The Black Mask is a unique piece of head slot gear that will give you great stats against the slayer monsters you are assigned to kill. It comes as the second best-in-slot after the slayer helmet for melee, and the imbued black mask is the second best-in-slot after the imbued slayer helmet for range, magic, and melee. This mask not only shares the same statistics as the black med helm but also significantly enhances your capabilities in combat.
When engaged in a Slayer task, the mask will boost your Attack and Strength by 16.67 percent, making it an excellent asset for killing the assigned monsters. To wear this mask, you should have attained 20 Strength, 10 Defence, and a Combat level of 40.
Black Mask 10 OSRS
The Black Mask possesses a charged passive ability, which can be advantageous in combat. When charged, the mask can reduce an attacking monster's Defence by 2 plus 7 percent, rounded down. This effect consumes one charge each time it is activated. However, certain conditions must be met for this ability to take effect. The monster must have initiated an attack against you, be within a range of 10 tiles, possess at least 50 percent of its health, and should have yet to experience a reduction in defence. If you aim to preserve your charges, you should stay in a safespot for 10 minutes before engaging in combat with the monsters so they lose their agro on you beforehand.
You should know that each relevant attack has a 10% chance to activate its special effect when using the Black Mask. If this initial chance is successful, the effect's activation depends on comparing your magic accuracy and the NPC's magic defence.
It's important to note that the Black Mask has limited charges—specifically, 10. Once these charges are fully expended, no replenishment method is available. However, you can take comfort in knowing that even without these charges, the mask will continue to provide valuable Attack and Strength boosts. This means that you should not worry about the charges on the mask since it remains a beneficial item for your Slayer tasks long after its unique ability has been used, and it won’t affect your ability to use the black mask to create the Slayer helm.
How to Get the OSRS Black Mask Imbued
You can also upgrade the Black Mask by imbuing it into a Black Mask (i). This can be done by investing 1,250,000 Nightmare Zone points, 500 Soul Wars Zeal Tokens, or acquiring a Scroll of Imbuing with 200 PvP Arena points. The Nightmare zone imbue is the most common AFK method, while the PvP arena is the fastest. Upon imbuing, the Black Mask retains its melee boost and gains a 15 percent increase in Ranged and Magic accuracy and damage. This makes it more versatile and powerful since you can use it with any attack style.
If you choose to imbue a black mask that already has charges, the imbued version will inherit the same number of charges as the original. However, it is important to note that the imbued mask will deplete its charges like the unimbued version. While the enhanced mask offers greater benefits, it retains the limitation of finite charges, which you should consider while planning your combat strategies.
Does Black Mask Work for Range OSRS
In OSRS, the Black Mask is primarily designed to boost your melee skills, particularly during Slayer tasks. When worn, it significantly boosts your Attack and Strength stats, but only when engaging in melee combat against monsters assigned to you in Slayer tasks. This makes the mask a highly used item if you’re focusing on training your Melee alongside Slayer. To train your melee skills, you must wield a melee weapon such as the dragon scimitar or the abyssal whip, and the rest of the gear will not dictate what you are training but how efficient you are at it.
However, if you are a player who wants to train Range while doing Slayer combat, it's important to note that the standard black mask does not offer any bonuses for Ranged or Magic attacks. This limitation means that while the mask is highly effective for Melee combat, it does not enhance Ranged or Magic attacks in its basic form.
For Ranged, you should get the Black Mask (i). Once imbued, the Black Mask (i) extends its benefits to include a 15 percent boost in accuracy and damage for Ranged and Magic attacks, in addition to the existing Melee boosts. However, if you don’t own better equipment for the head slot as an early ironman, you should take the Black Mask.
How to Get Black Mask OSRS
You must first meet a specific set of requirements to obtain a Black mask. The primary requirement is achieving a Slayer level of at least 58. This is non-negotiable since you cannot kill Cave horrors who drop the black mask without this level of Slayer. Additionally, completing the quest Cabin Fever is another must, as it grants you access to Mos Le'Harmless, the only place with Cave horror spawns. Also, ensure you have decent combat equipment and a decent combat level with at least 70 Defence and Magic since Magic is the most efficient way to face these monsters. Alternatively, 50 Range and 70 Defence is another good start to farming cave horrors.
Once you meet these requirements, travel to Mos Le'Harmless. The fastest way to get here is by using a Mos Le’Harmless teleport scroll, which you can only obtain from clue scroll reward caskets as an ironman, or via the GE as a regular account, which you can store in your master teleport scroll book. You can access this island by other means, such as using the charter ships in several ports.
Take a stamina pot with you, as regardless of the teleport you use, you will have to run quite a long way to arrive at the cave entrance. Also, make sure to have plenty of prayer pots with you. Upon arrival, prepare yourself for combat, remembering that Cave horrors are known for their strong melee attacks and ability to inflict fear, which can temporarily stun you.
Take a light source in your inventory as these caves are dark, and navigating them without one is nearly impossible unless you have completed the Making Friends with My Arm quest and have lit the eternal fire inside this cave. Also, bring enough food and Prayer potions to sustain yourself for a more extended period, especially since you may find that using protective prayers can significantly reduce the damage you take, making the task more manageable. This is why it is crucial to have at least level 43 prayer to use the protect from melee prayer. Otherwise, bring a Witchwood icon in your neck slot.
You can fight cave horrors on task and without a task once you reach level 58 Slayer, but they are only assigned by Chaeldar, Duradel, and Nieve/ Steve.
OSRS Black Mask Drop Rate
The Black mask has a 1 in 512 drop rate from Cave Horrors and their superior variant, whom you will only meet while on a Slayer task, cave abomination. This means that, on average, one out of every 512 Cave horrors defeated will yield a black mask. However, it's crucial to remember that this is a statistical average, and the experience can vary significantly. Some players might obtain the mask after only a few kills, while others might need to defeat significantly more than 512 Cave horrors.
The time it takes to defeat each Cave horror will depend on your combat level, equipment, and strategy. It takes about 30 seconds to find and defeat each Cave horror. This includes the time for combat and any minimal downtime between fights.
Given that the drop rate is 1 in 512, and it takes approximately 30 seconds per Cave horror, the total time for 512 kills would be 512 * 30 seconds. It would take approximately 4.27 hours to defeat 512 Cave horrors, assuming an average of 30 seconds per kill. This is the estimated time you might need to spend to have a statistically average chance of obtaining the black mask, given its 1 in 512 drop rate. Depending on your prayer level, you must make several trips to the bank to restock, adding a bit to the total time needed.
However, it's important to remember that this is a statistical estimation, and the experience can vary widely. Luck plays a significant role in such drop rates, and you could obtain the mask much quicker or take longer. With each Cave horror you defeat, you are one step closer to potentially obtaining the Black mask.
OSRS Black Mask Price
Regarding the market price of the Black mask, it's important to note that it can fluctuate based on various in-game economic factors, such as supply and demand. Generally, the Black mask is considered valuable due to its utility in Slayer tasks and its role in crafting the Slayer helmet. These factors often keep its price relatively high (approximately 700k) in the Grand Exchange, the game's central marketplace. However, you should consult the Grand Exchange for a more accurate estimate.
In Ironman mode, the dynamics change considerably. As an Ironman, you are restricted from trading with other players, which means you cannot buy the Black mask from the Grand Exchange or other players. Instead, you must obtain it through gameplay, specifically by defeating Cave horrors. For Ironman players, this not only adds a layer of challenge but also makes the pursuit of the Black mask a more integral part of the game experience.
Killing Cave Horrors could even be considered a money-making strategy, but there are a few aspects to consider. The primary source of income from this activity would be the rare drop of the Black mask itself. Given its relatively high value and the 1 in 512 drop rate, it can be a significant windfall when it does drop. However, balancing this against the time and resources you expend, such as combat gear, food, and potions, is essential.
For regular players, it can be a somewhat profitable activity if you can kill Cave horrors efficiently and have the luck of obtaining a Black mask early on. However, the variable nature of drop rates means this is only sometimes a consistent or reliable source of income.
OSRS Black Mask Uses
The Black Mask is not only a valuable item for its combat boosting during Slayer tasks but also serves as a fundamental component in crafting various versions of the Slayer helmet. The standard Slayer helmet, known for its combined defensive attributes and special effects against Slayer task monsters, requires a black mask as one of its core ingredients.
These purely cosmetic variations offer the same bonuses as the standard helmet but allow you to customize your appearance. Each colored helmet requires a basic Slayer helmet and a corresponding colored item such as an Abyssal head, Kalphite queen head, or a specific tier of combat achievement. Since each of these colored variations requires a separate standard Slayer helmet, and each standard helmet requires one black mask, the number of black masks needed equals the number of colored helmets you wish to craft.
They include red, green, blue, black, purple, turquoise, and a twisted version. In total, there are 10 colored Slayer helmets you can get, and therefore, you would need eleven black masks for all of the colored versions and the standard one if collecting them is something you want.
You will also need an extra black mask for your POH combat dummy since you need to use one on the dummy to upgrade it to its fullest potential. This allows it to simulate the effects of Slayer tasks, thereby providing a more realistic training experience. This upgrade requires one imbued black mask or an imbued Slayer helmet. So, if you wish to craft all the available colored Slayer helmets and upgrade your POH dummy, you would need a minimum of twelve black masks.
Conclusion
Even though the Black Mask and the Imbued Black Masks are significant account milestones, they are just the stepping stone towards the even better Slayer piece of equipment, the Slayer Helm or Imbued Slayer Helm. This is why after you obtain your Black Mask, you should rush towards achieving the requirements for the Slayer Helmet, including the points needed to unlock the Malevolent Masquerade Slayer perk that gives you the ability to create it as well as the Crafting level since obtaining all of the other items needed for the Slayer helm is cheap and effortless.
