Cerberus
| Details | |
|---|---|
| NPC type | Slayer boss |
| Location | Cerberus's Lair |
| Combat | |
| Hitpoints | 600 |
| Attack styles | Melee Ranged Magic |
| Maximum hit | 23 (normal attacks) 30 (souls) |
| Attack interval (ticks) | 4 |
| Immunities | Poison Venom |
| Access and rewards | |
| Loot | Primordial, pegasian and eternal crystals; smouldering stone |
| Pet | Hellpuppy |
Cerberus is a three-headed Slayer boss that requires 91 Slayer to attack. It drops primordial, pegasian and eternal crystals, the smouldering stone and the Hellpuppy pet.
Getting there
Choose Cerberus in Sarim Hub. Use Peek on an iron winch to check whether its room is occupied, then choose Turn to enter. There are three public rooms, reached from the west, east and north winches.
Bring a melee setup, food, prayer potions or super restores, and a teleport for resupplying. A crush weapon is a good starting choice because Cerberus has lower crush defence than stab or slash defence. Have all three protection prayers available.
A spectral spirit shield is useful if you have one. Equip it for the souls to halve their Prayer drain.
Fight
- Start with Protect from Magic. The opening combo uses Magic, ranged, then melee. Switch to Protect from Missiles, then Protect from Melee for those hits.
- Watch for later combos and repeat that prayer order. Between combos, Cerberus mixes attack styles, so keep your hitpoints high.
- At 400 hitpoints or less, watch for souls. Read their order from west to east and use the matching prayer before each soul attacks.
- At 200 hitpoints or less, watch for lava. Move at least two tiles away from every pool and stay clear through the final burst.
- Collect your loot and leave to resupply before running out of food or Prayer supplies.
Souls
When Cerberus howls Aaarrrooooooo, three souls approach. They attack from west to east. Their styles are shuffled each wave, so check the order each time.
| Soul's attack style | Prayer |
|---|---|
| Ranged | Protect from Missiles |
| Magic | Protect from Magic |
| Melee | Protect from Melee |
Activate the right prayer before the soul launches its attack. Switching after the projectile has launched is too late. Change to the next soul's prayer after the previous soul attacks.
Blocking a soul drains up to 30 Prayer points, or 15 with a spectral spirit shield equipped. A full wave can drain 90 points, or 45 with the shield, as well as your normal prayer drain. Drink a potion before the wave and again between attacks if needed. Do not let Prayer reach zero while switching.
A missed prayer allows a 30-damage hit. Food helps you recover, but correct prayer switches and enough Prayer points are the main way to survive the wave.
Lava
At 200 hitpoints or less, Cerberus can growl Grrrrrrrrrr and create three lava pools. One appears on the tile you are standing on.
Move immediately. Both the marked tile and the tiles next to it take damage, so moving only one tile is unsafe. Stay at least two tiles from every pool until the final burst ends. Keep watching your prayers while moving, since other attacks can still occur.
Leaving
Use the room's portcullis to leave and confirm the exit dialogue. Bank and restore your supplies before another trip.
Drops
These rates are per kill in the normal world, without reward bonuses or extra rolls.
| Item | Quantity | Rarity |
|---|---|---|
| Primordial crystal | 1 | 1/500 |
| Pegasian crystal | 1 | 1/500 |
| Eternal crystal | 1 | 1/500 |
| Smouldering stone | 1 | 1/500 |
| Jar of souls | 1 | 1/194 |
Pet
The Hellpuppy has a 1/1001 chance per pet roll before boosts.