What Ice Burst does
You click one target and the spell lands on it plus anything else standing in the 3x3 square around it, nine targets at most. Each target rolls its own accuracy and damage, so a stack of nine low-defence monsters can return close to nine hits per cast. Every target that takes damage is frozen for 16 ticks (9.6 seconds). An ancient sceptre adds one tick.
The cast speed is 5 ticks, so you get about 12 casts a minute if you never stop. You need 70 Magic and the quest Desert Treasure I, which gives access to Ancient Magicks through a spellbook swap inside the Jaldraocht Pyramid.
Runes and how to cut the cost
One cast takes 4 water runes, 4 chaos runes and 2 death runes. Water is the easiest rune to remove from the bill:
- Staff of water, mud battlestaff or a kodai wand supply the water runes for free. The kodai wand and Staff of the Dead also have a chance to save the rest of the runes on a cast.
- Tome of water works as an unlimited water rune source. It gives ice spells no damage or accuracy boost and uses no charges on them.
- Blighted ancient ice sacks replace the runes entirely, but only work in the Wilderness, PvP worlds and minigames such as Castle Wars and Soul Wars.
Chaos and death runes are the real expense. Bursting for an hour burns a few thousand of each, so it is worth buying them in bulk over a couple of days within the buy limit.
Ice Burst compared with the other ice spells
| Spell | Level | Max hit | Freeze | Targets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ice Rush | 58 | 16 | 8 ticks (4.8s) | 1 |
| Ice Burst | 70 | 22 | 16 ticks (9.6s) | Up to 9 |
| Ice Blitz | 82 | 26 | 24 ticks (14.4s) | 1 |
| Ice Barrage | 94 | 30 | 32 ticks (19.2s) | Up to 9 |
Burst sits in the useful middle. Barrage hits harder and freezes for twice as long, but its blood runes make every cast noticeably dearer. Against dust devils or maniacal monkeys that die in one or two hits anyway, the extra damage of barrage buys you less than the price suggests. Many players keep bursting Slayer tasks after 94 Magic and switch to Ice Barrage only for tougher stacks such as nechryael or abyssal demons.
Best places to burst
Maniacal monkeys for Magic xp
The monkeys in Kruk's Dungeon, reached partway through Monkey Madness II, are the standard bursting spot for raw xp. They spawn in big groups, stay aggressive for a long time and have very low Magic defence. The wiki puts actively stacked Ice Burst at up to around 310,000 Magic xp an hour, or 250,000 plus while sitting on auto retaliate. Drops are poor, so this is xp you pay for. Our Magic training guide compares it with cheaper routes.
Slayer tasks
Bursting turns several tasks into some of the fastest Slayer xp in the game. The usual targets are dust devils (65 Slayer, Catacombs of Kourend or the Smoke Dungeon), greater nechryael, warped jellies and smoke devils. These tasks usually break even or turn a small profit because the drops cover the runes. Wear a slayer helmet (i) and stack the monsters before casting. The Slayer task calculator shows how often each master hands these out.
Cheaper alternatives before Monkey Madness II
Dust devils in the Catacombs suit accounts with 65 Slayer that have not started Monkey Madness II. The spiders in the Forthos Dungeon work for lower Slayer levels, and the TzHaar-Ket in Mor Ul Rek are an option once you have a fire cape.
Gear for bursting
Monkeys and dust devils have such low Magic defence that accuracy barely matters. Prioritise Magic damage and Prayer bonus so your overhead protection against melee lasts longer. A practical bursting setup is an ancient staff or kodai wand, an occult necklace, and the best robes you can afford with some Prayer bonus. On defensive autocast each point of damage gives 1.33 Magic xp and 1 Defence xp instead of 2 Magic xp, which is how many accounts train Defence while bursting. Run your setup through the DPS calculator if you want exact numbers against a given monster.