Dust devil/Strategies Guide – OSRS

Dust devils are a slayer monster requiring 65 Slayer to kill. Players must start Desert Treasure I before dust devils may be assigned as a Slayer task. When using Ice Barrage and fought in the Catacombs of Kourend, dust devils can provide high Slayer experience rates per hour, varying on how well the player can group them and collecting their loot. Valuable common drops like the air battlestaff as well as mystic air staff generally compensate the rune cost when bursting. Barraging generally loses money or breaks even, yet yields much better Slayer experience rates.

Requirements

• Level  65
• Level  43 for Protect from Melee

Recommendations

• Level  94 for Ice Barrage. Ice Burst could be used at  70.
• High  to equip mage armour such as ancestral robes.
• Level  82+ for an ornate pool and portal nexus for a teleport to Kourend Castle. Alternatively bring a Xeric’s talisman and use the option Xeric’s Heart to teleport to Kourend Castle and a ring of dueling for teleports to Ferox Enclave to restore stats.

Additionally, having a bonecrusher helps save on Prayer potions since burying bones inside the Catacombs of Kourend also restores Prayer points.

Getting there

Bank with preferred banking method; Kourend Castle has a bank on the 3^rd floor^[US]. Use your house portal or Xeric’s talisman to teleport to Kourend Castle. Investigate the statue in the courtyard to enter the Catacombs. Run east, then south, then east again. If your room has bloodvelds in it you went too far. This room and the southern room contain the dust devils.

Mechanics

Attack styles

The dust devils attack only with a melee attack. Protect from Melee will prevent all damage.

Dust

The dust devils use clouds of dust, sand, ash, and whatever else they can inhale to blind and disorient their victims. Players not wearing a facemask or Slayer helmet will take very rapid damage that also drains stats. When using the slayer helmet to check how many kills you have left on the task, take care not to misclick on unequipping the helmet; this can quickly lead to a death with dust devils attacking you.

Tips

Grouping

The most effective method for dust devils is to group and burst them in the Catacombs of Kourend. Turn on Protect from Melee and drink a Goading potion dose to automatically draw their aggression. Run through the dust devils to stack them and cast the best burst or barrage spell available. Those without Goading potions can alternatively draw aggression with a fast Ranged weapon (such as cheap darts or knives) or the Dinh’s bulwark special attack. This is slower than using Goading potions, however.

For the best damage output, prioritise equipment with high Magic damage bonuses, such as virtus robes. If such equipment is not available, use Prayer-boosting equipment that does not penalise Magic accuracy, such as vestment robes. Because dust devils have low Magic defence, having a higher Magic accuracy will not significantly increase damage output. Negative Magic accuracy will increase splashing however, so using equipment that penalises Magic accuracy (such as Proselyte armour) is not advised.

Safespotting

Another option is to safespot using the corridors in between rooms to shoot/cast on the dust devils without the need to pray although, this is much slower than grouping.

Equipment

Magic

This is the best-in-slot available equipment for maging dust devils. See the table below for an overview of equipment alternatives in case this setup is not accessible or too expensive.

Notes

• The occult necklace (+5%), tormented bracelet (+5%), imbued god capes (+2%), and virtus robes (+2% each) or ancestral robes (+3% each) increase the maximum hit of the player’s Magic spells. However, the tormented bracelet is generally inefficient to use as the bracelet of slaughter will increase the task’s length and maximise overall Slayer experience rates.
• It is recommended to use a staff or wand that can autocast Ancient Magicks. Kodai wand provides +15% magic damage bonus as well as infinite water runes and a chance to save runes, making it the most effective.
• Darts, knives or a blowpipe may be used to lure. The special attack of the Dinh’s bulwark in conjunction with a Lightbearer may also be used to lure, however it may cause stamina issues due to its weight for players with lower agility levels.
• A Hunters’ crossbow or Hunters’ sunlight crossbow is also an effective luring weapon, having the same speed as shortbows and 1 more tile of range. It is also 1-handed, so magic off-hands aren’t unequipped. Kebbit bolts and Sunlight antler bolts are much more expensive than the cheapest arrows and darts, however.
• A Venator Bow can also be effectively used.

Equipment upgrades and downgrades

Slot	Recommended equipment for Bursting/Barraging – Item (most effective → least effective)
	Slayer helmet (i)	Facemask	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Occult necklace	Dragonbone necklace / Bonecrusher necklace	Stole	Holy symbol/Unholy symbol	Amulet of fury
	Imbued god cape	Soul cape	Ardougne cloak 4	Ardougne cloak 3	Ardougne cloak 2
	Virtus robe top	Ancestral robe top	Sunfire fanatic cuirass	Zealot’s robe top / Proselyte hauberk	Ahrim’s robetop / Blue moon chestplate / Vestment robe top
	Virtus robe bottom	Ancestral robe bottom	Sunfire fanatic chausses	Zealot’s robe bottom / Proselyte cuisse	Ahrim’s robeskirt / Blue moon tassets / Vestment robe legs
	Kodai wand	Nightmare staff	Ancient sceptre	Blue moon spear	Master wand / Ancient staff
	Elidinis’ ward (f)	Elidinis’ ward	Ancient wyvern shield / Mage’s book / Malediction ward	Book of darkness	Broodoo shield /Tome of water (charged) [1] / God book
	Rada’s blessing 4	God blessing Rada’s blessing 3/2	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Bracelet of slaughter	Tormented bracelet	Barrows gloves	Dragon gloves Infinity gloves	N/A
	Eternal boots / Devout boots	Echo boots	Holy sandals	Guardian boots	Zealot’s boots Ancient ceremonial boots White boots Blessed boots
	Magus ring	Lightbearer [2]	Ring of the gods (i)	Ring of suffering (i)	Ring of shadows / Explorer’s ring 4 / Ring of wealth [3]
	Eldritch nightmare staff	Dinh’s bulwark [4]	Saradomin godsword	N/A	N/A