OSRS Shellbane Gryphon Guide: 51 Slayer, 40kg Rule & Drops

Overview: Shellbane Gryphon at a Glance

The Shellbane Gryphon is the boss version of gryphons, added with Sailing on 19 November 2025. To fight it you need 51 Slayer, Troubled Tortugans completed and a gryphon task, and it lives in a solo instance in the cave at the centre of the Great Conch, just north of fairy ring CJQ.

Three rules decide the kill. Wear the tortugan shield, which sits in your cape slot and lets Protect from Melee block its melee hits completely. Keep at least 40 kg of equipped weight. That counters its knockback (up to 30 unavoidable damage) and makes it favour its other two special attacks. Step one tile after every attack so its whirlwinds never stack, because a full five-stack bursts across the whole cave.

Use melee. It is primarily weak to melee, its lowest defence bonus is stab at +10, and the wiki recommends 65 Attack and 65 Strength with Protect from Melee held for the whole fight. Magic technically works through its 50% air weakness, but one of its special attacks makes it impractical.

Access Requirements

• 51 Slayer to damage it. Each kill gives 400 Slayer XP.
• Troubled Tortugans, which needs 51 Slayer, 48 Construction, 45 Sailing, 45 Hunter, 40 Woodcutting, 34 Crafting and Pandemonium to start. The quest is what opens the Great Conch.
• A gryphon task. Vannaka, Chaeldar and Mortimer hand out gryphons once the quest is done. Nieve and Duradel only do so after you buy Wings Spread for 80 Slayer points, though they can give the Shellbane Gryphon as a boss task without it. Konar can also pick it when she assigns a boss task.
• The only off-task kill is the elite clue step that asks you to kill it, and that allows one kill.

The 45 Sailing for the quest is usually the slowest part for older accounts. Our Sailing guide covers the early levels, and the boss requirements checklist lists the other Slayer boss gates by group.

Location and How to Get There

The Shellbane Gryphon is in its own cave in the centre of the Great Conch. Elder Nama stands at the entrance and keeps a scoreboard.

Fairy ring CJQ is the fastest route: arrive and run north to the cave. Without fairy rings, take a charter ship to the Great Conch. The fight is a solo instance, and once your task is finished the gryphon stops respawning, so you cannot keep farming it after the last kill.

Recommended Combat Stats and Gear

• Tortugan shield in the cape slot. You get one free during Troubled Tortugans, and a replacement costs 2,500 coins at Elder Blunn's Spear and Shield Stall. Without it, its melee hits go through Protect from Melee.
• At least 40 kg of equipped weight. A black mask weighs 7.733 kg more than a Slayer helmet, which frees weight for a lighter weapon. Without a black mask, a dragonfire shield is the usual way to add weight.
• A melee weapon, best first: the wiki ranks the Scythe of Vitur and Soulreaper axe at the top and the dragon scimitar at the bottom.

Inventory and Supplies

• Food, or a Saradomin godsword for healing. Low-level players can use a knife on the watermelon drops.
• Divine super combat or super combat potions, plus prayer potions for Protect from Melee.
• A special attack weapon such as a dragon dagger.
• A rune pouch and Book of the Dead for thralls, which work here. A cannon does not: it is immune.
• A bracelet of slaughter, herb sack and bonecrusher if you have them.
• A teleport to house tablet or Construction cape for the trip out.

Mechanics: Attack Styles, Max Hits and Immunities

Where Shellbane Gryphon Sits in Progression

Within the Slayer boss group, the fights below Shellbane Gryphon are Kraken and Thermonuclear Smoke Devil. Above it sit Araxxor and Abyssal Sire.

Fight Strategy: Weight, Whirlwinds and Spit

1. 1

   Before entering, check your equipped weight is 40 kg or more.

   The equipment stats screen adds your inventory to the total, so count worn items only.

2. 2

   Turn on Protect from Melee (and Piety) and attack.

   With the tortugan shield on, its melee does no damage through prayer.

3. 3

   Move one tile after every attack.

   A whirlwind forms on your tile every 3 ticks, up to five, and they merge into a bigger one if you stand still.

4. 4

   When it spits an orange blob, step one tile off that spot.

   If it lands it corrodes your armour and deals 3 to 12 damage six times over 32 ticks. Quickly unequipping everything stops it.

5. 5

   When your weight negates a knockback, the gryphon is stunned for 2 ticks.

   Attack it in that window to push it back a tile and get a free hit. If you don't, the game says 'The gryphon regains its focus and strikes!' and you are thrown anyway.

Whirlwinds start hurting 6 ticks after the last one forms and burst about 15 seconds later. When you counter a knockback the gryphon moves a tile, so check you are not shoving yourself into a whirlwind you left behind.

Drops and What Shellbane Gryphon Is Worth

The drop people farm it for is Belle's folly (tarnished). Take it to the polishing wheel in the Giants' Foundry with 70 Smithing and Sleeping Giants done and it becomes Belle's folly, a tradeable one-handed stab weapon that needs 65 Attack. The other collection log slots are the Jar of Feathers and the Gull pet.

Every kill also drops big bones and 7 to 10 gryphon feathers. Long bones, rune weapons and cannonballs, herbs and seeds fill the rest of the table, and Konar tasks add brimstone keys.

Combat Achievements

There are seven Shellbane Gryphon tasks. The weight rule is the point of the hardest one.

Combat Achievements guide

Ironman Notes

Gryphon tasks come from Vannaka, Chaeldar and Mortimer, and from Nieve and Duradel after Wings Spread. Konar can give the Shellbane Gryphon only as a boss task. Each kill is 400 Slayer XP.

Belle's folly is tradeable, so a main can buy it. An ironman needs the tarnished drop and the Giants' Foundry polish, which means 70 Smithing and Sleeping Giants are part of the plan before the drop is useful.

Common Mistakes and Death Causes

• Leaving the tortugan shield in the bank, so its melee hits through Protect from Melee.
• Reading weight from the equipment stats screen, which includes your inventory, and walking in under 40 kg equipped.
• Standing still for two or three attacks and letting whirlwinds stack.
• Staying on the tile the corrosive spit was aimed at.
• Not attacking during the 2-tick stun after a negated knockback.
• Arriving without a gryphon task. It will not respawn after the task ends.
• Setting up a cannon it is immune to.

FAQ

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