The Kalphite Queen, as it appears on an exhibit in the Varrock Museum.
The Kalphite Queen (Kalphiscarabeinae Pasha), also called the KQ, is the 15thhighest level monster in all of RuneScape (14th highest level monster fought by conventional means, as the Spirit Beast cannot be fought conventionally), and is the seventh highest level monster that is neither quest or activity related.
The Kalphite Queen is famous for dropping the moderately valuable Dragon chainbody armour (having a Grand Exchange price of Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[". coins), and is the only monster besides the Dust Devil to do so. The Dragon chainbody can also be received from a high-level Barbarian Assault gamble. Both of these other methods are very rare, however, with odds rumoured to be approximately 1:10,000 for each. Many players also hunt for the Kalphite Queen head for their skill hall.
Despite being a lower level than some of the more recent bosses, the Kalphite Queen is still one of the toughest monsters in RuneScape. She can inflict incredible amounts of damage, sometimes constantly. It is recommended for players to only bring items into the hive they are willing to lose.
Nowadays, a combination of factors (such as the release of God Wars Dungeon bosses and the Corporeal Beast, as well as the devaluation of the Kalphite Queen's drops) have made hunting the Kalphite Queen a less appealing activity. However, it is still hunted by those on a Sumona's Slayer challenge or those just wishing for the experience of killing it.
The addition of various options to the Quick Chat menu has allowed players a convenient method of communicating when organising and undertaking a Kalphite Queen attack.
The Kalphite Queen resides within the Kalphite Hive. There are several ways to get there.
Shantay Pass
One way involves the player finding their way through the Kharidian Desert. The easiest way to do this is from the Shantay Pass. The Shantay Pass is located south of Al Kharid. To go through the pass, the player will simply need to click on the entrance.
The hive's entrance is due west of the Shantay Pass and is really a short run. Players who are lucky and fast may get to the hive before being affected by the Desert heat. Players may instead sacrifice an inventory space and bring a Waterskin to beat the heat.
Dorgesh-Kaan
Another way requires players to have completed the Death to the Dorgeshuun quest, so that they can access Dorgesh-Kaan'ssouthern agility course and thus the Dorgesh-Kaan South Dungeon below the course. In the dungeon a tunnel connects to the upper level of Kalphite Hive, in a cave with many Kalphite workers.
Players should take Light sources for the Dorgesh-Kaan South Dungeon or else they will constantly be attacked by stinging insects in the dark.
Fairy Rings
A third way requires partial completion of the Fairy Tale II - Cure a Queen quest, so that players can use the Fairy ring network. Ring code BIQ is quite close to the hive's entrance and is the fastest way to get there. Typically, players can run from the ring to the entrance without being in the desert long enough to be affected by desert heat. This method will take up an inventory spot to carry a Dramen staff or Lunar staff, unless Fairy Tale III - Orks Rift has been completed.
Do No Evil shortcut
While it is believed that one of the rewards from the Do No Evil quest allows access to Kalphite Queen through a hidden passage, this is not the case. The shortcut is a one way exit "from" the queen's lair, and no longer an entrance. Players attempting to reach the queen in this fashion will receive the message,"The sides of this hole are too steep to climb up." In addition, the examine text of the passage on the end where Ayuni is fought during the quest states, "A cavernous hole. It looks like the passage within is too steep to climb back up."
Accessing the hive
Players entering the hive from the surface entrance will need two ropes, unless coming from the cave entrance, one to enter the upper level of the hive and another to enter the lower level where the queen is found. Both ropes will be used up in the process. Players entering the hive from the Dorgesh-Kaan South Dungeon only need one rope, to enter the lower level where the Queen resides. Players entering through the secret passage will not need any ropes.
Ropes are only needed for the first time. Subsequent trips will NOT need more ropes
The Kalphite Queen's abilities
The queen's lair.
The Kalphite Queen has two forms, each one having a high combat level of 333 and exactly 2,550 life points, so she should be treated as two monsters. Her first form resembles an immense scarab beetle, and her second form resembles a giant wasp. While each form has the same combat level and life points, the second form has proven itself to be much harder to defeat than the first one.
An excerpt from the Jagex Game Guide stated, "While the Queen does not pray to any gods, she is naturally immune to certain forms of attack. In her first form she is immune to Magic and Ranged attacks, and will happily eat any adventurer foolish enough to try."
Contrary to popular belief, her prayers do not fully protect her from what she is protecting against. They just make those attacks much less accurate.
In her first form she uses protect from magic and protect from ranged, making ranged and magic attacks impractical against her first form. However, it is still possible to hit with these attack styles since her prayers do not offer 100% protection, rather it just grants her extraordinary defence against them. She uses all three combat styles, each with a max hit of 314.
The Kalphite Queen transforms into her second form.
Once the first form is defeated, the second form appears. This form uses protect from melee, but still uses the same attack styles with the same max hit. In this form she also starts to summon level 28 Kalphite Workers. As supplies will have been consumed and as melee attacks become less effective, the second form will be more difficult to defeat than the first form.
Luckily her attacks are somewhat predictable: whenever she uses a ranged or magic attack she usually continues it for 3-4 hits. This makes a prayer switch partially effective, as there is a good chance she repeats the same attack style after a few hits before switching to another. Note that this is only for her ranged and magic attack.
WARNING: Her magic and ranged attacks have a 100% accuracy, meaning that she will always hit with these styles. Armour does not prevent this but prayers can block all damage as usual. Her melee attacks on the other hand are normal so armour can respond to it.
NOTE:: Due to the Kalphite Queen's attacks, she is almost as dangerous as Nex due to her 100% hits that will almost always hit above 200. Overconfident players will find themselves easily killed because of this, and so, she must be dealt with much more carefully than the GWD bosses.
Her ranged and magic attacks also have the ability to bounce to other players, meaning that she can damage all players inside the room with one attack. These attacks cannot turn corners however. Her ranged attack also cannot go through herself.
She is immune to leech curses and will destroy dwarf multicannons set up in the room. If you use leech curses, your stats will still be boosted, and you will still get a message telling you that the enemy's stats have been drained.
Zenevivia and the Wise Old Man fight the Kalphite Queen.When the Kalphite Queen was first released, she only used two attack styles: magic and melee. Players with the protect from magic prayer and a halberd or ranged attack could kill her in both forms without taking any damage if the Guardians did not attack the player, making it possible to achieve many kills in one trip. Jagex has added the ranged attack since then.
Both of the Queen's forms are similar to the life cycle of the Cicada. She starts off as a beetle, then transforms into an airborne opponent.
It was revealed in the April 2011 BTS that the Kalphite Queen and the King Black Dragon were due to be married on 29 April2011, to coincide with the wedding of Prince William Windsor and Catherine Middleton in the UK.
At RuneFest 2011, it was revealed that there would be a Kalphite King and a Queen Black Dragon in the future. How and whether this would affect the current marriage of the Kalphite Queen to the King Black Dragon is unknown. Though, Jagex may have been referring to the two of them being wed, but not with eachother.
Despite her low combat level and health, she almost seems to be much more dangerous then most of the GWD bosses, as their hits are at random, but she hits almost all the time, regardless of armour.
Even though she is a boss, if you kill her, wait a while and check your Adventurer's log, it will not mention saying that you killed her, even if you did the most damage. This might be an oversight from Jagex, as killing other similar-leveled monsters, such as the King Black Dragon, Chaos Elemental or Mithril dragons will show on your Adventurer's log.
