Aquanites are a mid-to-high level Slayer monster in Old School RuneScape that offer a straightforward task, valuable drops, and flexible combat options. This guide breaks down everything you need to know, including requirements, combat strategies, gear setups, and how to efficiently complete your Aquanite tasks with minimal effort. For players looking to maximize their efficiency or quickly afford high-end gear, it may even be helpful to buy OSRS gold to streamline your progress and reduce grind time.

Requirements and Unlocks

To fight Aquanites, you must have 78 Slayer and 73 Sailing. In addition, you need an attic keel or better on your ship to sail through crystal fleck waters. Before attempting the task, you must also purchase the “Lured In” unlock from the Slayer Rewards Shop. Without it, Aquanites will not be accessible.

Aquanites are located exclusively in the Yinastale Cavern, a single-combat area where cannons cannot be used. However, the cave layout allows for reliable melee combat and ranged safe spotting.

Combat Mechanics and Attack Style

Aquanites use magic-only attacks, making Protect from Magic extremely effective. There are two primary methods for killing them:

1. Melee with Protect from Magic – This is the most popular and cost-effective approach. Aquanites have moderate Defence and are weakest to stab-based melee attacks, making weapons like spears and rapiers particularly effective.

2. Ranged Safe Spotting – You can safely range Aquanites using weapons with an attack range of nine tiles or more. This method avoids all damage but requires proper positioning and generally costs more due to ammunition or charge usage.

Because Aquanites are non-aggressive, you can freely reposition, loot drops, or reset between kills without pressure.

Superior Monster: Elder Aquanite

If you have superior Slayer monsters unlocked, you may encounter the Elder Aquanite. This superior has a dangerous mechanic: if Protect from Magic remains active for too long, it will unleash a powerful magic blast that can hit up to 50 damage and temporarily disable your prayers.

To counter this, count three of its magic attacks, then quickly flick your quick prayers off and back on. Repeating this throughout the fight prevents the special attack entirely and makes the superior trivial to handle.

Drops and Profit

Aquanites are best known for dropping fragments, which are used to create new potions. They also drop a wide variety of useful seeds, making them attractive for Ironmen and mains alike.

The standout unique drop is the Aquanite Tendon, a new best-in-slot ranged shield that surpasses the Twisted Buckler in terms of raw DPS. While Aquanites do not drop many high-value alchables, their consistent resource drops and rare unique make the task worthwhile.

Gear Setups: Melee and Ranged

For melee, it is recommended to choose your weapon first, prioritizing high stab accuracy and strength. From there, fill in the rest of your gear based on budget. Testing with base 90 combat stats shows strong and consistent DPS across multiple price tiers.

Ranged setups can outperform melee, especially if you have access to high-end weapons like a Twisted Bow, but they require additional setup time to trap Aquanites and are significantly more expensive to run.

Because Aquanites do not drop many alchables, using Thralls and Death Charge is highly recommended to increase overall kill speed and efficiency.

Getting to the Yinastale Cavern

To reach the Yinastale Cavern, you must sail through crystal fleck waters using an attic keel or better. Once you arrive on the island, it is strongly recommended to build the rowboat shortcut, which allows quick travel between Pryinus and Yinastale.

If Pryinus is not unlocked, you can alternatively sail northeast from Port Roberts or southwest from Piscus. After entering the cave, run southwest to reach the Aquanites. All monsters along the path are non-aggressive.

Positioning and Task Setup

For melee, the southwestern corner of the Aquanite area works best. Enable auto-retaliate, set your weapon to stab, drink your stat-boosting and prayer regeneration potions, and activate quick prayers before attacking. For ranged safe spotting, stand southeast of the mining signs near the jellies. After attacking an Aquanite, run back to the safe spot. Most Aquanites will become stuck on terrain near the pond, allowing uninterrupted ranged damage. If you’re looking to equip higher-tier weapons or potions without spending too much time grinding, purchasing cheap RS gold can help you quickly gear up and maintain your efficiency.

Goading potions are extremely useful here, as each dose lasts roughly six minutes and automatically pulls nearby Aquanites toward you every three seconds.

Once the setup is complete, Aquanites become a low-effort, consistent Slayer task with excellent rewards-especially if you are hunting the Aquanite Tendon.