Pest Control

**Pest Control** (often known simply as **PC**) is a co-operative  combat-based activity. Players must defend the Void Knight from an onslaught of monsters, while at the same time destroying the portals from which the monsters spawn.

The activity is played in the name of Guthix to retain balance in the world, which may be disrupted by an influx of monsters invading islands in the south of the world. It is run by an order of Guthix known as the Void Knights. Players board landers, which transport them to islands under invasion. The activity is divided into three landers; access to each lander is determined by combat level.

**This is a 'safe' activity.** Players who **die** keep their items, **respawn** on the lander, and can rejoin combat immediately. In addition, Hitpoints, Prayer points, special attack, and run energy are fully restored at the end of each game. All stats are restored to their normal levels at the end of each game, meaning stat boosts of various potions like Super sets do not carry over from game to game. This makes using these potions for Pest Control somewhat expensive, as each game will require a new dose from each potion.

## Requirements

### **Skills**

The only requirement to participate in a game of Pest Control is to have a combat level of 40 or above.

* To use the **novice** lander, a player must have a combat level of 40 or higher
* To use the **intermediate** lander, a player must have a combat level of 70 or higher
* To use the **veteran** lander, a player must have a combat level of 100 or higher.

### **Players**

A game of Pest Control can be played by 5 to 25 players. Anyone who wishes to play must board a lander. If the lander fills with 25 players, the game will begin automatically. Otherwise, players must wait 5 minutes after at least 5 players have boarded the lander for the game to begin.

Some players bring items to cast High Level Alchemy or Humidify while they wait for the landers to fill up.

### **Restrictions**

Pets are allowed on the island, but not on the landers or in the minigame itself. In addition, Dwarf multicannonsand Alchemy spells may not be used during the activity.

## Location

Pest Control is located on the Void Knights' Outpost, which is on one of the southernmost islands in the game. It can be accessed from the docks of Port Sarim south of the Lady Lumbridge (ship). Speak with the Squire and she will ask if you want to go to the Void Knights' Outpost. Alternatively, you can right-click the squire and select "Travel".

Another method is to speak to Merlin, located at the center of the home area. He will teleport you to Pest Control if you choose the Minigames --> Pest Control option.

## Winning

The rules for Pest Control are simple. There is one way to win the game:

1. Destroy all 4 portals before the Void Knight is killed. However, the Void Knight can easily be killed even in two minutes if left undefended, so a small number of players should defend him. Since players rarely organise themselves, it can be worth checking the Void Knight's status after each portal kill and switch to defence for a while if the knight is being swarmed or has less than half health. Each portal that is killed will give the void knight 50 hitpoints.

## Pests

Pests are the monsters that spawn out of portals to kill players and the Void Knight.

## Strategies

The best strategy is to make sure the gates stay closed as the players run through or past them. This helps keep the Void Knight safe. It is ok for 2-3 players to be at the Void Knight to help keep pests from attacking him, but the majority of the players should be following the portals as they open to destroy them as quickly as possible. Rangers, Halberdiers, and Magers can easily lure spinners away from the portals while the meleers are attacking and killing the portals.

Never stand in the middle of the front of the portal because this is where the pests spawn and you will trap spinners from being lured from the portal and also trap yourself. A great place for Dharokers to stand is at the back of the portal in the middle. When the portal dies, if any spinners are still alive, they will poison all those nearby, unless they are standing at the back of the portal nowhere near the spinner(s).

When at the portals, Spinners will spawn and begin repairing the portal. A Spinner makes a distinct sound when it starts healing the portal, notifying players of its presence. Generally, if there are a number of people attacking the portal, a single Spinner can be ignored, and the portal can still be easily destroyed. Once multiple Spinners spawn, however, the portal will be repaired quicker than players can damage it. Players will need to either kill or lure the Spinners away in order to be able to destroy the portal.

## Rewards

Winning players are rewarded with coins and commendation points.

Depending on the player's chosen difficulty level, they will gain a different number of commendation points upon winning a game:

* Novice Lander: 3 points per game won.
* Intermediate Lander: 4 points per game won.
* Veteran Lander: 5 points per game won.