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OSRS Barrows guide for ironman: strategy & gear setup
Created: May 30 2024

OSRS Barrows guide for ironman: strategy & gear setup

OSRS Barrows guide for ironman: strategy & gear setup

Barrows is one of the easiest content in the game and also a great way to get started with bossing if you are new to it. Since they have low requirements and can be killed easily with mid-level gear, it makes a great boss for ironmen to kill to make a profit.


Six burial mounds can be found east of Mor'ton. A different Barrows brother can be found after searching their sarcophagus inside each of the burial mounds. a crypt can be found beneath a random sarcophagus belonging to one of the Barrow brothers


A reward chest can be found in the crypts. If you can search the reward chest, there is a possibility of finding a piece of exclusive Barrows equipment, but the Barrows brothers guard these crypts, so you would need to kill them all to search the reward chests.


Requirements for Barrows


The only prerequisite to doing barrows is finishing the Priest in Peril's quest to enter Morytania.


Even if that is the only prerequisite needed to have access to them, there are a few more things I advise you to do to make the Barrows Brothers even simpler:

  • If you want to earn money, you can finish the Morytania hard diary, which will offer you 50% more runes for each Barrows chest you open and give you unlimited teleports to Burgh de Rott, which would save you money on teleporting to barrows.
  • Your Barrows runs are a lot easier when you finish the Faithful Servants since you'll be able to utilize the minimap inside the crypt beneath the Barrow brothers' sarcophagus.
  • By getting the Ghommal's hilt 2 after claiming the medium-tier awards from the combat accomplishments system, the barrows' ability to drain prayer would be neutralized.
  • Completion of In Aid of Myreque to be able to use the bank in Burgh de Rott.


Suggested stats for doing barrows


  • 60+ attack
  • 60+ strength
  • 61+ ranged: to use rune crossbow
  • 78+ magic: to use Barrows Teleport in POH. If you don't want to do that, then 50 Magic is fine.
  • 60+ prayer


How to get to the Barrows


How to get to the Barrows


I strongly advise using the fastest method (barrows teleport in POH) below if you plan to do multiple barrows runs on an Ironman account, as you won't want to use stamina potions to run to the barrows constantly, and even with stamina potions, the other methods would cause your barrow runs to be slower.


Here are the fastest ways to get to barrows for ironmen to minimize running time.


  • The best and fastest way to get to Barrows on Ironman would be to use a Barrows portal that can be made in the portal chamber area of your POH; this requires 83 magic.
  • Fairy code B I P can be used, then run southeast to the Barrows brothers, but keep in mind that this approach needs 50 agility.
  • Another option is to use Morytania legs 3 or 4 to get to Burgh de Rott and then run there.
  • Use the fairy ring B K R, then run to Swamp Boaty and use the ship to get to Mor'ton, then run to Barrows.


Gear setup for Barrows on Ironman

Since you will only be using protection prayers against the first three brothers and tanking the hits of the last three brothers, your primary focus when doing barrows should be on wearing the best melee defense gear available.


Additionally, make sure that your magic attack bonus does not drop below -65, as this will prevent you from hitting the Barrow brothers. However, you can still hit the Barrow brothers with a negative magic attack bonus because of their extremely low magic defense.


Body slot


Rune platebody:


Rune platebody

Leg slot


Rune plateleg


Rune platelegs



The Rune platebodies and platelegs have good defence stats that will help you tank hits from the final three brothers.


Hand slot weapon


Slayer staff

Slayer staff

A slayer master will sell you the slayer staff for 21,000 coins, but it needs 50 magic and 55 slayers to wield. The magic dart spell, which is very helpful against the Barrow brothers, can be cast with it. You should use this if you can't use the Iban's staff.


Iban’s staff

Iban’s staff

The Iban's staff, which is obtained by defeating the evil mage during the Underground Pass quest, can be used to cast the Iban's blast spell and requires 50 attacks and 50 magic to wield. It offers a +10 bonus magic attack and defense. Because of how effective it is against the Barrows brothers, most ironmen choose to use it.


Trident of the seas

Trident of the seas

This is the best weapon for Ironmen to use against the Barrows brothers; they require 75 magic to wield and can be gotten as a rare slayer task drop from Cave Krakens or Krakens when you have a slayer level of at least 87. It offers a +15 magic attack and defence bonus.


Shield slot


A tome of fire

tome of fire

Since a tome of fire grants an infinite supply of fire runes, it is particularly useful when utilizing the Iban's staff. Burnt pages are used to charge it, and wieling it requires 50 magic. It can be obtained by subduing Wintertodt. It also grants +8 bonuses for magic attacks and defenses.


Mage book


Mage book


The Mage book is the best book to use if you are not using the Iban's staff. It can be obtained from the mage training area for 500 telekinetic pizzazz points, 550 alchemist pizzazz points, 6,000 enchantment pizzazz points, and 500 graveyard pizzazz points. It requires 60 magic spells to wield. It provides a +15 bonus magic attack and defense.


Cape slot

Imbued God cape


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The imbued God capes, which can be obtained through the minigame Mage Arena 2, are also quite powerful. They grant a +15 magic attack and defense bonus, but they need 75 magic to wear; if you lack that requirement, you can wear the regular god capes.


Amulet slot


Amulet of glory


Amulet of glory

The Amulet of Glory is a dragonstone amulet enchanted by the magic spell LV-5 enchant, It offers a +10 magic attack and +3 magic defence bonus


Amulet of power

Amulet of power

It can be gotten by enchanting a diamond amulet and then enchanting it with 57 magic; it provides a +6 magic attack and defence bonus. If you don’t have access to the Amulet of Glory, then you can opt to use this amulet 


Ring slot


Explorer’s ring 3


Explorer’s ring 3


Because of this ring's +1 prayer bonus, I suggest using it. The Explorer Ring 3 is gotten when you finish the hard Lumbridge & Draynor diary. If you misplace the ring, you can get it back for free from Haitus Cosaintus in Lumbridge. If you can't use it, you can get the ring of dueling, which will allow you to teleport to Ferox Enclave and restore your stats.


Gloves slot


Barrows gloves



Barrows gloves

This might be challenging for ironmen to obtain but it is worth it and would improve your hits. It can be gotten after the completion of the recipe for the disaster series and can be bought for 130,000 coins from the culinaromancer’s chest afterward.


Boot slot


climbing boots


climbing boots




For ranged switches,


Hand slot


Rune crossbow:

Rune cross bow

 

This requires 61 ranged to wield and offers a +90 ranged attack bonus; Ironmen can obtain it by killing the crazy archaeologist.


Magic shortbow

Magic shortbow

If you can’t use the rune crossbow, then this is a good alternative, provided that you have 50 ranged. You can get this from hard clue scrolls or as a rare drop from spiritual rangers.


Body slot

black d’hide or red d’hide body

black d’hide  and red d’hide body

The black d'hide body has a +30 ranged attack bonus and requires 70 ranged and 40 defense to wear. If you are unable to wear it, you should choose the red d'hide body, which has a +25 ranged attack bonus and requires 60 ranged and 40 defense to equip. Wearing a platebody when using ranged will interfere with the operation of the ava accumulator, so you should avoid doing so.



Cape slot

ava’s assembler or accumulator

ava’s assembler and accumulator

For melee switches:


Hand slot


Dragon scimitar

Dragon scimitar

This requires 60 attack and the completion of Monkey Madness I.



Dragon Dagger

Dragon Dagger


This requires 60 attack and the completion of the lost city quest. This is also very useful against Karil: you can use the special attack of the dragon dagger first and then finish him up with another weapon.




Shield slot


Dragon or rune defender

 Dragon and rune defender

Defenders can be gotten from killing cyclopes in the Warrior’s guild at a rate of 1/50 and 1/100 for the dragon defender


Rune kiteshield or Crystal shield

Rune kiteshield and Crystal shield

These are also great if you have a low defence and you are not able to properly tank the hits of Barrows brothers that use melee


How to fight the Barrows brothers


fighting barrows brothers


When you get the hang of fighting the Barrow brothers, it becomes rather simple to do; however, the equipment you utilize will determine how easy your Barrows runs will be

There are six burial mounds around the area of the Barrow brothers. If you use a spade to dig one of the mounds, you will find the brother's sarcophagus, and If you search the sarcophagus, the brother who resides there will emerge and attack you.


Here is the location of the Barrows brothers:


location of barows brothers


To get a better chance of getting any of Barrow's outfits, you would have to kill all six of the brothers. You should make sure you use the appropriate protection prayer when digging the burial mounds. All of the brothers use melee combat, except Ahrim, who uses magic, and Karil, who uses ranged.

The brothers would continuously drain your prayer every 14 seconds once you had entered each mound. Magic is the best combat style to use against all of the brothers, except for killing Ahrim, who requires ranged. When you search one of the brother's sarcophagus, which randomly changes each time, you will find a deeper crypt instead of the brother himself. It is best to kill the other brothers first before making your way into the deeper crypt

Once you enter the crypt, you must find your way through the maze to reach the reward chest. You must try out several doors before determining which one will lead you to the right path to the reward chest.


The Crypt


The barrows crypt


As previously mentioned, once you enter the crypts, you must navigate a maze whose path is randomly chosen each time. You can only use trial and error to get to the center. Also, be sure to exercise caution because opening a door can cause any of these to spawn:



  • 12/128 chance of the final Barrows brother
  • 32/128 chance of a crypt rat
  • 52/128 chance of a skeleton


Reward chest in barrows crypt


If you have the Strange Old Pick equipped, you can use the lockpick to quickly pass through the doors leading to the central room, eliminating the possibility of any of those monsters spawning. However, most players discourage this since it decreases the likelihood of finding better loot because you will be killing fewer monsters.


Monsters found in the crypt


  • Bloodworms

Bloodworms


  • Crypt rat

Crypt rat


  • Crypt spiders


Crypt spiders

  • Giant crypt rat

Giant crypt rat


  • Giant crypt spider

Giant crypt spider


The door leading to the reward chest requires you to solve a straightforward pattern puzzle, as shown below, which comes in four different varieties. If you fail the puzzle, the door leading to the central room will change, and you will have to run through the crypts and figure out the correct path again.


Puzzle in the barrows crypts


The best rotation to kill the Barrows brothers


It would be wise to use protection prayers against Dharok, Karil, Verac, and Ahrim since they can deal a lot of damage without them. However, since Verac can hit through prayers, it is best to save him for last when you are low on prayer points so you can tank his hits.

If you have a good defense level and you can't easily kill all six brothers without prayer potions, or if you want to save prayer potions. Then, It is a good idea to kill Guthan and Torag at the end, along with Verac, Thus, the safest sequence would be:



First: Dharok

Second: Karil

Third: Ahrim

Fourth: Verac

Fiftth: Guthan

Sixth: Torag.


Barrows Reward system

You must comprehend how the reward system operates to be able to get the best rewards. The more brothers you kill before the reward chest opens, the better your chances are of finding pieces of the barrow's armor or weapons.

However, to increase the potential reward for the other rewards, you would need to defeat the Barrow brothers and other monsters within the crypt. The maximum reward potential for defeating the monsters is 1,000 points, and you will also receive 2 points for eliminating each of the Barrow brothers, for a total of 1012 points. Your reward potential is determined by the combat level of each monster you defeat.


How to get the best rewards when fighting the Barrows 


To maximize your rewards, you must first kill all six of the Barrow brothers to increase your chances of obtaining any of their equipment. Secondly, as previously mentioned, completing the Morytania hard diary will boost the runes awarded when the reward chest is opened.

Last but not least, you should reach 880 points, or 86.8%, as indicated by the game. This would eliminate the chance of obtaining bolt racks, half keys, and dragon med helms, as well as raise the number of runes granted and therefore raise the average value of the reward chests.

You can get around 880 points or 86.8% by killing:

,

  • The six Barrows brothers, 1 giant crypt spider, 1 skeleton, and 1 crypt spider, would give 880 points.
  • The six Barrows brothers, three blood worms, and one crypt spider would give 880 points.
  • The six Barrows brothers, 1 giant crypt spider, 1 skeleton, and 1 blood worm would give 876 points.
  • The six Barrows brothers, two skeletons, and one crypt spider would give 878 points
  • The six Barrows brothers, two skeletons, and one bloodworm would give 874 points
  • The six Barrows brothers, four bloodworms, would give 876 points


Rewards from the Barrows brothers

Ahrim the Blighted’s Equipment

Ahrim the Blighted’s Equipment

This equipment requires you to have 70 defence and magic to wear and then 70 attack to be able to use the staff. Just like other Barrows equipment on this list, this equipment degrades after 15 hours of use, even when using protection prayers, and would need to be repaired. The following NPCs can fix any of the Barrows equipment:

  • Bob, the axe seller in Lumbridge
  • Squire the workshop area in the Void Knight’s Outpost
  • Dunstan, the smith in Burthope
  • Tindel Marchant, the weapon and armor repair man in Port Khazard

The full armor consists of Ahrim’s hood, Ahrim’s robe top, Ahrim’s robeskirt, and Ahrim’s staff, which can auto-cast ancient spells. Your chance of getting each piece of equipment from searching the reward chest is 7 x 1 / 2,448


Dharok’s the wretched’s equipment

Dharok’s the wretched’s equipment

This equipment requires 70 defence to wear while the Greataxe requires 70 attack and strength to wield. The full set consists of the Dharok’s helm, Dharok’s platebody, Dharok’s platelets, and the Dharok Greataxe. All occur at the rate of 7 x 1 / 2,448.


Guthan the infested’s equipment

Guthan the infested’s equipment

This equipment requires 70 defence to wear and the Guthan’s war spear requires 70 attack, this gear is quite useful as it allows you to be afk for long periods as it can hear the wearer. The full set comprises Guthan’s helm, Guthan’s platebody, Guthan’s chainskirt, and Guthan’s warspear. All occur at the rate of 7 x 1 / 2,448.


Karil the Tainted’s equipment

Karil the Tainted’s equipment

The complete equipment requires 70 defence and ranged to equip; the crossbow has the range requirement. With this crossbow, you can do a tainted shot, and it has a 25% chance of lowering the target player's agility by 20%. The full set comprises Karil’s coif, Karil’s leathertop, Karil leatherskirt, and Karil crossbow and All occur at the rate of 7 x 1 / 2,448.


Torag the Corrupted’s equipment

Torag the Corrupted’s equipment

This also requires 70 attack and 70 strength to wield; it has very good defence and only the Justiciar armour surpasses it in overall defence. 

The full set comprises Torag’s helm, Torag’s plate body, Torag’s platelegs, and Torag’s hammers and All occur at the rate of 7 x 1 / 2,448.


Verac the Defiled’s equipment

Verac the Defiled’s equipment

Just like other Barrow’s equipment, this also requires 70 defence to wear the armour and 70 attack to wield the weapon. Verac is the only Barrows equipment that gives a prayer bonus with each piece. The full set comprises Verac’s helm, Verac’s brossard, Verac’s plateskirt, and Verac’s flail and all occur at the rate of 7 x 1 / 2,448.


Some other rewards include:

  • Bolt racks: These are used as ammunition for Karil’s crossbow, and these occur fairly often.
  • Loop half key: This ammunition is also quite common.
  • Dragon med helm: This helm requires at least 1012 reward potential and is quite rare to get. It requires only 60 defence to wear. 
  • Some runes, including mind runes, chaos runes, and death runes, are also commonly found in the reward chests.




About Author

Petecleff13

Petecleff13 is a passionate writer who has authored hundreds of articles in many areas throughout the years. He has also played OSRS with several account builds for over 5 years. He uses his passion for playing OSRS and writing to provide informative guides for both novice and experienced OSRS players. He is originally from South Africa and joined LuckyCharmGold as an Author in 2020.

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