OSRS Barbarian Assault Guide (2024)

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There are so many things to do in OSRS, that it's easy to get overwhelmed and accidentally pass up on some amazing activities that would otherwise make your OSRS journey feel more complete. Of them all, one of the most thrilling challenges for groups of players is Barbarian Assault.

What Is Barbarian Assault In OSRS?

In the Barbarian Assault minigame, you find yourself on a battleground established by the Barbarians to combat Penance creatures. You have the option to complete the tutorial by talking to Captain Cain to grasp the basics of the minigame.

To participate, you need to form a team of five players. Upon completing each wave, you earn Honour points based on your chosen role. These points can be exchanged for various combat-based equipment, including the coveted fighter torso. If you're feeling lucky, you can also gamble Honour points for a chance to obtain the rare dragon chainbody or the pet penance queen.

To check your earned Honour points, speak to Commander Connad or refer to the blackboard.

If you're playing as an Ultimate Ironman, remember that runes and arrows are prohibited inside the instance, and having a looting bag will prevent entry. Additionally, even if it's empty, you can't bring a rune pouch.

How To Start Barbarian Assault

To access the Barbarian Assault arena, head to the outdoor underground area at the Barbarian Outpost, situated just north of Baxtorian Falls. There are several ways for you to get there:

1. Games Necklace Teleport: Swiftly reach the Barbarian Outpost using the Games necklace teleport.
2. Grouping Teleport: Upon completing the tutorial, you gain the ability to teleport directly to Barbarian Assault through the Grouping interface.
3. Barbarian Teleport: Utilize the level 75 Magic Lunar spell to teleport to the Barbarian Outpost. To cast it, you'll need three fire runes, two astral runes, and two law runes.
4. Tree Gnome Stronghold Agility Shortcut: With a Agility level of 37, climb the tree to the north-east of the Tree Gnome Stronghold. The shortcut is accessible after completing The Grand Tree quest.
5. Enchanted Lyre: Teleport to Rellekka using the Enchanted lyre, then make your way to the Outpost via the Lighthouse.
6. Player-Owned House Teleport (Rellekka): If your player-owned house is in Rellekka, use the house teleport and run from Rellekka, following the same route as the enchanted lyre teleport method.
7. Fairy Ring Teleport ALP: Instantly teleport to the Lighthouse just north of the Barbarian Outpost using the Fairy ring teleport (ALP).

Barbarian Assault: Forming A Team

In Barbarian Assault, you'll encounter a total of 10 waves, and the final wave features the formidable Penance Queen. Ensure you progress through the waves sequentially, from 1 to 10. The lobby comprises 11 rooms, each corresponding to a wave, plus the "arrow room," where you'll be matched with other players who choose the same.

To access the downstairs area, complete the Barbarian Assault tutorial first.

Remember, you can't bring your own arrows, runes, or food items into the game. However, you're allowed to bring ingredients for wine. Avoid bringing a looting bag, as the barbarians are cautious about its contents. If you're the Attacker, free arrows and runes are available by pulling the Attacker lever. While all roles should have good armor, non-attackers won't need ammo or weapons until Wave 10.

When you're ready to dive into a game, start at Wave 1. Recruit teammates using scrolls from tables in each room, or be recruited by another player if your accept aid option is enabled.

How To Recruit Players

In a team, you'll find one leader and four players, and there are only four roles available, requiring two players to share the same role.

To initiate a game in the numbered rooms, a player aiming to be a leader should obtain a recruitment scroll from the table and use it on any four players (provided they aren't already in a group). When a leader invites a player to join their group, the player can choose their role and see the other team members. The recruiting leader can view the player's level in their selected role and decide whether to accept or decline. The recruiting leader must also choose their own role by right-clicking the scroll and selecting "write-role." Waiting for an open role is generally recommended for high-level players (100+ Combat level), as recruiters often avoid those they think might struggle, especially in later waves. If you're looking to be recruited, wearing any Penance armor you have shows your experience in the game, making you more likely to be selected by a quality team.

After each wave, the leader has the option to keep or replace team members. If a player doesn't meet the leader's requirements or contribute to the team, they may be kicked. To remove a player, use the scroll on them and click the red X next to their name, freeing up their role for the leader to pick another player. If none of the teammates leave or are kicked, the next wave starts automatically after 30 seconds.

Examples of recruitment messages:

• "[Role] here": Expresses willingness to join a team in the specified role. (e.g., "Attacker here")
• "Lvl [#] [role] here": Indicates willingness to join a team and experience in the selected role. The numbers refer to experience levels, with more experience making it likelier to get on a team. (e.g., "Lvl 3 Defender here")
• "[Role] to go"/"Need [Role]": Signals that the player is a group leader needing a specific role to start the next game. Group leaders may also call for "to-go" players by saying "[Role] to go needed" or "[Role's First Letter]2G." (e.g., "Attacker to go," "Need Attacker," "A2G")
• Given the crowded nature of rooms and text, including part of your username can help others easily locate you (e.g., "A2G - Player A," "Collector here - Player B").

Types of Roles

Here's a quick summary of each role:

1. Attacker

As the Attacker, your primary task is to eliminate the Penance Fighters and Penance Rangers. The Attacker machine near the entrance provides runes and special arrows, but if you prefer Melee, you'll need to bring your own weapon.

Keep in mind that the creatures can only be damaged by a specific attack type at any given time. Using the wrong attack results in a loss of 2 Hitpoints and deals no damage. The Collector will communicate the creatures' vulnerability using their horn. Having a high Combat level is a notable advantage in this role. Despite its popularity and apparent simplicity, being an Attacker requires a fair amount of attention, making it somewhat challenging.

During the Queen wave, your role as the Attacker shifts to extracting spikes from petrified mushrooms around the arena. Subsequently, you use these spikes on poisoned eggs provided by healers and pass the poisoned spiked eggs to the Defender.

The four attack styles are as follows:

• Style 1: Controlled/Bullet/Wind
• Style 2: Accurate/Field/Water
• Style 3: Aggressive/Blunt/Earth
• Style 4: Defensive/Barbed/Fire

Note: These attack styles are ordered as follows: Melee/Ranged/Magic.

Tips:

• Attackers can use super strength, attack, and ranging potions to expedite the process of eliminating Penance creatures, including divine potions.
• When using ranged attacks, differentiate arrows by examining the corresponding spell colors. Bullet arrows and wind spells are white, field arrows and water spells are blue, blunt arrows and earth spells are green, and barbed arrows and fire spells are red.
• It's advisable for both Attackers and Collectors to run west of the western cannon. This minimizes the chance of Penance healers targeting the Attackers and Collectors when running to kill the Penance, spreading out the healers and slowing them down. Using ranged attacks is recommended, allowing Attackers to eliminate Penance Rangers and Fighters while staying west, outside the lure range of the healers.

2. Collector

As the Collector, your main responsibility is to gather eggs dropped by defeated Penance creatures. Loading these eggs into the Egg Hopper enables any teammate to use the Egg Launcher.

There are three distinct colors of eggs: Red, Blue, and Green. Only one color of egg can be picked up at a time, and each color now has a unique icon for easy identification. Picking up the wrong-colored egg results in it exploding and causing a 5 Hitpoints hit, reducing the total number of collected eggs by 1. The Attacker communicates to the Collector which color to pick up using their horn. The Collector is equipped with an Egg Collector Bag to store eggs, but they can also be kept in the inventory.

During the final wave (Wave 10, when the Penance Queen appears), the Collector's role is relatively straightforward. In this wave, you must traverse the field, collecting yellow eggs left by the Queen. Subsequently, you hand these eggs (Use on) to the Healer. Afterward, you receive them back as omega eggs and load them one by one into the hopper to be launched at the Penance Queen. It might take as many as eight completed Omega eggs to defeat the Queen.

Note: Collectors should exercise caution as they need to run near the Penance Queen to obtain the yellow eggs. In this situation, the Healer may need to leave the spring to provide healing support to the Collector.

3. Defender

As the Defender, your primary responsibility is to prevent Penance Runners from reaching the south end of the playing field. You achieve this by laying bait on the ground, creating a food trail leading toward traps that will catch and eliminate the Runners. Obtain bait from the Defender machine near the entrance, and remember that shift-clicking destroys food; instead, left-click it as if 'using' to drop it.

Three types of bait are available: Worms, Tofu, and Crackers. Penance Runners are attracted to all food types within a certain range (4 tiles for level 1, 5 tiles for levels 2-5). However, the Penance Runner must consume the correct food type at the trap to be killed. The team loses three honour points for each Runner that escapes, making it crucial for the Defender to minimize or eliminate escapes. On the final wave (Wave 10), the Defender's job is generally easier, as there are no penalties for Runners escaping.

Strategy Tips:

1. Scatter bait in a trail from the Runner exit to the east trap, drawing the Runners towards it. Place the remaining bait near the trap to keep the Runners in the area until they eat the correct bait. Preventing Runners from reaching the other side ensures full points for the Defender and the team.
2. Dropping the wrong bait for luring can be beneficial, especially for low-level Defenders. Runners that eat the wrong bait move a considerable distance north with no penalty, allowing the right bait to be used near trapping areas. Placing the wrong bait in a diagonal line leading from the Defender machine to the trap positions the runners vertically in line with the trap, buying time for the Defender to refill on bait, gather resources, block northern caves on higher waves, and keep runners in range of the egg cannons.
3. A hammer and two logs respawn at the north end of the battlefield, used to repair traps (each trap can kill two Runners before breaking) and build barricades at the entrances. Barricades halt Penance creatures for over ten seconds but delay the team, including the Defender. Focusing on laying bait is usually more effective for the Defender.

Note: Whether a bait is considered "right" or "wrong" is determined when dropped, meaning correctly dropped bait remains correct even if the food type changes. The same applies to incorrectly dropped bait; the Defender doesn't need to replace it for the desired effect.

4. Healer

As the Healer, your dual role involves eliminating Penance Healers with poisoned food and providing healing support to teammates using a vial filled with water from the healer spring, available at the Healer machine near the entrance.

To poison the Penance Healers, you must use the correct type of poisoned food, which includes poisoned worms, poisoned tofu, and poisoned meat. The Defender will call out the changing type of poisoned food to be used. On Waves 1-5, one poisoned food is sufficient to kill a Penance Healer, but on Waves 7-10, at least two are required for each healer. Due to the diminishing damage as poison wears off, using more poisoned food speeds up kills. Note that Penance Healers can be repeatedly damaged by feeding them poisoned food.

To heal teammates, fill the vial at the spring (either by using the vial on it or using the right-click option on the spring) and then use it on your teammates to restore Hitpoints, cure poison, and replenish some run energy. You can also heal yourself using the same method. Keep a close eye on players with low Defence and Hitpoints levels, especially those with low-defense gear, especially on later waves.

To aid the Healer, there's an additional element in the interface displaying the health of each teammate at the bottom of the screen. Teammates using the "Medic" option on their horn cause a green cross to flash next to their HP until healed.

Strategy Tips:

1. Apply poison packs to as many Penance Healers as possible initially. Since Penance Healers move around a lot, it's effective to alternate between poisoning Penance Healers and healing teammates. This ensures high-scoring games with minimal risk, as the egg cannon can easily dispatch remaining Penance Healers at the end of each round. Keep in mind that this strategy may lengthen the time it takes to complete each wave.
2. On later waves, reserve healers spawn only after one Penance Healer has died. To maximize the poison's effect, use 4/5 food on the first Penance Healer and 1 food on the other 3. Then use another poison on healers ticking 3 poison damage or less in-between healing teammates.
3. If your teammates have mid-high levels, consider waiting to fill your vial until after the second call when restocking on food. This maximizes poison damage and allows you to better gauge whether teammates need healing.

Wave Breakdown

In each wave, you encounter four distinct types of Penance creatures: Runners, Healers, Fighters, and Rangers. The red, green, and blue eggs dropped by these creatures can only be collected by you, the Collector.

Penance Ranger

As you face Penance Rangers, be wary of these winged creatures shooting green Ranged projectiles at you. Their projectiles pack a punch, especially without sufficient armor. Given their ability to attack from a distance, Penance Rangers inflict more damage than Penance Fighters. Equip armor with high Ranged Defence to better withstand their attacks.

Penance Fighter

Prepare to confront Penance Fighters, fierce creatures armed with claws that engage in Melee attacks.

Penance Runner

Although Penance Runners don't directly harm you, they pose a significant threat to your team's points. These creatures aim to escape, running from the northern entrance to the southern exit. Each escaped Penance Runner deducts 3 Honour points from your final points reward for that wave, with a maximum deduction of ten. As a Defender, note that this deduction is doubled for you.

Penance Healer

Keep an eye out for Penance Healers moving around the field. They poison players and restore Penance Runners to full health.

Here's a breakdown of the monsters you'll face per wave:

Penance Queen

On Wave 10, prepare for the formidable challenge of the Penance Queen's arrival. The Queen is impervious to normal attacks, and the team must collaborate to create omega eggs to harm her. As the wave unfolds, players will notice changes in the battlefield, including a single egg launcher, a central trapdoor, poison springs, lava craters, and spiked mushrooms along the edges.

The Penance Queen emerges from the trapdoor a few minutes into the fight, launching long-distance Ranged attacks hitting all five team members, dealing up to 13 damage. Additionally, she employs a melee attack on players who come too close and can spawn level 63 Queen Spawns, which can be defeated by any team member using any attack style.

Before launching omega eggs, the team must first defeat Penance Fighters, Rangers, Healers, and Runners. Swiftly overcoming these creatures is crucial, ideally before the Queen appears.

Strategy Guide

In Barbarian Assault, effective communication is key, and the interface provides essential tools for this. The ear icon in the top right corner guides your actions, while the mouth icon indicates what you need to communicate. Rapid calling is crucial, so right-click the horn in your inventory to call out the changing information every 30 seconds.

At the wave's start, adopt specific sides: Attackers and Collectors go west, while Healers and Defenders go east. This prevents drawing aggro and pulling penance away from vital players. The leader can quick-start the next wave by right-clicking the ladder in the lobbies between waves.

Recommended Team Composition:

• 1 Attacker (consider 2 if the Healer is level 5 or skilled)
• 1 Defender
• 2 Healers (reduce to 1 if the Healer is level 5 or if all players have high Defence)
• 1 Collector

Queen Strategy:

Stand by the healing pool to aid the Healer.

Avoid clustering to facilitate the Healer's target selection.

Follow the Collector when they head to the cannon platform and prepare to spam-click fire omega eggs once loaded.

Attacking the Queen:

Collecting Yellow Eggs (Collector): Gather yellow eggs dropped by the Queen and pass them to the Healer.

Dipping Eggs in Poison Springs (Healer): Dip the eggs in poison springs and pass them to the Attacker.

Attaching Spikes from Spiked Mushrooms (Attacker): Add spikes to the eggs and pass them to the Defender. It's recommended for the Attacker to collect spikes beforehand to expedite the process.

Dipping Eggs in Lava Craters (Defender): Dunk the eggs in lava craters and pass them back to the Collector.

Putting Eggs in Egg Hopper (Collector): Place the eggs in the Egg Hopper, and once all other Penance monsters are defeated, any team member can use the Egg Launcher to fire the eggs at the Penance Queen. Each hit deals approximately 30+ damage.

Tips:

• Stay near the healing pool for continuous healing from one of the Healers.
• Exercise patience, as defeating the Penance Queen may take some time.
• Prayer cannot be used, as in all Barbarian Assault waves.
• Level 5 Healers are exceptionally valuable in this wave.
• Team members, except the leader, can spam-click to shoot the omega egg multiple times per launch, speeding up the Queen's demise.
• If targeted by the Penance Queen, hide behind cover to break line of sight, preventing her from attacking until she selects a new target.

Attacker (Red)

Equip your best Ranged gear, like Magic shortbow (i) and Void. Melee is viable, but ensure your weapon covers all 4 attack styles. Remember to turn off auto-retaliate. Run northwest, avoiding the center, and call egg colors for your Collector. Adapt your attack style according to their calls. Be mindful of the style changes every 30 seconds. Collect spikes for the Queen and be ready to spam-click fire omega eggs.

Collector (Yellow)

Call attack types for the Attacker, run northwest, and prioritize calling. Pick up explosive eggs and load them into the cannons. Collect as many eggs as possible for points, and be strategic with inventory space. Follow the Queen's omega egg sequence, collaborating with teammates for efficient firing.

Healer (Green)

Run northeast with the Defender, call poison type, and poison the healers. Manage your poison packs efficiently, heal teammates, and keep an eye on health levels. Follow the Queen's omega egg sequence, healing teammates and facilitating the egg process.

Defender (Blue)

Run northeast with the Healer, drop baits strategically, and repair traps efficiently. Gather logs and a hammer for trap repairs. Execute a well-timed bait placement to stack and eliminate runners. Adjust strategy for wave 9, and on wave 10, adapt bait placement for the smaller battlefield. Follow the Queen's omega egg sequence and contribute to successful firing.

In Barbarian Assault, teamwork and efficient role execution lead to success.

Barbarian Assault Rewards

You'll get points depending on your role and performance. The points can be used to purchase in-event upgrades and equipment. They can also be used to help you gamble to get various rare equipment. Here's a quick look at the points system.

For completing wave 10, each player receives:

• 80 points for their role
• 5 points in each of the other 3 roles

Notes:

• Players with the Hard Kandarin Diary completed get 10% more points (rounded down).
• Negative points for individual performance are capped at 0.
• Total points for a wave are capped at a minimum of 0 points.
• Players may spend these honor points in the Barbarian Assault Rewards Shop to upgrade role levels, purchase specific equipment, or gamble for items up to a Dragon chainbody.
• The maximum Queen kills cap is 40.
• The maximum Role points cap is 5000.

Gambling

Low Gambles:

• Cost: 200 Honour Points (must be on Wave 3 or higher)
• Expected Value: Approximately 11,258.13 (56.29 per point)

Medium Gambles:

• Cost: 400 Honour Points (must be on Wave 6 or higher)
• Expected Value: Approximately 34,106.50 (85.27 per point)

High Gambles:

• Cost: 500 Honour Points + Queen kill
• Expected Value: Approximately 76,110.35 (152.22 per point), excluding clue scroll rewards and pets

Tertiary High Gamble Rewards:

• The clue scroll (elite) and pet penance queen will always be rolled in addition to one of the main drops.

Ready To Take On The Penance Queen?

The Barbarian Assault challenge requires a lot of teamwork and effort. With this guide, you'll now at least know what to do regardless of what role you choose in the game.

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