Chambers of Xeric/Strategies

The Chambers of Xeric is Old School RuneScape's first Raid.

Players can attempt the chambers by themselves, though up to 50 players can be in a raid. There are a few basic tips that should be known before starting:


 * Scaling Difficulty - The difficulty of the chambers are based on the team's overall combat. So the higher the combat level of the team is, the stronger the enemies will be.
 * Leader - The chambers cannot be attempted without a clan leader present in the raid, as the game will prompt you to find/make one before doing so. The leader can kick other players if needed. If the leader leaves the chamber by any means (disconnect, voluntarily leaving, etc.), all members of the raid will be thrown out unless there is another rank present that is capable of kicking players in the clan chat, to which they will take the position of the leader during the raid.
 * Random Generator - Raids are randomly generated. Every room (except the Great olm's) has several different variants depending on its direction. A third-party client can greatly help "scout" many of these rooms, allowing the team to decide if they should embark on that setup or not.

Points
Points gained from the raid are based on player contribution and actions. They can get points from the following:
 * Attacking monsters, though there are several exceptions:
 * Penultimate phase of the Great olm; anytime it regains control of its hands, no points are given for any damage dealt to them.
 * Attacking the Great olm's head before the final phase.
 * Completing puzzle rooms
 * Making shortcuts in large ruin chambers (requiring Woodcutting, Mining and Strength if the obstacle is a rotten sapling, rock or boulder respectively).

The points determine the team's potential rewards at the end of the raid, when the Great olm is killed. The more points obtained, the higher the chance of obtaining unique loot. The more players in a raid attempt, the higher the points multiplier will be to compensate for increased difficulty. If members of the team leave, the points multiplier will decrease, but the difficulty will remain the same, to prevent players from exploiting additional points in smaller groups.

If a player dies in the chambers, a percentage of points will be removed from the player, which will most likely lower the team's overall chance of getting unique rewards. In order to access the unique reward table, the team must obtain a minimum of 7,125 points.

Equipment/Inventory Setup
Void = By using elite void equipment, one can attain higher accuracy rates in tandem with both overload+ and prayers, as most Raid bosses typically have high defence. It also reduces the amount of switches required when fighting bosses that require multiple combat styles.

Skills:
 * 90+
 * 90+
 * 55+
 * 78+

Other items:
 * All three void helms for accuracy and damage bonuses.
 * Dragon pickaxe and dragon axe
 * Hammer (only if you lack a dragon warhammer)
 * Dragon warhammer
 * Bandos godsword (only if you lack a dragon warhammer)
 * Trident of the swamp
 * Arcane spirit shield
 * Toxic blowpipe (with adamant or higher darts)
 * Heavy ballista (with rune or dragon javelins)
 * Armadyl crossbow (with Diamond bolts (e) or Ruby bolts (e), depending on group size - not needed if taking ballista)
 * Sanfew serum
 * 2-4 Stamina potions (only if soloing)
 * Super combat potion
 * Ranging potion
 * 1-3 Super restore
 * Rune pouch (with runes for water spells - runes for ice instead if group and binding muttadiles)
 * High-leveled food for remaining inventory spaces, preferably Saradomin brews.

Bosses
There are several bosses that can be encountered in a raid. A minimum of one boss can be expected in a raid (that being the Great olm). Multiple bosses can be encountered, especially in larger groups.

List of bosses:
 * Tekton
 * Vespula
 * Vasa Nistirio
 * Vanguard
 * Muttadiles
 * Great olm (always the last boss)

Tekton


Go near Tekton to start the battle. Be aware that flames will appear from the entrance you just took, which will deal damage to participants both ways when they pass the fire.

Tekton has high Defence but only uses Melee attacks. His attacks can deal heavy damage, though there is one disadvantage for him; his attacks have a small delay before they hit, meaning that a player can run corners to avoid getting hit by most of his standard attacks. However, his attacks can cleave clockwise. Tekton always starts with an orange aura around him, which has lower Defence than his red aura.

It is best to use the Dragon Warhammer special attack on Tekton and then attack him with weapons high in crush stats such as an Elder Maul.

When Tekton goes back to the anvil, he will repair himself, recovering a bit of his hitpoints. While he is at the anvil, he will send two sparks flying for each player in the chamber, which have a 3x3 AoE and will deal moderate damage to anyone hit by them. They can be avoided by simply running two spaces away from your current spot when the sparks are flying. After five sets of sparks, he will resume combat, this time in an "enraged" stance (red aura), which can be dealt with the same way as normal. Tekton will automatically return to the anvil if his attacks are interrupted.

For solo players, using the corner method is recommended to fight Tekton. To perform this, first get Tekton to a desired spot, preferably the middle where there are no obstructions. However, experienced players can save plenty of run energy and/or stamina potions with a hit and run method. This method does require much more patience, as mistiming your runs will result in Tekton returning to the anvil.

Vespula


In the chamber will be Vespula herself, four lux grubs and an abyssal portal. There are three layouts for Vespula's chamber; a left/right corner and straight line.

Once someone enters the chamber, septic tendrils will appear and damage players who pass them. Vespula herself is extremely poisonous (poison starting at 20 damage), so a form of poison protection is required when fighting her.

Vespula will sting the lux grubs from time to time, causing their health to degrade over time. If fully degraded, it will turn into a Vespine soldier, fully healing both Vespula and the portal. Therefore, it is important to prevent the lux grubs from transforming into Vespine soldiers. In the other end of the chamber are several Medivaemia blossom plants which can be picked. The blossoms are then given to the grubs to restore their health.

In a group, one member should focus on collecting the blossoms and giving it to the grubs to prevent them from turning into soldiers. The rest of the team should focus on damaging Vespula.

When Vespula reaches 20% of her hitpoints, she will stop flying and drop to the floor. Attacks should be directed at the abyssal portal, as Vespula cannot be harmed during this stage. Players can have roughly 2-4 attacks on the portal before Vespula starts flying again. If the portal is attacked while Vespula is flying, she will become enraged and start stinging anyone in melee range for massive damage. If under her, she only applies rapid stomp damage which has a max hit of 8.

For solo players, use your crossbow (or twisted bow if you have one) and attack the portal once, before moving out of melee range to avoid her stinger. It is highly recommended to bring a prayer enhance potion so Redemption can be used effectively to heal yourself from the low damage of her stomp attack. Perfectly executing this method will result in killing Vespula easily without having any lux grubs hatching.

Given the high demand for attention when fighting Vespula, most teams often prefer a raid that does not have her, as a single mistake can often lead to the portal being fully restored, prolonging the fight.

Vasa Nistirio
Before starting the fight, it is important that one player with low health startle him. While this will cause flames to appear at the entrance, Vasa immediately performs his special attack upon being startled.

Vasa's special attack can be deadly for those unprepared. He teleports half of the team next to him, while the other half are placed randomly across the room. He will then launch multiple projectiles near him, dealing damage (player's current lifepoints at that time - 5). By keeping your health low, it will save food and reduce the amount of damage he can deal. In a group, players teleported away from him can reduce the damage of this attack 50% by running next to him and activating Protect from Magic. Unfortunately for solo players, they will always be teleported next to him and will have to tank the incoming damage.

Vasa heals himself by going to the four crystals in the corners of the chamber. The crystals are weak to stab attacks, so the Zamorakian hasta is an effective weapon against them. If the crystals are disabled quickly, Vasa will go to another crystal. If not, he will return to the middle and perform his teleport attack. Note that the amount of time needed to disabled the crystal varies, so you may not be able to disable it occasionally.

As his standard attack, he expels boulders from himself and land at the player's position. This can be avoided by running away (they cover a 3x3 range); Protect from Missiles will reduce the damage from this attack. He also has a stomp attack for players under him.

For solo players, Vasa should skipped if the player does not have a twisted bow.

Vanguard


The Vanguard are three separate entities, so individually, they have less health compared to other bosses. The Vanguard are the only raid boss that do not have a barrier mechanic.

For this fight, it is recommended to bring medium-damage weaponry, such as the Zamorakian hasta. Weapons like godswords are not advised here as they may cause too much damage to a Vanguard and significantly prolong the fight.

Each Vanguard uses one form of attack. The magic Vanguard has no tentacles flailing out. The ranged Vanguard is carrying a bunch of rocks with its tentacles. The melee Vanguard flaunts its tentacles. Both the magic and ranged Vanguard have AoE attacks, while the melee Vanguard attacks three times instantly with its melee attack.

Damage maintenance is key to fighting the Vanguard. They have a unique healing property where all three will fully heal themselves if there is a massive difference (33%) in their health upon shuffling. The Vanguard are also aware of their own health, so players cannot simply pile one Vanguard, as doing so will prompt them to scuttle into their shells and fully heal themselves. Slowly damage each Vanguard, ensuring that the damage between them is equal to prevent them from healing. While they are out of their shells, their health bar is shown to help players with damage maintenance.

After being out of their shells for a while, the Vanguard retreat back into them and shuffle around in either a clockwise or counterclockwise formation.

Muttadiles


The Muttadiles are arguably the easiest boss in the chambers.

Upon starting, the several noxious tendrils will appear to deal damage to players who pass them. There are also two Muttadiles; a small one initially walking on the ground, and a second, larger Muttadile lurking in the water. A meat tree is also nearby.

The small Muttadile only attacks with both Melee and Ranged, while the larger one uses all three and has a special shockwave attack which is only used against players in melee range.

When the Muttadile reaches 50% of its health, it will go to the meat tree and cannibalize it to restore health. A common way of speeding up kills is to successfully bind the Muttadile in place and continue attacking it until it stops trying to go for the tree. Even if it loses more health after losing focus on the tree, it will not attempt to heal itself.

Once the small Muttadile dies, the larger one will surface and attack. Use ranged against both Muttadiles and avoid being within melee distance of them, while using Protect from Ranged.

Depending on the layout of the room, it is possible to safespot the muttadiles from afar with a long range weapon.

Great olm


The Great olm is the last boss in the raid.

For small teams (at least 7 or lower), the Great olm only has three phases. This section assumes that the team has seven or less players.

Before starting, ensure that you have all of your equipment and supplies, as you cannot leave the Great olm's chamber unless you die. If soloing and partially or inexperienced, enter the chamber with an inventory's worth of rewards (about 9 of the best Xeric's aid and 3-4 Revitalization), and let it kill you. By dying early, you will lose less points (if you die mid-fight, you can lose even more points), and have backup supplies for the fight.

Olm will start either on the west or east side of the chamber (it does not affect the fight at all). It will also start with one of three powers; fire, acid or crystal, which determines the special attacks it uses. To force the Great olm into the next phase, both hands must be disabled. His left hand is weak to melee attacks, while his right hand is weak to magic.

"Safespots" exist against Olm. This is by taking advantage of its head, as it will turn accordingly to face players who are hiding from it. By using several spots in the room when the head is facing a specific direction, one can reduce the amount of attacks Olm can perform. This helps greatly when going solo, as it will conserve supplies for the penultimate and final phases.

In trios, the middle player is designated as the "head" runner, moving left and right to shift Olm's attention on both sides. While everyone must tank, this ensures that supplies are depleted at a balanced rate; otherwise, players on one side may find themselves out of supplies too early for the upcoming phases.

When forced into the next phase, Olm will retreat back underground and shake the cavern. Crystals will fall from above, dealing moderate damage covering a 3x3 radius, with shadows indicating where they will fall. After enough time has passed, it will appear on the other side and start using a new power alongside its old powers.

In the penultimate phase, both arms must be disabled at simultaneously to force Olm into the next phase. Weaken one hand (don't disable it yet); when that hand is on low health, focus on the other hand and disable it. In most cases, this means weakening the right hand and disabling the left hand. Once a hand is disabled, Olm loses control of it. A bar will appear over that gap; if filled before the other hand is disabled, Olm will regain control of its disabled hand with full health.

In the last phase, Olm will attempt a final stand. The head is now attackable (it can be attacked in the previous phases, but automatically heals itself if damaged). Olm will use all mechanics from the previous phases (barring the swap attack), and now gets the ability to sap health. When it does this, Olm sends out two "shields"; when on top of them, it protects the player(s) from its sapping attack. Players should move continually during this phase, but not in an erratic way, as crystals continually fall from above until Olm is killed.

Once killed, the crystal surrounding the chest shatters and players can claim their rewards from there before returning to the surface.

Crab Puzzle
In this chamber are several Jewelled Crabs which cannot be killed by conventional combat. The main purpose of these crabs is to reflect orbs that the carved sculpture nearby emits. Getting hit by the orb will deal heavy damage onto the player that blocked its path. The crabs also deal reasonably high damage, so use Protect from Melee while luring them into place.

Your goal is to turn the coloured crystals in the chamber white. The crystals on the crabs can be attacked to change colour; red for melee, blue for magic, and ranged for green. The white orb you see must be reflected off the crabs in the room to hit the crystals. Every time the light orb bounces off of the NPC, it changes colour. You may need up to 3 "bounces" or "reflects" to pass to hit every crystal. You must hit it with an opposite coloured ball of energy (white for the black crystal, blue for the yellow crystal, green for the magenta crystal, and red for the cyan crystal). Once all crystals are turned white, all the crabs die, and the large crystal blocking the door into deeper dungeons disappears.

In a solo raid, the crabs can be temporarily bound in place with a standard hammer. The dragon warhammer can also bind the crabs, but it must be wielded first. Note that the crab's crystals will turn red temporarily when hit by it.

All rooms require the use of three crabs.

Ice Demon
An ice demon is blocking the way further into the cavern. It cannot be attacked immediately, due to the cold protecting it. It must be warmed up to force it out of its spot. There are four braziers surrounding the demon, and up to four unattackable icefiends (one for each player) that will try to extinguish any flames set by the team. The icefiends do not move from their spot, so they can only focus on the brazier in front of it.

Multiple saplings are nearby which can be cut for kindlings. It is advised to stockpile enough kindling. If possible, light the braziers that are not being attended to by the icefiends; this is easier to achieve solo. In a group of four or more, extra kindling should be stocked in the supply unit as they will extinguish faster from the icefiends' presence.

Once thawed, the icefiends despawn and the demon moves out of its spot, becoming attackable. It uses AoE attacks; a small snowball and Ice Burst. If Protect from Magic is being used, the ice demon will continually launch Ice Burst at the player(s). If Protect from Missiles are being used, it will simply hurl snowballs, which have a 3x3 AoE. It is recommended to use Protect from Missiles, even if you are sure you will not get hit to ensure it will never use Ice Burst. The demon has low health, but takes reduced damage and has high defence, so a Dragon warhammer is useful in lowering its defence.

Lizardman Shamans


A small room filled with two to four lizardman shamans (dependent on party size) are in the room, with several spawns blocking the way. They share the same mechanics as the shamans outside. The strength of the shamans is also dependent on the party size. These shamans do not require 100% favour with the Shayzien House in order to kill.

There are several layouts for the shaman room. When nearing a room with lizardmen shamans, one or two sets of spirit tendrils will appear, to avoid players from safespotting them away from the chamber. The chamber itself does have safespots against the shamans, though it will usually require a shaman to aggro a player in order to do so.

In a solo raid, the player will need to face two shamans. The shamans drop seeds upon being killed.

Dark Altar Room
In this room, there is a varying amount of Skeletal Mystics left behind to perform sacrifices for the dark altar. The mages attack with magic from distance, and melee if you get close to them. The mages take the player's overhead prayers into account. However, if the mage cannot obviously melee the player, they will focus on magic instead. In some areas of the chamber, it is possible to trick the mages into attempting to use melee, though they may eventually realize it and focus back onto magic attacks.

Kill all the mages before proceeding. The strength of the mages is dependent on the party size.

In a solo raid, the player will encounter three mystics. The mystics drop seeds upon being killed.

Creature Keeper
A corrupted scavenger blocks the path and must be fed cavern grubs until it becomes full and tired. Cavern grubs can be found by opening many of the chests located in the room. The scavenger's hunger level can be tracked with the bar above its head.

Most of these chests will contain cocoons. Thieving is required to open the chests, though experience is only gained when grubs are collected. One of these chests always contains a one-time loot of five Psykk bat (6)s. A few chests may contain poison which is released when opened, dealing 1-3 damage. This does not inflict poison on the player (nor will poison immunity prevent it). Remember which chests contain poison as they will close a while after being opened.

Stockpile cavern grubs near the trough. When enough grubs are collected, start feeding the scavenger. In a solo raid, roughly 30 grubs will be needed to make the scavenger sleepy.

Players can search the creature keeper to obtain his journal.

Deathly Room
A group of deathly rangers and mages stand on a platform in between a tightrope. They must be attacked with either ranged or magic in order to damage them. Both groups frequently hit through prayer, but protection prayers reduce the damage. A lodestone must be grabbed from the other side to complete the room.

While they are tolerant to players, any player that attempts to cross the tightrope will get their attention. It is safe to cross if there is just one or two enemies left, but they should still be killed off anyways, as any damage they deal while you cross the tightrope is applied in one tick after you reach the other side. Any enemies left when the lodestone is used on the barrier will automatically die.

The deathly rangers should be killed first, as they can deal much more damage compared to the mages. In a group, the rangers can be partially safespotted by having one player aggro them, then move behind a nearby obstacle preventing the ranger from spotting them. That player should pop out once in a while to ensure the ranger will not switch targets and attack other players.

In a solo raid, players will encounter two deathly mages and two deathly rangers.

Guardians
Two Guardian statues are guarding a passageway deeper into the chambers. The statues must be destroyed, and can only be harmed through pickaxes; all other sources of damage will not count.

The guardians attack with melee and can occasionally stomp the ground, dealing moderate to heavy damage in a 3x3 area. When the guardian dies, it will drop various seeds. Due to the guardians' stomping attack, it is highly recommended to flinch them to reduce the amount of damage taken.

The strengths of the guardian is dependent on the party size. Guardians drop seeds, but not as much compared to lizardmen shamans and skeletal mystics.

The special attack of the Saradomin godsword, Guthan's set and blood spells will heal accordingly despite not dealing any damage on them.

Resources
The Chambers of Xeric have various resources which appear based on the team's skill levels.

Scavenger runts and scavenger beasts can be found around the dungeon. One resource room will always be found on the top and lower floors. Scavenger rooms can also be found on the same floor, but it is possible for a floor to contain 0, 1 or 2 scavenger rooms (1 being common, while 0 and 2 is much rarer). They drop herblore secondaries, cave worms, and various tools needed for both skilling and completing puzzles. Resources dropped on the floor will remain for 30 minutes before they disappear.

If the player dies in the Chambers, they will drop all raid-only items upon death; for example, if the player died with 10 Xeric's aid (+), those potions are dropped immediately upon dying. Other items that can be found, such as a hammer, will not be dropped upon death.

Players who die in the chamber will respawn in the area (they will not be thrown out). While exploring the first floor, the respawn point is the starting room of the Chambers. Once the second and third floors have been visited at least once by someone in the team, the respawn point changes to the last room in the previous floor.

Food
All these cooking resources require the same level for hunting or fishing them.

To catch bats, a butterfly net is required.

To catch fish, a fishing rod is required, with cave worms as bait. In fishing rooms, there are three fishing spots. One of these three spots contains a cave snake, which will damage the player (or take their fish). If a snake appears in the fishing spot, stop fishing and click elsewhere to avoid taking damage. While the spots are static, the spots containing plain fish and the cave snake change occasionally.

Hunter
In resource rooms without fishing spots, there will be two to three bats flying around in the chamber, which can be caught and cooked for food.

Farming
Seeds can be obtained from several monsters, such as skeletal mystics, Lizardmen shamans and Guardian statues. They can also be found by raking weeds in the top and lower floors (the last area in those floors and the first area in the lower floor)

There are two farming plots in each resource room for players to grow herbs. Due to the magic of the chambers, herbs grow faster and are fully grown in 30 seconds.

Herblore
Potions can be occasionally dropped by the bosses, though this should not be relied on to obtain them. Scavenger runts and beasts drop herblore secondaries.

There are three types of potions a player can make:
 * Golpar (combat potions)
 * Buchu (recovery potions)
 * Noxifer (overload-type potions)

To create potions in the chambers, a gourd must be collected from the nearby gourd tree, then filled with water from the nearby water spout. Gourds can be picked en masse with the "Pick-lots" option. Gourds automatically break upon the last dose of the potion being used.

Note: Overload tier is capped based on your Herblore level and potions being used. For example, you cannot make Overload+ without having 90 Herblore and Elder+, Twisted+ and Kodai+ potions. If you have those potions but only have 75 Herblore, the combat+ potions will downgrade one tier to create a normal Overload.

Standard potions
Standard potions have the effects of their super variants outside (e.g the Overload is exactly the same as the one in Nightmare Zone).

Storage units
Storage units are built from mallignum root planks, obtained as drops from scavengers. A hammer is required in building storage units, with the dragon warhammer being a suitable substitute.

Once a storage unit is built, anyone can use it. Storage units have a shared and personal set. The shared set allows players to store items such as hammers and potions. The personal set is much like the shared set, but it can also hold the player's belongings, such as weapons. The player can also put in raid-unique items in there if desired. In addition to this, once a storage unit is built anywhere in the Chambers, they will appear in all potential hotspots where they may be found.

Storage units can be found at the end of each level, in addition to appearing in resource rooms, the corrupted scavenger and ice demon chambers.

While higher-leveled storage units can be built immediately, they require the other storage units to be built. So in order to build a large storage unit instantly, you need 15 planks (8 for the first two storage units, then 7 for the remaining upgrade)

Players who leave the Chambers with their personal items still stored in the storage units can retreive them from the private storage unit next to the bank chest on the Mountain. The private storage unit must be emptied before players can re-enter the Chambers of Xeric.