Tasks to Block OSRS Guide

Slayer is the best way to enjoy Combat in OSRS. It keeps you on your toes by offering a wide variety of monsters to slay and can be very profitable. 

That’s not to say Slayer is without flaws because it certainly isn’t. 

There are a lot of Slayer monsters out there, even ones with high Slayer requirements, that just plain old stink. And after getting stinky tasks one after another over and over, it can really put you off the Slayer grind for a while. 

Luckily for us, blocking tasks is a thing. 

After meeting a particular requirement, players gain access to the ability to block any tasks they want. And it can be a literal lifesaver. After you learn how Slayer masters tick and what monsters they can assign you, you can somewhat optimize the assignment pool. It makes training Slayer as enjoyable and efficient as possible. And that’s what Runescape is all about; efficiency. I may take a week to fold three towels in real life, but gosh darn it if I’m not an efficient son of a gun in Gielinor. You can be too. Let’s get you there. 

Before We Begin

Before we get into the tasks you should block, let’s get some disclaimers out of the way first. 

Use One Slayer Master

Your task-blocking efforts will be most effective if using one Slayer master. Duradel is easily the best Slayer master in OSRS for EXP, but many players opt for Konar on the 10th consecutive task. Konar gives the most Slayer reward points after Krystilia but won’t send you into the Wilderness. 

Duradel and Konar share enough tasks that you can alternate between the two with no issue.

Do You Want EXP or GP?

If it’s GP you’re looking for, Konar is the best Slayer master. She’s particularly good at handing out boss tasks like Hydra.

If it’s EXP and GP you want, Duradel is your guy. 

There’s a Difference Between Tasks to Block, Skip, or Expedite

OSRS-Gameplay

There are a lot of dud Slayer tasks in OSRS. But not all duds are equal.

Say you get a Slayer monster with bad drops. It’s pretty terrible, but the task is easy and not horrible enough to block. Maybe an expeditious bracelet or two. 

Much of this depends on personal preference, but avoid knee-jerk blocking every awful task Slayer masters throw your way.

Toggles Act as Pseudo Blocks

There are some monsters in Gielinor that you first have to unlock before you can get them as Slayer tasks. You can purchase these unlocks from Slayer Reward shops. Mithril dragons are one such example.

Did you try out mithril dragon assignments and decide you don’t like them? Toggle the option off. There’s no need to waste a block.

Intentionally Avoid Completing Certain Quests

Numerous Slayer monsters are only assignable after you complete certain quests. You can use this to your advantage. 

Adamant dragons aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. Do you want a 0% chance of a Slayer master assigning them to you? Then don’t complete Dragon Slayer II

Not a fan of jungle horrors or cave horrors? Leave Cabin Fever incomplete, and you won’t have to deal with these horrific creatures.

Bad Assignments Can Become Good Assignments

OSRS-Gameplay

There aren’t many things I hate more in OSRS than black demons. They hit hard, and their drops suck. They give decent EXP, but watching paint dry is more entertaining. 

That sounds like a block to me, right?

No. Why? Because if you complete Monkey Madness II, you can fight demonic gorillas instead of black demons. And demonic gorillas are an excellent task.

You can also opt to fight Skotizo during a black demon assignment. 

Hellhounds are another great example. Unless you’re a clue hunter, Hellhounds are pretty terrible. But if you’re on a Hellhound task and have level 91 Slayer, you can fight Cerberus instead.

Be sure to check the wiki to see alternative monsters for tasks. You might be pleasantly surprised. 

Prioritize Blocking Monsters With the Most Weight

Every Slayer monster a Slayer master can assign has a weight. 

That weight determines the chances of a Slayer master assigning you that monster. The formula for determining any monster’s weight is:

(weight/sum of all weights for a Slayer master x 100)%.

These odds vary from player to player depending on what monsters you have unlocked, your toggles, etc.

If you only have one block slot left and have to decide between blocking two monsters, it’s probably best to block the one with more weight. Even if the monster with a lower weight is a task you hate more, the monster with the higher weight will likely appear more often. Waterfiends are a rubbish task, but only have a weight of 2. They aren’t worthy of a block slot. 

Don’t Block Tasks for Low-Level Slayer Masters

It should go without saying, but you shouldn’t even consider using Slayer reward points to block tasks until you’re an upper mid-level player. 

If you’re still using Slayer masters like Turael, Spira, Mazchna, Krystilia, or Vannaka, it’s best to suffer through those tasks. It’s a Slayer rite of passage. Only start blocking tasks with Chaeldar and above (Honestly, you can skip over Chaeldar entirely). 

Complete Tasks With a Low Monster Count

Low Monster Count

I’m not the biggest fan of black dragons. But when Nieve hands me a task to kill 13 of them, I can’t say no. 

Quick tasks mean quick points. And you’ll be using a lot of points during the Slayer grind. Take every win you can get. 

Personal Preference is Everything

While I try recommending monsters to block based on things like low EXP rates and atrocious drops, we all have monsters we despise. And that’s okay. 

Not a fan of gargoyles except for the old cartoon? Feel free to block them. Hate ankou for some reason? Don’t let me stop you.  

With all that out of the way, let’s begin.

How Do I Block Slayer Tasks?

Before you can block tasks, you need to quest a lot

For every 50 Quest Points you earn, you unlock one block slot up to a maximum of five with 250 Quest Points. You can get a sixth block slot by completing the Elite Lumbridge and Draynor Diary. 

You can block tasks permanently by using 100 Slayer reward points.

Tasks to Block

 As mentioned earlier, your block list should focus on one Slayer master, so we’ll be focusing on the top three masters in the game: Duradel, Nieve/Steve, and Konar. 

Krystilia is also someone you may use from time to time since, after 50 consecutive tasks, her Slayer reward point bonuses are considerably higher than Konar’s. However, I don’t feel that warrants a block list for her. I recommend using Krystilia early on to farm up Slayer reward points. Once you’re in the upper-mid levels of the Slayer grind, you’ll only use her for milestone tasks anyway. 

Konar

Drakes

Drakes are horrible Slayer tasks without dragonbane weapons. And mediocre with them.
Image Source: OSRS Wiki

Drakes are level 84 Slayer monsters but have terrible drops for a high-level monster. Their volcanic breath isn’t a big deal, but drakes aren’t worth the time or effort. Alongside wyrms and Hydra, drakes have the most weight of any Konar task. 

Wyrms

Wyrms are up there with drakes for mandatory creatures to block.
Image Source: OSRS Wiki

Wyrms, like drakes, are in the Karuulm Slayer Dungeon. They attack with both Magic and Melee, so ideally, you want to Range them and use Protect from Magic on wyrm tasks. 

It’s possible to safespot them, but they can go idle if you’re out of their reach for too long. Just a pain of a task to do. Easy block.

Black Demons

Black demons are my OSRS arch nemesis.
Image Source: OSRS Wiki

Remember when I said earlier that black demons could be good because of demonic gorillas and skotizo? Yeah, well, this only half applies if getting tasks from Konar. 

Konar’s quirk is you have to slay the monsters at specific locations. You can’t kill demonic gorillas while on black demon task for Konar. 

Black demons hit hard and have nonexistent drops. They also have the most weight after Hydra, drakes, and wyrms. If you’re not up for grinding Skotizo, you may want to give these demons a pass. 

Steel Dragons

Metallic dragon tasks are all horrible.
Image Source: OSRS Wiki

Every metallic dragon is a pain to fight until you gain access to dragonbane weapons like the Dragon hunter lance and Dragon hunter crossbow. These weapons are both exorbitantly expensive and will be out of many players’ reach (Especially those just starting the Konar grind).

Steel dragon tasks are too slow to be worth your time.

Bronze Dragons

Fighting bronze dragons makes me wish for a nuclear winter.
Image Source: OSRS Wiki

Same story as steel dragons. An utterly dreadful task without dragonbane weapons. Their drops are also pretty rubbish. Easy block.

Iron Dragons

Iron dragons hurt more than sitting on the Iron Throne.
Image Source: OSRS Wiki

You get it by now. Metallic dragons are awful. Iron dragons are a bit better than bronze dragons, but they’re still horrible. Avoid them like the plague. Even if you switch Slayer masters, metallic dragon blocks are a good choice. 

Nieve/Steve

Wyrms

Same story as with Konar. Wyrm tasks suck. Wyrm tasks don’t have as much weight with Nieve/Steve as with Konar but have enough to warrant a block.

Drakes

I hate repeating myself unless I’m repeating a training method. Drakes are no good. Forget about Piccolo telling you to dodge and block them instead. 

Cave Kraken

Annoying gimmick and poor drops make Cave Kraken an easy block.
Image Source: OSRS Wiki

Magic is the best way of dealing with Cave Kraken, but their drops are so poor that you can’t recoup your rune costs. If you have boss tasks unlocked, you can do the Kraken boss instead, but even then, I’d say it’s a pass. They’re pretty slow to kill.

Fire Giants

Fire giants are okay for exp and terrible for everything else.
Image Source: OSRS Wiki

Fire giant tasks have a lot of weight with Nieve/Steve but offer little in profitability. Fire giants are notorious for their poor drops. The most use you can get out of them is if you’re an Iron Man looking for a rune scimitar drop. 

Suqah

Suqah drops are insultingly bad. If GP is your priority, block them.
Image Source: OSRS Wiki

Suqah tasks are pretty good EXP and work well as a cannon task. But if you’re looking for GP or at least something of a balance between EXP and GP, Suqah tasks aren’t for you. Their drops are nonexistent. 

Spiritual Creatures

All spiritual creatures are rubbish, slow tasks.
Image Source: OSRS Wiki

If you haven’t completed Death Plateau, you don’t have to worry about these folk. If you have, get ready for a task that’s mediocre in both EXP gains and GP. 

Gargoyles

Gargoyles the TV show is good. The Slayer monsters? Not so much.
Image Source: OSRS Wiki

Gargoyles aren’t all bad. But you can only kill them with a rock hammer, rock thrownhammer, or granite hammer after they reach 8 HP or below. That makes it impossible to AFK them. And since Nieve/Steve can assign as many as 185 gargoyles to you, that might be enough to make you want to block them. 

Iron/Steel Dragons

Insert metallic dragon tasks suck comment here. 

Iron and Steel dragons, thankfully, have far less weight as tasks with Nieve/Steve than with Konar. But they still have enough weight to warrant blocking (Especially if you go to Konar every 10th task for bonus streak points).

Duradel

Wyrms

Wyrms have a lot of task weight and are not a lot of fun. Easy block.

Drakes

Same story as wyrms. If you never fight wyrms or drakes in your OSRS career, you wouldn’t be missing out on much. 

Cave Kraken

Cave Kraken tasks from Duradel are just as awful as Cave Kraken tasks from Nieve/Steve. 

Skeletal Wyverns

Skeletal Wyverns are more trouble than they are worth.
Image Source: OSRS Wiki

Skeletal Wyverns have pretty good drops, including the wyvern visage, so they’re great for GP. However, they are pretty tough foes to defeat. Like metallic dragons, killing them without a dragonbane weapon makes them too slow for my taste. 

Aberrant Spectre

Aberrant spectres are a toss up block.
Image Source: OSRS Wiki

You can use a cannon for aberrant spectre tasks, but even then, they’re kind of terrible. Drops aren’t too good, except for herbs and seeds (Bring a herb sack and seed box from Tithe Farm). EXP rates are also mediocre. 

Gargoyles

Slow and impossible to AFK. That’s a block in my book.

Suqah

If you’re okay with consistent GP loss from cannon costs, feel free to do Suqah tasks. If not, skip them until your cash flow improves. 

Bloodvelds

These hideous creatures are terrible Slayer monsters.
Image Source: OSRS Wiki

Bloodvelds have solid EXP rates but terrible drops. If GP means a lot to you, then you don’t ever want to take on Bloodveld tasks. 

Fire Giants

Duradel gives slightly more fire giants than Nieve/Steve. That’s more fire giants that won’t be giving you GP. Block if building up your bank is a priority. 

Iron/Steel Dragons

Wyrms, drakes, iron, and steel dragons are pretty solid as universally blocked tasks. They’re possible tasks from all mid-level and above Slayer masters and are always terrible.

Spiritual Creatures

Spiritual creatures tasks from Duradel have more weight than with Nieve/Steve, and he gives you larger quantities to kill.

FAQs

Question: Are Drakes and Wyrms worth killing if you have dragonbane weapons?

Answer: Nope. That’s part of why they’re so bad. Even with optimal equipment, they’re still a block. Bossing or raids are meta for GP, and there are much better tasks for faster Slayer EXP. 

Question: Should I unlock boss tasks?

Answer: That’s up to you, but I would say no. Plenty of monsters like blue dragons, hellhounds, and black demons already have boss options without unlocking boss tasks. And those are great. 
But not every boss is a home run. You don’t want to unlock boss tasks and then get Kalphite Queen. The risk outweighs the potential rewards.

Question: Should I go to Konar or Krystilia for streak rewards?

Answer: It depends on how much risk you’re willing to take. Krystilia will give you a bunch of tasks that are a complete joke. Earth warriors on your 250th task? Yes, please. You can easily 3-item a lot of her tasks if you don’t want to risk. 
But some of the tasks Krystilia assigns are not so easy, like Aviansies or annoying Wilderness bosses like Callisto or Vet’ion. It may be impossible to clear her task without risking considerable GP. Konar doesn’t give as many points, but she’s a safer option.

Conclusion

All but requiring most, if not all, block slots definitely makes Slayer more annoying than it would be otherwise. When Slayer is a free-for-all, it’s a never-ending slog of using your points to skip bad tasks and always running low on points. It’s one of the many reasons players, myself included, recommend starting the Slayer grind when you’re mid-level, not right away off Tutorial Island. 

Gielinor has plenty of low-difficulty, high Quest Point rewarding quests that enable you to get 2-3 block slots pretty quickly. The last three slots are a different story. The Lumbridge & Draynor Elite Diary has pretty lofty requirements, including but not limited to having a Quest Cape. 

But it’s definitely worth the grind. Efficient Slayer means better EXP rates and better GP, and that’s what OSRS is all about. I try to dedicate an entire day to questing from time to time. Put on a music playlist or podcast in the background and grind away. 

Hopefully, this guide helps your Slayer experience become as fun as possible. 

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