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» Global RuneScape Home » Activity Guides » Pest Control Guide

Pest Control Guide

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Introduction

Boats and Pest Points

Rewards

Monsters

Object of Game

The Battlefield and Strategy

Combat Styles and Tips

Introduction

Pest Control is a minigame released by Jagex on 18 April 2006. It requires a minimum combat level of 40 to participate. It is a "safe" game, meaning if you die you do not lose any items. On 17 July 2007 it was updated to 3 different boats, each requiring a specific combat level to enter.
To get there you need to talk to a Void Squire in Port Sarim and take a free boat ride to the island.

Boats and Pest Points

Blue boat: This is the novice boat and requires a combat level of at least 40 to enter. Portals have 2000 lifepoints each. Upon winning, this will reward you 2 pest points.

Orange boat: This is the intermediate boat and requires a combat level of at least 70 to enter. Portals have 2500 lifepoints each. Upon winning, this will reward you 3 pest points.

Red boat: This is the veteran boat and requires a combat level of 100 to enter. Portals have 2500 lifepoints each. Upon winning, this will reward you 4 pest points.

Rewards

If you win the game, and depending on what boat you're on, you will get this message.
Which will be followed by how many points you have acquired.
To spend your points and claim your rewards talk to a Void Knight which is located on land, usually near the bank.



Though the pest points vary from boat to boat, the cash reward is the same. 10 times your combat level in gold. So for example, if you're level 100, you will receive 1000 in gold per win on any boat.

The maximum amount of points you can have before having to spend them is 500. After this amount if you continue to play, you will receive no additional points even if you win.

Saving your points that are used on experience will give you an additional bonus.

10 points toward an experience will give you a 1% bonus.

100 points toward an experience will give you a 10% bonus.

*Note* Pest Points spent on experience can only be used toward combat related skills that are level 25 or higher.

Portals and Pests

On 17 July 2007 along with the 3 boat update, Jagex introduced shields on all portals to prevent immediately attacking them. This was due to the fact that many high level Pest Control clans were able to ignore guarding the Void Knight and run to each portal destroying all of them in as little as 30 seconds. This resulted in massive amounts of experience within a short period of time.

The first shield drops 15 seconds after the game starts. The remainder drop at 30 second intervals each so that all portals can be attacked after 1 minute and 45 seconds into the game.

The shields drop in 6 possible combinations.

Purple, Blue, Yellow, Red
Purple, Yellow, Blue, Red
Yellow, Red, Purple, Blue
Yellow, Purple, Red, Blue
Blue, Purple, Red, Yellow
Blue, Red, Yellow, Purple

All portals are vulnerable to certain kinds of attacks.

Red portal (southwest) use crush or stab
Yellow portal (southeast) use slash
Purple portal (west) use range
Blue portal (east) use magic

Each portal that is destroyed will heal the Void Knight 500 life points.

Monsters

Picture	Monster Levels	Name	Information
	21, 32, 43, 54, 64	Splatters	Though they are low levels and look like a football with an eye in the middle, they are more dangerous than you think: They will get close to you and explode if attacked! Their explosion will damage players and objects close to itself.
	37, 56, 75, 94, 113	Shifter	Shifters are dangerous melee monsters; they can create teleportation portals for themselves to teleport anywhere. Also, the spines on their back are really dangerous and you should beware of them. Shifters can also teleport between walls.
	35, 52, 70, 88, 105	Ravager	Ravagers looks like moles with their claws. They can easily destroy walls and gates. If they do destroy one, you should either fix it or defend it from more monsters.
	37, 55, 74, 87, 92	Spinner	If you ever see a spinner, it's probably close to a portal. If so, kill it because it will heal the portal and fill the portal's life points, so you'll have problems destroying the portal unless there are enough people to "pile" the portal. And if you decide to kill it, it will deal damage upon death and poison all players close by.
	50, 75, 100, 128, 157	Brawler	Brawlers are beasts at the same height as you, and can hit quite high. You won't find these beasts close to the Void Knight. The closer you get to the portal, the more of these you will find. They will try to protect the portal from being destroyed.
	41, 62, 83, 104, 125	Torcher	Torchers are magic powered "birds", who will try to kill the Void Knight from distance. These are really easy to kill anyways.
	33, 50, 67, 84, 101	Defiler	Defilers are similar to the Torchers, but they are ranged based.

Object of Game

Once on the boat of your choice, the game will start 5 minutes after the last departure with the required minimum of 5 players. However, if the maximum of 25 players is reached, the game will begin almost immediately.

There are 2 ways to win the game.
1. Destroy all the portals before the Void Knight is killed.
2. Stay in the game for 20 minutes without you or the Knight dying.
*Note* Option 2 is not recommended as it is almost impossible to achieve.

In the top left corner of you screen you will notice 3 values.

The top is the Knights health (pay strict attention to this) at full health it is 2000 life points.
The middle is your zeal points.
The bottom is the time remaining in game.

You must have a minimum of 500 zeal to be rewarded when a game is won, otherwise you will receive a message.

The Battlefield and Strategy

Blue area This is where the Void Knight is.
Red area These are the towers where Rangers/Mages can attack from.
Yellow area These are the gates that allow access to the portals.
Orange area This is where the portals are located.

First off, if you want to win the maximum amount of games it's highly recommended that you join a Pest Control clan. These clans are more experienced and tend to be more serious about the game.

There are 4 ways to a guaranteed loss.
1. Too many people guarding the Knight and not enough attacking portals.
2. Not enough people guarding the Knight and too many attacking portals.
3. Not closing/ guarding the gates.
4. Not knowing when to either kill the spinners, or ignore them and "pile" the portals.

With that said, grab your best gear and don't worry because if you die you will respawn on the boat that brought you to the battlefield without losing anything!

Make sure your auto retaliate is off. This will prevent you from attacking pests that you don't want/need to.

When the game starts, run to the platform that the Void Knight is on. Shifters should soon appear there so attack them and get your 50 zeal. After a few games, it is at this point where you will develop an instinct whether to stay and guard the Knight, or run to attack the portals. Check and see how many people are staying, if you feel there are enough to guard then run to a portal that the shield has dropped remembering to close the gate behind you.

The east and west gates when closed will block all attacks, however, the south gate will not and needs to be monitored. So if you are guarding, you will need to keep an eye on it and determine if you need to leave the Knight and attack the pests that are ranging and maging.
If the Ravagers and Splatters manage to destroy the east and west gates, and you don't have the required hammer, hatchet and logs to fix them, stand directly in front of where the gate used to be on the Knight's side of the the fence and the monsters will conveniently line up for you to kill them.

If you stayed as a guard and all the gates are secure, you will only have to deal with Shifters and the south gate. If no Shifters are attacking the Knight go ahead and kill any that appear. However, if one goes after the Knight, attack it even though one may still be after you. This is where the protect from melee prayer comes in handy, but even if you do not have it, this is a good practice because if you die you will respawn close enough to get back in the action rather then the Knight dying resulting in a loss.

If you decided to go to the portals and their are Spinners present, keep an eye on the portals health. If enough players are attacking it though Spinners are healing it, you will be able to ignore them. If the rate of heal is higher than the damage being dealt, you will have to stop and kill the Spinners until help arrives or they are dead.

Combat Styles and Tips

Melee
This is a good universal style of playing the game. Even though a portal may not be best attacked this way, this is not to say it can't be destroyed in this fashion. If you can wield a Dragon battleaxe, use the spec to increase strength and a restore potion to get back your attack and defence levels the battleaxe takes from you then switch back to the weapon of your choice.
Mage
Depending on your level, and if you have Ancient magic, this is the ultimate way to play the game. However, it can get very expensive. To offset this, wear all your best mage gear and wield a melee weapon while having the runes to cast ice barrage or blitz when needed. Use the melee weapon, and if you get in a tight spot where there are a lot of monsters to be killed, start casting. Mages with this ability often help win the game.
Range
Steel arrows with a mage bow, or a rune crossbow equipped with iron or better bolts are effective here. If you have done the quest and can wield the Dorgeshuun crossbow, using bone bolts is a good alternative here as they are cheap and can hit fairly high.

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