The Stronghold Slayer Cave is a dungeon located beneath the Tree Gnome Stronghold. It contains a small variety of monsters that are commonly assigned to players. The cave is located near slayer Taskmaster Nieve (Steve after the events of Monkey Madness II), which can be found near the slayer icon on the world map.
Anyone can enter the dungeon, but players can only attack the slayer monster they were assigned, and only while the task has not been completed. The slayer ring can teleport players to the entrance of the cave. A dwarf multicannon can be used in the dungeon.
There is a shortcut in the dungeon requiring 72 Agility (can be boosted) to use. This allows the player to reach Aberrant spectres and Ankous quicker.
Contents
- 1 Location
- 2 Monsters
- 3 Development history
Location[]
The entrance to the Stronghold Slayer Cave is located in the Gnome Stronghold near Nieve, who is located just south-west of the Spirit Tree.
There are various ways to get there:
- Use a Slayer ring to teleport directly to the entrance by Nieve.
- Use the Gnome glider to Ta Quir Priw, which will take you to the Grand Tree. Exit the Grand Tree and run south-west to the entrance.
- Use the Spirit tree to the Tree Gnome Stronghold and run south-west.
- Use the Necklace of passage to Teleport to 'Outpost' and then run north-east.
Monsters[]
Monsters that can be found in the Stronghold Slayer Cave include:
| Monster | Image | Combat level | Slayer level | Slayer XP | Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberrant spectre |
| 96 | 60 | 90 | 13 |
| Ankou |
| 75, 82, 86 | 1 | 60, 65, 70 | 8 |
| Bloodveld |
| 76 | 50 | 120 | 12 |
| Fire giant |
| 86 | 1 | 111 | 12 |
| Hellhound |
| 122 | 1 | 116 | 13 |
Development history[]
A slayer dungeon containing a large variety of monsters where players can only attack their assigned slayer target was proposed in the on 15 November 2013. The dungeon was polled in Content Poll #13 and passed by 86.6%.
The cave was released on 23 January 2014, where it housed many common slayer monsters such as metal dragons, abyssal demons, and kalphites. However, the cave kraken lake was empty, as development of the slayer monster was not yet complete. This was added in an update a week later. The cave would go on to receive several more additions:
- 10 April 2014 - Smoke devils and the Kraken boss were added.
- 6 November 2014 - Gargoyles were added.
- 17 September 2015 - Black demons, blue dragons, and black dragons were added.
The south-east area of the cave, where bloodvelds, hellhounds, and aberrant spectres could be found.
The south-east area of the cave, where waterfiends, abyssal demons, and nechryaels could be found.
The volcanic area of the cave, where fire giants and various dragons could be found.
A kalphite habitat. The dead entomologist, Buggie, who brought them there, can be seen in the back.
The cave kraken lake, where many of them thrived.
A player fights a nuclear smoke devil while defending themselves against a horde of smoke devils.
The westernmost area of the cave, where black demons, blue dragons, and black dragons could be found.
A section of the Underground pass was visible from the south-east area of the cave.
Eventually, players begun to voice concerns on the sheer amount of slayer assignments that they find themselves doing in the Stronghold Slayer Cave, due to its close proximity to a bank and convenient location, losing the appeal of the variety the Slayer skill offers: the monotony of grinding in the same location, and exploring the game world as players train.
Players also complained that many of the monsters found there do not appear to be native to the area. In addition, the geography of the cave wildly varied, with damp caves on the east and lava lakes a small walk west, breaking the sense of immersion. Additional concerns included the excessively large size of the cave, which was large enough to fit Falador, Varrock, and everything between them.
In response, the Old School team wrote a Developer Blog, aiming to bring back the variety and diversity of where players train Slayer by moving some creatures out of the Stronghold Slayer Cave, and placing them into a number other new dungeons where appropriate (still requiring the appropriate slayer assignment to attack them). The cave's splitting was polled in Content Poll #51 and passed by 89.6%.
As a result, the cave was completely remapped on 27 April 2017, leaving only bloodvelds, hellhounds, aberrant spectres, ankou, and fire giants behind. The cave became nearly one-fifth its original size, with the following monsters relocated to the following locations:
- Greater and black demons were relocated to the Chasm of Fire in Great Kourend's Shayzien House.
- Black dragons, their babies, and blue dragons were relocated to a newly-made upper level within the Taverley Dungeon.
- Gargoyles, nechryaels, and abyssal demons were relocated to the newly-made basem*nt within the Slayer Tower.
- The metal dragons were relocated to a new cave west of the pre-existing cave that housed iron and steel dragons in the Brimhaven Dungeon
- The kalphites were moved to the Kalphite Cave east of the Shantay Pass.
- The smoke devils were moved to the Smoke Devil Dungeon south of Castle Wars.
- The waterfiends and cave kraken were moved to the Kraken Cove south-west of the Piscatoris Fishing Colony.
v•d•e Slayer locations | |
|---|---|
Lumbridge Swamp Caves • Dorgesh-Kaan South Dungeon • Fremennik Slayer Dungeon • Slayer Tower • Stronghold Slayer Cave • Catacombs of Kourend • Chasm of Fire • Kalphite Cave • Lizardman Caves • Kraken Cove • Smoke Devil Dungeon • Wyvern Cave |
