Slayer is a Skill in Oldschool Runescape that allows players to be assigned a specific monster to kill. As you progress through the levels you will unlock new monsters to kill, that would otherwise be immune to damage without the respective slayer level. Slayer experience is rewarded roughly based on the amount of hitpoints the slain monster had.
The guide focuses on the fastest and most efficient methods to training slayer. Making use of slayer reward points you collect along the way, to apply block tasks and skip tasks. Generally, this will help you get more multi-combat slayer tasks. As slayer tasks whereby players can kill multiple of the assigned monsters at once are the best for slayer experience. Making use of multi-target weapons such as the dwarf multicannon, barrage spells and chinchompas.
Slayer Masters
As a general rule, players should use the highest tier slayer master available to them. As generally they will give higher hourly rates of slayer experience. Starting slayer training with Turael at very low combat levels is recommended as any early combat levels you gain won’t be wasted. Gradually moving through the tiers from Mazchna to Vannaka and then Chaeldar.
The majority of your slayer training will be done with Nieve and Duradel. The average hourly experience rates from both are very close to each other. Therefore, the best master to use is normally dependant on how you have customised your slayer task block list.
Every slayer master has its own unique task list, the monsters on their list all come with their own individual weightings. So, if you are looking for a specific task, you will need to find out which slayer master weights the specific task highest. Additionally, some slayer masters have unique tasks. For example, if you want to kill the Alchemical Hydra, then Konar is the only one who can assign Hydras.
Standard Slayer Gear Setups
Melee Setups
Max Melee
Budget Melee
Range Setups
Max Range
Budget Range
Magic Setups (Barraging)
Max Magic
Budget Magic
Slayer Point Rewards
Slayer points are granted for every consecutive task completed (after your 5th consecutive task). The slayer helmet is an important item that must be unlocked with 400 slayer points. When imbued it gives a 15% damage and accuracy boost against assigned slayer monsters. Additionally, for increased experience, unlocking superior slayer monsters should be a focus for spending early slayer points. After that investing in a strong block list is important and using remaining points to skip unwanted tasks can be beneficial to experience rates. You can check out our full slayer reward unlock order guide here.
Block list
Every 50 quest points a player earns, up to 250 quest points, they will unlock a new block slot. The sixth and final block slot is unlocked with completion of the Elite Lumbridge & Draynor diary. Then, when players are assigned a task they want to block they will have to spend 100 slayer points to block it permanently, preventing any further assignments of that monster from all slayer masters.
Your main goal with a block list, should be to maximise the amount of time you spend doing tasks that are either good profit or good slayer exp per hour. However, the weighting of monsters on a slayer masters task list should also come into play. For example, it is better to block Hellhounds than Steel Dragons, as they are weighted higher.
Skipping tasks
Remaining or left-over slayer points should be spent on skipping unwanted tasks. As previously mentioned when picking your block list you will have to be very selective. Any tasks that may have not made it to the block list due to their low weighting will still be assignable at some points through-out your road to 99 slayer. Therefore, it is recommended to skip these tasks if you have the points in the hopes of getting a more favourable assignment.
Slayer Locations
There are many hotspots around OSRS, where players can find multiple monsters that are commonly assigned slayer tasks residing in the same area. These are predominantly Dungeons or Caves, but may also be surface level areas such as Towers. Some of the areas include:
- Slayer Tower
- Karuulm Slayer Dungeon
- Fremennik Slayer Dungeon
- Stronghold Slayer Cave
- Catacombs of Kourend
- Chasm of Fire
- Kalphite Cave
- Corsair Cove Dungeon
- Brimhaven Dungeon
- Wilderness Slayer Cave
Slayer Bosses
The slayer skill currently has a total of six slayer bosses that can be killed, each with their own unique pet. They all require a slayer task of their weaker related monsters to be killed. The bosses and their required slayer tasks are as follows:
- Abyssal Sire – requires a Abyssal Demon task
- Alchemical Hydra – requires a Hydra task
- Cerberus – requires a Hellhound task
- Grotesque Guardians – requires a Gargoyle task
- Kraken – requires a Cave Kraken task
- Thermonuclear Smoke Devil – requires a Smoke Devil task
Additionally, players can unlock the “like a boss” perk from any slayer master. This allows players to be assigned a wider variety of bosses that are not just slayer specific.