Kalphite King

The Kalphite King is dubbed the "Toughest Boss in Runescape history" and can be found in the Exiled Kalphite Hive. At a combat level of 230, it is currently the strongest monster in RuneScape. The Kalphite King was first mentioned at RuneFest 2011 in Mod Mark's RuneScape 2012 speech. The Kalphite King has a chance to drop the Drygore longsword, mace and rapier, along with their offhand versions.

The fight with the Kalphite King is a challenge that requires players to be adept with the ability bar system and changes with the introduction of the Evolution of Combat. As well as being able to use all three attack styles, it has a special attack that causes a player to turn green, which if the player’s team members do not activate the Defence ability Provoke in time, will be hit for more than 10,000 damage, often resulting in a one-hit kill. When the teammates provoke they will take the damage as if they were green, the only way to avoid this is to provoke the king then quickly use the Resonance, Barricade or Immortality abilities.

The only way to avoid this is being saved with Provoke by your teammates. As such, it is impossible to solo the king.

The Kalphite King is also able to summon other exiled kalphite monsters, such as guardians. These monsters don't have to be killed in order to kill the king.

The Kalphite King will not allow the use of Dwarf multicannons to be set up, however Dreadnips and Dominion mines appear to be able to be used.

Getting there
The Exiled Kalphite Hive is located south of the Jaldraocht Pyramid in the Kharidian Desert. The easiest way of getting there is via the Bandit Camp Lodestone and run south. Alternatively, players can use the magic carpet to travel to Menaphos, and simply run north from there. A third option is to use a Pharaoh's Sceptre to teleport to the pyramid and run a short distance south.



Upon first entering the Hive, there will be a blocked tunnel that can be cleared to create a shortcut. This tunnel only needs to be cleared once. When entering the Kalphite King tunnel, five messages will appear that the player can choose from. The first will ask if the player wants to start a new battle or join an existing fight. The second one will ask the player what the maximum number of people can join, ranging from 1 to 20. The third will ask what a minimum combat level must be to join this specific battle. The fourth requires the player to enter an entry key between 1 and 999,999. This is needed for other players to join the player's fight. If entered "0" there will be no entry key. The last one allows the player to choose the spawn rate of the Kalphite King.

After choosing all the options, the player will appear in the lair. After a while, the Kalphite King will appear in the melee form.

Melee Attacks
'''Note: This phase is signified by the Kalphite King's wings being orange. It is weak to fire spells in this phase. The King will use both charge and instant kill attacks in this phase.'''
 * Standard Attack: This attack has a bleeding attack similar to Slaughter, dealing 3x damage when moving. This is possibly one of the most dangerous attacks as even with Protection prayers, players will find themselves being hit for 2000+ damage. This attack can be countered by the Freedom ability, which will cause the bleeding to stop. Whilst the Kalphite King is in the melee phase, it is highly recommended to use Polypore Strike as it will hit high against the king. Using the magic ability Tsunami will stun the Kalphite King temporarily, which is where you switch to your chaotic weaponry.
 * Charge: The King charges for a few seconds and then rushes forward, pushing everyone in the way into the wall. This attack, though melee, occurs in all phases.Whilst the King charges you may use the immortality ultimate ability to prevent death, but the attack tends to hit under 2,000 health. The King does this on his magic and melee phases. Players should take notice of this as many players mistake it for it's instant kill attack and use Provoke at the wrong time. Both are very similar, however the player that is being targeted will become stunned.
 * Stomp: The king stomps and produces a shock wave. Players within the melee range will be hit and pushed back. In addition, their defence level will be reduced by a small amount.

Ranged Attacks
'''Note: This phase is signified by the Kalphite King's wings being coloured green. It is weak to stab attacks at this time. It will still be able to use the Instant kill attack on this phase.'''
 * Standard Attack: The king will fire an attack that looks like the Kalphite Queen's ranged attack. This attack will cause a damage over time effect similar to the Fragmentation Shot ability, including taking 3x damage when moving. This attack is usually used together with the Stun Darts (see below).


 * Stun Darts : The king will fire stun darts at a group of players, which will have a chance to stun them.


 * Incendiary Shot: The king fires an incendiary shot to a few players in range. The players are usually stunned and then explode, dealing random but very high damage onto the players.

Magic Attacks
Note: This phase is signified by the Kalphite King's wings being coloured Blue. It is weak to Arrows at this time. Successful attacks during this phase, plus on any other phase, will shorten the duration of the phase. 'During this phase, the Kalphite King will not use his instant kill attack, but instead use the charge attack instead. There is currently a glitch where both attacks are the blue energy (as shown in the picture below), so players should take note of which attack it is using.'''


 * Blue Energy Circles Attack: The king will shoot numerous blue energy circles to everyone in range for up to 3000 damage and possibly a stun. However, the circles will target on the ground instead of the player, so players can avoid damage by moving away before the circle lands.


 * Green Energy Circles Attack: The king will launch some greenish-yellow circles at the players' squares that slowly levitate and explode. The circles will hit multiple players in range which can also stun them. The maximum damage of these circles are about 4000, but it will usually hit for 2000. This attack could be very deadly if the player is hit by multiple circles. It is suggested using the abilities Escape or Freedom (if stunned) to evade. It is usually random where the King will launch it, however it will not spread throughout the whole room unless it is in the middle of the room. If it is stuck on one of the corners, it's magic attacks will only cover about 1/4th of the boss room. In order to survive this attack, avoid clusters orbs as if you run to them then you will very likely die from a result of 5 orbs exploding at once. Players may also be stunned in this attack.

Other Attacks and Abilities
These attacks/abilities can be used on any phase, apart from the Instant kill which is only used on ranged and melee phases and charge which is used for melee and magic phases.
 * Instant kill: This is the most deadly ability the king uses. The targeted player will turn green and be stunned. If another player does not use Provoke in time, the targeted player will be instantly killed when the King uses what appears to be the standard melee attack. In order to shake this attack off a targeted player, another player must use Provoke and then either Resonance, Immortality or Barricade or the King will instantly kill the player that used Provoke on him.
 * Spawning Monsters: The king will spawn a group of Exiled kalphite marauders (Level 140). If standing on top of the marauders when they spawn, you will take approximately 1000 melee damage.
 * Digging: The king will dig into the sand and re-appear under the player it is targeting. Any player that is under the King when it reappears will take aroudn 2000-4000 damage and be knocked back.
 * Phase changing: The king will change its phases randomly throughout the fight. The colors of its wings correspond to its main attacking style. If the wing is Yellow, it uses Melee attack and is weak to Fire Spells. If the wing is Green, it uses Range attack and is weak to Stab Weapons. If the wing is Blue, it uses Magic attack and is weak to Arrows.
 * Healing: The king will sometimes summon a red aura around itself. The aura heals it the amount of damage it would have dealt to players in the given time period (not counting protection prayer and spirit shield effect). If it attacks a player with its instant kill attack, it will heal 24,000 LP.
 * Barricade: The king will use the barricade ability making him invincible for a short period of time, this is caused by players using the Frenzy ability on him.

Strategy
Group Composition -
 * This method requires at least 4 people: 2 tanks, 1 ranger, and at least one attacker.


 * 1) Tanks - The goal is for the two tanks to continuously heal off the Instant Kill attack with resonance, and pray accordingly to the phase. If a marauder is attacking the tank, it is advisable to use Barricade instead, as the marauder's attacks can potentially trigger Resonance, resulting in instant death. In most cases, however, the marauders will target other fighters. Both tanks need to be equipped with at least God Wars level armour, a good wand (Ahrim's or Virtus), and a level 70+ shield. They should switch between using Rock Barrage, Gale Barrage to lower the King's stats and if necessary, Bloodfire Barrage.
 * 2) Ranger/Backup Tank - The Ranger has two main purposes. The first is to kill the marauder minions. Although killing minions causes more orbs to spawn, it is better than the king healing for 24,000 health. The minions can also potentially hit the tanks at the wrong time, causing them to take a full instant kill attack as opposed to getting healed (unless they used Barricade). The ranger's second goal is to take over for a tank in case of a death. This can rescue the group in what would otherwise be a sure wipe. He should be dealing damage, but only when the two roles above are taken care of. He should be equipped in level 70+ Ranging armour, a royal crossbow or Zaryte bow, and should have an chaotic/Armadyl crossbow (with Royal bolts or Diamond bolts (e)) & level 70+ shield in his inventory.
 * 3) Attackers - The attackers have a pretty straight forward role and compose the majority of the group. They use the attack style the King is weak to during each phase, and avoiding attacks as needed to avoid unnecessary damage. They should be equipped in full void, a two handed weapon/duel wield for each combat style, and all three void helms.

Phase Strategies -: The King always begins in the melee phase, and will switch from there at random.

Other
 * 1) Melee Phase - Prayer - Protect/Deflect Melee OR Soulsplit - In the melee phase, the two tanks need to stand on opposite sides, with the damage spread out on an open side of the King. When the King uses the instant kill attack on his current target, the other tank needs to taunt, then follow up with resonance. This will heal him to full, saving him food. He should continue tanking the king until he is the target of the instant kill attack, in which the other tank heals with. They should repeat this for the entire phase. The attackers need to all be using magic, preferably fire spells.
 * 2) Range Phase - Prayer - Protect/Deflect Range - When the King is in his range phase, all of the attackers need to be meleeing with stab weapons next to the boss. The two tanks need to stand opposite to each other, at a reasonable distance. They repeat the process from the melee phase. Make sure the attackers are spread out around the boss to avoid damage from Incendiary shot, and make sure not to move when you are bleeding, or it will hit very hard.
 * 3) Mage Phase - Prayer - Protect/Deflect Magic -In the mage phase, the main goal is survival. All of the group need to be ready to move, and ready to use freedom when stunned. It is important to note that the blue orbs can possibly stun you. Everyone needs to remain at a far distance to all other players, in the off chance of a mistake. If hit by too many orbs, one will almost always die. This can be avoided by wearing a phoenix necklace. They can rescue you from even the deadliest orb attacks. Note that they won't, however, protect you from the instant kill attack. When not avoiding orbs, and there is free time, the attackers should be ranging the king.

On the minions, some say it is better to leave them alive to avoid more orbs spawning, while others believe it is best to kill them. It is entirely up to the group, as although in killing them, more orbs will spawn, it is easier on the tanks as they are able to safely heal on the instant kill attack. In addition the king can potentially eat one and heal 20,000 life points, adding much time to a kill. If everyone in the group is good with orbs, then kill minions by all means, although for less experienced groups, they are best left alive. Using methods above, kills as fast at 45 seconds to 1 minute 30 seconds have been recorded, although they tend to average at about 3-4 minutes for a kill.

Armour/Weapons

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Herbs & Seeds

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 * 1) Note: All drops are split equally amongst a selection of players. Grimy herbs are split in groups of 6, and herb seeds are split in groups of 2.

Others

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Rare drop table drops
Items are taken from the rare drop table in sets of 3.

Trivia

 * The Kalphite King is the first boss to utilize player abilities against the players themselves, especially bleed-over-time abilities such as Slaughter, Fragmentation Shot, Combust and Incendiary Shot.
 * With the release of the Kalphite King, the prices of the weapons shattered the Corporeal Beast as the monster that has some of the best (expensive) drops in RuneScape.
 * It is possible that the Kalphite King is usually cruel as there are corpses of Kalphites in and outside his lair, unlike the other parts of the hive where there are no corpses apart from skeletons in the graveyard.
 * On release the main Drygore weapons were priced at 500m each and their off-hand versions at 300m each. Shortly after, Jagex reduced the prices to 250m and 150m to reflect the street price for which they were selling.
 * Continuously using binding spells and abilities (eg. Entangle) on the Kalphite King once stopped it from changing its phase or digging, making it faster to kill. This was hotfixed on January 15th, 2013 and again for another method the next day.
 * If a player dies when fighting the Kalphite King with a Beast of Burden, the items will not appear in the gravestone. This is yet to be addressed by Jagex as any items will disappear if the player leaves/dies.