Desert strykewyrm

Desert strykewyrms are Slayer monsters located east of Al Kharid, through the east gate. They may only be killed if a player is assigned to kill them by a Slayer master (level 77 Slayer required). You cannot use temporary boosts, as you need to be assigned these from your master.

Note that the desert in this area does not drain life points. As such, waterskins are unnecessary.

A wyrm initially appears as a mound on the ground; the mound may be still or be moving about. Before battle can be initiated with the wyrm, a player must investigate the mound by clicking on it. This causes the player's character to perform the Stomp emote, after which the wyrm bursts out of the ground.

Desert strykewyrms are an excellent source of various noted items, and the occasional focus sight, which is needed to create a full slayer helmet. If the player is not currently assigned a desert strykewyrm task, investigating the mound still causes the player's character to perform the stomp emote, but the wyrm does not burst forth. Instead, the character will then perform the Think emote.

Killing a strykewyrm is one of the elite Desert Tasks. A single strykewyrm can be killed without a slayer assignment if the assigned equipment is used.

Attacks


The desert strykewyrm's standard attacks are melee and ranged. The wyrm will usually use melee and only occasionally use ranged when the player is not within melee range. This attack however, rarely hits and even if it hits, it usually does not hit over 100.

The desert strykewyrm also has a special attack which consists of it burrowing under the ground, moving toward the player fighting it, and then bursting out of the ground which can deal 500-2000 damage. Running over the strykewyrm right as it bursts out of the ground will hit the player twice with its special attack, possibly adding up to 4000 damage.

The special attack may be avoided by running 2-3 squares away from where the player was standing when the wyrm starts to burrow. Timing is important; hesitating a moment when the wyrm burrows could cause the wyrm's special attack to hit. Many players run directly away from the wyrm when it burrows, but depending on your reaction time, this might not be a good idea, so running to the sides is a good idea for those with laggy computers or if they are too slow to react to the attack.

Sometimes the desert strykewyrm will be stunned when it emerges from the ground. It will not be able to use its special attack until this wears off.

Tips
When running away from the special attack, it is best to click on the ground itself instead of the minimap, as the player can react to the tactical situation in the area. A player should not click on another mound when trying to get away, as the player will run up to (not onto) the mound and stop, which might leave the player too close to the surfacing wyrm.

Desert strykewyrms have a high amount of health for their level, but have low defence, making it quite easy with powerful weapons to cause a large amount of damage. The wyrm's special attack can be disabled by standing near any kind of obstacle. There are cacti and bushes around their area, but they are relatively spread out and few in number.

This special attack occurs on average once every 15-20 attacks. Depending upon how fast the player can kill a desert strykewyrm, the special attack may or may not occur with each wyrm battle, but one special attack per 2 or 3 wyrms is very likely.

For players who have difficulty moving out of the way in time, it is advised to range strykewyrms from a distance. Range them at the maximum distance of your crossbow/shortbow/shieldbow so that you will have more time to spot and avoid their special attack. Desert strykewyrms are more resistant to ranged than they are to melee, but the ranged attack they use at a distance will also deal very low damage to a player wearing ranged armour.

It is also possible for players to avoid the Desert strykeworm's special attack by using the Escape ability. This requires a good reaction time, as the player will be sent back a few squares, thus wasting good combat time.

Other drops
Note: Can occasionally drop two drops at once.

Trivia

 * Using the stomp emote to attract the strykewyrm is possibly a reference to the sandworms (Shai'Hulud) from Frank Herbert's Dune novel series, which share some common characteristics.
 * As with all other strykewyrms, desert strykewyrms can attack diagonally with melee.
 * The release of strykewyrms was hinted at by the Twitter hint, "Three strykes and they're out" and the Chaos Elemental hint in the Postbag From the Hedge a few weeks earlier.
 * Desert strykewyrms, along with the rest of the strykewyrms, were the first monsters in RuneScape that made use of Particle Effects.
 * In the lead up to the release of Strykewyrms, the encrypted message from the Chaos Elemental in Postbag from the Hedge contained the phrase 'from beneath you, it devours' - this possibly relates simultaneously to the burrowing nature of the strykewyrms and also that they were slayer-related content. 'From beneath you, it devours' is a recurring phrase in season 7 of.
 * If a player runs behind an obstacle just as a strykewyrm burrows into the ground, the strykewyrm will disappear. Although it will seem to respawn normally, it will leave no drops. This will not count towards a kill, and it has not been fixed yet.

Desert strykewyrm Desert strykewyrm Desert Strykewyrm