Ancient shard

Ancient shard
Released							9 June 2016 (Update)
Members							Yes
Quest item							No
League region							Kourend✓
Properties
Tradeable							No
Equipable							No
Stackable							Yes
Noteable							No
Options							Drop
Examine							You're not sure what this is, but it feels powerful.
Values
Value							204 coins
High alch							122 coins
Low alch							81 coins
Weight							0 kg
Advanced data
Item ID							19677

Ancient shards are obtained from monsters found within the Catacombs of Kourend (excluding ghosts). Three shards can be used with a Darklight at the altar in the centre of the catacombs to create an Arclight, a degradeable variant of the darklight that provides stats superior to the abyssal tentacle when used against demons. Three shards provide 1,000 charges; up to a maximum of 10,000. They are also used on the altar in the centre of the catacombs for quick transportation to several areas (and are consumed on use):

• Demon's Run - north-east corner with the lesser demons.
• Dragon's Den - north-west corner with the brutal blue dragons.
• Reeking Cove - south-west corner with the deviant spectres.
• The Shallows - south-east corner with the king sand crabs.

Acquiring shards

As the drop rate for ancient shards are based on the number of hitpoints a monster has, the best methods of obtaining them will require the player to consider time-to-kill versus drop rate. Attacking multiple monsters at once will give players faster shard rates, making multi-hit attacks such as Ice Barrage, black chinchompas, and the venator bow the best weapons for this method. Barraging and using chinchompas will be more active, whereas the venator bow allows for a more reclined experience.

Viable monsters to farm shards include greater nechryaels, abyssal demons, warped jellies, and dust devils. Mutated bloodvelds can also be viable when using the venator bow, the trade off for lower effort being slower shard acquisition. Being on a slayer task will increase kills per hour, but prioritising that limits the amount of kills players can do consecutively to the length of their task. It is realistic to not get a single shard in the time it takes to complete a slayer task.

Using a Dinh's bulwark in combination with a Lightbearer is an efficient way to lure the monsters, as is using a Goading potion. A cheaper alternative is to use darts or knives.

In addition, when farming shards players can also obtain dark totem pieces which give access to Skotizo and by extension more shards due to his guaranteed drops.

Giants in the Giants' Den have access to the Catacombs of Kourend drop table, which includes dark totem pieces and ancient shards. Killing hill giants with a Dwarf Multicannon within it is a comparable method to killing higher level monsters.

Destinations

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Products

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Item sources

The drop rate of ancient shards (excluding Skotizo) is determined by the amount of hitpoints the monster has.

The exact formula is ${\frac {3}{2\times (500-\mathrm {min(hitpoints,400)} )}}$.

No drop sources found. To force an update, click here.

Changes

Date	Changes
[[{{#explode:30 June 2016| |0}} {{#explode:30 June 2016| |1}}]] [[{{#explode:30 June 2016| |2}}]] (update)	The item's value was increased from 1 to 204.
[[{{#explode:16 June 2016| |0}} {{#explode:16 June 2016| |1}}]] [[{{#explode:16 June 2016| |2}}]] (update)	Ancient Shards are no longer destroyed if dropped on death.