Old School RuneScape/Quests/Desert Treasure

Desert Treasure
Probably one of the hardest quests in the game, but good fun if you like playing punchbag for high level monsters. I'll give you an idea of what I wore and how it worked out throughout the guide, and my stats if you want to try and relate it to you. I was: 100 combat, 70 magic, 71 range and 56 prayer.

Skill Requirements

Level 10 slayer.
Level 50 firemaking.
Level 50 magic.
Level 53 thieving.
A high agility level.
Be able to defeat extremely tough (no kidding) enemies above level 150.

Skill Recommendations
(These are minimum recommendations, higher would be better). 43 Prayer is essential (I don't know if anyone has done it without). Level 65 hitpoints. Level 61 Magic. Level 70 Defense. High agility is an advantage at times.

Quest Requirements

Item Requirements
About 1000gp. A cake. Shantay passes and a couple of waterskins would come in handy. Tinderbox. Facemask. 6 Steel bars, 6 Molten glass, 1 Charcoal (Shilo Village general store). Ashes. Blood rune. 12 Magic logs. 1 bone (normal kind). 1 Silver bar. Garlic (search the cupboard upstairs in a house in Draynor Village). Pestle and mortar. Spice. 1 Spiked boots (give Dunstan in Burthorpe climbing boots and an iron bar). Ice gloves. Lots of lockpicks (buy them in the Rogues Den).

Item Recommendations
Lots of prayer potions, (I used about 25 at 100 combat). Plenty of good food, lobsters at the least. Stat restore potions (about 10 should do it). Ectophial or elf crystal (one click teleport). Plenty of runes for teleporting around. Plenty of runes for high level elemental spells (death or blood). Antipoison potions, lots of energy potions. Rings of life. Good armor (rune and above). Good magic armor (mystic would be good). Prayer boosting armor (initiate or monk's robes). Range armor (dragonhide).

Extra
If your computer has been known to suffer from lag or a bad connection, whenever you're fighting any of the 4 big bosses I would recommend that you closed all unnecessary applications, and waited until you are confident that your internet connection is okay. The last thing you want to do is lag out and die.

The Archaeologist

Items Needed For This Part: 12 Magic logs, 6 Steel bars, 6 Molten glass, Ashes, 1 Bones, Charcoal, Blood rune, 650gp (for the beer), some money for a magic carpet ride (100-200gp), teleport runes to Varrock and a charged glory amulet would help. Waterskins for the desert.

To start the quest head to the archaeologist at the bedabin camp (take a magic carpet there south of the Shantay Pass). Talk to him and he will tell you about buried treasure hidden in the desert. He gives you some etched notes to take to Terry Bandalo at the digsite exam center. Head to the digsite, Terry Bandalo can be found wandering about in the exam center. Give him the notes and he will give you a translated book. Take this back to the archaeologist (getting tired of all the walking around yet?). After a bit of talk agree to split the reward 50-50 with him. Next head south to the bandit camp. Make sure you're not wearing anything Saradomin or Zamorak related or else everyone will attack you, especially in the pub. Head into the pub and buy a bandit's brew (650gp, seems a bit pricey for a beer, the bartender must be from London) off the bartender. Speak to the bartender about the four diamonds of Azzandra. He will tell you to talk to an elder. Head east from the pub until you reach a house with a man called Elbis inside. Talk to him about the diamonds of Azzandra and he will tell you about how they were stolen by four mighty warriors. He will tell you that he can help you find them but you need to bring him some things. Bring him the 12 Magic logs, 6 Steel bars, 6 Molten glass, Ashes, 1 Bones, Charcoal, Blood rune and give them to him. He will tell you to meet him south of his house on top of a hill. Head south then east a bit and you should see Elbis on top a little hill surrounded by 6 mirrors. Look into each mirror and you will see the locations related to the four diamonds. Therefore, by using highly complicated mathematical deduction two of the locations must be false! Fear not though, for this guide will not send on you any wild goose chases to useless locations.

Gem #1, The Diamond Of Shadow

Items Needed For This Part: A lot of prayer pots for the big fight (20 may seem like an exaggeration but trust me on this one). A bit of food for getting through the dungeon and in emergencies. Plenty of lockpicks and some anti-poison. More desert essentials (shantay pass, waterskins and money for a magic carpet ride).

Teleport or make your way to Ardougne. Head north and west a bit until you come to a fenced off area. It's roughly south-west of the fishing guild. You should find a man named Rasool there. Have a bit of a chat with him and he'll tell you that some people have stolen something off him, he wants you to get it back. Now head all the way back to the bandit camp (if you're walking throughout this quest you're a stronger man than i could imagine). Remember not to wear anything Saradomin or Zamarok related for fear of incurring the wrath of the friendly locals. Head to the southern part of the camp and you should find a locked chest inside a tent. Pick the lock with a lockpick to open it. This can be frustrating, as the lockpick can break in the mechanism and the chest can poison you. I got lucky and only needed about 10 lockpicks but some people have been known to use up to 30. If you run out lockpicks the bandits can be pickpocketed for them and antipoison (convenient huh?). Eventually you'll find a guilded cross inside the chest. Head back to Rasool and give him the cross. He will be so delighted that he gives you a shiny golden ring. It's no ordinary ring though, it's the ring of visibility (ooooo, aaaah). Note: This is the ring used in the Ghostly Robe Miniquest/game. If you equip the ring in the fenced off area you'll see a trapdoor mysteriously appear. Before you head down the mysterious ladder get ready for a tough fight. You think Mike Tyson is hard? Hah, brace yourself...

Big-daddy-baddy-boss fight #1: Damis (lvl 107 & 174)

Since you'll be using prayer against this guy (if you're not then you're either incredibly brave or incredibly foolhardy) it doesn't matter too much what armor you wear. Damis is weak against earth spells, so earth blasts or earth waves should work a treat. Therefore you want to keep your magic attack on the plus side, whilst maintaining a good prayer bonus. I wore a mystic robe bottom, monk's robe top, intiate helm, dragon dagger(s), holy book, legends cape, and mystic gloves and boots. Bring an ectophial or elf crystal (one click teleport). Some food, (about 4-8 lobster or higher equivalent food. I used cheese baked potatoes (heal 16) throughout the quest. Bring about 20 4 dose prayer pots. A ring of life might just be life saver (life saver, geddit?) Ready? Good. When you're ready head into the dungeon. Head as far east as you can go, then head all the way north, then go east until you come to a biggish room. Head as far south as you can, then east and take the next northerly turning, then east until you come into a big chamber. There are lvl 80 giant skeletons and lvl 63 shadow hounds throughout the dungeon so watch out. When you come into the dungeon Damis (lvl 103) will pop up. Try and lure him back into the corridor where you came, it's not multicombat so you'll autoattack Damis after drinking and eating. The first form is pretty easy, save your earth spells if you want and just melee him with protect from melee on. When he's dead Damis (lvl 174) will appear. I sat and gawped as this guy drained my prayer from a healthy 56 to 10 in 5 flat. He drains it like a 100m sprinter on steroids, fast. I got into a good routine of casting an earth wave or two (depending on how brave i was), drinking a dose of prayer pot, casting an earth wave, drinking a dose etc. Note: There are no safespots. Eventually after a few nail biting minutes he'll die, pick up the diamond of shadow and get outta there buddy.

Gem #2, The Diamond Of Blood

Items needed: Silver bar, Garlic, Spice, Pestle & mortar, prayer pots (not many this time), food (quite a bit), fighting gear.

We're off to sunny Canafis! Either ectofunk (ectophial if we're going to get pedantic) and walk there, and as you approach the bar you should see a short cutscene involving a friendly looking chappy called Malak. He will call you over. Note: You will look that pale if you spend all your time inside playing RuneScape. Tell him that you're looking for the diamond of blood. He says he doesn't have it, but he knows a vampire who does. He agrees to let you keep it if you kill the vampire for him (he wants more land). He will tell you where the vampire (who's called Dessous) is and how to kill him. Now teleport to Draynor village and go into the sewer/dungeon through either trapdoor. Make your way to a man standing near an anvil called Ruantan. Chat to him a bit and he will agree to make a silver pot for you if you give him a silver bar. While you're in Draynor if you haven't already it would be wise to get some garlic from the cupboard upstairs in the house north of the bank. Now head to Entrana (remember not to take any armor or weapons) and head to the big church. Speak to the head monk and he will agree to bless your silver pot. Now head back to Malak with the garlic and some spices and give him the silver pot. He will fill it with blood (oh yeah it's your blood by the way, cheeky vampire...). Now add some garlic and spices to the pot of blood and head to the nearest bank.

Big-baddy-daddy-boss fight #2: Dessous (lvl 139)

I severely underestimated this guy and nearly paid the price. He attacks with a combination of range and melee so bring good rune or barrows type armor. You'll want about 4 or 5 prayer potions, a druid pouch unless you want the ghasts to eat turn your food rotten, and plenty of good food. Apparently he is weak to air type spells, (wind waves etc.) but I used a whip. When you're ready for battle head over the bridge near the slayer master then head south into the swamp area. It's a bit of a maze to get there so I would recommend using the official world map. You're trying to get to the graveyard. When you get there use the pot of blood on the big coffin and a vampire will leap out (Buffy anybody?..). A lot of people stand behind the fence and ranged or maged him, but he can teleport right next to you. His melee attack is very strong, so I would recommend protecting from that. He sends bats out to attack you that are a combination of magic and range, they will hit a double five nearly every time. Just keep hacking away at him until he is dead. When he dies he drops no gem. Go back to Malak and you'll start to act tough. Malak cuts you down a bit (not literally, don't worry) and gives you the diamond.

Gem #3, The Diamond Of Ice

Items Needed For This Part: If you have them, runes for two Trollheim teleport runes. I didn't though and was okay. One cake (any kind would probably do). Spiked climbing boots. Regular climbing boots. Stat restore potions (super stat restore if you can spare them), as high quality food as you can manage, good melee armor and prayer pots.

Walk to or teleport to Trollheim with all the above minus spiked climbing boots. Keep walking north until you find a little troll child. After you've tried talking to him give him the cake (make sure you don't eat it, scrumptious though it may be). He will tell you about a bad man who's frozen his parents because they stole his diamond. Agree to help him. Note: Once you've squeezed through the ice gate you'll enter a very dangerous area. All your stats will slowly drain and you will be hit for 1 damage every now and again. Protect from melee is a must nearby any monsters. Squeeze through the ice gate and pop on protect from melee, and start fighting the ice trolls. Each time you kill one an ice-icle will fall off the cave passage. You'll need to kill 5. Fire blasts work very well but I used melee with no difficulty. Keep an eye on your stats, drinking restore potions when necessary. When you've killed five I would recommend heading teleporting outta there to restock.

Big-daddy-baddy-boss fight #3: Kamil (lvl 154)

This guy is pretty tough. I ranged him with rune arrows and black dragonhide which seemed to work nicely. Bring more food, prayer restore and stat restore potions, as well as the spiked climbing boots. March your way back to the ice gate and go though it. Wriggle your way through the cave thing near the ice trolls. Carry on walking round until you come to the pack of lvl 134 wolves (for heaven's sake make sure your protect from melee is on here). Ignore them and keep on going. Eventually it will inform you that there is an evil presence nearby. Kamil appears. He attack with melee and mage, and will freeze you now and again. Use protect from melee, swapping between melee and magic protect every now and again to confuse him. Keep your stats boosted with those restore potions! (but save one) Eventually he will die (if you don't first) and will drop a super restore and a couple of chocolate cakes. Pick them up but don't drink the super restore yet. Carry on walking on the path until you come to a glazed type ice path. Put on your spiked boots and drink your super restore. Carry on up the mountain on it. Every now and again you'll fall flat on your face for two damage. Try and keep your agility boosted. Eventually you'll come to an icy bridge, go across it. You'll see two frozen trolls. Smash the ice around them with a melee weapon or your bare fists. They have 10hp. Use that restore pot you saved here to make it easier. Once they're both free they'll thank you and teleport you back to their son (they're surprisingly intelligent for trolls) who will give you the diamond of ice.

Gem #4, The Diamond Of Smoke

Items Needed For This Part: Mage gear. Runes for water blasts. Ice gloves. Tinerbox. Face mask. Energy pots and prayer pots.

Head into the desert and catch a carpet to Pollinveach if you can. If not walk there (bring a waterskin if so). Head to the south of the town then west to the well in the desert. Before going down make sure you've got your face mask. I would recommend playing on low detail in here, as there is a smoke animation over the screen which gets annoying. Boogie on down to the northeast corner of the dungeon and locate the standing torch. Make sure your run energy is 100% before you light it. Once you've lit it run as fast as your pixelated legs will carry you to the southeast corner and light the next torch. Then run to the northwest corner, light the torch, then the southwest corner and light the torch. Then run to the big room in the middle of the dungeon with lots of fire giants in it. Open the chest to receive a warm key. All the torches must be simultaneously lit for you to get the key, they go out after a while. (I say a while, i was able to light them all, get the key and kill Fareed before the first one went out, so don't panic). Now head to the eastern end of the dungeon and get ready for the easiest one of the lot.

Big-daddy-baddy-boss fight #4: Fareed (lvl 167)

I maged this guy with water blasts which worked a treat whilst using protect from melee. You could probably kill him however you want. The only thing to watch out for is that he will unequip your weapon if you don't wear ice gloves. When he's dead the diamond of smoke will appear in your inventory. No worries.

The Pyramid

Items Needed For This Part: The four diamonds, antipoison potions, prayer potions, monks robes, energy potions, some food.

Take all four diamonds and go back to the mirrors to talk to Elbis. He'll tell you about the Spirit of Azzandra trapped in a giant pyramid south of him. For the pyramid light armor (monks robes would be ideal), prayer potions and plenty of energy pots are recommended. Place each diamond in it's corresponding obelisk outside the pyramid (it's pretty obvious which is which) and it will open. Now comes arguably one of the most frustrating parts of the quest. Head through the pyramid with protect from melee on and run as much as you can. There are lvl 100 Mummies and lvl 92 scarabs (they pop out randomly) that can poison you. If you have protect from melee they shouldn't be a problem. There are four floors to the pyramid, and at any point at any time on any floor you can trigger a random trap that puts you outside the pyramid. It took me 7 tries before I made it all the way through. Just keep at it and you'll make it all the way through. A pillow or cushion is handy to repeatedly punch every time you end up outside again. Eventually you'll come to a room with the Spirit of Azzandra in. Poor old Azzandra has been down there and all his mates are long gone. Once you've finished the conversation he'll teach you Ancient Magicks. Huzzah! Quest Complete!

Rewards:

20,000 Magic Exp
Ancient Magicks
3 Quest Points

Notes: You can swap between ancient magicks and normal by praying at the alter inside the pyramid. There is a shortcut when you complete it so you don't have to go through the pyramid. You can buy an Ancient Staff that autocasts ancient magicks from Elbis for 80,000gp. If you lose it you'll have to kill mummies (it's quite a rare drop) for one of buy one off a player. The ring of visibility you received off Rasool can be used to do the Ghostly Robes Miniquest.