OSRS Grotesque Guardians Guide: Skip, Block, or Camp?

Game screenshots and facts are cited from the Old School RuneScape Wiki (strategy, equipment, drops, and related pages). Writing is original editorial, not a copy of the wiki article.

The Grotesque Guardians sit in an odd spot: they are a Slayer boss that demands a task, has multi-phase mechanics, and drops a pet with a 1/3,000 roll that can feel like forever. Some players skip the rooftop entirely, block Gargoyles after the unlock, or grind hundreds of kills for the metamorphic Noon and Midnight follower. Others camp the boss for granite dust, boss tasks, and a respectable average kill value of 65,142 coins per kill.

This guide breaks down the fight phase by phase, the gear rungs that actually matter, how long trips last, and the decision to skip, block, or camp. If the mechanics are not your thing, a carry is a legitimate option — but it is not a requirement to learn the fight.

GGs at a Glance: Requirements and Decision Points

The Grotesque Guardians are a duo boss — Dusk and Dawn — found on the Slayer Tower rooftop in Morytania. They are a Slayer boss, which means you can only fight them while you have a Gargoyle or Grotesque Guardian Slayer task. That single gating mechanic shapes every part of the grind: if you are not assigned the task, you are not getting in.

Recommended stats are 75+ Attack, Strength, Defence, Ranged, and Magic, with 70+ Prayer for Piety (or 74+ for Rigour). 81 Agility is also nice for the ivy shortcut that lets you return faster after a death or banking. The boss itself has very low Defence, so accuracy gear is less important than high max hits and quick switches.

Should you skip, block, or camp? The answer depends on your goals. If you are chasing the pet, you are in for a long haul. If you want Slayer XP per hour, regular Gargoyles are often better because the boss kill takes longer. If you enjoy the mechanics and want granite dust, boss tasks, and a shot at uniques, camping is viable. Most players unlock the roof, complete a handful of Combat Achievements, then decide based on their tolerance for the phase dance.

---

Unlocking the Rooftop: Brittle Key, Task, and Access

Before you can fight the Guardians, you need to get a brittle key from a regular Gargoyle while on a Gargoyle Slayer task. The drop rate is 1/150, so it usually comes within a task or two. Once you have the key, head to the second floor of the Slayer Tower and use it on the gate near the existing Gargoyle area. The unlock is permanent — you never need another brittle key, and the key will no longer drop for you.

After unlocking, the roof stairs will only let you up when you have an active Gargoyle or Grotesque Guardians task. If you try without a task, you will be stopped by dialogue. This is the biggest reason players block Gargoyles after unlocking: if you do not want to spend Slayer points skipping tasks, you can block Gargoyles and never see the Guardians again. But if you want the pet, you need to keep Gargoyles on your task list.

To start the fight, ring the Cloister Bell on the north side of the roof. If you try to ring it again mid-fight, you will get a chatbox message telling you to concentrate. After the fight begins, a cutscene plays once until you unlock Quick-start. Death is not free: lost items go to a magical chest near the rooftop entrance, and you must pay a 50,000 coin fee to reclaim them. If you die an unsafe death before reclaiming those items, the chest contents are wiped. With 81 Agility, you can use the ivy shortcut west of the tower entrance to climb back up quickly, but a rope or teleport is still needed for the initial climb.

---

Phase-by-Phase Mechanics That Actually Kill You

The fight has four phases, and most deaths come from a few specific mistakes: standing too close to Dusk when he tramples, failing to escape the blue flame prison in phase 4, or letting Dawn heal with energy spheres. Here is what each phase demands.

Phase 1 — Dawn flies, Dusk is immune

Dawn is airborne and cannot be hit by non-halberd melee. You need Ranged, Magic, or a halberd. Dusk is completely immune during this phase, so focus all damage on Dawn. Dawn's stone ball attack has a 3x3 area of effect; if it hits you, you are encased in stone for 10 ticks (6 seconds) and take up to 15 damage. To off-tick the Guardians, start the fight from the left-most tile next to the bell. Switch prayers: start with Protect from Missiles, swap to Protect from Melee when Dusk attacks, then back to Missiles. If you want a lower-effort method, stand next to Dawn with Protect from Melee and she will occasionally use melee, letting you camp one prayer. With a venator bow, stack Dawn and Dusk on top of each other so the ricochet hits Dawn twice. When Dawn reaches about 55% health, she flies up and phase 2 begins.

Phase 2 — Dusk alone, with rockfalls

Dusk becomes attackable but is immune to magic and ranged — this is a melee phase. He has -1 flat armour, so multi-hit weapons like the scythe, soulreaper axe, or dual macuahuitl feel great. After attacking once, he charges a blinding attack: his missing wing glows, and if you are next to or under him when he expands, you get knocked back for high 20s damage. Move one tile away when the glow starts. With a four or five tick weapon you can get three hits in before stepping back. Throughout this phase Dawn drops rockfalls from above — 9-10 pieces of debris with 3x3 AoE. Being caught on the edge deals up to 22 damage; being caught directly stuns you for 6 seconds. The biggest danger is standing under Dusk: he can trample you for up to 40 damage. At 55% health for Dusk, Dawn descends and phase 3 starts.

Phase 3 — Lightning, energy spheres, and orb skip

At the start of phase 3, Dusk flies west and both Guardians charge a lightning attack. Bolts deal 5-10 damage per tick if you stand on or adjacent to a vortex. One vortex always spawns on your tile, so move. All vortices expire once the pair become attackable. After the lightning, Dawn is vulnerable while Dusk becomes invulnerable again. Dawn launches three energy spheres that grow over time. You can absorb them by walking into them at any time — no penalty. If Dawn absorbs a fully charged sphere, she heals 90 hitpoints per sphere. With high DPS (90+ Ranged or melee) you can "orb skip" and kill Dawn before she absorbs any spheres. Otherwise, prioritise absorbing the spheres and then finish Dawn. When Dawn is below 10 health, use your rock hammer on her (unless you have the Gargoyle smasher unlock). Dusk then absorbs her essence and phase 4 begins.

Phase 4 — Dusk empowered, prison attack

After Dawn shatters, Dusk's stats spike: Attack to 300, Strength, Magic, and Ranged to 250, Defence to 150, and he gains flat armour. His size increases from 5x5 to 6x6. Immediately he uses a prison attack: he drags you into a 3x3 cell of blue flames, with one missing flame tile as the exit. You have 5 ticks to stand on the missing flame tile; if you fail, you take up to 65 damage and Dusk heals for the damage dealt. Sometimes the drag places you at the edge where the exit cannot be used — in that case, simply stand on the missing fire tile anyway to avoid the damage and heal. When Dusk uses the prison attack later in the phase, he is not invulnerable and you can attack him to path out, but click a safe tile first. Dusk now uses both melee and ranged attacks. Melee can hit up to 26; ranged hits twice with a max of 15 each. Prayer reduces damage on the second orb but the first orb always hits 60% of his max hit if he succeeds the accuracy check. Keep Protect from Melee or Missiles based on the attack animation, and never click directly on Dusk until the prison animation ends or you may run under him and get trampled.

---

Gear Rungs and Inventory Setup

Because Dawn is ranged/magic-only and Dusk is melee-only, you need a switch or a hybrid weapon. The cheapest setup uses a toxic blowpipe for Dawn and a whip or abyssal tentacle for Dusk. Higher budgets add venator bow for phase 1 and phase 3, and a noxious halberd for melee-only phases if you want to avoid weapon switches entirely. The table below compares three common gear rungs.

Gear Rung	Weapon(s)	Armour Notes	Average Kill Time
Budget	Toxic blowpipe (Dawn) + whip/tentacle (Dusk)	Black d'hide or Karil's, dragon defender, barrows gloves	3:00–3:30
Mid	Venator bow (Dawn) + abyssal tentacle or zombie axe (Dusk)	Blessed d'hide or Karil's, fire cape, berserker ring (i)	2:30–2:45
High	Noxious halberd (both phases, no switch) or venator bow + scythe/soulreaper axe	Masori or Crystal, infernal cape, ultor ring, amulet of rancour	2:00–2:15

The noxious halberd is the only halberd with a viable attack speed for Dawn; other halberds are too slow. If using a venator bow, stack Dawn and Dusk in phase 1 and phase 3 to make the ricochet hit Dawn twice. In phase 2 and phase 4, any strong melee weapon works because Dusk's Defence is pitiful, but multi-hit weapons exploit his -1 flat armour. Dusk is immune to burn damage, so skip the dragon warhammer special attack for defence reduction — his defence is already low.

For inventory, a typical setup brings 2-3 prayer potions, a super combat or ranging potion, food (sharks or better), a rock hammer, and a house tab or Slayer ring for quick banking. Since you can bank between kills using the rooftop chest, many players take fewer supplies per trip. A divine ranging potion helps with Dawn; a divine super combat potion helps with Dusk. If you are learning, bring extra food and a one-click teleport.

---

Trip Length, KC Goals, and the Block/Skip Logic

Kill times range from 2:00 with max gear to 3:30 with budget gear. Including the cutscene (until Quick-start), banking, and task travel, most players get 15-20 kills per hour. That means a single Gargoyle task of 200 monsters can be turned into 200 Grotesque Guardian kills if you choose the boss variant, but that takes several hours and may not be the best Slayer XP per hour. Regular Gargoyles are faster kills and better melee XP, but they do not drop granite dust, the unique table, or the pet.

Money making at the Guardians averages 1,078,200 coins per hour according to the wiki's money making guide, assuming 90+ combat stats and using Piety. The average kill is worth 65,142 coins, or 66,963 on a Konar task. Unique items have an effective 1/48 chance per kill because you get two rolls on the standard loot table each kill. Granite dust is guaranteed at 50-100 per kill and is used for cannonballs or granite cannonballs; it is not tradeable, so it only has value if you use it.

When should you skip or block? If you hate multi-phase bossing and already have the brittle key unlock, block Gargoyles to remove the task entirely. If you want the pet, you must keep Gargoyles and camp the boss every task. If you are doing boss tasks for Slayer points or Combat Achievements, the Guardians are a quick task because you can choose the boss variant and kill fewer monsters. Many players complete the easy and medium Combat Achievements, then evaluate whether the pet grind is worth it.

---

Pet and Prestige Grind: Noon, Midnight, and Metamorphosis

The Grotesque Guardians drop Noon, a smaller version of Dawn, at a rate of 1/3,000. You can right-click "Metamorphosis" on Noon to change it into Midnight, a smaller version of Dusk, and back again. Noon makes a flapping sound while following you, which can only be muted by turning off Area Sounds. If you receive the pet while you already have a follower out, it goes to your inventory. If your inventory is full and you have a follower, you will not receive the pet; instead, you must claim it from Probita in East Ardougne (for a reclaim fee).

The "prestige" grind often refers to completing the collection log for the boss, which includes all uniques plus the jar and pet. The unique items are: granite maul (1/250 per roll), granite gloves (1/500), granite ring (1/500), granite hammer (1/750), and black tourmaline core (1/1,000). The jar of stone has a separate roll of 1/5,000. With two loot rolls per kill, the pet is effectively 2 rolls of 1/3,000 per kill? No — the pet is a single roll, not affected by the double loot rolls. The pet chance is 1/3,000 per kill, flat. On rate, you would need about 3,000 kills for the pet, which at 20 kills per hour is 150 hours. That is a serious time investment.

For many players, the pet is the only reason to camp GGs past the Combat Achievement milestones. If you are not enjoying the fight, a pet boost or carry can save dozens of hours, but it is not necessary to play the game. Honest assessment: if you enjoy the boss, grind it on task. If you do not, block Gargoyles after unlocking the rooftop and move on.

---

Common Mistakes and How to Reclaim Without Losing Your Bank

Most deaths at Grotesque Guardians are avoidable. The biggest culprits are:

• Standing under Dusk — trample damage up to 40 in phases 2 and 4. Always click a tile next to him, never on him.
• Failing to escape the blue flame prison — you have 5 ticks to move to the missing flame tile. If you miss, you take up to 65 damage and Dusk heals.
• Letting Dawn absorb energy spheres — each fully charged sphere heals her 90 HP, extending the kill and potentially causing you to run out of supplies.
• Forgetting the rock hammer — you cannot finish off either Guardian without one, and the kill will stall.
• Not having a Gargoyle task — the stairs will not let you up. Check your task before travelling.
• Dying an unsafe death while items are in the death chest — this wipes the chest. Always reclaim immediately after a death or use the Agility shortcut to return quickly.

The death chest fee is 50,000 coins. If you die before reclaiming, all items in the chest are permanently lost. With 81 Agility, the ivy shortcut west of the tower entrance lets you climb directly back up without running through the tower, reducing the risk of a second death on the way.

For learning kills, bring a ring of life or a one-click teleport. If you are using a blowpipe, remember your scales and darts. If you are using a noxious halberd, you can avoid the weapon switch entirely but still need protection prayers.

---

Time/Cost Tradeoffs and When a Carry Is Reasonable

Camping Grotesque Guardians is a time sink. Pet rate 1/3,000 at 20 kills per hour is 150 hours on average. Even completing the collection log can take hundreds of kills, though uniques are relatively common at 1/48 effective. The boss is not top-tier money per hour compared to Vorkath or Zulrah, but it is a solid Slayer boss that also gives Slayer XP and boss tasks. If your goal is Slayer XP alone, regular Gargoyles are better. If you want the pet or the collection log, GGs are the only source.

A carry or boost is a reasonable option if you have limited playtime, dislike the phase dance, or simply want the pet without 150 hours of grinding. It is not against the rules to have another player help you learn or to use a service for the grind, but you should always follow Jagex's terms and use reputable services. The honest tradeoff is time versus cost. A few hours of a carry can replace dozens of hours of solo camping.

If you decide to camp, set a KC goal: 50 for Quick-start familiarity, 100 for most Combat Achievements, 500 for a decent shot at uniques, and 3,000 for the pet on rate. Every task, bank your loot, use the chest, and keep your rock hammer in your inventory. If you decide to block, do so after unlocking the roof and completing the easy Combat Achievements. If you want the pet but hate the grind, consider a service quote for the Grotesque Guardians grind.

For another mid-game boss with different mechanics, see our Vorkath guide. If you are still building gear, our Moons of Peril gear guide covers some useful mid-game upgrades.

---

Sources

• Grotesque Guardians
• Grotesque Guardians/Strategies
• Noon