Cerberus/Strategies

A player takes on Cerberus in her lair.

Cerberus is a high level Slayer boss. A Slayer level of 91 is required to inflict damage and a slayer task of Cerberus or hellhounds. Wild pies can be used to boost the player's Slayer level, but only if they have a minimum of 86 Slayer.

It is the only monster to drop primordial, eternal and pegasian crystals, which can be attached to the Dragon boots, Infinity boots and Ranger boots respectively, providing best-in-slot boots for Melee (the Primordial boots), Magic (the Eternal boots), and Ranged (Pegasian boots).

In addition, it is also able to drop a Smouldering stone, which when combined with a dragon axe, pickaxe or harpoon to turn them into their respective infernal counterparts; the infernal axe, pickaxe and harpoon.

How to get there

A map of Cerberus' Lair

Cerberus' Lair can be found in Taverley Dungeon, at the hellhounds' area. There will be a small opening that players can crawl into to enter the lair.

Effective ways to get to Taverley Dungeon include teleporting to Falador and using the wall shortcut near the West bank, only a short run from the dungeon entrance, or moving one's Player-owned house to Taverley, exiting via the house portal and running south.

There are two ways of navigating the dungeon:

• Players can go around the long way to reach the hellhounds area. This will require a dusty key.
  • Alternatively, players can crawl through a pipe shortcut (70 Agility) or run through mysterious flooring (80 Agility). Regardless of the shortcut used, it negates the need of bringing a dusty key on every trip. Both obstacles can be boosted with a Summer pie, meaning that you only need 65/75 Agility to use the shortcuts with the assistance of the pie.
    • If using the 80 agility shortcut, you can attack a nearby Skeleton just before crossing the shortcut. Since the area is single-way combat, the poison spiders will not attack you as you were recently in combat with the skeleton, allowing you to safely pass without the risk of getting poisoned. Alternatively, sip an antipoison potion before heading towards the dungeon.
• Use a Key master teleport, which teleports players straight into the lair. These can only be obtained from Cerberus herself (cannot be traded), in quantities of three and at a rate of 1/64.

Mechanics

Attack Styles

Cerberus attacks with all three forms of combat:

• Melee - Cerberus bites the player. This attack will only be used if the player is standing within melee range.
• Ranged - Cerberus stands on her hind legs and kicks out with her front legs, firing a translucent spiky ball.
• Magic - Cerberus lowers her head and fires a smooth black ball.
  • All of these attacks can deal up to 23 damage, and can be prayed against to nullify all damage.

Triple Attack

• This attack is initiated as her first attack and is repeated after every ten attacks in sequence.
• She uses a magic, ranged and then melee attack 2 ticks after one another. This melee attack will be executed regardless of distance, and does not act as a projectile.
• As with her standard attacks, these can deal up to 23 damage and can be fully blocked by prayer.

Summoned souls

A player switching the correct prayers against the Summoned Souls.

• This attack only starts when Cerberus falls below 400 health, and is used every seventh attack.
• This attack is indicated with her howling Aaarrrooooooo, causing three Summoned Souls to appear from behind the archaic skull. They cannot be harmed.
• Each one attacks using a different combat style, from west to east:
  • Red is melee
  • Blue is magic
  • Green is ranged
• The souls attack once each time they are called in by Cerberus.
• The souls come in a randomized order so it is important to identify the order to pray in.
  • If the attack is not protected against, it will deal 30 damage, unless otherwise from an elysian spirit shield, which reduces it to 22 damage.
  • If the attack is protected against, it will drain 30 prayer points instead. A spectral spirit shield causes this to be reduced by 50%, meaning 15 prayer points are reduced for each attack.
    • Having the required prayer to block the attack is not required - the attack is still blocked with insufficient prayer points, but the player's prayer will be drained completely as a result.
  • In order to block the attack, it must be prayed against before the spirit attacks.

Note: As of the patch notes of 16 March 2017, if Cerberus is killed when the spirits are summoned, they will despawn upon attempting to attack the player. Note that any spirits that attack just as she dies will still damage the player, so pray accordingly if this happens.

• 

  A summoned soul using melee

• 

  A summoned soul using magic

• 

  A summoned soul using ranged

Lava pools

• This attack is initiated when Cerberus reaches below 200 health, her howling Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr and is used every fifth attack.
• Three lava pools are deployed when this attack is initiated – one on the player's location, and two at random parts of the area.
• The pools have a 3x3 AoE (1 tile from the centre).
  • Standing in its radius when it is spawned deals 10 damage.
  • Standing directly on a pool deals 15 damage every two ticks.
  • Standing adjacent to a pool deals 7 damage every two ticks.
  • Antifire Protection will reduce the prolonged damage taken if you stay within range of the pools, as demonstrated by the table below.
• The pool targeted at the player is not instant at a distance, but is for those in melee distance.
• After a few seconds, the lava pools will dissipate, making the tile safe to stand on once more.

Attack pattern

Cerberus has a special attack pattern that determines how she uses her attacks.

As mentioned in each attack section, Cerberus' mechanics are initiated after the following, quickly summarized here:

• The triple attack is performed as the first attack, then after every ten normal attacks.
• The summoned souls attack is performed every seventh attack, but only after Cerberus has under 400 hitpoints.
• The lava pools are deployed every fifth attack, but only after Cerberus has under 200 hitpoints.

If the attacks end up overlapping with each other (e.g a triple attack and summoned souls on attack #21), Cerberus will instead prioritize the attacks in the following order:

• Triple attack > Summoned Souls > Lava pools

There is also a small chance that Cerberus will not use the summoned souls or lava pools special attacks when she is supposed to, and will use a regular attack instead.

Fire Wall

• This serves as a barrier to prevent the player from killing Cerberus.
• It does not disappear unless the player dies fighting her.
• Moving over the fire wall deals 5 damage each time the player passes through it.

Auto-healing

• Cerberus is unattackable when she first spawns, only becoming so when she stands up.
• If no players are in her chamber, she will return to her idle stance, fully restoring all lost hitpoints.

General strategy

While fighting Cerberus, it is recommended to activate Protect from Magic.

For the most kills per hour, the player should be on the Arceuus spellbook for thralls and bring a book of the dead. If using melee, you can optionally bring soul and death runes for Death Charge for more frequent special attacks but less space for supplies. Otherwise, no spells are needed and you do not need to bring any runes. If you are suiciding supplies into the room for longer trips, bring alch runes.

As a hellhound-type boss, Cerberus has high offensive stats (220) but has a low Defence level (100). She is weak to melee attacks, primarily crush-based ones. She is slightly resistant to stab attacks and resistant against slash, magic and ranged attacks. As a demonic creature, she is also weak to Arclight, which should be set to stab if it is used. Despite her resistance to ranged, ranged weapons can still be extremely effective against her, in particular the twisted bow.

Upon spawning, Cerberus cannot be attacked; rather, she only has an examine option as she is sitting. Once she detects a player in the arena, she will stand up to confront the intruder and become attackable. If no players are present inside, she will return to the centre of her chamber and her attack option will be removed, which will also restore all of her health if damaged.

It is recommended to deal damage as quickly as possible while taking note of Cerberus' attacks. The most common cause of death is the lava pool and soul combo, regardless of which one comes first. For example, during attacks 14 and 15, Cerberus will summon souls first, then follow up this attack with lava pools. The pools usually disorient players as they try to avoid them and eat up, forgetting about the souls who can deal heavy or fatal damage in the process. Simply count Cerberus' attacks and deal with the spirits as highest priority. Ranged users usually have an advantage over melee users since the targeted pool is not applied on the same tick Cerberus initiates the mechanic, giving them more time to move away from the pool and granting their full attention to the incoming souls. Melee users will simply need to count the attacks and try to avoid running into any other pools in place.

The summoned souls are the most tedious part of the fight, as they cause heavy, unavoidable damage/drain; an unblocked hit deal 30 damage, while a blocked one drains 30 prayer instead, which can significantly cut into profits and supplies. Having a spectral spirit shield halves the drain to both prolong trips and increase overall profit. While very expensive and only particularly useful for melee users, an elysian spirit shield can reduce the damage each soul from 30 to 22.

No Ghosts Strategy

A slower but less resource intensive strategy (particularly for ironmen who don't have a spectral spirit shield or hardcore ironmen who want to avoid dealing with the lava pools and ghosts at once), the player can hit Cerberus to just above 400 hitpoints and wait until the 14th attack (~56 seconds) which ensures no ghosts will appear until the 28th attack. This will reduce prayer potion usage to about two doses per kill if prayer flicking is used while waiting for the 14th attack. It is recommended to put on defensive gear, such as a Dinh's bulwark, and step away from Cerberus while waiting for the 14th attack to minimise damage taken while waiting. If you make a mistake and bring Cerberus' health below 400 before attack #14, you can safely reset the fight by walking back over the entrance flames.

Here is a summary of Cerberus' attacks leading up to Attack 28. You can practice this rotation by counting from the checkpoint special attacks (Combo, Lava, & Ghost attacks). For example, you want to keep Cerberus above 400 hitpoints until attack #14, so start counting 3 attacks after her second combo before resuming damage. Note that the soul and lava mechanics on attacks 25 and 28 are still conditional based on Cerberus's hitpoints, but you will struggle to end the fight before souls if Cerberus still has over 200 HP at attack 25.

#	Attack	Condition	Note(s)
1	COMBO		Keep hitpoints above 400 until 14's animation begins.
2	Auto	N/A
3	Auto	N/A
4	Auto	N/A
5	Auto	N/A
6	Auto	N/A
7	GHOSTS	Only if < 400 HP
8	Auto	N/A
9	Auto	N/A
10	Auto	N/A
11	COMBO
12	Auto	N/A
13	Auto	N/A
14	GHOSTS	Only if < 400 HP
15	Auto	N/A	If your DPS is very good, be wary of an early LAVA just before the third COMBO.
16	Auto	N/A
17	Auto	N/A
18	Auto	N/A
19	Auto	N/A
20	LAVA	Only if < 200 HP
21	COMBO		After the third COMBO, dodge LAVA on attack #25 and race DPS to kill Cerberus before GHOSTS on attack #28.
22	Auto	N/A
23	Auto	N/A
24	Auto	N/A
25	LAVA	Only if < 200 HP
26	Auto	N/A
27	Auto	N/A
28	GHOSTS	Only if < 400 HP

Suggested skills

• 85+ Attack
• 70+ Strength (85+ recommended)
• 85+ Defence
• 75+ Ranged
• 70+ Prayer (Piety, 74+ Rigour)
• 76 Magic and completion of A Kingdom Divided (if using thralls; 80 for Death Charge)

Equipment

Recommended equipment for Melee

Slot	Item (most effective → least effective)
	Slayer helmet (i)	Black mask (i)	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Amulet of torture	Amulet of blood fury	Amulet of fury	Amulet of glory	Amulet of strength
	Infernal cape	Fire cape	Ardougne cloak 4	Ardougne cloak 3	N/A
	Inquisitor's hauberk	Bandos chestplate	Barrows body	Fighter torso	Proselyte hauberk
	Inquisitor's plateskirt	Bandos tassets	Justiciar legguards	Barrows legs	Obsidian platelegs
	Scythe of vitur	Inquisitor's mace	Arclight	Osmumten's fang > Ghrazi rapier	Abyssal bludgeon
	Avernic defender	Dragon defender	Spectral spirit shield	Dragonfire shield	N/A
	Rada's blessing 4	God blessing / Rada's blessing 3/2	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Ferocious gloves	Barrows gloves	Dragon gloves	Rune gloves	N/A
	Primordial boots	Guardian boots	Dragon boots	Rune boots	N/A
	Berserker ring (i)	Ring of suffering (i)	Ring of the gods (i)	Brimstone ring	Tyrannical ring (i) / Treasonous ring (i)
	Dragon claws	Bandos godsword	Dragon dagger	Saradomin godsword	Dragon mace

Inventory

100	100

16000

16000

16000

• Special attack weapon (e.g. Bandos godsword or Dragon claws)
• Spectral spirit shield
• If you are using the Scythe of vitur or Abyssal bludgeon, bring a one-handed weapon such as Arclight to use during the summoned souls attack
• Book of the dead for casting resurrection spells on the Arceuus spellbook.
• Rune pouch with runes for Resurrect Greater Skeleton or either of the other Thrall spells. It does not matter which style of thrall is used.
• Death runes and Soul runes for Death Charge to allow for more special attacks per trip. These inventory slots can be substituted for more food or prayer potions.
• House tablets (or Construct. cape/Max cape) or Desert amulet 4
• 1-2 Divine super combat potions
• 6-9 Prayer potions or Super restores
• Sharks or higher tier food for remaining inventory space

Notes

With Rigour, ranging is generally faster and safer than melee. As she possesses a Magic level of 220, the Twisted bow can be used on her with devastating effect. Cerberus does not move in to attack players with melee, meaning that players are only subjected to magic and ranged attacks outside of the triple attack mechanic. Ranging also allows players to quickly avoid the lava marker attack since it does not appear instantly when launched at a distance. The Bow of Faerdhinen is also effective, but slightly worse than the Toxic blowpipe if using rune darts or better. Crystal armour should be worn if using the Bow of Faerdhinen.

Recommended equipment for Ranged

Slot	Item (most effective → least effective)
	Slayer helmet (i)	Black mask (i)	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Necklace of anguish	Amulet of fury	Amulet of glory	Amulet of power	N/A
	Ava's assembler	Ranging cape or Max cape	Ava's accumulator	Ava's attractor	N/A
	Masori body (f)	Armadyl chestplate	Crystal body	Blessed body	Karil's leathertop
	Masori chaps (f)	Armadyl chainskirt	Crystal legs	Blessed chaps	Karil's leatherskirt
	Twisted bow	Toxic blowpipe	Bow of faerdhinen	Zaryte crossbow	Dragon knife
	Dragon arrow	Amethyst arrow	Rune arrow	Ruby dragon bolts & Diamond dragon bolts	Rada's blessing 4 (only with blowpipe)
	Zaryte vambraces	Barrows gloves	Blessed vambraces	Dragon gloves	Combat bracelet
	Pegasian boots	Ranger boots	Blessed boots	Shayzien boots (5)	N/A
	Ring of suffering (i)	Archers ring (i)	Ring of the gods (i)	N/A	N/A
	Zaryte crossbow	Toxic blowpipe	Saradomin godsword	N/A	N/A

		500

16000

16000

16000

Inventory

• Special attack weapon (e.g. Toxic blowpipe or Saradomin godsword)
• Spectral spirit shield and a one-handed weapon alongside it
• Book of the dead for casting resurrection spells on the Arceuus spellbook.
• Rune pouch with runes for Resurrect Greater Skeleton or either of the other Thrall spells. It does not matter which style of thrall is used.
• House tablets (or Construct. cape/Max cape) or Desert amulet 4
• 1 Divine bastion potion or 1 Divine ranging potion
• 6-9 Prayer potions or Super restores
• Teleport to house (tablet)
• Sharks for remaining inventory spaces

Notes