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. With the exception of Bryophyta, Obor, and Brutus, bosses are exclusive to members.

Dwarf multicannons often cannot be set up in the areas of many bosses, and many are immune or resistant to other effects, such as freeze and poison. 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.

Excluding minigame and quest bosses, each boss has its own hiscore table, tracking the players with the most kills, or raid completions in the case of raid bosses. Each of these bosses (or raids) also has its own set of combat achievements and, with the exception of the Gemstone Crab, each one also has unique drops in the collection log. Most bosses will generate a message upon kill telling the player what drop(s) they have obtained. 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".

In raids, when a unique drop is rolled, the corresponding chest will glow purple as an indicator that a unique drop was given.

More recent bosses in the game, such as the post-quest versions of The Forgotten Four, Araxxor, and Yama will play a special sound effect when a unique drop is awarded. This uses the same sound, apart from Yama's tradeable uniques, which utilises a deeper-sounding version of the former. Additionally, newer bosses have been more resistant to stat-draining effects; some bosses can absorb stat drains, while others will have a cap in which only a specific amount of levels can be drained.

World bosses spawn across Gielinor either out in the open or in their lairs. World bosses are defined as bosses which spawn naturally, on their own, and can be killed at any time, as opposed to instanced bosses which spawn only in private lairs based on the actions of the player to whom the instance belongs. Some world bosses may, however, be killed in private instances for a price. Some world bosses, namely the Barrows brothers and God Wars Dungeon generals, also have additional requirements and mechanics related to finding and killing them. In the case of the Barrows brothers, they do not drop loot directly, but their defeat instead contributes to a single reward.

The following world bosses are specifically located within the Wilderness, where players may attack each other. The one exception is the King Black Dragon: his lair, where the fight takes place, is not located in the Wilderness, but it can only be accessed through the Wilderness, and is thus still considered risky.

As opposed to world bosses, instanced bosses are fought in their own arena. They are generally fought alone, with the exceptions of The Nightmare, which is a group instanced boss, and the Royal Titans and Yama, which are duo instanced bosses. Spawning instanced bosses either requires an action (the Mad Angel, Zulrah, Vorkath, and Yama), while others simply spawn upon entering the instance (Brutus, Obor, Bryophyta, Amoxliatl, Royal Titans, Phantom Muspah, Doom of Mokhaiotl, and both forms of the Nightmare).

The following bosses can be fought during and after completing Desert Treasure II. The versions fought after completing the quest have increased stats, dealing more damage with their auto-attacks and mechanics, but are otherwise the same as the quest variants. An even stronger variant, known as awakened, can be fought with the use of an awakener's orb. These awakened variants have an even larger stat increase, their base mechanics are enhanced and with the exception of the Whisperer, gain new mechanics.

In normal mode, if the player has less than five kills on the boss and die, they will only pay 20% of the total fee.

Sporadic bosses are those that cannot be fought whenever the player wishes. Instead, they require a special item of some sort to gain access to them, which is obtained by partaking in other more common activities. Naturally, these bosses are in instanced locations.

Slayer bosses are a specific set of bosses that are only unlocked by training Slayer. Each one corresponds to another monster commonly assigned for Slayer tasks, which, with the exception of hellhounds, are also unlocked by training Slayer. In addition to a Slayer level requirement, each boss requires a task for either the boss itself or the equivalent monster in order to be fought.

These bosses are fought as parts of instanced minigames. The combat achievements for these minigames usually (but not always) relate to or at least require the defeat of the bosses, and, like other boss pets, pets rewarded by these minigames are typically smaller versions of the bosses.

Skilling bosses are world bosses that are not fought conventionally, but rather by utilising non-combat skills to defeat them, either directly or indirectly. For this reason, they can be very different experiences to more conventional bosses, and require entirely different gear and equipment. The Hespori also is strongly linked to a skill (requiring Farming to spawn and giving Farming XP), but the fight against it only uses normal combat.

Raids are high-level activities with a set of bosses that players can fight either alone or with a team.

Bosses within the Chambers of Xeric are sporadic, as the layout of each raid is randomised. The bosses that players will encounter as well as their order may vary, with the exception of the Great Olm, which appears at the end of every raid. This is not the case if the Challenge Mode is enabled, where each boss is encountered and there is no randomisation. Each boss' stats also scale to the amount of players in the raid and their combat level. All bosses except the ice demon and the Great Olm drop potions, seeds, or ingredients to use in the raid. Once the Great Olm is defeated, the exit is opened and players can collect their loot, the quality of which scales to their performance in the raid.

Unlike the Chambers of Xeric, bosses within the Theatre of Blood take place in a predetermined order. Their hitpoints are scaled depending on the number of players from three to five; if there are only one or two players, the scaling for three players is used, and five is the maximum number of players per team. Bosses do not drop anything, although there are resource chests where players can obtain potions and food for upcoming encounters; after defeating Verzik Vitur, the entrance to her vault is opened where players can obtain their loot, the quality of which scales to their performance in the raid.

In the Tombs of Amascut, players are able to face each of the first four bosses, namely, Akkha, Ba-Ba, Kephri, and Zebak in any order they choose. After the player has defeated all 4, they may challenge the wardens as the final boss. Tombs of Amascut is unique in that it has invocations, which is a system that allows the individual to increase the difficulty of the bosses in a modular fashion. As such, the numbers provided for level and hitpoints are based on a raid with No Invocations. The strength of the bosses will scale with each additional invocation added to each boss.

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. Aside from a few exceptions noted below, most quest bosses cannot be fought again, although some can be fought in the Nightmare Zone once their respective quest has been completed.

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

• The Abomination is fought during A Taste of Hope.
• Agrith-Naar, a demon summoned to Gielinor by a group of dark wizards, is fought at the end of Shadow of the Storm.
• Ancient Guardian is a golem encountered at the end of Below Ice Mountain. It is one of the few free-to-play bosses.
• The Arzinian Avatar is the boss of Between a Rock....
• Arrg is the strongest mountain troll in the game, and is the boss monster of Troll Romance.
• Barrelchest, a hulking artificial construct controlled by Mi-Gor, is the boss of The Great Brain Robbery.
• A Black demon controlled by Glough is the final challenge in The Grand Tree.
• The Black Knight Titan is the scourge of the Fisher Realm and is fought during Holy Grail.
• Bouncer is a powerful hellhound, the pet of General Khazard, and is fought during Fight Arena.
  • Its ghost is fought during the Shadow Sword miniquest.
• Chronozon is a demon who is the boss of Family Crest.
• A Corrupt Lizardman is a lizardman fought during the Tale of the Righteous.
• Count Draynor is a notorious vampyre who is the boss of Vampyre Slayer. He is one of the few free-to-play bosses.
• The Culinaromancer is a powerful sorcerer who draws his power from food. He is the main antagonist of the Recipe for Disaster quest series, and is the final boss of its conclusion, Defeating the Culinaromancer.
• Cuthbert, Lord of Dread is a joke boss fought toward the end of The Ribbiting Tale of a Lily Pad Labour Dispute.
• Dad is a mountain troll who is fought during Troll Stronghold.
• The Dagannoth Mother is the boss of Horror from the Deep.
• Delrith is an ancient demon who was summoned to destroy Varrock; he is the boss of Demon Slayer. He is one of the few free-to-play bosses.
• The Dramen Tree Spirit guards the dramen tree within Entrana Dungeon, and is the boss of Lost City. Because of the restrictions on Entrana, no weapons or armour may be used to fight the tree spirit.
• Draugen is a spirit fought as part of The Fremennik Trials.
• Elvarg is a green dragon who has decimated the island of Crandor, where she roosts. She is the final boss of Dragon Slayer I, and is one of the few free-to-play bosses.
• The Evil Chicken is a boss fought during the Freeing Sir Amik Varze subquest of Recipe for Disaster.
• An Evil Spirit is the boss monster of Rum Deal.
• The Fragment of Seren is the darkness within Seren made manifest, who serves as the final boss of Song of the Elves.
• Gadderanks is a human supporter of the vampyric regime in Morytania. He is fought during In Aid of the Myreque.
• Galvek is an extremely powerful dragon who serves as the final boss of Dragon Slayer II.
• General Khazard can be optionally fought during Fight Arena.
• The Giant Roc is a large avian fought atop Trollheim during My Arm's Big Adventure. He has the uncommon ability to knock players around the area with his massive wings.
• A giant scarab is fought at the end of Contact!.
• The Giant Sea Snake is the boss of Royal Trouble.
• Glod is an enormous giant who resides in the cloud world above the magic beanstalk that players plant during Grim Tales; he is the quest's boss. He can disable prayers and force players towards or away from him.
• Glough is a gnome who causes trouble in the quest, Monkey Madness II. He turns into a giant with three phases and must be defeated by the player.
• The Ice Troll King, leader of the ice trolls, is the boss of The Fremennik Isles.
• Ithoi the Navigator is a human that is the boss fought in The Corsair Curse. He is of the few bosses that can be fought in free-to-play.
• The Jungle demon is a powerful demon who serves as the final boss of Monkey Madness I.
• A Khazard Ogre is one of the bosses of Fight Arena.
• Koschei the Deathless is a Fremennik warrior who cannot be truly killed. He must be defeated in battle three times in a row as part of The Fremennik Trials.
• Lowerniel Drakan is a powerful vampyre and is fought multiple times throughout The Blood Moon Rises.
• Me, who takes the form of players who fight them, is fought at the end of Lunar Diplomacy.
• Melzar the Mad is the keeper of Melzar's Maze. He is a sub-boss of Dragon Slayer I. He is one of the few free-to-play bosses.
• A powerful Moss Guardian must be fought, without weapons, armour, or Prayer, to obtain the consecration seed in Roving Elves.
• Nezikchened is a black demon who is fought three times during Legends' Quest, including at the quest's climax.
• Ranis Drakan is fought during A Taste of Hope.
• The Sand Snake, is the boss of The Depths of Despair.
• The Sea Troll Queen, ruler of the Sea trolls, is the final boss of Swan Song.
• Sigmund is a supporter of Humans Against Monsters who is fought in two quests: Death to the Dorgeshuun and Another Slice of H.A.M..
• Sir Leye is a Temple Knight fought during Recruitment Drive. He cannot be defeated by any blade; as such, he must be fought either unarmed or with a blunt weapon.
• Sir Mordred is the leader of the Renegade Knights and is fought during Merlin's Crystal.
• Slagilith is an animated golem of rock who is fought during One Small Favour. It can be fought after the quest is complete.
• Slash Bash is a strong zogre who is the boss of Zogre Flesh Eaters.
• Tarn Razorlor is a necromancer and is the boss of the miniquest, The Lair of Tarn Razorlor.
• Tolna is a young boy who succumbed to the evils of what later became known as Tolna's rift. He is the boss of A Soul's Bane, taking the form of a three-headed monster.
• Treus Dayth, now a ghost, was a follower of Drakan who was sealed within the Abandoned Mine. He is the boss of Haunted Mine.
• Ulfric is an undead Fremennik who is the boss of Olaf's Quest.

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

• Dragon Slayer I has two bosses: Melzar the Mad and Elvarg.
• Spirits of the Elid has three bosses: The black golem, grey golem, and white golem.
• Desert Treasure I has four Zamorakian warriors as bosses: Dessous, Kamil, Fareed, and Damis.
• The Recipe for Disaster quest series culminates in the final subquest, Defeating the Culinaromancer. Six bosses must be defeated: Agrith Na-Na, Flambeed, Karamel, Dessourt, Gelatinnoth Mother and the Culinaromancer himself. Each of these bosses except for the Culinaromancer is a play on another boss of one of the quests required to finish Recipe for Disaster.
• During Dream Mentor, four boss monsters are fought, in order: The Inadequacy, The Everlasting, The Untouchable, and The Illusive.
• Monkey Madness II has four bosses: Kruk, Kob, Keef, and Glough.
• Dragon Slayer II has three bosses: Robert the Strong, Vorkath, and Galvek.
• Song of the Elves has three bosses: Elven traitor, Essyllt, and the Dark Lord.
• A Night at the Theatre has seven bosses: the Maiden of Sugadinti, the Pestilent Bloat, Nylocas Vasilias, Sotetseg, Xarpus, Verzik Vitur, and a Hespori
• Desert Treasure II - The Fallen Empire has four bosses: Vardorvis, The Leviathan, The Whisperer, and Duke Sucellus.
• While Guthix Sleeps has two bosses: Surok Magis and the Balance Elemental.
• The Heart of Darkness has two bosses: Prince Itzla Arkan and Amoxliatl.
• The Curse of Arrav has two bosses: the golem guard and Arrav.
• The Final Dawn has five bosses: the Emissary Enforcer, Lucius and Chimalli, Ennius Tullus and Augur Metzli.
• The Blood Moon Rises has multiple fights against Lowerniel Drakan, as well as a fight against Wyrd.

Some bosses could be fought during holiday and community events and can no longer be fought.

Players who have unlocked the Like a boss ability via spending 200 Slayer reward points can be assigned bosses by Konar, Nieve/Steve, Duradel/Kuradal, or Krystilia. The Slayer master will randomly assign a boss for which the player meets the below requirements. This allows players to benefit from a black mask or slayer helmet (including imbued), making boss slayer more lucrative. However, players will not be eligible for most speed-based Combat Achievements (even if they aren't using either one) and they have no effect on the awakened versions of the post-quest Desert Treasure II bosses.

Boss slayer will not account for any blocked or toggled off tasks, as it is a separate task compared to general monsters. For example, players can still be assigned Kree'arra even if they do not have aviansies toggled on, as long as they have access to God Wars Dungeon. Substitutes are accepted for a few boss tasks, if they have one; if assigned a Vet'ion task, players may alternatively kill Calvar'ion in his place.

Konar is a unique exception to boss assignments; while the deranged archaeologist is an acceptable substitute for the crazy archaeologist, this does not apply to her tasks. She can also assign Wilderness bosses even though her general tasks will never send players there. She can also assign Araxxor despite not offering araxytes and is the only one who can assign the Alchemical Hydra boss task.

Krystilia will only roll boss tasks in the Wilderness, barring the King Black Dragon as his lair is not considered part of it.

After determining the boss, the Slayer Master will ask the player to select the amount that they want to kill for their assignment. For most boss tasks, the player can select anywhere from 3–35 kills. The maximum assignment can be increased by completing Combat Achievement tiers, with each tier adding +5 to the cap (+6 for Barrows), up to 65 at Grandmaster tier. For a Barrows task, the player can instead select anywhere from 3–36 kills. Each Combat Achievement tier adds +6 to the cap, up to 72 at Grandmaster tier.

If the player is assigned a boss task but cancels out of the dialogue, the Slayer master will remind the player of it before asking how much they would like to kill.

Upon finishing a boss task, the player will get an additional 5,000 Slayer experience regardless of task length. If the effect of a slayer cape activates for a boss task, it is possible for the player to be assigned a different boss.

If players do not wish to kill the boss they have been assigned, they can pay 30 Slayer reward points to skip the task as with regular tasks. However, this is not generally recommended, as many consider the 30 Slayer point cost to be high, and higher level players can usually complete the task quickly by assigning 3 kills. The only way to "block" a boss is by toggling the ability off, though this does not refund points, and the 200 point cost must be paid again to toggle it back on.

Duradel/Kuradal has a task weighting of 12 for boss Slayer tasks, whereas Konar, Nieve/Steve, and Krystilia each have a task weighting of 8.

Slayer masters cannot assign the following as bosses:

• Corporeal Beast
• Hespori
• Skotizo (although killable as a Black Demon or Greater Demon task)
• Obor (killable as a hill giant task)
• Bryophyta (although killable as a moss giant task)
• The Mimic
• The Nightmare (and Phosani variant)
• Nex
• Scurrius (although killable as part of a rats task)
• Perilous Moons
• The Hueycoatl
• Amoxliatl (although killable as part of a lesser nagua task)
• Royal Titans (although killable as part of a ice giant or fire giant task for Eldric the Ice King and Branda the Fire Queen respectively)
• Yama
• Doom of Mokhaiotl
• All raid bosses (aside from lizardman shamans on a Lizardman task or skeletal mystics on a skeleton task in the Chambers of Xeric)

The following bosses can be assigned:

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.

• Strongest monster
• Monster
• PvM
• Deadman Annihilation breach monsters
• Rabbit (Prifddinas)
• Cow (Nightmare Zone)
• Demonic gorilla/Tormented Demon
• Money making guide/Combat
• Bestiary/Bosses

v t e Bosses
World bosses	The Hueycoatl Scurrius Giant Mole Deranged archaeologist Sarachnis Kalphite Queen Corporeal Beast Gemstone Crab The Barrows Brothers Ahrim the Blighted Karil the Tainted Dharok the Wretched Guthan the Infested Torag the Corrupted Verac the Defiled The Dagannoth Kings Dagannoth Prime Dagannoth Rex Dagannoth Supreme God Wars Dungeon Kree'arra Commander Zilyana General Graardor K'ril Tsutsaroth Nex Moons of Peril Eclipse Moon Blue Moon Blood Moon The Wilderness bosses Revenant maledictus Chaos Fanatic Crazy archaeologist Scorpia King Black Dragon Chaos Elemental Vet'ion (Calvar'ion) Venenatis (Spindel) Callisto (Artio)
Instanced bosses	Amoxliatl Brutus (Demonic) Royal Titans (Branda the Fire Queen) (Eldric the Ice King) Zulrah Vorkath Phantom Muspah The Nightmare (Phosani's Nightmare) Yama Doom of Mokhaiotl Maggot King Mad Angel Sporadic bosses Obor Bryophyta The Mimic Hespori Skotizo The Forgotten Four The Leviathan The Whisperer Vardorvis Duke Sucellus
Slayer bosses	Shellbane gryphon Grotesque Guardians (Dusk) (Dawn) Abyssal Sire Kraken Cerberus Araxxor Thermonuclear smoke devil Alchemical Hydra
Minigame bosses	Crystalline Hunllef Corrupted Hunllef TzTok-Jad TzKal-Zuk Sol Heredit
Skilling bosses	Tempoross Wintertodt Zalcano
Raids	Chambers of Xeric Tekton Vanguard Vespula Vasa Nistirio Muttadile Great Olm Theatre of Blood The Maiden of Sugadinti Pestilent Bloat Nylocas Vasilias Sotetseg Xarpus Verzik Vitur Tombs of Amascut Akkha Ba-Ba Kephri Zebak Tumeken's Warden Elidinis' Warden