The Void Stares Back

The Void Stares Back is a quest that was released on 6 October 2010. It is the third Grandmaster quest released. It is also the third and final quest of the Void Knights quest series.

The plot revolves around the impending threat of a full-on invasion by the void pests. The quest also includes strong enemies and difficult puzzles.

Getting started
Note: If you are killed in the Black Knights' base in Taverley Dungeon before the Pest Queen is summoned, you will have to travel back there by foot. The base is located deep in the dungeon, with most of the quest taking part in an even more remote set of rooms. It can take some time to get back to your gravestone. Therefore, players are recommended to purchase the longest-lasting gravestone they can afford, and should consider bringing run energy-restoring items (e.g. energy potions). It can be useful to switch your respawn point to Falador by talking to Sir Tiffy Cashien. If you have an Agility level of 5 or more, you can take the shortcut in the city's western wall. There is a bank near the shortcut, allowing for restocking.


 * 1) To start the quest, speak to Captain Korasi, who is at Falador park. She will give you a special set of Black Knight armour: Black full helm (bugged), Black platebody (bugged), and Black platelegs (bugged).
 * 2) Head north of Falador to the Black Knights' Fortress. When you enter you will automatically go into a dialog with Commander Colby. He will teleport you to the Black Knights' base in Taverley Dungeon.
 * Note: He will only teleport you ONCE so if you have to go back for any reason you must go through Taverley Dungeon.

Security Room 1 : The Weight Distribution

 * 1) Talk to Captain Gilroy and you will automatically go through the big metal door. Behind it is a room with some crates. You will view a cutscene of a black knight dying while trying to open the door.
 * 2) Search the crates and you will find there are blocks in them. You need to fit them into the door's locking mechanism, but the labels on the blocks displaying their weight are incorrect. Captain Gilroy will tell you that he can determine the blocks' actual weight.
 * 3) Take all the blocks out of the crate. They are numbered from 2 to 6. Now use two on Captain Gilroy at a time. He will tell which one is lighter and which one is heavier. You have to find out the correct order of blocks, from lightest to heaviest. Keep using pairs of blocks on Gilroy until you know the order. Arrange them in your inventory from lightest to heaviest.
 * 4) When you know the order, talk to Gilroy and choose the option "I think I've got it." Now give the weights for each block, starting with the lightest one and so working your way up to the heaviest one. For example, if you found the order of blocks is 3, 5, 2, 6, 4, start with block 3 (which weighs 2), then tell the weight of block 5 (which is 3), and so on.
 * 5) After you've told Gilroy the right order, he will tell you to correct the scales on the door. The password of today is 15. Put blocks in so the weights per bar add up to 15.

Notes:
 * Remember block 2 does not have a weight value of 2; the number 2 is simply its label. This of course applies to the other blocks as well.
 * The lighter a block is, the lower its true weight value will be. The block that weighs 2 is the lightest one, the block that weighs 6 is the heaviest.
 * This puzzle is different for each player.
 * The easiest tactic is to first find the block that is lighter than all others. Put it apart, and find the lightest block of the remaining ones. Put that one apart too next to the first one, and repeat these steps. You'll end up with the correct order.

Security Room 2 : The Ambush
If you did not bring the required items to repair the forge:
 * 1) Prepare for a fight. Now open the door and enter the room. You will be ambushed by a group of pests. Captain Gilroy and the other black knight will each fight one. You have to fight four: a Torcher, Brawler, Shifter, and a Spinner. These fight as they do in Pest Control, and are capable of dealing a lot of damage. Consider using Protect from Melee or Deflect Melee to block most damage.
 * The Spinner will continually heal the other three very rapidly.
 * The Shifter will move a distance away from the player and teleport-swap positions with the pest that the player is currently attacking.
 * The Brawler obstructs player movement as in the Pest Control activity.
 * The Torcher shoots magic while having the Protect from Ranged prayer active.
 * 1) Attack the spinner first. It will rapidly heal the other creatures as long as it is alive. Due to the constant teleporting effect of the shifter, players may find it faster or easier to kill it with magic or ranged. After the spinner is killed, finish off the rest as you see fit. Keep in mind the shifter should be next as it teleports the other monsters around which can be annoying.
 * 2) Pick up the security blocks the pests dropped. There are four blocks, but one is broken. The broken block won't stack with the other three, but will occupy two slots in the inventory. If you lose a block, talk to Captain Gilroy to get it back.
 * 3) Speak to Captain Gilroy. He will tell you to fix the block at the mini-forge in the north-west room.
 * 4) Exit the room and head north-west until you find the forge. You will need a limestone brick, a hammer and a piece of hard leather to fix it, and a tinderbox and some regular logs to light it. First, use your limestone brick or hard leather on the forge. Then use your logs on it, and light it with your tinderbox.
 * 5) Use the broken block with the forge. You will obtain a security block. Head back to the room with Captain Gilroy and place the four blocks in the wall. The security door can now be opened.
 * The limestone brick can be obtained from searching the crate in the same room as the forge.
 * The logs are in a kitchen, to the east of the dining hall in the base. The dining hall is to the north of the forge room. Search the crates in the kitchen to get the logs.
 * The hammer and tinderbox are in another crate, in the room south of the kitchen.
 * The hard leather is near a jail cell, to the south-east of the dining hall. Search the crate next to the cell.

Security Room 3 : The Control Panel
Notes:
 * 1) Enter the room, click on the control panel on the western wall, and select to search it for magical traps. After disarming the trap, open the panel.
 * 2) You need to solve another puzzle. Drag the tiles into the panels. You need to make a horizontal line spanning all three panels.
 * 3) Once you've completed the puzzle, you can open the door.
 * When you've made the horizontal line, there will be other bits of line left; you don't have to do anything with them.


 * The puzzle will only be completed when every tile is placed. This includes tiles that are not needed to make the horizontal line.


 * For this puzzle, there are again multiple solutions.

Into the portal - Pest Conquest

 * 1) Enter the next room. You will view a cutscene. A portal is discovered, and your true identity is revealed to Lord Daquarius. Reinforcements arrive in the form of Sir Tiffy, Korasi and Jessika. You manage to convince Daquarius to join forces. More Temple Knights, White Knights and Void Knights teleport in, and the parties agree to unite under the leadership of the player. You will receive Korasi's sword.
 * 2) Talk to Commodore Tyr, then step into the portal. Another cutscene will start. It reveals that Wizard Grayzag is behind the pest manipulations and plans to gain revenge against his enemies (basically everyone) by summoning the Pest Queen. Grayzag is not quite ready and sends a force of Splatters to attack, forcing a cave-in on the area where the player was standing. You take shelter in a nearby cave.
 * 3) While the others attempt to make a way out, you must play a modified game of Conquest against the AI-controlled pest force. You must command your own troops and defeat all enemy units on the battlefield. This game is safe for if you lose, you return to the cave with all your items, and can try again. You have a slight advantage, as the pests cannot use commands such as Battle Cry or Regenerate. You will have standard units, but the opponent has special pest troops:


 * The Spinners are similar to Champions in that they are very powerful. They do not heal their units (which is what spinners do in the Pest Control activity).
 * The Ravagers have the movement range of Scouts and the damage rate of a Soldier. They can easily decimate your party if they are not dealt with swiftly.
 * The Shifters are less of a threat than other units and can be tanked if need be; however, watch your 100 LP units!
 * The Torchers are similar to Mages.
 * The Defilers are similar to Archers.
 * The Splatters will explode and deal 100 LP of damage to any adjacent unit that is within 1 square.

The AI has a fair amount of randomness in its play and does not always make what seems to be the best move. One winning strategy against it is to line up your units near the back of the playing field (not advancing toward the enemy) and destroy the enemy units as they close in to fight. Another good tactic is to only use high-hitting units such as your Champion and Knight. You can fight recklessly as they can not be killed in a single hit, unlike in Conquest. If they get low on health you can use Regenerate to fully heal them. Most pests will go down in two hits of the Knight, and nothing can survive two hits from the Champion. Taking out enemy units faster than they can take out your units will usually result in a win. If the AI is playing well, you can always retreat from the game and start a new one, as the AI may not play well the next time.

Only a reduced set of commands are available, but these are key to winning:
 * Use Chastise to stop the move and attack of powerful enemy units when they come close, and then destroy (or at least heavily damage) them before they can move and attack again.
 * Use Regenerate to heal powerful units that become damaged. The Champion, Halberdier, and the Mage are all worth healing.
 * Use Battle Cry to buff up the attack of your units so that they can destroy enemy units. As with regenerate, the Champion, Halberdier, and the Mage all can be worth buffing. (with this command, the Champion can often take out a unit in a single hit, the Halberdier can hit hard from two squares away while being out of retaliation range of 1-range units, and the Mage can inflict 400 points of damage at several squares range.)
 * Charge doubles a unit's movement and is less useful but can be used to pick off a distant unit on occasion, although the charging unit will be vulnerable if other enemies are nearby.

The Final Battle: Pest Queen

 * 1) Once you have defeated the opponent, enter the door at the end of the room. A cutscene will start. The first thing you will notice is that Valluta is not a metaphor, but a Guardian of Guthix in the form of a giant turtle! Wizard Grayzag is very close to summoning the Pest Queen, and he needs a sacrifice to complete the ritual. He leaves the decision on who to save - Korasi or Jessika - to you, or else he says he will kill both. After killing the one who was not the player's choice, Grayzag summons the Pest Queen from the portal in the middle of the room. Korasi or Jessika (depending on who you saved) manages to close the portal, badly injuring herself in the process. Unfortunately, the Pest Queen has already managed to climb through. You can ask Valluta for assistance but she will respond that she is too weak to do anything. She will, however, answer questions on how to fight the Pest Queen.
 * 2) Before continuing, bank and gear up for a tough fight! Fighting the Pest Queen can go through an entire inventory of Saradomin brews, although if you have high stats (90+) an inventory of rocktails can be enough food. If taking brews, also take enough Restore potion to recover your stats from the brews' effect. Korasi's Sword seems to be very effective against the Pest Queen, so you can just bring that (as you need its special) without a second weapon to save an inventory space.

If you happen to die during the fight with pest queen, your gravestone will appear in front of the portal in the black knight's headquarters. This means you can regain your items without risk of combat, but be aware that it can take some time to get to from your respawn point.

Note: Sir Tiffy Cashien will teleport you back directly to the boss portal. Therefore, the fastest route back to your gravestone is to teleport to Falador and talk to Sir Tiffy. An even faster route is to make Falador your respawn location and then talk to Sir Tiffy to get back, therefore saving time and runes.

Note: If you teleport out of the black knight headquarters, Korasi's sword will disappear; you can get it back by entering the Pest Queen's chamber and talking to the NPC you saved in the cut scene.

While gearing, keep in mind that your primary weapon will be Korasi's sword. In particular, you will need to frequently use the sword's special attacks to prevent the queen's charge attacks, as these cause 500 points of damage to you and your archers as well as healing the queen. Because of this, you should not bring another powerful special-attack weapon such as Dragon claws or a Godsword, as you will need to use all your special attacks with Korasi's sword. You can save yourself an inventory space by not bringing another weapon, although a good weapon like a chaotic weapon or an Abyssal whip can be useful when dealing with the queen's elite defenders.



Strategy 1
As for fighting the Pest Queen, she has two styles of attack: Melee and '''Magic. '''You will, however, take damage regardless of your prayer, as prayer only lessens the damage to a maximum of 130 LP.

Most importantly, when the Queen stops attack and looks upward, use your special attack to prevent her from activating hers, dealing a maximum of 530 LP of damage (To you and the knights and archers attacking the queen as well). This is why it is important to either bring Recover special potions or not bring a special attack weapon at all, as you have no means of defending yourself if you run out of special attack energy. Also, having a Ring of Vigour will help to increase the amount of special attacks that you can use during the fight. ''Also important to note is the fact that she will heal herself after using the special attack as well. ''Those who have access to ancient curses should seriously consider using them. A good combination of curses for low levels (under 74) is Deflect Melee, Sap Warrior, and Sap Mage. Despite the fact that the queen has a special attack, Sap Spirit does not work against her. At higher levels, Leech curses (or Turmoil) are even more effective.

Also using a chaotic weapon/Abyssal whip instead of Korasi's sword will quicken the battle, but remember to switch to Korasi's sword and use the special attack when needed, and then switch back to the other weapon

If you spoke to Valluta, you will know that in order to defeat the queen you must defeat her drones. As you can't attack them, you must rely on the archers that enter the room periodically. In order to prevent them from dying, be sure to kill the level 83 Elite Defilers when they spawn in, as they will attack the archers.

Be wary, when the queen's drones are defeated she will begin swapping Attack style in accordance with your prayer. ''This means that she will always be dealing damage to you. ''At this point, you may choose to attack the Elite Pests once to get them on you as opposed to defeating them so as to remain attacking the queen as long as possible. After a short period, the drones will respawn. Be sure to keep the archers around so they can quickly dispatch the drones again. If you did not keep the Elite Pests off the archers, you may find her fully replenishing her health.

When you leave the queen to kill the elite defilers, switch your melee protection to magic protection to avoid taking as much damage.

Strategy 2
This strategy is much more simple but requires 84 Herblore.

Summon a tortoise filled with rocktails. Bring 3-4 Prayer potion (4), a Recover special, a Super attack + Super strength, and the rest of the inventory filled with Rocktails. Go to the queen and wait for the other NPCs to enter and attack the queen. Turn on leech defence, leech attack, and deflect melee. The fight is very simple, attack the elite pests once to switch their attention on you, then go back to fighting the queen. Always make sure you have 15% of your special bar remaining and always use the special when the queen lifts her head.

The beginning of the fight will be mostly a waste (the healers will continue to heal the queen). When you have taken the queen down to around 1/2 health, the healers will not appear in large groups and you can really start adding damage. Continue to hitting the queen with Korasi's sword and using the special when necessary. Eventually the queen will die.

Equipment
When gearing for the Pest Queen, try to emphasize Magic and Melee defence, as these are her two attack styles (one will always be hitting you, so bring defence against both!).

High value items can be taken, as your gravestone will appear in front of the portal. You can teleport directly there by talking to Sir Tiffy Cashien in Falador Park. (He will only teleport you after the pest queen has been summoned. If you leave or die in the Black Knights' headquarters before the queen is summoned, you must make your way back there by foot.)

Necessary equipment:
 * Korasi's sword

Suggested equipment is as follows (you may wish to mix and match; this is fine as long as you have decent magic and melee defence) :


 * Helm: Verac's helm > Helm of neitiznot > Dwarven helmet > Black d'hide coif


 * Amulet: Amulet of Fury > Amulet of Glory


 * Cape: Ardougne cloak 3/4 or Soul Wars Cape or Fire Cape. (Ardougne cape is useful as the sword has a decent stab bonus already.)


 * Plate: Karil's top > Black d'hide body


 * Legs: Verac's plateskirt (For the combination of prayer and melee defence bonus) > Bandos tassets (For the combination of melee defence and strength bonus) > Dragon platelegs / Dragon plateskirt


 * Shield: Dragonfire shield/Divine spirit shield/Spectral spirit shield > Rune defender > Toktz-ket-xil > God Book


 * Gloves: Gloves (barrows) > Regen bracelet > Combat bracelet


 * Boots: Dragon boots > Infinity boots


 * Ring: Onyx ring (i) > Ring of vigour (Recommended for using less special energy) > Warrior ring/Berserker ring > Explorer's Ring>Ring Of Life (Recommended on first few attempts)

Inventory
Suggested Inventory:
 * 10+ Saradomin brews, 5+ Restore potions (2:1 brew:restore ratio with 1-2 extra super restores for prayer).
 * 1 Super attack potion or Combat potion.
 * 1-3 Recover special potions (optional; use if queen is going to use her special but you have under 15% special attack energy).
 * Empty slots filled with Sharks, Rocktails, or other high-level food.
 * Familiar: Titan (fire, ice, or moss titan) / Unicorn stallion / Spirit kyatt.
 * Familiar scrolls: Titan's constitution scroll / healing aura / ambush (in accordance with your familiar; detailed below)(When using a Helm of neitiznot you could enchant it to store scrolls in it to save an inventory spot).

Suggested Familiar/ Familiar Inventory:
 * Before leaving the bank, fill a Beast of Burden familiar (Spirit terrorbird, War tortoise, or Pack yak with food).
 * Bring a titan, unicorn or kyatt and many scrolls for it in your inventory.

When the food in your beast of burden is depleted, dismiss it (you can go to the Follower Details tab, right-click the Dismiss button and choose the "Dismiss now" option to avoid the dialogue). Then summon your second familiar. If you bring a kyatt, the overall strategy is the same; however, now is when you begin spam clicking ambush scrolls. Bring 100-200 ambush scrolls (some players report using only about 80 in the fight while others use on the order of 150 or so).

Additional info

 * All damage against the Queen is capped at 450 LP.


 * It is possible to attack and then quickly run away while praying against magic to avoid the swapping of attack styles; however, this is risky as you may do less damage before the drones return.


 * The Steel Titan familiar is very handy when defeating queen, as its special attacks can hit very high.


 * Vengeance does NOT work against the Queen.


 * Stand to her side close to the portal so her attacks do not splash onto the knights that are helping you.

Aftermath
After you have killed the Pest Queen, return to the southern part of the chamber. Speak to Jessika or Korasi and a cut scene will play. Grayzag has been captured and is tied to a pillar. The various orders of knights cannot agree on what to do with Grayzag and leave the decision up to you. You will choose one of four fates:


 * Choosing Commander Tyr's Void Knights option will result in Tyr killing him on the spot, cutting Grayzag's throat with his sword.


 * Choosing Sir Tiffy's Temple Knights option will result in Sir Tiffy untying Grayzag and teleporting both Grayzag and himself to the Temple Knights, where they will 'dispose' of Grayzag.


 * Choosing Sir Amik's White Knights option will result in Sir Tiffy untying Grayzag and teleporting both Grayzag and himself to the White Knights, where they imprison him. (Sir Amik himself is not present but Sir Tiffy presents Sir Amik's option as well as his own.)


 * Choosing Lord Daquariaus' Black Knights option will result in Daquariaus torturing and then killing Grayzag.






 * 1 Quest point
 * Void guardian torso, Void justiciar torso, or Void executioner torso, depending on how you answered several psychological questions/decisions in the void quests. (You can change the colours, White for Guardian, Grey for Justiciar, and Black for Executioner, by talking to Commandor Tyr and paying 100k)
 * Korasi's sword
 * 2 Book of Equilibrium (Can be stored in bank) - 50,000 experience each in any combat skill over 75 (except Constitution)
 * The ability to upgrade your void knight armour for its elite version at the cost of 100 Void knight commendation points. (Leggings and torso)
 * 20,000 experience
 * 20,000 experience
 * 20,000 experience
 * 20,000 experience
 * 20,000 experience
 * 20,000 experience

Music Unlocked

 * In Security
 * Precarious Void
 * Mystery Revealed
 * Give it your Pest Shot
 * The Void Stares Back
 * Who Are We To Judge?

Trivia

 * The title is a reference to the famous quote by philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche "Whoever battles monsters should take care not to become a monster too, for if you stare long enough into the Abyss, the Abyss stares back into you.".
 * This quest is the first quest to have an 80+ skill requirement, which is 80 Magic.
 * There is a massive jump in requirements between the previous quest, A Void Dance, and this quest. A Void Dance requires around level 55 in some skills, while this quest requires multiple skills in the 70s and even a level 80.
 * The day the quest was released, the spoilers said "Sir Tiffy, Commodore Tyr and Lord Daquarius are squabbling over the rewards. This may take a while..."
 * The day the quest was released, the Adventurer's log suffered a mistake where the quest was listed on the top with quotations"The Void Stares Back" when the quest name actually starts with a V rather than with quotes. This has now been fixed.
 * When repairing the broken security block, if the player asks why any other forge cannot be used, Captain Gilroy responds "Oh, you could very easily just use any forge you wanted... ...if you wanted to totally melt down the key. It's a security measure, you noob!"
 * When Grayzag tries to escape, he summons some henchmen and cries "Say hello to my little friends," a direct quote from Al Pacino in the 1983 version of the film Scarface.
 * The bugged black armour will disappear from your bank or inventory once you have killed the pest queen or when you have died.
 * There is a bug that after viewing some cutscenes once you have entered the portal you will be kicked out and have to enter the portal again.You then view them again and remain in the portal.
 * There is a reference to the book "A Separate Peace" during the quest, if you talk to the black knight next to the colonel before starting the last puzzle, the security panel, he says: "Join the Black Knights, they said... See the world, they said..." which is a reference to when Leper Lepellier gets back from war, he was discharged because of hallucinations, and says "Join the army, they said... See the world, they said..."
 * Wizard Grayzag implies he has been an enemy of the player character for years, even though it has been year 169 of Fifth Age since the game was released.
 * Upon the completion of this quest, one's Adventurer's Log will read: "I led an alliance of knights against the Pest Queen and defeated her."
 * The portal that the pest queen came through looks very similar to the stargate in the TV show Stargate-SG1.
 * Right before the Conquest section starts, Savant mentions an interference, if you lag or log out or teleport away and return, Tiffy refers to that as the interference, the interference being the player or lag.