Nightmare Zone/Strategies
General advice[edit | edit source]
- Overloads will not let you drink a dose if you have less than 51 hitpoints.
- If you locator orb or dwarven rock cake too low while the overload still has damage left to deal, you will die.
- Leaving the Nightmare Zone arena resets all stats.
- In rumble mode:
- Completing all quests will reduce costs by 10,000 per run.
- More bosses enabled rewards a higher percentage of their total points per kill. Disabling bosses or having them unlocked reduces points per kill.
- Some bosses are recommended to almost always be disabled based on their mechanics: Glod, Elvarg, Corrupt Lizardman, Chronozon, and Barrelchest.
- Disabling a boss also disables every boss from that quest, e.g. disabling Damis also disables Dessous, Fareed, Kamil. Dream Mentor, Recipe for Disaster, and Desert Treasure should always be enabled when trying to maximise points per hour.
- Moss Guardian, Dad, Ice Troll King, and Arrg provide increased experience per damage dealt: 7.5%(4.3x), 10%(4.4x), 12.5%(4.5x) and 17.5%(4.7x) respectively.
- Avoid using Ultimate Force power-ups unless there are many bosses that you cannot damage.
- Activate all other power-ups. With Power Surge, use a special attack weapon such as dragon claws or granite maul with an ornate handle. Damage dealt by Zapper or Recurrent Damage does not yield experience, but they do not usually impact experience rates unless the player kills bosses too quickly.
- Pets can be useful in the arena because they can block and reduce the number of enemies in melee range, saving absorption potion points.
Recommmended skills[edit | edit source]
43+
51+
70+
70+
70+
70/75+
86+
Getting your first points[edit | edit source]
If it is your first time playing Nightmare Zone, you will not have any points for absorptions or overloads. Follow either the Melee(Prayer) setup below with the recommended bosses or use hard endurance mode, killing every boss up to Elvarg. If equipped, you can attempt to go futher, but it may be less efficient.
Playing on normal difficulty is also an option, however the amount of time and money it takes to earn a sustainable amount of points will increase as well as some bosses like like Ice Troll King and Jungle Demon using more attack styles than just melee making it harder to survive.
For hard endurance dreams, the following bosses require special mechanics or extra items brought with you, making it far less AFK:
- Corrupt Lizardman - Poison protection
- Elvarg - Anti-dragon shield equipped - provided
- Slagalith - Optional: Pickaxe - provided
- Dagannoth mother - Only takes one type of damage in one form at a time
- Dad - Stuns and knocks back
- Tanglefoot - Equip Magic secateurs to deal damage - provided
- Headless Beast - Drops rock from the ceiling when in melee range
- Glod - Disables and drains Prayer, causes you to run towards or away from him
- Flambeed - Equip ice gloves to deal damage
- Gelatinnoth Mother - Only takes one type of damage in one form at a time
- Karamel - Drains stats and Prayer, interrupts auto-retaliate and movement
- Chronozon - Can only be killed after using all four blast spells
- Giant Roc - Stuns and knocks back
- Damis - Second form drains Prayer quickly.
- Fareed - Equip ice gloves to deal damage
- Kamil - Interrupts movement
- Barrelchest - Deals high damage, drains Prayer and Defence, turns off protection prayers before attacking.
- Elven traitor - High damage and prayer disabling arrows
- Essyllt - Long ranged attacks, stat drain and stuns
Optimal experience setups[edit | edit source]
This setup uses a mix of strength and prayer bonus and is a fairly AFK strategy for experience and Nightmare Zone points. Players can gain up to around 90,000 melee experience and 400,000 Nightmare Zone points per hour. This requires prayer potions, somewhat expensive and worse overall for melee training, but does not require expensive gear and is more AFK.
Equipment[edit | edit source]
Inventory[edit | edit source]
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- A special attack weapon for Power Surge to increase damage output or replenish Prayer points
- 4-6 overloads or super combat potions
- Prayer potions or super restores
- Holy wrench (optional, if the number of prayer restore doses in your inventory is greater than 4 x prayer points restored in one dose, it is worth having instead of another potion)
Bosses[edit | edit source]
Select customisable hard rumble and choose at least five from the bosses below. Choose more than five to increase points per hour. They use melee only, are attackable with melee, and have no special mechanics that can kill you. It is ordered by defence, ascending:
- Trapped Soul - The Ascent of Arceuus
- Count Draynor - Vampyre Slayer
- Sand Snake - The Depths of Despair
- King Roald - What Lies Below
- Dad - Troll Stronghold (Frequent knockback attack)
- The Kendal - Mountain Daughter
- Me - Lunar Diplomacy
- Nazastarool - Shilo Village
- Treus Dayth - Haunted Mine
- Skeleton Hellhound - In Search of the Myreque
- Tree spirit - Lost City
- Khazard warlord - Tree Gnome Village
- Black Knight Titan - Holy Grail
- Ice Troll King - The Fremennik Isles
- Bouncer - Fight Arena
- Black Demon - The Grand Tree
- Jungle Demon - Monkey Madness I
Strategy[edit | edit source]
Activate Protect from Melee and boost. When using divine super combat potions, maintain Hitpoints by activating Rapid Heal.
Damage boosting prayers such as Piety or Ultimate Strength can be used to increase experience and points per hour, but it increases prayer drain, requiring more attention and prayer potions.
Do not activate Ultimate Force. Activate Zapper and Recurrent Damage to increase points per hour, this may slightly affect experience gained. Activate Power Surge, use your special attack weapon, it lasts 45 seconds.
Dharok the Wretched's equipment with absorptions requires more attention than the other setups, but offers the fastest Attack and Strength experience of up to 180,000 experience per hour using dragon claws for special attacks during Power Surge, or up to 155,000 with a granite maul with an ornate handle. It is recommended to only use the setup with 92 Hitpoints because of the set effect increasing damage when missing more HP. Switches can be brought for strength bonus during Power Surge. The rest of the equipment maximises strength and accuracy bonuses. It is possible to sustain around 1 hour per dream with this setup.
Equipment[edit | edit source]
Inventory[edit | edit source]
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- Dragon claws, granite maul (or), or granite maul for special attacks
- Neitiznot faceguard and Bandos chestplate switches for special attacks (optional)
- 3 Overloads
- 3-5 Absorptions
- Locator orb or dwarven rock cake
- Prayer potions or super restores
- Holy wrench (optional, if the number of prayer restore doses in your inventory is greater than 4 x prayer points restored in one dose, it is worth having instead of another potion)
Bosses[edit | edit source]
Select customisable hard rumble, choose the following five bosses:
- Count Draynor - Vampyre Slayer
- Sand Snake - The Depths of Despair
- Moss Guardian - Roving Elves
- Arrg - Troll Romance
- Ice Troll King - The Fremennik Isles
Optionally swap out Sand Snake with Dad. Dad grants +5% extra experience, but does stun regularly. Only recommended with very high stats while paying attention.
Strategy[edit | edit source]
Run to any corner except the south-east corner, drink all your absorptions and sip a dose of overload. Feel the Locator orb or guzzle the dwarven rock cake down to 1 Hitpoints. Quickly turn on and off Rapid Heal to reset Hitpoints regeneration. Turn on Piety and attack or use auto-retaliate.
Drink prayer potions as needed, flick Rapid Heal on and off once every 50-60 seconds to avoid regenerating to 2 Hitpoints. This maximises damage dealt and minimises absorption points used. If your Hitpoints goes above 1, feel the locator orb or guzzle the dwarven rock cake, if it is not working run away temporarily. As the overload expires, either run or turn on protection prayers temporarily to avoid wasting absorption points, drink another dose of overload and continue as before.
Experienced prayer flickers can set up quick-prayers to simultaneously activate Rapid Heal and their best offensive prayer. This improves damage output, stops accidental regeneration, and maximises Prayer points without using prayer potions, but this requires significantly more effort and attention.
Do not activate Ultimate Force. Activate Zapper and Recurrent Damage to increase points per hour, this may slightly affect experience gained only if you normally kill the bosses before new ones take their place. Activate Power Surge, switch equipment and use your special attack weapon, it lasts 45 seconds.Using normal customisable rumble with absorptions allows for 20 minutes of AFK melee training. After 20 minutes, the player will stop attacking and must manually start attacking again to reset the timer. Players can gain up to 85,000–90,000 experience per hour, and sustain for 3–6 hours per session depending on equipment and stats. While this method does earn slightly more Nightmare Zone points than spent on absorptions, players looking to solely gain points are advised to use other setups. It is possible to use this setup on customisable hard mode, but this is not recommended as bosses hit much harder in the hard mode. The player would have to keep their Hitpoints low to take less damage, which requires paying a lot more attention. Players looking to gain more experience per hour are advised to use the Dharok's setup for much faster experience.
Equipment[edit | edit source]
The ghrazi rapier, inquisitor's mace, or Blade of saeldor (c) with Bandos armour offers the best experience per hour with good sustainability due to its high defences. Toktz-xil-ak along with full obsidian armour and berserker necklace offers the next best experience per hour and is a more affordable option, however it has much worse sustainability due to low defensive stats. Players who want sustainability but cannot afford a ghrazi rapier can use an abyssal whip (for training Attack or Defence) or abyssal bludgeon (for training Strength) along with Bandos armour.
Inventory[edit | edit source]
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- 4-5 super combat potions
- Locator orb or dwarven rock cake (optional but recommended)
- Absorptions
Bosses[edit | edit source]
Select customisable normal rumble choosing bosses that attack with melee, are attackable with melee, and have no special mechanics. Count Draynor, Sand Snake, King Roald, The Kendal, and Me are the usual selection because they have lower defence but not extremely low Hitpoints. Select more than five bosses to earn more points.
- Trapped Soul - The Ascent of Arceuus
- Count Draynor - Vampyre Slayer
- Sand Snake - The Depths of Despair
- King Roald - What Lies Below
- The Kendal - Mountain Daughter
- Me - Lunar Diplomacy
- Tree spirit - Lost City
- Nazastarool - Shilo Village
- Khazard Warlord - Tree Gnome Village
- Black Knight Titan - Holy Grail
- Bouncer - Fight Arena
Strategy[edit | edit source]
Run to the middle of the arena. Use absorptions until 951-1000 absorption points, and optionally feel a locator orb or guzzle a dwarven rock cake down to 1 Hitpoints then sip a super combat potion. Repeat every 15–20 minutes.
Using a locator orb or a dwarven rock cake is optional but allows for longer sessions, minimising the amount of absorption points used to tank damage (especially using obsidian armour).In order to maximise AFK duration, a customisable normal rumble with absorptions allows for 20 minutes of AFK ranged training, after which the player will stop attacking and must manually start attacking again to reset the timer. Experience rates are up to 155,000 per hour using a toxic blowpipe or 70,000 experience with a magic shortbow (i), sustainable for 3–6 hours per session depending on equipment and stats. While this method does earn slightly more Nightmare Zone points than spent on absorptions, players looking to gain points are advised to use other setups. It is possible to use this setup on customisable hard mode, but only recommended if not being as AFK, bosses hit harder in hard mode so it is much more important to flick Rapid Heal and use a locator orb or dwarven rock cake.
Equipment[edit | edit source]
Void Knight equipment offers the best experience per hour, however due to low defence bonuses it is recommended to use higher defence armour. Armadyl armour is the best replacement, followed by blessed dragonhide armour and normal dragonhide armour. It is recommended to wear a tank helmet, such as the justiciar faceguard for better defence as the slight accuracy loss has minimal effect on damage output. If even more defence bonus is needed, other Ranged equipment can we replaced with more defensive pieces, such as Bandos tassets or ring of suffering (i).
The toxic blowpipe is the best weapon use, but this is not recommended due to its significantly higher cost compared to other options. The magic shortbow (i) with amethyst or rune arrows offers a slower but much cheaper alternative. Players who need more defence can use a one-handed Ranged weapon (such as crossbow with broad bolts, or mithril darts) along with a tank shield, although this offers slightly less experience per hour.
Inventory[edit | edit source]
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- 4-5 super ranging or bastion potions
- Locator orb or dwarven rock cake (optional but highly recommended)
- Absorptions
Bosses[edit | edit source]
Select customisable normal rumble choosing bosses are attackable with ranged and have no special mechanics. Count Draynor, Sand Snake, King Roald, The Kendal, and Me are the usual selection because they have lower defence but not extremely low Hitpoints. Viable bosses are listed below, select five with the lowest defence for more experience per hour or as many as you can for more points per hour.
- Trapped Soul - The Ascent of Arceuus
- Count Draynor - Vampyre Slayer
- Sand Snake - The Depths of Despair
- King Roald - What Lies Below
- The Kendal - Mountain Daughter
- Me - Lunar Diplomacy
- Skeleton Hellhound - In Search of the Myreque
- Tree spirit - Lost City
- Nazastarool - Shilo Village
- Khazard Warlord - Tree Gnome Village
- Bouncer - Fight Arena
Strategy[edit | edit source]
Run to the middle. Drink absorptions until 951-1000 absorption points, and optionally feel locator orb or guzzle a dwarven rock cake to 1 Hitpoints, and sip a super ranging or bastion potion. Repeat after 15–20 minutes or as necessary.
Using a locator orb or a dwarven rock cake is optional but allows for longer sessions, minimising the amount of absorption points used to tank damage (especially using void knight equipment).Bursting is not recommended here as there are far better ways to do so, this setup utilizes standard spells. In general it is not recommended to train Magic at Nightmare Zone, however it is still possible. This equipment prioritizes Magic damage boost, followed by magic accuracy and melee defensive bonuses.
Inventory[edit | edit source]
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- 4-5 super magic or battlemage potions
- Runes for highest fire-based standard spell or highest offensive spell (Runepouch optional)
- Locator orb or dwarven rock cake (optional but highly recommended)
- Absorptions
Bosses[edit | edit source]
Select customisable normal rumble choosing bosses are attackable with magic and have no special mechanics. Count Draynor, Sand Snake, King Roald, The Kendal, and Me are the usual selection because they have lower defence but not extremely low Hitpoints. Viable bosses are listed below:
- Trapped Soul - The Ascent of Arceuus
- Count Draynor - Vampyre Slayer
- Sand Snake - The Depths of Despair
- King Roald - What Lies Below
- The Kendal - Mountain Daughter
- Me - Lunar Diplomacy
Strategy[edit | edit source]
Run to the middle. Drink absorptions until 951-1000 absorption points, and optionally feel locator orb or guzzle a dwarven rock cake to 1 Hitpoints, and sip a Super magic potion or battlemage potion. Repeat after 15–20 minutes or as necessary.
Using a locator orb or a dwarven rock cake is optional but allows for longer sessions, minimising the amount of absorption points used to tank damage (especially using void knight equipment).Optimal point setups[edit | edit source]
Have as many bosses from the recommended lists activated, especially from Dream Mentor, Recipe for Disaster, and Desert Treasure.
Using Dharok the Wretched's equipment is optimal with 92+ Hitpoints, without that the best is a toktz-xil-ak, obsidian armour, and a Berserker necklace. Otherwise use the best available strength bonus gear or Void Knight equipment.
Equipment[edit | edit source]
| Slot | Item (most effective → least effective) | ||||
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 |  Dharok's helm /  Obsidian helmet | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
 |  Amulet of torture /  Berserker necklace |  Amulet of fury |  Amulet of glory | N/A | N/A |
 |  Infernal cape |  Fire cape |  Mythical cape |  Capes of accomplishments (trimmed) |  Ardougne cloak 4 |
 |  Dharok's platebody /  Obsidian platebody | Bandos chestplate (for special attacks) |  Fighter torso (for special attacks) | N/A | N/A |
 |  Dharok's platelegs /  Obsidian platelegs | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
 |  Dharok's greataxe /  Toktz-xil-ak | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
 |  Avernic defender |  Dragon defender |  Rune defender |  Dragonfire shield |  Toktz-ket-xil |
 |  Rada's blessing 4 |  God blessing /  Rada's blessing 3/2 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
 |  Ferocious gloves |  Barrows gloves |  Dragon gloves |  Granite gloves |  Regen bracelet |
 |  Primordial boots |  Dragon boots |  Guardian boots |  Granite boots |  Rune boots |
 |  Berserker ring (i) |  Brimstone ring |  Warrior ring (i) |  Ring of the gods (i) |  Ring of suffering (i) |
 | Dragon claws |  Granite maul (with Ornate maul handle) |  Dragon dagger(p++) | N/A | N/A |
Inventory[edit | edit source]
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- 4 overloads
- 20 absorption potions
- Special attack weapon for Power Surge
- Dwarven rock cake or Locator orb
- Ice gloves for Fareed and Flambeed
- 1 Prayer potion for emergency
Strategy[edit | edit source]
Boost with an overload, consume 1000 points of absorption points, and feel the Locator orb or guzzle the dwarven rock cake down to 1 Hitpoints. Quickly turn Rapid Heal on and off to reset Hitpoints regeneration and do so every 50-60 seconds to maintain 1 Hitpoints.
Follow the boss kill priority list provided to maximise points gained.
Do not use Ultimate Force power-up unless there are too many bosses that cannot be killed easily. Always use the Power Surge power-up and use the special attack weapon constantly. Use Recurrent Damage and Zapper whenever for higher points per hour.
A prayer potion should be used after suffering prayer-draining attacks from Karamel to ensure you can still flick Rapid Heal or activate Protect from Melee when your overload expires. Protect from Magic can be used against Karamel to minimse her stat drains.
Bosses[edit | edit source]
Make sure the following bosses are disabled:
This is the kill priority of enabled bosses based on time-to-kill per points awarded using the best in slot items above.
| Priority | Boss | Reason |
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| 1 | Karamel | Cancels auto-retaliate and movement Drains Prayer, Protect from Magic counters |
| 2 | Kamil | Cancels auto-retaliate and movement |
| 3 | Agrith-Naar | Teleports player into melee range |
| 4 | Agrith-Na-Na | Teleports player into melee range |
| 5 | Giant Roc | Stuns and knocks back |
| 6 | Dad | Stuns and knocks back |
| 7 | Essyllt | Stuns the player and sometimes drains stats |
| 8 | The Inadequacy | |
| 9 | The Untouchable | |
| 10 | Nezikchened | |
| 11 | The Everlasting | |
| 12 | Elven traitor | |
| 13 | Evil Chicken | |
| 14 | Me | |
| 15 | The Kendal | |
| 16 | Black demon | |
| 17 | Skeleton Hellhound | |
| 18 | Jungle Demon | |
| 19 | King Roald | |
| 20 | Bouncer | |
| 21 | Tree spirit | |
| 22 | Giant scarab | |
| 23 | Fareed | Equip ice gloves Beware: Without them and a full inventory, weapons drop on the ground. |
| 24 | Culinaromancer | |
| 25 | Flambeed | Equip ice gloves Beware: Without them and a full inventory, weapons drop on the ground. |
| 26 | Arrg | |
| 27 | Black Knight Titan | |
| 28 | Ice Troll King | |
| 29 | Count Draynor | |
| 30 | Sand Snake | |
| 31 | Moss Guardian | |
| 32 | Khazard warlord | |
| 33 | Treus Dayth | |
| 34 | Dagannoth mother Gelatinnoth Mother |
Only attackable when orange |
| 35 | Dessourt Dessous |
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| 36 | Trapped Soul | |
| 37 | Nazastarool | |
| 38 | Corsair Traitor Witch's experiment |
Drains Defence |
| 39 | Tanglefoot | Equip magic secateurs |
| 40 | Slagilith | Optional: Equip pickaxe Non-pickaxe damage is reduced by 66%. |
| 41 | Damis | Avoid attacking Second form drains Prayer quickly |
Using the best Ranged equipment is optimal, but some bosses have very high Ranged defence, so it is recommended to bring a Magic switch. Elite Void Knight equipment or Void Knight equipment is not recommended, however they can be used if lacking Ranged equipment, especially for ironmen. 61 Magic is the minimum requirement to be able to cast Fire Wave with an overload potion.
Inventory[edit | edit source]
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- 4 overloads
- 20 absorption potions
- Special attack weapon for Power Surge
- Dwarven rock cake or Locator orb
- Ice gloves for Fareed and Flambeed
- 1 Prayer potion for emergency
- Optional: Magic switch for auto-casting spells
Strategy[edit | edit source]
Boost with an overload, consume 1000 points of absorption points, and feel the Locator orb or guzzle the dwarven rock cake down to 1 Hitpoints. Quickly turn on and off Rapid Heal to reset Hitpoints regeneration and do so every 50-60 seconds to maintain 1 Hitpoints.
Follow the boss kill priority list provided to maximise points gained.
Target the following bosses with Magic if you brought a switch:
- Black Knight Titan
- Ice Troll King
- Chronozon - Attack with all four blast spells
Do not use Ultimate Force power-up unless there are too many bosses to deal with. Always use the Power Surge power-up and use the special attack weapon constantly. Use Recurrent Damage and Zapper whenever possible.
A Prayer potion should be used after suffering prayer-draining attacks from Karamel to ensure you can still flick rapid heal or activate protect from melee when your overload expires. Protect from Magic can be used against Karamel to minimse her stat drains.
Bosses[edit | edit source]
Make sure the following bosses are disabled:
- Barrelchest
- Black Knight Titan
- Chronozon - Can be enabled if bringing a Magic switch
- Corrupt Lizardman
- Elvarg
- Glod
The following bosses have long kill times and are recommended to be disabled unless you bring a Magic switch:
This is the kill priority of enabled bosses based on time-to-kill per points awarded using the best in slot items above.
| Priority | Boss | Reason |
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| 1 | Karamel | Cancels auto-retaliate and movement Drains Prayer, Protect from Magic counters |
| 2 | Kamil | Cancels auto-retaliate and movement |
| 3 | Agrith-Na-Na | Teleports player into melee range |
| 4 | Agrith-Naar | Teleports player into melee range |
| 5 | Giant Roc | Stuns and knocks back |
| 6 | Dad | Stuns and knocks back |
| 7 | Essyllt | Stuns the player and sometimes drains stats |
| 8 | The Inadequacy | |
| 9 | The Untouchable]] | |
| 10 | Nezikchened | |
| 11 | The Everlasting | |
| 12 | Jungle Demon | |
| 13 | Fareed | Equip ice gloves Beware: Without them and a full inventory, weapons drop on the ground. |
| 14 | Evil Chicken | |
| 15 | Black demon | |
| 16 | Me | |
| 17 | The Kendal | |
| 18 | Skeleton Hellhound | |
| 19 | Elven traitor | |
| 20 | King Roald | |
| 21 | Bouncer | |
| 22 | Tree spirit | |
| 23 | Flambeed | Equip ice gloves Beware: Without them and a full inventory, weapons drop on the ground. |
| 24 | Giant scarab | |
| 25 | Culinaromancer | |
| 26 | Dessourt | |
| 27 | Dessous | |
| 28 | Count Draynor | |
| 29 | Dagannoth mother | Only attackable when green |
| 30 | Gelatinnoth Mother | Only attackable when green |
| 31 | Arrg | |
| 32 | Khazard warlord | |
| 33 | Moss Guardian | |
| 34 | Sand Snake | |
| 35 | Chronozon | With a Magic switch - Requires all four blast spells |
| 36 | Treus Dayth | |
| 37 | Trapped Soul | |
| 38 | Nazastarool | |
| 39 | Corsair Traitor | Drains Defence by 15% |
| 40 | Slagilith | Optional: Equip pickaxe Non-pickaxe damage is reduced by 66%. |
| 41 | Witch's experiment | First form drains Defence by 5% |
| 42 | Ice Troll King | With a Magic switch |
| 43 | Black Knight Titan | With a Magic switch |
| 44 | Damis | Avoid attacking Second form drains Prayer quickly |