Skeletal Wyvern Best in Slot Gear & Strategy Guide

You need level 72 Slayer to deal any damage to skeletal wyverns, and this can be boosted. Crucially, the Slayer masters Chaeldar, Konar, Nieve, and Duradel/Kuradal will only assign them once you have completed Elemental Workshop I — that quest unlocks the elemental shield needed to survive their breath. The dragonfire shield, ancient wyvern shield, and dragonfire ward give the same protection but require having started Dragon Slayer I instead.

They live at the end of the Asgarnian Ice Dungeon, whose entrance sits south of Port Sarim and north of Mudskipper Point. The fastest approaches include the fairy ring at Mudskipper Point (code AIQ) running north, or a Rimmington teleport running south-east. From the dungeon entrance, climb down the trapdoor, run north then east to the room of ice warriors and ice giants, and find the wyvern lair on its southern wall. There is also an Agility shortcut at the ladder requiring level 82 Agility (or 77 with a Summer pie).

The wiki's recommended stat floors are level 75 Attack and 75 Strength, plus 70 Hitpoints and 70 Prayer for melee; 70 Ranged with 44 Prayer for the Eagle Eye prayer if ranging; and 75 Magic for Fire Wave if maging. None are hard requirements, but they make the kills bearable. Magic is genuinely worthwhile here because skeletal wyverns carry a 25% elemental weakness to fire spells (and are slightly weak to Magic generally), so bringing Fire Wave or another fire spell lands noticeably harder than other elements.

Because skeletal wyverns are dragonic creatures, the single biggest gear decision is bringing a dragonbane weapon — a dragon hunter lance (used on the pound/swipe stance, since their stab Defence is high) or a dragon hunter crossbow, both of which carve through them far faster than ordinary weapons. They are one of very few monsters vulnerable to both dragonbane weapons and dragonfire effects, and a dragon hunter crossbow with enchanted dragonstone bolts is especially strong. Melee is the recommended style thanks to their moderate melee Defence; ranged or magic are good when you intend to safespot. The non-negotiable item is a wyvern-breath shield (see Mechanics). Rather than chase an exact best-in-slot list, plug your own levels and budget into our Boss Gear Finder above for a tailored loadout.

The core of every trip is a breath-protecting shield — an elemental, mind, dragonfire, or ancient wyvern shield, or a dragonfire ward. Beyond that, bring Prayer potions to keep your overhead prayer running, food (the wiki BiS trips lean on sharks), and a combat/ranging/divine potion to match your style. Note that antifire potions have no effect on the icy breath, so they are wasted inventory space here. If you are meleeing in the lower cave, a dwarf multicannon is allowed and its extra drops usually outweigh the cannonball cost. A solid grasp of overhead prayers from our Prayer guide stretches your supplies much further on a long task.

Skeletal wyverns attack with three styles, and how you defend depends on your range to them.

• Melee attack — used only when you stand next to them, hitting up to 13. Their bite and tail swipe roll slash accuracy against your stab Defence.
• Ranged attack — an attack range of 6 tiles, also hitting up to 13.
• Icy breath (special) — their signature attack, with a range of 5 tiles and a raw hit of 50+. Wielding an elemental, mind, dragonfire, or ancient wyvern shield, or a dragonfire ward slashes this to a maximum of 10. The breath also freezes you for a few seconds, during which you cannot move or attack — though you can still eat and drink. Even with a shield there is a 1/7 chance to be frozen on a given breath; only the ancient wyvern shield grants full freeze immunity. Armour does not affect the breath's accuracy — it hits through everything — and without a shield your freeze chance is set by your Magic defensive bonuses.

On prayers, the sources differ by position and do not truly conflict: the main page suggests Protect from Missiles against their ranged damage, while the Strategies page advises Protect from Melee when standing in melee range, and Protect from Range otherwise. Match the overhead to where you are standing. One more quirk — they regenerate 1 health every 10 ticks, faster than most monsters, so do not let kills drag.

You can fight them head-on with melee under the correct prayer, or play it safe. Skeletal wyverns have a shorter attack range than a crossbow or magic spells, which makes safespotting very reliable. First lose their aggression — standing still in the same spot for 10 minutes makes them tolerant — then lure one behind an obstacle such as a protruding wall, step out of its range, and attack with Ranged or Magic. During a Slayer task you can safespot easily by standing one tile north-west of Steve/Pieve. While they are still aggressive you must wear a breath shield; once tolerant, the wiki suggests swapping to an offensive shield for the damage bonus, but always keep the breath shield in your inventory in case a wyvern slips out of the safespot and breathes on you again. If you instead melee them, the cannon-and-prayer approach in the lower cave clears tasks quickly.

Skeletal wyverns always drop wyvern bones, but the headline rewards are their uniques. They are the only monster in the game that drops granite legs, at a rate of 1/512. The rare prize is the draconic visage at 1/10000 — note that unlike their Fossil Island cousins they drop the draconic, not the wyvern, visage. They also drop dragon platelegs and dragon plateskirt, each at 1/512. The rest of the table is solid mid-tier value: battlestaves, magic logs, rune items, herbs, and runes. You can keep an eye on what these uniques are worth with our GE price tracker.

• Bringing a Salve amulet. Skeletal wyverns look undead but are actually reanimated remains, so the Salve amulet and its enchanted versions do not work against them — it is wasted gear.
• Relying on an antifire potion. Antifire potions have no effect on the icy breath. Only a proper breath shield reduces the damage.
• Skipping the shield entirely. Without one, the breath hits 50+ and freezes you — an easy way to die fast.
• Engaging before losing aggression. If you try to safespot while wyverns are still aggressive, nearby ones will breathe on you. Wait the full 10 minutes first.
• Using the wrong attack stance with the lance. Their stab Defence is high, so use the pound/swipe (slash) stance with the dragon hunter lance, not stab.