Shield of Arrav

This quest has a quick guide. It briefly summarises the steps needed to complete the quest.

Shield of Arrav is a quest where the shield of the famous Arrav of Avarrocka has been stolen by organised crime syndicates in Varrock.

Start point	Talk to Reldo in the Varrock library, located within the northern end of Varrock Castle. Show on map
Official difficulty	Novice
Official length	Short
Description	Varrockian literature tells of a valuable shield, stolen long ago from the museum of Varrock, by a gang of professional thieves. See if you can track down this shield and return it to the museum. You will need a friend to help you complete this quest.
Requirements	A trustworthy friend or partner. Players can join the official chat-channel "OSRS SOA" to look for a partner.
Items required	Phoenix Gang: 20 coins Black Arm Gang: 2 Phoenix crossbows (obtained during the quest)
Recommended	10 Combat level
Enemies to defeat	Black Arm Gang: Weaponsmaster (level 23) Phoenix Gang: Jonny the Beard (level 2)
League notes	Unlocking Asgarnia✓ will auto-complete the quest Unlocking Fremennik✓ will auto-complete the quest Unlocking Kandarin✓ will auto-complete the quest

Talk to Reldo in the Varrock Palace library, the northernmost room on the ground floor. Ask him for a quest, and he will suggest you look around for a book called the Shield of Arrav, which may have a quest for you. To find it, search the bookcase with a blue and white book in the top shelf, located on the east side of the short bookcases in the middle of the room. Read the book, then speak with Reldo again to tell him you have read it. The player will ask him about the whereabouts of the Phoenix Gang and the Black Arm Gang. At this stage, you can choose to join either gang. If you wish to join the Phoenix Gang, speak to Baraek, the fur trader in the market. Otherwise, talk to Charlie the Tramp next to the southern gate of Varrock.

Note: You will only need to follow the steps to join one of the two gangs. It is recommended to make sure you have a partner from the opposite gang before choosing one. To find one, you may ask in the official chat-channel OSRS SOA.

Warning: Although the majority of players in the chat-channel offer their services for free, some players also charge in-game money. Beware of the possibility of being scammed when engaging in trust trades with other players.

When picking your gang, there are a number of considerations:

• It is much easier to find Phoenix Gang members via the official chat-channel.
• Phoenix Gang is recommended for lower combat levels.
• Black Arm Gang is recommended if you do not want to gain combat experience.
• If your partner has previously combined the two half pieces to create the complete certificate or has completed the quest, they cannot obtain the half piece of the shield from their gang hideout - which means certificates cannot be obtained from them. If your partner is from Phoenix Gang, they can help you acquire the key to the weapon store only.
• The half shield of arrav reappears in their respective locations if the half certificate is lost, allowing players to repeatedly offer half certificates as long as they have not completed the quest.

To join the Phoenix Gang, talk to Baraek in the centre of Varrock, whose fur stall is marked with an icon of bear fur. Ask him where you can find the Phoenix Gang, and he will ask for 20 coins before telling you. After giving him the coins, he will direct you to the southern gates of the city, down the alleyway past the Blue Moon Inn. Head there and look for a red exclamation mark (on your map) just past the inn to find the hideout. Enter the room to the south with a ladder inside, and climb down.

Inside the hideout, talk to Straven. Tell him you know who he is, then offer your services. He suggests that the Phoenix Gang would be very pleased if a Black Arm Gang contact called Jonny the Beard were to have an accident.

Exit the hideout and head to the Blue Moon Inn to the immediate west. Kill Jonny the Beard inside the inn.

Note: Jonny will not drop the report if killed with a ring of recoil.

Jonny will drop a report. Pick it up and bring it back to Straven. He will welcome you to the Phoenix Gang and hand you the Weapon store key, which you need to save for your partner.

You can now enter the rest of the hideout; the thieves walking around are not aggressive to any players, but will retaliate if you attack them. Look around for a chest in the south-west corner of the hideout to find one half of the Shield of Arrav. You can only grab one shield half at a time, and you cannot obtain it after completing the quest.

To join the Black Arm Gang, talk to Charlie the Tramp located just north of the south entrance of Varrock. Tell him you are looking for the Black Arm Gang, and he'll hint that their headquarters is down the alleyway. Enter the building to the south-west, then talk to Katrine.

Tell her you've heard about the gang and that you won't give your source. Ask her if you can join and if she'll give you a try, and she will ask you to steal two crossbows from the Phoenix Gang.

To steal the crossbows, you will need the weapon store key, obtained by your partner in the Phoenix Gang section of the quest, after they have successfully joined the gang.

Once you have the key, head towards the Phoenix Gang's hideout, located east of the southern entrance to Varrock. Directly south of the rune shop and attached to the chapel is a small room with a ladder inside. Climb it and you will enter a room with the crossbows. If you try to take them, the Weaponsmaster will prevent you and attack - you will have to kill him first.

Note: Another player with a second weapon store key may kill the weaponsmaster for you if you are low level or do not wish to gain combat experience. Your Phoenix Gang partner can obtain two keys with the drop trick when talking to Straven, so that you may both enter.

Once he is dead, take two Phoenix crossbows. Return to Katrine and she will make you a member of the Black Arm Gang. Go upstairs in the hideout and look for a cupboard, which contains the right half of the Shield of Arrav.

Take your half of the shield to Curator Haig Halen, located in the Varrock Museum. He will take your half of the shield and give you two copies of half the certificate. Your partner, who has the other half of the Shield, will receive the other half of the certificate. Trade one half of the certificate with your partner for the other half. When you have both certificate halves, use them on the other to obtain a completed certificate. If completing the quest as an Ironman you must 'use' the key/certificate on each other.

Take the certificate to King Roald in Varrock Palace to receive your reward. Congratulations, quest complete!

• 1 Quest point
• 600 coins
• Ability to claim 5 Kudos and an Antique lamp rewarding 1,000 XP in any skill of at least level 20 from Historian Minas after completion of the quest (members only)

Completion of Shield of Arrav is required for the following:

• Heroes' Quest
• Defender of Varrock
• Ethically Acquired Antiquities

• If a player cannot find someone to trade the certificates with, they cannot finish the quest.
• Join the osrs soa friend chat.
• A Black Arm Gang member can enter the Phoenix Gang Weapon Storage with a key from a Phoenix Gang member.
• Phoenix crossbows can be obtained by Phoenix gang members either by going into the weapon store and telekinetic grabbing them, or by killing the weaponsmaster and picking up the two crossbows. However, the crossbows must be traded to a Black Arm gang member in order to gain trust to Katrine.
• If collecting crossbows, they can respawn three times before the weaponsmaster does.
• Additional certificate halves can be obtained by speaking to the curator provided the player has turned in a shield half prior and has not finished the quest nor in possession of a full certificate. The halves received will be the same as the one's received before. There is no practical limit to how many certificate halves you can have. Note: Once you finish the quest, or are in possession of a full certificate, you can no longer get spare shields or speak to the curator for additional certificate halves. However, you can continue to keep certificate halves in your bank account indefinitely after you have completed the quest or trade for them with other players.
• New player trade restrictions apply to quest items, but it is still possible to trade the items by using them on the other player.
• The player who joined the Phoenix Gang will receive 2 left halves, and the player who joined the Black Arm Gang will receive 2 right halves.
• You can get multiple certificate halves by talking to Curator Haig Halen.

• Shield of Arrav was one of the 6 quests available during RuneScape Classic's launch.
• Once a player finishes the quest, they can no longer take any halves of the shield from their storage places. However, players can still acquire the halves of the shield from other players (via trading, drops, or general stores).
• In the beginning, a bug allowed the player to join both gangs. Katrine would appear angry at the player, but the player would still be able to enter the Black Arm Gang. The Phoenix gang doorman would also attack the player.
• In the early days, entering the Phoenix Gang's headquarters required a separate key. This was later changed, and the key was removed from the game.
• The shield is currently on display (display number 24) at the Varrock Museum after you speak to the curator on the second floor and tell him how you recovered the shield for the museum.
• Before the shield is put onto display in the Varrock Museum, it mentions "King Roald has offered a 1,200 coins bounty for the reward of the shield and we keep this display case empty in the hopes it will one day be returned." However, King Roald rewards the adventurer only 600 coins for quest completion - half of the advertised offer from the display case. This is because the bounty was split with the other player.
• Although it's possible to start the quest with a complete certificate, attempting to turn it in to King Roald yields him saying, "The name on this certificate isn't yours! I can't give you the reward unless you do the quest yourself!"