General Graardor/Strategies
This is a guide to killing General Graardor with Melee and Ranged. It will take you through the basics of attacking and tanking, as well as provide a few examples of what equipment to bring.
Note that Melee is the most straightforward combat style to use since it suffers no penalties from tank armour. Ranged setups can also deal significant damage, but are less feasible for tanks.
Contents
Requirements[edit | edit source]
- Completion of Death Plateau and started Troll Stronghold to the point where you defeat Dad.
- One rope is required to access the dungeon for the first time.
- Level 70 Strength is required to enter Bandos' Stronghold (cannot be boosted).
- At least 43 Prayer for access to the protection prayers.
- A hammer (if not bringing a dragon warhammer).
Mechanics[edit | edit source]
Attack Styles[edit | edit source]
Graardor attacks with both Melee and Ranged:
- The melee attack consists of a simple punch that deals up to 60 damage. He has a 2/3 chance of using melee whenever he attacks.
- Graardor slams the ground to emit shockwaves to all players inside his chambers as his ranged attack, dealing a minimum of 15 damage and a maximum of 35 damage if it hits. He has a 1/3 chance of using ranged whenever he attacks.
Bodyguards[edit | edit source]
Graardor is protected by three goblin sergeants:
- Sergeant Grimspike is the ranged bodyguard, who throws axes at the his target, dealing up to 21 damage.
- Sergeant Steelwill is the magic bodyguard, who launches yellow projectiles at his target, dealing up to 16 damage.
- Sergeant Strongstack is the melee bodyguard, who attacks his target with his flail, dealing up to 15 damage.
- The sergeants tend to target the player who last damaged Graardor (on the minions' 5th tick), and the player who deals Graardor's final blow will likely be targetted. Effectively, players with a faster attack speed will tend to be targetted as their attack is more likely to land on their 5th tick. This also means a tanker with a Dinh's bulwark on defence mode will never be focused on, allowing you to prioritise ranged defence.
General Strategy[edit | edit source]
Graardor's combat stats consist of 280 Attack, 350 Strength, 250 Defence, 80 Magic and 350 Ranged. Both his melee and ranged attacks possess accuracy and strength bonuses, with an additional 120 Attack bonus and 43 Strength bonus for melee, and 100 Ranged bonus with 40 Ranged strength bonus.
After Graardor is dead, the goblin sergeants will all focus on a single player, typically the one who landed the killing blow on Graardor. For this reason, Steelwill should be killed immediately, allowing the targeted player to switch to Protect from Ranged once he is dead, as to block Grimspike's attacks.
In group encounters, it is courtesy to leave Strongstack alive for the tank to heal off him with Guthan's set. If the tank is low on health, Grimspike may also be left for the tank to heal off of. Should the goblins focus on the tank after Graardor dies however, then it may be necessary to kill Grimspike.
In solo encounters, the player should kill Steelwill as usual and lure Strongstack onto Grimspike and cast Blood Barrage on the two goblins, as they have a fairly poor Magic level and no defence. It is also far more consistent than Guthan's, which is relatively slow and Graardor might respawn as the player is fighting the sergeants. Water runes may be brought along (if not using a kodai wand) for Ice Barrage if necessary, so the player doesn't have to flick as much between melee and ranged.
Graardor and his bodyguards drop bones, so players should bring bones to peaches tabs and collect all the bones before converting them into peaches. Peaches heal for 8 health, so the player can restore 32 health after each encounter with Graardor and his minions.
Tank[edit | edit source]
Compared to K'ril Tsutsaroth, tanking Graardor is slightly more difficult in solo encounters.
The player must optimize both magic and ranged defence (as trying to tank Graardor's melee attacks means certain death), preventing the use of justiciar armour, as taking the set would result in Steelwill hitting frequently and causing unnecessary damage in solo encounters. As a result of increasing their magic defence, their ranged defence will suffer, causing Graardor's ranged attacks and Grimspike to hit more often.
In group encounters, this is less of a worry as the sergeants tend to focus on whoever successfully struck Graardor.
When using a weapon with an attack speed of 4 (2.4 seconds), attack Graardor twice before moving under him. Graardor has an attack speed of 6 (3.6 seconds), so this reduces the frequency of his attacks and saves food in the long run. The player may also flick attacks from Steelwill and Grimspike if they're attacking on different ticks while under Graardor.
A more experienced version is to simply flick the attacks from Graardor and his minions. This requires all Grimspike, Steelwill and Graardor to attack on different ticks, but this also saves a considerable amount of food when performed properly, as Graardor's ranged attacks will be the only cause of damage inflicted.
An alternative to tanking (whilst dealing no dps to Graardor) is to utilise the Dinh's bulwark on defence mode - by not dealing damage to Graardor, you will never be focussed on by minions, allowing you to prioritise solely on tanking Graardor's ranged attack.
Magic Tanking[edit | edit source]
Due to Graardor's reduced Magic level as a result of the twisted bow, magic is another viable method to fight Graardor. Although Graardor has a magic defence bonus of 298, his Magic level of 80 still makes it relatively easy to hit him with high magic accuracy. When Graardor is moving, freeze him with Ice Barrage - this will keep him bound for 20 seconds, before switching to a toxic trident or sanguinesti staff. The tanking player should use Protect from Missiles, as they will be out of Graardor's attack range. Although overall defence is lower, it is still relatively high to protect against Strongstack's attacks.
When Graardor breaks free of his bind, do not freeze him immediately, as all targets struck by an ice spell have a short immunity from another bind. Wait at least 2 seconds before doing so. If Graardor gets too close, switch to Protect from Melee until he is safely out of range.
Attacker[edit | edit source]
Only ever attack General Graardor once the tank has attacked; otherwise, Graardor will focus on you. Extra care should be taken by players using Ranged, as it is easier to attack the boss first by accident.
Once Graardor is dead, kill the minions, beginning with Sergeant Steelwill. Stand against the western wall while waiting for General Graardor to respawn, as this gives the tank more time to draw his attention.
Ideally, melee attackers should use Karil's leathertop, a black d'hide body, or Void Knight equipment instead of regular melee armour in order to mitigate Steelwill's attacks, as the sergeants shift aggression based on whoever damaged Graardor recently.
An attacker should bring runes for High Level Alchemy due to the frequent drops of rune equipment.
Tips[edit | edit source]
- Goblins are an easy target for Bandos killcount, and also have a chance to drop a hammer.
- Walking under Graardor can buy a tank some time to eat food without taking unnecessary damage. It can be also done at certain intervals to make Graardor "miss" an attack.
- Experienced players can "tick eat"; tick eating is healing on a critical level of health right before taking damage, essentially surviving a hit that would have normally killed the player.
- Bones to Peaches can help extend trips; each kill rotation yields 32 Hitpoints worth of bones.
- The minions will drop chilli potatoes and sharks. If there is an excess of food, continually pick up and drop food again to prevent it from disappearing.
- Guthan's equipment may be used to heal on the melee and ranged minions if desired. Cooperate with your team to maximise healing opportunities. Bring fewer brews and more restores if you choose this method of healing. Guthan's armour also doubles as good primary equipment for tanks.
- If you are assigned General Graardor as your slayer task, use your Slayer helmet variant of choice so as to take advantage of its accuracy and damage boost.
- An Amulet of blood fury is generally ideal for tank setups as it emphasizes healing, defensive and prayer bonuses.
- When bringing a dragon warhammer, you do not need a hammer to bang the door.
- During the fight, the bodyguards will target the most recent player who attacked Graardor. Because of this, weapons with a slower attack speed will result in the player being targeted less often in a team. This can be useful in a team where some players have significantly lower defences.
Suggested skills[edit | edit source]
80+ (90+ Tank)
80+
70+ (Required, 80+ Recommended)
70+ (90+ Tank)
80+
70+ (75+ Recommended)
44+ (Eagle Eye, 70+ Piety, 74+ Rigour)
Equipment[edit | edit source]
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Inventory[edit | edit source]
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- Saradomin godsword > Bandos godsword (special attacks)
- Hammer
- Teleport to house (tablet) or a one-click teleport (for emergency)
- Bones to peaches (tablet)
- 4 Super combat potion
- 6 Saradomin brews
- 1 Anglerfish
- 9 Super restores
Inventory[edit | edit source]
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- Hammer
- Bones to peaches (tablet)
- 4 Ranging potion
- 13 Saradomin brews
- 7 Super restores
- 150+ Diamond bolts
- Teleport to house (tablet) or a one-click teleport (for emergency)
Inventory[edit | edit source]
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- Bandos godsword (for special attacks)
- Hammer
- 3 Super combat potion
- 6 Saradomin brews
- 10 Super restores
- Bones to peaches (tablet) tablets
- Teleport to house (tablet) (emergency teleport)
- Rune pouch (with runes to cast High Level Alchemy)
- Guthan the Infested's equipment (for healing off of minions)
Slot | Item (most effective → least effective) | |||
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Inventory[edit | edit source]
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- Dragon warhammer or Bandos godsword (for special attacks)
- Avernic or dragon defender switch if using dragon warhammer
- Guthan the Infested's equipment
- 3-6 Saradomin brews
- 6-8 Super restores
- 3-5 Divine ranging potions
- Rune pouch with runes for High Level Alchemy, and Trollheim Teleport, Bones to Peaches or empty for picking up Cosmic runes
- 2 Trollheim teleport (tablet) tablets if not bringing runes for Trollheim Teleport (revert once inside the dungeon for teleport out)
- Rest high-healing food such as sharks or better
Inventory[edit | edit source]
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- Dragon warhammer or Bandos godsword (for special attacks)
- Avernic or dragon defender switch if using dragon warhammer
- A weapon to autocast Ancient Magicks (such as kodai wand, master wand or ancient staff) if using Blood Barrage
- Rune pouch filled with runes for Blood Barrage (optional)
- Bones to peaches (tablet) tablets (or runes for Bones to Peaches in a rune pouch if not using Blood Barrage)
- 1-2 super combat potions
- 2-3 Saradomin brews
- 4-5 super restores
- Teleport to house (tablet) or a one-click teleport (for emergency)
- Rest high-healing food such as anglerfish or manta rays
Slot | Item (most effective → least effective) | ||||
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Inventory[edit | edit source]
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- Kodai wand or other weapon to autocast Ancient Magicks (bring water runes for ice barrage if not using Kodai)
- Zamorakian hasta for pushing the minions into a barrage pile (optional but recommended)
- Rune pouch filled with runes for Ice Barrage and Blood Barrage
- Bones to peaches (tablet) tablets
- Imbued heart
- 4-5 Saradomin brews
- 4-5 high-healing food such as anglerfish or manta rays
- Teleport to house (tablet) or a one-click teleport (for emergency)
- Rest super restores
Slot | Item (most effective → least effective) | |||
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Inventory[edit | edit source]
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- Be mindful of your God Items while killing minions. Do your best to bring a Bandos item (Preferably Bandos bracers) and a Zamorak item (Preferably Z Hasta to kill minions or Zamorak boots)
- Kodai wand or other weapon to autocast Ancient Magicks. Water runes not necessary. You can position all three minions to where you can hit all three with a barrage until the melee minion dies. Switch to blowpipe once melee/ranged minions die.
- Occult necklace for when you’re barraging minions
- Zamorakian hasta or Dragon Warhammer for getting killcount
- Rune pouch filled with runes for Blood Barrage
- Bones to peaches (tablet) tablets just in case barrages and blowpipe specs don’t get you to full HP.
- 8-10 or so anglerfish or manta rays to heal mid-kill while you are learning. As you get better, you can drop food for Super restore potions
- 8 or so Super restore potions
- 1 ranging potion (maybe 2 once you’re more practiced and can stay longer)
- 3 Stamina potion(4) or so. Increase to 4 once you are more familiar.
- 2 Trollheim teleport (tablet)s for when the trip ends/emergency. Revert one to a Teleport to house (tablet) once you arrive on Trollheim mountain.