Summoning tank
From the RuneScape Wiki, the wiki for all things RuneScape
A Summoning tank is a highly armoured player who utilises only Summoning in combat. The highest combat level a typical Summoning tank can achieve is 62 (shown below).
| Combat level | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| | 99 | | 99 |
| | 1 | | 99 |
| | 1 | 62.4 | 62 |
| | 1 | ||
| | 1 | 62.07 | 62 |
| | 1 | 62.07 | 62 |
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Summoning Tanks are a relatively new type of pure specially designed for the purpose of Player Killing (AKA pking) with Summoning. A Summoning Tank utilises certain familiar special attacks and is also equipped with medium to high level Defence and Hitpoints. Summoning Tanks have very low death rates in the PKing world, due to a low combat nature (20-42 combat commonly) but with high-level Defence. This poses a huge challenge for other types of combat pures, whose combat skills at comparable levels are somewhat premature. Because of these reasons, there is an influx of Summoning Tank numbers that may dramatically alter the pking industry in the distant future.
[edit] Types
Stated before, Summoning Tanks have a nature of having low combat levels. Due to this, the variations of these pures are not significant. The classifications are fragmented into two classes: Advanced tanks and Low level tanks. Advanced Summoning Tanks are regarded as typically having combat levels of roughly 34-51 or 62, with Summoning levels ranging 60-99; Defence levels acquiring 60-78 or 99. Low levelled Summoning Tanks are vastly more common and have typically 22-33 combat with Summoning levels of 30-60 and Defence usually at either 40 or 60. Though this is the basic classification of a common Summoning Tank, the following is a list of exceptions to the basic principle:
| Combat level | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| | 75 | | 40 |
| | 1 | | 74 |
| | 1 | 38.65 | 38 |
| | 1 | ||
| | 1 | 38.32 | 38 |
| | 1 | 38.32 | 38 |
[edit] Prayer
- Summoning tanks that choose to have prayer are higher combat than those without and will max out at combat level 74. This is still considered low combat and ties with other maxed combat pures.
- Possibly the biggest advantage of having prayer is Protect from magic, as magic spells have potential over melee armour. Protect from magic will reduce the amount of damage you receive from magic attacks.
- The quests Summer's End and Contact! can be completed if Prayer level requirements are met. Thus, Spirit shields are able to be equipped as well as an experience lamp (gives 14k experience) to be received after Contact! has been finished.
- Morytania may be unlocked after completing Priest in peril, which has a Prayer requirement. This is useful to increase the chances of obtaining more points during Penguin Hide and Seek.
[edit] Ranged
- A few Summoning tanks have completed the Death to the Dorgeshuun Quest and thus sacrificed their Ranged level to 13 in order to thieve mainly Green charms from the Dorgesh-Kaan average and rich chests.
- Ranged familiars hit relatively high and accurate despite lower level requirements. Many players obtained Ranged xp as a result of overusing these familiars.
[edit] Familiars
Familiars that affiliates the defensive attack style are mostly used to prevent levelling other combat skills. Exception include familiars which use different attack styles. The strength of a Familiar (including special attack) is somewhat based on a Summoning tank's combat skill which matches the familiar's attack style, with the exception of Magic-based familiars. Though the Steel titan is a renowned opponent in the PvP worlds, for example, the familiar will be intensely handicapped as a Summoning tank generally has a low Ranged level. Instead, it is best for the Summoning tank to use a familiar that posses a Defensive attack style because of the Defence level which he/she has. The ideal familiar for this would be the iron titan.
The familiars listed in the chart below ranges from the rather subtle granite crab to the regal Steel titan.
Please note that special scroll attacks from any familiar will not give the player combat experience other than Summoning, regardless of the familiar's attack style
| Level | Familiar | Image | Attack Style | Time (minutes) | spec. pt. cost | Combat level | HP level | Special Move, Further Note | Max Dmg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Granite crab |
| Defence | 18 | 12 | 26 | 39 | Stony Shell-Temporarily boosts defence by +4 | 4 |
| 22 | Spirit Tz-Kih |
| Magic | 18 | 6 | 22 | 63 | Fireball Assault-Attacks up to 7 nearby players with fiery projectiles. | 5 (7 with special) |
| 25 | Spirit Kalphite | Defence | 22 | 6 | 39 | 77 | Sandstorm-Attacks up to 5 nearby players with sand vortexes. | 5 (2 with special) | |
| 31 | Vampire Bat |
| Controlled | 33 | 4 | 44 | 105 | Vampire Touch-Inflicts a target with a pulses of sound. May also heal the player by 2. | 5 (12 with special) |
| 36 | Bronze minotaur | Defence | 30 | 8 | 50 | 133 | Bronze Bull Rush-Casts an orb of bronze alloy at a target. Temporarily stuns target for a few seconds. | 6 (4 with special) | |
| 43 | Cockatrice Variants | Magic | 36 | 12 | 64 | 173 | Petrifying Gaze-Invokes damage and -3 stat drain. Specific -cockatrice variants determine which stat will be temporarily depleted. | 10 | |
| 46 | Iron minotaur | Defence | 37 | 6 | 70 | 193 | Iron Bull Rush-Casts an orb of iron alloy at opponent. May also temporarily stun target.
| 8 (6 with special attack) | |
| 56 | Steel minotaur | Defence | 46 | 6 | 90 | 260 | Steel Bull Rush-Casts an orb of steel alloy at opponent. May also temporarily stun target.
| 10 (8 with special attack) | |
| 66 | Mithril minotaur | Defence | 55 | 6 | 112 | 340 | Mithril Bull Rush-Spawns rugged, mithril orbs at opponent. May also temporarily stun target.
| 12 (13 with special) | |
| 74 | Granite lobster | Defence | 47 | 6 | 129 | 418 | Crushing Claw-Sends twin projectiles at opponent. May also decrease opponent's defence level by 5. | 14 | |
| 76 | Adamant minotaur | Defence | 66 | 6 | 133 | 441 | Adamant Bull Rush-Invokes a sharp, adamantite sphere at opponent. May also temporarily stun target.
| 14 (16 with special) | |
| 86 | Rune minotaur | Defence | 151 | 6 | 154 | 570 | Rune Bull Rush-Casts an orb of Rune alloy at target. May also temporarily stun opponent. | 16 (19 with special) | |
| 95 | Iron titan | Defence | 60 | 12 | 220 | 694 | Iron Within-Inflicts 3 melee-based attacks simultaneously during the next attack (possible 23x23x23 damage respectively).
| 23 (69 with special) | |
| 99 | Steel titan | Ranged | 64 | 12 | 230 | 750 | Steel of Legends-Enables 4 melee or ranged-based attacks (depending on distance) simultaneously during the next attack (possible 24x24x24x24 damage respectively). | 24 (96 with special) |
[edit] Equipment
Just as Familiars are vital in Player killing, proper equipment is necessary to ensure safety and efficiency for a Summoning tank. This includes Armour, Summoning scrolls/ pouches, and food. A Dragonfire Shield for its powerful Defence and special attack is a commonly used shield for higher levelled tanks.Compared to other types of combat pures, a Summoning tank has the tendency to require large amounts of money for much of the needed equipment. Because of this, many Summoning tanks are skilled in some form of money-making (aside from player killing) which includes skilling and even merchanting for most high-level tanks. Please see the Money making guide, the Skill Training Guides or the Merchanting guide if you are having difficulty acquiring money.
[edit] Armour
It is recommended to start a Summoning tank with the minimum of 40 Defence for decent protection. As the Rune platebody is inaccessible due to the Dragon Slayer quest requirement, the best substitute rune is a Rune chainbody or alternatively, the Elite black armour set, for its less of a negative Mage Defence bonus. Another choice would include a Fighter Torso, which may be obtained from the Barbarian Assault minigame. Acquiring 375 attacker role points for the torso may be difficult however.
Many higher levelled Summoning tanks have obtained 60 Defence to equip the Dragon equipment. Dragon armour is not only noticeably stronger than rune, but many Summoning tanks agree that they add sophistication to the wearer. Only armours commonly used by Summoning Tanks are listed in the charts below:
[edit] Dragon
| Item | Attack Bonuses | Defence Bonuses | Other | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon med helm (e) | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | -1 | +33 | +35 | +32 | -1 | +34 | +10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Amulet of glory | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +6 | 0 | +3 | |
| Dragon chainbody | 0 | 0 | 0 | -30 | 0 | +109 | +107 | +97 | -6 | +106 | +50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dragon platelegs | 0 | 0 | 0 | -21 | -7 | +68 | +66 | +63 | -4 | +65 | +20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dragon boots | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | -1 | +16 | +17 | +18 | 0 | 0 | +15 | +4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Toktz-ket-xil | 0 | 0 | 0 | -12 | -8 | +40 | +42 | +38 | 0 | +65 | +60 | +5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bone dagger p++ | +5 | +3 | -4 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 0 | +4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | +15 | +13 | +6 | -58 | +7 | +269 | +270 | +252 | -8 | +273 | +162 | +15 | 0 | +3 | |
[edit] Barrows
For Summoning tanks with high Defence (70+) Barrows Equipment is the next upgrade from Dragon armour. As they are indeed very strong, the Barrows equipment slowly degrade as the wearer engages in combat. Of the Barrows melee armours, Verac's equipment is notably selected as they have better magic defences than Guthans, Dharok, and Torag sets. 75 Defence allows for equiping Dragonfire Shields, for the shields themselves makes a Summoning tank potentially lethal with or without a familiar. The shield absorbs dragonbreath, which stays in the shield and gives it charges. Each dragonbreath attack gives it one charge, up to a maximum number of 50. Each charge increases the shield's defence against stab, slash, crush, range and summoning attacks by +1. When the shield is worn, players can also release charges of dragonbreath by operating it. The shield will then fire a deadly blast of fiery energy at the opponent, which hits up to 25 damage, but lowers the stats of the shield by 1 for every charge used after it's fully charged. The Dragonfire shield also has a 2 minute cool-down between each use.
| Item | Attack Bonuses | Defence Bonuses | Other | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verac's helmet | 0 | 0 | 0 | -6 | -2 | +55 | +58 | +54 | 0 | +56 | +15 | 0 | +3 | ||
| Amulet of glory | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +6 | 0 | +3 | |
| Verac's brassard (body) | 0 | 0 | 0 | -6 | -2 | +81 | +95 | +85 | 0 | +81 | +60 | 0 | +5 | ||
| Verac's plateskirt | 0 | 0 | 0 | -21 | -7 | +85 | +82 | +83 | 0 | +85 | +30 | 0 | +4 | ||
| Bone dagger p++ | +5 | +3 | -4 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 0 | +4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dragonfire shield | 0 | 0 | 0 | -10 | -5 | +70 | +75 | +72 | +10 | +72 | +67 | +7 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bandos boots | 0 | 0 | 0 | -5 | -3 | +17 | +18 | +19 | 0 | 0 | +15 | 0 | 0 | +3 | |
[edit] Training
Luckily, there are many fun methods to train Summoning, ranging from Thieving, to Lootsharing, and even spying on sinister penguins! When it comes to obtaining charms, the Crimson charm is vastly collected. The reason for this is for the fact that using Crimson charms gives moderately fast training and is easier to acquire than that of Blue charms. The amount of Crimson charms needed for 99 is also significantly less than that of Green and Gold charms, which requires 80k-100k charms.
The following familiars require a Crimson charm to make their pouch:
| Level | Familiar | Shards | Create Pouch XP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | Spirit scorpion | 57 | 83.2 |
| 22 | Spirit Tz-Kih | 64 | 96.8 |
| 31 | Vampire bat | 81 | 136.0 |
| 32 | Honey badger | 84 | 140.8 |
| 42 | Evil turnip | 104 | 184.8 |
| 46 | Pyrelord | 111 | 202.4 |
| 49 | Bloated leech | 117 | 215.2 |
| 61 | Smoke devil | 141 | 268.0 |
| 63 | Spirit cobra | 116 | 276.8 |
| 64 | Stranger plant | 128 | 281.6 |
| 70 | Ravenous locust | 79 | 132.0 |
| 72 | Phoenix | 165 | 301.8 |
| 74 | Granite lobster | 166 | 325.6 |
| 75 | Praying mantis | 168 | 329.6 |
| 77 | Talon beast | 174 | 1015.2 |
| 83 | Spirit dagannoth | 1 | 364.8 |
| 85 | Swamp titan | 150 | 373.6 |
| 92 | Wolpertinger | 203 | 404.8 |
| 95 | Iron titan | 198 | 417.6 |
| 96 | Pack yak | 211 | 422.4 |
| 99 | Steel Titan | 178 | 435.2 |
[edit] Soul Wars (Defence)
Despite what many players believe, Soul wars give a very miserable amount of charms (about 9 simple gold charms given after an hour or two of playing) and is recommended instead to be used to train Defence and Hitpoints. For any Summoning tank, Soul wars is the fastest training method for Defence and Hitpoints above 30.
[edit] Lootshare
Lootsharing (LootShare) in multi-combat areas is the fastest way to acquire charms-- specifically Crimson charms. In this method, a party of one or two Summoning tanks accompany a high-level player to share drops from monsters which the high-level player slays. Monsters that frequently drop Crimson charms are common targets for small parties. Lootsharing from Slayer monsters requires all members of a party to have the correct Slayer level. The most common monsters used are as follows:
- Rock lobsters (92% drop rate; 60+ Defence recommended)- Waterbirth Island Dungeon
- Nechryaels (78% drop rate; 43 Prayer is recommended, 80 slayer needed)- Chaos Tunnels
- Waterfiend (81% drop rate; 43 Prayer recommended)- Chaos Tunnels
- Dust Devils (65 Slayer needed)- Chaos Tunnels
- Greater Demons- Chaos Tunnels
- Icefiend (28% drop rate; easiest to kill)- Ice Mountain
- Cockroach soldiers (slow alternative)- Stronghold of Player Safety
- King black dragon (65% drop rate; 70+ Defence recommended with large party)- King Black Dragon Lair
For efficiency, the party's high-leveled player would normally have the Ancient magicks spellbook activated to cast Ice Burst or Ice barrage at multiple targets, namely Rock lobsters and Nechryaels. As this does acquire much more charms than other conventional means (about 200 crimson charms, 100 gold charms, 50 green charms, 9 blue charms per 1000/670 casts of Ice burst/barrage), using these spells can be expensive and would cost at the least 300M gp respectively once the Summoning tank(s) obtains 16k Crimson charms for 99. 40M is needed for the expenses of tertiary ingredients once the Summoning tank has gathered enough charms.
[edit] Safescrolling
Using Familiar special attacks on monsters while at a safe distance is known as Safescrolling. Safescrolling is a good way of collecting Gold/Green charms for the Summoning tank receives Summoning experience per cast and can freely use familiars that have an attack style other than Defensive. The Vampire bat, Barker toad, Cockatrice variants, and the Spirit Tz-Kih are just some of the familiars used for their powerful special attacks. The most common monster for Safescrolling is the Giant rock crab and their high drop rate of Gold charms. The Giant rock crabs' domain in the Chaos Tunnels has many safespots and they themselves are weak to mage-based attacks. Red dragons and Greater Demons are also good alternatives for Green and Crimson charms if money is needed. It is best to determine the amount of scrolls and pouches needed for a single trip, and to then find monsters whose drops also include items that can cover for the cost of purchasing these supplies. Always check the Grand Exchange prices before considering buying the needed items.
[edit] Bork
Many summoning tanks choose to kill Bork (see for guide) once per day because he gives a 100% drop rate for Summoning charms (7 crimson, 2 green, 5 blue) for those who defeat him. Bork also gives 5000 Slayer experience for the first time he has been killed and 250 experience thereafter. Encountering Bork is only possible once the Summoning tank has completed What Lies Below and the Hunt for Surok miniquest afterwards.
[edit] Pouches to Scrolls
[edit] Thieving
Green charms are often obtained from looting the Dorgesh-Kaan Average Chests and Dorgesh-Kaan Rich Chests, which requires 52 and 78 Thieving. Possibly 27 Green charms, 16 Gold charms, 4 Crimson charms and 1 Blue charm can be attained in an hour if a Summoning tank thieves from them continually. Uncut emeralds, Cave goblin wires, and Frog-leather armours are also potential items looted from these chests, creating a bit of profit for the Summoning tank as well.
[edit] Penguin Hide & Seek
Most tanks choose to do the Penguin Hide and Seek minigame once per week and use the reward on Summoning. Although a tank can usually only spot 6 or possibly 7-8 penguins per week, the xp gained from doing so is considered to be worth the effort because this xp is usually sufficient to gain a fair amount of xp and possibly a level or two at mid-lower Summoning levels. Need to know how much experience you will obtain? Calculate it with the following formula:
25 x (Number of penguin points) x (Level of skill).
Other quests that can help with penguin hide and seek are Cold War and Hunt for Red Raktuber. Completing the Cold War quest will allow you to receive 2 penguin points instead of 1 for certain penguins, doing this quest may result in the gain of attack experience if you kill an icelord. The experience you gain is only 41 exp, so you will not gain an attack level as a result. Hunt for Red Raktuber will give you the ability to spy on 1 polar bear each week. This polar bear counts as 1 penguin point.
[edit] Quests
- Wolf whistle -Levels Summoning to 4, 275 gold charms and the ability to train Summoning.
- Myths of the white lands -Reward: 500exp.
- Swept away -reward: 10 bowls of broth, each bowl gives 10 X your current Summoning level.
- Tail of two cats -Reward: 5k experience lamp.
- One small favour -20k experience lamp.
- Hunt for Red Raktuber, Cold War - Enables more potential of points in Penguin Hide & Seek
Quests rewarding experience but requires Prayer to complete
- Spirit of summer -Reward: 1k exp.
- Summer's end -Reward: 1.5k exp.
- Contact! -14k exp.
It is recommended that all this quest reward experience be used on summoning to make life as easy as possible on your summoning tank.





