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Ice strykewyrm

Release date	8 February 2010 (Update)
Members?	Yes
Combat level	152
XP per kill	934.2 (and 308.3 experience)
Slayer level	93
Slayer XP	485.6
Assigned by	Duradel or Lapalok, Kuradal
Always drops	None
Examine text	Burrowed: I'm pretty sure there's something under there. Above ground: Now that's just cold.
Combat stats LP Max hit 15,000 174 (Melee), 202 (Magic), 2000 (Special attack) Attack Defence Ranged Magic 76 76 76 76 Other Immune to Poison? Immune to Stun? No No Attack Speed Speed 6 (Interval: 2.4 seconds) Aggressive? Poisonous? No No Attack styles Weakness Melee Magic Fire spells

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Ice strykewyrms have the second highest slayer requirement of slayer monsters outside of Daemonheim (after Ganodermic beasts and Legiones), requiring a Slayer level of 93 to kill. They were introduced into the game along with jungle and desert strykewyrms, and they are the only monster that drops the staff of light.

They can only be killed when assigned on a slayer task, with the exception of one kill needed to complete a Fremennik Elite Task. Players must complete The Tale of the Muspah quest before Slayer Masters may assign these creatures. The only Slayer masters who can assign Ice strykewyrms are Duradel/Lapalok and Kuradal, with Kuradal assigning them more often than Duradel/Lapalok.

When ice strykewyrms were first released, there was also the restriction that they could only be assigned to players who own a fire cape. However, one month after their release, ice strykewyrms became available to slayers who wished to purchase the ability to fight them by using 2,000 Slayer reward points. Despite this, purchasing the ability does not allow players to kill ice strykewyrms outside of a slayer task; it merely unlocks the ability to be assigned them and to kill them without owning and wearing a fire cape. Because of this, and the fact that most players who have level 93 Slayer will have high enough combat stats to get a fire cape quite easily, it is generally considered a waste of points to purchase this. Nevertheless, it is still an option for players who have particular difficulty in obtaining the fire cape. An update introduced the completionist cape, which can replace the fire cape as an item to kill ice strykewyrms. To obtain it, you will need to have obtained a fire cape at least once, plus other requirements. An update on 28 February 2012 included the ability to use a TokHaar-Kal to damage Ice Strykewyrms.

As of 3 March 2010, players wearing a fire cape while fighting ice strykewyrms deal 2.0x damage with fire-based spells. Additionally, players wearing a fire cape deal 40 extra damage with any combat style. For players not wearing a fire cape, the strykewyrm's maximum hit is slightly increased.

Killing one ice strykewyrm is one of the elite Fremennik Province Tasks. Players who have not completed this elite task are able to make an ice strykewyrm surface even if they are not assigned them as a Slayer task. This used to be possible even without the required Slayer level; however, to do any damage, the player must have boosted to 93 Slayer, such as by using wild pie(s), and has to be wearing a fire cape to deal any damage to it, or use a dwarf multi-cannon. Since the introduction of EOC several players have reported that they cannot make ice strykewyrms surface without 93 Slayer, even if the slayer level is boosted to 93. (It is not clear whether this is a bug although one of the forum threads suggests that this may be intentional.) Players without a fire cape will not be able to deal any damage to it whatsoever, including by means of Deflect Curses, Vengeance, rings of recoil, and/or poison. While purchasing the ability to slay ice strykewyrms for 2,000 Slayer reward points is an option, this can only be done by players with at least 93 Slayer for which you cannot use temporary boosts. After killing an ice strykewyrm for the Fremennik Tasks, players will no longer be able to surface an ice strykewyrm without having them assigned as a current slayer task.

Like all strykewyrms, ice strykewyrms reside underground beneath mounds until provoked by a player with the necessary Slayer task. Slayer Masters claim that only those who have been assigned to hunt them may surface the strykewyrms due to the strykewyrm being able to smell the intent of the slayer. By investigating the mounds, the strykewyrm will surface and attack the player. However, the strykewyrm will not attack for about two to three seconds, so players may take advantage of this time to change their position or to get a few good hits in. Players without the necessary task to kill strykewyrms will not be able to surface the strykewyrm and will instead perform the think emote.

Getting thereEdit

The ice strykewyrms are located in a cave to the east of room just before the cave in which Jhallan was frozen during The Tale of the Muspah.

The quickest way to get to the ice strykewyrms is to use Fairy ring DKS, which is just south of the cave. The entrance to the ice strykewyrms is the waterfall to the east; if there is water coming through, blocking the way, the player must use a spade to dam the eastern river in cave where the Muspah was frozen. This will stop the water from coming through and allowing the player to use the entrance.

Attack stylesEdit

Ice strykewyrms have four types of attacks: melee, magic, freezing spell and burrow. If the player is within one square of a strykewyrm, it will use any of the four attack types. At a distance, the strykewyrm mostly uses its magic attack but will occasionally use its freezing spell (which looks like Ice Barrage), which renders the player unable to move for around three seconds and cancels the player's next attack. Simply clicking the strykewyrm will resume attacking immediately.

The ice strykewyrm's strongest attack is when it burrows underground during battle and then pops back up, dealing up to 2000+ life points to only the person it is fighting. There was an update to prevent other players from getting hit by someone else's ice strykewyrm, but it does show an animation of that getting thrown out of the way, but not losing life points. The strykewyrm becomes invulnerable during this time, so attempting to attack it while it is burrowed is futile. This attack can be easily avoided by quickly moving two steps away in any direction. The further away the player is from the strykewyrm when it burrows (such as when maging from a distance), the easier it is to avoid this attack. It can also use the burrow attack if a player walks into its square and stays there for a couple of seconds, so it is recommended not to do this. The strykewyrm will not use the burrow attack if the player is standing next to an obstacle, such as the cave wall or a stalagmite. Some players believe moving away from the burrow is easier than trying to stand by an obstacle, while other players believe it is easier to use obstacles.

StrategiesEdit

Main article: Ice strykewyrm/Strategies

Despite requiring level 93 Slayer, these creatures have low defence and may be killed effectively by several different methods. Ice strykewyrms are weak against fire. Wearing a fire cape increases all damage dealt to a wyrm by 40. Furthermore, all fire spells hit for 1.5x damage, 2x damage if the player is wearing a fire cape. Because they are non-aggressive, there is always opportunity after a kill to use the regenerate ability to heal, the drawback being the extra time that requires. A combination of regeneration, shark drops, Excalibur in the off-hand, the Soul Split prayer or a healing familiar can eliminate the need to bring any food.

In some circumstances, a single magic spell cast may appear as two hit markers simultaneously. This seems to be a side effect of using abilities that score bonus damage. Items that raise the chances of critical hits will make this more common.

Casting ice spells from the Ancient Magicks spellbook will heal the ice strykewyrms instead of damaging them.^[1]

A prayer-costlier though safer method is to use Protect from Magic or Deflect Magic, as they stop most damage from the strykewyrm's magic and freezing attacks, although the freezing attack still immobilises the player. When using prayer, players should consider wearing armour with good prayer bonus, such as the dagon'hai robes set.

If using melee, players may find it more effective to Protect from Melee or Deflect Melee instead of Magic. While in melee distance, the strykewyrms rarely use their magic based attacks, but their melee attacks can quickly build up if the player is unlucky. Using an abyssal whip seems to be more effective than using a godsword, as both weapons frequently hit high, but the whip is significantly faster.

DropsEdit

CharmsEdit

Charm drop percentages

No charms
79–81%	5–6%	3%	2%	9–10%

Represents 90% confidence range, based on a sample of 9,393 kills.
1 charm is dropped at a time.

Please add to the log (only if 50 or more creatures killed).

WeaponsEdit

	Item	Quantity	Rarity	GE Market Price
	Mithril battleaxe	1	2 Common	765
	Rune battleaxe	1	4 Rare	24,557
	Staff of light	1	4 Rare [2]	342,648

Runes/TalismansEdit

	Item	Quantity	Rarity	GE Market Price
	Blood rune	15	3 Uncommon [3]	4,335
	Law rune	20	3 Uncommon	3,800
	Death rune	20	3 Uncommon	3,180
	Water talisman	3 (noted)	3 Uncommon	16,818
	Earth talisman	1	4 Rare	762
	Mind talisman	1	4 Rare	68
	Fire talisman	1	4 Rare	2,016
	Body talisman	1	4 Rare	191
	Air talisman	1	4 Rare	122
	Cosmic talisman	1	4 Rare	199

HerbsEdit

All herb drops are noted.

	Item	Quantity	Rarity	GE Market Price
	Grimy guam	1–4	2 Common	361–1,444
	Grimy marrentill	1–4	2 Common	57–228
	Grimy tarromin	1–4	2 Common	168–672
	Grimy harralander	1–4	2 Common	467–1,868
	Grimy ranarr	1–4	2 Common	2,244–8,976
	Grimy irit	1–4	2 Common	1,863–7,452
	Grimy avantoe	1–4	2 Common	3,979–15,916
	Grimy kwuarm	1–4	2 Common	2,245–8,980
	Grimy cadantine	1–4	3 Uncommon	2,156–8,624
	Grimy lantadyme	1–4	3 Uncommon	7,791–31,164
	Grimy dwarf weed	1–4	3 Uncommon	9,087–36,348

SeedsEdit

	Item	Quantity	Rarity	GE Market Price
	Tarromin seed	1	2 Common	4
	Watermelon seed	1–3	2 Common	1,898–5,694
	Cactus seed	1	2 Common	38
	Ranarr seed	1	2 Common	840
	Poison ivy seed	1	2 Common	51
	Kwuarm seed	1	2 Common	118
	Toadflax seed	1	2 Common	805
	Jangerberry seed	1	2 Common	3
	Wildblood seed	1	2 Common	76
	Belladonna seed	1	2 Common	34
	Whiteberry seed	1	2 Common	32
	Bittercap mushroom spore	1	2 Common	12
	Strawberry seed	1	2 Common	434
	Limpwurt seed	1	3 Uncommon	555
	Maple seed	1	4 Rare	23,265
	Spirit weed seed	1	4 Rare	318
	Dwarf weed seed	1	4 Rare	38,840

OtherEdit

	Item	Quantity	Rarity	GE Market Price
	Coins	200–8,138	2 Common [4]	Not sold
	Shark	1–6	2 Common	825–4,950
	Crushed nest	5–9 (noted)	2 Common	5,515–9,927
	Super defence (3)	1	2 Common	111
	Pure essence	200 (noted)	2 Common	13,000
	Magic logs	5 (noted)	2 Common	7,860
	Rune bar	1 (noted)	3 Uncommon	13,017
	Anagogic ort	20	3 Uncommon	Not sold
	Clue scroll (hard)	1	4 Rare	Not sold
	Clue scroll (elite)	1	4 Rare	Not sold
	Spin ticket	1	4 Rare	Not sold
	Starved ancient effigy	1	5 Very rare	Not sold
	Court Summons	1	5 Very rare	Not sold

1. ^ Mod Emilee. "Game Update FAQ - 08/02/10". 11-Feb-2010 10:05:02. Recent Updates Forums. *
2. ^ As quoted by Jagex on the official update faq, the staff of light's drop rate is the same as that of the abyssal whip. During Runefest's big question sessions, the drop rate of the abyssal whip was revealed to be 1/512. Therefore the drop rate of the staff of light must also be 1/512.
3. ^ Always dropped with a seed
4. ^ 200 coins will always be dropped along with the magic log drop.

Rare drop table dropsEdit

This monster drops items from the rare drop table.
The ring of wealth improves the chances if equipped but is not required to access the table.

Show/hide rare drop table
Item		Quantity	Rarity	GE Market Price
	Coins	250; 381; 450; 3,000; 9,000; 12,000	2 Common	Not sold
	Uncut sapphire	1	2 Common	1,082
	Uncut emerald	1	2 Common	1,884
	Uncut ruby	1	2 Common	3,172
	Uncut diamond	1	3 Uncommon	7,110
	Loop half of a key	1	3 Uncommon	10,649
	Tooth half of a key	1	3 Uncommon	17,280
	Uncut dragonstone	1	4 Rare	12,885
	Dragonstone	1	4 Rare	10,457
	Dragon dagger	1	3 Uncommon	16,857
	Rune javelin	5	4 Rare	1,240
	Adamant javelin	20	5 Very rare	1,320
	Rune 2h sword	1	5 Very rare	37,963
	Rune spear	1	5 Very rare	12,049
	Dragon spear	1	5 Very rare	36,917
	Dragon dagger	50 (noted)	5 Very rare	842,850
	Rune sq shield	1	5 Very rare	22,650
	Rune kiteshield	1	5 Very rare	32,283
	Shield left half	1	5 Very rare	65,284
	Dragon helm	1	5 Very rare	59,692
	Adamant bolts	200	3 Uncommon	20,000
	Onyx bolts	150	4 Rare	1,297,050
	Rune arrow	150–200; 500	4 Rare	29,850–199
	Battlestaff	200 (noted)	4 Rare	1,680,400
	Air orb	1,000 (noted)	4 Rare	1,587,000
	Fire orb	1,000 (noted)	4 Rare	1,723,000
	Vecna skull	1	5 Very rare	91,765
	Water talisman	1	3 Uncommon	5,606
	Earth talisman	25–35 (noted)	3 Uncommon	19,050–26,670
	Fire talisman	25–35 (noted)	3 Uncommon	50,400–70,560
	Chaos talisman	1	3 Uncommon	175
	Nature talisman	1	3 Uncommon	195
	Pure essence	500–15,000 (noted)	3 Uncommon	32,500–975,000
	Nature rune	47–77	4 Rare	5,405–8,855
	Soul rune	20	4 Rare	2,460
	Law rune	45	4 Rare	8,550
	Death rune	50; 121	4 Rare	159
	Blood rune	50	4 Rare	14,450
	Raw swordfish	125 – 250; 1,000 (noted)	3 Uncommon	36,750–294
	Raw shark	250–500 (noted)	3 Uncommon	250,500–501,000
	Big bones	150 – 500 (noted)	3 Uncommon	68,100–227,000
	Coal	150–7,500 (noted)	3 Uncommon	38,850–1,942,500
	Adamantite ore	150–800 (noted)	3 Uncommon	214,200–1,142,400
	Silver ore	100 (noted)	4 Rare	11,200
	Runite ore	100 (noted)	4 Rare	1,056,600
	Adamant bar	1,000–7,000 (noted)	4 Rare	2,838,000–19,866,000
	Rune bar	1,50,150 (noted)	4 Rare	13,017–1,952,550
	Clean ranarr	33 (noted)	3 Uncommon	75,768
	Clean toadflax	25–250 (noted)	3 Uncommon	85,700–857,000
	Clean snapdragon	30–120 (noted)	3 Uncommon	103,980–415,920
	Clean torstol	10–100 (noted)	3 Uncommon	91,330–913,300
	Saradomin brew (4)	250 (noted)	5 Very rare	64,750
	Watermelon seed	3	3 Uncommon	5,694
	Yew seed	1–50	4 Rare	60,155–3,007,750
	Magic seed	1–6	4 Rare	163,646–981,876
	Palm tree seed	10	4 Rare	1,017,430
	Snapdragon seed	1	4 Rare	2,087
	Torstol seed	1–31	4 Rare	51,085–1,583,635
	Fellstalk seed	2	4 Rare	1,000
	Yew logs	100–20,000 (noted)	4 Rare	52,500–10,500,000

TriviaEdit

• Ice strykewyrms, along with the other strykewyrms, were the first monsters to incorporate particle effects.
• If a player runs behind an obstacle just as a strykewyrm burrows into the ground, the strykewyrm will disappear. Although it will seem to respawn normally, it will leave no drops. This does not count as a kill for the player. This glitch has not been fixed.
• When attacking an Ice strykewyrm for the Fremennik Province Tasks, the goliath gloves' special effect is able to deal damage to it, making it possible to slay it at level 65 (the minimal requirement to obtain the gloves).
• When frozen by their magic attack, a block of ice will appear, similar to that of Ice barrage. Fortunately, the freeze does not last long.
• Despite having a magic-based attack, their magic attack is icicles that they shoot at the player, which would make it as a "ranged" instead of "magic" attack. This might be an oversight from Jagex.
• When the TokHaar-Kal was given the ability to count as a fire cape when fighting Ice strykewyrms, it did not give the bonus damage effect, and simply allowed players to deal normal damage the same way as the slayer reward. This was later fixed with an update on March 13.
• When using a steel titan, using scrolls may cause the ice strykewyrm to target your steel titan. This may not be noticable, and then when it burrows to attack it seems to dissapear. This seems to only happen when using scrolls. 
• If the ice strykewyrm attacks a familar it will burrow into nothing.
• If the ice strykewyrm is bound, it will burrow into nothing.
• This is the only strykewyrm other than the wildywyrm to not drop any of the components for the full slayer helmet. Jungle strykrwyrms drop the hexcrest and the desert strykewyrms drop focus sights.
• The maximum amount of damage a player can deal to an ice strykewyrm in one hit is 10,000 (12,000 with a critical hit).