Zulrah/Strategies

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Quest points

Zulrah is a level 725 solo-only snake boss found at a shrine east of Zul-Andra, accessible by boat. Zulrah's shrine can be exited through victory, death, logout/hopping worlds, or teleportation.

Requirements

  • Completion of Quest points Regicide to access Zul-Andra

Transportation

Due to the high damage the boss can deal and shorter trip lengths, having access to a continuous source of healing is helpful to continue fighting the boss quickly.

Forms

A player fights Zulrah, the serpent of the Poison Waste, in its tanzanite form.

Throughout the fight, Zulrah will continually dive into the swamp, sending out a plethora of attacks before doing so. It will then re-emerge in its next phase and continue its attacks, usually as a different form.

If struck with a hit just as it dives, the hit will register on Zulrah shortly after it resurfaces. Unlike the Alchemical Hydra, Zulrah's existing attacks will cause damage even after it is killed, so it is important to keep health and the appropriate prayer up to avoid an accidental death.

Zulrah has a Defence, Magic, and Ranged level of 300, along with +50 ranged and magical accuracy and strength bonus on all forms. Although Zulrah has no melee defence in any form, Zulrah can only be reached with a halberd-type weapon. The ranged and magic attacks will envenom the player unless they miss, even if blocked by a protection prayer. Damage dealt to Zulrah is capped at 50, with hits dealing more than that randomly hitting it for 45-50 damage.

  • Zulrah's green form, in which it will attack with Ranged, with a few exceptions such as its "Jad" phase (see rotations). While in this form, Zulrah is weak to magical attacks - possessing -45 magic defence and +50 ranged defence.
  • Zulrah's crimson form, in which it will attack with Melee. Zulrah will stare at the player's position for several seconds before whipping its tail at that area. If the player does not move away from the targeted area in time, they will be dealt 20-30 damage and be stunned for several seconds. While in this form, Zulrah is weak to magical attacks - possessing +0 magic defence and +300 ranged defence.
  • Zulrah's tanzanite form, in which it will randomly attack with both Magic and Ranged attacks, although it uses magic much more frequently compared to ranged. While in this form, Zulrah is weak to ranged attacks - possessing +300 magic defence and +0 ranged defence.

Special attacks

During the fight, Zulrah can summon snakelings and/or venom clouds in any form, however the phase at which it does so, as well as when during the phase, is predetermined by the rotation.

Snakelings

Snakelings are monsters that Zulrah will summon during the fight via shooting white orbs. Each snakeling attacks with either magic or melee, but never both. Despite their combat level of 90, they have extremely low defence and only 1 Hitpoint; this is made up for by their incredibly accurate attacks, which can hit up to 15.

Protection prayers block their attacks; however, it is better to tank the snakelings' attacks if Zulrah is also attacking, since Zulrah can deal more damage, and it is nearly impossible to flick multiple snakelings and Zulrah attacking together. It is highly recommended to bring a ring of recoil or ring of suffering(r/ri) to kill the snakelings.

While most snakelings spawn immediately, in some of Zulrah's attack rotations it will occasionally throw a white orb and then dive into the swamp. The summoned snakeling will only appear after Zulrah reemerges from the swamp.

If you are hiding from Zulrah, it is best to use this time to kill the snakelings to lessen the need to eat and/or use recoil charges during the fight.

Snakelings will also die off if they have been lingering around for more than 40 seconds, whether they are in combat with the player or not, although this generally occurs when the snakeling is stuck and cannot reach the player. They will automatically die off with Zulrah when it is killed.

A player taking damage from Zulrah's venom clouds.

Venom clouds

Zulrah will spawn venomous clouds during the fight via a barrage of dark-green orbs. If a player stands within a cloud's 3x3 area, they will be dealt varying damage per tick which can add up quickly. Players will want to position themselves accordingly for each phase as to minimise the potential damage from these clouds.

Certain phases may force the player to run through venom clouds in order to re-position themselves. Doing so will deal some damage to the player, however, this is a much better outcome than the potential damage inflicted by an unprepared Zulrah attack.

Similarly to the snakeling orbs, if Zulrah launches a dark-green orb just as it dives, the venomous cloud will not appear until Zulrah resurfaces.

While these clouds inflict venom damage, they do not envenom the player.

Setup

The best setup uses both Ranged and Magic to exploit Zulrah's weaknesses.

Due to Zulrah's weaknesses, lower-levelled players (or higher ones with the Harmonised nightmare staff) are encouraged to use fire spells, as they are 50% more accurate and deal 50% more damage to Zulrah. Powered staves don't have this benefit, and Zulrah's low defences in its green form make the spells fairly accurate.

Beginners may find it easier to bring fewer Magic/Ranged switches until they are comfortable with Zulrah's mechanics and phases.

A Serpentine helm is very useful for its immunity to venom, despite it having negative Magic and Ranged bonuses. It prevents the need for anti-venom+ potions, therefore freeing up an inventory slot, but over time it's less cost efficient than the potions, considering it needs to be charged with Zulrah's scales. It's recommended for beginners to wear the Serpentine helm until they are able to kill Zulrah consistently. Players who can kill Zulrah consistently and efficiently can forgo the helm, as they will be using the house and fairy ring method to return to the boss.

Equipment

Magic can be used on all phases, but performs much worse than even simple ranged switches for the Tanzanite phase. Zulrah possesses a 50% elemental weakness to fire, but the standard spellbook loses out on additional damage and utility of thralls or vengeance, so it usually is less effective at higher levels.

  1. ^ If on a Zulrah slayer boss task
  2. ^ Negates the need to bring anti-venom potions
  3. ^ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 With full void equipment
  4. ^ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Casting fire spells with a tome of fire
  5. ^ Recoil damage when in Melee range only
  6. ^ Switch to Ring of suffering when Snakelings are spawned, or able to camp if using echo boots

The Twisted bow and Bow of faerdhinen are both powerful enough to be used on all 3 phases to reduce switches, if desired. Otherwise, ranged is primarily used on the Tanzanite phase in addition to magic. If hybriding, ranged helmet and boot switches provide fairly minimal dps increases while also having negative magic accuracy. Consider swapping them for supplies instead.

  1. ^ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 With full crystal armour and bow of faerdhinen
  2. ^ Negates the need to bring anti-venom potions
  3. ^ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 With full void knight equipment
  4. ^ 4.0 4.1 With Karil's crossbow, full set of Karil's armour, and amulet of the damned. Note that the amulet is destroyed on death, so only use if it is easily replaced.
  5. ^ 5.0 5.1 With 90+ Strength
  6. ^ With adamant darts
  7. ^ Great defence and prayer bonus, frees up ring slot to not require recoil
  8. ^ If using echo boots
  9. ^ Drains to Zulrah's defence carry over between phases.
  10. ^ Use when wearing magic gear.
  11. ^ Only for use during Zulrah's crimson phase if not bringing magic gear.

The Noxious halberd is powerful enough to be used on all 3 phases to great effect. The Crystal halberd special attack is very effective during the last hit of each phase, as the double hitsplats get around the 50 damage cap on Zulrah. Attacking primarily with the crystal halberd is possible, but significantly less effective than simply using other styles, due to its slow attack speed. A small Ranged switch is recommended to bring as some phases cannot be attacked with melee due to poison clouds obstructing the area, and to fit in extra hits with a faster weapon. The Eclipse atlatl is best suited to this, as it scales very well from the already worn melee gear, although other options from the ranged gear tab can work in its place with one or two additional switches.
Note: No other halberd besides the Noxious halberd (and the Crystal halberd for the special attack) is worth using to melee Zulrah due to the slow 7 tick attack speed of other halberds. If other styles are particularly poor for your available gear, the crystal halberd can still be worth using however.

  1. ^ Only if on a Zulrah boss slayer task
  2. ^ Negates the need to bring anti-venom potions
  3. ^ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 With full void knight equipment, will have much less defence than other sets.
  4. ^ Great defence and prayer bonus, frees up ring slot to not require recoil
  5. ^ 5.0 5.1 Bring as a swap in addition to main DPS ring when snakelings spawn

Due to Zulrah's elemental weakness to fire spells, they perform particularly well against Zulrah, especially at a lower magic level when powered staves are less effective. With slower kill times, it may be beneficial to hide behind a pillar for Zulrah's tanzanite phase to maximise damage output and minimise damage taken.

  1. ^ Negates the need to bring anti-venom potions

Inventory Setups

Fight overview

Tile markers
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Tile markers guide • Data


All damage towards Zulrah is capped at 50; if players would have dealt over 50 damage to Zulrah, it is reduced to 45-50 damage.[1] Despite this, using the twisted bow with seeking dragon arrows is still recommended, as dealing above 50 damage more often will result in more hits dealing 45-50 damage, and still increase the average damage output.

At the start of the fight, Zulrah will be in one of four possible rotations (see chart), with each rotation consisting of predefined phases. It takes Zulrah about three minutes to complete each full rotation. After it finishes a rotation, Zulrah will then begin a new one; it is possible to be the same rotation as the previous one. All rotations after the first one have a chance for Zulrah to randomly be in a phase different from the expected phase. There is also a chance for Zulrah to enter a form where it will randomly switch between mage and ranged attacks in a way that cannot be predicted and prayed against (unlike the "Jad" phase, which alternates between Magic and Ranged each attack). Because of this, it is best to try to kill Zulrah within the first rotation.

Each column in the chart corresponds to one of Zulrah's rotations, with each row corresponding to that rotation's phase. The green, red, and blue circles indicate Zulrah's form and position in each phase. The "x" represents where to run, and the tile markers above correspond to these locations. Ensure the camera's orientation is pointed south to better align with the images.

It is recommended to always use Protect from Missiles (green form) or Protect from Magic (tanzanite form) when learning Zulrah, as its attacks are very accurate and often hit hard. The only exception is its green "Jad" phase, which requires alternating between Protect from Missiles and Protect from Magic after every attack it performs. Not every phase has Zulrah attacking the player, however, it is only recommended to disable these prayers once the player is comfortable with the fight's rotations. Zulrah's attacks are capable of hitting up to 41, and with the high damage of the snakelings, can easily combo a player in seconds.

Beginners may want to stop attacking or healing during the "Jad" phase and simply focus on praying correctly. As with most attacks in the game, a protection prayer only needs to be active starting on the same tick that Zulrah begins its attack animation. This means that as soon as a green ranged projectile is fired, overhead prayer should switch back to Protect from Magic. As soon as a red magic projectile is fired, overhead prayer should switch back to Protect from Missiles. The projectile may hit the character while the opposite prayer is active, but 0 damage will occur as long as the correct prayer was active at the start of Zulrah's attack animation.

If Zulrah dies just as it launches an attack, the attack can still deal damage, and can potentially kill the player.

All rotations

Zulrah's Shrine, with Zulrah in its starting phase.

At the start of the fight, Zulrah will always be in its green form in the middle of the shrine. It will never attack directly at the start; rather, Zulrah will fill the area with venom clouds, leaving the tips on the east and west sides clear. After filling up the area with venom clouds, Zulrah will dive into the swamp and continue on to one of the four rotations.

A safespot to evade Zulrah's melee form, highlighted in yellow. The other safespot is in the equivalent space beside the other pillar.

At the end of every rotation, Zulrah will once again appear in the middle of the shrine in its green form. It will attack the player with ranged attacks several times before filling the area with venom clouds. This phase counts as the first phase of the new rotation.

A Zulrah rotation guide, designed to be kept open alongside the game. Each column is a different rotation.

Shared rotations

Rotations 1 & 2 ("Crimson A & B")

After filling the shrine with venom clouds, Zulrah dives back into the swamp and reappears in the same spot in its crimson form. It will use two melee attacks before diving back down, appearing at the same spot in its tanzanite form.

When it performs enough attacks in its tanzanite form, Zulrah dives back into the swamp, and the rotations separate until the second-to-last phase in the rotation.

In this second-to-last phase, informally known as the "Jad" phase, Zulrah appears to the west in a green form. It will alternate between ranged and mage attacks, starting with ranged. Players are advised to switch between Protect from Missiles and Protect from Magic on each attack accordingly, otherwise they can be dealt high amounts of damage in a short amount of time. At the end of this phase, Zulrah fills the shrine with venom clouds, leaving the tips on both sides clear of them.

For the final phase, Zulrah appears in the middle in its crimson form and uses two melee attacks. It will then continue on to the starting phase of the next rotation, in which it appears in the middle in its green form and attacks the player with ranged attacks.

Rotations 3 & 4 ("Serp & Tanz")

In these rotations, Zulrah's initial phases are different, though the last three phases are similar to each other.

In Rotation 3, right before the second-to-last phase, Zulrah will send out snakelings; this does not occur in Rotation 4. Regardless, the mechanics are still the same in that phase.

In the second-to-last phase, informally known as the "Jad" phase, Zulrah appears to the east in its green form. It will alternate between magic and ranged attacks, starting with magic. Players are advised to switch between Protect from Magic and Protect from Missiles on each attack accordingly, otherwise they can be dealt high amounts of damage in a short amount of time. Zulrah does not send out venom clouds at the end of this phase and simply dives back into the swamp when it's done attacking.

For the final phase of these rotations, Zulrah appears in the middle in its tanzanite form, summoning four snakelings (two on each side). It will then continue on to the starting phase of the next rotation, in which it appears in the middle in its green form and attacks the player with ranged attacks.

Rotation overview

Zulrah will start the fight in one of the four rotations below, chosen at random.

You can tell which rotation Zulrah is in by either the second or fourth phase:

  • If the second phase is Zulrah in its crimson form, then its third phase will be in its tanzanite form. Afterwards, Zulrah will be in its green form in the south (Rotation 1) or in the west (Rotation 2).
  • If the second phase is Zulrah in its green form, then it's in Rotation 3.
  • If the second phase is Zulrah in its tanzanite form, then it's in Rotation 4.

The phases below specify Zulrah's position in bold and form by colour, while the "Jad" phase has been underlined.

Beginners may wish to focus on one specific rotation to learn, immediately hopping worlds to try again if not in that rotation at the start of the second phase. Hopping worlds is possible because the player will not be in combat until the second phase. Rotation 3 is often best for learning since rotations 1 and 2 are ambiguous for longer at the start, and rotation 4 tends to cause more damage.

Rotation 1 ("Crimson A")

  • Phase 1: Zulrah appears in the middle in its green form, spewing out 4 venom cloud barrages.
  • Phase 2: Zulrah appears in the middle in its crimson form, attacking twice with Melee.
  • Phase 3: Zulrah appears in the middle in its tanzanite form, attacking with Magic and/or Ranged 4 times.
  • Phase 4: Zulrah appears in the south in its green form, attacking with Ranged 5 times, followed by 2 snakeling orbs, 2 venom cloud barrages, and 2 snakeling orbs.
  • Phase 5: Zulrah appears in the middle in its crimson form, attacking twice with Melee.
  • Phase 6: Zulrah appears in the west in its tanzanite form, attacking with both Magic and/or Ranged 5 times.
  • Phase 7: Zulrah appears in the south in its green form, spewing out 3 venom cloud barrages, followed by 4 snakeling orbs.
  • Phase 8: Zulrah appears in the south in its tanzanite form, attacking with both Magic and Ranged 5 times, followed by an alternating series of 5 snakeling orbs and venom cloud barrages.
  • Phase 9 ("Jad" phase): Zulrah appears in the west in its green form, alternating between Ranged and Magic attacks 10 times, starting with ranged. It will then spew out 4 venom cloud barrages.
  • Phase 10: Zulrah appears in the middle in its crimson form, attacking twice with Melee.
  • Phase 11: Zulrah appears in the middle in its green form, attacking with Ranged 5 times, followed by 4 venom cloud barrages.

Rotation 2 ("Crimson B")

  • Phase 1: Zulrah appears in the middle in its green form, spewing out 4 venom cloud barrages.
  • Phase 2: Zulrah appears in the middle in its crimson form, attacking twice with Melee.
  • Phase 3: Zulrah appears in the middle in its tanzanite form, attacking with Magic and/or Ranged 4 times.
  • Phase 4: Zulrah appears in the west in its green form, spewing out 3 venom cloud barrages, followed by 4 snakeling orbs.
  • Phase 5: Zulrah appears in the south in its tanzanite form, attacking with Magic and/or Ranged 5 times, followed by 2 snakeling orbs, 2 venom cloud barrages, and 2 snakeling orbs.
  • Phase 6: Zulrah appears in the middle in its crimson form, attacking twice with Melee.
  • Phase 7: Zulrah appears in the east in its green form, attacking with Ranged 5 times.
  • Phase 8: Zulrah appears in the south in its tanzanite form, attacking with Magic and/or Ranged 5 times, followed by an alternating series of 5 snakeling orbs and venom cloud barrages.
  • Phase 9 ("Jad" phase): Zulrah appears in the west in its green form, alternating between Ranged and Magic attacks 10 times, starting with ranged. It will then spew out 4 venom cloud barrages.
  • Phase 10: Zulrah appears in the middle in its crimson form, attacking twice with Melee.
  • Phase 11: Zulrah appears in the middle in its green form, attacking with Ranged 5 times, followed by 4 venom cloud barrages.

Rotation 3 ("Serp")

  • Phase 1: Zulrah appears in the middle in its green form, spewing out 4 venom cloud barrages.
  • Phase 2: Zulrah appears in the east in its green form, attacking with Ranged 5 times, followed by 3 snakeling orbs.
  • Phase 3: Zulrah appears in the middle in its crimson form, spewing out an alternating series of 6 venom cloud barrages and snakeling orbs. It will then attack twice with Melee.
  • Phase 4: Zulrah appears in the west in its tanzanite form, attacking with Magic and/or Ranged 5 times.
  • Phase 5: Zulrah appears in the south in its green form, attacking with Ranged 5 times.
  • Phase 6: Zulrah appears in the east in its tanzanite form, attacking with Magic and/or Ranged 5 times.
  • Phase 7: Zulrah appears in the middle in its green form, spewing out 3 venom cloud barrages, followed by 3 snakeling orbs.
  • Phase 8: Zulrah appears in the west in its green form, attacking with Ranged 5 times.
  • Phase 9: Zulrah appears in the middle in its tanzanite form, attacking with Magic and/or Ranged 5 times, followed by 2 venom cloud barrages and 3 snakeling orbs.
  • Phase 10 ("Jad" phase): Zulrah appears in the east in its green form, alternating between Magic and Ranged attacks 10 times, starting with magic.
  • Phase 11: Zulrah appears in the middle in its tanzanite form, spewing out 4 snakeling orbs.
  • Phase 12: Zulrah appears in the middle in its green form, attacking with Ranged 5 times, followed by 4 venom cloud barrages.

Rotation 4 ("Tanz")

  • Phase 1: Zulrah appears in the middle in its green form, spewing out 4 venom cloud barrages.
  • Phase 2: Zulrah appears in the east in its tanzanite form, spewing out 4 snakeling orbs, followed by attacking with Magic and/or Ranged 6 times.
  • Phase 3: Zulrah appears in the south in its green form, attacking with Ranged 4 times, followed by 2 venom cloud barrages.
  • Phase 4: Zulrah appears in the west in its tanzanite form, spewing out 4 snakeling orbs, followed by attacking with Magic and/or Ranged 4 times.
  • Phase 5: Zulrah appears in the middle in its crimson form, attacking twice with Melee, followed by 2 venom cloud barrages.
  • Phase 6: Zulrah appears in the east in its green form, attacking with Ranged 4 times.
  • Phase 7: Zulrah appears in the south in its green form, spewing out 6 snakeling orbs, followed by 3 venom cloud barrages.
  • Phase 8: Zulrah appears in the west in its tanzanite form, attacking with Magic and/or Ranged 5 times, followed by 4 snakeling orbs.
  • Phase 9: Zulrah appears in the middle in its green form, attacking with Ranged 4 times.
  • Phase 10: Zulrah appears in the middle in its tanzanite form, attacking with Magic and/or Ranged 4 times, followed by 3 venom cloud barrages.
  • Phase 11 ("Jad" phase): Zulrah appears in the east in its green form, alternating between Magic and Ranged attacks 8 times, starting with magic.
  • Phase 12: Zulrah appears in the middle in its tanzanite form, spewing out 4 snakeling orbs.
  • Phase 13: Zulrah appears in the middle in its green form, attacking with Ranged 5 times, followed by 4 venom cloud barrages.
A Zulrah rotation guide, designed to be open alongside the game. Each column is a different rotation.

References

  1. ^

Source

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