Dagannoth Mother (Blood Runs Deep)

The Dagannoth Mother fought during Blood Runs Deep is the daughter of the Dagannoth Mother from Horror from the Deep. She is the fourth strongest quest monster in RuneScape defeatable by conventional methods. At the end of the quest, she can be found south of the hatchery in Waterbirth Dungeon, guarded by Dagannoth Sentinels and guardians.

She has similar damage immunity as her mother, except the battle has to be initiated with the Balmung. Also, she is significantly stronger than her mother, capable of dealing 1000 or more life points of damage with her melee attack. The colour of the stripe down her back shows her current weakness. However, unlike her mother, whose colour change follows a specific pattern, she can change her weakness at will. Players are also told in the chatbox when she changes colour. At the end after you defeat her she will not die but will scream at you to stop and fall to the ground from pain, breathing heavily and unable to move, you set your trap causing a cave-in that crushes her (and yourself) under rocks.

The Dagannoth Mother is fight-able as a class A boss monster in the Dominion Tower minigame if the player has completed Blood Runs Deep.

Tips and strategies

 * If your combat level is over or around level 90, she really isn't too hard to kill. Get a super set, Balmung, 100-250 casts of each of the highest elemental spells you can cast, a strong ranged weapon (preferably a thrown weapon as she is weak to thrown in her ranged phase), 2 prayer potions and a bunch of rocktails. If you have done Forgiveness of a Chaos Dwarf, the Chaos Dwarf Hand Cannon makes a decent alternaive to thrown ranged weapons, since it deals high hits and is relatively inexpensive, but it has a chance of exploding, so it is helpful to bring multiple hand cannons or a crystal bow for backup. If using a different melee weapon than the balmung, it should be a slashing weapon such as a Godsword or abyssal whip, as she is weak to slash in her melee phase.
 * Do not overestimate her, but at the same time underestimating her can prove fatal.
 * Bring LOTS of food if you meet the bare minimum combat requirements of the quest, as the Dagannoth Mother hits fairly high. With 100+ combat excluding summoning, about 6-10 Rocktails will generally suffice, but bring more food incase. Note that she rarely hits anywhere near her maximum if you have 75+ defence.
 * The battle must be initiated with Balmung or else her back will not change colours. After using Balmung, when her stripe changes back to orange, if you wish to use a different melee weapon other than Balmung on her, you may. When the player hits the Dagannoth Mother, she will show surprise at the weapon, and only then will the player be able to start dealing damage to her. Players will get a few hits with the balmung before she starts changing colour
 * If you wish to stand back from the mother, she will not attempt to melee you, much like a metal dragon, allowing you to focus on her magic and range attacks. It is, however, necessary to run in and melee her at times.
 * When changing attack styles she generally tends to stay on her new style for a little while, much like tormented demons. This means that the player can avoid taking substantial damage by switching prayers. Her most lethal attack is melee, which can hit over 1000, though she can deal damage into the low to mid 300s with her other attacks.
 * She will change vulnerabilities more often if you are able to attack with all three attack styles. She will change vulnerability after a few hits from any style, but will stick to one vulnerability if you are unable to attack her when she is in that form. For example, if you did not bring a range attack style with you she will stick to stay green for entire fight, making it impossible for you to kill her.
 * Bringing only one-handed weapons is a fair strategy, as you will be able to keep the same shield (preferably a magic-classed shield to minimise penalties to magic attacks). However, it significantly reduces the rate at which you are able to deal damage. You will need at least an abyssal whip, 150-300 sagaies, and Ahrim's wand or a Wand of treachery.
 * Try to recognise her attacks. When 3 grey spikes (which are quite difficult to see) come out of her back and you hear a "needle" sound effect, this is her Ranged attack. When a Water Wave comes out of her mouth, this is her Magic attack. Finally, when she bends down and opens her mouth and she sounds like she's softly growling, this is her Melee attack. Knowing her attack styles and the sounds associated with them will help prevent a lot of damage when switching Protection Prayers. When she is about to change combat styles, she makes a soft growl.
 * A click-efficient way to kill her is to use only two attack types for the majority of the fight. Many players omit Ranged, although omitting Melee (after the first strike with Balmung) is also quite viable. Players need melee to initiate the fight (and Balmung can easily hit high on her). It is not viable to omit Magic.
 * Switching between magic and only one other style means that players do not have to switch weapons, a click-consuming action which can be dangerous if the player can't keep up with the conditions of the fight, risking taking huge amounts of damage or even dying. They continuously wield either a melee weapon or a ranged weapon, casting spells while wielding the non-magic weapon.
 * Use the Spellbook interface to select the Autocast spell and the Combat styles interface to select the Ranged or Melee attacks.
 * Players can only sacrifice one attack style. Omitting more than one allows the Mother to change her vulnerabilities between the attack styles players do not have, effectively rendering her completely invincible.
 * An advantage to omitting melee is that players can stand a short distance away to avoid her melee attacks, needing to switch prayers between only magic and ranged protection/deflection. Standing a sufficient distance away from her can permit a player to distinguish between her attacks more easily.
 * In the Dominion Tower, it is very common for her to switch only between styles you do not have, so it is recommended to bring at least 5 styles.
 * Another way to reduce clicking is to use the function keys to switch interfaces quickly. F1 goes to the inventory for food, weapons, and potions; F2 goes to the equipment screen; F3 goes to the Prayer menu to switch prayers; F4 goes to the Spellbook to cast spells; and F5 goes to the combat styles screen. This greatly reduces mouse movement and clicking. Practice switching interfaces beforehand to get used to which button does what.
 * Using void knight equipment and switching between the helms can allow a quick battle.

Good armour which does not have huge penalties to Magic (such as Void Knight equipment, Black dragonhide armour, or some varieties of Barrows, like Karil's Set or Ahrim's Set), will be an advantage in this fight considering how often one will be casting spells. If you have a high Magic level (84+) and good Defence (70+), it's OK to use rune. However, it is not recommended.

If you die, you respawn in the Fremennik spiritual realm again. You keep all your items and will be sent back to your choice of either regular respawn point or Waterbirth Island. It is suggested to take a teleporting item such as a teleport tablet since you can't leave the area while under attack. Your grave appears in the area with the Dagannoth Guardians. With a bit luck, it may even be behind a rock, making you safe to attacks.

Trivia

 * Her chathead seems to resemble the head of Godzilla in the 1998 American remake.
 * That may be a reference to the track unlocked in Blood Runs Deep called Maiasaura as both Maiasaura in real life and Godzilla are Dinosaurs.
 * When fighting this monster in Dominion Tower, if a player is already under the effect of the Lunar spell Spellbook Swap, that player's spellbook will not be switched to standard at the beginning of the fight. After the 2 minutes required for Spellbook Swap's effect to end or if another spell is cast, the player's spellbook will return to Lunars and remain that way for the duration of the fight. This has not been fixed yet.
 * In the Dominion Tower, this monster is called Dagannoth Mother (Version 2).
 * With the launch of the Evolution of Combat, in the quest, she would not change colors at all and players could kill her without the Balmung. This was fixed over a year later.
 * There seems to be a bug where players are not able to damage the Mother after the initial two hits with the Balmung.

Dagannoth Mother (Blood Runs Deep)