Reach the Tree Trimming Boss Encounter
To fight the Tainted Treant, complete Dungeon Breakout, progress Tree Trimming by handing in five Strawberry Cakes, then defeat the boss in the quest combat area. Prepare your weapon, food and any ammunition or runes before starting; afterward, gather and burn the Treant Remains to finish the quest.
The Tainted Treant has combat level 35 and 820 maximum hitpoints. Those are the boss's statistics, rather than a required player level. Inspect its displayed damage, combat style and defensive statistics before choosing your fighting setup.
Unlock the Quest and Supply the Cakes
If the Quests menu is still closed, reach level 5 in Smithing, Fletching and Runecrafting. Follow the storyline through Dungeon Breakout to unlock Tree Trimming. Raising a combat skill alone does not replace that quest progression.
Strawberry Cake unlocks at Cooking level 23, and its recipe consumes 1 Cake Base and 8 Strawberry. Make the five cakes required for the opening hand-in, or use cakes you already have. Keep your combat food separate when planning supplies so the quest delivery does not leave you short.
Also prepare Woodcutting level 30 and Firemaking level 30 for the cleanup objectives after victory. These levels let you gather and burn Treant Remains. Preparing them before the fight lets you continue directly into the remaining quest work.
Choose Gear You Can Equip and Sustain
Open the Loadout menu above the equipment slots on the Combat page. Open an equipment slot and hover an item to compare its statistics with your current equipment. Use the boss's displayed defenses to assess your weapon and stance instead of choosing by the weapon's name alone.
For a craftable melee option, a Steel Sword requires level 30 Attack to equip and level 26 Smithing with 2 Steel Bar to forge. A Steel Platebody requires level 30 Defence to wear and level 35 Smithing with 5 Steel Bar to make. Treat these as equipment options to compare, rather than a guaranteed winning setup.
Manual eating heals you but restarts your attack turn during combat, so healing also affects your damage output. Each fight starts with your ward full and your armour unbroken. Watch how the attempt develops rather than judging your preparation only by its opening moments.
- Bring a reserve of cooked food; leftover Trout from Boarish Bonfire can contribute to your healing supplies.
- Equip ammunition that matches your weapon, since an ammunition-dependent weapon attacks only while the correct type is equipped.
- For Magic, check your selected spell, its rune costs and your attack stance; spellcasting requires a stance that uses spells.
- If using Prayer, check your remaining Prayer Points; a selected prayer supplies its bonuses while you can pay its cost.
Fight the Boss and Clear the Remains
- Hand in five Strawberry Cakes during Tree Trimming to reach the Tainted Treant objective. This follows the completion of Dungeon Breakout.
- Inspect the Tainted Treant's displayed damage, style and defensive statistics. Use that information to settle your equipment choice before committing supplies to the attempt.
- Select the Tainted Treant encounter in the Act 1 - Tree Trimming quest combat area. The quest encounter appears while its associated Tree Trimming step is active.
- Defeat 1 Tainted Treant to satisfy the kill objective. Victory also yields Tainted Treant Cutting as a fixed drop.
- Gather 25 Treant Remains for the next objective. Gathering them requires Woodcutting level 30, so return to Woodcutting training first if you cannot perform that action.
- Burn Treant Remains 25 times to complete the burning objective. This action requires Firemaking level 30.
- Complete Tree Trimming to receive 17,500 Gold Pieces, 100 Strawberry Cake and 20 Bird Nest. Completing the quest unlocks In the Thick of It.
Resolve Missing Encounters and Failed Attempts
If the encounter is missing, check your current Tree Trimming objective and whether you have completed the cake hand-in. The boss belongs to the quest encounter, so follow the active quest step to reach it. If Tree Trimming itself is unavailable, check that Dungeon Breakout is complete.
If your weapon is not attacking, check its ammunition requirement and equipped ammunition. For a Magic setup, review the selected spell and spellcasting stance as well as your rune supply. Resolve those supply and loadout issues before changing your whole build.
A failed attempt can stop combat and trigger the normal death penalty. Before another attempt, review your remaining food and combat supplies, then compare equipment against the boss's displayed statistics again. If healing repeatedly interrupts your attacks, review both your defenses and damage output before retrying.