No. 2 - Dragon Slayer II
Even beyond the quest’s difficulty, Dragon Slayer II gets additional credit here for its “name brand toughness”. By simply seeing the name “Dragon Slayer II”, given the vaunted status of its free-to-play predecessor, you know this one is an absolute barnburner.
It lives up to the hype, and its challenging nature extends far beyond even that.
I speedran Dragon Slayer II when it was added to the Quest Speedrunning mode in 2023, and of course, it was the final speedrun on my list before receiving the Platinum Speedrun Trophy. So I had plenty of experience dealing with Vorkath and Galvek before actually doing the quest for real.
But it was this speedrun which ignited my desire to actually go for a Quest Point Cape in OSRS, something I had put off for more than a decade.
Before that, base level 40 Melee stats and a completion of Dragon Slayer I were the extent of my experience in the game. Needless to say, that had to change in a major way before taking on the sequel.
And even with experience, Vorkath and Galvek are not pushovers. Both offer unique and challenging PvM encounters, both during and after the quest, due to their complex mechanics. They actually share one deadly fireball attack as well.
Galvek’s four phases, based on Fire, Air, Water, and Earth, respectively, are particularly well-done and present a high level of intensity throughout.
I do wish that all quests with such amazing boss fights would be available for replay, either via the Speedrunning worlds or via replayable boss fights. Jagex knew what they were doing by making Vorkath and Galvek both.
Beyond those fights, the shipwreck just to get to the legendary Galvek encounter adds to the quest’s storyline and challenge, specifically with all the dragons that need to be taken down along the way. The two dangerous dungeons one must navigate to secure all of the pieces to make the Dragon Key are not to be taken lightly, either.