Dreadnip

A Dreadnip is a powerful creature that can be deployed against most monsters to serve as a partner in combat. Dreadnips are earned as a reward in the Dominion Tower by achieving 450 kills and spectating another player's match. When they are unlocked, 500 dreadnips are awarded; 500 more can be obtained for every 25 kills over 450 achieved in the tower, up to 7,500 before players must claim them from the Strange face or else further dreadnips are lost. Dreadnips stack in the inventory, allowing players to carry many at once.

Dreadnips are usable against most monsters, as explained below, but cannot be used against other players. Many players find dreadnips very useful in the Fight Kiln, as most of the monsters there are extremely weak to their attacks, notably the TokHaar-Ket-Dills, as dreadnips can hit through their armour even without a pickaxe.

To deploy a dreadnip, a player must be attacking the monster that will be the dreadnip's target. Just being attacked by a monster does not suffice. This must be done quickly if auto-retaliate is turned on or the player will change targets causing the dreadnip to be unable to be deployed.

To change the style of a dreadnip, a player must right-click on it, and click on the appropriate option. Dreadnips do not change in the inventory. Instead, the version that is placed on the ground is dependent on the right-click option used.

As a way of distinguishing the styles of deployed dreadnips, a different name is given to the deployed dreadnip based on the style chosen: Ferocious for melee, Luminous for magic, and Stinging for ranged.

Dreadnips can prove to be a viable tactic when used against Yakamaru. When used in a high quantity they act as a stall to Yakamaru's attacks due to the high number of hits being placed on him, allowing the tank to take significantly less damage.

Mechanics
When a dreadnip is deployed against a monster, it unfolds on the ground into a small insect-like or scorpion-like creature and begins attacking. It is combat level 111. Each of the dreadnips use the same three attacks regardless of style (magic and ranged dreadnips still must be within melee range of the target to deal damage). The attacks are as follows:
 * A standard attack at point-blank range. This is the most common attack, and has a maximum hit of at least 888 damage - even against monsters that are normally immune to damage, such as frost dragons in their blue orb phase. It can also hit monsters that normally require specific equipment or attack styles to kill, such as Vyrewatch, Kree'arra, and the Wild jade vine.
 * A short-lasting stun attack that even affects some normally stun-immune creatures. It should also be noted that when monsters teleport within a dreadnip's attack range, the dreadnip will move in the monster's direction. This attack range seems to stretch just outside the range of the minimap.
 * An attack that poisons the target, which can deal as much as 642 damage or higher.

Only one dreadnip may be deployed at a time, and each will last 30 seconds before disappearing. During that time, a dreadnip will attack up to 12 times, giving it an attack speed of 6, or one attack every 2.4 seconds.

A dreadnip will also disappear if its owner exits combat, moves too far away from it, or kills the target monster. It will also disappear if there is an obstacle between the dreadnip and the player for too long (you do not have to keep attacking the monster the dreadnip was deployed against; any monster will do, as long as you keep attacking). If a dreadnip is deployed but there is an obstacle between the dreadnip and its target, the dreadnip is blocked from reaching the target and will soon give up and disappear. Unlike Summoning familars, there is no 'call' ability for a dreadnip to move, so be careful not to move too far away from a dreadnip or to deploy one if an obstacle will block it.

A dreadnip deploys in a random square near the player. If it deploys so that a static obstacle is between it and its target, the dreadnip will pause, but will try to move around the obstacle. The dreadnip will disappear if it fails to reach its target - this is likely when in combat with other obstacles (such as any safespotting area - the dreadnip may be unable to navigate large safespots). If the monster is killed before the dreadnip can attack it, the dreadnip may not immediately disappear.

Monsters do not retaliate against dreadnips, nor can players attack them. As such, dreadnips essentially act as an invincible, if short-lived, source of extra damage and binding. Furthermore, as dreadnips do not count as Summoning familars, they can be used in conjunction with a familiar, as well as where they are disallowed or detrimental, such as in the TzHaar Fight Cave (where familiars are not allowed) or against the Corporeal Beast. Additionally, they are immune to Araxxor/Araxxi's swipe.

Despite they can now be chosen to deal magic or ranged damage, their attacks remain melee-ranged and lack a separate animation.

Restrictions
Dreadnips can attack any target except for the following:


 * Other players (however, dreadnips can attack other players' summoning familiars).
 * The Barrows brothers
 * Zamorak wizards, Guthix wizards, and double agents during Treasure Trails.
 * Quest boss monsters that can appear in the Dominion Tower. This includes these monsters not only in the tower itself but also during the quest the boss is encountered. For example, dreadnips cannot be used against Agrith Naar during the Shadow of the Storm quest
 * Animated armour in the Warriors' Guild
 * The tormented wraith
 * Mazchna's special task monsters
 * The ferocious barbarian spirit from pyre ships.
 * Nex in God Wars Dungeon

Dreadnips cannot be used within the Dominion Tower; attempting to deploy them yields the message: "You can't use dreadnips inside the tower."

Note that dreadnips can be used against powerful monsters that are not quest bosses, including the Kalphite queen and the King Black Dragon. With the release of Rumble Mode, dreadnips may be attuned to magic, making them effective in the Polypore Dungeon. As such, their standard damage is viable against nearly all monsters.

Trivia

 * Dreadnips count as a "non-combat item" and cannot be taken into Castle Wars or Soul Wars.
 * If a player attempts to deploy a dreadnip against an opponent during their death animation, they release the message "You can't issue the dreadnip against that."
 * Using a dreadnip against the Kalphite Queen is a task in the Desert Tasks.
 * As of 24 March 2014 Dreadnips can run, and on 7 April 2014 Dreadnips were slightly buffed by Jagex. On 8 December 2014, Dreadnips were given the ability to deploy as different combat styles, and are slightly better at navigating obstacles between it and its target.
 * 100 dreadnips were originally available after completing 5 battles. This was changed in the Patch Week updates on 3 November 2014 to a single batch of 500 dreadnips for every 25 battles completed, in line with the increase to the number of kills needed for each pair of gloves.
 * If one attempts to attack a dreadnip with their familiar, they will see that any type of dreadnip has 4500 life points and is weak to earth spells.
 * Dreadnips can sometimes cause training dummies in the Combat Academy to move out of their original square. However, it cannot attack player-spawned dummies and will leave immediately.
 * They will attack elite training dummies, but they do no damage even if deployed in the correct style. The message "You cannot damage an elite dummy with abilities that target more than one foe." appears, despite dreadnips' basic attacks are single target.
 * Ferocious dreanips say "Zrrrtk!" when they are deployed, "Pssstk!" for stinging dreadnips and "Krrrrrtk!" for luminous dreadnips. They all say "Sstk!" when the stun their target.