The Nightmare/Strategies

The Nightmare is a group boss located in the Sisterhood Sanctuary, a dungeon beneath Slepe in Morytania.

Requirements

• Completion of Priest in Peril to access Morytania.

Recommendations

• High combat stats. Although not required, see the skill levels below for an indication of the advised stats:
  • Level 85 or higher
  • Level 85 or higher
  • Level 85 or higher
  • Level 85 or higher
  • Level 85 or higher
  • Level 70 or higher
• Completion of A Taste of Hope for the Drakan's Medallion, which is the quickest teleportation method.
  • Alternatively, completion of Ghost Ahoy for the ectophial, which is the second quickest teleportation method.

Getting there

The two quickest methods of reaching Slepe, where The Nightmare resides, are:

• Teleporting to Ver Sinhaza via Drakan's medallion, then running north. Once players pass the small dock, run east to arrive at Slepe.
• Using the Ectophial to teleport to the Ectofuntus, then heading north to the small dock and paying Andras 10,000 coins to row to Slepe. The player will arrive at a dock just south-west of Slepe.

Starting the fight

Players can initiate the fight by disturbing The Nightmare while she is in her sleeping state.

If there is already a fight in progress, The Nightmare will be seen in a floating state with a glowing symbol on the ground beneath her. During this state, the symbol will indicate which of the 3 phases the current fight is in:

• 

  This symbol indicates the fight is in the first phase.

• 

  This symbol indicates the fight is in the second phase.

• 

  This symbol indicates the fight is in the third and final phase.

If The Nightmare is already in her floating state, players will need to wait for the current fight to finish as her instance is not joinable mid-fight. Alternatively, players can hop to look for potentially available worlds.

Mechanics

Totems

Players do not damage the Nightmare's physical health directly - instead, they must break her shield during each of her three phases, after which players can attack four totems in each corner of the boss room. The durability of her shield scales accordingly to the amount of players participating in the fight, with a minimum of 2,000 health and maximum of 19,600.

Once the shield is shattered, the totems in the corners of the room may be attacked in order to begin charging them. When all four totems are fully charged, they will unleash a magical blast of energy onto the Nightmare, dealing 800 damage to her. The Nightmare has 2,400 physical health, and does not regenerate it, so three blasts will end the encounter. After the first 800 damage, the Nightmare will be in phase 2, and after the second blast of 800 damage, the Nightmare will be in phase 3, or the final phase.

The totems cannot be leeched off of with blood spells. However, the Sanguinesti Staff's passive healing effect does work while attacking the totems. Players do not receive any experience for dealing damage to the totems, and they will take three times as much damage if struck with magic.

Attacks

Standard attacks

Players can use protection prayers to mitigate damage from some of The Nightmare's attacks, in a manner similar to the Great Olm - attacks that are successfully prayed against will deal less damage, while an attack that is incorrectly prayed against will result in more damage; 120% of her maximum hit for her melee attack. This may also be the case with her Magic and Ranged attacks but has yet to be confirmed.

The Nightmare has a unique aggression mechanic in which she determines the highest Defence roll out of all five types for each player in her dream world, and will immediately focus on the player with the highest overall value. This in turn makes her melee attack only hit in the direction she is facing.

• Magic attack: The Nightmare will flail to the side surrounding herself with pink flower petals, then spin back shooting the petals toward players. Note that her claws have a slight glow here as well, but not as much emphasis as the melee attack.
• Ranged attack: The Nightmare will swiftly contort herself 4 times, shooting out projectiles toward players on the fourth movement. Having game sounds enabled will help as this attack performs a loud clicking sound per contortion. It is recommended to use Protect from Mage during the fight and switch to Protect from Missiles when you hear the clicking.
• Melee attack: The Nightmare will charge her claws with a pink glow and pull them back, then quickly swipe forward scraping her claws along the ground and dealing damage to anyone in front of her in melee range. This attack will always hit regardless of defensive bonuses, although it can be easily avoided by moving away from melee distance in the direction she is facing.

• 

  The Nightmare's standard Magic attack.

• 

  The Nightmare's standard Ranged attack.

• 

  The Nightmare's standard Melee attack. There are also two Husks attacking the player.

Special attacks

• Grasping Claws: The Nightmare will spawn a black portal underneath her, and numerous smaller "end" portals before sticking her claws inside. If the player stands on any portal, they will take up to 50 damage. Simply move into a tile free of a black portal to avoid damage. The Nightmare uses this attack during all three phases.
• Sleepwalkers: At the start of the second and final phases, the Nightmare will summon sleepwalkers that walk toward her, the number of which is dependent upon the number of players in the instance, ranging from 1-24. They possess 10 health, but instantly die upon taking any damage. At the end of this attack, she will charge up a powerful blast that hits all players in the room for a minimum of 5 damage. The more sleepwalkers she absorbs, the more damaging this blast becomes, capable of dealing over 70 damage to each player in masses. This damage is unavoidable, so kill as many sleepwalkers as possible before they reach the Nightmare. In a solo encounter, if the player doesn't kill the sleepwalker, the subsequent charge will always kill them.
• Husks: The Nightmare spawns two husks around random players in her arena. The targeted players will be frozen in place until the husks are killed. The blue, skinny husk uses magic attacks, while the green, bulky husk uses ranged attacks. The Nightmare will not spawn Grasping Claws portals under players that are frozen by the husks, however if the player is under the Nightmare while frozen by husks they will still take damage. The Nightmare only uses this attack during phase 1.
• Flower Power: The Nightmare will divide the room into four equal quadrants with lines of flowers. One quadrant will be safe as indicated with white nightmare flowers, while the remaining quadrants are unsafe as indicated with red nightmare berries. If players are in the incorrect quadrant, they will take rapid damage, and any attacks that would harm her instead heal her. The Nightmare only uses this attack during phase 1.
• Curse: A pink glow fills the player's screen and protection prayers are shuffled. Clicking on Protect from Magic activates Protect from Missiles, Protect from Missiles activates Protect from Melee and Protect from Melee activates Protect from Magic. An easy way to remember this is that the Prayers are shifted over by one to the right. After 5 attacks, the curse is lifted. The Nightmare only uses this attack during phase 2.
• Parasites: The Nightmare throws a parasite onto random players. After it has grown, it will burst out of the player and deal damage to them, and will then begin healing The Nightmare until killed. Drinking a dose of Sanfew serum or Relicym's balm before it emerges will weaken the parasite and greatly reduce the damage taken when the parasite bursts out. The Nightmare only uses this attack during phase 2.
• Surge: The Nightmare will teleport to one of the four edges of the room, then immediately surge across to the opposite side dealing up to 60 damage to anyone caught in her path. Move out of the way to avoid taking damage. The Nightmare only uses this attack during phase 3.
• Spores: Puffshroom like objects spawn around the arena. Standing within 1 tile of one will cause it to explode, causing the player to become weary; their run is disabled and their attack speed is lowered by 1 tick for a short duration. The Nightmare only uses this attack during phase 3.

• 

  The Nightmare's special Husk attack.

• 

  The Nightmare's special Flower Power attack, followed by a standard Ranged attack.

• 

  The Nightmare's special Grasping Claws attack. There are also two Husks attacking the player.

Fight overview

Players should pre-pot with an Anglerfish and a sip of a stamina potion before running over to the Nightmare from a bank. Players should also be familiar with the Nightmare's mechanics, especially which special attacks are used during each phase, and how to take down all of the Sleepwalkers that spawn between phases. When bringing a team, it's not uncommon to designate players to specific sections of the arena, to more consistently deal with all of the Sleepwalkers. In larger teams, consider bringing Blood Barrage on one or more players, to dispatch multiple Sleepwalkers at once. If in a smaller team, such as a duo, if one player dies, the remaining player must deal sufficient damage, or they will be automatically teleported out of the instance, with a message saying, "The nightmare grows tired of your poor efforts."

Phase 1

The Nightmare will choose a "tank" in your party based on their defence bonus and their Defence level. If your team has a designated tank, they should pray melee, switching to ranged or mage prayer when appropriate. The rest of the team should stand on different sides than the tank, so that the Nightmare is not facing them, meaning that they can ignore her melee attacks entirely.

During this phase, the Nightmare will use the special attacks Grasping Claws, Husks, and Flower Power. Deal with these special attacks while continuing to have the correct prayer active.

Players immobilized by Husks will usually not have a portal spawn under them during the Grasping Claws attack, and the Nightmare does not seem to use the Flower Power attack while players are immobilized. During the Flower Power attack, be aware of where your tank is - players who end up on the same side of the Nightmare as the tank will need to be aware that they can be hit by the Nightmare's melee attack afterward, and should move or pray accordingly.

After depleting the Nightmare's shield, the totems will become vulnerable. The Nightmare will continue using its phase 1 attacks while you attack the totems. Fully charge all four and they will damage the Nightmare for 1/3rd of its health, and begin phase 2.

In this phase, be cautious of fully charging all of the totems if the Nightmare has not recently used her Husks attack. If she spawns Husks as the Totems fully charge, it can result in one or more players being immobilized while the Sleepwalkers spawn at the start of the next phase, possibly leading to the party taking massive damage. It is recommended for immobilized players to use their magic weapon to kill the Sleepwalkers to prevent the party from taking massive damage.

If players bring a Saradomin Godsword they can use a special attack on the Sleepwalkers to restore health and prayer.

Phase 2

The Nightmare will use her Sleepwalker attack at the start of this phase, and will deal considerable damage to your party if not all of the Sleepwalkers she spawns are killed. This is a good time to restore some HP and Prayer with a Saradomin Godsword special attack, if you brought one.

During this phase, the Nightmare will use the special attacks Grasping Claws, Curse, and Parasites. Pay special attention to the Parasite attack, as players will take massive damage if they do not drink a dose of Sanfew Serum or Relicym's Balm before the parasite bursts out of them. Once they do emerge, Parasites should be killed as quickly as possible, or they will begin to rapidly heal the Nightmare.

Once the Nightmare's shields are depleted, switch to your mage gear and charge the totems like before in order to move to the final phase. Note that any Parasites spawned while the totems are vulnerable will cause the parasites to start healing the totems instead, so they should be taken down immediately.

Phase 3

This phase begins with a Sleepwalker attack, just like the last one. Deal with it normally, optionally healing on the Sleepwalkers using your SGS or Blood Barrage.

During this phase, the Nightmare will use the special attacks Grasping Claws, Spores, and Surge. Stay at least 2 tiles away from the spores to avoid getting infected. If you do get infected, stay at least 2 tiles away from your teammates in order to avoid passing on the infection to them! The drowsiness inflicted by the spores will not only lower your DPS, but make you unable to run, which can be deadly if the Nightmare uses her Surge attack.

It's common that the Nightmare will use her Grasping Claws attack while some spores are still active. Whenever spores are active, figure out beforehand which square(s) you can walk to so that you'll dodge a Grasping Claws portal without triggering any spores.

After the Nightmare's shields are depleted, simply charge all four totems for one final time while continuing to avoid her phase 3 special attacks, and the Nightmare will be defeated.

Equipment

Note that The Nightmare is not undead, therefore items such as Salve amulet will have no effect on her.

Recommended equipment for 5 man groups

Slot	Item (most effective → least effective)
	Inquisitor's great helm	Torva full helm	Neitiznot faceguard	Helm of neitiznot	Dwarven helmet
	Amulet of torture	Amulet of blood fury	Amulet of fury	Amulet of glory	N/A
	Infernal cape	Mythical cape	Fire cape	N/A	N/A
	Inquisitor's hauberk	Torva platebody	Bandos chestplate	Fighter torso	Verac's brassard
	Inquisitor's plateskirt	Torva platelegs	Bandos tassets	Obsidian platelegs	Verac's plateskirt
	Scythe of vitur	Inquisitor's mace	Abyssal bludgeon	Zamorakian hasta	N/A
	Avernic defender (if not using a two-handed main weapon)	Dragon defender (if not using a two-handed main weapon)	Dragonfire shield (if not using a two-handed main weapon)	Rune defender (if not using a two-handed main weapon)	Toktz-ket-xil (if not using a two-handed main weapon)
	Rada's blessing 4	Rada's blessing 3	God blessing	N/A	N/A
	Ferocious gloves	Barrows gloves	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Primordial boots	Dragon boots	Guardian boots	N/A	N/A
	Berserker ring (i)	Brimstone ring	Tyrannical ring (i)	Ring of suffering (i)	N/A
	Saradomin godsword	Dragon warhammer	Bandos godsword	Dragon claws	Dragon mace

Equipment

• Upgrades to melee gear should be prioritised over mage gear upgrades.
• Using an alt account will allow for higher kill trips, as you can trade supplies or cast Energy Transfer between kills.
• Although the Scythe of vitur provides higher overall DPS, the Inquisitor's mace performs similarly and has no cost in charges. Use a Fire cape over the Mythical cape if you're using the Inquisitor's mace (if you do not own an Infernal cape) for higher DPS. This will increase your chance of being the tank though.
• If you are tanking, ensure that you have the highest defence bonus of all players in the group. The easiest way to do this is for other players to wear a Fighter torso instead of a Bandos chestplate. If all members are wearing Inquisitor's armour, bring Guardian boots instead of Primordial boots.
• For mage weapons: (if using thralls) Sanguinesti staff with Imbued heart, Book of the dead and rune pouch with thrall runes > Trident of the swamp with Imbued heart, Book of the dead and rune pouch with thrall runes. If thralls are not being used, Harmonised nightmare staff with tome of fire and rune pouch with fire surge runes without imbued heart and book of the dead.
• For mage armour: As the pillars have no defence, only armour with magic damage bonus has any effect. The priority for these are: Occult necklace > Imbued heart (if using a trident) > Tormented bracelet > Imbued god capes and Ancestral robes.
• All players not using a Dragon warhammer should use their Saradomin godsword special on the sleepwalkers that spawn between phases.
• In smaller group sizes, substitute some Anglerfish and Divine super combat potions for regular Super combat potions and Saradomin brews.
• Consider bringing an Amulet of blood fury when learning the boss for the passive healing effect, however this will increase supply costs per kill and slightly lower your DPS.
• Substitute out Ancestral robes pieces if you wish to have more food without sacrificing too much DPS.
• If flicking Piety during kills, fewer Super restores will be required. This is not recommended for the tank as if piety is accidentally deactivated, The Nightmare may target another player as the defence bonus from the prayer is removed.
• If using thralls, the ghost (Magic) thrall is the best to use because it benefits from the double damage on totems.

Equipment

• Gear progression for solos is the same as that for 5 man
• As kills will be long, replacing Ancestral robes with extra Saradomin brews is advised to allow for more mistakes.
• Use a Dragon claws special against the boss whenever your special attack regenerates, except for in Phase 2/the end of Phase 1 where they should be used against the Parasites.
• Switch to the Abyssal bludgeon to kill any Husks that spawn or Parasites that you do not have enough special attack for. Alternatively, use the Inquisitor's mace or no switch at all, however the scythe has poor DPS against these spawns.
• During Phase 2, walk underneath The Nightmare just before the parasite bursts out. This happens roughly 5 bludgeon/mace attacks or 4 scythe attacks after the parasite attack lands. If the parasite spawns underneath the boss, it will be unable to heal the boss until it moves. Use this to kill any parasites that spawn and reduce their healing.
• Prayer flicking piety during the kill will save a significant number of prayer points, this can allow you to bring more brews.
• Using an Amulet of blood fury is recommended for learning solo kills and will reduce the need for brews substantially, since kills are long and The Nightmare does low overall DPS against you.
• The Sanguinesti staff is especially useful for healing the player since magic damage against the totems is doubled. As a result, it is recommended to use the Sanguinesti staff when learning solo kills.
• If using thralls, the ghost (Magic) thrall is the best to use because it benefits from the double damage on totems.