How Ice Barrage works
Barrage hits the target you click and everything in the 3x3 square around it, up to nine monsters or players. Accuracy is rolled separately against each target's Magic defence, so one cast can splash on the big monster in the middle and still land on the four around it. Anything it damages is frozen for 32 ticks (19.2 seconds), or 35 ticks with an ancient sceptre. The cast speed is 5 ticks, the same as every other burst and barrage spell.
One detail catches people out on Slayer. The slayer helmet bonus is checked against the target you click. If that monster is on your task, the secondary targets get the bonus too, so always click a task monster in the middle of the stack.
Requirements and early casting
You need Desert Treasure I for Ancient Magicks and 94 Magic. Because spell levels count boosted Magic, you can start barraging sooner:
| Boost | Lowest Magic level to cast |
|---|---|
| Magic potion (+4) | 90 |
| Ancient brew | 88 |
| Imbued heart or forgotten brew | 85 |
| Saturated heart | 82 |
A saturated or imbued heart makes this practical for whole Slayer trips, not just a few casts.
Runes and cost per cast
Each cast uses 6 water runes, 2 blood runes and 4 death runes. Blood and death runes make up nearly all of the bill, so the blood rune price is the number to watch before a long session. Ways to bring the cost down:
- A kodai wand, mud battlestaff or staff of water removes the water runes. The kodai wand and Staff of the Dead can also save the whole cast now and then.
- The tome of water supplies water runes too, but ice spells get no boost from it.
- Blighted ancient ice sacks replace the runes in the Wilderness, PvP worlds, Castle Wars, Clan Wars and Soul Wars.
Training Magic with Ice Barrage
| Method | Spell | Magic xp per hour |
|---|---|---|
| Maniacal monkeys, active stacking | Ice Barrage | up to ~400,000 |
| Maniacal monkeys, auto retaliate | Ice Barrage | 320,000+ |
| Wilderness bandits, active | Ice Barrage (ice sacks) | up to ~330,000 |
| Maniacal monkeys, active stacking | Ice Burst | up to ~310,000 |
Maniacal monkeys in Kruk's Dungeon, from Monkey Madness II, are the fastest spot. Barrage beats burst by close to a third more xp an hour there, at a much higher rune cost. Barraging also gives more Hitpoints xp per hour than red chinchompas. The Wilderness bandit camp is the budget version: ice sacks cost far less than runes and the drops can turn a profit, but you risk your gear. Bring only three or four valuable items there.
Barraging Slayer tasks
Barrage is at its best on tasks that come in big groups with plenty of health. Greater nechryael and abyssal demons in the Catacombs of Kourend, smoke devils and dust devils are the usual picks, and warped jellies work too. Most of these break even or make money once drops are counted. Our Slayer training guide covers which tasks to extend.
Barrage in bossing and PvP
In PvM, barrage is used to freeze and clear groups of small monsters inside harder content, such as the nibblers in the Inferno. In PvP the 19.2 second freeze is the reason the spell exists: it pins an opponent in place so they cannot run or step under you, and the ice ancient sceptre adds 10% accuracy against targets that are not already frozen.
Gear for barraging
For Slayer stacks, Magic damage and Prayer bonus matter more than accuracy. A kodai wand or ancient staff, an occult necklace, a slayer helmet (i) and robes with Prayer bonus cover most of it. Compare kill speeds for your own setup in the DPS calculator, or see the cheaper Ice Burst spell if your tasks die in one or two hits.