Rock Lobsters Guide

 

Introduction

In a summoner's never ending search for crimson charms, there is no monster more renowned for dropping crimson charms than the rock lobster. They are far superior to Waterfiends in both total experience gained per hour and in charms dropped per hour. In addition, they are simple to kill, making them the BEST charm-dropper in the game. However, there are three drawbacks, they are expensive, at least at first glance; they can be dangerous; and they are difficult to get to. This guide will help you solve these problems and achieve as much as possible to maximize your experience at Rock Lobsters.

Rock Lobster Basic Facts (Bestiary Profile)
Combat Level: 127 Rock Lobster Life points: 1500 Maximum Hit: 150 Attack Style(s): Melee
Experience Summary
Rock Lobsters are, simply put, amazing experience. Not only do they provide a wealth of charms to train your summoning with, they also provide fantastic magic experience as well as constitution experience. Rock Lobsters are a top-tier method of training summoning, magic, and constitution alone. Combining the three only makes them better.
Drops Summary
Apart from amazing charm drops, Rock Lobsters really don't drop anything significant. They will drop a few nice items which can help pay off the runes spent to kill them, but it'll never amount to a high enough amount. Oftentimes, players will leave all non-charm drops on the ground, as it is more efficient to keep all your supplies than to drop something to make room for a drop, even if the drop is worth more than the item you would discard.
Special Notes
Rock Lobsters don't look tough, but they have an extremely quick melee attack. Their melee attack's speed is equivalent to the speed of rangers' darts and knives on Rapid Mode. Thus, whenever you are luring the Rock Lobsters, it is absolutely essential to protect from melee if there are more than 3 attacking you. It's not uncommon to see your lifepoints plummet like a rock if you turn off your prayers too early. Also, Rock Lobsters are typically inert. They first appear as simply "rocks". Only when you move close to them, however, do they spring to life and begin to attack you.
Notable Drops
Charms, Half Keys, Herbs, Clue Scrolls
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Location

Rock Lobsters are located deep within the Waterbirth Island Dungeon Map, situated in the floor right before entrance to the Dagannoth Kings' Lair. There is an alternative, safer location located farther in the dungeon, past the Dagannoth Kings' Lair. However, unlike the first, more dangerous location with 9 Rock Lobster spawns, this alternate location only has 7, resulting in far less benefits while requiring the same costs. Therefore, this spot is rarely used.

Also keep in mind, though, that because it is so rarely used, some players may prefer the 7-lobster spot, since it would require far less time searching for an open world. In addition, it is much safer with nearly no risk of death.

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Set-up

There are two viable methods to kill Rock Lobsters with, Magic and Magic. Really, there is no other option, since Rock Lobsters are so weak to magic and so strong against melee and ranged attacks. That being said, the best method would be to use the Staff of Light coupled with the complete Battle Robes Set from the Fist of Guthix minigame. Using these two in conjugation allows you a 50% chance of casting a spell without using any chaos, death, or blood runes. Thus, by using both of these items together, you can nearly halve the cost of runes required.

The alternative method, for those unable to get their hands on the elusive battle robes set, is to simply use their best magic robes (usually Ahrims) with a Staff of Light instead. Both set-ups are shown below.

Note: While "Magic Damage" percentages DO increase the damage a spell does, it is important to know that this boost in damage only applies to one monster. This is unfortunate for us, because only one Rock Lobster will receive additional damage from the Magic Damage Bonus. Because of this fact, it is best not to overly concern yourself with this factor when forming your set-up

Note: Magic Attack Bonus is important, but it isn't extremely important. Rock Lobsters have low magic defence, so it isn't necessary to achieve the best magic attack bonus you can. Oftentimes, only a +70 to a +100 magic attack bonus is necessary, and players with extremely high magic levels can afford to go even lower. Thus, when given the choice between adding further magic attack bonus or adding bonuses to other stats, such as defence or prayer, it is better to choose the latter.

Battle Robe Method Battle Robe Setup

Recommended Equipment:

Ahrims Method Rock Lobs Arcane Setup

Recommended Equipment:

Inventory Inventory

This inventory will allow you to make full use of Rock Lobsters. Since you are able to safespot them, you will not need to be concerned too much with food. Thus, the above inventory will last hours at Rock Lobsters.

When Luring (explained later), you will be praying Protect or Deflect from Melee, so equip the Proselyte Armour and Helm of Neitiznot to maximize your Prayer Bonus. Switch back to your Magic Robes once you have finished luring.

Use the Enhanced Excalibur to restore lost lifepoints whenever possible. It also raises your defence, which is useful while luring.

It is possible to accumulate damage while Luring. First and foremost, finish luring the Rock Lobsters. If you find you are below optimal health, cast Blood Burst or Blood Barrage on the Lobsters instead of your normal spell. Continue doing so until you are at a healthy lifepoints level.

Additional Notes:

  • Players with the Saradomin Godsword may wish to take it for its ability to restore prayer in addition to lifepoints. However, remember that the healing though the Saradomin Godsword is not absolute. If you miss, you will not heal. In addition, you will need an additional free inventory space to hold onto your shield while you have the Godsword equipped. Some players may find this more useful than others depending on their set-ups and inventories. Use the special attack on one of the range dagannoths, as the rock lobsters have high melee defence and your chance of wasting a special is much greater.
  • Players with the Soul Split prayer will not need to bring runes for Blood spells, since the Soul Split prayer will provide all necessary healing in place of those spells.
  • The Helm of Neitiznot is only necessary for players who are using the Battle Robes method. All other players are recommended to bring an additional Prayer Potion instead.
  • You do not need to bring the Rune thrownaxe, which is needed to access Waterbirth Dungeon, if your door-opening partner has one. Instead, you may bring another Prayer Potion.
  • It is recommended that you store all the Prayer Potions in a Beast of Burden familiar, and instead fill those inventory spaces with cheap food or Run energy restoration items, such as Energy Potions or Tireless Run Scrolls. When you arrive at Rock Lobsters, you would then drop all remaining food and unnecessary items and fill those free spaces with Prayer Potions. Then, dismiss your familiar.
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Tactics

There are a few important points to keep in mind while preparing to kill Rock Lobsters. These Tactics allow you to make full use of your resources and get what you want out of your training experience.

Spells

First of all, the question arises whether to Ice Burst or Ice Barrage Rock Lobsters. Clearly, if you do not have the Magic Level required to barrage, that is out of the question. However, many players with 94+ magic still opt to burst. The reason is simple: ice burst is more cost effective than ice barrage, while ice barrage provides quicker charms.

Thus, if you do not mind spending extra money, you should use barrage spells since they will provide quicker charms. If you can't be spending any more money than you need to, you should use burst spells, since they will give you more bang for your buck. Of course, the amount of money you can make per hour also plays a role in this choice. Players who make a high amount of money per hour should use barrage spells, since in the time they save, they can easily make back the extra money spent on barrage runes.

Finally, it is good to keep in mind that if you are using Battle Robes and/or the Staff of Light, every other cast is free. This means that more players can afford to barrage if they use the Battle Robes method.

Also, many players are quick to assume that by Bursting and Barraging Rock Lobsters, you must use Ice Burst or Ice Barrage. This is not true. Two often forgotten spells, Smoke Burst and Smoke Barrage, are fantastic alternatives. They are a little more expensive (requiring additional fire runes), but they will grant you slightly faster kills (due to poison effects) and can be used at a lower magic level, all while dealing the same damage per cast as its ice counterpart. For example, a player needs only 86 magic to use Smoke Barrage, while 94 magic is required for Ice Barrage.

The difference between Smoke and Ice spells is so minimal, that it is always worth it to use Smoke spells in place of Ice spells. In other words, to get the fastest charms at a reasonable cost, a player should use their best Ice or Smoke Burst or Barrage spell.

Healing Methods

There are two different methods of healing yourself. The first way is using your special attack weapon: Enhanced Excalibur or the Saradomin Godsword. If using a Saradomin Godsword, you should use the special on one of the ranger dagganoths before luring them. This will also restore some prayer points in addition to lifepoints. Every 5 minutes, use your entire special attack bar to maximize the healing these weapons can provide.

The second method is through combat, and there are two ways to achieve this. The first and more traditional way is to use either Blood Burst or Blood Barrage. A single cast on all 9 lured Rock Lobsters typically heals over 200 lifepoints. An alternative method, open to players with 92 Prayer, is to use the Ancient Curse, Soul Split. All that is required is to turn on Soul Split, cast your normal Burst or Barrage spell, then turn it off. This process is then repeated until a satisfactory lifepoints level is achieved.

Soul Split is by far the superior option. It is much easier to use, since you will not need to bring any additional runes for Blood spells. Also, you will not need to switch back to your spellbook merely to cast a few blood spells. It is also much cheaper, as healing with Soul Split will expend only 1-2 prayer points, whereas Blood Barrage is a rather expensive spell to cast. Finally, while Soul Split does offer a little less healing per damage dealt, it's not a significant loss. Blood Barrage heals at a 1:4 ratio while Soul Split heals at a 1:5 ratio.

7-Lob Spot vs. 9-Lob Spot

Mentioned before, there are two viable locations to kill Rock Lobsters. A quicker, dangerous, and more crowded 9-Lob spot and a slower, safer, and essentially abandoned 7-Lob spot. While using the 7-Lob spot means you are getting about 22% slower charms and experience, thus costing more, there is no threat of death, as there are only Rock Lobsters at the 7-Lob location. In addition, it is far less crowded.

Why use the 7-Lob spot? In terms of efficiency, it is never worth it to use the 7-Lob spot, as it debilitates too much for the small nuances it provides. However, in certain cases, a player may opt to use the 7-Lob spot for practicality reasons.

For example, if it is your first time at Rock Lobsters and you are a rather timid player, you might want to use the 7-Lob spot to avoid death and build confidence. After you get to know what Rock Lobsters are like, then you could graduate to the 9-Lob spot.

Another instance is during peak times when a player could search for 30 minutes to find an empty world to kill Rock Lobsters, and then still run the risk of being crashed by another player. Many players, lower-levels especially, in this case will want to use the 7-Lob spot, as there will be no difficulty in finding a world, and the time saved would make up for the inefficiency of the 7-Lob spot.

"Crims per Hour" vs. "Crims of Xp per Hour"

A common mistake many players make is to consider only crimson charms drop, considering all other charm drops are mildly insignificant. While this may apply for monsters such as Waterfiends, which don't really drop many charms other than crimsons, it certainly does not apply for Rock Lobsters.

While you will get the most crimsons per hour, you get get many, many golds, greens, and even blues at a predictable rate. Thus, a more accurate charm rate at Rock Lobsters is "crimsons of experience per hour" instead of "crimsons per hour". This number is taken by converting each gold, green, and blue into a fraction of a crimson charm. For example, a gold charm might be worth 1/4 of a crimson charm, and a blue might be worth 3/1 of a crimson charm. The xp received rises considerably.

The major flaw with this unit is, of course, the fact that each gold, green, and blue is worth a different fraction of a crimson depending on your summoning level. Thus, these figures must be calculated individually by each player. However, at high level, players can expect around a 30% increase in summoning xp once golds, greens, and blues are accounted for. Thus, a player who receives 160 crimsons per hour may receive 225 "crimsons of experience" per hour once golds, greens, and blues are accounted for. This number will obviously fluctuate with summoning level.

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Luring

Rock Lobsters are spread out through a long, winding hallway in the 9-Lob spot. This makes it impossible to efficiently kill them unless you lure. By luring, you can easily get 9 lobsters to the same spot, thus maximizing the effectiveness of your spells.

However, Luring does present some danger. At both locations, if you accidentally put melee protection prayer on too late, or turn it off too early, you face the attacks for 9 lobsters attacking at knife speed. This is EXTREMELY dangerous, and it is highly recommend you bring a Ring of Life for this reason. In addition, Dagannoth and Wallasalkis can attack you while luring at the 9-Lob spot, which results in a significant amount of damage.

The following sections will teach you how to Lure Rock Lobsters step-by-step.

9-Lobster Location

Definitely the more dangerous of the two, the 9-Lob spot is the first spot you will see. The 9-Lob spot has 2 viable safespots you can use. When you first enter the Rock Lobster area, you will be next to a ladder, where one Rock Lobster will immediately awaken and attack you if you are in range. Running towards the east a little, then back to the south of the ladder will safespot the lobster, allowing you to prepare yourself for the first Lure. This safespot, incidentally, is also the first of the two safespots you can use to attack all 9 lobsters, once you have successfully lured them. It is shown below.

Ladder Safespot

To Lure the Lobsters, run all the way to the east, where you will come to a u-turn that heads south-west. Wait at the corner of the U-Turn, with your prayer armour and Protect from Melee or Deflect Melee on, and allow the 3 or 4 Rock Lobsters you've lured so far to catch up to you. This step is extremely important. If you simply run immediately to the end of the hallway, 3 Lobsters will be trapped by the wall dividing the area in half. The route to run is shown below in blue, the gold box is your starting point.

Rocklob Lure1

The next step is to run all the way south until you have all 9 Lobsters attacking you. Note, however, there are 10 Lobsters in the area, but you cannot lure the last one because you cannot bring it back to the safespot. During this step, a Wallasalki and some ranger and melee Dagannoth may attack you. Do not switch prayers, as the Rock Lobsters are still far more dangerous even with every monster attacking you. Your protection from melee prayer should be activate this entire time. The path for this step is shown in red in the map below.

Rocklob Lure2

The third step is only required if you have melee Dagannoth attacking you. If you simply ran back to the safespot, you would bring the melee Dagannoth with you. Since you cannot safespot the melee Dagannoth, it will attack you, necessitating either use of prayer or use of additional runes to kill it. Thus, if you are being attacked by a melee Dagannoth, run south of a torch to the north-east of your current location (shown below). Stay here and wait for the melee Dagannoth to catch up, then run to the marked "X". Of course, if you do not have a melee Dagannoth on your tail, this step is not necessary.

Dagannoth Blocking Location

The relative location of the torch on the map is shown below in green.

Rocklob Lure3

The final route is the route to the best safespot, called the "corner" safespot. It's shown in yellow on the map. During this step, you may turn off any prayers you have and switch to your magic robes.

Rocklob Lure4

The safespot is right at the corner, hence why it is called the "corner" safespot, and it saves quite a bit of running. The safespot is shown in the picture below.

Corner Safespot

Occassionally, if you accidentally run too far east, the Rock Lobsters will be able to attack you in the safespot given. In this case, move one step due east with melee prayer on to ensure that all 9 Lobsters are attacking you, then move 2 steps due west (resulting in the square 1 space west of the original safespot). This is also a safespot and will allow you to attack the lobsters as well.

After you have killed all the lobsters, take any drops you want and go to the square 1 space south of the safespot. This square is a "blind spot" to the nearby Lobsters, who will not attack you if you are in this spot. Wait for all the nearby Lobsters to respawn, then equip your prayer armour and run to the ladder safespot. You are now ready to lure the respawned lobsters. This process is then repeated until you are out of supplies.

Sometimes, you won't kill the Rock Lobsters fast enough. When this happens, new lobsters will spawn and begin to attack you before the other ones have died. Simply turn on melee prayer when this occurs, but keep your magic robes on. When you have finished killing the original Rock Lobsters, quickly gather the loot and run to the ladder safespot, and wait for the Rock Lobsters to respawn.

If you find that a range Dagannoth has found you and has begun to attack, immediately run a few squares east with Protect from Melee on, so the Rock Lobsters follow you, then run to the ladder safespot with Protect from Missiles on. When you arrive, you can deactivate your prayers and wait for all the Lobsters to arrive. You can then proceed to kill them as usual. Should the Dagannoth find you again, you must then turn on range prayer and make an effort to kill it. Otherwise, it will bother you after after every lure.

7-Lobster Spot

The 7-Lob spot is much more straightforward. When you arrive, run immediately to the ladder safespot down below.

7-Lobster Ladder Safespot

You will begin at the gold box marked in the map below. Follow the red path to the next ladder, then run the same path back to the ladder safespot. There are minimal complications with the Rock Lobsters getting stuck or no Wallasalki or Dagannoth to deal with. Simply kill all the Lobsters, take any worthwhile drops, and wait for the next lure.

7lob Lure
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Rewards and Tips

Your time at Rock Lobsters is extremely rewarding. They are the best charm-dropper in the game. A comparison with Waterfiends, the next best option, quickly reveals that nothing else comes close.

Method Crimsons of Xp per hour Combat Xp per hour Constitution Xp per hour Cost Requirements
Rock Lobsters 220+ 100k+ in Magic 55k+ High, up to 1m per hour in runes without Battle Robes, as low as 500k per hour with Battle Robes Very Low, any medium-high magic level will do, and only 43 prayer is required, although the higher the better.
Waterfiends (High level at Chaos Tunnels) 160+ 70k+ in melee combat, usually in strength due to the need to Crush 17k+ Profitable by a small margin High, requires 96 Herblore, 95 Prayer, 95 Summoning and near-maxed melee stats
Waterfiends (High level at Ancient Cavern) 100+ 60k+ in melee combat, usually in strength due to the need to Crush 15k+ Profitable by a small margin High, requires 90 Herblore, 70 Prayer, 88 Summoning and high melee stats
Waterfiends (Low level at Ancient Cavern) 70+ 50k+ in melee combat, usually in strength due to the need to Crush 12k+ Profitable by a small margin Low, requires 68 Summoning, 70 Prayer, and decent melee stats

Clearly, while coming with a high price tag, Rock Lobsters are better than any other method for charms and overall experience. However, since the cost of Rock Lobsters can be nearly halved with Battle Robes, they remain almost always the most efficient way to get charms.

Worthwhile Drops

Most players do not overly concern themselves with drops while at Rock Lobsters because of two reasons. First, most of the drops aren't worth very much anyway and second, because inventory space is so valuable, it often can't be spared. Thus, any "worthwhile" drops listed below are completely subjective. For example, towards the beginning of the trip, when you have very little free inventory space, you will find yourself rejecting almost every non-charm drop. However, towards the end of the trip, when you have space to spare, you'll pick up a lot of drops.

* Indicates stackable drops.

  • All elemental talismans
  • Uncut Gems
  • Half Keys
  • Dragon Shield Piece and Dragon Spear
  • Pure Essence (noted)*
  • Iron Arrows*
  • Steel Arrows*
  • Watermelon seeds*
  • High-level Herbs
  • Clues (level 2)
Tips
  • It is not recommended that you bring a combat familiar. Sometimes, a Rock Lobster will attack the familiar instead of targeting you. If the familiar then stopped attacking the Rock Lobster and began to follow you again, the Rock Lobster would be attracted to the familiar and would move out of it's blocked-off position, ruining the lure and most likely requiring you to turn on Protect from Melee.
  • Some players choose to bring Healer familiars, since they cannot attack and will help ease the reliance on Blood Spells and Soul Split to heal. However, since standard Rock Lobster trips last as long as 5 or 6 hours, a player would need to bring as many as 8-10 pouches. Bringing so many would waste too much inventory space, which would be better spent on Prayer Potions.
  • More confident players will not need to use prayer during step 1 of the 9-Lob Luring Process (running to the ladder safespot then to the U-Turn). While this may accumulate some damage, it saves a considerable amount of prayer. By doing this, players will only use 1-3 prayer points for the Lure instead of 3-5.
  • During the quest, Blood Runs Deep, the player has access to a shortcut that takes him or her right next to the 7-Lob spot. Thus, it may seem like a good idea to never complete that quest (since the shortcut is blocked afterward) so the player has easy access into the middle of Waterbirth. However, this is not a good idea. When you use this shortcut, you severely reduce the experience you get through combat while in Waterbirth as well as the quality of your drops. Thus, using the quest shortcut to access Rock Lobsters would result in extremely inefficient training.
  • Drops at Rock Lobsters had the notorious tendency to disappear from view as a result of the huge amount of drops you receive as a consequence of killing so many Lobsters in the same spot within a short time period. Therefore, it is to your advantage to constant right-click the drop pile to check for drops, as previously hidden items may come into view.
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Credits

Original Guide by: Zaaps1

Special thanks to: Crybaby111, Jaffy1, Shelby Polo

Thanks to: ExxpaniumJr & Racheya

Last updated by: Jaffy1

Last updated on: 25-Apr-2012


RuneScape 2007
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