Barrows: Rise of the Six

This article has a strategy guide. All information on mechanics, setups, and strategy are on the subpage.

The entrance to the fight

Barrows: Rise of the Six is the sequel to the standard Barrows minigame, featuring a team of four players fighting against all six of the Barrows Brothers: Ahrim, Dharok, Guthan, Torag, Verac and Karil. All six brothers, however, have been greatly enhanced by Sliske's experiments in the Shadow Realm, each increasing from level 150 and 12,000 life points to level 650 and 50,000 life points. Players split into two groups, with each group taking on three brothers, and to defeat them, all 6 brothers must be defeated at once. Together, they are widely considered to be one of the toughest boss fights in the game, either on par with or harder than Vorago.

The entrance to the minigame can be found in a well in the town next to Barrows. The quickest way to get there is using Drakan's medallion, which is unlocked during the Branches of Darkmeyer quest. Alternatively, you may travel through The Hollows and use the swamp boat in much the same fashion as you would to travel to the standard Barrows minigame. 

19 April 2024

West		East
Karil		Guthan
Ahrim		Dharok
Torag		Verac
(wrong?)

Starting the fight

The portal into the Shadow Realm

To enter the well, you or one of your teammates will need a Barrows totem, which can be obtained as a common reward from the original Barrows activity. The totem can also be purchased on the Grand Exchange.

Like with the Kalphite King, instances must be created in order to start a fight, and a number code can be given to the instance so that only players you choose are allowed to enter. Once inside, after trekking through a randomly generated corridor, containing from one to four bridges (Zero bridges is really rare, but happens.) and a varied lengthy path, you will find four pressure plates. Each member of the team must stand on a plate in order to be granted access to the arena, splitting them into two groups.

Once all players are inside the arena, one of them must click to disrupt the portal. A mask of Sliske will ask them if they are ready to fight (a quick-fight option is avaliable also). Once they accept, the brothers spawn on both sides. The side each brother goes to changes daily at 00:00 GMT. Dying in the fight will send your grave to the graveyard section of the dungeon. 

Unlike other group bosses, once a fight begins, no one can enter the instance, even if someone has died inside.

Rewards

Rise of the Six, much like the original Barrows, has many unique and powerful rewards, including malevolent energy - which can be used to smith malevolent armour and create Bobblehead pets - and some special level 90 kiteshields. The ring of wealth does not affect the loot from the chest. Just like the regular chest, if your inventory is full your rewards will be on the ground.

Once all players loot their items, they must escape from the crypts by foot, using the same randomly generated route they came in with. Several obstacles will have to be traversed this time. As soon as one person steps out from the first barrier area (short path), or into the split path (without the hole) a countdown of 30 seconds will start, and players must be careful of the collapsing ceilings and gas which will deal damage to the players.

Bridges have two options; a vine or stone pillar (vine if water is flowing, pillar if chasm), which one person can use. There is also a ledge on every bridge, anyone can use it but it is slightly longer and only one person can use it at a time. As the timer reaches 0, the screen tips and when it reaches 0, the whole dungeon explodes, dealing massive (up to 2000) damage to players who have not left yet.

Note that while you can teleport out, it will cause any unstable malevolent energy to disappear. Leaving through any other methods, such as death, will cause the same effect.

100% drops

	Item	Quantity	Rarity	GE price
	Malevolent energy	1–2	Always	368,716–737,432

Charms

No charm
29–41%	9–17%	11–20%	15–25%	13–23%
Represents a 90% confidence range based on a sample of 177 kills. 4 charms are dropped at a time. Add data to the log (requires JavaScript).

Armour

The kiteshields are tertiary drops.

	Item	Quantity	Rarity	GE price
	Rune platebody	6–10 (noted)	Common	224,880–374,800
	Malevolent kiteshield	1	Rare	6,907,175
	Merciless kiteshield	1	Rare	6,560,569
	Vengeful kiteshield	1	Rare	6,753,789

Other

	Item	Quantity	Rarity	GE price
	Barrows amulet	3–10	Common	9,951–33,170
	Magic logs	190–210 (noted)	Common	72,200–79,800
	Raw rocktail	120–150 (noted)	Common	539,760–674,700
	Black dragonhide	60–80 (noted)	Common	208,920–278,560
	Onyx bolts (e)	50–65	Common	386,150–501,995
	Battlestaff	35–45 (noted)	Common	105,420–135,540
	Runite ore	30–34 (noted)	Common	42,570–48,246
	Magic seed	2–4	Common	104,928–209,856
	Dwarf weed seed	6–10	Common	4,932–8,220
	Lantadyme seed	6–10	Common	4,356–7,260

Trivia

• Upon release, a graveyard system was implemented, but caused disconnections to players who entered at first. Within a few minutes, a patch was implemented that put the graves right outside the original Barrows entrance. After a hidden update, the system was fixed and graves now appear inside the graveyard rather than outside.
• If a bucket is used on the entrance well, Ahrim the Blighted will appear and fill it with water. He will even have the attack option, although selecting it will do nothing.
• The fight is the third non-quest fight to make use of a cutscene after victory, the first being Bork and Vorago.
• When looting the chest for the first time, the mask of Sliske will appear and congratulate the player, telling them the rewards are theirs if they survive.
• There are several glitches that can occur during and after the fight:
  • When Karil/Ahrim teleport to the middle of the field to attack players on the other side when the team is taken to the Shadow Realm, their effects may go off in the Shadow Realm but will be in the normal realm instead. A rarer glitch can happen, in which they may not transfer over to the Shadow Realm, and be stuck in the normal realm, causing the kill to be lost.
  • It is possible for Dharok to be killed. If this happens, he will drop bones, despite being a wight.
  • If the player uses Surge and lands in an area where debris was just about to fall, there is a slight chance that rather than being knocked back and being dealt with damage, they will get stuck. The only way to get out of it is by logging or dying.
• A few patch notes changed the following:
  • Some teams were able to trio the brothers, and a leecher would stay inbetween the barriers and wait until the kill was finished. After the brothers were defeated, the leecher could loot the chest for potentially valuable rewards. This was changed to having the leecher also be in the main area of the fight to be eligable for any rewards.
  • Karil's bomb radius has increased slightly.
  • If multiple Brothers occupy the same tile, attackable brothers will be above defeated ones.
  • The damage from the exploding tunnel was reduced after player complained about the damage being dealt too high and often.
• After defeating the brothers the Adventurer's Log will say: "I defeated the wights of the Shadow Realm X time(s), sealing them back in Sliske's rift."