Telos, the Warden/Strategies

Telos, the Warden is the guardian of the Heart of Gielinor. While he starts off with a combat level of 2,000, his combat level gradually increases as he gains more rage. He is fought in multiple phases, the exact amount depending on his rage. As his enrage increases, the fight will become much harder, as the margin for error gets smaller and smaller, to the point where even a slight mistake at the wrong time can prove fatal. Focus and keeping calm are essential.

Gear
Any combat style can be used, as Telos is equally weak to all forms of combat. Telos has very high accuracy, capable of hitting through tier 90 armour quite frequently. For beginners and high enrage kills, magic is the best combat style against Telos. For experienced players, melee and ranged can be used instead.

Magic = Mages can either opt for the normal spell book to use Vulnerability or for the ancient spell book to use Shield Dome (helpful for phase 4) and barrage spells to clear the golems. Mages' access to multiple binds and stuns is also advantageous in delaying or stalling Telos's attacks. Finally, mages should be using the Guthix staff special attack to help improve their accuracy.

Ranged = Mechanised chinchompas are an absolute must for phase 5 while ranging and will make short work of the golems, giving rangers an easier time on phase 5 than those using melee. Rangers can also bring bolas to bind both Telos and the golems. Expect to take some more damage as range suffers the worst resistance and soak against Telos's primary melee attacks.

Melee = Two-handed weapons are suggested since their AOE attacks can help clear the golems. Similarly, a weapon with halberd range, mainly the or, will perform better at clearing golems on phase 5. Melee also has access to and the  special attack which, when combined, can vastly improve accuracy. Phases 3 and 5 can be somewhat annoying due to the short reach of melee weapons.

Auras are to be used depending on the player's experience with Telos. Once confident, the damage boosting auras (Maniacal, Reckless, and Berserker) should be prioritised. Their combined damage and accuracy boost will help immensely. For kills in enrages that the player is not comfortable with (or just reached), standard accuracy auras should be used instead.

For the best results, it is advised not to fight Telos without a damage or accuracy boosting aura, especially on higher enrages.

Invention Perks
The following list of invention perks are recommended: On your weapons: On your armour: On your shield: As a switch:
 * Aftershock
 * Precise
 * Equilibrium - this can serve as a cheap alternative to aftershock.
 * Biting
 * Crackling
 * Impatient
 * Enhanced Devoted
 * Turtling
 * Planted Feet
 * Mobile

Inventory

 * Dreadnips - As Telos is not immune to stuns/binds, these can help to stall Telos's attack pattern, where extra damage/time can be squeezed in before he can use a special attack.
 * A shield and defender - The shield is used for Telos' "Hold still, invader." attack, where Resonance is used to recover most of the damage he can deal, and Barricade if needed. Reflect can be used against shockwaves on phase 3 and rocks and font damage on phase 4. The defender is for a damage boost on the golems in phases 4 and 5 to quickly kill them as using a shield greatly hampers damage output; however, this is may not be necessary.
 * Debuff runes (on normal spellbook); Vulnerability to increase damage against Telos by 10%; Enfeeble to decrease Telos damage by 10% (optional)
 * Debuff weapons:
 * Guthix staff (magic) - only to use its special attack, as it is the only way for magic users to decrease a target's defence and affinity.
 * Statius's warhammer (melee/magic) - only for its special attack. Quake can be used by 2h users as a far cheaper alternative, albeit at a greatly reduced defence reduction rate (30% from Statius's warhammer compared to the 5% of Quake). It is also extremely expensive, and should only be used on high enrage kills. Magers can bring an armour switch to increase the accuracy of the special attack.
 * If using melee/ranged, runes for Disruption Shield if on the Lunar spellbook.
 * Runes for Shield Dome if on the Ancient spellbook
 * Weapon poison - Telos is not immune to poison which can help whittle down his health and those of the golems. Weapon poison can damage Telos while he is charging the instant kill attack.
 * Enhanced Excalibur - A good source of healing. It is suggested to save it for onslaught either in phases 3 or 5.
 * Mechanised chinchompas if ranging - Save these for golems on phases 4 and 5.
 * Portent of item protection and Portent of life

Enrage
When Telos is fought for the first time, he will have 0% enrage and 400,000 life points (4 phases of 100,000 life points each). Unlike the fight with Araxxor and Araxxi, Telos's rage does not necessarily increase after each kill. Upon defeating Telos and getting potential rewards, the player has the option to either claim their reward immediately (which resets the killstreak and enrage) or continue the challenge. If the player continues without claiming their rewards, Telos' enrage will increase anywhere from 5% to 20% after each kill (an average of 12.5%).

When starting a new killstreak, players can customise Telos's enrage, anywhere from 0 to their current highest enrage. There are also pre-set enrage fights at 0%, 50%, 100%, 150%, 200%, 250%, and 300%. A final option is available for players to fight Telos at their current highest enrage + 5%.

Every 1% of enrage will affect the fight by a slight amount. While not much of an issue on low enrages, the changes will become more noticeable on higher enrage.

At these enrages, Telos' gets new/modified mechanics:

Attacks
Telos has several abilities of his own during the fight. These are attacks he uses the whole phase; refer to individual phase sections for abilities that only occur during that phase. There is a gap of three auto-attacks before he uses an ability. Remember that his enrage will affect the damage he deals with his attacks.

Regardless of phase, if Telos cannot attack the player for a prolonged period of time, he will send rocks falling down on the player's position until he can attack them (see phase 5 section for information on this attack).


 * Swipe (melee auto-attack) - Telos uses his blade arm to damage the player with melee.
 * Magical Discharge (magic auto-attack) - If unable to attack with melee, Telos discharges a small ball of anima to attack the player.
 * Siphoning Tendrils (grip) - "Your anima will return to the source!" - Telos slams his tendril arm down into the platform, causing tendrils to choke the player. While being choked, Telos will heal himself and damage the player, in addition to draining their adrenaline by 5% every tick. To break free, deal a set amount of damage (a game box will appear stating how much damage is required). He will let go in 15 seconds if the player fails to deal enough damage. During this animation, he will slowly gain some anima to fill his special bar.
 * Telos heals himself based on this formula (1,500 + 5 * enrage) and the required damage to break free is based on this formula (3,000 + 10 * enrage)
 * Telos will take into consideration of the range of the player's weapon. If the player is out of the maximum range of their main-hand weapon, he will drag them next to him.
 * Energy Sword (uppercut) - "Gielinor, give me strength!" Telos charges himself up for an attack on the player. When fully charged, he dashes towards the player while swinging his blade arm for moderate damage. This drains some of his anima from the special bar.
 * This attack can be avoided by using Surge, Escape, Barge, or Bladed Dive.. Remember that you must be at least 3 spaces away from your initial position when using either ability, or you will still be hit by the attack.
 * Resonance can nullify this attack's damage, though it is not recommended to do so as the stun attack comes up next. Resonance will not heal the player for any damage it would have dealt either.
 * Double Tap (stun) - "Hold still, invader." Telos flails his tendril arm at the player before smashing it down on them for heavy melee damage. After doing this, he will proceed to stomp at the player's position for even heavier typeless damage. The heavy melee hit stuns the player, while the stomp attack will disable any overhead protection prayers/curses if the player gets hit by it.
 * Use Freedom or Anticipation before this attack, followed by Resonance for a heavy heal. Telos will perform one auto-attack during the flailing animation, so make sure Resonance is timed right to avoid getting damaged from the heavy melee attack. Move out of the way after the heal to avoid getting stomped on.
 * "SO. MUCH. POWER!" (high damage) - Used during phases 1 and 4 if the special bar is filled. Telos launches a large ball of anima towards the player, dealing damage based on this formula (5,555 + 111.1 * floor (enrage/10)). Like the stun attack, Telos performs one auto-attack during this animation.
 * Use Resonance, Reflect, Debilitate, Barricade or Immortality (if your health is low enough for the bomb to "kill" you) to reduce/block damage from this attack. Resonance will not heal the player for any damage it would have dealt.

Phase 1
Green stream - Standing in this stream will give you a rapid adrenaline increase (in intervals of 10% adrenaline per tick, which is doubled if Natural Instinct is active) but you will also lose prayer points at the same time. If Telos stands in the stream, his special bar fills quicker. This stream will always spawn aiming at Telos.
 * On encounters of 1000% enrage or more, the green stream will drain prayer points at an increased rate.

Telos starts the fight with four auto-attacks. After that he uses the attacks in the following rotation unless interrupted by the anima bomb special attack:
 * 3 auto-attacks
 * Grip
 * 3 auto-attacks
 * Uppercut
 * 3 auto-attacks
 * Stun
 * Repeats

Telos will always start off with the grip attack as his first special attack.

The first green stream does not appear immediately; rather, it will appear occasionally before disappearing again. The first green stream will roughly appear sometime during the uppercut attack. Whenever it is present, stun Telos to ensure that he will not chase you off the stream (especially if you need to run under him). Ensure that Telos is out of the green beam to prevent a So Much Power attack. Use Natural Instinct to double adrenaline gain, followed by Sunshine and use as much abilities as possible.

Try to ensure that Telos ends with his grip attack, so he starts off with his magic onslaught as his first special attack instead.

Phase 2
Black stream - Standing in this stream will cause you to take less damage, but deal less damage. If Telos stands in the stream, his special bar fills quicker. This stream will always spawn aiming at Telos.
 * Magic barrage - Telos pauses and discharges anima energy onto the player. He starts off with pale yellow projectiles, but the longer he performs this attack, they will gradually change to moderately damaging orange and eventually ending at highly damaging red projectiles. During this time, Telos' attacks have 100% accuracy, but with sufficient armour rating, it is possible for the first hit to miss; if this happens, a second, unavoidable hit will be inflicted, which deals 50% less damage. While the stun icon can appear when stunning Telos during the onslaught, he is stun-immune for its whole duration.
 * This attack is linked to his special bar; if it is completely empty, he will only discharge one weak projectile before resuming his attack pattern.

Telos's first attacks in this phase are determined how the phase 1 ended:
 * If the last special attack in phase 1 was grip, the next special will be magic barrage after there have been a total of 3 auto-attacks between the two specials.
 * If the last special attack in phase 1 was uppercut, the next special will be the stun attack after there have been a total of 3 auto-attacks between the two specials.
 * If the last special attack in phase 1 was stun, the next special will be tendrils after there have been a total of 3 auto-attacks between the two specials. The auto-attack before the stun counts as a standard auto-attack in the attack pattern.

After the first special attack, Telos resumes the following rotation starting from the line after the first special attack:
 * 3 auto-attacks
 * Magic barrage
 * 3 auto-attacks
 * Stun
 * 3 auto-attacks
 * Black Virus (if over 50% enrage)
 * 3 auto-attacks
 * Uppercut
 * 3 auto-attacks
 * Grip
 * Repeats

Like in phase 1, Telos will focus on using melee attacks and cycle through his moveset. On low enrages, it does not matter if Telos is standing on the black stream, as proper cycling will ensure that he will be unable to discharge his whole bar before phasing. On higher enrages, you'll want to move Telos out of these streams as his onslaught can deal significant amounts of damage, especially with the red projectiles. If the bar is filled halfway, a single Debilitate or Reflect should be sufficient to block most of the damage. If it's filled completely, you'll need to add Devotion or Barricade to reduce the damage of the red projectiles. Resonance can be used on a red projectile for a heavy heal, but Preparation will be needed so it will be ready for the stun attack.

Black streams will continually appear one at a time, when the previous stream has been exhausted.

Try to ensure that Telos is phased during his magical onslaught, as it will give extra time for Onslaught in the next phase. Avoid ending on his grip attack, as it will force players to end Onslaught early to prepare for the stun attack.

Phase 3
Red stream - Standing in this stream will cause you to take 30% more damage while dealing 30% more damage, and prevent Telos from absorbing the anima to power himself. If Telos stands in the stream, his special bar moves to the right and his attacks deal 30% more damage.
 * Unlike the previous two streams, the red stream appears around the locations of the anima-golem's spawn spot.
 * Shockwave - If Telos's special bar reaches the red area on the right, he will unleash a powerful shockwave dealing 2,000 damage (more on higher enrage). He only uses the shockwave in conjunction with his special attacks. When using his uppercut or stun attack, he will only release one shockwave. However, when he inflicts the virus, he will rapidly release up to three shockwaves.
 * Anima-golems - Three anima-golems will appear one at a time, giving him anima to move his bar to the right. The first golem appears in the south-east corner, the second in the north middle section, and the third in the south-west corner. They will simply collapse on the ground upon reaching 0 life points; a bar will appear over their heads while they are disabled. When this bar fills, they will rise back up and resume their duties again. The health of the golems begins at 1,000 and scales with enrage (1,000 + enrage * 2.5).
 * Charge - If Telos's special bar reaches the red area on the left, he will start draining the player's adrenaline and prayer. The adrenaline drain begins at 10% per "charge", but this will begin to increase after 400%. Even though a game message says that Telos charges himself, the bar does not move towards the right.

The third phase starts 7 auto-attacks followed by the following special attack:
 * If the last special attack was the magical onslaught, stun, or black virus, the first one will be the red virus. While the virus will not appear in encounters of 49% or lower enrage, Telos will still attempt to use it, though nothing will happen.
 * If the last special attack was uppercut, the first one will be another uppercut attack.
 * If the last special attack was the grip attack, the first one will be the stun attack.

After the first special attack Telos uses the following attack rotation, starting from the line after the special attack he used first:
 * 3 magic auto-attacks
 * Uppercut
 * 3 magic auto-attacks
 * Stun
 * 3 magic auto-attacks
 * Red Virus (if over 50% enrage)
 * Repeats

This is the phase where you must do as much damage as possible quickly, since this phase can deplete a lot of food and prayer if it is done improperly on high enrage. Throughout this phase, Telos' bar moves to the left when he attacks the player with magic.

Stand in the red beam and use Onslaught, Sunshine or Berserk to deal large amounts of damage quickly. While Sunshine/Berserk can be used on low enrages, Onslaught is recommended on higher enrages as speed is crucial to this phase. Sunshine has the disadvantage of being confined to one area and having your attacks miss, in addition to Telos inconveniently draining your adrenaline if his meter shifts to the red section on the left.

In encounters of 49% or lower enrage, Telos will not use his virus attack. It will still be part of his attack pattern; in these cases, Telos will pause for several seconds. It will be taken into consideration for the first special attack on phase 4.

Switch to Protect from Magic or Deflect Magic as Telos will only use magic attacks during this phase. However, he is still able to use his stun attack, which deals melee damage. Deal with it the same way you would on the other phases; do not switch overhead prayers unless planning to Devotion it.

As Telos' enrage increases, the red sections on the bar gradually increase. By the time a kill is attempted on 300%+, the red sections on the bar will leave a very slim amount of empty space (where Telos doesn't react with adrenaline/pray drain or shockwaves).

The anima-golems can be ignored if one is active on low enrages. On high enrage, you should kill two of the golems, since the red bars on both sides will increase and stunning Telos when being fed anima by three golems can quickly move his bar to the right. AoE can hit the golems, but because it requires Telos to be in a specific area so it can hit them, it is better to manually target the golems instead, while ensuring that Telos isn't being hit by the red anima stream.

Continue to avoid Telos's attacks; if Telos manages to use his shockwaves (the chances of which increase greatly as his enrage rises), immediately use some form of damage reduction such as Reflect, Debilitate or Barricade, especially on higher enrages and if the meter is completely shifted to the right, as you can take a lot of damage in a short time. If allowed, Telos will release most of his shockwaves whenever he does his virus attack, so try to save some form of damage reduction then to mitigate as much damage as possible. Lure Telos out of the red beams, and disable all of the anima-golems until the meter reaches the empty space or left side of the bar.

Phase 4
In this phase, there are three anima fonts scattered around the edges of the arena; a Pure, Volcanic and Corrupt Anima Font. The phase starts with the player jumping next to the Pure Anima Font found at the north-western side of the arena, with Telos dropping down shortly afterwards.

The fourth phase starts with 3 auto-attacks followed by the following special attack:
 * If the last special attack was the uppercut attack, the first one will be another uppercut attack.
 * If the last special attack was the stun attack, the first one will be the weak anima bomb attack.
 * If the last special attack was red virus, the first special attack on phase 4 will be the stun attack.
 * In encounters of 49% or lower enrage, the red virus will still count as if it was there despite Telos never using it. This only applies if Telos was moved to the next phase on the forth to sixth attacks after the stun attack on phase 3.

Telos can use the "SO. MUCH. POWER!" attack on this phase when the bar is full. Battles of 1000% and higher enrage will also cause rocks to fall during this phase.

After the first special attack Telos uses the following attack rotation during this phase, starting from the line after the first special attack. This rotation can be interrupted by the anima bomb seen in phase 1, after which the rotation resumes. Telos is capable of performing melee and magic attacks in this phase. He will melee if the player is close enough to him; otherwise, he will attack from afar with magic.


 * 3 auto-attacks
 * Uppercut
 * 3 auto-attacks
 * Weak anima bomb
 * 3 auto-attacks
 * Stun
 * Repeats

In addition to this, Telos has several new attacks at his disposal during this phase:


 * Preparation - Telos stops and heads towards the anima font to drain it of energy to send an instant-kill bomb at the player. A bar will appear over his head while he drains the font's anima. This is separate from the special bar on phase 4, which is also filling at the same time he does this. To protect yourself, a shield must be generated from the font. He will also summon one pure, volcanic and Corrupt anima-golem to attack the player. While is it not necessary to kill them, it is still recommended to do so as they can be a nuisance if left alone. The golems have health based on this formula (8,000 + 20 * enrage).
 * Pure anima-golems deal increased damage the longer they linger on the field. Are coloured green.
 * Volcanic anima-golems can stun and bind the player for 3 seconds. Are coloured red.
 * Corrupt anima-golems can inflict the "Armour Break" debuff ([[File:Armour Break status icon.png]]) in stacks of 5%. Every 1% reduces your armour's defensive rating by 1%. This can stack up to 100%. Stacks are removed at 5% at a time. Are coloured black-grey.
 * Telos starts at the pure anima font at 75% life points, then the volcanic at 50%, and finally the corrupted at 25%. Depending on his location, he will either walk or jump to the font.
 * The font has health based on this formula (5,000 + 100 * floor (enrage/10)), capping at 10,000 at 500% enrage. Standing near the font will rip off 20% of its health and damage the player for the same amount of damage the font is taking. This damage can be reduced/blocked. At the last 20%, it will deal base damage, meaning that any damage reducing/adding effects are ignored unless using Barricade. When drained by the player, a shield is generated to protect the player from the instant-kill bomb. Telos will state "You dare defy me?" when the shield is generated.
 * After finishing this attack, Telos resumes at where he left off on his normal attack pattern - take note of when he is phased to this attack, as the bomb resets defensive abilities.
 * "Let the anima consume you!" (weak anima bomb) - Telos sends a weak anima bomb at the player, dealing up to 2,500 damage (increasing with enrage, max damage is 2,500 + 10 * enrage). This will also inflict a damage over time effect that deals up to 275 damage (which also increases with enrage) and will drain overload timers by 15 seconds every time it deals damage. If no overload is in effect, it will rapidly drain combat stats by 2 every tick instead. This DoT is not affected by damage reducing defensives except for Barricade. Standing near a font (does not matter if it is active or disabled) cleanses this effect. The bomb's damage can be blocked/reduced.

Like phase 3, damage needs to be done quickly, but carefully. Due to the random fluctuations in Telos' health until 200% enrage (where each set of golems will spawn after Telos loses 37,500 health), a calculator is highly recommended for medium enrage (101%-199%) to determine the health required to trigger the golems' appearance.

Debuff Telos on the start of this phase and continue to damage him until the first set of golems arrive, taking note of where he is on his attack pattern. This is due to the fact that after the instant-kill bomb, Telos will resume his attack pattern on where he left off, and the lack of defensives due to the bomb can be problematic on higher enrage.

To deal with the golems, lure them to the font Telos is draining. Equip your wand and defender, since it is not recommended to fully tank the font's damage. Use Anticipation to reduce some damage and prevent the volcanic golem from stunning you. Add Reflect to lower the font's damage by half, followed by Revenge as stacks will quickly accumulate due to multiple sources of damage. In most cases, the golems can be quickly cleared with Dragon Breath, Corruption Blast and Chain, though Detonate and Tsunami may need to be used as Telos' enrage increases. The volcanic golem should always be targeted first, followed by the corrupted and finally pure golems.

If the golems are killed early and Telos is in range, target (and apply debuffs if needed) him and deploy a dreadnip. If he is out of range, simply stay put. '''Do not leave the shield radius either until the message "You survived the anima bomb!" appears, or the instant-kill bomb will kill you.''' Oftentimes impatient players can get signed or killed from the bomb because of a misclick or trying to target him when he is out of range.

After the first instant-kill bomb, bring Telos over to the volcanic font. Before phasing the second set of golems, wait for Telos to perform a special attack first. Deal with the second set of golems and instant-kill bomb the same way. If phasing this set of golems after the stun attack, use Preparation to quickly bring back Resonance.

After the second instant-kill bomb, stun Telos (ensure he's broken out of a stun at 150% or higher enrage, so the longer stuns do not get canceled out). By waiting for a special attack before phasing the golems, he will have to perform three more auto-attacks before throwing out his high-damage bomb, which will be stalled further with stuns. Resonance should be ready by the time he deploys it. If golems are still lingering around, either use Barricade or if on the Ancient Spellbook, freeze them and move out of their range so only Telos can attack you. The Lunar spell Disruption Shield is also an option if players are meleeing or ranging. Be sure to time it carefully if golems are still alive to prevent one of them sniping it.

The third set of golems and instant-kill bomb are dealt with the same way as the other two sets. Any remaining golems that are not killed will disappear when Telos reaches 0 health.

Upon reaching 0 health, a cutscene will ensue where Telos will fall into the large pool of anima. In encounters of 99% and lower enrage, this ends the kill. On encounters of 100% and higher enrage, he will suddenly rise from the pool, beginning phase 5 (see below).

Phase 5
This phase only occurs in encounters of 100% and higher enrage. Telos' starting health on this phase is 100,000. Every 1% enrage after 100% will add 500 life points rather than the typical 1,000. His health will cap at 200,000 at 300% enrage. During this phase, he only attacks with magic. The streams from the first three phases will also appear here, all at the same time.

Telos also discards all of his special attacks from the previous phase for the following:
 * Preparation - Telos will summon a single set of anima-golems (6 golems in each set, always the same type). These golems function the same as in phase 4. The formula for their health is (4,500 + 22.5 * (enrage - 100)). Four golems are required to power up the destroyed fonts, which are used to protect against the instant-kill bomb attack. Extra golems killed at the font will carry over to the next cycle if the font is not at 100%. Telos cannot perform back to back summons of the same type unless all other options have been exhausted. Basically, if he summoned volcanic golems as his first set, he must summon corrupted and pure before being able to resummon volcanic golems. If all six golems of a wave are still alive after Telos uses his instantkill attack, no new golems will spawn, and a different font will be needed to charge the fonts required to stop the instantkill attack.
 * Rockfall - Throughout the duration of this phase, a small rock will fall from the ceiling. This indicates a single, larger pile of rock will fall in that area in a 3x3 or 5x5 radius for heavy damage. This can be avoided by running out of that area. Damage can be reduced/blocked with the respective defensive abilities.
 * In encounters of 1000% and higher enrage, up to five piles of rocks will fall at a time.

Soon as the phase starts, ensure you have dual wield magic for ease of debuffs and auto-attacks. If on the normal spellbook, cast Vulnerability on him. If on the ancient spellbook, tag Telos with an ability instead.

In encounters of 150% and higher enrage, Telos will automatically break free of stuns/binds on the start of the phase (this also applies a 6 second stun immunity in encounters of 250% and higher enrage).

The most optimal method for the golems on low enrage is to run towards the green stream, and sunshine immediately. Stun Telos and use the Asphyxiate ability until your adrenaline bar reaches full. Cast Tsunami upon the minions, which should kill all of them, and proceed to finish off Telos. Alternatively, Natural Instinct can be used to double adrenaline gain. Prioritize Detonate and Tsunami on the golems.

On higher enrages, a shield will be required, as damage against you will increase greatly. For these cases, you should be on the Ancient Spellbook with Blood Barrage as your auto-cast spell. (Do NOT use Ice Barrage as your auto-cast spell because they can cause minions to be lured improperly). Upon reaching the green stream and casting Natural Instinct, use Reflect and Revenge to accumulate stacks and increase damage. Use Sunshine, then cast Dragon Breath or Corruption shot. Use the Barricade or Reflect and then channel Detonate and Tsunami to kill most of the golems. Stragglers should be bound with Ice Barrage. When Telos inflicts the virus, immediately use the correct stream clear it. On high enrages, Barricade will help block most of the damage while you make your way to clear it. Any remaining golems after clearing the virus should be killed before focusing on Telos.

If he gives you a green virus, simply stay still as it automatically clears. If he gives you a black or red virus, locate its respective stream and rush over to it. Surge helps you reach the respective stream faster. If the beam is placed diagonally from the green stream, position yourself facing the stream so that when you Surge, you will be immediately on or near that stream. Otherwise, just Surge normally to the respective stream. Wait for the beams to change. After changing, rush over to the green stream and perform Onslaught while deploying dreadnips. You will recover more than enough adrenaline, so just watch for both your health and falling rocks. On low enrages, the rockfall can be ignored. It is safe to tank a single rock at low enrage, but it is best to start avoiding them after 225% enrage because of Telos' increasingly damaging attacks. In low enrages, Telos can be killed before he is able to perform an instant-kill bomb.

At 250% and higher enrage, there will be less time to damage Telos due to the increased health of the golems (and his occasional stun-immunity). This means that he will most likely be able to perform one instant-kill bomb (always on very high enrage). Stay on the green stream and gain adrenaline to use Immortality, then continue standing on it to gain more adrenaline. Ensure that you do not get crushed by falling rocks (or killed by the golems if they're still lingering), as it will consume Immortality and leave you open for the instant-kill bomb. Telos gains heavy damage reduction while using the bomb, so spend this time preparing for the next set of golems.

Be wary of falling rocks! Sometimes if the timing is poor, a rock will fall after Immortality's invulnerability effect, which can possibly kill the player on higher enrage.

After the bomb, damage Telos (stun him too) and finish him off if his health is low enough. If his health is rather high, you can either kill the golems. Either kill them off normally, lure them to the font (if you feel your damage output is lacking). On higher enrages, killing them is not an option, so pile the golems into a line and cast Ice Barrage on the lead golem before running across the pit Telos is on. This will ensure a brief moment to refreeze the golem once it breaks free of the bind. Regardless of how you deal with the golems, continue damaging Telos until he dies. Unless using Achto (and it's set effect going off), it is impossible to perform Immortality to deal with back-to-back instant-kill bombs, even if stunning him.

On encounters of 1000% and higher enrage, you'll have to kill the golems at their fonts - Telos' instant-kill bomb will negate Immortality's effects. A sign/portent of life/death can still be used if it is not on cooldown.

'''Make sure you have sufficient health when Telos dies, as a cutscene will not play. Golems will remain alive for a few seconds and can still attack and potentially kill you while he dies. While this does not make you lose your loot or killstreak, it is best to stay away from them to avoid unnecessary signing.'''