Scurrius Best in Slot Gear & Strategy Guide

Scurrius' lair is inside the Varrock Sewers. Enter through the manhole just east of Varrock Palace, then head east from the sewers entrance to reach the lair. You enter or leave by climbing through the broken bars (or crossing the sewage water to leave); after leaving there is an approximately 15-second delay before you can rejoin.

When you right-click the bars you choose between the public area and creating your own instance, which is free. The public area holds a much stronger Scurrius (1,000 more health and slightly higher combat stats) with a more generous experience multiplier; the private instance is faster to kill but is weaker and gives a lower multiplier. Scurrius himself is combat level 200 in the solo instance and combat level 250 in the public group room — not to be confused with the combat level 60-90 the boss is recommended for.

There is no quest requirement to fight Scurrius — it is members-only. The Wiki recommends moderate combat stats in any style before you go: level 50 Attack, Strength, Defence, Ranged, Magic, and Hitpoints, plus level 43 Prayer so you have access to the protection prayers the fight is built around. Scurrius also counts toward rat Slayer tasks (assigned by Turael or Spria), so a rat task is a natural reason to learn him. Note that Dwarf multicannons cannot be set up in the lair, and Scurrius is immune to cannon damage regardless.

One quirk for group play: Ironmen can join other accounts and receive killcount, but will not receive any drops except medium clues, and only if they manage to attain MVP (most damage dealt).

Scurrius can be killed in any of the three combat styles — the Wiki provides melee, ranged, and magic setups at both mid and high level — so bring whichever style you have invested in. The meta wrinkle is the rat bone weapons (the Bone mace, Bone shortbow, and Bone staff): they hit nothing special on the boss but strike the summoned rats with no attack delay, which is why they appear in every recommended loadout. If you already own one, it doubles as your rat-clearing tool.

Melee is the most popular first approach. The fight wants a strong, accurate melee weapon and a defender, with the usual progression running through the melee gear families — from a Rune scimitar up through Dragon scimitar, Abyssal whip, and Abyssal tentacle — plus Strength and Attack stat-boosting potions such as Super strength, Super attack and Super defence (or a single Super combat). For exact best-in-slot items at your stats and budget, use our Boss Gear Finder above rather than copying a fixed list.

If you prefer to stay at range, a ranged setup built around a shortbow with good arrows (or a crossbow) works well and keeps you mobile for the falling-brick phase; magic with a powered staff is the third option. Whichever style you pick, the Boss Gear Finder will resolve the specific helm, body, weapon and ammo for your account.

A couple of style notes worth knowing before you commit. Because his ranged and magic attacks only deal damage on impact, late prayer reactions still block them — so range and magic players who would rather not prayer-switch constantly can simply pray against whatever their armour is weaker to while he is parked at a food pile, since he does not melee while eating. And if you happen to own a smoke ancient sceptre, poisoning him reduces his food-pile healing from 5/10 down to 4/8 per player, shortening the fight slightly. Neither is required — both are small optimisations on top of the core melee-and-Protect-from-Melee plan.

Scurrius is cheap to learn, so keep the inventory simple:

• Prayer potions — the fight is prayer-intensive because you hold a protection prayer almost the whole time. Bring more Prayer potions in place of food as you get better at avoiding damage.
• Decent food — cooked karambwan is the Wiki's choice in the sample inventories.
• Stat-boosting potions for your style — Super strength, Super attack and Super defence for melee (or Super combat), Ranging potions for ranged, or Magic potions for magic.
• A fast-attacking weapon to kill the rats — Bronze knives or Darts work if you are not carrying a rat bone weapon.
• A special-attack weapon if you have one available.
• Runes for High Level Alchemy and Varrock Teleport (a Rune pouch saves inventory space for more food and potions once you have one).

A useful free heal: you can eat from a Food Pile once every 10 minutes to restore to full outside of combat (it cannot be done for a couple of seconds after being attacked, but can be used while Scurrius or the rats are still alive). Keep in mind the summoned rats can block access to a pile, so clearing them is sometimes the difference between getting your free heal and not.

Because Scurrius is so cheap, the standard advice is to start with a comfortable food-heavy inventory and gradually trade food for extra Prayer potions as you learn to dodge the bricks and hold the right prayer — the better you avoid damage, the more the run becomes a Prayer-potion check rather than a food check.

Scurrius has three basic attacks plus three special mechanics, and the fight runs in three phases. Each basic attack is fully negated by the matching protection prayer.

• Tail Swipe (melee, Protect from Melee): Scurrius strikes with his tail for up to 13 damage. This is his fastest and most accurate attack, no warning is given, and it is only used during the first two phases. Because his Attack level is 300 with a +150 melee bonus, this is the attack you pray against by default. Protect from Melee negates all of it.
• Bolts of Electricity (magic, Protect from Magic): Scurrius discharges blue lightning for up to 14 damage (8 in solo mode). It only deals damage on impact, so a late prayer reaction still blocks it.
• Flying Fur (ranged, Protect from Missiles): Scurrius throws a stinky fur ball for up to 13 damage (7 in solo mode), again only dealing damage on impact.
• Falling Bricks (rubble): Scurrius jumps on the spot and rubble falls across the arena. One piece always targets the tile you were standing on when it was used; others land randomly. Each is telegraphed by a looming shadow. Getting hit deals 15-24 damage (15-22 in solo mode) and is not blocked by any prayer — you must step off the shadow.
• Minions (giant rats): Scurrius screeches and summons six level 46 giant rats. They are very accurate and hit 0-1 through Protect from Melee (up to 4 without it), but die instantly to a single hit. They persist even after Scurrius is dead and can block you from healing at the Food Piles, so clear them.
• Healing: on reaching 80% health Scurrius moves to a Food Pile and eats, restoring 5 or 10 health per player in the arena every few seconds. While eating he only uses magic, ranged, and Falling Bricks — not melee. The healing stops once he is brought to 30% health.

Phase one (100%-80% HP): Scurrius starts on the east side of the chamber attacking with melee (tail swipe) and occasionally Falling Bricks. Pray Protect from Melee and step off brick shadows. At 80% health he moves to a random Food Pile (breaking any binds on the way).

Phase two (the food piles): at the pile Scurrius eats every few seconds, healing 5 or 10 HP per player — although the animation plays ten times, he only actually heals five times. After the tenth eating animation he stops and resumes melee. During this phase he also uses Falling Bricks, magic, ranged, and summons giant rats. Because he is not meleeing while actively eating, range/magic players who do not want to prayer-switch can instead pray against whatever their gear is weaker to. (Poisoning him with a smoke ancient sceptre reduces his healing to 4 or 8 per player.)

Phase three (30% HP and below): once Scurrius drops to 30% health (150 in solo, 450 in group) he moves to the centre and attacks only with ranged and magic, at a faster rate than before. He keeps using Falling Bricks — notably he can use it several times in a row here — so watch the shadows and keep moving. He also keeps summoning rats, up to a total of 12 waves, after which no more appear. If he ever heals back above 30%, he resets to phase two and tries to heal again, so push the damage. Because he no longer melees, drop Protect from Melee and pray against his ranged or magic as needed.

Rotation in short: Protect from Melee from the start until 30% HP, dodge every brick shadow, instakill rats as they spawn (ideally with a rat bone weapon for the no-delay hits, or a Venator bow / Rune thrownaxe spec / Dinh's bulwark otherwise), then for the final 30% swap to praying his ranged/magic while you finish him. After he dies, mop up any remaining rats — a rat bone weapon still kills them with no delay.

Scurrius' signature unique is Scurrius' spine, dropped at 1/33 (only one player may receive a spine per kill). The three rat bone weapons — the Bone mace, Bone shortbow, and Bone staff — are the whole reason most players farm him, since they grant no-delay hits on the summoned rats and boosted combat experience.

The rare pet, Scurry, is rolled only for the player who dealt the most damage (MVP). Beyond those, the MVP table includes rune and adamant armour pieces, runes and ammunition, consumables, and coins; the render engine draws the full rate table from our drop data, so check the table for exact chances. If you are farming him in a group and are not the MVP, your loot comes from a separate, smaller non-MVP table.

• Trying to pray the bricks. Falling Bricks is the only attack no prayer stops — it hits 15-24 and one piece always lands on the tile you were on. Move off the shadow every time; do not stand still expecting a prayer to save you.
• Ignoring the rats. The giant rats bypass Protect from Melee for 0-1 and stack chip damage, and they block the Food Piles even after the boss is dead. Kill each wave as it spawns instead of tanking them.
• Letting him heal. If you stall during phase three and he climbs back above 30% HP, he resets to the food piles and heals again — keep your damage up so he cannot reset.
• Wrong prayer in phase three. Once he reaches 30% he stops meleeing entirely and only uses ranged and magic. Holding Protect from Melee here protects you from nothing — switch to the style he is actually using.
• Forgetting the free heal. The Food Pile gives a full heal once every 10 minutes out of combat; new players often forget it exists and waste food.
• Fighting the rats the slow way. Each giant rat dies to a single hit, but without a rat bone weapon you eat a full attack delay every time you swap onto one. If you do not own a rat bone weapon, bring a fast secondary like Bronze knives or Darts — or use a charged Venator bow, a Rune thrownaxe special, or Dinh's bulwark to clear a clump at once.