Killing Nex

Killing Nex
Skills
Requirements
70 , , (90+ recommended) 70 87/96 for Shadow Nihil or Pack yak 90+ recommended 96 recommended 95 recommended
Items
High Level Ranged Weapons (Noxious Longbow, Ascensions) High Level Ranged Shield (Dark Bow, Vengeful kiteshield or Repriser) Reckless aura Ancient ceremonial robes set Protection from all factions in the God Wars Dungeon Frozen Key
Quest
Partial completion of Troll Stronghold The Temple at Senntisten recommended Ritual of the Mahjarrat recommended
Other
None
Results
Profit	Experience gained
14,934,920.13	233,760 77,140.8
Inputs (4,278,576)	Outputs (19,213,496.13)
2 × Supreme overload potion (6) (442,902) 2 × Replenishment potion (6) (56,338) 2 × Super prayer renewal potion (6) (91,222) 120 × Rocktail (651,000) 72 × Saradomin brew (4) (1,375,416) 12 × Super restore flask (6) (304,068) 135 × Magic notepaper (207,630) 500,000 × Coins (500,000) Gear repair, includes Frozen key repair 600,000 × Coins (600,000) Instance cost with price reduction from Death's Store; otherwise 800,000 50,000 × Coins (50,000) Redirect cost for the boss portal in War's Retreat	0.031 × Torva full helm (1,581,131.56) 0.031 × Torva platebody (3,965,632.47) 0.031 × Torva gloves (776,148.16) 0.031 × Torva platelegs (2,417,335.47) 0.031 × Torva boots (779,036) 0.031 × Virtus mask (432,120.56) 0.031 × Virtus robe top (1,061,278.88) 0.031 × Virtus gloves (189,857.41) 0.031 × Virtus robe legs (649,546.78) 0.031 × Virtus boots (190,626.72) 0.031 × Virtus wand (198,790.44) 0.031 × Virtus book (185,381.06) 0.031 × Pernix cowl (349,412.66) 0.031 × Pernix body (898,930.94) 0.031 × Pernix gloves (180,961.56) 0.031 × Pernix chaps (567,277.63) 0.031 × Pernix boots (174,599.59) 0.031 × Zaryte bow (342,919.16) 67.5 × Saradomin brew (4) (1,289,452.5) 67.5 × Super restore (4) (433,350) 225 × Onyx bolts (e) (1,761,750) 192 × Green dragonhide (197,760) 9.6 × Uncut dragonstone (94,377.6) 2.4 × Magic seed (52,401.6) 5.76 × Grimy torstol (30,182.4) 22.5 × Grimy dwarf weed (317,340) 22.5 × Grimy avantoe (23,355) 180 × Magic logs (72,540)

The profit rate assumes 12 kills per hour solo. Your actual profit may be higher or lower depending on your speed, soloing or duoing, and/or max portal (or no portal).

As the best method to killing Nex is with entering a fresh instance to avoid her Deflect Ranged attack (entering a fresh instance forces Deflect Magic), players should use the Max Guild portal to get directly to Nex; otherwise, the portal in War's Retreat should be used. Equipping the ancient ceremonial armour before using either will place you in the lobby room instead of the beginning of the dungeon.

If you are using God Wars Dungeon teleport, protection from the zarosian mobs is necessary, items such as the Shard of Zaros or Virtus wand is required.

Overview[edit | edit source]

Gaining entry[edit | edit source]

Click to view a larger version (opens on a new page)

Nex is the general of the Zarosian army under the God Wars Dungeon in the Ancient Prison of Bandos' Stronghold. The Frozen key must be assembled to enter the prison. The four pieces of the key are obtained by defeating followers in each stronghold of the dungeon - Armadyl, Bandos, Saradomin and Zamorak. Level 70 in Ranged, Strength, Agility, and Constitution are required in order to access those strongholds, respectively; boosts do not work and drop rate for the pieces of the key drop at random from the corresponding followers.

Frozen keys have 10 charges, one of which is lost whenever the player enters the Ancient Prison, either by using the Frozen Door or a boss portal. Charges can be replenished on the armour stand in a player-owned house for a discount or by equipment repair specialists such as Bob. Right clicking repair all on him will replenish the key charges to 100 rather than 10. By default, the player is transported to the staircase leading out of the Ancient Prison regardless if the player has ancient ceremonial robes or not. This can be toggled to teleport players to the bank instead if they are wearing the full set of ancient ceremonial robes.

If it can be afforded, speak to Ashuelot Reis with a full set of ancient ceremonial robes, a frozen key (any amount of charge is fine) and 10,000,000 coins. Go through a short set of dialogue regarding the barrier. Once these items are given to her, she will keep the doors open permanently, allowing players to immediately enter the lobby area without having to wear a set of robes and bring the key with them. This is highly recommended for any player wishing to camp Nex in the long term.

Mechanics[edit | edit source]

Nex possesses 200,000 health with level 80 Defence, 40 affinity against all combat styles, and immunity to leeching effects from curses. 100% accuracy can be obtained with best-in-slot items along with an affinity stack of 7 or higher, but is still acceptable with no or 2 stacks, depending on what the player is using.

She uses all three styles of combat; however, she primarily uses two - melee and magic. Ranged is only used during her shadow phase. In each phase she utilises the Ancient Magicks against her enemies - smoke can poison players, shadow weakens the player's attacks briefly, blood heals her and ice drains up to 150 prayer points based on the player's current amount and bind them for 3 seconds if not using Protect/Deflect Magic. The blood spells always have 100% accuracy regardless of her target's armour rating.

Prayer has unusual reactions towards her attacks - if the attack is prayed against, it deals almost negligible damage. Tanking the attacks without protection prayers/curses on the other hand will deal significantly more damage.

Although she normally attacks at a distance, Nex will periodically close in towards her target to start using melee attacks in her attack rotation. During the first two phases, she will only do this if her target's melee values are lower than their ranged/magic values. In the remaining three phases, she will do this at random without regard to their armour values.

Nex is a 1x1 NPC (though she will not be moved by Kick, Stomp, and the Scare Tactics abilities) and has a soft cap throughout the whole fight. During the first four phases, Nex has a soft cap that reduces excess damage above 5,000 by 50%. For example, a 6,000 damage hit would be reduced to 5,500 damage. On the final phase, the soft cap is changed to reduce excess damage above 2,000 by 75%. This means a 6,000-damage hit would be reduced to 3,000.

Bodyguards[edit | edit source]

As with the other generals, Nex has bodyguards of her own - four instead of the typical three; Fumus, Umbra, Cruor and Glacies.

All four mages have a combat level of 111, a Defence level of 75, susceptibility to the hexhunter bow, an affinity of 90 for bolts, 65 for other ranged combat, 55 for magic and 45 for melee.
The mages can only be attacked whenever Nex calls them [mage name], don't fail me!, and like Nex herself, the mages have a very harsh damage cap, with any excess damage over 1,000 being reduced by 80-100%.
They are also immune to most magic attacks; dragonstone-enhanced bolts' effects can still damage them.
Once the respective mage is killed, Nex must be successfully hit to begin the next phase in line.
Cruor's magic attacks have a 100% hit chance regardless of his target's armour rating and will heal for 100 damage for each attack.
Glacies' magic attacks have 0% hit chance regardless of her target's armour rating if Protect/Deflect Magic is active, but if she launches an attack that hits, the player will be invisibly frozen (similar to that of skeletal wyverns) in which they can only break free with Freedom; Anticipation beforehand has no effect in stopping her freeze effect).

Preparation[edit | edit source]

Prior to fighting Nex, it is recommended that players who have completed Ritual of the Mahjarrat visit the Glacor Cave to receive a 5% damage boost from the Stone of Jas. This can be done via Fairy ring code DKQ.

Drops[edit | edit source]

The average price for a piece of Ancient equipment is 26,561,755 coins. With the drop rate for any piece being 1 out of 21, each kill is worth 1,247,031 coins in uniques alone.

Recommendations[edit | edit source]

Skills[edit | edit source]

90+ (99 for solo)
90+ (99 for solo)
96+ for Overloads
95+ for Anguish
68+ for the war tortoise

The following requirements are also useful:

Access to War's Retreat with at least 1,000 total boss kills.
106-107+ for elder overload potions or elder overload salves.
87-96+ for the Shadow nihil and pack yak summoning familiar. Only use a yak when learning.
Completion of Ritual of the Mahjarrat to obtain the Stone of Jas effect in the Glacor Cave via fairy ring code DKQ for a 5% damage boost for four hours.

Cape perks[edit source]

If players own a max cape and/or the Anachronia cape stand, the following capes have the best passive perks for this activity:

	Combat styles	Perk category	Perk
Defence cape	All	Lifesaving ability	The cape's perk provides the effects of a sign of life once an hour.
Ranged cape	Ranged only	Damage enhancement	Increases the special effect chance of ranged ammunition by 20%.
Strength cape	Melee only	Damage enhancement	Causes Dismember's damage over time to last an extra 3.6 seconds (displayed as 2 seconds on the tooltip).
Constitution cape	All	Health regeneration	Doubles base life point regeneration to 0.2% every 6 seconds, and allows regeneration during combat (stacks with Fortitude.)

Archaeology relics[edit source]

Requires Archaeology 97. The set below provides 500 more life points, increased damage based on missing life points and increased adrenaline gain.

Relic power		Effect	Level	Required relic(s)	Monolith energy
	Fury of the Small	All basic abilities generate 1% more adrenaline.	97	Goblin Warpaints	150
	Berserker's Fury	Deal up to +5.5% damage the lower your life points are below max.	56	Dharok's Memento	250
	Font of Life	Increases maximum health by 500.	5	The Mortal Cup	50
Total monolith energy used					450

Requires Archaeology 120 and Mysterious City mystery. The set below provides damage reduction, increased damage based on missing hp, and increased adrenaline gain.

Relic power		Effect	Level	Required relic(s)	Monolith energy
	Fury of the Small	All basic abilities generate 1% more adrenaline.	97	Goblin Warpaints	150
	Berserker's Fury	Deal up to +5.5% damage the lower your life points are below max.	56	Dharok's Memento	250
	Death Ward	5% damage reduction when your life points are below 50%; 10% damage reduction when they are below 25%.	81	Ring of Solomon	150
Total monolith energy used					550

Requires Archaeology 98. The set below provides more adrenaline, prevents adrenaline drain between phases, and provides permanent LOTD (eliminates ring switching).

Relic power		Effect	Level	Required relic(s)	Monolith energy
	Luck of the Dwarves	You will always gain the effect of tier 4 luck.	83	Hand of Glory (Luck of the Dwarves)	200
	Fury of the Small	All basic abilities generate 1% more adrenaline.	97	Goblin Warpaints	150
	Persistent Rage	Your adrenaline will not drain outside of combat.	98	The Rings of Razulei	150
Total monolith energy used					500

The phases[edit | edit source]

Let the virus flow through you!

"No escape!" Fly attack.

During this phase, Nex will use Smoke spells. This is the only phase in which Nex can poison players. Smoke spells deal significantly higher damage compared to the other ancient spells.

Note: On this phase, Nex has a soft cap that reduces excess damage above 5,000 by 50%.

She has several special attacks during this phase:

Choke - Nex will yell Let the virus flow through you! as she attempts to infect them with a virus. This counts as a standard attack and has a chance of missing. The player's combat stats are rapidly drained every time they say "Cough". This can spread between players and has a 3x3 radius. The cough resets if infected players infect healthy or other infected players.
Smoke Bullet - Nex will stop attacking, while yelling There is... as she raises her wings, before NO ESCAPE! as she flies down one of the four corridors to the centre of the room (her spawn point) damaging any players who stand in her way for up to 5,000 typeless damage and disabling their protection prayers. Although attackable in this state, any damage she takes is ignored, although the damage still counts towards her health threshold. If attacked just before she flies, the resulting hit(s) will damage her after she finishes flying.
Drag - Nex's magic attack has a chance to drag a player towards her, stun and bind them for three seconds, and disable their protection prayers. Use Anticipation and Freedom to prevent being dragged.

Once she reaches 160,000 life points, the smoke mage, Fumus, can be attacked. The shadow phase will not start until Fumus has been killed, and Nex has been successfully attacked.

Nex's attack pattern for this phase consists of the following:

Virus
Five auto-attacks
No escape
Five auto-attacks
Repeat

Embrace Darkness!

"Fear the shadow!" As the room gets darker.

During this phase, Nex will use Shadow spells; however, these attacks are classified as Ranged. This is the only phase where she uses ranged attacks. Successful attacks can drain prayer points slightly. These attacks can miss; occasionally, a second, unavoidable hit immediately takes its place, dealing even less damage than what it would have done normally.

Note: On this phase, Nex has a soft cap that reduces excess damage above 5,000 by 50%.

Her special abilities in this phase are:

Shadow Smash - Nex will yell Fear the shadow!, causing a shadow trap to appear underneath all players in attack range. The traps go off two ticks after being set, and will deal 50% of the player's maximum health as damage.
Embrace Darkness - Nex will yell Embrace darkness!, plunging the room into shadow for all players within 15 spaces of her. The closer players are to Nex, the darker the room will be. Players within melee range of Nex for at least five seconds will receive a message saying The shadows start to engulf you! and be dealt 400-700 soft typeless damage every tick. If this darkness damage is triggered, the player must remain outside of Nex's melee range for 10-15 seconds to avoid taking damage while next to her.

Once she reaches 120,000 life points, the shadow mage, Umbra, can be attacked. The blood phase will not start until Umbra is killed, and Nex is successfully attacked.

Nex's attack pattern for this phase consists of the following:

Shadow traps (only if the phased before the virus attack)
Darkness
Shadow traps
Four auto-attacks
Repeats from the second set of shadow traps

Note: If players not affected by the darkness enter Nex's attack range, she temporarily halts her attack pattern to give them the darkness, followed by a shadow trap.

A siphon will solve this!

During this phase, Nex will use Blood blitz, which heals her for around 600 life points per attack and has an AoE of 3x3 at her primary target. During this phase, her magic hit chance is increased to 100% and, like the previous phase, can also drain prayer points.

Note: On this phase, Nex has a soft cap that reduces excess damage above 5,000 by 50%.

Her special abilities in this phase are:

Blood siphon - Nex will yell A siphon will solve this!, summoning two blood reavers and performs a summoning animation. If attacked in her summoning animation, any damage dealt will instead heal her for the same amount. Nex's blood reavers will also heal her for 92 life points for every successful attack they make. If there are any reavers in the chamber, the previous set is killed off for the current set, and the health they had left is transferred to Nex.
Blood Sacrifice - Nex will yell I demand a blood sacrifice! and select a random target who will glow red. If the target does not move at least seven spaces away from Nex within four seconds, she will heal equal to the player's maximum health while damaging them for 10% of their maximum health. All other players will have their current prayer points cut in half. It is advised to use Surge or Escape if targeted. Nex seems to use this attack on the farthest player from her. If all players are within the same distance from Nex, she will target a random player instead. Her aggression will also shift to the targeted player.
Healing - This ability is active from the start of the blood phase and last until the phase ends. If Nex is inflicted with a bleed ability (the only exceptions being the bleed from Puncture and the combust effect from the Dragon Rider amulet), any damage she takes from them will heal her instead.

Once she reaches 80,000 life points, the blood mage, Cruor, can be attacked. Cruor heals 100 of his life points each time he attacks a player; his attacks have a 100% hit chance. The next (Ice) phase does not start until Cruor is killed, and Nex is successfully attacked.

Nex's attack pattern for this phase consists of the following:

Siphon summon
Three auto-attacks
Blood sacrifice
Three auto-attacks
Repeat

"Contain this!" being used.

During this phase, Nex uses Ice spells, which target all players in range. If the player does not have Protect/Deflect Magic activated, they will be bound for four seconds. In addition to this, the prayer drain from her attacks increases greatly, this time draining prayer points based on the percentage left, but the max drain is capped at 150.

Note: On this phase, Nex has a soft cap that reduces excess damage above 5,000 by 50%.

Her special attacks in this phase are:

Ice Prison - Nex will yell Die now, in a prison of ice!, shooting an ice projectile at her target. Upon impact, the targeted player will be stunned, bound and have their protection prayer/curse disabled for 6 seconds as a small prison of ice surrounds the player. If the prison is not broken in this time frame, the ice will shatter, dealing 6,000-8,000 hard typeless damage to the trapped player. Other players, if any, may break one of the surrounding icicles, which will negate the damage dealt from the attack. Nex is very likely to perform an auto-attack in the process, which is likely to kill the player if not dealt with properly.

Note: Sometimes the ice prison may glitch out and one of the icicles will not appear. This does not protect the player from the prison damage, and Nex may use this to attack the player.

Ice Barrage - Nex will yell Contain this!, raising her right arm before slamming it downwards. Roughly three seconds later, four icicles will appear beside Nex. If the player is next to these icicles, they will take up to 3,500 hard typeless damage, be stunned, bound and have their protection prayer/curse disabled for 3 seconds. Nex generally loses aggression of her current target upon performing this attack, and sometimes she generally runs to the spot her target was when she performs this attack.

Note: Sometimes Nex may still chase her target even after performing this attack, so it's best to Surge away if this happens.

Once she reaches 40,000 life points, the ice mage, Glacies, can be attacked. Glacies can freeze players if she hits them, though this only occurs if Protect/Deflect Magic is not activated. The next (Zaros) phase does not start until Glacies is killed, and Nex is successfully attacked.

Nex's attack pattern for this phase consists of the following:

First special attack (based on phase start)
Three auto-attacks
Second special attack (based on phase start)
Three auto-attacks
Repeat

Nex activating Turmoil.

Upon the start of this phase, Nex activates Turmoil, yelling "NOW, THE POWER OF ZAROS!" and heals herself for 33,333 (1/6) of her health to boost it up to 73,333.

Nex does not have any unique special attacks in this phase and uses only her melee and magic autoattacks:

Soft cap - Nex has a soft cap that reduces excess damage above 2,000 by 75%.
Soul Split - Nex will heal 2,500 life points for every successful hit she inflicts on player(s), capping at 3 players.
Turmoil - Nex will activate a unique version of Turmoil, which allows her attacks to drain the player's combat stats by two levels each time it activates.
Deflect Melee - Nex's wings will turn orange as she activates this curse, making her immune to melee attacks for its duration. Attacks have a chance to be reflected back as with the other two deflection curses.
Cleaving melee - Nex's melee attacks now cleave and hit other players that are near her primary target in a 3x3 AoE, although its damage is unchanged from previous phases.
Increased damage - Nex's magic attacks deal significantly more damage, up to 5,500 if not protected against.
Wrath - Upon death, Nex will yell "Taste my wrath!", dealing around 4,000 damage to players within a 5x5 radius of Nex. It takes significantly more time to activate than the player's version of Wrath.

Nex's attack pattern for this phase consists of the following:

Soul Split
Three autoattacks
Deflect Melee
Three autoattacks
No overhead curse
Three autoattacks
Repeat

Note: If Nex uses Deflect Missiles/Magic, then she only performs autoattacks until she disables it.

Duo[edit | edit source]

The most effective soloing and duoing makes use of instances. This is because Nex will always start with Deflect Magic, making her completely invulnerable to magic attacks for the entire fight. After every kill you will teleport out of the instance and re-enter in order to force Nex to always be praying mage. Unless Ashuelot Reis has been paid to keep the door open, 2 presets will be required for the boss, one to get to Nex bank and one for the actual fight.

If your gear is significantly lower than one in the beginner loadout it may still be possible to get kills, but there will likely be more efficient means of making money. As this method is designed to kill Nex quickly and does not focus on a prolonged fight, use of augmented Pernix or Sirenic armour is recommended for increased damage and other perks. Superior void knight equipment provides both accuracy and damage bonus but is often not enough to compensate for the various perks players can put on augmented armour. A shadow nihil and the Reckless aura will further speed up kills. Players attempting Nex for the first time should bring a Pack yak until they feel comfortable enough to use shadow nihils. Duo Nex is a beginner-friendly way to learn and get used to the mechanics; however, it can be pushed to include advanced strategies. The method involves 2 "roles" 1/3 and 2/4. The numbers correspond to the respective minions the player will use Rapid Fire on, using bleeds on the minions they don't use rapid fire on.

Roles[edit | edit source]

1/3 - Holds aggro of the boss during the fight by using Incite and Provoke. Responsible for positioning the boss optimally for flanking, as well as walking bleeds.
2/4 - Follows a slightly different rotation and uses Onslaught on the final (Zaros) phase.

As a beginner the loadout will be the same for 1/3 and 2/4, the only difference will be your ability rotation. Supreme overload potions are very useful at Nex, since she has very high defensive stats the extra accuracy is helpful. A Reaper necklace or Reaper necklace (or) is used for the same reason. The bare minimum recommended for Nex is Armadyl, a Wyvern crossbow, and the Reckless aura. As you practice it is highly recommended to switch out your Saradomin brews for Guthix rests, eventually aiming to never use Saradomin brews unless it's an absolute emergency. Along with that try to move from Sailfish to mainly Blue blubber jellyfish. Comboing jellyfish with Guthix rests will give you lossless healing, as in you won’t lose adrenaline or lower your stats. Wyvern crossbow is given preference as it is affordable, can take advantage of Bakriminel bolts, has stronger auto attacks than dual wield, and has a 9 square attack range which can allow you to kite Nex. Ruby Bakriminel bolts (e) will be your main ammunition; at this level, you shouldn't worry about bolt switches. If you really want, you can bring a Dragonstone Bakriminel bolt switch for after Blood phase. Your priority should be to upgrade to a Noxious longbow / Ascension crossbows. Which to pick between those 2 will be discussed in another section.

54

	40

Supreme overload salve or supreme overload
Prayer potion
Blue blubber jellyfish and guthix rest flasks for healing
Solid food such as sailfish for panic eating when learning.
Saradomin brew flasks only if absolutely necessary; generally only used when learning.
A shield or defender with Clear Headed 2 or 3; mainly used to stall adrenaline before the fight
Magic notepaper is taken to pick up the brews/restores that Nex drops in large quantities (however it is not recommended to pick these up as you get more experienced).
Ring of vigour is only needed by 1/3
Enhanced Excalibur for healing
Expensive spices

You should be familiar with all the mechanics and how to deal with them by now. The rune pouch contains vulnerability runes. At the start of Blood phase during Nex’s siphon, it is redundant to attack, so you will use this time to cast Vulnerability on Nex (at max you should cast vulnerability 3 times if you splash). Dragon rider helm and chaps are used to increase hit chance of vulnerability. The helm is used in place of a body switch so you keep Impatient for Blood phase defensives whilst debuffing. Your main source of healing by now should be guthix rests combed with blue blubber jellyfish. Sailfish and saradomin brews should only be used in case of emergencies (bad shadow phase or unfortunate ice prison).

54

	40


54

Supreme overload salve or supreme overload
Super restore flask (6)
Blue blubber jellyfish and Guthix rests for your main source of healing.
Solid food such as sailfish for panic eating.
Saradomin brew flasks only if absolutely necessary.
A shield or defender with Clear Headed 2 or 3; mainly used to stall adrenaline before the fight.
A wand and mage defender to apply Vulnerability at the start of Blood phase.
Dragonstone bakriminel bolts (e) to be used after the end of Blood phase until the end of the kill.
Adrenaline urn to stall adrenaline between kills.
Expensive spices
in Small rune pouch (black)

30


			3


5
30
30

Elder overload salve or Elder overload
Super restore flask (6)
Blue blubber jellyfish and Guthix rest flasks for your main source of healing.
Solid food such as sailfish for panic eating.
A shield or defender with Clear Headed 3; mainly used to stall adrenaline before the fight.
Replace the Amulet of souls (or) with a Reaper necklace (or) if you do not have an Eldritch crossbow
Ascension grips switch to be used anytime you are not using Snipe. You can camp it after Blood phase until the end of the kill.
Hydrix bakriminel bolts (e) to be used after the end of Blood phase until the start of the final (Zaros phase).
Dragonstone bakriminel bolts (e) to be used from the start of the final (Zaros phase) till the end of the kill.
Adrenaline urn to stall adrenaline between kills.
Expensive spices may also be used
in Small rune pouch (black)

Invention perks[edit | edit source]

Using good perks on augmented items through Invention and Ancient invention will greatly increase the damage dealt and thus increase overall profit per hour.

To unlock Invention you need level 80 in Divination, Crafting, and Smithing, and for Ancient invention you need to purchase and read the 'Ancient gizmos' blueprint.
For two-handed weapons, simply add both the weapon perks given below onto it.
Click on the links in the Perk column to view the gizmo configuration required to create it.

This has a level requirement of Invention 103, or Invention 86+ with extreme invention potions. All prices factor in the number of tries required to get each perk at level 103.

Slot	Perk	Cost	Effect
Main-hand	Precise 6	1,880,254 for 1 x Small crate (historic)	Precise increases your minimum damage by 1.5% per rank of your maximum damage.
Off-hand	Equilibrium 4	700,790 for 2 x Small crate (timeworn)	Equilibrium increases minimum hit by 3% per rank, and decreases maximum hit by 1% per rank.
Body	Crackling 4	1,135,681 for 0.5 x Large crate (vintage)	Crackling periodically zaps your combat target for 50% per rank of your weapon's damage.
Body	Relentless 5	1,135,681 for 0.5 x Large crate (vintage)	Relentless gives a chance to prevent adrenaline from being consumed when using abilities.
Legs	Absorbative 4	636,616 for 2 x Ganodermic gloves	Absorbative gives a 20% chance of reducing damage by 5% per rank.
Legs	Mobile + Venomblood	404,106 for 100 x Powerburst of vitality (4)	Mobile allows you to Surge twice as often. Venomblood makes you immune from all poison-damage.
Total cost per set		5,705,152

This has a level requirement of Invention 99 with extreme invention potions. All prices factor in the number of tries required to get each perk at level 99 with extremes.

Slot	Perk	Cost	Effect
Main-hand	Precise 6 + Genocidal	1,880,254 for 1 x Small crate (historic)	Precise increases your minimum damage by 1.5% per rank of your maximum damage. Genocidal deals up to 7% extra damage depending on how far you are through your Slayer task.
Off-hand	Equilibrium 4	700,790 for 2 x Small crate (timeworn)	Equilibrium increases minimum hit by 3% per rank, and decreases maximum hit by 1% per rank.
Body	Biting 2 + Mobile	2,758,846 for 84 x Huge blunt adamant salvage	Biting forces a +2% chance per rank to critically hit opponents. Mobile allows you to Surge twice as often.
Body	Crackling 4 + Relentless 3	4,792,655 for 3 x Hand cannon and 1 x Large crate (vintage)	Crackling periodically zaps your combat target for 50% per rank of your weapon's damage. Relentless gives a chance to prevent adrenaline from being consumed when using abilities.
Legs	Impatient 4 + Devoted 4 (Devoted is optional)	1,799,812 for 0.2 x Virtus wand (level 9+) 2,360,720 for 1 x Zamorak godsword (level 9+)	Impatient gives a 9% chance per rank for basic abilities to generate 3 extra adrenaline. Devoted has a chance each hit of replicating the Devotion ability for 3 seconds.
Legs	Enhanced Devoted 4	4,181,106 using 700 x Crystal flask	Gives a chance on each hit of replicating the Devotion ability for 3 seconds.
Total cost per set		18,474,182

A recommended perk for a shield is:

Slot	Icons	Perk	Cost	Effect
Shield		Turtling 4	1,199,594 for 1 x Small crate (historic)	Turtling increases the duration and cooldown of Barricade by 10% per rank.

The recommended perks for weapon switches are:

Slot	Icons	Perk	Cost	Effect
Sunspear		Planted Feet	4,220,999 for 0.5 x Orb of the Cywir elders (level 9+)	The duration of Sunshine and Death's Swiftness is increased by 25%, but they no longer deal periodic damage to your target.
Excalibur		Wise 4 + Mobile	3,023,506 for 12 x Crystal ward	Wise provides +4% additional experience, up to 50,000 XP per day. Mobile halves the cooldowns of Surge, Escape, Barge, and Bladed Dive.

This has a level requirement of Invention 120 with extreme invention potions. All prices factor in the number of tries required to get each perk at level 120 with extremes.

Slot	Perk	Cost	Effect
Main-hand	Precise 6 + Genocidal	1,607,990 for 1 x Small crate (historic)	Precise increases your minimum damage by 1.5% per rank of your maximum damage. Genocidal deals up to 7% extra damage depending on how far you are through your Slayer task.
Off-hand	Aftershock 4	59,168,275 for 1.5 x Anima core legs of Zaros (level 9+)	After dealing 50,000 damage, create an explosion dealing up to 40% per rank weapon damage to nearby enemies.
Body	Biting 4	55,763,894 for 0.3 x Noxious longbow (level 9+)	Biting forces a +2% chance per rank to critically hit opponents.
Body	Relentless 5 + Crackling 4	19,833,209 for 9 x Large crate (vintage)	Crackling periodically zaps your combat target for 50% per rank of your weapon's damage. Relentless gives a chance to prevent adrenaline from being consumed when using abilities.
Legs	Impatient 4 + Mobile	10,766,955 for 1.5 x Virtus wand (level 9+) 2,360,720 for 1 x Zamorak godsword (level 9+)	Impatient gives a 9% chance per rank for basic abilities to generate 3 extra adrenaline. Mobile allows you to Surge twice as often.
Legs	Enhanced Devoted 4	4,181,106 using 700 x Crystal flask	Gives a chance on each hit of replicating the Devotion ability for 3 seconds.
Total cost per set		153,682,148

A recommended perk for a shield is:

Slot	Icons	Perk	Cost	Effect
Shield		Turtling 4	1,199,594 for 1 x Small crate (historic)	Turtling increases the duration and cooldown of Barricade by 10% per rank.

The recommended perks for weapon switches are:

Slot	Icons	Perk	Cost	Effect
Sunspear		Planted Feet + Aftershock 1	25,583,290 for 0.5 x Anima core legs of Zaros (level 9+) and 1 x Orb of the Cywir elders (level 9+)	The duration of Sunshine and Death's Swiftness is increased by 25%, but they no longer deal periodic damage to your target.
Excalibur		Wise 4 + Mobile	3,023,506 for 12 x Crystal ward	Wise provides +4% additional experience, up to 50,000 XP per day. Mobile halves the cooldowns of Surge, Escape, Barge, and Bladed Dive.

Main article: Optimal PvM Perk Setup

This has a level requirement of Invention 120 with extreme invention potions. All prices factor in the number of tries required to get each perk at level 120 with extremes.

Slot	Perk	Cost	Effect
2-handed	Precise 6 + Ruthless 1	28,047,656 for 1.5 x Armadyl chestplate (level 9+), 1.5 x Armadyl chainskirt (level 9+)	Precise increases your minimum damage by 1.5% per rank of your maximum damage. Ruthless increases damage output by 0.5% per rank for 20 seconds whenever an enemy is killed.
2-handed	Aftershock 4 + Equilibrium 2	177,537,274 for 4.5 x Anima core legs of Zaros (level 9+)	Aftershock creates an explosion dealing up to 40% per rank weapon damage to nearby enemies, every 50,000 damage. Equilibrium increases minimum hit by 3% per rank, and decreases maximum hit by 1% per rank.
Total cost per weapon		205,584,930

Strategies[edit | edit source]

The battle against Nex is fought in a circular room that resembles the symbol of Zaros.

The battle has five phases: Smoke, Shadow, Blood, Ice, and a final (Zaros) phase. There are 4 level 111 mages in the four corners of the room, possessing 10,000 health. These mages are Fumus, Umbra, Cruor, and Glacies, and they represent the four elements of the Ancient Magicks spellbook used in the first four phases. They are weak against bolts and are immune against magic. As their represented spell users, they have the benefits of their ancient magick spells. The mages also have a soft cap that greatly reduces any hit that deals 1,000 damage on them.

Nex can use all three Deflect curses, although she can only use two of them in each kill. Deflect Melee is only used on her Zaros phase, after using Soul Split. Deflect Magic and Deflect Missiles can be used at any time during the kill. Nex will swap between these two curses each time she respawns. For the duration of the protection curse, Nex is immune to damage from that combat style, and if struck by such an attack, there is a chance she will reflect the damage back at the player for very high damage. In an instance, Nex will always start off with Deflect Magic, hence why an instance is used.

During the fight, Nex uses Ancient Magicks spells of the same type as the mage of that phase, which deal around 2500 damage and inflict the appropriate side effect of that element. Nex also has regular melee attacks that deal the same damage as her magic attacks. On the first four phases, this only hits her primary target. On the final phase, this upgrades to a cleave-type attack which will also damage anyone next to or on top of her primary target. If Nex cannot attack her target for whatever reason, she "resets", attacking the player from a distance again; however, she can and will still chase the player again as usual.

Nex will primarily attack from a distance throughout the fight, but she will occasionally move in to melee them. If the target runs long enough that she realises she cannot attack them, then she will stop attempting to melee her target and use long ranged attacks instead. If Nex lands an attack while chasing after a player, then the timer resets. This can occur at any time during the fight. During the first two phases, she'll only do this when she senses her target's melee defence is lower than her primary attack style. For the remaining three phases she will do this regardless of their defensive values.

Storm Shards and Shatter do work on Nex; however, since accumulated stacks clear out during phase transitions and the hard cap that is applied during the Zaros phase, it is not recommended using it during the fight.

Greater Ricochet, with Caroming 4, is highly effective against the entire encounter, as both players using the ability can kill all of the mages in an instant, significantly speeding up kill times and bypassing their harsh damage cap.

During the Smoke phase, there is a gap of five auto-attacks before Nex performs a special attack. She will start the phase by immediately doing the virus special.

This is a relatively easy phase as the special attacks are not very threatening if dealt with correctly. Her magic attacks have a chance to drag the player to Nex, regardless of their distance to her and will stun them for 3 seconds and disable their protection prayers. If dragged, immediately use Freedom if off cooldown and reactivate protection prayers/curses as soon as possible. Nex should have already been lured to Fumus as soon as the kill starts, so her Smoke Bullet attack has no effect on the team.

In groups, stay away from each other if a virus has been inflicted. The virus is countered by overloads, but the drain will affect accuracy and will last longer than usual if players are clumped up together.

Once Nex reaches 160,000 life points and calls out Fumus, kill him as quickly as possible.

During the Shadow phase, there is a gap of four auto-attacks before Nex performs a special attack.

If Nex ended with Virus during the Smoke Phase, then the first attack is Embrace Darkness.
If Nex ended with Smoke Bullet instead, then the first attack is Shadow Smash.

You can swap to Soul Split during the start of this phase until Nex does her first special attack. An Eldritch crossbow can deal a massive amount of damage in a short period of time, especially if Nex finished the last phase with Smoke Bullet. Remember to use Deflect Missiles after Nex starts attacking the player. The ranged attack can also drain some prayer points if it hits.

A common issue players have with this phase is that Nex may chase after them in the middle of this phase if they have her aggression, which can cause unnecessary damage if she gets close enough to them. Remain calm and position yourself in a straight line to use Surge to gain distance from Nex. If this fails, then Bladed Dive is a second alternative. If this is not used at all, Debilitate may be used in its place as the darkness damage is considered as soft typeless.

Try to get an auto attack off in the start then run straight east down the middle until you reach the top of the stairs.

Once Nex reaches 120,000 life points and calls out Umbra, kill him as quickly as possible.

During the Blood phase, there is a gap of three auto-attacks before Nex performs a special attack. This is the phase most people have trouble with as it is a heavy DPS race.

Any bleeds used during this phase will heal Nex instead of damaging her.

During this phase, Nex will start with a blood siphon and summon 2 Blood reavers. Gain adrenaline off Nex, avoiding any damage dealing abilities as it will heal her during this time, and use this time to apply Vulnerability if you wish to do so. You can use defensives while applying vulnerability to build adrenaline, using a Dragon Rider helm and body while doing so allows you to keep legs on giving a chance on an impatient proc. You will have enough time to cast vulnerability a max of 3 times (assuming you have set a mainhand and offhand spell). Make sure you do not spam it or you will queue it as an auto. This makes it so your auto attack on Ice phase is vuln instead of a normal hit.

The 1/3 should stay within melee distance of Nex to reduce the amount of magic attacks she will use on them since they will heal her and to prevent walking any Armadyl book procs. Time your snipe so that it lands as soon as her siphon is over. You can learn the timing by starting snipe when her wings reach their highest point, but it may take practice. Slowly move over to the side Cruor is on but make sure Nex doesn't go around the corner.

Once Nex reaches 80,000 life points, all siphons afterwards will not summon any reavers, and if there were any reavers when she used it, will not recover any health from them. Once she calls out Cruor, kill him as quickly as possible (this is where the 2/4 will equip their Amulet of souls (or))

During the Ice phase, there is a gap of three auto-attacks before Nex performs a special attack. Nex will immediately use one of two unique Ice phase abilities, dependent on what special was used prior to starting this phase.

If Nex ended the phase with a Blood Sacrifice, the first special attack used is Ice Barrage.
If Nex ended the phase with a Blood Siphon, Ice Prison is used instead.

Start this phase standing close to where Cruor would be (assuming Nex didnt go around the corner). Shadow Tendrils followed by Snap Shot should end this phase most of the time assuming neither attack misses and Vulnerability was not queued as an auto attack; if not, just finish the phase with a few basics then surge towards Glacies. If Nex is already around the corner when the phase starts just run down towards Glacies while using abilities. The 1/3 can run a bit farther to potentially stall the prison special if your phase was slow. Immediately tag her into Zaros phase to prevent more special attacks.

Once Nex reaches 40,000 life points and calls out Glacies, kill her as quickly as possible.

Anticipation during this phase will help you avoid both stuns.

If Ice barrage is used, avoid being within a 5x5 radius of Nex herself. If caught, use Freedom and quickly eat up.

If Ice prison is used, cancel the bleed with Freedom. The trapped player won't be able to attack Nex, but will be able to harm Glacies if she is in range and targeted by the player before they were imprisoned. The other player(s) should free the trapped player so they don't have to eat food or waste adrenaline for Barricade or Immortality.

During this phase, Nex begins with "NOW, THE POWER OF ZAROS!", healing back to 73,333 life points and activating Turmoil. This Turmoil drain combat stats by 2 each time it activates, with small coloured arrows appearing between the player(s) and Nex as an indicator.

Nex will always start off with Soul Split at the beginning of this phase unless her Deflect Magic/Missiles curse carried over from the previous phase. For every successful attack she does towards nearby players, she will heal 2,500 life points. Though Nex has a small chance of using Deflect Magic/Missiles during this phase, it is very unlikely for her to do so.

During this phase Nex has an even harsher softcap, as all damage above 2,000 is reduced by 75%. This softcap is the reason Dragonstone bakriminel bolts (e) are used since they proc as a separate hit essentially bypassing the softcap. Players should try to avoid high hitting abilties such as Shadow Tendrils and Snipe and prioritise bleeds and Rapid Fire. The 1/3 should try to always stand within melee distance to prevent walking any Armadyl book procs. They should also make sure they don't position Nex in a way that her melee swipes would damage the 2/4 while they are using Onslaught.

The 1/3 can opt to use Hydrix bakriminel bolts for their Deadshot and Rapid fire and if they get a proc they can squeeze in another threshold such as Rout in.

Once Nex is killed, she will activate Wrath, which takes 3 seconds to charge, so players within 4 spaces of her should move away to avoid being hit by it. After each kill, players should teleport out and restock supplies and make their way back to start the next kill.

Ability rotations[edit | edit source]

Note: If you are using dual wield instead of a two handed weapon, replace Dazing shot with Needle strike. As 1/3 you should use Incite. If you are stalling adrenaline after each kill you can save your apot for Zaros phase.

Before the fight[edit | edit source]

Tag Fumus ▸

▸ Retag Fumus ▸

▸

▸ Equip your main weapon

Smoke Phase[edit | edit source]

▸

Fumus[edit | edit source]

Shadow Phase[edit | edit source]

Tag with

▸ Auto attack ▸

▸

or

if needed

Umbra[edit | edit source]

▸

Blood Phase[edit | edit source]

Tag with

▸

Cruor[edit | edit source]

Ice Phase[edit | edit source]

Tag with

▸

Glacies[edit | edit source]

▸

Zaros Phase[edit | edit source]

Tag with

▸

Note: If you are using dual wield instead of a two handed weapon, replace Dazing shot with Needle strike. If you are stalling adrenaline after each kill you can save your apot for Zaros phase.

Before the fight[edit | edit source]

Tag Fumus ▸

▸ Retag Fumus ▸

▸

▸ Equip your main weapon