The Gauntlet is a solo Prifddinas minigame: you get 10 minutes (7:30 in the Corrupted Gauntlet) to gather resources and sing your own gear, then kill the Hunllef for a chance at crystal armour seeds and the enhanced weapon seed that becomes the Bow of Faerdhinen.
This OSRS Gauntlet guide takes you from your first entry to a Corrupted clear, then through what the rewards actually make.
Updated for the 22 July 2026 changes: tier 1 weapons now cost no shards, most armour costs more, armour materials stack, and demi-bosses moved to the outer rooms.
| Step | Gauntlet | Corrupted |
|---|---|---|
| Unlock | Song of the Elves | One Gauntlet clear |
| Prep timer | 10:00 | 7:30 |
| Boss | Level 674, 600 HP | Level 894, 1000 HP |
| Learner gear | 2 tier 3 weapons, tier 1 armour | 2 tier 3 weapons, tier 2 armour |
| Shards needed | 290 | 490 |
| Max hit taken | 10 | 10 |
| Loot | 2 rolls + unique roll | 3 upgraded rolls + unique roll |
Shard totals include two weapons upgraded to tier 3 and two Egniol potions. Max hit taken is the Hunllef's standard attack in the learner gear while you pray correctly.
The learner gear rows are our pick for a first clear. Faster players drop armour tiers to save time.
Who this is for:
- Ironmen: the Gauntlet Reward Chest is how you earn the Bow of Faerdhinen and crystal armour yourself.
- Mains learning PvM: the Hunllef teaches prayer flicking, weapon switching and tile movement with nothing to bring.
- Collectors: the Gauntlet cape, the Youngllef pet and five collection log slots.
Requirements and getting in
You need Song of the Elves to enter Prifddinas. The Gauntlet Portal sits in the north-west of the city, and the eternal teleport crystal, a Prifddinas teleport or the spirit tree all get you close.
You cannot bring any items in. Everything you carry is stored on entry, and any pre-applied skill boosts are removed, so stat-boosting potions before the portal do nothing.
The Wiki recommends about 80 Attack, Defence and Magic, 85 Strength, Ranged and Hitpoints, and 77 Prayer. Piety, Rigour and Augury help a lot. Ironmen can get by with Deadeye and Mystic Vigour. Get 48 Cooking so paddlefish never burn.
The prep phase and the Singing Bowl
The dungeon is a 7x7 grid of rooms. You start next to the centre room, which holds the Hunllef, and the prep timer runs while you explore. When it hits zero you are pulled into the boss room, ready or not.
You start wielding a crystal sceptre, which lights new rooms and works as a weak melee weapon. Your inventory holds these tools:
- Crystal axe: chops phren bark from Phren Roots.
- Crystal pickaxe: mines crystal ore from Crystal Deposits.
- Crystal harpoon: catches raw paddlefish.
- Pestle and mortar: grinds shards into dust, and a spare spike, orb or bowstring into 80 shards.
- Teleport crystal: one charge back to the starting room.
The starting room has the Singing Bowl, where you sing every weapon, armour piece, vial and teleport. It also has a range for cooking, a water pump for vials, a tool store if you drop something, and the Crystal Singing Recipes bookstand.
Resource gathering: nodes and monsters
Every room except the start and boss rooms holds resource nodes, monsters or both. None of the nodes need a skill level.
| Node | Gives | Per node |
|---|---|---|
| Crystal Deposit | Crystal ore | 3 |
| Phren Roots | Phren bark | 3 |
| Linum Tirinum | Linum tirinum | 3 |
| Grym Root | Grym leaf | 1 |
| Fishing Spot | Raw paddlefish | 4 |
Ore, bark and linum go into armour. Grym leaves make Egniol potions. Cooked paddlefish heal 20 Hitpoints.
Gathering can also hand you crystal shards. Since July 2026 each of the three armour materials stacks in a single slot.
In the normal Gauntlet the inner ring of rooms around the boss always holds at least 3 Crystal Deposits, Linum Tirinum, Phren Roots and weak monsters across four rooms. The Corrupted Gauntlet only guarantees one inner room with 3 fishing spots.
| Monster tier | Examples | Key drop |
|---|---|---|
| Weak | Spider 22, rat 23, bat 33 | First kill: weapon frame |
| Strong | Unicorn 45, scorpion 64, wolf 69 | Frame, better drops |
| Demi-boss | Bear, dragon, dark beast (172) | Tier 3 weapon part |
The first Crystalline Bear drops a crystal spike (halberd), the first Crystalline Dragon a crystal orb (staff), and the first Crystalline Dark Beast a crystalline bowstring (bow). A repeat demi-boss gives a part you lack, so any three demi-bosses get you all three.
Demi-bosses only appear on the outer edge. Since 22 July 2026 the outermost rooms directly north, east, south and west of the centre each hold one, and the rest can turn up in any edge or corner room.
Gauntlet recipes and shard costs
Every item comes from the Singing Bowl. These are the current costs from the in-game recipe book, and the Corrupted version uses the same ones.
| Item | Shards | Also needs |
|---|---|---|
| Basic weapon | 0 | Weapon frame |
| Attuned weapon | 50 | Basic weapon |
| Perfected weapon | 0 | Attuned + spike, orb or string |
| Basic armour piece | 50 | 1 ore, bark, linum |
| Attuned body | 100 | 2 ore, bark, linum |
| Attuned helm or legs | 50 | 1 ore, bark, linum |
| Perfected armour piece | 100 | 2 ore, bark, linum |
 Vial | 10 | None |
 Teleport crystal | 50 | None |
 Escape crystal | 200 | None |
 Crystal paddlefish | 10 | 1 paddlefish |
An Egniol potion is a filled vial (10 shards) plus a grym leaf plus 10 crystal dust, ground from 10 shards. That puts each potion at 20 shards. It restores prayer points and 40% run energy, and works like a stamina potion.
Here is what each setup costs in total. Every row assumes two weapons at tier 3 and two Egniol potions. The material column counts crystal ore, phren bark and linum tirinum, each.
| Armour | Shards | Each material | Max hit |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | 140 | 0 | 12 / 16 |
| Full tier 1 | 290 | 3 | 10 / 13 |
| Full tier 2 | 490 | 7 | 8 / 10 |
| Full tier 3 | 790 | 13 | 6 / 8 |
Max hit shows the normal then the Corrupted Hunllef's standard attack while you pray the correct protection prayer. Crystal paddlefish heal 16 instead of 20, but you can eat them in the same tick as normal food, like a karambwan.
A first-clear prep route
This is the standard order most players use, adjusted for the July 2026 room changes. Do it in the normal Gauntlet until it feels routine, then carry it into the Corrupted version.
- Loop the inner rooms: kill weak monsters in a C shape around the starting room. Your first weak kill drops a weapon frame, and the rest build shards.
- Make a weapon early: go back to the Singing Bowl, sing a basic or attuned staff or bow, and sing two vials. Killing is much faster with a real weapon.
- Gather armour materials: mine, chop and pick enough ore, bark and linum for your armour target, plus two grym leaves. Fish while you pass spots and fill vials there too.
- Run the outer edge: head straight out from the centre to the guaranteed demi-boss rooms. Kill two for your tier 3 parts, or three if you want every option. Pick up the second weapon frame on the way.
- Teleport back: use the teleport crystal to return to the starting room.
- Finish at the bowl: cook the fish, sing armour, upgrade both weapons, and grind 20 shards into dust for two Egniol potions.
- Enter early if ready: walk through the barrier before the timer ends rather than idling.
Fill every spare slot with cooked paddlefish. Spare shards at the end go into crystal paddlefish.
The Hunllef fight: prayers and switches
The Crystalline Hunllef is combat level 674 with 600 hitpoints. The Corrupted Hunllef is combat level 894 with 1000 hitpoints and a max hit of 68.
Both versions share the same mechanics. Armour and the right protection prayer bring the standard hits down to the numbers in the cost table above.
Its attack cycle: what to pray
The Hunllef always opens with Ranged. It switches between Ranged and Magic after every 4 attacks, so pray Protect from Missiles first and count. Tornado summons and prayer-disabling attacks count toward the 4.
It plays an animation and a sound a few ticks before each style switch. Some Magic attacks turn your prayers off. They have their own sound and colour, so flick your prayers straight back on.
Your weapon switches: the sixth hit
The Hunllef also uses a protection prayer. Every sixth attack you make in a style it is not protecting against, including hits of zero, makes it switch to protect that style. Swap weapons after every sixth hit and you never attack into its prayer.
Speedrunners use the 5:1 method: five bow attacks, then one hit with the staff or an unarmed kick. That sixth hit drags its prayer away from Ranged, so the bow keeps doing the work. It needs access to all three styles.
Tornadoes
Tornadoes chase you and hit every tick they reach you, for 10-20 in the normal Gauntlet with no armour. More of them appear as the Hunllef loses health, and each lasts 20 ticks (12 seconds). Keep moving around them and stay off their path.
Floor tiles
Tiles light up blue (crimson in the Corrupted version), then turn orange. Standing on orange deals heavy damage every tick until you step off.
In the Corrupted fight the tile patterns change in three stages as its health drops, and each stage is faster than the last. Avoid hugging corners unless you are dodging a tornado.
The stomp
Never stand under the Hunllef. It stomps anyone beneath it for very high typeless damage. The stomp is not part of its attack count.
If you die on the same tick the Hunllef dies, you get no kill count. To leave mid-fight, right-click the barrier and pick Escape.
Corrupted Gauntlet: what changes
You unlock the Corrupted Gauntlet by completing the normal Gauntlet once. Items have the same stats, but everything else is harder.
| Feature | Gauntlet | Corrupted |
|---|---|---|
| Prep timer | 10:00 | 7:30 |
| Boss HP | 600 | 1000 |
| Max hit, no armour | 12 | 16 |
| Inner rooms | Resources guaranteed | Only one fish room |
| Tornadoes | Base count | One extra per attack |
| Loot | 2 regular rolls | 3 upgraded rolls + cape |
The max hit row assumes you pray correctly. The shorter timer is the real test. Your route has to finish armour, both weapons and food in 7:30, with no guaranteed armour materials near the centre.
Practise the normal route until it is tight before you rely on it here.
Rewards: seeds, shards and the cape
A completed run pays out from the Reward Chest, with a set of regular rolls plus one roll at the uniques. Every completion also gives crystal shards: 5-9 in the normal Gauntlet and 7-12 in the Corrupted Gauntlet.
| Reward | Makes | Amrod pays |
|---|---|---|
 Crystal weapon seed | Crystal bow, shield, halberd | 10 shards |
 Crystal armour seed | Crystal helm, body, legs | 250 shards |
 Enhanced crystal weapon seed | Bowfa or Blade of Saeldor | 1,500 shards |
 Youngllef | Pet | Untradeable |
The last column is what Amrod in the Hefin Inn pays in shards for each seed. It is a fair guide to how the uniques rank: at his rate one enhanced seed equals six armour seeds.
A crystal weapon seed only becomes a crystal halberd if you have completed the Hard Western Provinces Diary. The bow and shield have no diary requirement.
Verdict: the enhanced crystal weapon seed is the drop that pays for the grind, armour seeds are the steady prize, and weapon seeds are the minor prize.
The Corrupted Gauntlet gives a better chance at the uniques than the normal version. Check the current rates on the Wiki and plug them into our dry calculator to see how many runs a seed is likely to take.
The Gauntlet cape is a cosmetic cape you get after completing the Corrupted Gauntlet. It appears in your inventory automatically. If one is already in your bank or cape rack you will not get another, and it is lost on death if unprotected.
Crystal armour: how it is made
Crystal armour is sung at a Singing Bowl from crystal armour seeds and crystal shards. It needs 70 Defence and 50 Agility to wear.
| Piece | Cost | Smith/Craft | Bowfa bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
 Crystal helm | 1 seed, 50 shards | 70 | +2.5% dmg, +5% acc |
 Crystal body | 3 seeds, 150 shards | 74 | +7.5% dmg, +15% acc |
 Crystal legs | 2 seeds, 100 shards | 72 | +5% dmg, +10% acc |
| Total | 6 seeds, 300 shards | 74 | +15% dmg, +30% acc |
The Smithing and Crafting levels can be boosted. If you are short, Conwenna or Reese will sing a piece for 60 extra shards. The bonus works with the crystal bow too, and the body and legs stack with an imbued slayer helmet.
The armour degrades with use, and each shard adds 100 charges. The Wiki puts constant unprotected combat against a 4-tick attacker at 1,500 charges an hour per piece. That works out to about 15 shards an hour per piece, or 45 for the set.
Hits that your protection prayer fully blocks use no charges, so a player who prays correctly spends less than that.
For the Prifddinas skilling boss that also runs on crystal, see our Zalcano guide.
Bow of Faerdhinen: making it and when it pays
The Bow of Faerdhinen (Bowfa) is sung from one enhanced crystal weapon seed and 100 crystal shards. Singing it yourself needs 82 Smithing and 82 Crafting, which can be boosted. Otherwise Conwenna or Reese do it for 150 shards in total.
| Bowfa stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Ranged attack | +128 |
| Ranged strength | +106 |
| Attack speed | 5 ticks |
| Requirements | 80 Ranged, 70 Agility |
It needs no arrows. It uses one charge per shot, so one shard covers 100 attacks, and it holds up to 20,000 charges.
Spending 2,000 shards at a Singing Bowl (82 Smithing and Crafting, or 1,000 extra shards through Conwenna or Reese) corrupts it into a version that never degrades.
Use our DPS calculator to compare Bowfa with full crystal against your current ranged weapon on the boss you care about. The set bonus is large enough that a Bowfa without the armour leaves a lot of damage behind.
Grind it or buy it?
- Ironmen: grind it. The Reward Chest is where the seeds drop, and Corrupted runs give the better unique chance.
- Mains: the enhanced seed and armour seeds are tradeable, so you can buy them on the Grand Exchange instead. Farm them if you enjoy the fight or want the pet and cape.
Our Gauntlet gear page has the quick setup view if you only want the in-dungeon loadout at a glance.
What changed on 22 July 2026
The Summer Sweep-Up Gear and PvM update reworked the prep phase. Older guides and videos will give you the wrong shard numbers.
- Weapons are cheaper: a basic weapon now costs no shards and an attuned weapon costs 50.
- Most armour costs more: basic pieces cost 50 each, the attuned body 100, and perfected pieces 100. The attuned helm and legs dropped to 50.
- Frames are guaranteed early: your first spider, rat or bat kill drops a weapon frame.
- Materials stack: ore, bark and linum each stack in one slot, and shards go straight to your inventory.
- Demi-bosses moved: one sits in each outermost room directly north, east, south and west of the centre, and their attack range is shorter.
- Monsters were evened out: non-demi-boss enemies have standard defensive stats, and shard drops vary less.
- Speed targets moved: the Combat Achievement speed times for both versions changed too, so check the current targets in-game before you chase them.
Gauntlet FAQ
Is the Gauntlet free-to-play?
No. It is members-only and needs Song of the Elves.
Do I need a plugin for the Gauntlet?
No. The Hunllef plays a sound and animation before every style switch, so you can count its attacks by ear. Counting your own six hits per weapon is the other half, and it becomes habit with practice.
What happens if I fail a run?
A failed run can still give a small token reward based on your points, but no chance at seeds or the pet. A run with 0 points gives nothing, and leaving by the Teleport Platform gives nothing.
An escape crystal only pays out if you use it during the Hunllef fight. Hardcore ironmen lose their status on death, and ultimate ironmen lose items in instanced banks.
Can I bring my own gear or boosts?
No. Every item is stored on entry and pre-applied boosts are removed. Everything you fight with is made inside.
