General Graardor/Strategies

RS

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.
• A hammer

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 offence. 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 Karil's leathertop or blessed body 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.

Using Saradomin brews in this instance can be counterproductive, as the process of restoring one's stats will give the boss more time to damage the player. Instead, only a small amount should be brought to solo trips for the purpose of healing between kills.

Team strategy

A team of at least three 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 can exchange supplies by either dropping them or trading whenever the room is cleared.

Having one player bring runes to cast High Level Alchemy on the many rune items General Graardor drops can help to preserve inventory space.

Attacker strategy

A pair of players fighting General Graardor and his bodyguards.

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 western wall while waiting for General Graardor to respawn, as this gives the tank more time to draw his attention.

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

Tank strategy

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 minions 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.
• If you are assigned General Graardor as your slayer task, use your Slayer helmet variant of choice so as to take advantage of its accuracy and damage boost.
• An Amulet of fury is generally ideal for tank setups as it emphasises defensive and prayer bonuses.
• When bringing a dragon warhammer, you do not need a hammer to bang the door.

Suggested skills

• 80+  (90+ Tank)
• 80+ 
• 70+  (Required, 80+ Recommended)
• 70+  (90+ Tank)
• 80+ 
• 70+  (75+ Recommended)
• 44+  (Eagle Eye, 70+ Piety, 74+ Rigour (Tank))

Equipment

• Basic Tank
• Advanced Tank
• Ranged Tank
• Attacker
• Solo

Recommended equipment for Basic Tank

Slot	Item (most effective → least effective)
	Verac's helm	Helm of neitiznot	Warrior helm	N/A	N/A
	Amulet of fury	Amulet of glory	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Fire cape	Hitpoints cape	Vestment cloak	Zamorak cape	N/A
	Torag's platebody	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Verac's plateskirt	Torag's platelegs	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Abyssal tentacle	Abyssal whip	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Dragonfire shield	Crystal shield (i)	Toktz-ket-xil	Dragon sq shield	N/A
	Unholy blessing	War blessing	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Barrows gloves	Rune gloves	Combat bracelet	N/A	N/A
	Bandos boots	Dragon boots	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Ring of suffering (i)	Granite ring (i)	Berserker ring (i)	Seers ring (i)	Ring of dueling
	Saradomin godsword	Bandos godsword (lesser defence reduction, more accurate)	Dragon warhammer (greater defence reduction, less accurate)	N/A	N/A

Inventory

• Saradomin godsword > Bandos godsword (special attacks)
• Hammer
• 3 Super combat potion
• 11 Saradomin brews
• 3 Anglerfish
• 6 Super restores
• Teleport to house or a one-click teleport (for emergency)

Recommended equipment for Advanced Tank

Slot	Item (most effective → least effective)
	Verac's helm	Helm of neitiznot	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Amulet of fury	Amulet of torture	Amulet of glory	N/A	N/A
	Infernal cape	Max cape	Prayer cape	Fire cape	Hitpoints cape
	Bandos chestplate	Guthan's platebody	Karil's leathertop	Zamorak d'hide	Black d'hide body
	Bandos tassets	Verac's plateskirt	Guthan's chainskirt	N/A	N/A
	Abyssal tentacle	Zamorakian hasta	Abyssal whip	N/A	N/A
	Elysian spirit shield	Spectral spirit shield	Dragonfire shield	Crystal shield (i)	Toktz-ket-xil
	Unholy blessing	War blessing	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Barrows gloves	Regen bracelet	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Guardian boots	Primordial boots	Bandos boots	Dragon boots	N/A
	Ring of suffering (i)	Ring of the gods (i)	Berserker ring (i)	Ring of life	N/A
	Saradomin godsword	Bandos godsword (lesser defence reduction, more accurate)	Dragon warhammer (greater defence reduction, less accurate)	N/A	N/A

Inventory

• Saradomin godsword > Bandos godsword (special attacks)
• Hammer
• Teleport to house or a one-click teleport (for emergency)
• Bones to peaches
• 4 Super combat potion
• 4 Saradomin brews
• 1 Anglerfish
• 8 Super restores

Recommended equipment for Ranged Tank

Slot	Item (most effective → least effective)
	Verac's helm	Helm of neitiznot	Armadyl helmet	N/A	N/A
	Amulet of fury	Necklace of anguish	Amulet of glory	N/A	N/A
	Max cape	Ranging cape	Ava's assembler	N/A	N/A
	Armadyl chestplate	Karil's leathertop	Zamorak d'hide	Black d'hide body	N/A
	Verac's plateskirt	Armadyl chainskirt	Karil's leatherskirt	N/A	N/A
	Armadyl crossbow	Rune crossbow	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Elysian spirit shield	Dragonfire shield	Crystal shield (i)	Blessed spirit shield	Dragon sq shield
	Diamond bolts (e)	Ruby bolts (e)	Runite bolts	Broad bolts	N/A
	Barrows gloves	Regen bracelet	Black d'hide vamb	N/A	N/A
	Guardian boots	Pegasian boots	Blessed boots	Bandos boots	Holy sandals
	Ring of suffering (i)	Ring of the gods (i)	Archers ring (i)	Ring of life	N/A

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)

Recommended equipment for Attacker

Slot	Item (most effective → least effective)
	Helm of neitiznot	Warrior helm	Berserker helm	Verac's helm	N/A
	Amulet of torture	Amulet of fury	Amulet of glory	Unholy symbol	N/A
	Infernal cape	Max cape	Fire cape	Prayer cape	Vestment cloak
	Karil's leathertop	Black d'hide body	Bandos chestplate	N/A	N/A
	Bandos tassets	Verac's plateskirt	Karil's leatherskirt	Obsidian cape	N/A
	Abyssal tentacle	Abyssal whip	Zamorakian hasta	Dragon scimitar	N/A
	Avernic defender	Dragon defender	Rune defender	Dragonfire shield	God book
	Unholy blessing	War blessing	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Barrows gloves	Regen bracelet	Rune gloves	Granite gloves	Combat bracelet
	Primordial boots	Guardian boots	Dragon boots	Holy sandals	Climbing boots
	Berserker ring (i)	Ring of the gods (i)	Warrior ring (i)	Ring of suffering (i)	Ring of dueling
	Bandos godsword	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Inventory

• Bandos godsword (for special attacks)
• Hammer
• 3 Super combat potion
• 11 Saradomin brews
• 9 Super restores
• Bones to peaches tablets
• Runes to cast High Level Alchemy

Recommended equipment for Solo

Slot	Item (most effective → least effective)
	Torag's helm	Helm of neitiznot	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Amulet of fury	Amulet of torture	Amulet of glory	Amulet of power	N/A
	Infernal cape	Max cape	Fire cape	Defence cape	Obsidian cape
	Karil's leathertop	Bandos chestplate	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Bandos tassets	Verac's plateskirt	Torag's platelegs	N/A	N/A
	Abyssal tentacle	Zamorakian hasta	Abyssal whip	Dragon scimitar	N/A
	Unholy blessing	War blessing	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Barrows gloves	Regen bracelet	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Guardian boots	Bandos boots	Primordial boots	Dragon boots	Climbing boots
	Ring of suffering (i)	Berserker ring (i)	Ring of the gods (i)	Ring of life	Ring of dueling
	Bandos godsword (lesser defence reduction, more accurate)	Dragon warhammer (greater defence reduction, less accurate)	N/A	N/A	N/A

Inventory

• Bandos godsword or Dragon warhammer (for special attacks)
• Hammer or Dragon warhammer
• 2 Super combat potion
• 3 Saradomin brews
• 5 Super restores
• 14 Anglerfish > Shark
• Teleport to house or a one-click teleport (for emergency)