defiler: Uses melee. Hits through armour and prayer. You should use Protect from Melee if possible, as he will hit far less often than if you do not use it at all. Magic advised. It is also helpful to use binding or ancient magicks ice spells against him, as this stops him from attacking and using his special. Ahrim the Blighted (Level 98) - Blighted Aura: Uses Magic. Attacks with Fire wave and lowers the player's combat stats using curse spells. Use Ranged to kill Ahrim; even at low Ranged levels he is significantly weaker to Ranged than he is to Melee. Although range is the best method for killing Ahrim, if you have very low range (40 or lower) you can use melee on Ahrim, since it is more effective than magic. Torag the Corrupted (Level 115) - Corruption: Uses melee. Depletes run energy. This brother is the least dangerous of all the brothers; he doesn't hit as accurately as the other brothers, and his special effect does not affect combat. He can still hit up to 25 and often if you are wearing robes. In addition, the effect could be dangerous if the player is in the maze, especially if the player doesn't have a method of restoring his/her run energy. Player can use Protect from Melee. Guthan the Infested (Level 115) - Infestation: Uses melee. Health recovers proportionate to the damage done to the player; for example, if he hits 20 damage, he will heal 20 Hitpoints. Magic attacks are still effective due to Guthan's extremely low magic defence. Guthan is one of the less dangerous of the brothers.

Prayer drain
While in the tombs of the Barrows and in the tunnels, explained later on, your prayer will be drained. At first, it starts draining only 8 prayer points every 10 seconds. But after you kill more brothers, you'll see their ghostly faces appear on your screen. For every brother you kill, an additional prayer point will be drained. So, for example, if you have killed 4 brothers, your prayer will be drained by 12 points every 10 seconds.(But if you wish to only use a kill count of one brother, which yields little in the way of barrows equipment and greatly increases your chances of being killed in the tunnels, you can run in and out of the brothers tombs until you find the one with the entrance to the tunnel)

Entering the Tunnels
Once you have killed 5 of the brothers, return to the tunnel mound, search the sarcophagus and go into the tunnel. Players are advised to wear Melee armour in the tunnels; this is the place where you will use most of your food, as you are under constant melee attack from an assortment of monsters ranging from level 43 to level 79.


 * Bloodworms (Level 52)
 * Skeletons (Level 77)
 * Crypt Rats (Level 43)
 * Crypt Spiders (Level 56)
 * Giant Crypt Rats (Level 76)
 * Giant Crypt Spiders (Level 79)

Each monster killed will increase the player's "Kill Count".

The maze
The maze is a simple set of nine rooms in a square shape, interconnected by doors. There is a tunnel between each corner rooms.

The center room contains the chest, although only one of its four doors can be opened. Players have to find their way through the maze to it. Note that the good door changes every trip.

Player will enter the maze in one of the four corner rooms. In this first room, only one door will open as shown in the example image.

To know if a door is locked or opened, player should "right click" on it.

Trick : When in the long tunnel, player can see if a room door is locked by moving the camera the right way to be able to "right click" the room door. The same trick can be applied in front of the chest room, allowing the player to find the correct door quickly.

Remark : As the tunnel mound is almost never at the same sarcophagus, Players will never enter the maze in the same corner room, so the ladder changes every trip.

The 6th Brother
The sixth brother may appear as a player goes through a door; if he has not appeared by the time a player reaches the center room, he will instead appear as the player opens the chest.

In order to save prayer potions and food, it is recommended to kill the last "melee" brother from a safespot if you believe it is worth the time (for Dharok it is a must), which means before opening the chest.

Safespot
Players who care about prayer potions should use safespots in the tunnel. These few safespots allow players to use Magic against a Melee brother in total safety. As Karil and Ahrim use long-ranged attacks, safespots will not work against them.

As the brother may appear when a player opens a door, it can be a bit tricky to get him in a safespot's place and they will have the chance to hit you. It is recommended to pass a "long tunnel" door which is leading (both way) to a safespot until the brother appears.

Entering The Chest Room
The player must try to reach the center room; three of the doors will not open, but the fourth will present a simple puzzle for the player to solve before being able to enter. One of the four puzzles will be proposed to the player. Players should try to answer quickly between monsters attack. If a player makes a mistake, the puzzle door will change, and the player will have to search again for the right door.

Once the sixth brother is dead and the chest room found, players will be able to search the chest, take the loot, and run out of the crypt. Players may also wish to teleport out.

Do not stay in the maze. Random rocks will fall on you hitting 1-6 damage often. Getting out of the tunnels as fast as possible is highly recommended.

Strategy
Higher level players with 60 prayer and above can complete the Barrows without using prayer potions, this can be done by quickly killing Dharok, Verac, and Karil and using melee armour on Guthan whilst using Magic; using Ranged against Ahrim and Magic against Torag. To do this it is advised to have 85 Attack, 80 Strength, 80 Defence, 60 Prayer, 75 ranged, 80 hitpoints and 80 Magic. If using this method players should apply other tactics, such as sidestepping, in the tunnels.

The Ranged armour will suffice for the time it is not in effect. The exception is versus Guthan and Torag because if you have 75 defence, you should use rune and mage them. You will still hit very often and they will almost never hit you.

It has been known that very rarely a twin of a brother will appear if a player runs through a door to escape from their assigned brother in the maze rather than fighting him; killing twin brothers, or even killing only one of the two, has the same effect as killing one brother.

Rewards
Extract from Runescape site: "If you have killed the 6 brothers you stand the best chance of receiving a Barrows item from the chest."


 * Mind runes - 0-1430 per drop.
 * Chaos runes - 0-687 per drop.
 * Death runes - 0-383 per drop.
 * Blood runes - 0-159 per drop.
 * Bolt racks - 0-160 per drop.
 * Coins - 0-3072 per drop.
 * Dragon medium helmet
 * Half keys
 * Barrows equipment

The average amount of runs it takes to receive a Barrows item is about 1 in 14.6 runs.

A very lucky player may get two Barrows items at once, but this is very rare.

Note: If a player is using the Magic Dart spell, the chest drop has a decent chance of replenishing the runes used.

Lesser Techniques
There are many techniques that a player can use to hide on the other side of the sarcophagus and still kill the brother; the most popular method is to set up a cannon then open the crypt and run to the other side. A player can also use poisoned daggers and arrows to poison the brother and wait on the opposite side of the sarcophagus for him to die; be warned though that the barrows brothers have fast healing rates, and will need to be re-poisoned when the poison damage drops to 2.

Another very time-consuming way is to mainly use prayer potions, and good prayer boosting items. If you use monk's robes, then you can still cast magic easily, but with only a somewhat high prayer bonus, the downside to this is you will use a lot of prayer potions and more food; costing even more to do the barrows. As a result, this method is not recommended.

Another way that is very dangerous for lower levels, is to take either full Verac's or proselyte armour, with a very good melee weapon, and use melee on all of the brothers. The main problem for this, however, is Verac, as he can hit through prayer and armour, so it is wise to bring food for him, or have a friend supply you. This is only feasible for the highest levels, but is very money-efficient because hardly any prayer potions are needed, although a lot of food is necessary.

Tips

 * You can use the bank at Burgh de Rott if you have fixed the bank in the quest - In Aid of the Myreque.
 * Prayer can be recharged at the Nature Spirit altar.
 * Overall it is best to have a balanced defence bonus (good mage, melee and range defence bonuses), whilst maintaining a good attack bonus for the combat style you are using.
 * Once your construction level is level 45 or higher (42 with a Crystal saw, 40 with a Crystal saw and tea), you can build an altar in your home to recharge your prayer points and build a portal to teleport you to Canifis known as Kharyrll Teleport in Ancient Magicks.
 * Some players bring a Ring of duelling to teleport to the Duel Arena. This is a great place to recharge Prayer points, bank, and also get healed to full health by the nurses.
 * If you have an altar in your house, take a house tele tab with you or teleport runes.
 * If you've finished Darkness of Hallowvale, you can attempt the Burgh de Rott Ramble minigame for a quick way to the Barrows. It is recommended you escort the adventurer and take the first path, as this is the easiest and quickest way, and you can evade any event (if you happen to get any).
 * The Barrows are the general 'Gateway' mini-game before doing most high-end content. It is suggested you do the barrows for the armour.

Music

 * Dance of the Undead
 * Dangerous Way

Trivia

 * While in the tunnels that lead you to the chest, you can kill the monsters all around you to obtain a higher "Kill Count." The highest kill count you can get that shows your number is 9,999. Once you reach 10,000 in kill count, it will just say "Too Many!" There is no significant difference between the kill count at Too Many! or even 1, but it is believed that you obtain more runes (if you get any) with a higher kill count.
 * While playing Barrows the mini-map screen is blacked out, but when you use any teleport spell the map instantly appears (for one second).
 * Six Hills in England seem to be the model/idea for the Barrows.
 * If you observe carefully, you will notice that Guthan, Torag and Dharok are wearing capes similar to the Cape of Legends.