Black Knights Fortress OSRS Guide - Rune Fanatics (2024)

Intro

When I was a nooby kid playing Runescape back in the day, I always thought Black Knights were the coolest looking dudes in Gielinor. Part of it was due to how hard black equipment generally was to obtain back then (Remember that there used to be a time when the Grand Exchange didn’t exist). But mostly, it’s just because I thought black armor looked badass. In the earliest version of Runescape, Black Knights were actually the strongest enemies in the game.

So when kid me was scrolling through his quest list and spotted a quest titled Black Knights’ Fortress, you better believe he jumped right on it. I may not have been a member of the cool kids club, but apparently, I could infiltrate the cool kids club. Count me in.

Something afoul is going on at the Black Knights’ Fortress. Let’s find out what it is.

Quest Requirements

You need at least 12 Quest Points before you can start the Black Knights’ Fortress quest. You’ll also need a bronze med helm, an iron chainbody, and a piece of cabbage (Not from Draynor manor’s cabbage patch. More on this later).

Quest Recommendations

If tackling Black Knights’ Fortress at a low Combat level, I highly recommend bringing a full inventory of food minus the slots used by the bronze med helm, iron chainbody, and cabbage.

You can easily get an inventory of cooked trout or salmon from the nearby Barbarian Village fishing spot. You don’t need to wear the bronze med helm and iron chainbody for the entire quest, so bring your best-in-slot helm and chest piece for the ride.

You will have to deal with some aggressive black knights during Black Knights’ Fortress, so I recommend having at least 15 HP to be on the safe side. They can deal a max hit of 4, so coming here with 10 HP is very risky. You don’t need to bring weapons or runes, as you don’t need to fight anyone.

If you’re a member, I recommend bringing a combat bracelet and Falador teleport options. They will speed things up significantly. Now let’s get to the quest.

Starting Black Knights’ Fortress

To begin the Black Knights’ Fortress quest, speak with Sir Amik Varze. He is the ruler of Asgarnia and leader of Falador’s White Knights. You can find him on the third floor of the White Knights’ Castle in the southern part of Falador.

Tell Sir Amik Varze that you seek a quest, and he will admit that he’s looking for a spy to take on some dangerous work involving the Black Knights’ Fortress. The White Knights are your atypical honorable knightly lads, so espionage is outside their wheelhouse. You are neither a White Knight nor someone the Black Knights faction knows, so you’ll do perfectly. Ethan Hunt is preferable, but he’ll take what he can get.

Ask Varze about the details of the job, and he will tell you that the Black Knights have started making ludicrous demands of money and land. The Black Knights claim to have a powerful new weapon and will invade Falador in Varze does not comply. Varze wants you to uncover their secret weapon and destroy it.

Sneaking Into The Black Knights’ Fortress

Make your way to the Monastery west of Edgeville, then travel west again to get to the Black Knights’ Fortress. Turn on your run energy and dart past the Black Knights, who will be aggressive if your Combat level is low.

Hug the edge of the Ice Mountain cliff and run northwest until you see some fortress guards standing outside a door leading into the fortress. Notice how they’re all wearing bronze med helms and iron chainbodies? This is how you’re going to blend in. You can wear anything else you want, but you must be wearing a bronze med helm and iron chainbody to get inside.

Non-Iron Man accounts can get these two items easily on the Grand Exchange. If you’re an Iron Man, you can purchase an iron chainbody from Horvik’s Armour Shop in Varrock or Wayne’s Chains in Falador. You can buy a bronze med helm from Peksa’s Helmet Shop in Barbarian Village. There’s a cabbage field at the Monastery, so pick up one or two on your way to the fortress (Two in case you accidentally eat one).

You can speak to one of the fortress guards if you want, but he will just tell you to get back on guard duty. Head inside the fortress and push the wall in front of you. There may or may not be a black knight inside this first room. If one is present, you may want to consider world hopping until you find a world where no black knight is around. He can be annoying during a later part of this quest.

Once inside the room behind the wall, climb up the ladder in this room, then another ladder after that. Next, take the southern ladder down, then head through the eastern door. There are two black knights on this floor, so be careful.

Go up the ladder in this room to the upper floor, then take the ladder next to it down one flight. You should be in a room with a Chaos altar. Go through the sturdy door, past the black knight, and head down the ladder. You should see a Black Knight Captain, a witch, a goblin, and a black cat in an adjacent room with a cauldron in the middle of it. Either they’re having a Halloween party, or something sinister is happening.

Discovering The Secret Weapon

Head down to the end of this corridor and look for a grill. Click on it to select the Listen-at option to eavesdrop on the conversation.

The Black Knight Captain will ask the witch about the status of the secret weapon. It’s taken the witch years, but it’s going well. It turns out that the secret weapon in question is an invincibility potion.

I know we promised Sir Amik Varze that we’d destroy the Black Knights’ secret weapon, but I feel like stealing it for ourselves would be the best outcome. But alas, that’s not an option, so let’s figure out how to destroy it.

The witch tells the Black Knight Captain that she needs a cabbage from Draynor Manor, and the potion will be complete. She’s sending her goblin minion to get it and reminds him that the cabbage must be from Draynor Manor due to the magical properties of Draynor Manor cabbage. Any other cabbage would completely ruin the potion.

Gee. It’d be a shame if someone were nearby with a non-Draynor Manor cabbage in their back pocket.

Sabotaging The Secret Weapon

Head back the way you came, back to the first room of the fortress. Attempt to enter the dining room with all the black knights inside. A fortress guard will stop you and tell you that the black knights will kill anyone who enters their meeting unwelcomed. Tell him you’re going inside anyway, and the door will open.

Remember how I said you might want to world hop if there’s a black knight in this initial corridor? This is why. You need to have this conversation with the fortress guard to progress the quest, and if a black knight attacks you, he will continuously disrupt the conversation.

Once inside the dining room, ignore the black knights and head up the ladder to your left. Follow the path southeast to another wall you can push to enter a secret room.

Useyour cabbage on this hole. You’ll watch a brief cutscene of the cabbage falling into the witch’s potion, ruining it. Your work here is complete. Hightail it back to Falador to report your success to Varze.

Head back to Varze and tell him the good news. He will tell you that the Black Knights have withdrawn their demands. Without their secret weapon, they don’t have the guts to threaten Falador. Your character will mention a cash reward which Varze quickly hands to you. Quest complete!

Quest Rewards

Completing Black Knights’ Fortress rewards you with 2500 GP and three Quest Points. The GP is nothing special, even for Iron Man accounts, but three Quest Points for a five-minute quest? I’m not complaining. You need a lot of Quest Points for a variety of things, like Slayer block slots for Members. I personally kind of hate questing in Runescape, so any easy quests with high QP rewards are a win in my book.

Completion of Black Knights’ Fortress is also a requirement for Recruitment Drive and King’s Ransom. Recruitment Drive is a must-do quest for members to gain access to the ever-so-useful initiate armour set.

FAQs

Conclusion

Okay, so humor me for a second readers, while I get something off my chest that’s been there for over 15 years; this quest was a total letdown for child Xavier.

I wasn’t a member when I first did this quest, so no easy clue scrolls with common black equipment rewards. There was also no Grand Exchange. Just players flash2 spamming sales at inflated prices. Getting my hands on black equipment was quite the challenge.

So when I hear there’s a quest about infiltrating the Black Knights’ Fortress, I thought that would include getting some black armor. Yeah, you wish. But fine. After all, I’m heading to the Black Knight’s Fortress. Surely, there’s some black equipment inside, right?

Right?

Wrong again. Not a single piece of black equipment in sight. Then here comes strike three, my hopes and dreams are out. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that Black Knights don’t drop a single piece of black equipment. What a ripoff.

So yeah. That’s the story of one of my earliest disappointments in Runescape. But hey, the three Quest Points is nice. And I can get my hands on as much black equipment as I want now. I’m totally not hoarding any of it for nostalgia purposes.

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• A Kingdom Divided OSRS Guide
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