There are several quests in the world of Gielinor, and most of them will have you traversing dangerous areas. From lava-filled caverns to evil undead-filled dungeons, your adventurer will be doing quite a lot of traveling as they fight their way to the objectives of these various quests. One of these quests is the Underground Pass, which is a very deadly dungeon to the west of Ardougne.
The King of Ardougne has requested your character to help him put a stop to his mad and corrupted brother Tyras, and you’ll need to travel through the dungeon to do it.
Preparing For The Dungeon
Well, for most adventurers prepping for a dungeon run has you throw on your best armor and weapons, grab a few healing potions, and then set out on your merry way. However, this dungeon has plenty of traps and tricks that you will need to be prepared for. You will need rope, a bow and around 1-5 normal metal arrows, a spade, and combat gear to take on mid-level foes. Additionally, lots of food and healing items can help you ward off damage.
A very high agility score of 40 or higher is also needed to safely get through this dungeon. For this dungeon, unlike others where you charge your way inside and fight monsters, this time you will need to fight the environment as various obstacles and environmental hazards will come down at you. If you get hit by them, you will go back to the beginning.
Now, if you have a very high equipment load for your gear, you are much slower when it comes to moving and reacting, so make sure you strike a balance between both protection with your armor and lightness with your weight.
Getting Started With the Dungeon
Once you speak to King Lathas, he will tell you that you need to go through the Underground Pass to stop his brother King Tyras. Now, the pass has been seized by the warrior Iban and his cultists, and you’ll need to go through them to get through the pass. You will be asked to speak to the guide Koftik who will lead you to a bridge.
Keep in mind, this bridge is the last chance to gather more supplies. Once you enter the underground pass you are trapped inside and there’s no going back unless you want to restart. Your progress does not save during the dungeon runs!
You’ll see three paths, and will need to take the northernmost one to find Koftik reading a stone tablet authored by Iban, who believes himself to be the son of Zamorak, the God of Chaos. Koftik will show you another diary from the hero Randas, a good hero who walked into the caves and never returned. The dairy and the clues around the camp will have you make a fire arrow, and once you move to the edge of the river, you can shoot a fire arrow at a rope and lower the bridge. You can walk across the bridge, avoid the pit with the giant spiders in it, and then use a rope swing to get over the dark pit.
If you happen to fail, don’t worry. You will lose the rope, but you can climb back to the beginning of the dungeon and try again.
The Grid Puzzle
Entering a room, you will see Koftik standing in front of a large grid of wooden floorboards, apparently possessed as he raves about good and evil. With nothing else to do, you will need to step on each of the grid squares. Some will be sturdy, but others will drop you into a bit that deals 15 damage to your health.
It takes a bit of trial and error but you will find the correct path. And then you can get across the grid and move onto the next area. Write down or otherwise keep the correct path in your memory, because you will need it during the fourth elf quest.
You will see a long corridor with five traps hidden in the walls. You can either disarm the traps or trigger them one at a time which does damage, but you can heal as you go. Still, after the corridor you will find the Altar where you can heal yourself, But also in the room is a strange well…
The Orbs And The Well
You look at this well and see that you cannot go down it, however, you do discover an old journal written by Randas. This journal explains that the 4 orbs of light have been blessed to keep the light at bay, and you will need to get rid of the orbs to keep descending into the Underground pass.
You will need a plank for this, as in the north passage you can disarm the traps to get the orb. The Northwest passage has you running through spiders and ogres alike to get the next orb. The middle path has you use the plank again to disarm traps, and for the southwest path, you will need to disarm the trap underneath the orb and then pick it up.
You will need to backtrack back to where the first set of traps were, as you will find a furnace. Then you can place each of the orbs into the furnace to destroy them. After that, you will be able to destroy the well.
The Slave Pens And The Paladins
You will then find several slaves guarded by goblins, and will need to slay the goblin guards. Once that is done, you will need to pick the lock of the 1st cage on the left (you can pick the locks on the other cages as well, but the slaves don’t have much to say). Use your spade on the odd-colored patch of ground and you will dig into a hidden tunnel. This tunnel leads to several raised beams you will need to jump across.
One last cage awaits you when complete, as you will find a unicorn caged up and guarded by skeletons. Defeat the skeletons and remove the loose piece of railing from the cage, before climbing above the cage and pushing the boulder down towards the unicorn. The unicorn will die, but you will retrieve the horn.
As you continue to walk through the cave, you will find three paladins who are on the same mission you are. They haven’t had much luck opening the massive doors of Iban, but they have a camp set up where you can get some food. You can press on towards the doors, where an inscription says: The doors of Iban will not open as long as there is a beating, good heart present and the well demands the offering of such a creature’s remains and three crests of the blessed.
The good-hearted remains are the horn from the unicorn you just killed, and the three crests are on the paladins, who you will need to slay. Once the paladins are dead, then just drop the badges and the horn into the well and the doors open up.
The Largest Area In The Game
We are going to skim through this, but this area is the largest in both the pass and in all of Runescape, and you’ll be going through a lot of rocky monster filled terrain. Be patient and recognize that clearing this area takes time.
Koftik will show up again, claiming his service to Iban and asking you to slay some dwarves in the area. You can find the three dwarves near the end of the cavern, and rather than slaying them they can give you some food, beer, and advice. Apparently, the dwarves have a witch ally named Kardia, and you can speak to her.
After finding Kardia’s house, you will hear her talking about her missing cat. The cat isn’t that hard to find, and once you do you will be able to sneak into her house and get some gear and background lore about Iban. A ritual using a doll, his body, blood, shadow, and a dead dove that brought him back to life. You need to undo the ritual to finally slay him.
You can burn Iban’s casket with the help of the dwarves, fight the giant spider Kalrag to obtain his blood, kill three demons to get Iban’s shadow, and then find the remains of the dead dove. After all four of these tasks are complete, you can finally take on Iban himself.
The Final Bossfight
After slaying a disciple and stealing their robes for a disguise, you can enter the temple of Iban, only to find the Iban recognizes you and knows what you are trying to do. He has no intention of letting you get near that well and starts attacking you.
Avoid his spells and weather his melee attacks until you are able to get close enough to the well and drop the doll in. Once you do this, Iban disappears into the darkness and the cavern begins to collapse, sending you and Iban’s staff into a cavern.
You will find Koftik again, free from Iban’s influence, and he will lead you out of the pass so you can tell King Lathas of your clearing of the pass. This starts the next quest, where you go through the pass to destroy his mad brother.
Underground Pass FAQ
Question: What Happens Next In The Story?
Answer: For the fourth quest, the player goes through the cleared underground pass to the land of Tirannwn. You can explore the new land and see all it has to offer, all while dodging new enemies and making new allies. You will need to make a bomb powerful enough to assassinate the king, carry it from Tirannwn to the underground pass, and then use a catapult to launch the bomb onto the Mad King’s Tent. Finally killing him and ending the threat… so you thought.
However, you do discover that in fact, King Lathas was the main villain and the one in league with the dark lord and that he had done a few other shady things. Including lying about the severity of a plague in the area and arresting anyone who sought the truth. After a few more quests, your adventurer gets to overthrow him once and for all in a large battle.
You learn more of the King’s motives for turning evil, as well as his plans before you watch him get executed in the town square for his crimes and misdeeds.
Question: Can I Explore The Underground Pass At My Leasure?
Answer: Sure, you’ll be heading around the underground pass several times anyway for the quests in that area, so feel free to explore. Just know that death in the past during the quest will force you to backtrack a bit, so it might be worthwhile to come back and see all the secrets of the past whenever you aren’t part of any quest.
There’s a lot to do and see, especially since you are exploring one of the largest areas in Runescape! Take it all in, have fun, and be patient with it all. It can get frustrating with all the powerful enemies, and in some cases, the largest level of the cavern has taken an hour or so to clear. Just take your time and don’t get too discouraged.
Question: Can I Complete This Quest At Low Level?
Answer: You can, but it’s not recommended. Even with safe spotting and other tricks, you will be facing some tough traps and even tougher monsters, which can be very dangerous if you aren’t prepared. Plus, with all the obstacles, you need to have that 40 agility to stand much of a chance. So don’t be afraid to wait a while and make sure you are at the highest level possible.
Plus, being pretty powerful as you take on a quest with such high stakes is a pretty cool way to take on this quest right?
Looking for more interesting readings? Check out:
- Black Mask OSRS Guide: Become A Slayer [2022]
- Stash Unit OSRS Guide: Store All Of Your Clues
- Wyrms OSRS Guide: All You Need To Know [2022]
- Zalcano OSRS Guide: Slaying The Imprisoned Demon - September 30, 2021
- Birdhouse OSRS Guide: What’s The Bird on The Street? - September 30, 2021
- Shield of Arrav OSRS Guide: Foiling a Grand Heist - September 30, 2021