Demonic gorilla/Strategies

Demonic gorillas can be fought in the Crash Site Cavern after the completion of Monkey Madness II. They are popular monsters to kill as they drop valuable zenyte shards, which are used to create some of the best jewellery in the game, as well as components for ballistae. They count as black demons or monkeys for the purposes of a Slayer task.

• Completion of Monkey Madness II to enter the Crash Site Cavern.

• High combat stats. Although not required, see the skill levels below for an indication of the advised stats:
  • Level 80 or higher
  • Level 85 or higher
  • Level 80 or higher
  • Level 85 or higher
  • Level 80 or higher
  • Level 70 or higher
  • Level 70 or higher (for magic defence)

• Completion of Recipe for Disaster for access to Barrows gloves.
• Completion of Dragon Slayer II for access to the Ava's assembler.
  • Alternatively, completion of Animal Magnetism for access to the Ava's accumulator.
• Completion of Shadow of the Storm for access to the arclight.
• Having access to the imbued version of the Slayer helmet or black mask.

The entrance to the Crash Site Cavern may be found north-west of the Grand Tree through the opening in the fence. Once through the fence run north-east to enter the cavern.

Note that some parts of the cavern are a multi-combat area, which solo players may wish to avoid.

There are a few ways to get to the Grand Tree.

• Use the royal seed pod's teleport option which takes you to the base of the Grand Tree. This is the fastest travel option.
• Use a Spirit tree to the Gnome stronghold and run north and then north-west to the gap in the fence.
• Use the Gnome glider to Ta Quir Priw which will take you to the top of the Grand Tree. Descend the tree and run north-west to the gap in the fence.

Demonic gorillas have a few unique mechanics that players should be aware of before fighting them, making them a difficult foe to inexperienced players.

In order to kill demonic gorillas, it is required to bring at least two combat styles, as they utilise protection prayers in combat. This is generally melee and ranged, due to their cheapness and the gorilla's lower Defence level. Magic may be used, however this is generally a worse option given the higher costs incurred from runes and the gorillas having a higher magic defence roll.

Demonic gorillas use all three forms of combat, each one hitting up to 30 damage.

• Magic attack: The gorilla rears up and dangles its forelegs, then emits a green orb from its mouth.
• Melee attack: The gorilla swipes its claws downwards at the player.
• Ranged attack: The gorilla uses its two front claws to grab a small boulder and throw it at the player.
• Boulder toss: The gorilla beats its chest to drop a boulder, which will appear above the player's position at the time it performs this attack. Players will take 33% of their health as damage if they don't move away from it. The boulder has an area of effect of 1x1. This ability is only used when the gorilla is using Ranged or Magic. The gorillas will not use this attack while using melee.

• The Demonic gorilla's Magic attack.
• The Demonic gorilla's Melee attack.
• The Demonic gorilla's Ranged attack.
• The Demonic gorilla's boulder toss attack, followed by a Magic attack.

Demonic gorillas start with a random attack style, initiating combat as soon as they are attacked by a player.

They will switch attack styles after three (3) missed hits against the player (i.e., no damage is taken), regardless if the player's protection prayer blocked them or not. The boulder toss does not count towards these missed hits. It is helpful to count each missed hit in order to predict the next attack style switch.

However, the third attack must be prayed correctly against for the gorilla to consistently change its attack style. When the gorilla switches its attack style, it will emit a "bone-chilling scream," auditory cue at the same time as they say Rhaaaaaaa! over their head.

When a gorilla spawns, it will stand idle for a brief second before pounding its chest, changing its protection prayer. Each gorilla uses all three protection prayers (Protect from Melee, Protect from Magic, and Protect from Missiles), but only one of them is active at any given time. The protection prayer gives them complete immunity towards attacks of that style, and it cannot be bypassed with a dragon scimitar, but it can be bypassed with Verac's set.

The gorilla will switch prayers against another style after having been dealt damage at least four times, alongside a total of 70 damage in the style(s) it is not protecting against. This is in total damage, not damage from one combat style. For example, if a gorilla takes 49 Melee damage but then is hit for 26 damage from Ranged, it will immediately use Protect from Missiles. This is usually only an advantage if the gorilla prays against Magic, since their Magic level and Defence bonuses are too high for Magic to hit them reasonably.

When the gorilla changes protection prayers, the player(s) attacking it will end combat, so it is important to change gear immediately and re-click on the gorilla to resume combat.

Note: While an ancient godsword's blood sacrifice can cause the gorilla to swap to Protect from Magic if it reaches the threshold, attacking on the same tick as the blood sacrifice while also causing a prayer swap will cause it to become nulled.

When the gorilla is using Ranged or Magic only, the gorilla will sometimes toss a boulder, which will appear above the player's position when it performed this attack. Players will take 33% of their health as damage if they don't move away at least one tile away from it. The boulder has an area of effect of 1x1, and a shadow can be seen where the boulder will fall. The gorillas will not use this attack while using Melee. This attack does not count toward the three "missed" hits required for the gorilla to change its attack style.

Although the demonic gorillas will switch their attack style to a randomly chosen attack style, there is a good method to predict their next attack style in 83% of the situations:

• If the previous attack style was Melee: They will switch to either Magic or Ranged, there is no way to predict this. However, you can switch your prayer to Magic or Ranged, and guess correctly 50% of the time. Pray your lowest defence between Magic or Range to have a better chance of blocking the damage if guessing wrong.
• If the previous attack style was Magic: They will switch to either Melee or Ranged. To predict this, move away from the gorilla:
  • If the demonic gorilla follows the player, it will attack with Melee next.
  • If the demonic gorilla stays on its tile, it will attack with Ranged next.
• If the previous attack style was Ranged: They will switch to either Magic or Melee. To predict this, move away from the gorilla:
  • If the demonic gorilla follows the player, it will attack with Melee next.
  • If the demonic gorilla stays on its tile, it will attack with Magic next.

If an attack style switch is needed and the gorilla starts off the new attack pattern with a boulder, they will follow up with either Ranged or Magic attacks, so pray accordingly.

As the player will have a relatively high damage output against the gorillas (especially with higher-end weaponry such as emberlight and the scorching bow), it is recommended not to bring too many switches when killing demonic gorillas. It is very common to bring a few switches, primarily a body, weapon and amulet swap. Gloves, boots and rings are not recommended for swaps, as the demons' low swap thresholds would make these switches difficult to make optimally.

It is highly recommended to use a convenient keybind (a.k.a. F-keys) for the prayer and inventory tabs, as this makes it easier to quickly switch between both interfaces.

If the player is staying for a prolonged period of time, bringing a set of Guthan's can help in restoring health in the event that too much damage is taken, or the Saradomin godsword fails to deal enough damage with its special attack. Demonic Offering can also be used to restore additional prayer points and grant more Prayer experience than an Ash sanctifier or leaving the Malicious ashes on the ground.

Prioritise using Protect from Magic first, followed by Protect from Missiles and/or Protect from Melee. Watch the gorilla's attacks closely, and always count missed hits and/or listen/watch for the Rhaaaaaaa! scream indicating an attack style switch.

After three missed hits that are not correctly prayed against, the gorilla will a) keep using the same attack style for the next 3 attacks or b) switch to another style. This makes it important to change to the correct protection prayer in spite of occasionally taking zero damage.

Off the correct prayer: If the hit was either a ranged or magic hit the following attack will always be the same as the one just used, or a melee attack. For example, if prayer is switched before getting hit a 0 by the third magic attack, the gorilla will keep using magic for the next 3 hits unless it starts walking towards the player, indicating an incoming melee attack. Watch the gorilla's position to avoid "guessing" the next attack style after missing a prayer switch on the third ranged or magic hit.

Experienced players and players with high combat levels may not need any food while fighting gorillas, as the healing effect from the Saradomin godsword's special attack will restore enough Hitpoints, especially with a lightbearer. If you don't have a Saradomin godsword, you can also use toxic blowpipe's special attack to heal.

Multi-hit melee special attack weapons, such as dragon claws, burning claws, and even the dragon dagger, can potentially lose out on damage if used at the wrong time or if the player is in endgame gear. This is because the subsequent hitsplats will be nulled if the gorilla ends up changing prayers in the process, as the prayer switching and landing hits will apply on different ticks. If using these special attacks, it is thus recommended to use them immediately after the gorilla switches away from praying protect from melee. This maximizes the potential damage done and can quickly let the player switch back to ranged, allowing them to sometimes skip having to do the step-back method.

If using the Scorching bow as the primary ranged weapon, its special attack can be useful for the bonus Burn damage and the binding effect, which can be utilised to allow extra leeway when switching prayers from ranged or magic, making the step-back method easier. Care should be taken however, as if the gorilla takes too long to melee attack the player, it may unexpectedly switch to using ranged or magic instead as an "anti-safespot" mechanic.

Please note that any Burn damage is cleared when the Demonic Gorilla changes prayers, which is mainly relevant for Burning claws and the Scorching bow.

1. A player engages a Demonic Gorilla using the Protect from Missiles prayer while using Melee equipment. The player has Protect from Magic active.
2. The Demonic Gorilla opens with a Magic attack. The player takes zero (0) damage for three consecutive "missed" hits. Because of these three missed hits, the gorilla screams Rhaaaaaaa! and switches its attack style to Ranged:
   1. Meanwhile, the player deals 70+ Melee damage, causing the gorilla to switch its protection prayer to Protect from Melee.
   2. As soon as the player sees and/or hears the attack style switch, they quickly activate Protect from Missiles and swap to their Ranged gear to counter the gorilla's prayer change to Protect from Melee.
3. The player takes zero (0) damage for two consecutive hits, dodges a boulder attack, then another zero (0) damage hit with Protect from Missiles active:
   1. The missed hits cause the gorilla to scream Rhaaaaaaa! indicating an attack style switch, and the gorilla starts to move closer, indicating an incoming Melee attack. The player quickly switches to Protect from Melee.
   2. Meanwhile, the player deals 30+ Ranged damage while at least one (1) tile away from the Demonic gorilla. The gorilla follows the player because it is using a Melee attack.
4. The player continues to fight the gorilla with their Ranged gear while praying Protect from Melee. The player takes zero (0) damage three consecutive times from the gorilla using the Melee attack style:
   1. The player then deals an additional 20+ Ranged damage, causing the gorilla to activate Protect from Missiles. The player quickly swaps to their Melee equipment and activates Protect from Magic in preparation for the next attack.
5. The gorilla instead attacks with a Ranged attack, causing the player to take damage. The player quickly activates Protect from Missiles while attacking with Melee equipment.
6. The player deals 70+ Damage with their Melee gear, causing the gorilla to activate Protect from Melee.
   1. The player also receives three "missed" hits of zero (0) damage, causing the gorilla to switch their attack style to Magic (Melee is also a possibility).
   2. The player swiftly switches to their Ranged gear and activates Protect from Magic.
7. This cycle will continue for the rest of the fight until the Demonic Gorilla is dead: anticipating their attack styles, counting missed hits, choosing the correct protection prayers, avoiding boulder attacks, and gear switching to deal damage. Always try to predict their attack styles as listed above.

Melee is a preferred style to use at demonics for its cost, ease of use, and early access to Arclight, one of the strongest weapons to fight Demonics with. If choosing to reduce switches, it is generally recommended to camp melee equipment when available.

Recommended equipment for Melee

Slot	Item (most effective → least effective)
	Slayer helmet (i) (on Slayer tasks) / Torva full helm	Oathplate helm / Neitiznot faceguard	Blood moon helm	Eclipse moon helm[a]	Helm of neitiznot
	Amulet of rancour	Amulet of torture	Amulet of blood fury	Amulet of fury	Amulet of glory
	Infernal cape	Fire cape	Mythical cape / Mixed hide cape	See: Ranged equipment	N/A
	Torva platebody / Oathplate chest	Bandos chestplate / Blood moon chestplate	Eclipse moon chestplate[a] / Fighter torso	See: Ranged equipment	N/A
	Torva platelegs / Oathplate legs	Bandos tassets / Blood moon tassets	Eclipse moon tassets[a] / Barrows equipment	Dragon platelegs / Dragon plateskirt	See: Ranged equipment
	Emberlight > Soulreaper axe[b]	Arclight	Osmumten's fang[c] > Noxious halberd[d]	Abyssal tentacle > Abyssal whip > Zamorakian hasta	Zombie axe
	Avernic defender	Dragon defender	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Rada's blessing 4	Any blessing	See: Ranged equipment	N/A	N/A
	Ferocious gloves	Barrows gloves	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Avernic treads (max)	Primordial boots	Aranea boots[a]	Dragon boots	Guardian boots
	Ultor ring	Berserker ring (i)	Lightbearer	Ring of suffering (i)	N/A
	Saradomin godsword / Dragon claws[e]	Ancient godsword / Burning claws[e]	Crimson kisten	Voidwaker	See: Ranged equipment

1. ^ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} If wearing for ranged as well, effective on both styles without switches
2. ^ Soulreaper axe has similar dps to Emberlight in Bandos/Oathplate-tier gear on-task but is worse in max melee and off-task.
3. ^ Due to its accuracy, the fang can perform similarly or better than Arclight in some gear/combat level setups, while not requiring ancient shards to use. The DPS calculator is useful to check, especially for hybrid setups.
4. ^ The increased range can be used to predict the next attack without moving away
5. ^ ^{5.0 5.1} Use immediately after gorilla prays against magic or ranged. Specials that restore health or prayer points are generally preferred, but claws can be used to deal extra damage if you find supply drops sufficient to sustain you.

Ranged is generally the 2nd style used at demonic gorillas due to its power and accessibility. The Toxic blowpipe is one of the strongest weapons against Demonic gorillas (especially with the on-task accuracy boost from the imbued slayer helm or black mask) and can perform well with minimal switches. A Bow of faerdhinen or Scorching bow can utilise even less switches and still performs well. The Twisted bow can deal large damage without much lost dps.

Recommended equipment for Ranged

Slot	Item (most effective → least effective)
	Slayer helmet (i) (on Slayer tasks) / Masori mask (f) / Masori mask	Crystal helm[a]	Eclipse moon helm[b]	See: Melee equipment	N/A
	Necklace of rupture	Necklace of anguish	See: Melee section	N/A	N/A
	Dizana's quiver	Ava's assembler	Ranging cape(t)	Ava's accumulator	See: Melee equipment
	Masori body (f) / Masori body	Crystal body[a]	Eclipse moon chestplate[b]	Karil's leathertop / Blessed body	Black d'hide body
	Masori chaps (f) / Masori chaps	Crystal legs[a]	Eclipse moon tassets[b]	Karil's leatherskirt / Blessed chaps	Black d'hide chaps
	Twisted bow > Scorching bow > Toxic blowpipe[c]	Bow of faerdhinen[d] (with full crystal)	Eclipse atlatl[e]	Hunters' sunlight crossbow / Karil's crossbow[d]	N/A
	None if using a 2h weapon	Twisted buckler	Dragonfire ward	Odium ward	N/A
	Best arrows/bolts you can afford or atlatl dart, depending on weapon	Any blessing	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Zaryte vambraces	Barrows gloves	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Avernic treads (max)	See: Melee equipment	N/A	N/A	N/A
	See: Melee equipment	Lightbearer	Ring of suffering (i)	N/A	N/A
	See: Melee equipment	Toxic blowpipe	N/A	N/A	N/A

1. ^ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} With full crystal and bow of Faerdhinen
2. ^ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} If wearing for melee as well, effective on both styles without switches
3. ^ Twisted bow, scorching bow and toxic blowpipe have very similar performance, but weapons with slower attack speed are easier to use with frequent switches
4. ^ ^{4.0 4.1} Can use melee cape
5. ^ Can have worse damage than weapons in lower tiers in some setups, but requires the least switches due to benefiting from melee strength gear.

Best-in-slot

The set up shown in this section currently costs approximately 2,317,217,164 coins.

Equipment

• Slayer helmet (i) for increased damage output while on Slayer tasks. If not on a Slayer task, bring a melee helm instead.
• Emberlight for increased damage output against demon-type monsters.
• An Ultor ring will boost the player's max hit, especially when combined with an Arclight or Emberlight.

Inventory

• Item switches for a Ranged attack style.
• Divine potions for stat boosting.
• Super restore potions for restoring prayer points.
• Saradomin godsword for the best special attack weapon with its healing effect.
• Royal seed pod for the quickest teleport. (can be dropped if inventory space is an issue)
• Divine rune pouch and the Book of the dead for Resurrect Greater Ghost and Demonic Offering, as well as an Explorer's ring to alchemise drops.
  • Bring an Ash sanctifier to automatically scatter ashes, if not offering them.

More affordable option

The set up shown in this section currently costs approximately 51,854,418 coins.

Equipment

• Slayer helmet (i) for increased damage output while on Slayer tasks. If not on a Slayer task, bring a melee helm instead.
• Emberlight for increased damage output against demon-type monsters.
• A berserker ring (i) will boost the player's max hit, especially when combined with an Arclight or Emberlight.

Inventory

• Item switches for a Ranged attack style.
• Divine potions for stat boosting.
• Super restore potions for restoring prayer points.
• Royal seed pod for the quickest teleport. (can be dropped if inventory space is an issue)
• Rune pouch for High Level Alchemy runes, as well as storing law rune drops.
• Ash sanctifier to automatically scatter ashes, if not offering them.

Budget option

The set up shown in this section currently costs approximately 8,965,751 coins.

Equipment

• Slayer helmet (i) for increased damage output while on Slayer tasks. If not on a Slayer task, bring a melee helm instead.
• Arclight for increased damage output against demon-type monsters.
• A berserker ring (i) will boost the player's max hit, especially when combined with an Arclight or Emberlight.

Inventory

• Item switches for a Ranged attack style.
• Divine potions for stat boosting.
• Super restore potions for restoring prayer points.
• Royal seed pod for the quickest teleport. (can be dropped if inventory space is an issue)
• Rune pouch for High Level Alchemy runes, as well as storing law rune drops.
• Ash sanctifier to automatically scatter ashes, if not offering them.

Since there is also a multicombat area with demonic gorillas, they can be fought against in a team. An effective method therefore is duo'ing with one player in full Dharok's equipment on 1 Hitpoint, while the other player is tanking the gorilla's attacks, as the player in the Dharok's equipment will have very high damage output.

With this duo strategy, one player starts attacking a demonic gorilla and, after the gorilla starts fighting back, the other will assist in the fighting. For the first player, it is advised to bring standard equipment, while for the other player it is advised to bring full Dharok's equipment for melee attacks, as the player doesn't have to worry about being attacked (if the strategy is done correctly by both players) and this equipment offers high damage output for Melee attacks.

• Make sure that the gorillas are never aggroed towards the player in full Dharok's while they are at 1 Hitpoints.
• The tanking player should bring runes to cast the Boost Potion Share spell on the Lunar spellbook. Make sure both players have accept-aid enabled.
• Don't bring too many item switches, as it will be difficult to keep up with them, since multiple players will deal damage.
• Consider bringing a full Guthan's equipment to infinitely heal Hitpoints on the tanking account.
• Try to time attacking the gorilla simultaneously with both accounts, to prevent attacking the gorilla while it just switched its protection prayer.

The set up shown in this section currently costs approximately 38,973,690 coins.

The set up shown in this section currently costs approximately 91,943,630 coins.