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Cerberus icon

Cerberus is a level 318 hellhound boss that is located in her lair, deep beneath the Taverley Dungeon in the cave entrance in the north-east part of the hellhound area which is found beyond the poisonous spiders. There are three identical lairs guarded by the Key Master. Players can choose whichever lair to fight Cerberus. Cerberus occasionally drops Key master teleports (1/64), which can be used to teleport to the area immediately; otherwise, players typically will get to Cerberus through the regular method of running from Taverley or Falador.

Cerberus requires both a Slayer level of 91 to kill and a Slayer task of Cerberus herself or hellhounds. In the event of the latter, Cerberus can be killed while under the effects of the wild pie, provided that it boosts the player's Slayer level to 91 or higher. It is the only monster to drop primordial, eternal and pegasian crystals, which can be attached to the dragon, infinity and ranger boots respectively, providing best-in-slot boots for each combat style — Primordial boots, Eternal boots and Pegasian boots. In addition, she is also able to drop a Smouldering stone, which when combined with a dragon axe, dragon pickaxe, or a dragon harpoon can add a "heat element" to the tools, allowing them to become an infernal axe, infernal pickaxe or infernal harpoon, respectively.

If a player has recently fought the boss, a line of fire will spawn between the entrance and the boss; stepping over this will deal 5 damage each way. The line of fire may be bugged, as it will not despawn unless the challenger dies to Cerberus or goes back through the line of fire after it respawns. Cerberus will restore all of its health if there are no players in its lair (it only has an examine option when this happens).

A dwarf multicannon cannot be set up inside Cerberus' Lair; if attempted, you will receive the message: You cannot place the cannon here, it would melt.

Fight overview[]

Main article: Cerberus/Strategies

When approaching her, Cerberus will become aggressive. She may attack with magic, ranged and melee attacks, each with a max hit of 23. The magic attack appears as a grey ball, the ranged attack appears as a ball of spikes, and the melee attack is her biting. Interestingly, she may use the melee attack at range.

Cerberus has three special attacks that she may use under certain circumstances:

  • She attacks in quick succession with magic followed by ranged and melee. She will do this at the start of every fight and approximately every 30 seconds afterwards.
  • She spits three balls of fire — indicated by her growling — on the ground, one at the player and two in random spots around the room. Standing on or near one will deal continuous damage. She will do this at random when below half health.
  • She summons three souls — indicated by her howling — that come from the river behind her and attack the player with each combat style. Each attack will drain 30 prayer (15 with spectral spirit shield equipped) if blocked or 30 hitpoints if not blocked. She may do this approximately every 30 seconds.

Once defeated, Cerberus will respawn in five seconds.

Drops[]

Estimated drop rates are based off 1,000 kills.[1]

The mean average value of one kill is 98,415.2, excluding the loot from clue scrolls.

100%[]

Item Quantity Rarity GE market price
Ashes Ashes 1 Always 72

Unique drop table[]

There is a 1 in 128 chance of hitting the unique drop table. Below lists the effective drop rates.

Item Quantity Rarity GE market price
Primordial crystal Primordial crystal 1 Rare (1/512) 34,943,796
Pegasian crystal Pegasian crystal 1 Rare (1/512) 123,799
Eternal crystal Eternal crystal 1 Rare (1/512) 3,102,946
Smouldering stone Smouldering stone 1 Rare (1/512) 1,497,061

Weapons/Armour[]

Item Quantity Rarity GE market price
Rune platebody Rune platebody 1 Common (~6/128) 38,473
Black d'hide body Black d'hide body 1 Uncommon (~4/128) 7,285
Rune axe Rune axe 1 Uncommon (~4/128) 7,181
Rune chainbody Rune chainbody 1 Uncommon (~4/128) 29,475
Rune 2h sword Rune 2h sword 1 Uncommon (~3/128) 37,758
Rune pickaxe Rune pickaxe 1 Uncommon (~3/128) 18,715
Battlestaff Battlestaff 6 (noted) Uncommon (~2.5/128) 48,966
Rune full helm Rune full helm 1 Uncommon (~2.5/128) 20,588
Lava battlestaff Lava battlestaff 1 Uncommon (~2/128) 9,454
Rune halberd Rune halberd 1 Uncommon (~1/128) 38,052

Runes/Ammunition[]

Item Quantity Rarity GE market price
Fire rune Fire rune 300 Common (~7/128) 1,500
Pure essence Pure essence 300 (noted) Uncommon (~5/128) 600
Soul rune Soul rune 100 Uncommon (~5/128) 14,600
Blood rune Blood rune 60 Uncommon (~5/128) 22,020
Runite bolts (unf) 5 Runite bolts (unf) 40 Uncommon (~4/128) 18,440
Cannonball Cannonball 50 Uncommon (~4/128) 8,600
Death rune Death rune 100 Uncommon (~3/128) 20,300

Herbs, potions, and seeds[]

Item Quantity Rarity GE market price
Super restore(4) Super restore(4) 2 Uncommon (~3/128) 19,892
Grimy torstol Grimy torstol 6 (noted) Uncommon (~3/128) 50,046
Torstol seed Torstol seed 3 Uncommon (~2/128) 175,155

Ores[]

Item Quantity Rarity GE market price
Coal Coal 120 (noted) Common (~6/128) 19,440
Runite ore Runite ore 5 (noted) Uncommon (~3/128) 55,845

Others[]

Item Quantity Rarity GE market price
Summer pie Summer pie 3 Common (~6.5/128) 4,365
Coins 10000 Coins 10,000–20,000 Uncommon (~5/128) Not sold
Unholy symbol Unholy symbol 1 Uncommon (~5/128) 230
Dragon bones Dragon bones 20 (noted) Uncommon (~5/128) 54,260
Wine of zamorak Wine of zamorak 15 (noted) Uncommon (~4.5/128) 26,625
Ashes Ashes 50 (noted) Uncommon (~4/128) 3,600
Fire orb Fire orb 20 (noted) Uncommon (~3.5/128) 24,580
Uncut diamond Uncut diamond 5 (noted) Uncommon (~3/128) 13,135
Rare drop table Rare drop table 1 Uncommon (~3/128) Not sold
Key master teleport Key master teleport 3 Uncommon (2/128) Not sold

Tertiary drops[]

Item Quantity Rarity GE market price
Clue scroll (elite) Clue scroll (elite) 1 Rare (1/100) Not sold
Jar of souls Jar of souls 1 Very rare (1/2,000) 49,104
Hellpuppy Hellpuppy 1 Very rare (1/3,000) Not sold

Rare drop table

In addition to the drops above, this monster approximately has a 3/128 chance to access the standard rare drop table.

Show/hide rare drop table
Item Quantity Rarity GE market price
Coins 1000 Coins 3,000 Rare (1/248.24) Not sold
Loop half of key Loop half of key 1 Rare (1/270.95; 1/270.25)[R 1] 10,307
Tooth half of key Tooth half of key 1 Rare (1/285.09; 1/284.32)[R 1] 10,840
Uncut sapphire Uncut sapphire 1 Very rare (1/1,092.27; 1/819.2)[R 1] 455
Runite bar Runite bar 1 Very rare (1/1,092.27) 12,368
Rare drop table talisman Unknown talisman
(please specify)
1 Very rare (1/1,574.44; 1/1,506.57)[R 1] Error
Nature rune Nature rune 67 Very rare (1/1,820.44) 14,539
Rune 2h sword Rune 2h sword 1 Very rare (1/1,820.44) 37,758
Rune battleaxe Rune battleaxe 1 Very rare (1/1,820.44) 24,487
Uncut emerald Uncut emerald 1 Very rare (1/2,184.53; 1/1,638.4)[R 1] 679
Law rune Law rune 45 Very rare (1/2,730.67) 7,470
Death rune Death rune 45 Very rare (1/2,730.67) 9,135
Steel arrow Steel arrow 150 Very rare (1/2,730.67) 4,800
Rune arrow Rune arrow 42 Very rare (1/2,730.67) 2,940
Adamant javelin Adamant javelin 20 Very rare (1/2,730.67) 1,220
Rune sq shield Rune sq shield 1 Very rare (1/2,730.67) 22,459
Dragonstone Dragonstone 1 Very rare (1/2,730.67) 11,932
Silver ore Silver ore 100 (noted) Very rare (1/2,730.67) 7,000
Uncut ruby Uncut ruby 1 Very rare (1/4,369.07; 1/3,276.8)[R 1] 1,249
Rune kiteshield Rune kiteshield 1 Very rare (1/5,461.33) 32,015
Dragon med helm Dragon med helm 1 Very rare (1/5,461.33) 58,488
Rune spear Rune spear 1 Very rare (1/5,765.37)[R 2] 11,933
Shield left half Shield left half 1 Very rare (1/11,530.73)[R 2] 65,697
Dragon spear Dragon spear 1 Very rare (1/15,374.31)[R 2] 37,226
Uncut diamond Uncut diamond 1 Very rare (1/17,476.27; 1/13,107.2)[R 1] 2,627
Rune javelin Rune javelin 5 Very rare (1/34,952.53; 1/26,214.4)[R 1] 875
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 The drop rate is increased when wearing a Ring of wealth.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 The drop rate is increased by an unknown amount when wearing a Ring of wealth.

Concept art[]

Trivia[]

Cerberus artwork

A piece of artwork depicting a player facing Cerberus.

Cerberus Chronicle art

Cerberus art from Jagex's turn-based card game, Chronicle: RuneScape Legends

  • In Greek and Roman mythology, Cerberus is a multi-headed hellhound with a serpent's tail, a mane of snakes, and a lion's claws, guarding the entrance of the Greek underworld to prevent the dead from escaping and the living from entering. This reflects the area around Cerberus as it guards the rivers that take souls to the Underworld and explains the very rare drop Jar of souls.
  • Cerberus stands on a trapdoor as a reference to the book/film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, also known as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in some territories which explains the 4 stone/crystal drops.
  • At one point, if a player had killed the last Cerberus of their task but also happened to die in the room, the player would be unable to recover their items as entering the boss chamber required the player to be on a hellhounds task. This was changed so that the player can enter the chamber, but is simply unable to attack the boss.
    • Along with the said change, the summoned spirits it calls were also given weapons so that challengers could easily identify the combat style they would be using.
  • Upon release, the summoned souls would continue attacking the player even if Cerberus died. This is no longer the case with the 16 March 2017 update.
  • Cerberus is the only Slayer boss whose attacks are fully protected by protection prayers.
  • When bones are used on Cerberus, a quote is given "Those aren't Cerby snacks." This is a reference to "Scooby snacks," in Scooby-Doo.

References[]


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