OSRS Blowpipe vs Venator Bow: Ranged Slayer 70-99 Guide

Game screenshots and facts are cited from the Old School RuneScape Wiki (strategy, equipment, drops, and related pages). Writing is original editorial, not a copy of the wiki article.

The 70–99 Ranged grind through Slayer is one of the most satisfying long-term projects in Old School RuneScape. Done well, it combines combat XP, Slayer XP, drops, and task variety without the monotony of Nightmare Zone. Two ranged weapons dominate this stage: the toxic blowpipe, the rapid-fire single-target monster slayer, and the venator bow, the multi-target bouncing specialist. This guide compares their mechanics, hourly supply costs, best Slayer tasks, and realistic time-to-goal, so you can choose the right setup for your bank and play style.

The blowpipe has been the default answer for high-DPS ranged PvM for years. The venator bow, introduced with Desert Treasure II, added an interesting alternative for crowded multi-combat tasks. Each has a distinct role, and mixing them often yields the best results. Below we break down requirements, numbers, and the honest trade-offs between speed, attention, and gp.

Requirements and Setup

Before comparing performance, make sure your account can actually equip both weapons. The requirements are close, but the resource chains are different.

If you are a main account, buying the blowpipe and scales is straightforward. Iron accounts will need to grind Zulrah for scales and fletch darts. The venator bow requires completing Desert Treasure II and collecting shards, making it a much later-game unlock for most players.

Toxic Blowpipe Mechanics and Special Attack

The toxic blowpipe's defining feature is raw attack speed. On rapid, it fires every two ticks (1.2 seconds), which is twice as fast as most ranged weapons. That speed comes with a supply cost: every shot uses Zulrah's scales and a dart, though there is a 1/3 chance not to consume a scale per shot. On average you use two scales for every three shots. The blowpipe also has a 25% chance to inflict venom on an opponent with each attack; wearing a serpentine helm raises this to 100% against NPCs, adding passive damage to many Slayer tasks.

The special attack, Toxic Siphon, costs 50% special energy and is a huge sustainability tool. It increases accuracy by 100% and damage by 50%, and heals the user by half of the damage dealt, rounded down. This can save a lot of food on tasks like Lizardman shamans or Vorkath, and it often shortens kill times. The heal is calculated on the pre-mitigation hit, so it still works if the target dies from the special.

Charging the blowpipe requires scales and darts. A fully charged blowpipe can hold 16,383 scales and 16,383 darts, and lasts over eight hours of non-stop rapid fire. You can configure charges in the bank to avoid overpaying. Unlike many ranged weapons, if the blowpipe is protected on death, all scale and dart charges are kept, which is useful in the Wilderness.

Venator Bow Mechanics and Bouncing Passive

The venator bow is nearly the opposite of the blowpipe: slower but much more accurate, and its real power only shows in multi-combat areas. On rapid, it attacks every four ticks (2.4 seconds), and has +90 Ranged attack compared to the blowpipe's +30. The bow can fire any arrows, so high-tier ammunition like dragon or amethyst arrows will significantly boost damage.

To unlock the passive effect, you must charge the bow with ancient essence. When charged and attacking in a multicombat area, each shot can bounce to up to two other nearby monsters. Accuracy rolls independently for each bounce, and the second and third hits have max hits equal to two-thirds of the original max hit, rounded down. That means one shot can hit three targets, effectively tripling your damage output when monsters are stacked.

The uncharged bow still functions as a regular shortbow-style weapon with the same stats, so you can save ancient essence on single-target tasks and only charge it when you plan to camp dust devils or abyssal demons. Ancient essence is obtained from Desert Treasure II bosses and is tradeable, so mains can buy it on the GE.

Damage, Accuracy, and Target Selection

Choosing between the two often comes down to how many monsters you can reliably attack at once. The blowpipe is unmatched when you are focusing a single high-priority target: its two-tick attack speed means more hits per minute, more chances to proc venom, and faster special attack cycles. On tasks like wyrms, drakes, aviansies, or lizardman shamans, the blowpipe will almost always beat the venator bow because the bow's bounce never activates in single-way combat.

The venator bow shines on tasks where multiple monsters can be tagged in a multicombat zone. When the bounce can hit two extra targets, the effective DPS per shot can exceed the blowpipe despite the slower speed. The bow's high accuracy also helps against higher-defence slayer monsters, reducing the number of zero hits. The wiki's recommended equipment lists place the venator bow as rank 1 for many multi-target Slayer tasks, including dust devils, abyssal demons, jellies, and suqah in the north.

Cost Comparison and Supply Planning

Both weapons have ongoing supply costs, but the scale and dart economy of the blowpipe is the most important number to understand. The wiki lists the following hourly costs for the toxic blowpipe on rapid, assuming 3,000 shots per hour and an Ava's device to recover some darts:

These figures include the cost of Zulrah's scales and the darts themselves, with recovery from Ava's devices already accounted for. Most players use adamant darts as a sweet spot: they are cheap enough for AFK Slayer and still add meaningful Ranged strength over mithril darts. If you have a large bank, amethyst darts are a small DPS upgrade and often cost less per hour than rune darts due to dart prices.

The venator bow's hourly cost is harder to pin down because it depends on the current prices of ancient essence and the arrows you choose. The research pack for this guide did not include a specific cost-per-hour table for the venator bow, so you should verify current ancient essence and arrow costs on the wiki before committing. In general, using amethyst or rune arrows with the venator bow tends to be cheaper than blowpipe darts per shot, but the slower attack speed and multi-target bounce change the math. If the bounce hits three targets, the cost per damage dealt can be very efficient.

Slayer Tasks and Training Styles

The best training style depends on your attention level and bank. Efficient players who want max XP per hour often use the blowpipe on single-target tasks and the venator bow on multi-target tasks, switching based on the task. AFK players may prefer the venator bow almost everywhere it can bounce, because you can click once and let the arrows hit multiple monsters while you watch a series.

Venator bow tasks

• Dust devils – multicombat, stacked in the Catacombs; passive bounce shines.
• Abyssal demons – great in the Catacombs or Slayer Tower; bow can hit multiple.
• Jellies – low defence, multi-target, easy AFK.
• Suqah (north) – multicombat area with multiple spawns; good bounce potential.
• Custodian stalkers – multi-target task listed for venator bow in recommended equipment.

Blowpipe tasks

• Wyrms – single-target and often safe-spotted; high DPS matters.
• Drakes – blowpipe is recommended for ranged setups.
• Aviansies – low defence and fast kills with blowpipe.
• Lizardman shamans – blowpipe special attack and venom help reduce damage taken.
• Demonic gorillas – high defence but blowpipe is still a strong ranged option.

Many players combine the two: use venator bow on clustered tasks, then switch to blowpipe for boss tasks or single-target monsters. The blowpipe's special attack is also valuable for healing during long slayer sessions, even if you mainly use the venator bow for AoE.

Realistic Time to 70–99 Ranged and XP Expectations

From level 70 to 99 Ranged you need roughly 12.3 million XP. How long that takes is entirely dependent on your method, attention, and task list. The wiki does not provide a single universal XP rate for these weapons on Slayer because task assignments vary so much. Instead, track your own XP per hour with RuneLite over several sessions.

As a rough planning guide, efficient multi-target Slayer with the venator bow can feel similar to burst tasks like dust devils or nechryael, potentially pushing well past 100k Ranged XP per hour when spawns are good. Blowpipe-only single-target Slayer tends to be a step below that, often in the 50k–90k XP/hour range depending on task speed and banked supplies, but it also brings in more Slayer XP and task-specific drops. These are observations from community tracking, not official rates; always test your own setup.

Common Mistakes and Optimization Tips

• Using dragon darts for ordinary Slayer. Dragon darts more than double your hourly cost with only a modest DPS increase over amethyst darts. Save them for bossing or speed runs.
• Not using the blowpipe special attack. Toxic Siphon is free healing if you have special energy. Use it on cooldown against dangerous tasks.
• Using the venator bow in single-way combat. The bow loses its passive and becomes a mediocre 4-tick weapon. Switch to blowpipe or a crossbow for single targets.
• Forgetting to charge the venator bow with ancient essence. Without essence, no bounce. Check your charge before multi-target tasks.
• Not picking up ammo or using Ava's devices. The accumulator/assembler saves darts on the blowpipe; with the venator bow, arrows are recoverable too. Not using them wastes money.
• Never uncharging the blowpipe. If you take a break, uncharge it to recover scales and darts so you can sell them or use elsewhere.

Buying Gold or a Service as an Honest Shortcut

Both the blowpipe and venator bow have significant upfront and ongoing costs. A fully charged blowpipe with adamant darts costs over 300k per hour in supplies, and a venator bow plus ancient essence and arrows is not free either. For players who value time over grinding gp, buying OSRS gold from a marketplace can be a practical way to keep the supplies flowing without spending hours at money-making alt methods. Some players also choose an account boosting service to handle the 70–99 ranged grind itself, but that is a personal choice and not for everyone.

If you go the gold route, always trade safely, use a reputable marketplace, and never share account details unless you understand the risks. No guide or marketplace can guarantee account security, and you should follow Jagex's rules. You can check current rates below.

View live gold rates

Next Steps

Decide which Slayer tasks you actually enjoy and build your weapon setup around them. If you like AFK multi-combat, unlock the venator bow and stock ancient essence. If you prefer active single-target DPS, keep the blowpipe fed with scales and adamant darts. Most players will benefit from owning both and switching by task. Track your XP per hour, compare the costs from the table above, and adjust your dart tier to fit your bank. When the grind feels slow, remember that consistent daily Slayer sessions will get you to 99 Ranged with a huge stack of Slayer XP and loot along the way.

For more in-depth mechanics and community-tested rates, visit the Toxic blowpipe and Venator bow pages on the OSRS Wiki.

Sources

• Toxic blowpipe - OSRS Wiki
• Venator bow - OSRS Wiki
• Toxic blowpipe detail.png - OSRS Wiki
• Toxic Siphon.gif - OSRS Wiki
• Venator bow detail.png - OSRS Wiki