Waterfiend/Strategies

This article contains information for players seeking to kill waterfiends, including the recommended equipment, inventory and strategies.

Waterfiends are weak to ranged attacks and very weak to bolts. They are often killed due to their high crimson charm drop rate, which fuels summoning training. While waterfiends are weaker to crossbows, bows like the crystal bow are still very effective.

Inventory
Mid-to-high-level inventory: Lower-level inventory:
 * Prayer potions and prayer renewal potions - for using Anguish and/or Soul Split
 * If using a familiar, super restores or summoning potions are optional, but may be useful to summon a new familiar once the previous timer elapsed.
 * Extreme ranging,overload potion, or Super ranging potion
 * Ferocious ring to get to Kuradal - not necessary if fighting in the Ancient Cavern.
 * Players with a high level and good equipment may find shark drops are enough food for healing, otherwise, bring high-healing food
 * The Vampyrism aura works well here.
 * Dramen or lunar staff - not necessary if Fairy Tale III - Orks Rift is completed or if entering by whirlpool.
 * Games necklace to travel to Barbarian Outpost if entering by whirlpool (which can be deposited at Barbarian Outpost to save inventory space for drops)
 * Good food

Alternate location strategies
The most popular spot to kill waterfiends is the Ancient Cavern as it is easily accessible. However, there are two viable alternative locations: the Chaos Tunnels and the Ghorrock Fortress.

Players who have the Summoning level to use a geyser titan can kill waterfiends much more quickly in the Chaos Tunnels than in the Ancient Cavern, with consistent usage of the titan's scroll loaded into an enchanted helm. Using Soul Split and taking advantage of the occasional cooked shark drops, high level players can stay for a very long time (enough to make full usage of a Familiarisation triple-charm period).

With completion of The Temple at Senntisten, players can find waterfiends in the Ghorrock Fortress. However, their drops are different from the norm; the waterfiends at Ghorrock have a lower charm drop rate, but drop two charms at a time. A cannon can be used here, which is useful for efficient Slayer experience. The waterfiends here have a higher max hit (and hit higher in general), and are aggressive. Given that you have sufficient healing (bunyip/unicorn, vampyrism, soul split), it is easily afk-able.

Polypore Strike is also effective, especially when combined with Dragon Breath and Omnipower abilities. Using a hexcrest and a charged amulet of glory can result in 15% boost to magic damage against an assigned slayer target along with a 3.9% critical hit bonus.

Extra tips

 * It is also worth mentioning that while it may cost a certain amount to kill waterfiends through use of prayer potions, food or familiars etc., players can at least break even through picking up noted water orbs, noted snape grass, water talismans, ranarrs, lantadymes, items from the rare drop table, and even the reward from the level 3 clue scrolls they drop.
 * Some High Level Alchemy runes can be brought to alch valuable drops such as water battlestaves or armour pieces like the rune helm and adamant platebodies - even the less valuable staves and mithril items alch profitably. Due to lack of space, many people may not want to pick up all items and usually only pick up the stackable items such as water orbs, mithril arrows, and various runes. Alternatively the Explorers ring or Alchemy amulet can be used.
 * For those fighting Waterfiends in the Ancient Cavern, using the fairy ring (code ) is a much quicker route to stock up on food/potions than walking all the way from the Barbarian Outpost. Note that the fairy ring is only accessible after completing much of Barbarian Training, at least up to Pyre ships. Before the ring can be used, bittercap mushrooms must be planted there. With 5 mushrooms in your inventory, use one of the mushrooms on the 'enchanted lands' spot near the centre of the ring.
 * Waterfiends usually drop 1 water rune, 1 charm (typically crimson), and one other item or two grimy herbs. Sometimes the other item is 90 water runes. This means if a player examines the drop and sees only "charm" and "water rune", the odds are good that the player has received a charm and 91 water runes. If a player sees a charm, a water rune, and something else (like a shark), the water rune is 1 and not 91. The single water runes are not worth picking up.
 * Those, who can get their hands on Blisterwood stakes and their off-hand variant (after completing Branches of Darkmeyer quest), in conjunction with using abilities such as Needle strike, Piercing shot and Snipe, may find this weapon very efficient in dispatching Waterfiends, resulting in massive slaughter, with low cost and good drops. The Blisterwood stake-thrower crossbow unlocked partway through The Lord of Vampyrium is even more effective, thanks to the waterfiend's weakness to bolts (using Dazing Shot instead of Needle Strike).