OSRS Cerberus Guide

If you want to test your combat skills in OSRS, then you'd probably want to get your hands on some of the bosses that the game has to offer. With that said, one of the best challenges that you should try right now is Cerberus. This three-headed dog is far from being a pushover.

Who Is Cerberus In OSRS?

In your journey beneath the Taverley Dungeon, you'll encounter Cerberus, a formidable level 318 hellhound boss guarding the River of Souls. To face her, you'll need a Slayer level of 91 and a task involving hellhounds or Cerberus herself. If your task involves hellhounds or an elite clue scroll, consider using wild pies to boost your Slayer level.

Cerberus, known as the Guardian of the River of Souls, is entrusted with protecting the departed souls from the challenges they might encounter. Despite her crucial role, Cerberus harbors a desire to escape her post, having made several successful attempts, although she was promptly recaptured each time. The lair, hidden beyond poisonous spiders in the north-east part of the hellhound area, has claimed the lives of many adventurers who stumbled upon it.

One such unfortunate soul dropped a damaged soul bearer, inspected and later discarded by the Arceuus Elders when they couldn't repair it.

Cerberus' formidable drops include three crystals: eternal, pegasian, and primordial. These crystals upgrade infinity, ranger, and dragon boots to best-in-slot eternal, pegasian, and primordial boots, respectively. Additionally, she has a better drop rate for the smouldering stone compared to her lesser brethren. The jar of souls and the hellpuppy pet are among her other sought-after drops.

A note of caution: attempting to set up a dwarf multicannon inside Cerberus' Lair will be met with a warning message, "You cannot place the cannon here, it would melt."

How To Get To Cerberus

Before anything else, you'll need to know how you can get to Cerberus first.

As you delve into Cerberus' Lair, you'll find yourself in a dungeon straddling the boundary between the River of Souls and the rest of Gielinor. This eerie domain is home to Cerberus, a formidable three-headed hellhound. Cerberus stands guard over the River of Souls, barring the living from entering and the departed from escaping. Alongside Cerberus, the Key Master shares the lair, entrusted with the duty of preventing the three-headed guardian from breaking free through the iron gates.

To reach the hellhounds area, you have a couple of options. The first involves going around the long way, and for this, you'll need a dusty key.

Alternatively, you can take a more agile route. There's a pipe shortcut (requires 70 Agility) or mysterious flooring (requires 80 Agility). Whichever shortcut you choose, it eliminates the need to bring a dusty key on every trip. Boosting your Agility level with a Summer pie (65/75 Agility required) allows you to use these shortcuts.

If you opt for the 80 Agility shortcut, consider attacking a nearby Skeleton just before crossing. In this single-way combat area, the poison spiders won't attack you since you were recently in combat with the skeleton. This allows you to pass safely without the risk of getting poisoned. Alternatively, you can sip an antipoison potion before heading into the dungeon.

For a more direct approach, use a Key master teleport. These teleports take you straight into the lair and can only be obtained from Cerberus herself. Keep in mind that they cannot be traded, and you acquire them in sets of three at a rate of 1/64.

Preparing For Cerberus

The path to Cerberus is a challenging one already but the fight itself is a completely different challenge. Here are a few recommendations.

Skills

• Attack 85+
• Strength 70+ (85+ recommended)
• Defence 85+
• Ranged 75+
• Prayer 70+ (Piety, 74+ Rigour)
• Magic 76 and completion of A Kingdom Divided (if using thralls; 80 for Death Charge)

Equipment For Melee

These equipment are listed from most to least recommended.

• Head:
  1. Slayer helmet (i)
  2. Black mask (i)
• Neck:
  1. Amulet of torture
  2. Amulet of blood fury
  3. Amulet of fury
  4. Amulet of glory
  5. Amulet of strength
• Cape:
  1. Infernal cape
  2. Fire cape
  3. Ardougne cloak 4
  4. Ardougne cloak 3
  5. Mythical cape
• Body:
  1. Inquisitor's hauberk
  2. Torva platebody
  3. Bandos chestplate
  4. Justiciar chestguard / Fighter torso
  5. Torag's platebody
• Legs:
  1. Inquisitor's plateskirt
  2. Torva platelegs
  3. Bandos tassets
  4. Justicar legguards
  5. Torag's platelegs
• Weapon:
  1. Scythe of vitur [a]
  2. Inquisitor's mace
  3. Arclight (on stab)
  4. Osmumten's fang > Ghrazi rapier
  5. Abyssal bludgeon [a]
• Shield:
  1. Avernic defender [b]
  2. Dragon defender [b]
  3. Spectral spirit shield
  4. Dragonfire shield
  5. Rune defender [b]
• Ammo/Spell:
  1. Rada's blessing 4
  2. Peaceful blessing / God blessing / Rada's blessing 3/2
• Hands:
  1. Ferocious gloves [c]
  2. Barrows gloves
  3. Dragon gloves
  4. Rune gloves
• Boots:
  1. Primordial boots
  2. Guardian boots
  3. Dragon boots
  4. Rune boots
• Ring:
  1. Ultor ring
  2. Berserker ring (i)
  3. Brimstone ring
  4. Lightbearer
  5. Ring of suffering (i) / Ring of the gods (i)
• Special Attack:
  1. Dragon claws / Voidwaker
  2. Bandos godsword [d]
  3. Dragon dagger
  4. Saradomin godsword
  5. Dragon mace

Equipment for Ranged

Again, these are arranged from most recommended to least.

• Head:
  1. Slayer helmet (i)
  2. Black mask (i)
• Neck:
  1. Necklace of anguish
  2. Amulet of fury
  3. Amulet of glory
  4. Amulet of power
• Back:
  1. Ava's assembler
  2. Ranging cape / Max cape
  3. Ava's accumulator
  4. Ava's attractor
• Body:
  1. Masori body (f)
  2. Armadyl chestplate
  3. Crystal body
  4. Ancient d'hide body / Blessed body
  5. Karil's leathertop
• Legs:
  1. Masori chaps (f)
  2. Armadyl chainskirt
  3. Crystal legs
  4. Ancient chaps / Blessed chaps
  5. Karil's leatherskirt
• Weapon:
  1. Twisted bow
  2. Toxic blowpipe
  3. Bow of faerdhinen
  4. Zaryte crossbow [a]
  5. Dragon knife [a]
• Ammo/Spell:
  1. Dragon arrow
  2. Amethyst arrow
  3. Rune arrow
  4. Ruby dragon bolts & Diamond dragon bolts
  5. Rada's blessing 4 (only with blowpipe)
• Hands:
  1. Zaryte vambraces
  2. Barrows gloves
  3. Ancient bracers / Blessed vambraces
  4. Dragon gloves
  5. Combat bracelet
• Boots:
  1. Pegasian boots
  2. Ranger boots
  3. Ancient d'hide boots
  4. Blessed boots
  5. Shayzien boots (5)
• Ring:
  1. Ring of suffering (i)
  2. Venator ring
  3. Archers ring (i)
  4. Ring of the gods (i)
• Special Attack:
  1. Zaryte crossbow
  2. Toxic blowpipe
  3. Saradomin godsword

OSRS Cerberus Fight Mechanics

When you approach Cerberus, she becomes aggressive and can unleash magic, ranged, and melee attacks, each having a maximum hit of 23. The magic attack appears as a grey ball, the ranged attack as a ball of spikes, and the melee attack involves her biting.

Cerberus incorporates three special attacks in specific situations:

1. In a rapid sequence, she attacks with magic, followed by ranged and melee. It's important to note that the melee attack can reach the player even from a distance.
2. During this attack, she summons three souls with a distinctive howling sound. These souls emerge from the river behind her and assault the player with each combat style. Blocking the attacks drains 30 prayer points (15 with a spectral spirit shield) or 30 hitpoints if not blocked.
3. Cerberus spits three fireballs, as indicated by her growling. One targets the player directly, while the other two land randomly across the room. Being near or on these fireballs results in continuous damage, which can be mitigated with suitable dragonfire protection.

Additionally, if you recently engaged Cerberus in combat, a line of fire appears between the entrance and the boss. Crossing this line inflicts 5 damage in each direction. It's worth noting that the line of fire might behave oddly, persisting unless you either perish to Cerberus or return through it after respawning. If there are no players in her lair, Cerberus will restore all her health, rendering her unattackable with only an examine option available.

Once you defeat Cerberus, she respawns in just five seconds.

OSRS Cerberus Strategy

When you face Cerberus, make sure to activate Protect from Magic for added defense.

For optimal kills per hour, switch to the Arceuus spellbook for thralls and carry a book of the dead. Melee users can consider bringing soul and death runes for Death Charge to increase special attacks, though this comes at the cost of inventory space for supplies. Optionally, bring runes for casting Ward of Arceuus, but note that this spell won't reduce damage from Summoned Souls or standing in lava pools. Otherwise, no spells are necessary, and you don't need to pack any runes. If you're suiciding supplies into the room for extended trips, include alch runes.

Cerberus, being a hellhound-type boss, boasts high offensive stats (220) but a low Defence level (100). She's most vulnerable to melee attacks, especially those with a crush focus. While she has some resistance to stab attacks and is resilient against slash, magic, and ranged attacks, her demonic nature makes her weak to Arclight, set to stab if used. Despite her ranged resistance, ranged weapons, particularly the twisted bow, can still prove highly effective.

At the start, Cerberus is sitting and cannot be attacked; you'll only see an examine option. Once she detects a player in the arena, she'll stand up, becoming attackable. If no players are present, she'll return to the center of her chamber, losing her attack option and restoring all her health.

Efficiency is key, so deal damage swiftly while keeping an eye on Cerberus' attacks. The most common cause of death is the lava pool and soul combo, regardless of the order. For instance, during attacks 14 and 15, Cerberus summons souls first and follows up with lava pools. Manage the spirits as a top priority, especially since they can deal heavy or fatal damage. Ranged users often have an advantage, as the targeted pool isn't applied on the same tick Cerberus initiates the mechanic, giving them more time to move away. Melee users should count attacks and avoid running into other pools.

The summoned souls pose the greatest challenge, inflicting heavy, unavoidable damage or draining prayer. An unblocked hit deals 30 damage, while a blocked one drains 30 prayer. Having a spectral spirit shield can halve the drain, extending trips and boosting overall profit. Although costly and mainly beneficial for melee users, an elysian spirit shield can reduce each soul's damage from 30 to 22.

Start each Cerberus kill by standing underneath her to significantly delay her first combo attack. Note that Cerberus might move away before you can attack, nullifying the delay in this situation. Stay vigilant and employ strategic tactics for a successful encounter.

Alternate Strategy

For an approach that conserves resources, especially for ironmen without a spectral spirit shield or hardcore ironmen aiming to avoid simultaneous encounters with lava pools and ghosts, follow this strategy: Bring Cerberus's hitpoints just above 400 and wait until the 14th attack (approximately 56 seconds), ensuring no ghosts will appear until the 28th attack. This tactic reduces the usage of prayer potions to about two doses per kill if you practice prayer flicking while awaiting the 14th attack. It's advisable to wear defensive gear, like Dinh's bulwark, step away from Cerberus, and minimize damage taken while waiting for the 14th attack. If you accidentally lower Cerberus's health below 400 before attack #14, you can safely reset the fight by walking back over the entrance flames.

Here's a summary of Cerberus's attacks leading up to Attack 28. You can practice this rotation by counting from the checkpoint special attacks (Combo, Lava, & Ghost attacks). For instance, to keep Cerberus above 400 hitpoints until attack #14, start counting three attacks after her second combo before resuming damage. Keep in mind that the soul and lava mechanics on attacks 25 and 28 still depend on Cerberus's hitpoints, but if she still has over 200 HP at attack 25, you'll find it challenging to end the fight before souls appear.

Beat Cerberus Today

While challenging, Cerberus is far from being unbeatable. It's a good fight to try out in preparation for the more challenging fights in the future as well. With this guide, beating Cerberus should be a lot easier.