IntroductionPest Control is a combat mini-game located on a desolate island called,
'Void Knight's Outpost', home of the Void Knights. The Void Knights are a military order who have helped serve Guthix and his penchant for balance since the early Fourth Age. It is their job to ensure that the flux of good and evil coming through to RuneScape each day remains constant, but there are some beasts they find more difficult to accept than others.
On a series of islands in the far south of the world they have found some portals that are nothing but pure evil, which must be shut down at any cost.
The easiest way to gain access to the
Void Knight Outpost is to teleport to Draynor or Falador, walk to the south-eastern Port Sarim docks, and ask the Squire to go to her outpost.
This is a
safe mini-game. If you die, you will not lose any items.
RequirementsThe minimum combat level required to play Pest Control is level 40 Combat.
- A minimum combat level of 40 is required to use the Novice lander.
- A minimum combat level of 70 is required to use the Intermediate lander.
- A minimum combat level of 100 is required to use the Veteran lander.
Items NeededNo items are needed, but the better the armor and weapons you are equipped with, the more efficiently you'll play the Pest Control mini-game. With lower level armor you'll find yourself commonly dying, and not dealing a sufficient amount of damage.
Food and potions are not needed. The dragon battle-axe special attack is recommended for the given strength bonus to boost dealt damage.
1) Walk directly south of the bank to reach this Novice lander.
2) Walk slightly south of the Magic Shop, and then walk to the west to reach this Intermediate lander.
3) Walk south of the Magic Shop, then west, and finally north to reach this Veteran lander.
If you're on your lander, and you're not positive of which of the three landers you're currently on. Look in the bottom left area of your screen for the flag that details your lander.
Once you've reached you desired lander, click on the gangplank to cross into the lander. The departure time has many variables.
- You will leave five minutes after the last departure.
- A minimum of five people are needed to depart period.
- You will automatically leave once 25 people have boarded the lander.
- If there was 25 people, and you weren't chosen to leave. Your priority level will rise, meaning the next time 25 have boarded the lander, your chance of being on that team will rise. You may have a maximum priority level of 4.
The Game ItselfThe objective of Pest Control is to protect your Void Knight while destroying the four portals. If you succeed in both, you will win that specific round. This is not as easy as it sounds, there are many high leveled monsters making it quite difficult for you to win a round. Victory can be achieved in two different ways.
- All four portals are destroyed while Void Knight is still alive.
- The Void Knight has been kept alive for twenty minutes. This very rarely happens.
Fifty damage must be dealt to receive the reward for the game, and all four portals must be destroyed to receive GP.
As the game begins, look to the top right corner of your screen. Here you will see 4 coloured circles, corresponding to the 4 different coloured portals (the targets of this game). 3 of these will be covered up to begin with, symbolising that they are "shielded" and therefore you cannot attack them. One of the portals will not be shielded, so you should take a look at which direction this portal is in, and head straight for it and the action!
Pest Control can be fought with any of the three combat styles, melee, magic, or range. Melee is the most popular, as if you're planning to play many games, the cost is cheaper. Range is also popular for the ability to attack the monsters from the towers, or different areas of Pest Control. As you will not lose items upon death, bring your best items possible for maximum efficiency. If you do die, you will simply respawn on the lander from the beginning of the game.
In reference to magic and ranged, they both have very efficient attacks or weapons for each.
- For those rangers with 45+ Ranged, chinchompas are a wonderful multi-combat weapon that attacks a 9x9 square radius, allowing the possibility of hitting many pests at once.
- For those mages with 72+ Magic, ice burst is equal to the chinchompas in its ability to hit 9x9 squares, and bind the pests for ten seconds.. At 94 Magic, an even greater spell is unlocked, ice barrage. This has the same 9x9 square radius as ice burst, only it attacks harder, and will bind the pests for thirty seconds.
Your inventory can be as full or as empty as you desire. It's simply recommended to leave one space for the reward in coins, as believe it or not, the coin reward will eventually add up to a significant amount. Dependent on your combat level, food may be brought if you're of a lower combat level, for less frequent deaths. But as you become a higher combat level food will not be needed. Potions are not recommended due to the price, but if you wish to bring them, it's all up to you. The dragon battle axe special is a wonderful alternative.
Wearing prayer-enhancing armor, such as proselyte, initiate or monk robes is also an excellent idea. While your defence will be inferior, you'll be able to use stat-boosting prayers for longer which allow you to deal more damage. Protection prayers can also be useful in dire situations where many monsters are attacking you at once. Retribution is also useful if you're about to die, and wish to deal damage to your foes. More information on prayer enhancing armor, and the prayer skill in general can be found
here.
The amount of pests the come from the portals is dependent on the amount of players in that particular game. If there is the maximum amount of players, 25, there will be the maximum amount of pests, which is significantly large. If you have the minimum amount, being 5, the minimal amount will be released, which is very small. Don't be fooled by lower amounts of pests though, the larger the time, the quicker the portals will be destroyed and the game will finish.
Experience given for damage is different in Pest Control than it is upon different monsters. You will only receive 50% XP in Pest Control. Meaning, if you're training on 'Aggressive' and you deal 25 damage, you'll receive 100 XP to your Strength level, but in Pest Control you'll only receive 50 XP to your Strength level.
Please note, contrary to popular belief, shifters are not the only monster in Pest Control that are able to teleport - all monsters in Pest Control can teleport
The Pests*Image - Name - Levels - Notes*
Spinner - 37, 55, 74, 87, 92 - Questionably the most annoying monster in Pest Control. Spinners have the ability to heal the portals, thus making them game longer. Spinners should be an absolute priority to kill. Do not think if you simply attack them, they'll start attacking you and the portal will no longer be healed. This is not the case, Spinners will continue to heal the portal even if fifteen different players are attacking it. Upon being destroyed, they will explode, thus poisoning and dealing damage to every player in a 9x9 square radius. These pests do not attack whatsoever and take up 1 square.
Novice Lander: Combat levels of 30, 55 and 74.
Intermediate Lander: Combat levels of 55, 74 and 92.
Veteran Lander Combat levels of 74, 88 and 92.
- Defiler - 33, 50, 67, 84, 101 - The Defilers attack with ranged-based attacks, they do not melee. That being said, while the majority of the time their attacks are directed to damage players, a significant amount of the time they will attack the Void Knight, dealing a decent amount of damage. Kill these quickly. These pests attack with melee and ranged and take up 1 square.
Novice Lander: Combat levels of 33 and 50.
Intermediate Lander: Combat levels of 50, 66, 67 and 80.
Veteran Lander Combat levels of 80 and 97.
- Torcher - 33, 50, 67, 83, 100 - Torchers have a magic-based attack, evidently having the capability to attack both the Void Knight and other players from a long distance. These pose an identical threat to that of the Defilers. These pests attack with magic and take up 1 square.
Novice Lander: Combat levels of 33 and 40.
Intermediate Lander: Combat levels of 46, 66 and 79.
Veteran Lander Combat levels of 79, 91 and 92.
- Brawler - 50, 75, 100, 128, 157 - Despite their frightening appearance, Brawlers aren't a large threat. They have the potential threat of dealing significant amounts of damage to players, but they only attack with melee, they will not attack the Void Knight, and are generally easy to kill. These pests attack with melee and take up 4 squares.
Novice Lander: Combat levels of 51, 70 and 101.
Intermediate Lander: Combat levels of 76 and 101.
Veteran Lander Combat levels of 101 and 129.
- Ravager - 35, 52, 70, 88, 105 - These seemingly cute pests may appear to be beavers, but don't be fooled - they most certainly are not. These pests will not attack other players unless attacked first, and will not attack the Void Knight whatsoever. Their only problem is the fact that they have the power to destroy the fences and the gates, decreasing your ability to defend the Void Knight. These pests attack with melee and take up 1 square.
Novice Lander: Combat levels of 30 and 53.
Intermediate Lander: Combat levels of 53, 71 and 89.
Veteran Lander Combat level of 89.
- Splatter - 21, 32, 43, 54, 64 - Splatters are the only monster in Pest Control that can really be ignored. They pose no threat whatsoever, and simply float around aimlessly exploding. Once exploded, they will damage all players and NPCs in a 9x9 square radius. The only reason to kill these beasts is if you're lacking the required 50 damage points. These pests attack with 'explosions' and take up 1 square.
Novice Lander: Combat levels of 22, 33, 44.
Intermediate Lander: Combat levels of 33, 44, 55.
Veteran Lander Combat levels of 44, 54, 65.
- Shifter - 37, 56, 75, 94, 113 - Questionably the most deadly monster, as they can teleport short distances and more frequently than the other pests, who too have the ability to teleport. This monster is acclaimed to be so deadly due to the fact you will commonly find it teleporting itself to the Void Knight, and dealing significant damage to him. These pests attack with melee, and take up 1 square.
Novice Lander: Combat levels of 38 and 57.
Intermediate Lander: Combat levels of 57, 76, 90.
Veteran Lander Combat levels of 90 and 104.
Tips and StrategiesThere are two different roles you can play in Pest Control. You can either be a player who protects the Void Knight from attacking pests, or you can choose to focus on attacking solely the portals. Both roles are very important, and very greatly required, lacking one will indefinitely lead to losing the game. In both roles, it would be ideal to try to keep all the gates closed, especially the south gate.
Defending the Void KnightIf you're choosing to defend the Void Knight from pests, defilers and torchers should be your main worries, as they can attack from a distance. Your second greatest worry should be attacking the shifters that teleport near the Void Knight. Keep in mind you may bring logs and a hammer to repair the gates and fences, each fix will give you 10 damage points.
Destroying the PortalsIf you're focusing on destroying the portals, the majority of your focus should be directed to destroying the portals, but when a spinner appears, kill it as a priority. The Void Knight will break the magic barrier on the first portal fifteen seconds into the game, then the remaining portals will be unlocked at random every thirty seconds. In addition to this, all the portals have weaknesses.
- The blue portal is weak against magical attacks.
- The purple portal is weak against ranged attacks.
- The yellow portal is weak against stab and slash attacks.
- The red portal is weak against crush attacks.
Worlds to PlayWith the release of themed worlds, there are now specific worlds that are ideal for playing Pest Control. These worlds are 53, 115 and 144. World 144 is without doubt the ideal world for playing as the most players use this world.
FailingFailing is achieved by the Void Knight being killed. If you lose, you will receive no point rewards nor GP reward. It isn't tragic, as games are generally quick, but all in all it is a loss of efficiency.
RewardsWhen you win, you will receive an amount of coins dependent on your combat level. (The coin reward is ten times your combat level. ) You will also receive the coveted 'PC Points', the amount you receive is dependent on the lander you won the game in.
- Novice - 2 points.
- Intermediate - 3 points.
- Veteran - 4 points.
You can spend these PC Points by talking to a Squire wandering around the Outpost, and asking to exchange your points. You can choose to purchase XP in certain combat skills, (not Slayer) buy packages of herbs, ores or seeds, or the Void Knight armor. When deciding which to purchase, you will see the following interface:
If you choose to spend the points on skill XP, it's recommended against using it point-by-point. Cashing ten points at once gives a 1% bonus to the XP gained, and cashing one hundred points at once gives a 10% gain in XP.
Another alternative is to spend it on Void Knight armor. Worn as a complete set, the respective helm will give a bonus in its respective skill. IE: The magic helm will give a bonus when worn for magic.
MeleeVoid Knight top and bottom in combination with the melee helmet will give a 10% bonus to Attack and Strength.
RangedVoid Knight top and bottom in combination with the ranged helm will give a 10% bonus to Ranged.
MagicVoid Knight top and bottom in combination with the magic helm will give a 30% bonus to Magic accuracy.
Item Statistics and InformationIf you're curious as to what the statistics on the Void Knight armor is, here are our articles from our Item Database:
To coders: For this section would it be possible to put the item statistics (attack/defence/other bonuses) in a table? (Image, name, statistics) If so, thank you!
Special Thanks: Halley92, Justin, Willowguy, Evacuator
