RuneWeb - The Barrows

The Barrows

By: Snipermaaaan, Data/Loggy, pictures & additions by quakingmoose, other additions by I R Bush

(This is a members-only feature.)

Equipment
Game Overview
The Brothers
The Tunnel
Barrows Rewards

Note: This is a 'dangerous' Mini-Game. If you die, you will lose your items.

Location: Right next to (west) of Mort'ton

Requirements: Must have completed the Priest In Peril Quest; Spade needed

Barrows is a dangerous Mini-Game that can yield great results with some good equipment, levels, and a bit of luck. The Barrows Mini-Game is pretty simple; it's pretty much just fighting a couple of tough enemies, with a maze and a puzzle thrown in to boot. Many people use The Barrows as a way to make money, get experience, or just have fun. For all you troubles, you could be rewarded with a variety of Barrows equipment.

The Barrows Brothers

Equipment

Before we go more into the actual Barrows, let's go over the equipment. There is only one item you actually need for the Barrows: a Spade. This gains you entry to the Barrows tombs. Without it, you cannot participate in the Barrows Mini-Game, so don't forget it!

Now, the rest of the items aren't exactly needed. But, you see, if you want to have a chance of getting a decent reward from the Barrows, you're going to have to fight at least one of the high level 'brothers', which are extremely tough enemies, which we will get into later. You won't be able to defeat these enemies without equipment. Below is the recommended equipment for at least trying to kill all six brothers in one go.

The armour and weapons you bring will have to somewhat vary, but they should all be the strongest stuff you got; at least rune. There are six brothers total you should fight for a chance of a good reward; four of them are melee fighters, one is a ranger, and the last one is a mage. One of the most popular and effective ways to defeat the melee brothers is by using the Magic Dart spell, which requires 55 Slayer, 55 Magic, a Slayer Staff, 4 Mind Runes and 1 Death Rune. You'll need a good amount of those for all four melee brothers; probably, at the least, you'll want 100 Magic Darts (that'd be 400 mind runes and 100 death runes), but you may want to bring the runes for 150 or even 200 Magic Darts just to be safe. Most other spells aren't really worth it; Magic Dart works well and isn't too expensive, especially compared to Ancient Magic, which is a bad choice. You might even consider bringing the runes for Snare or Entangle, to give yourself some time.

As far as weapons go, that leaves the mage brother and range brother. Many people simply melee these last two; with a decent weapon (at least a dragon long I'd say, though that might be stretching it) and a helpful poisoned dragon dagger, you could defeat the two. Some people go as far to use ranged on the mage brother, but it isn't necessary; you can defeat him, most likely, with melee. If you aren't the best melee fighter and a better ranger, and you have decent ranged equipment, then go ahead, use ranged.

Since you'll be using magic the majority of the time, you'll want armour that offers a good magic bonus, but it should be able to protect you decently from all the brothers. Robes like Mystic Robes, Third Age Mage Armour, or Ahrim's Robes are a good choice; but for those tighter pockets, you might be able to get away with splitbark, if you have somewhat higher magic and combat levels. These more mage-based robes and armours may work for the non-melee brothers, but you may want to consider bring a peice of metal armour for the last two brothers. Regular metal armour, like Rune Armour, is a bad idea for maging, since it lowers your magic bonus.

Then, of course, there's miscelleneous equipment. A cape doesn't exceedingly matter, but try to bring a decent one, at least a Legend's Cape. A Glory Amulet or Fury Amulet will work; and, as far as rings go, you could bring a beserker or warrior's ring, though I like to bring a Ring of Life - some Barrows brothers can hit a large amount of damage out of nowhere and leave you no time to heal. Bring high level food - at the very least bring lobsters. Sharks are probably the most used. Lastly, there are the prayer potions. You WILL need to bring some prayer potions. Your prayer will drain in the crypts and tunnels, and you'll need to use protect from melee on most of the melee brothers, for they hit so high, and you prayer can drain at a faster rate in the Barrows Mini-Game. You may even need prayer for the mage and ranged brothers. Two to four four-dose prayer potions is the recommended amount.

Then, if you like, you could bring a few other potions - Super Attack/Strength/Defence potions will help, as well as Stat Restores. If you have one, an Ectophial is a good idea, to reduce the amount you have to walk back, or a teleport out.

Game Overview

Once you've got all your equipment and such, (don't forget your spade!) there are two ways to get to the Barrows area. The slower way is to travel through the swamp to Mort'ton, then head east over a bridge into the walled-off grassy, hilly, knoll area. The quicker way is much more convenient, though you will have to have completed the In Search Of The Myreque Quest to use it.

Barrow's Routes

The above link is a map that depicts both routes to the Barrows area. The red route is, obviously, the route through the swamp, and takes a good bit of walking. As you can see with the shorter, blue route, it takes a bit less time; though it is somewhat confusing - read the walkthrough below for more info.

Starting from the bank in Canifis, head west out of the bank, and go behind the pub. You should see this trapdoor:

After going down the trapdoor, go south in the basement of the pub, and go through the hidden door you used in 'In Search of the Myreque'. Keep going south until you find this set of wooden doors:

Go through the wooden doors, and countinue going south. You'll come across the tree you had to fix in 'In Search of the Myreque'. Walk across, and keep heading south, and finally you will come to a boat.

Hop on the boat, and ride it (SOUTH!) down the river. You're almost there! Cross the bridge next to you, and head northeast to said walled-off, grassy, hilly knoll.

Regardless of your route, when you have reached the afforementioned area, you are atop the Barrows tombs. There's a small building, along with a crazy chap walking around by which you can learn about the history of the barrows, but the real Mini-Game is below you.

In the hilly knoll, there are six mounds. These are, in fact, tombs - one for each of the brothers. You can go atop any hill, use your spade, and enter the tomb. By searching the tomb, you will awaken the brother that rests there, and he will attack. You can fight him, but if you should have to run, you can run back up the stairs above ground.

One of the tombs, when searched, will not trigger a pink phantom to leap out at you filled with fury, however. This tomb will lead further down into the ground, into the labyrinth. It's basically a 3 by 3 panel, with nine rooms total. The center room is the treasure room.

When Barrowing (meaning, in a tomb or the labyrinth), a notice in the bottom right hand corner will tell you your kill count. Your kill count goes up when you kill a brother or any of the monsters in the labryinth - either the skeletons, bloodworms, Crypt Rats or Crypt Spiders. Be careful when traveling in the tunnels - which ever tomb led into the tunnels, the brother to whm the tomb belongs will be waiting for you somewhere in the tunnels. The brother could attack at any time, so be ready!

Every new time that you Barrows, the tomb that leads into the labyrinth is reset to a random tomb, as well as which door leads into the treasure room in the labyrinth. This will be covered more later.

You see, the point of Barrows is the treasure chest in the treasure room in the tunnels. This can be filled with all variety of treasures, including all kinds of coveted Barrows armour (the rewards will be covered at the end of the guide). The chest is quite random, though - you could end up getting a cheap reward! The higher your kill count, however, the better chance you have of getting a great reward. Killing all six brothers gets you a great chance. You could further your kill count by killing the monsters in the tunnels, but they do not affect your chances that much.

If you want a good chance of a good reward, you should defeat each brother. Read on to find out the best ways to defeat each brother and claim your treasure!

The Brothers

The Brothers are the main part of the Barrows. You'll want to defeat them first, and it's best if you do so in the order given below.

Crypt Key

The above link is a map that is pretty simple - it shows where each Brother lies. When you are ready, go to whatever hill, or crypt, you're starting at, stand on it, and use your spade. When you are ready for the upcoming fight, search the tomb. If you get a message saying you have a hidden tunnel, ignore it and go on to fight the next brother. Enter the tunnels last.

Dharok The Wretched

Info: Level 115 Combat; Melee Style Fighter; Northeast Crypt

Dharok is by far the hardest brother, and should be eliminated first. He wields a massive axe, and it is quite dangerous, to say the least. If you don't know how to fight him correctly, you could find yourself killed quite quickly. The effect of him using his Barrows Dharok's Armour is Wretched Strength, which gives him higher strength the lower his life is. When he is almost dead is when you should be on your highest guard. Since he is very weak to magic, the best way to kill him is to (you guessed it) mage him, and, as said before, you should use Magic Dart.

You WILL need prayer (protect from melee) to fight him. If you're going to use prayer on an entire fight for any of the brothers, make it Dharok. With the other brothers, you can get by if your prayer runs out just before you kill them. Dharok is just the opposite. Make sure you have at least 10 prayer left and your health high at all times, for when fighting him, he has been known to hit 55. You might not even want to waste time trying to poison Dharok.

Before you search Dharok's tomb, get your prayer ready and your spells set, and be prepared to pay close attention.

Karil The Tainted

Info: Level 98 Combat; Ranged Style Fighter; Southernmost Crypt

Karil The Tainted was originally an easy little blighter, until he got toughened up a while back. His crossbow fires rather quickly. Since he wears range armor, its simple to melee him. Bring out what melee equipment you've brought, and here you should use any stat boosting potions you have as well.

Get yourself into the crypt, drink up your potions, turn on your prayer (protect from missiles), and summon up Karil. Unload any special attacks you have on him, and poison him, if you can do so. His Barrows Armour Set effect, Tainted Shot, can lower your agility; however, that really won't effect you much. Overall, Karil should be one of the easier fights.

Ahrim The Blighted

Info: Level 98 Combat; Mage Style Fighter; Center Crypt

Ahrim The Blighted is the mage brother. His staff can throw somewhat-powerful spells at you. If you did bring ranged equipment, use it here, and you'll have an easy fight. Otherwise, get out your melee equipment here. You may want to use Protect from Magic if you wish, but you may be able to beat Ahrim with out. Before you awaken ol' Ahrim, use a potion if you wish, and get your poisoning weapon ready. When the fight has begun, poison and use your special attacks on him quick, and you'll have him defeated quite quick. Ahrim's Set Effect, Blighted Aura, can lower your strength, but it shouldn't make too much of a difference here. When you're done, move on to Verac.

Verac The Defiled

Info: Level 115 Combat; Melee Style Fighter; Northwest Crypt

Verac The Defiled was also a bit of an easy fight, till he was beefed up with Karil, and now his swinging flail is a bit more menacing. Verac's set effect, Defiler, has the chance of nullifying your defense and prayer. This can make things difficult. If you have prayer left over, use it; otherwise, save your prayer potions. Otherwise, simply unload whatever you have on him, and most importantly, remember to get your Magic Darts back out. Watch your health!

Torag The Corrupted

Info: Level 115 Combat; Melee Style Fighter; South Crypt (NOT the farthest to the south)

Torag is, in the opinion of many, the easiest brother. He may seem menacing with his two warhammers, but they aren't much. Really. Theres not much to killing him; you might not even need prayer. Your trusty Magic Darts should make quick work of Torag The Corrupted. His set effect, Corruption, like Karil's, doesn't do anything special - just a loss of energy. He barely ever hits, and many people kill him without much trouble. Finish him off, and move on to the last brother - Guthan The Infested.

Guthan The Infested

Info: Level 115 Combat; Melee Style Fighter; Southeast Crypt

Guthan The Infested is also very easy. His long spear doesn't deal that much damage. He is only harder than Torag because he can drain your health through his set effect, Infestation, and give it to himself. You may not need to pray; just use your best armor and mage him. It can be pesky if he drains your hp - many times people have went into a fight against Guthan feeling quite fullof themselves, but then they don't notice his health being restored as there's lowers rapidly - but as long as you watch your health and keep up the magic darts, Guthan won't be too much trouble.

The Tunnel

Remember when you got to one crypt, and it said you found a hidden tunnel? Provided that you followed directions and fought the remaing brothers first, it is time to go back to that crypt, and enter the tunnels.

In the tunnels, you must be careful. By now, you may or may not have noticed the ghostly pink faces of the brothers you defeated popping up in your Runescape window to bother you every so often. Those, at least, can only annoy you. The tunnels are home to many monsters, and while they aren't very difficult, there are a large amount of them. You'll also have to watch out for the brother you have yet to kill (before entering the tunnels, read the strategy on whatever brother is left). There are a few safe spots - as shown below - but you shouldn't spend too much time trying to get to one; you'll be taking damage during that time.

The Tunnel is the hardest part to explain, because it is always different for each person. As mentioned before, the tunnel is a 3 by 3 grid, and you need to get to the room in the center - the treasure room. There are also hallways off to the side of the tunnel, one to the east, west, north and south. So for example, if your in the northwest room, and you go into the tunnel to the west, and follow it to the end, you will end up in the northeast room. As you may be able to figure out, that only leaves four possible doors to the treasure room. However, each new 'Barrows round' you enter the tunnels, only one out of the four different doors will open, and it will change each time. In addition, many of the other doors may not open, so you'll have to explore many routes.

To find the unlocked door, it's basically just trial and error. You'll have to find your way to each one and see if it works. Of course, you'll be hindered by the various monsters lurking in the tunnels, and, as always, the one brother you have yet to kill, who could spring up anywehere.

When you finally get to the door that leads into the middle room, you will be faced with a puzzle. The puzzles are also random, but there are only four different ones total, and they are quite simple. The answers to the puzzles are circled in red in the next 4 pictures.

Puzzle One
Puzzle Two
Puzzle Three
Puzzle Four

Once you solve the puzzle and reach the treasure room (or 'chest room'), you will notice a chest in the middle (go figure). If you have not already encountered the brother you did not fight before, you will have to fight him when you go for the chest. Otherwise, open up the chest and claim your reward!

You could stand around and look at what treasure you received (hopefully you got something good), but it's best to do that later, for when you have opened and searched the chest, the tombs will begin to crumble and fall down around you. You have several options - the easiest ones being to teleport out, depending on wether you brought an ectophial or teleport runes or some other means of transportation out. Otherwise, you'll have to run back to whatever ladder leading to whatever tomb you entered from, and making your way aboveground from there.

Once you're safe and sound, you can reap your rewards!

Barrows Rewards

There are various rewards you can receive upon opening the rewards chest. You can obtain any amount of some miscelleneous items, which aren't too bad of a reward.

The following table shows all of the known possible rewards you can receive from the Barrows rewards chest.

Image	Reward
	Mind Runes *
	Chaos Runes *
	Death Runes *
	Blood Runes *
	Gold Coins *
	Teeth Key Half (Crystal Key)
	Loop Key Half (Crystal Key)
	Dragon Medium Helm
	Bolt Racks

* - These rewards come in varying amounts, if received.

The above possible rewards are pretty decent, but the most coveted of the Barrows rewards is the Barrows armour.

Along with the rewards shown above, you also have a chance of receiving Barrows Equipment. You will probably receive runes and coins, along with some of the other miscellenous rewards most of the time - however, if you're lucky, you could end up with some powerful Barrows Equipment! Statistics and information on all the Barrows Equipment can be found on the Barrows Equipment Page.

That about covers it for the Barrows Mini-Game. Good luck!