General Graardor/Strategies

This is a guide to killing General Graardor with Melee and Ranged. It will take you through the basics of attacking and tanking, along with providing a few examples of what equipment to bring.

Note that melee is the most straightforward combat style to use since it suffers no penalties from tank armour. Ranged setups can also deal significant damage, but are less feasible for tanks.

Requirements

 * Completion of Death Plateau and start of Troll Stronghold to the point where you defeat Dad.
 * One rope is required to access the dungeon for the first time.
 * Level 70 Strength is required to enter Bandos' stronghold (cannot be boosted).
 * At least 43 Prayer for access to the protection prayers.

Recommended
Meeting the recommended parameters, while not required, will make the fight significantly easier.
 * -| Minimum=
 * 70
 * 43
 * -| Recommended=
 * 80+
 * 80+
 * 80+
 * 70+
 * 70+
 * 70+
 * -| Tank=
 * 85+
 * 80+
 * 80+
 * 85+
 * 75+
 * 70+
 * -| Ranged=
 * 80+
 * 80+
 * 70+
 * 80+
 * 44+
 * -| Ranged Tank=
 * 90+
 * 80+
 * 90+
 * 75+
 * 74+

Solo strategy
General Graardor should never be underestimated in a solo scenario. On top of trading blows with General Graardor, a solo player will also be under constant attack by his bodyguards, who normally switch targets when there is more than one player in the room. As such, a successful solo strategy involves withstanding a high amount of damage while also maintaining a good offense. Getting multiple solo kills in one trip is difficult without a very high combat level.

Along with using Protect from Melee, solo players need a high level of ranged defence in their armour setup. Players struggling to withstand the magic minion's attacks are advised to take a blessed dragonhide body or Karil's leathertop to resist them; ultimately whether using a ranged top or a platebody in a solo scenario is more worthwhile depends on the player's stats and experience.

Team strategy
A team of at least 3 people including a tank (i.e. someone with high Defence and good armour to take Graardor's blows) is advisable. All players should use the Protect from Missiles prayer, except for the tank, who should use the Protect from Melee prayer. Team members may wish to exchange supplies whenever the room is cleared.

Attacker
Only ever attack General Graardor once the tank has attacked; otherwise, Graardor will focus on you. Extra care should be taken by players using ranged, as it is easier to attack the boss first by accident.

Once Graardor is dead, kill the minions, beginning with Sergeant Steelwill. Stand against the southern wall while waiting for General Graardor to respawn, as this gives the tank more time to draw the boss' attention.

Ideally, melee attackers should use Karil's leathertop, a dragonhide body, or Void knight equipment instead of regular melee armour in order to mitigate the magic minion's attacks.

Tank
As a tank, you are required to draw General Graardor's attention before he can reach any other players in the room. To do this, as soon as he spawns, activate Protect from Melee and engage with haste. Once Graardor is dead, kill the minions, beginning with Sergeant Steelwill. Stand in the centre of the room while waiting for General Graardor to respawn, and be ready to draw his attention again.

Tips

 * Goblins are an easy target for Bandos killcount.
 * Walking under Graardor can buy a tank some time to eat food without taking unnecessary damage. It can be also done at certain intervals to make Graardor "miss" an attack.
 * Experienced players can "tick eat"; tick eating is healing on a critical level of health right before taking damage, essentially surviving a hit that would have normally killed the player.
 * Bones to Peaches can help extend trips; each kill rotation yields 32 hitpoints worth of bones.
 * The minions will drop chili potatoes and sharks. If there is an excess of food, continually pick up and drop food again to prevent it from disappearing.
 * Guthan's equipment may be used to heal on the melee and ranged minion if desired. Cooperate with your team to maximise healing opportunities. Bring less brews and more restores if you choose this method of healing. Guthan's armour also doubles as good primary equipment for tanks.

Example Setups
Note: If you have a General Graardor slayer task, replace your helmet with the Slayer helmet (or imbued variant) to increase your accuracy and damage output.
 * -| Low Risk Tank=

Equipment:
 * Weapon: Abyssal tentacle > Abyssal whip
 * Shield: Dragonfire shield > Crystal shield (i) > Obsidian shield > Dragon sq shield
 * Head: Serpentine helm > Verac's helm > Helm of neitiznot
 * Body: Black d'hide body
 * Legs: Bandos tassets > Verac's plateskirt
 * Boots: Dragon boots > Rune boots
 * Gloves: Barrows gloves > Combat bracelet
 * Amulet: Amulet of glory
 * Ring: Ring of life
 * Cape: Skillcape (trimmed) > Obsidian cape > God cape
 * Ammo: Unholy blessing

Inventory:
 * Saradomin godsword > Bandos godsword (for special attacks)
 * Hammer
 * 3 Super combat potion
 * 14 Saradomin brews
 * 6 Super restores
 * Teleport to house or a one-click teleport (for emergency)


 * -| High Risk Tank=

Equipment:
 * Weapon: Abyssal tentacle > Abyssal whip
 * Shield: Elysian spirit shield > Spectral spirit shield > Dragonfire shield > Crystal shield (i) > Obsidian shield > Dragon sq shield
 * Head: Serpentine helm > Verac's helm > Helm of neitiznot
 * Body: Bandos chestplate > Karil's leathertop > Zamorak body > Black d'hide body
 * Legs: Bandos tassets > Verac's plateskirt
 * Boots: Primordial boots > Bandos boots > Dragon boots
 * Gloves: Barrows gloves > Regen bracelet
 * Amulet: Fury > Amulet of glory
 * Ring: Berserker ring (i) > Ring of life
 * Cape: Fire cape > Skillcape (trimmed) > Obsidian cape > God cape
 * Ammo: Unholy blessing

Inventory:
 * Saradomin godsword > Bandos godsword (for special attacks)
 * Hammer
 * Teleport to house or a one-click teleport (for emergency)
 * Bones to peaches
 * 3 Super combat potion
 * 13 Saradomin brews
 * 7 Super restores


 * -| Range Tank=

Equipment:
 * Weapon: Armadyl crossbow > Rune crossbow
 * Shield: Dragonfire shield > Crystal shield (i) > Obsidian shield > Blessed spirit shield
 * Head: Serpentine helm > Verac's helm > Helm of neitiznot
 * Body: Zamorak body > Black d'hide body
 * Legs: Verac's plateskirt > Proselyte cuisse
 * Boots: Pegasian boots > Blessed boots > Snakeskin boots
 * Gloves: Barrows gloves > Black d'hide vamb
 * Amulet: Amulet of glory
 * Ring: Archers' ring (i) > Ring of life
 * Cape: Ava's accumulator
 * Ammo: Ruby bolts (e)

Inventory:
 * Hammer
 * Bones to peaches
 * 3 Ranging potion
 * 14 Saradomin brews
 * 6 Super restores
 * 150+ Diamond bolts
 * Teleport to house or a one-click teleport (for emergency)


 * -| Low Risk DPS=

Equipment:
 * Weapon: Abyssal tentacle > Abyssal whip
 * Shield: Dragon defender > Dragonfire shield > Obsidian shield > Crystal shield > Dragon sq shield
 * Head: Serpentine helm > Verac's helm > Helm of neitiznot
 * Body: Black d'hide body
 * Legs: Bandos tassets > Verac's plateskirt
 * Boots: Dragon boots > Rune boots
 * Gloves: Barrows gloves > Combat bracelet
 * Amulet: Amulet of glory
 * Ring: Ring of life
 * Cape: Skillcape (trimmed) > Obsidian cape > God cape
 * Ammo: Unholy blessing

Inventory:
 * Bandos godsword (for special attacks)
 * Hammer
 * 3 Super combat potion
 * 16 Saradomin brews
 * 6 Super restores


 * -| Guthans Tank/DPS=

Equipment:
 * Weapon: Abyssal tentacle > Abyssal whip
 * Attacker Off-hand: Dragon defender > Obsidian shield > Crystal shield > Dragon sq shield
 * Tank Shield: Dragonfire shield > Crystal shield (i) > Obsidian shield > Dragon sq shield
 * Head: Guthan's helm
 * Body: Guthan's platebody
 * Legs: Guthan's chainskirt
 * Boots: Primordial boots > Bandos boots > Dragon boots
 * Gloves: Barrows gloves > Regen bracelet
 * Amulet: Amulet of glory
 * Ring: Berserker ring (i) > Ring of life
 * Cape: Fire cape > Skillcape (trimmed) > Obsidian cape > God cape
 * Ammo: Unholy blessing

Inventory:
 * Saradomin godsword > Bandos godsword (for special attacks)
 * Hammer
 * 3 Super combat potion
 * 13 Saradomin brews
 * 7 Super restores
 * Guthan's warspear
 * Teleport to house or a one-click teleport (for emergency)