Gargoyles are combat level 111 monsters located in the basement and top floor of the Slayer Tower, north-west of Canifis. They require level 75 slayer level to be harmed and the gargoyles in the basement can only be fought on a slayer task. Unlike normal enemies, and similar to a earlier slayer task enemy the rock slug, they cannot be defeated unless you have either a rockhammer, a rock thrownhammer or a granite hammer to deal the final blow once they are below 10 hp. Unless you have the gargoyle smasher perk, purchasable from Slayer masters for 120 Slayer points you will have to use your rock/ granite based weapon on the gargoyles to defeat them. In this guide I will cover best techniques for fighting them as a slayer task, and also cover their use a decent/ passive money maker.
Requirements
Not too many requirements other than 75 slayer and enough slayer points or gp to purchase the hammer items and gargoyle smasher perk mentioned in the introduction. A rockhammer is 500 gp from a slayer master and a similar price on the GE so need to use the other hammers unless you happen to have them anyway. Because of the slayer tower being located north-west of Canifis in Morytania you will also need to have completed the quest Priest in Peril to gain access to this area. For the best money making setup I'll be using Barrows equipment but Bandos equipment can also be used, so 22k/ hr repair costs will be needed. The slayer ring is the best teleportation method and it brings you directly to the front of the tower. If you want to use the Ectophial teleport to get to the tower then completion of the Ghosts Ahoy quest is required, alternatively partial completion of the Fairy Tale II quest for accessing fairy rings C.K.S being the closest. If you don't have or aren't willing to gain access to those two teleportation methods then there are a few tabs you can use such as: Kharyrll, Salve Graveyard or Fenkenstrain Castle teleports. 43 prayer for protection spells is optional. Combat recommendations are 80+ attack, strength and defence. For money making you should have magic 55 for the high level alchemy spell, this will maximise profits. 61 agility will give you access to the spike chain shortcut which leads you straight to the second floor of the slayer tower.
Gear and Setup
For this guide I will use Guthan the Infested's equipment obtainable from the barrows minigame, but as previously mentioned you can use any Barrows or Bandos armour. The set effect of Guthan's armour is health restorative so you should be able to remain at gargoyles for an extended period (you should still bring food as the effect doesn't always trigger). You can choose to have different armour then and weapon then switch to full Guthans to use its set effect, removing any one item will make the set not as good as other options so bring your best melee setup and switch it out if you wish. Lots of good food such as sharks is needed if not using the full set. You should also have the slayer helmet or nose peg to negate the effects of the aberrant spectres. Some nature and fire runes to cast high level alchemy on loot. Also have the rockhammer or other hammer mentioned in requirements in your inventory. For the necklace slot you should use the amulet of torture, or a fury/ glory are cheaper alternatives. Radas blessing gives good prayer bonus but any prayer bonus giving item is good for the ammo slot. Use the berserker ring in ring slot (imbued if possible), and barrows gloves or ferocious gloves in gloves spot. For boots, either primordial or dragon boots will suffice. Have some empty inventory slots for the drops. You could also bring a some combat potions and maybe 1 dose of stamina potion if you have low agility and thus can't use the agility shortcut.
How to slay Gargoyles
If you arrive outside the slayer tower just enter it via the front entrance, if you wish to fight gargoyles for a slayer task in the basement then just run north until you reach a ladder, go down it and you will find gargoyles in the north-east of the basement. To fight them on the roof and if you have 61 agility just run around in a north-west direction until you reach the chain which will take you there, otherwise once you reach the chain just run around the entire ground floor in a clockwise direction, watching out for aberrant spectres so make sure you have the slayer helm or nose peg equipped, eventually in the south-east of the ground floor you will come to some stairs climb up those. In the second floor you should run counter clockwise around until you reach a brown door, go through them, go up the stairs to your south-west and run east to the gargoyles. When you come up via the chain (making sure you have either the slayer helm or nose peg equipped) you will see a staircase immediately to your south-west (the same as the ones from the longer method). Climb up the stairs then run east to find the gargoyles. If you have 71 agility there is another spiked chain agility shortcut available on the second floor in the infernal mage room, this will take you to the top floor closer to the gargoyle location, this can also be used in reverse with level 61 agility to return to the ground floor. All agility challenges can be boosted if need be although this should be planned out correctly beforehand to maximise gear and inventory space.
Fighting gargoyles is relatively straightforward, as mentioned when it gets below10hp you must use the hammer you bought with you on it unless you have the gargoyle smasher perk which will do it for you automatically. They are weak to crush style attacks so you use pound if using Guthan's warspear or any crush style attack on your alternative weapon. It's worth knowing that gargoyles can't be cannoned and you will be prevented from doing so.You should gain around 10k slayer xp/hr and around 37k total melee xp. Depending on your combat skill levels and general efficiency you can expect to earn around 300k gp an hour assuming 85 kills an hour, although this will vary quite a lot based on drop frequencies. The higher value drops, granite maul and mystic robe top (dark) can both be high alched as the price is very close to trading price, other drops such as the various items of rune armour can be alched also, though you should check the price difference isn't too great. It drops the following runes: fire (75 or 150), chaos (30) and death (15), these should be kept as they are stackable so don't take up much space. Other good drops include, steel, gold and mithril bars aswell as gold and runite ores, although the best drop will be its coin drops ranging from 400 up to 10k gp with a high to uncommon chance of all. Only leave if you need food or wish to move on to other methods, using Guthans should allow you to stay there a very long time if used correctly, although due to the random nature of the sets effect you could eventually get unlucky enough to have to leave. Just bank and return via the aforementioned methods if you do. Because this is high level slayer/ combat you shouldn't expect to see many other players too often, especially in the roof where it isn't usable by those specifically fighting gargoyles for the slayer task.