Skeleton brute

The skeleton brute can be found in the Ancient Cavern, which is accessible from the Baxtorian Falls after progressing the firemaking section of Barbarian Training.

Like other undead, they are susceptible to the effects of the salve amulet and its variants, as well as the Crumble Undead spell.

The skeleton brute, along with various other spirits and undead in the ancient cavern, notably drop the mithril grapple, yew shortbow, and rune scimitar uncommonly. Ironman accounts looking to receive these upgrades without the required skills may find the skeleton brute to be the easiest to kill due to its lower health and weakness to the salve amulet and the Crumble Undead spell. This is highly dangerous even with the needed protection prayers, antifire protection, and a moderate Hitpoints level.

A single spawn of the skeleton brute can be found in the south-west of the cavern, near the staircase leading up. This area is mostly safe from the nearest brutal green dragon, but also contains barbarian spirits that may interfere. However, at the top of this staircase, NPC aggression will not reset so long as the player doesn't run further past the stairs. So, for low-level ironmen seeking the brute's drops:

1. Travel to the Ancient Cavern with a salve amulet, maximum melee gear, and fill the rest of your equip slots with prayer-boosting equipment like monk's robes. Bring an anti-dragon shield, an emergency teleport, and a few pieces of your best food in your inventory. Do NOT attempt this below ~30 hitpoints, as it will have a high risk even with dragonfire protection and prayers.
2. Upon entering the dungeon, equip an anti-dragon shield and turn on Protect from Magic. Run straight to the south-west staircase, eating as needed, and climb the stairs. Do not run any further after climbing.
3. Turn off prayers and simply stand here at the top of the stairs for ten full minutes.
4. Turn on Protect from Melee with the shield still equipped for safety, then climb down the stairs to test whether the brute and the nearest barbarian spirit remain aggressive. They shouldn't be, but if they are, you can climb back up the stairs for safety. Knowledge of aggression mechanics helps with this process, as do third-party game client plugins that display tolerance zones.
5. If aggression has fallen off, it will remain off as long as the player stays near the brute spawn and the staircase (DO NOT run up near the brutal green dragon). At this point, you may safely turn off prayers and simply flick Protect from Melee on the brute to extend trips indefinitely. You may also equip a more useful off-hand like a defender.
6. After aggression has fallen off, players using ranged or magic can safespot from this line without the use of prayers, provided their weapon/attack style allows them to hit from this distance. An example in the image is using a bone crossbow at long-range.

The following drop rates are provided by Jagex, unless otherwise specified.

The average Skeleton brute kill is worth 641.95.

There is a 5/128 chance of rolling the herb drop table.

There is a 2/128 chance of rolling the gem drop table.

• Skeleton brute seems to be wielding rune claws in its left hand, however it attacks with its fist. Also its whole metal armour appears to be made of runite.