Golden Cloud Mountains/Guide

This page was last updated for (v1.1.2).

Weapon Farming

Following the purchase of the   Golden Compass and completion of the   Necromancers Palace, the   Golden Cloud Mountains Slayer Area will become accessible. This area is the penultimate   Slayer Area in the   Throne of the Herald Expansion. The three Monsters within this area (  Torvair,   Arctair, and   Harkair) drop the highest level, most powerful weapons in the game, which are extremely helpful in completing both   Millennium Gate and   Throne of the Herald. These can be extremely long grinds due to the difficulty of the monsters, and require quite a bit of preparation. Each weapon requires 100 fragments, and the fragments have a 5% drop rate, equating to 2,000 kills on average before accounting for item doubling bonuses. The player will also need to collect an additional 10 of each fragment in order to purchase the   Golden Shard, adding another 200 kills for a total of 2,200 average kills required.

Acquiring these shards while fighting each monster as a slayer task is recommended, as fighting these monsters on task will increase the damage the player deals due to various buffs. This will require   Auto Slayer to be disabled, will encourage semi-frequent check-ins, and means the order in which the weapons are obtained is effectively random, unless the player performs a significant amount of task re-rolling. If the player should choose to re-roll many times to guarantee the order of these monsters, or simply chooses to fight these monsters off task instead, then the suggested order is as follows:

Order

The order in which the weapons are obtained is not particularly important. However, Monsters within the   Millennium Gate area drop Vorloran armour, which is a significant upgrade over other Equipment available to the player up until this point. It is therefore suggested that each of the   Golden Cloud Mountains monsters is initially only fought until 10 of each shard is obtained, at which point the   Golden Shard can be purchased from the Shop. From here, monsters within the Millennium Gate area can be fought until some of the Vorloran armour pieces are obtained, after which the player can return to Golden Cloud Mountains to complete the grind for the weapons.

Broadly, an efficient order for finishing   Slayer would be as below. Guides explaining strategies for fighting   Millennium Gate monsters can be found at Millennium Gate/Guide.

  1.   Torvair /   Harkair /   Arctair, until 10 of each shard is obtained
  2.   Vorloran Devastator, until at least 3 different Vorloran Devastator armour pieces have been obtained
  3.   Torvair, until   Agile Wings Rapier has been obtained
  4.   Vorloran Watcher, until at least 3 different Vorloran Watcher armour pieces have been obtained
  5.   Harkair, until   Slicing Maelstrom Wand has been obtained
  6.   Vorloran Protector, until at least 3 different Vorloran Protector armour pieces have been obtained
  7.   Arctair, until   Feather Storm Crossbow has been obtained

A popular strategy is to combine the grinding of these weapons with the grind for the   Slayer Gear Upgrade Kit (Mythical). An added benefit is the increased damage given by buffs like the   Slayer Skillcape and   Astrology while fighting Slayer Tasks. Another benefit is the ability to buy   Prayer Points,   Light Runes, and Food at a profit with the use of   Bountiful Resupply.

Some equipment suggestions are detailed below. Note that depending on what   Prayer,   Potions, and   Agility buffs the player uses or has access to, the optimal equipment may vary somewhat from these suggestions.

Buffs

Requirements

There are very few hard requirements beyond the entry requirement of   Slayer Level 116 and completion of the   Necromancers Palace, but there are several skills and items that will make this grind significantly easier, and it would be remiss to not mention them.

Suggestion Benefit
  Level 120 Less need for Damage Reduction
  Level 120   Pillar of Combat and   Elite Pillar of Conflict
  Level 115   Spectre and   Fox Synergies
  Level 118   Battleborn
  Vorloran Protector Armour High damage reduction   Melee armour.
  Vorloran Watcher Armour High damage reduction   Ranged armour.
  Vorloran Devastator Armour High damage reduction   Magic armour.

Agility

# Obstacle Reason
1 N/A No obstacles for these slots provide any combat benefit.
2 N/A
3   Pipe Climb No particular reason beyond being the only obstacle that grants any combat benefits.
4   Coal Stones No negative modifiers, technically saves some food.
5   Cliff Balance +20 HP.
6   Lake Swim +5% Damage, +1% DR.   Rocky Waters can be used instead.
7   Boulder Trap No negative combat modifiers.
8   Raft Building Suggested before obtaining Vorloran armour from   Millennium Gate for safety. Afterwards,   Pipe Crawl can be used instead for additional damage.
9   Water Jump More damage. The 20 HP from   Ice Jump is not necessary.
10   Ocean Rafting Free damage!
11     Pipe Maze More damage.
12     Boulder Balance Lower attack interval and more damage for the low price of lower accuracy.
13     Balance Trap This obstacle tier does not grant any direct bonuses to these grinds.
14     Gap Climb More damage and Area Effect Negation - also more coins if doing this grind on   Task
15     Waterfall Crossing Is the equivalent of a permanent   Diamond Luck Potion, which frees up a potion slot for   Damage Reduction Potion IV. It is necessary to have this obstacle at 99   Mastery to halve the -100 HP modifier.
P   Pillar of Combat Lots of beneficial combat bonuses.
EP     Elite Pillar of Conflict Lots of beneficial combat bonuses.

Prayer

In some situations,   Holy Aegis may be required in order to achieve the required amount of Damage Reduction to safely idle a monster. Where relevant, this is mentioned below as part of the equipment recommendations.

Potions

While fighting   Torvair or   Arctair, use   Damage Reduction Potion IV.

For   Harkair, the Damage Reduction requirement is lower such that potions such as the   Penetration Potion or   Ranged Strength Potion may be used instead in order to improve the kill rate.

Summoning

For all combat styles, use   Spectre and   Occultist unless stated otherwise below. By decreasing the enemy's Evasion Rating, this Synergy significantly increases the player's chance to hit, even with otherwise maxed stats, and helps a lot in landing hits.

Alternatively, use   Fox and   Dragon to deal a significant amount of unavoidable damage when the player is otherwise having trouble hitting the target.

Pets

In order to meet   Hitpoints and Damage Reduction requirements, it is assumed that the player has unlocked   Finn, the Cat,   Leonardo, and   Erran.

Consumables

For all equipment suggestions, Consumable items such as the   Explorers Map II are suggested, but are by no means required in order to safely idle these monsters. Therefore, this slot can be swapped for any other consumable item, or no consumable at all. The   Slayer Deterer From   Township can help reach the tight DR thresholds required provided the monster is only fought while on a slayer task.

Notes

Checking your setups with the Combat Simulator before engaging any of these monsters is highly recommended. Despite best efforts to ensure these equipment recommendations are safe, there is no guarantee that they will be safe in your specific circumstances.

While the Slayer Area Effect of   Golden Cloud Mountains provides a large amount of Lifesteal, each monster ALSO has a passive ability that grants them +500% Lifesteal from Bleed. This makes Area Effect Negation not particularly effective, coupled with the fact that wearing   Slayer armor can also prove detrimental to the player's Damage Reduction, it is best to not worry about the regular lifesteal, and focus on reducing the amount of ticks of Bleed the player takes.

As a result,   Bleed Burner Cape is critically important for defeating these enemies efficiently. Possibly due to a bug, the way this cape's effect works causes each tick of bleed (there are 20 over the duration of a typical bleed) to each have a chance of completely removing the effect. For example, while the   Bleed Burner Cape gives the player a 50% chance to completely ignore the bleed before it is applied, it is also possible for the bleed to suddenly expire after only dealing 1 or 2 ticks of damage, massively reducing the damage the player takes, and therefore the Lifesteal the enemy receives.

Torvair

  Torvair drops   Agile Wings Rapier Shard used to create the   Agile Wings Rapier.

With   Slicing Maelstrom Wand, use   Slicing Maelstrom,   Despair, and   Surge II.

With   Calamity Wand or   Archaic Wand, use   Infernal Power,   Despair, and   Surge II.

Before Millennium Gate

To be able to safely idle   Torvair with   Magic, the following build assumes the player has at least 1,200   HP and 98% out of combat DR (76% in combat). This equipment recommendation is suitable for all official Game Modes.

The   Witch +   Yak Synergy and   Holy Aegis are required to meet this damage reduction threshold. Note that this equipment leaves a very thin margin of safety, and therefore any deviation from the recommendation which reduces the player's damage reduction is not advised.

For the platebody slot,   Bundled Protection Body can be used in a pinch if either   Freezing Touch Body or   Slayer Wizard Robes (Mythical) are not available, however doing so is a significant decrease to the kill rate so is not suggested unless absolutely necessary.

After Millennium Gate/T-120s

To be able to safely idle   Torvair with   Magic, the following build assumes the player has at least 1,200   HP and 100% out of combat DR (76% in combat). This equipment recommendation is suitable for all official Game Modes.

Acquiring some pieces of the armour dropped by the   Vorloran Devastator provides some much needed Damage Reduction increases, allowing for more DPS-focused choices to be made. Using the   Slicing Maelstrom Wand provides a very significant improvement to the kill rate, so is highly recommended.

As before, the margin of safety is very small, therefore if not using the full set of Vorloran Devastator armour then using   Holy Aegis in place of   Divination is suggested to maintain a safe level of DR. At least three pieces of Vorloran armour are recommended.

Arctair

  Arctair drops   Feather Storm Crossbow Shard used to create the   Feather Storm Crossbow.

Before Millennium Gate

To be able to safely idle   Arctair with   Melee, the following build assumes the player has at least 1,200   HP and 100% out of combat DR (82% in combat). This equipment recommendation is suitable for all official Game Modes.

The   Minotaur +   Yak Synergy and   Holy Aegis are required to meet this damage reduction threshold. Note that this equipment leaves a very thin margin of safety, and therefore any deviation from the recommendation which reduces the player's damage reduction is not advised.

  Spectral Ice Sword can be used instead of   FrostSpark 1H Sword if necessary, however doing so is a significant increase in kill times, taking approximately 33% longer on average per kill.

After Millennium Gate/T-120s

To be able to safely idle   Arctair with   Melee, the following build assumes the player has at least 1,200   HP and 101% out of combat DR (82% in combat). This equipment recommendation is suitable for all official Game Modes.

Acquiring some pieces of the armour dropped by the   Vorloran Protector provides some much needed Damage Reduction increases, allowing for more DPS-focused choices to be made. Using the   Agile Wings Rapier near doubles the kill rate when compared to   FrostSpark 1H Sword, so is highly recommended.

Having all of   Vorloran Protector Platelegs,   Vorloran Protector Boots, and   Vorloran Protector Gauntlets equipped simultaneously is recommended. Alternatively, Vorloran pieces for   Ranged or   Magic may be used to satisfy the Damage Reduction requirement, although this will negatively impact the kill rate. Equipment providing less DR may also be used, but is not ideal and would require   Holy Aegis to be used in place of   Valor.

Harkair

  Harkair drops   Slicing Maelstrom Wand Shard used to create the   Slicing Maelstrom Wand.

Compared to other monsters within the   Golden Cloud Mountains, Harkair has a much lower maximum hit which allows for more DPS-focused equipment choices to be made. Notably, using the   Damage Reduction Potion IV is not necessary, and so a potion which improves the player's kill rate such as the   Penetration Potion or   Ranged Strength Potion may be used instead.

With   Feather Storm Crossbow, use   Zephyte Bolts or   Decay Bolts.

With   Divine Crossbow, use   Meteorite Bolts.

Before Millennium Gate

To be able to safely idle   Harkair with   Ranged, the following build assumes the player has at least 1,200   HP and 83% out of combat DR (55% in combat). This equipment recommendation is suitable for all official Game Modes.

After Millennium Gate/T-120s

To be able to safely idle   Harkair with   Ranged, the following build assumes the player has at least 1,200   HP and 90% out of combat DR (63% in combat). This equipment recommendation is suitable for all official Game Modes.

Vorloran Watcher armour is not so important here, as the Damage Reduction requirement can be met without it with a negligible impact on kill rate. Further, if using Vorloran armour then only equip the   Platebody,   Gauntlets, and   Boots, as the   Mask of Torment and   Perfect Sight Legs improves the kill rate when compared to the equivalent Vorloran Watcher equipment pieces.