Old School RuneScape Wiki
Register
Advertisement
This article is about the strongest class of monsters. For other uses, see Boss (disambiguation).
Boss

A boss is a powerful, usually unique monster that is fought to accomplish an objective, be it the advancement or completion of a quest or minigame, or as part of a team player-versus-monster event. Many quests feature boss fights at their climaxes; such bosses are often the main antagonists of the quests or quest series, or are somehow related to the main antagonist(s). Some monsters that are commonly referred to as bosses are very powerful monsters that reside in multi-combat areas; these monsters are commonly fought by teams of players in search of highly valuable drops. Many bosses have extremely high combat levels, and most of the strongest monsters in the game are bosses.

Dwarf multicannons often cannot be set up in the areas of many bosses. Others may have different restrictions; for example, Prayer cannot be used during the fights with the final bosses of Recipe for Disaster.

Most bosses (e.g. bosses like the Corporeal Beast) also reside in a multi-way area; very few reside in single-way areas or instances. Bosses that are killed in multi-way areas will also generate a message telling the player what drop(s) they have obtained, regardless if there are other players around or not. For example, if players are at General Graardor and kill him (and drops Bandos tassets), a message will appear in the game box saying "Player name received item: Bandos tassets". If a boss is killed in a single-way area, this message will not appear, even if the boss resides in a multi-way area and is killed in a single-way zone.

Common PvM bosses[]

The monsters included in this section wouldn't better fit in any other categories, and are located in some spot in the game-world that are accessible/reachable to anyone, without any restrictions. However, despite their accessibility, many players prefer to have certain diaries done before killing these with dedication, since the rewards from those Diaries can be game-changing in the long-run: those rewards could range from making it significantly easier to access the Boss to making the manner in which you earn the drops, from these bosses, significantly more convenient.

Giant Mole

The around its ra

God Wars Dungeon generals[]

Commander Zilyana

Commander Zilyana, holy champion of Saradomin

For each warring deity in the God Wars Dungeon, there is a very powerful leader commonly referred to as a 'general'. Each general also has three bodyguards, one of which uses each style of combat: Melee, Magic and Ranged. In addition to the 60 Strength or 60 Agility required to enter the God Wars Dungeon, each general's encampment has further requirements to enter.

Great Olm

The Great Olm, the final boss in the Chambers of Xeric and the third strongest monster in the game.

Raids' bosses[]

Verzik Vitur (final form)

Verzik Vitur, the final boss in the Theatre of Blood and strongest monster in the game.

Wilderness bosses & demi-bosses[]

Bosses[]

All of the Wilderness bosses (not demi-bosses) can drop the Dragon pickaxe.

Name Image Level Hitpoints Attack style Location Notes
Chaos Elemental
Chaos Elemental
305 250 Magic, Ranged, Melee West of the Rogues' Castle It can hit up to 28 in all three combat styles.

Unique drop: Pet chaos elemental Pet chaos elemental

King Black Dragon
King Black Dragon
276 255 Melee, Dragonfire (long-ranged) His lair, located deep in the Wilderness A particularly strong black dragon that is capable of various dragonfire attacks that can poison, stun and freeze.

Unique drops: Prince black dragon Prince black dragon Kbd heads Kbd heads

Callisto
Callisto
470 255 Melee, Magic South of Demonic Ruins It can hit through Prayer and knock players backwards.

Unique drop: Tyrannical ring Tyrannical ring

Vet'ion
Vet'ion
454 255 Melee, Magic North of the Bone Yard It has a lightning bolt attack that can't be blocked by Prayer, and when it reaches half health, it will summon two level 120 Skeleton Hellhounds to aid it. When they are present, Vet'ion cannot be damaged. He also has two forms, the normal and reborn form where he will return to his normal form if left too long.

Unique drop: Ring of the gods Ring of the gods

Venenatis
Venenatis
464 255 Melee, Magic East of the Bone Yard During the fight, it will summon level 15 spiders to aid it. It is able to drain Prayer and perform a deadly special attack that can hit up to 50.

Unique drop: Treasonous ring Treasonous ring

Demi-bosses[]

Name Image Level Hitpoints Attack style Location Notes
Scorpia
Scorpia
225 200 Melee Cavern beneath Scorpion Pit Has a powerful poison that can damage up to 20.

Unique drops: Malediction shard 3 Malediction shard 3 Odium shard 3 Odium shard 3

Chaos Fanatic
Chaos Fanatic
202 225 Melee, Magic West of the Lava Maze Has a special attack that must be avoided in order to avoid damage.

Unique drops: Pet chaos elemental Pet chaos elemental Malediction shard 1 Malediction shard 1 Odium shard 1 Odium shard 1

Crazy archaeologist
Crazy archaeologist
204 225 Melee, Ranged Ruins south of The Forgotten Cemetery Has a multi-area special attack that must be avoided by running away.

Unique drops: Malediction shard 2 Malediction shard 2 Odium shard 2 Odium shard 2 Fedora Fedora

Sporadic bosses[]

Sporadic bosses are those that can't be fought whenever the player wishes to, instead, they require a special item of some sort to gain access to them, which is obtained by killing other more common monsters.

Name Image Level Hitpoints Attack style Location Notes
Skotizo
Skotizo
321 450 Melee, Magic Centre of the Catacombs of Kourend Activates altars found in the north, south, east and west central areas of the room, which increases its Defence and must be taken down. Also, it can summon three spawns and/or a dark ankou to aid it in battle.

Notable drops: Uncut onyx Uncut onyx Skotos Skotos Dark claw Dark claw

Obor
Obor
106 120 Melee, Ranged Western wall of the Hill Giant area, by the southern part of the Edgeville Dungeon Pretty simple and straight-forward mechanics, weak to Magic, could be frozen with a spell for an even easier Mage kill. Unique drop: Hill giant club detail Hill giant club
Bryophyta
Bryophyta
128 115 Melee, Magic Near the north-western end of the Varrock Sewers Can summon three growthlings that must be defeated to be able to hit Bryophyta again. She can also poison the player with a starting damage of 8. Unique drop: Bryophyta's essence detail Bryophyta's essence
Howling Snow Storm

Wintertodt, currently the only "skilling boss" in Old School RuneScape.

Skilling bosses[]

The Wintertodt is the only skilling boss in Old School RuneScape. Players must light the braziers and burn logs or make them into kindling, using the roots found near the braziers. This is the only place where the tome of fire can be awarded and has a very rare chance of receiving a dragon axe, an alternate for Ironmen who can't successfully kill the Dagannoth Kings.

Other bosses[]

Corporeal Beast

Corporeal Beast, currently the fourth strongest monster in Old School RuneScape.

  • The Corporeal Beast was the highest-level monster in Old School RuneScape with a combat of 785. It is not labeled under the Wilderness category because PvP attacks are disallowed in his cave, whereas PvP attacks could happen while fighting the other bosses labeled as "actual Wilderness Bosses", even though the Corporeal Beast's cave is indeed located "within" the Wilderness. It can be extremely dangerous to fight as a solo player, therefore, players often team up to kill it. It is the only monster that drops Sigils for spirit shields.
  • Vorkath is a very powerful blue dragon who was first encountered during Dragon Slayer II as a penultimate boss. After completion of said quest, he becomes stronger and available for solo battle, possessing a combat level of 732. He is the only monster to drop the skeletal visage.
  • Zulrah is a powerful, solo-only boss, where one cannot attack with Melee and must use Ranged or Magic. Partial completion of Regicide is required to access this boss; however, completing the quest is recommended to unlock faster travelling routes. With a combat of 725, he is currently the sixth highest-level monster in the game. He is the only monster to drop the tanzanite fang, magic fang and serpentine visage.
  • The Deranged Archaeologist, actually a demi-boss, is mostly inspired by the Wilderness "Crazy archaeologist". This one, though, is located in the Tar Swamp of Fossil Island. He can attack with both melee and ranged combat styles. His combat level is 276 but has no unique drops on his drop table. When you enter his "lair", you'll get hit with some big damage, something above 40. His special attack is a "devastating" multi-area attack that can deal a stack of multiple damage hitsplats if the player doesn't avoid it quick enough by running away.

Slayer bosses[]

Dusk
Dawn

The Grotesque Guardians are a boss version of Gargoyles found on the Slayer Tower's rooftop, whose entrance is found on the 2nd floor[?]. In order to access the roof, players must obtain a brittle key from gargoyles while assigned them for a Slayer task. The Grotesque Guardians require 75 Slayer and can only be killed while the player is assigned gargoyles or the Guardians themselves. The pair consists of Dusk and Dawn.

Abyssal Sire

The Abyssal Sire is the boss version of the Abyssal demon. It requires level 85 Slayer to kill. Located within the Abyssal Nexus (accessible via fairy ring DIP or the Abyss), it can only be attacked if you have them as a Slayer assignment. This monster drops the unsired, which can be used at the Font of Consumption giving players a chance of receiving the Abyssal dagger and the three pieces of the Abyssal bludgeon (bludgeon axon, claw and spine) as well as its boss pet, the Abyssal orphan. It shares the Abyssal whip drop with its non-boss variant.

Cave kraken

The Kraken is a stronger and larger version of the Cave kraken. It requires level 87 Slayer to kill. Located at the Kraken Cove, it can only be attacked if you have it (or Cave Kraken) as a Slayer assignment. Along with these monsters and their non-boss variant, they are the only monsters that drop the Kraken tentacle. Other notable drops include the Trident of the seas and a pet kraken.

Cerberus

Cerberus is the boss version of the Hellhound. It requires a minimum of 91 Slayer to kill. Located at Cerberus' Lair, it can only be attacked if you have them as a Slayer assignment. Notable drops include the primordial, pegasian, eternal crystals and a hellpuppy. It shares the Smouldering stone drop with its weaker cousins, although at a far better rate.

Thermonuclear smoke devil

The Thermonuclear smoke devil is the boss version of the Smoke devil. These require a minimum of 93 Slayer to kill. Located at the Smoke Devil Dungeon, they can only be attacked if you have them as a Slayer assignment. This monster is the only monster to drop the Smoke battlestaff. Their non-boss variants, however, also drop the Occult necklace.

Boss-slayer[]

Not to be confused with the actual Slayer bosses themselves. Players who have unlocked the Like a boss ability via spending 200 Slayer reward points can have Nieve/Steve, Duradel, or Krystilia assign them boss monsters in addition to the tasks they already assign. The Slayer master will randomly assign a boss if they can meet those requirements; for example, they can assign the Dagannoth Kings to the player (since there are no special requirements), but will not assign them Commander Zilyana if they do not have 70 Agility.

Once a boss has been assigned, they will ask the player to select the amount that they want to kill for their assignment. The player can select anywhere from 3-35 times to kill that boss or those bosses. Make sure that you want to kill that much of the boss, as once you hit enter, this decision cannot be reversed.

Note that the Slayer helmet (i) does work during boss Slayer tasks. To progress towards a boss task, the player must either land the final blow or deal the most damage to the boss, just as in regular Slayer. Bosses will also give Slayer experience upon death, and upon finishing a boss task, the player will get an additional 5,000 Slayer experience.

The following bosses can be assigned:

Abyssal Sire Dagannoth Kings K'ril Tsutsaroth
Barrows (Brothers only, not chests) General Graardor Scorpia
Callisto Giant Mole Thermonuclear smoke devil
Cerberus Grotesque Guardians Venenatis
Chaos Elemental Kalphite Queen Vet'ion
Chaos Fanatic King Black Dragon Vorkath
Commander Zilyana Kraken Zulrah
Crazy archaeologist Kree'arra

Boss category for odds of getting a specific boss from a specific slayer master.

Minigame bosses[]

TzKal-Zuk

The fearsome and mighty TzKal-Zuk, an ancient adversary to the TzHaar.

These bosses are fought as parts of minigames.

Quest bosses[]

Culinaromancer

The Culinaromancer, the evil culinary sorcerer, and main antagonist of Recipe for Disaster.

A large number of quests involve and/or conclude with a battle against a powerful monster, which often is or is related to the quest's main antagonist. Except where otherwise noted, these bosses can only be fought in the Nightmare Zone once their respective quest has been completed.

A sub-boss is a powerful or semi-powerful monster fought as a prelude to the actual boss fight.

Glod

Glod, a giant who resides at the top of the beanstalk in Grim Tales.

Vorkath

Vorkath, a very powerful blue dragon and penultimate boss encountered during and post-Dragon Slayer II.

Glough (monster)

Glough, an antagonist of the gnome quest series in his mutant form in Monkey Madness II.

Quests with multiple bosses[]

Some quests have several boss monsters that must be defeated, usually one after the other.

Nightmare Zone[]

Main article: Nightmare Zone

The Nightmare Zone is a minigame that allows players to fight bosses from quests they have completed. Players can fight up to 42 unique boss monsters from previous quests.

See also[]

Advertisement