Stronghold Slayer Cave

Stronghold Slayer Cave
Released		23 January 2014 (Update)
Members		Yes
Floors		One
Location		Gnome Empire
League region		Kandarin✓
Inhabitants		Varies
Music		Beneath the Stronghold
Map
Advanced data
Type		dungeon

The Stronghold Slayer Cave, also known as the Stronghold Slayer Dungeon, is a dungeon located beneath the Tree Gnome Stronghold. It contains a small variety of monsters that are commonly assigned to players. The cave entrance is located next to Nieve (or Steve, after the events of Monkey Madness II).

Anyone can enter the dungeon, but players can only attack the slayer monster they were assigned, and only while the task has not been completed. The Slayer ring can teleport players to the entrance of the cave. A dwarf multicannon can be used in the dungeon.

There is a shortcut in the dungeon requiring 72 Agility (can be boosted) to use. This allows the player to reach aberrant spectres and ankous quicker. It may be used to exit the dungeon faster, but doing so without the required Agility level deals up to 12 damage.

Location

The cave's entrance is found next to Nieve.

The entrance to the Stronghold Slayer Cave is located in the Gnome Stronghold near Nieve, who is located just south-west of the Spirit Tree. (<maplink group="pins" align="center" text="Maplink" plane="0" y="3427" x="2428" zoom="2" mapID="0">

{"features":[{"type":"Feature","geometry":{"coordinates":[2428.5,3425.5],"type":"Point"},"properties":{"mapID":0,"providerID":0,"group":"pins","description":"

X/Y: 2428,3425

","plane":0,"icon":"greenPin"}}],"type":"FeatureCollection"}

</maplink>)

There are various ways to get there:

• Use a Slayer ring to teleport directly to the entrance by Nieve.
• Use the gnome glider to Ta Quir Priw, which will take you to the Grand Tree. Exit the Grand Tree and run south-west to the entrance.
• Use the spirit tree to the Gnome Stronghold and run south-west.
• Use the necklace of passage to Teleport to 'Outpost' and then run north-east.
• Use the royal seed pod to Teleport to the Grand Tree, then run south-west.

Monsters

Monsters that can be found in the Stronghold Slayer Cave include:

Monster	Image	Combat level	Slayer level	Slayer XP	Quantity
Aberrant spectre		96	60	90	13
Ankou		75, 82, 86	1	60, 65, 70	8
Bloodveld		76	50	120	12
Fire giant		86	1	111	12
Hellhound		122	1	116	13

Development history

A slayer dungeon containing a large variety of monsters where players can only attack their assigned slayer target was proposed in the Slayer & Christmas Dev Blog on 15 November 2013. The dungeon was polled in Content Poll #13 and passed by 86.6%.

A map of the Stronghold Slayer Cave upon release.

The cave was released on 23 January 2014, where it housed many common slayer monsters such as metal dragons, abyssal demons, and kalphites. However, the cave kraken lake was empty, as development of the slayer monster was not yet complete. This was added in an update a week later. The cave would go on to receive several more additions:

• 10 April 2014 - Smoke devils and the Kraken boss were added.
• 6 November 2014 - Gargoyles were added.
• 17 September 2015 - Black demons, blue dragons, and more black dragons were added.

• 
  The south-east area of the cave, where bloodvelds, hellhounds, and aberrant spectres could be found.
• 
  The south-east area of the cave, where waterfiends, abyssal demons, and nechryael could be found.
• 
  The volcanic area of the cave, where fire giants and various dragons could be found.
• 
  A kalphite habitat. The dead entomologist, Buggie, who brought them there, can be seen in the back.
• 
  The cave kraken lake, where many of them thrived.
• 
  A player fights a nuclear smoke devil while defending themselves against a horde of smoke devils.
• 
  The westernmost area of the cave, where black demons, blue dragons, and black dragons could be found.
• 
  A section of the Underground pass was visible from the south-east area of the cave.

Eventually, players began to voice concerns on the sheer amount of slayer assignments that they found themselves doing in the Stronghold Slayer Cave, due to its close proximity to a bank and convenient location, taking away the appeal of the variety the Slayer skill offers, the monotony of grinding in the same location, and the lack of exploring the game world as players train.

Players also complained that many of the monsters found there do not appear to be native to the area. In addition, the geography of the cave wildly varied, with damp caves on the east and lava lakes a small walk west, breaking the sense of immersion. Additional concerns included the excessively large size of the cave, which was large enough to fit Falador, Varrock, and everything between them.

In response, the Old School team wrote a Developer Blog, aiming to bring back the variety and diversity of where players train Slayer by moving some creatures out of the Stronghold Slayer Cave, and placing them into a number other new dungeons where appropriate (still requiring the appropriate slayer assignment to attack them). The cave's splitting was polled in Content Poll #51 and passed by 89.6%.

A map of the Stronghold Slayer Cave before the update that split it.

As a result, the cave was completely remapped on 27 April 2017, leaving only bloodvelds, hellhounds, aberrant spectres, ankou, and fire giants behind. The cave became nearly one-fifth its original size, with the following new areas introduced with monsters relocated to them:

• Greater and black demons were relocated to the new Chasm of Fire in Shayzien.
• Black dragons, their babies, and blue dragons were relocated to a new upper level within Taverley Dungeon.
• Gargoyles, nechryael, and abyssal demons were relocated to the new basement within the Slayer Tower.
• The metal dragons were relocated to a new cave west of the pre-existing cave that housed iron and steel dragons in the Brimhaven Dungeon.
• The kalphites were moved to the new Kalphite Cave east of the Shantay Pass.
• The smoke devils were moved to the new Smoke Devil Dungeon south of Castle Wars.
• The waterfiends and cave kraken were moved to the new Kraken Cove south-west of the Piscatoris Fishing Colony.

Changes

Date	Changes
[[{{#explode:27 April 2017| |0}} {{#explode:27 April 2017| |1}}]] [[{{#explode:27 April 2017| |2}}]] (update | poll)	Many of the monsters in the Stronghold Slayer Cave have been removed and the size of the cave has been greatly reduced. The removed monster have been relocated to various other task-only areas.
[[{{#explode:17 September 2015| |0}} {{#explode:17 September 2015| |1}}]] [[{{#explode:17 September 2015| |2}}]] (update | poll)	The Stronghold Slayer Cave has been expanded further west. Black demons, black dragons and blue dragons have been added to this new section.
[[{{#explode:6 November 2014| |0}} {{#explode:6 November 2014| |1}}]] [[{{#explode:6 November 2014| |2}}]] (update | poll)	Gargoyles have been added to the Stronghold Slayer Cave.
[[{{#explode:16 October 2014| |0}} {{#explode:16 October 2014| |1}}]] [[{{#explode:16 October 2014| |2}}]] (update)	Fixed a tile within the Kalphite area of the Stronghold Slayer Cave that allowed you to fight them off task.
[[{{#explode:22 May 2014| |0}} {{#explode:22 May 2014| |1}}]] [[{{#explode:22 May 2014| |2}}]] (update | poll)	Players can now permanently dismiss the warnings that are shown before entering the rooms of the cave kraken and smoke devil bosses.
[[{{#explode:10 April 2014| |0}} {{#explode:10 April 2014| |1}}]] [[{{#explode:10 April 2014| |2}}]] (update | poll)	Smoke devils, requiring level 93 Slayer, have been added to the Stronghold Slayer Cave along with their boss variant, the Thermonuclear Smoke Devil. The Kraken boss variant has been added to the Cave kraken area of the cave.
[[{{#explode:30 January 2014| |0}} {{#explode:30 January 2014| |1}}]] [[{{#explode:30 January 2014| |2}}]] (update | poll)	Cave krakens, requiring level 87 Slayer, have been added to the Stronghold Slayer Cave.