Table of Contents
- 1.0 - Introduction
- 2.0 - Requirements
- 3.0 - Locations
- 4.0 - Objective of the Game
- 5.0 - The Monsters
- 6.0 - Strategy
- 7.0 - Rewards
- 8.0 - The Void Knight Armour
- 9.0 - Frequently Asked Questions
1.0 - Introduction
Pest Control is a cooperative game for all players above level 40. The objective is to defend the Void Knight, who is in the center of the area, for 20 minutes against various monsters of all levels and types. Another possibility is to destroy all the portals, which mean you have to concentrate on attacking as well. After successfully defending the Knight and/or destroying all the portals, you will receive 2-4 Void Knight Commendation points, which can be traded for experience in one of the combat skills.
2.0 - Requirements
To compete in this mini-game, you must have a combat level of 40 or higher. Also keep in mind that you may only use the experience rewards on skills that are level 25 or higher. Other than that there are no other requirements. Previously, the game was difficult for low levels (40 - 70), but after an update, there are three different levels to suit your combat level accordingly!
3.0 - Location
Travel to Port Sarim, and take the boat on the second most Southern docks. You do not have to pay a fee for the boat. Talk to the squire, and upon arrival you will be on the Void Knight Outpost. There are a few shops there including a Ranged, Magic and general store. There is also a bank and an armoury where you can get your tools (pickaxes, axes) and armour (Barrows) fixed.
4.0 - Objective of the Game
There are three boats to get to the Pest Control island. The first boat (Picture) requires a combat level of 40 or higher, the second (Picture) a combat level of 70 or higher, and the third (Picture) a combat level of 100 or higher. The game will start once 25 people are on the boat, or after 5 minutes when at least 5 people are waiting. While you are on the boat waiting, if you are on a world with many players waiting to play, you can see how many players are waiting in the upper left of the screen.
In the chatbox you will also see text saying your priority level to get into the next game. Priority 1 means you likely will have to wait for a game, priority 4 means you should be getting into the game soon. Depending on the number of players you may be priority 1 and get in, or be priority 4 for several lines of text. Be patient, you will be allowed to play after several lines of priority 4.
Depending on which boat you took, the strength of the monsters will be different. If you took the first boat, the monsters will be easier to kill, but if you take the third boat, the monsters will be harder to defeat. However, the harder games award more points, because it takes more work to win. See the rewards section for more information.
Once you get in game, you may be confused by the game interface. The interface includes information on how many hitpoints the knight has left, how much damage you have inflicted and how many hits the portals have.
The sideways S icon is the Void Knight's hitpoints. The sword is how much damage points you have, which is also known as "zeal." The final number is the amount of time left in game. On the top right, each portal color represents the specific portal it relates to. The number on top is how many hitpoints the portal has left.
There are two ways to win this Mini-Game:
1) Protect the Void Knight for 20 minutes. This is not the recommended way as it's very slow, although it is essential that the Knight survives. If he dies, the game instantly ends, without any rewards. Note that he cannot be healed in any way except for destroying portals; every destroyed portal heals the knight for 50hp.
2) Destroy all portals. This is much faster, but also much harder. However, you also need some people to defend the Void Knight. At the beginning of the game, the portals will have shields up, and you cannot attack them. Fifteen seconds after the game starts, the first portal will unshield. Another portal will lose its shield in thirty seconds, until they are all unshielded. You must keep the Void Knight alive while waiting for the portals to become vulnerable. Below is an example of what a shielded portal looks like.
Using this method, you will have to face many more monsters, and destroying the portals can take quite some time if you don't have enough people with you. Furthermore, there are Spinners, a type of monster that can heal the portals which makes it even harder. Destroying a portal stops the monsters coming from that portal so, theoretically speaking, you'll make the job for the defenders much easier because not only do you hold off the monsters, but you will also give the Knight some hitpoints.
If you brought a hatchet and hammer, you can repair the blockades, gates and walls. This is, however, not that important because you're really better off spending your time killing monsters and destroying portals.
5.0 - The Monsters
There are quite a few different monsters here that can't be seen elsewhere. They all have their own advantages so it's important you know what they can do.
The monsters come in all different levels; some are level 21 while others are level 157. The higher levels seem to be more rare, though.
| Ravagers | ||
 | ||
| Race: | Unknown | |
| Combat Level: | 35, 52, 70, 88, 105 | |
| Nature: | Semi-Aggressive | |
| Attack Style: | Melee based | |
| Notes | You will see very few of these monsters, but it may be worth killing them as they are the only monsters that can destroy your defences. Don't underestimate them; they aren't very strong at all but can allow all other monsters to freely access the base. |
| Spinners | ||
 | ||
| Race: | Unknown | |
| Combat Level: | 37, 55, 74, 87, 92 | |
| Nature: | Non-Aggressive | |
| Attack Style: | Melee based | |
| Notes | Spinners are the most annoying monsters, as they heal the portals. Again, they aren't very strong but should be killed firstly if you want to a have a shot at destroying the portal. Be careful if you kill the portal while a spinner is nearby -- it will explode, causing damage to and poisoning all players close to it. |
| Splatters | ||
 | ||
| Race: | Unknown | |
| Combat Level: | 21, 32, 43, 54, 64 | |
| Nature: | Non-Aggressive | |
| Attack Style: | Melee based | |
| Notes | Avoid these at all costs. Upon their death or hitting a barricade they will explode causing up to 25 damages to all surrounding monsters, players and barricades. Mages and Rangers should kill these. |
| Brawlers | ||
 | ||
| Race: | Unknown | |
| Combat Level: | 50, 75, 100, 128, 157 | |
| Nature: | Aggressive | |
| Attack Style: | Melee based | |
| Notes | They will always block your way and usually don't wander off very far. It often happens that they stick around the portal all the time, forcing you to kill them before getting to the portal. |
| Shifters | ||
 | ||
| Race: | Unknown | |
| Combat Level: | 37, 56, 75, 94, 113 | |
| Nature: | Aggressive | |
| Attack Style: | Melee based | |
| Notes | They randomly teleport short distances away and have no problems getting right next to the Void Knight. They will be a big threat to him. They defend portals too, and can be a real nuisance when trying to kill the portal. |
| Defilers | ||
 | ||
| Race: | Unknown | |
| Combat Level: | 33, 50, 67, 84, 100 | |
| Nature: | Aggressive | |
| Attack Style: | Range based | |
| Notes | They use range attacks and can hit quite hard. The biggest problem, though, is defilers ranging the Void Knight, as they can range from great distances. Take them out with mages or rangers, or send some warriors out. |
| Torchers | ||
 | ||
| Race: | Unknown | |
| Combat Level: | 33, 50, 67, 83, 100 | |
| Nature: | Aggressive | |
| Attack Style: | Magic based | |
| Notes | Very similar to defilers, but these use magic attacks. Again, take them out as soon as they attack the Void's knight. |
6.0 - Strategy
First and foremost, you have got to decide between two options, attacking the portal or attacking the pests. You should attack the portal, as that will get your team to win faster, but if you are a low level and seeking faster experience, or even not to lack zeal, it may be ideal to attack the pests.
What you wear is up to you, as really, you don't need to worry about your defence bonuses that much in Pest Control, considering the fact that you don't lose anything if you die. Therefore, it's best to wear items that give strength and attack bonuses such as Recipe for Disaster gloves, rune or climbing boots, rune defender/obsidian shield, glory/fury/power/strength amulets, and helm Neitiznot/warrior/berserker helmet. Of course, if you are using magic, you'd want to wear full mystic and magic enhancing items, and for range you'd wear your best dragonhide and range enhancing items. The image to the right is an example of what you could wear for melee.
Prayer comes in handy during Pest Control, as you can use it to boost your stats. It's advised that you use the best enhancing prayers you can for your attack style, and if you are low leveled, to use protection prayers. If you wish, you may use Redemption when you are low on health to gain it back. Mind you that it is not worth it to use the defence prayers. If you wish for your prayer to last longer, wear monk's robes or initiate armour.
If you wish to range or mage, you can safe-spot from the tower near the eastern gate. If you are ranging I advise you only use bronze arrows, because the time you waste picking them up will cause for slower experience, not to mention that you may not get a chance to gather all your arrows because of the unexpected ending of a game. If you are using magic, it's worth it to use at least bolt or blast spells at the very least, but wave spells or Ancient Magicks would work even better.
You may be asking yourself, "How do I know whether or not I should attack the portals or the pests?" The way to decide is to try attacking the portal for a game or so. If you lack zeal, you know you should stick with the pests, but if you can zeal on a regular basis whilst attacking the portals, do so, as it is more respectful to other Pest Controllers.
Now to learn what your weapon of choice should be. If you are using hand-to-hand combat and are 40-49 combat, use a Rune Scimitar. For 50-59, use a Granite Maul. For 60-69 use a Dragon Scimitar with a Dragon Battleaxe or Dragon Dagger (p++) or a Dragon Longsword if you have not completed Monkey Madness. For 70+ use an Abyssal Whip, Dragon Scimitar, or Dharok's Great Axe. If you are a mage, simply use an Ancient Staff or an elemental staff to save you cash on runes. For rangers, just use a Magic Shortbow with Bronze Arrows, nothing fancy.
7.0 - Rewards
You will only receive reward points if you inflict 50 damage or more and the game is won. You can also earn 5 damage points for repairing broken barriers. You will receive a certain number of "Pest Points" if these conditions are met, depending on which boat you took. If you took boat one, you get two points, you get three points if you took boat two, and if you took boat three, you get four points. The maximum number of points that can be held at a time is 250.
The points can be exchanged for experience in any combat skill, including Prayer; for Attack, Defence, Strength, Hitpoints, the amount of XP you will receive is your level squared, divided by 600. Then round down, and multiply by 35. For prayer, multiply by 18, and for Ranged and Magic, multiply by 32 instead. You can also get rewards of herb, seed, or mineral packs. To redeem your points, 'exchange' them with the Void Knight at the northern part of the camp. You will also get bonus experience it whatever skill you choose if you turn in enough points at once. For turning in ten points at once, you get an extra 1%. If you save up 100 points, you will get a 10% bonus.
The herb, seed and mineral packs will give you 15+ of the said pack of various types. The herb pack will give you 15 herbs of harralander and above, seeds is basically any type of seed, and the mineral pack will give you coal or iron ores.
For each successful round, you will also receive some cash. You will get the number of GP equal to your combat level multiplied by 10, to a maximum of 1260gp. Other rewards can be a Guthix Mace and Void Knight armour.
This means you can get roughly 1,600xp for a level 99 skill, and a 1,000gp for a player with 100 combat. Below is a picture of the reward screen.
8.0 - The Void Knight Armour
| Void Knight Set | |||||
 | Picture | Name | Requirements | Item Stats | |
 | Void Knight Melee Helm | A Minimum of level 42 in Attack, Strength, Defence, Hitpoints, Ranged, Magic, and level 22 Prayer and 200 Commendation points to purchase. | Attack | Stab: +0; Slash: +0; Crush: +0; Magic: +0; Ranged: +0 | |
| Defence | Stab: +6; Slash: +6; Crush: +6; Magic: +6; Range: +6 | ||||
| Other | Strength: +0; Prayer: +0; Weight: ?kg | ||||
 | Void Knight Mage Helm | A Minimum of level 42 in Attack, Strength, Defence, Hitpoints, Ranged, Magic, and level 22 Prayer and 200 Commendation points to purchase. | Attack | Stab: +0; Slash: +0; Crush: +0; Magic: +0; Ranged: +0 | |
| Defence | Stab: +6; Slash: +6; Crush: +6; Magic: +6; Range: +6 | ||||
| Other | Strength: +0; Prayer: +0; Weight: ?kg | ||||
 | Void Knight Range Helm | A Minimum of level 42 in Attack, Strength, Defence, Hitpoints, Ranged, Magic, and level 22 Prayer and 200 Commendation points to purchase. | Attack | Stab: +0; Slash: +0; Crush: +0; Magic: +0; Ranged: +0 | |
| Defence | Stab: +6; Slash: +6; Crush: +6; Magic: +6; Range: +6 | ||||
| Other | Strength: +0; Prayer: +0; Weight: ?kg | ||||
 | Void Seal | A Minimum of level 42 in Attack, Strength, Defence, Hitpoints, Ranged, Magic, and level 22 Prayer and 10 Commendation points to purchase. | Attack | Stab: +0; Slash: +0; Crush: +0; Magic: +0; Ranged: +0 | |
| Defence | Stab: +1; Slash: +1; Crush: +1; Magic: +1; Range: +1 | ||||
| Other | Strength: +0; Prayer: +0; Weight: ?kg | ||||
 | Void Knight Top | A Minimum of level 42 in Attack, Strength, Defence, Hitpoints, Ranged, Magic, and level 22 Prayer and 250 Commendation points to purchase. | Attack | Stab: +0; Slash: +0; Crush: +0; Magic: +0; Ranged: +0 | |
| Defence | Stab: +40; Slash: +40; Crush: +40; Magic: +40; Ranged: +40 | ||||
| Other | Strength: +0; Prayer: +0; Weight: 6.803kg | ||||
 | Void Knight Robe | A Minimum of level 42 in Attack, Strength, Defence, Hitpoints, Ranged, Magic, and level 22 Prayer and 250 Commendation points to purchase. | Attack | Stab: +0; Slash: +0; Crush: +0; Magic: +0; Ranged: +0 | |
| Defence | Stab: +28; Slash: +28; Crush: +28; Magic: +28; Ranged: +28 | ||||
| Other | Strength: +0; Prayer: +0; Weight: 8.164kg | ||||
 | Void Knight Gloves | A Minimum of level 42 in Attack, Strength, Defence, Hitpoints, Ranged, Magic, and level 22 Prayer and 150 Commendation points to purchase. | Attack | Stab: +0; Slash: +0; Crush: +0; Magic: +0; Ranged: +0 | |
| Defence | Stab: +4; Slash: +4; Crush: +4; Magic: +4; Ranged: +4 | ||||
| Other | Strength: +0; Prayer: +0; Weight: .453kg | ||||
 | Void Knight Mace | A Minimum of level 42 in Attack, Strength, Defence, Hitpoints, Ranged, Magic, and level 22 Prayer and 250 Commendation points to purchase. | Attack | Stab +22; Slash +0; Crush +41; Magic +8; Range +0 | |
| Defence | Stab: +2; Slash: +2; Crush: +2; Magic: +2; Ranged: +2 | ||||
| Other | Prayer: +6; Strength: +38; Weight: 1.814kg | ||||
| Special Autocast Option | Autocast: Crumble Undead, Claws of Guthix, Wind Wave, Water Wave, Earth Wave, Fire Wave. | ||||
9.0 - FAQ
Q: If I die, do I lose my items?
A: No. When you die you will be returned to the ship; all of your stats will return to normal and your prayer points restored.
Q: Why should I bring a dragon battle axe?
A: It's not required, but you can use the special attack to get a great strength boost, which obviously means you can hit higher.
Q: I can't destroy the portals; they keep regaining health!
A: Check if there are any Spinners around. If so, kill them before attacking the portal again.
Q: Shouldn't I bring food or potions?
A: No. Whenever you die you are returned to the ship on the island, which means you can't actually 'die' in this Mini-Game. Potions are useless too because your stats are returned to normal after every game or whenever you die.
Q: Can I sell my Void Knight equipment back to the knights?
A: No. After you have bought Void Knight equipment with your points, it is yours and cannot be returned for a refund.
