OSRS Song of the Elves Guide: Requirements and Boss Strategy

Overview

Song of the Elves is the gateway to Prifddinas, and through it to the Gauntlet, Zalcano, crystal equipment, the Trahaearn Mine and divine potions. It is rated Grandmaster and Very Long, and the eight level 70 requirements are all unboostable.

The quest itself is mostly non-combat: an insurrection in Ardougne, then a long sequence of finding eight elven clan leaders, each hidden behind a different puzzle. The Grand Library section alone is nine escalating mirror puzzles.

Combat appears three times — Arianwyn, Essyllt and the Fragment of Seren — and the final fight is unusual enough that it deserves its own preparation. Your damage is capped at 24 per hit, so it is a fight about surviving specials rather than out-damaging her.

Requirements and Prerequisites

Eight skills at level 70. All of them are unboostable and all are checked before the quest starts, which makes this one of the biggest single skilling walls in the game.

Only one direct quest prerequisite, but it sits at the end of a long elf chain:

• Mourning's End Part II
• Behind it: Mourning's End Part I, Roving Elves, Regicide, Underground Pass, Biohazard, Plague City
• And behind those: Big Chompy Bird Hunting, Sheep Herder, Waterfall Quest, Making History, Priest in Peril, The Restless Ghost, Druidic Ritual

Desert Treasure I is not required, but it is strongly worth having first because Ancient Magicks and Blood Blitz make the Fragment of Seren considerably more manageable.

Items to Bring

The item list is long and several entries are consumed, so read it before you set off rather than mid-quest.

Required

• Steel full helm, steel platebody and steel platelegs, plus red dye and purple dye and silk for the disguises
• Mourner gear including the gas mask — plague jacket and trousers do not substitute
• Runite bar, hammer, saw, pickaxe, axe, spade
• 8 limestone bricks for Lady Ithell's statue
• Adamant chainbody (this one is consumed)
• Wine of Zamorak or a Zamorak brew(4)
• Cadantine seed, seed dibber (or the Barbarian Training farming section done), vial of water, pestle and mortar
• Tinderbox, rope, nature rune, and flowers from mithril or adamant seeds — or an irit leaf
• Black knife or black dagger, and a cabbage (there is one in Edmond's garden)

Recommended

• 80+ Magic with Blood Blitz and bloodbark armour for the Fragment of Seren
• 40 Prayer for Protect from Missiles, which all three fights need
• Saradomin brews and super restores in roughly a 3:1 ratio for the final fight
• Darts or a blowpipe to one-shot the Crystal Whirlwinds
• Anti-poison for the Isafdar tripwires
• Charged teleport crystals, West Ardougne teleport, games necklace, Iorwerth camp teleports, Zul-Andra teleport
• Weight-reducing gear and stamina potions

Charge your teleport crystals before the instanced sections. You cannot do it once you are inside, and you go straight from Essyllt into the Fragment of Seren without a chance to bank.

Where to Start

Talk to Edmond in the garden of his house in East Ardougne, just north of the Flying Horse Inn.

Do not wear mourner gear when you go to see King Lathas later in that opening sequence — the disguise matters in the other direction.

Walkthrough, Stage by Stage

Fourteen stages. The middle section — finding the eight clan leaders — can largely be done in any order, so if one puzzle frustrates you, go and do another.

1. Speak to Edmond, then King Lathas, then Edmond again. Craft an Ardougne knight disguise: red dye on a steel full helm, and a tabard from Alrena on the platebody.
2. Free Elena from the prison under Ardougne Castle using sulphuric acid from her house, then meet the Ardougne Resistance in the Rehnison basement in West Ardougne.
3. Cause an insurrection: as a mourner in West Ardougne and a knight in East Ardougne, announce taxes and retraining and burn grain sacks until you have converted 80 members.
4. Fight the Battle of West and East Ardougne in three parts — 10 mourners, then 11 mourners, then knights and paladins. Lathas is captured and executed and you are taken to the Iorwerth Camp, then rescued by Arianwyn.
5. In the Waterfall Dungeon at Baxtorian Falls, solve the Ode to eternity pillar riddle to revive Baxtorian.
6. Prepare the inversion potion: plant a cadantine seed in Lletya for elder cadantine, fix Lady Trahaearn's exoskeleton with a runite bar and hammer, and find Lord Amlodd by rubbing an Eluned-enchanted crystal seed. Combine elder cadantine with crystal dust.
7. Unlock the nine seals of the Grand Library of Prifddinas — Forgotten, Ithell, Cadarn, Crwys, Amlodd, Meilyr, Hefin, Trahaearn and Iorwerth — learning Seren's memories as you go.
8. Find Lady Hefin across the stepping stones over the tar lake, and Lord Crwys by chopping trees in Isafdar to follow the "the tree falls to the…" messages, ending at the dead tree south of Iorwerth Camp.
9. Recover the orb of light from the cave at Iorwerth Camp, killing an Iorwerth Warrior and Archer.
10. Track Ysgawyn through Isafdar across a five-stage tracking sequence, meet the informant Iestin Edern, and learn Lletya is compromised.
11. During the attack on Lletya, rescue two children from burning buildings, then fight Arianwyn — who turns out to be the traitor. Ysgawyn is killed.
12. Find Lady Ithell by touching five glowing symbols around Lletya then building a statue with a saw, hammer and 8 limestone bricks. Find Lady Meilyr via a four-step clue trail that ends with spinning outside the Underground Pass entrance wearing nothing.
13. Seal the Underground Pass: place seven explosive potions, defend the dwarven camp barricade for four minutes, then kill Essyllt.
14. Fight the Fragment of Seren. Prifddinas is restored.

Speak to Arianwyn after the Lletya meeting or he will not appear at Baxtorian Falls. Talk to Baxtorian before going to the orb cave or you cannot enter it, and ask him about the Crwys clue or the dead tree cannot be chopped.

Puzzles and How They Work

This quest is mostly puzzles, and two of them re-randomise or cost you items when you fail. None can be skipped.

Boss Fights

Three fights of increasing seriousness. The Fragment of Seren is the one worth practising for, because your damage output is capped and the fight is decided by how you handle four rotating specials.

The Fragment's four specials, in cycle order: she teleports you next to her and melees (walk several squares away); she splits into a clone (attack the lighter-coloured one, and expect extra clones below 666 and 333); she spawns Crystal Whirlwinds that heal her 4–8 per beam (each dies in one hit, so bring darts or a blowpipe); and she immobilises you for an unblockable hit for your max hitpoints minus 5 — minus 3 below 666, and only minus 1 below 333, which is why purple sweets and strawberries are worth carrying for small top-ups.

Rewards and Unlocks

The eight 40,000 XP rewards were doubled from 20,000 in the 30 November 2022 poll update, so older figures understate the quest.

What it opens up

• The Gauntlet and the Corrupted Gauntlet, and with them the crystal armour seeds and the blade of saeldor
• Zalcano, a skilling boss with tradeable smithing rewards
• Crystal tools, armour and weaponry via singing bowl recipes
• Trahaearn Mine and Iorwerth Dungeon
• Divine potions, which are a meaningful upgrade for long PvM trips
• Port Tyras' notice board, and Arianwyn and Essyllt as Nightmare Zone bosses

Common Mistakes and Warnings

Most of the pain in this quest is logistical rather than mechanical.

• Not charging teleport crystals before the instanced sections. You cannot charge them once you are inside.
• Assuming you can bank before the Fragment of Seren. You go straight there from Essyllt. Bring an emergency teleport if you want to restock.
• Leaving items in the 80,000 coin deathbank. An unsafe death deletes them, and you must collect your items before re-entering or they are gone permanently.
• Bringing plague jacket and trousers instead of proper mourner gear. You need the full set including the gas mask.
• Skipping the Arianwyn conversation after the Lletya meeting. He will not appear at Baxtorian Falls, and the quest stalls.
• Fighting the Fragment of Seren in melee range. She hits five times in five ticks for up to 50 total.
• Not bringing darts or a blowpipe. The Crystal Whirlwinds heal her every beam and each one dies to a single hit, so a fast throwing weapon saves the fight.
• Guessing at the Ode to eternity pillars. Wrong placements make you re-buy the items and the layout re-randomises.

FAQ

Can I boost any of the eight level 70 requirements?

No. All eight are unboostable and are checked before the quest starts. There is no way around the grind.

How hard is the Fragment of Seren really?

Mechanically it is not a reaction test like Galvek — it is a resource fight. Your damage is capped at 24, so it takes a while, and the immobilising special can hit you for nearly your full health bar. Bring far more brews than feels necessary.

Do I need Desert Treasure I first?

Not required, but Blood Blitz with bloodbark armour is the standard way to sustain yourself through the Fragment of Seren, so most players want Ancient Magicks available.

Is Prifddinas worth the eight 70s on its own?

The Gauntlet and crystal equipment are the usual reasons. If you are aiming at the blade of saeldor or crystal armour, or want Zalcano as a skilling money maker, then yes. If you only want the quest points, it is a lot of skilling for four.

What happens if I die to Essyllt or the Fragment?

Your items go to the 80,000 coin deathbank held by the Rebel Scout. Collect them before re-entering — a second unsafe death while they sit there deletes them.

Are the library mirror puzzles as bad as people say?

The first several are quick. The Seal of Iorwerth uses 26 mirrors and 7 crystals and is genuinely long. Work out the crystal colours you need first, then place mirrors, rather than adjusting as you go.

Related Guides

• OSRS Corrupted Gauntlet Guide: Requirements, Prep and Hunllef
• OSRS Optimal Quest Order: Fastest Route to Account Progression
• Fastest Way to Get the OSRS Quest Cape
• OSRS Agility Guide 1–99: Fastest, Cheapest and AFK

Bottom Line

Song of the Elves is a skilling wall followed by a puzzle marathon. The eight unboostable 70s are the real cost; once you are past them the quest is long but rarely unfair.

Prepare specifically for the Fragment of Seren rather than for the quest as a whole. Charged teleport crystals, a throwing weapon for the whirlwinds, brews over food, and the knowledge that your damage is capped at 24 will get you through on the first or second attempt.

If the eight 70s are what is stopping you, our skill training is hand-trained by the BILS team, and the quest service can take the quest itself off your plate.