Nomad (monster)


 * This article is about the Quest Boss, for the music track, see Nomad (music track), for the NPC, see Nomad.

''NOTE: This article contains spoilers for those who have not completed Nomad's Requiem. If you have not done the quest, and do not want the quest to be spoiled, do not read further.''

Nomad is an immensely powerful being with a combat level of 699 and 10,000 life points. He is the most difficult quest monster to date and is fought during the quest Nomad's Requiem. Vengeance cannot be used to recoil huge amounts of damage back to Nomad. Also, prayers cannot be used to protect against Nomad's attacks (although Protect from Melee or Deflect Melee will partially block out the rapid melee attacks that Nomad uses when he falls to 1/4 of his health). Also, no damage can be recoiled through the use of Deflect curses. Additionally, the dragonfire attack from the Dragonfire shield, a Ring of recoil, the special attack from Dragon Bolts (e), Chinchompas and all types of poison have no effect against him.

Arsenal
Nomad has an arsenal of many attack styles. The order of Nomad's special attacks is as follows:


 * 1) Landmine - A formation of "Flame Vortex" 'mines' will drop around the player. (damage avoidable)
 * 2) Soul Blast - Nomad charges the 750-damage attack (damage avoidable)
 * 3) Mirror Image - Nomad creates 3 illusions of himself (damage from clones avoidable)
 * 4) Disintegrate - Nomad teleports the player to the centre and freezes them for 15 seconds - followed by an attack which deals the player's maximum life points minus one (damage not avoidable) (Note: Damage soaking DOES affect the damage of this attack if you have equipped an item that soaks magic damage.)
 * 5) Enrage - When reduced to 25% health for the second time, Nomad will attack inaccurately with the speed of throwing darts in rapid mode and run at the speed of the player. This attack only hits within melee range, making it possible to use the pillars to safespot by shooting him 2-3 times, then stepping up to him to get hit by his attack once, then stepping back and repeating this cycle. 

Between these special attacks, Nomad uses Magic, which hits up to 314 life points. This is the standard attack that players will face most of the time. It is unblockable by prayers, as the hitsplats show it is not magic, but another kind of damage that is not visible (another example being desert heat).


 * The flame vortices that are laid around the fight area deal 400 life points and drain the player's run energy to zero when stepped on. If you are next to one of these mines when they disappear, they can hit for 400-700 life points, these can be avoided by going diagonal, or south, as there is always a clearing. Recommended to use the south method to get out quickly as there is a relatively short time gap between this and the 750 attack. If you run from Nomad through the opening you must have Auto retaliate OFF - otherwise the first Nomad's plain Magic attack will take you back to him whilst stepping on the mines.


 * The 750-damage attack is evadable. Before Nomad launches the 750-damage attack, he will call out and then wait a few seconds. This gives the player time to find a safe spot behind a pillar to evade the attack. Note that the attack still shoots out at you, but hits the pillar instead.


 * The 3 illusions that Nomad creates of himself will all attack the player at once, constantly hitting 40 or 50 life points. The player has to pick out the real Nomad by attacking them. This is easily spotted as the real Nomad always attacks last. If the player hits an illusion, he disappears. If the player hits the real Nomad, all illusions disappear and he proceeds to attack you again normally. This attack CAN be avoided entirely by hiding behind a pillar. His clones will disappear after about 30 seconds and he'll come for you again. It is highly recommended that the player hide from the clones as it will give the player a chance to catch their breath, heal, refocus, and prevent the damage (~50 from each 4 Nomads per shot) the player may sustain while trying to find the real Nomad. Players can use their Familiar to attack the clones, but it's highly recommended not to do so if you carry supplies or important items in them.


 * The most dangerous attack is the one which will hit the player for an amount of damage equal to their maximum life points minus one. This attack does not reduce lifepoints to one, it hits for your maximum lifepoints minus one. Before launching this attack, Nomad teleports the player a few squares away from him. He then casts a spell similar to Ice Barrage, freezing the player, but not damaging them. After freezing the player, Nomad stores energy in his hand for a few seconds before unleashing his attack, which looks like a series of long turquoise ribbons. The player should use this delay to restore their life points to above-full, otherwise they may die when Nomad uses the attack. Players using range should not use ruby (e) bolts now as the special effect could lower them below their max life points, resulting in an almost certain death. It is recommended during this time to instead boost life points with a Saradomin brew, and attack with diamond bolts (e) instead. Players should note that that if wearing magic-damage soaking armour, that will effect the end damage taken from this attack, and so it is not particularly deathly if the Player is wearing range armour, has lifepoints boosted, and doesn't use/trigger the Ruby bolt (e)'s special.

Strategy for Defeating Nomad
''Nomad is very difficult to defeat. It is likely that the player will die multiple times. If the player dies, they shouldn't be disheartened, but learn from their mistakes and retry. '''Having very high (85+) stats in all combat disciplines is advised. 'It is possible to beat Nomad at lower levels, but some tricks must be used. It is recommended that the player fills their inventory with Saradomin brews and super restore potions at a 3:1 ratio. Players aren't recommended to bring combat boosting potions if using brews and restores, as they will quickly become lowered through brew drinking. This is to ensure that the player's combat skills remain sufficiently high to damage Nomad. If the player brings a summoning familiar with them that carries combat supplies, they should quickly drop all the empty vials in their inventory during the points of the battle where they are frozen or hiding behind a pillar in order to have space to withdraw more supplies from their beast of burden. Rocktails can be used instead of Saradomin brews at very high levels (130+), allowing you to bring combat-boosting potions whilst also hitting more frequently as each consumption heals more thus allowing you to heal a little less frequently. At fairly high levels, 120+, regular restore potions can also be used in place of super restores to save money. However, if you choose to use this method, make sure you take at least 1 or 2 prayer potions to restore prayer as needed throughout the battle. It is essential that the food brought as the substitute are Rocktails, as you need to boost above your maximum life points, so as to survive Nomad's Disintegrate attack. A reward token from the Gnome Delivery activity can also be used for a few extra life points (by way of a few pieces of delivered Gnome food).

Nomad's normal attacks are magical melee. This means that high magic defence armour is best. Dragonhide armour is recommended, as using Barrow's high-magic-defence armour such as Karil's can be expensive due to the player's likely frequent deaths. Although, if the player keeps Karil's armour on death, it will not break because it's in the inventory all the time (do note that if ranging, to also keep Ava's Alerter/Ava's Accumulator on death, or buy several from her before hand, since it is destroyed when dropped). However, some players have seen that no matter how high the defensive bonuses, Nomad still hits with incredible accuracy. Therefore, a better strategy could be to maximize offensive bonuses, in which full elite void would be one of the best ways to go. If you have the deflector and are ranging, you can replace the top with something that increases accuracy, such as the Pernix body, Armadyl chestplate, or the Black d'hide body.

Ruby bolts (e) are very useful against Nomad, because the special can hit vast amounts of damage in one hit. When Nomad is at lower health the special will be less effective and diamond bolts (e) should be used, whose special can ignore opponents ranged defence. But even at 1/2 hp, the ruby bolts (e) special attack still hits the full 750 hp, so these are recommended until your max hit with diamond bolts (e) is greater than that of the special of ruby bolts (e). Beside this, the specials from dragon claws, dragon dagger (p++) or dragon halberd can be used. It is reported that Nomad is weakest against stab attacks (so using a chaotic rapier or chaotic longsword is the recommended weapons of choice for melee). It is not recommended to use Magic, due to his high magic defence and your low melee defence. It is extremely helpful for rangers to use the Eagle eye or Rigour prayer if they find themselves not hitting Nomad as often. Or, if the player is on curses, Leech Defence + Leech Ranged will also work. This will make the specials more likely to activate as well.

When Nomad performs his Soul Blast (750-damage) attack, exclaiming "you cannot hide from my wrath!", the player can avoid taking damage by hiding behind a pillar. Players should be careful, however; Nomad can occasionally hit around the corner of the pillar closer to him (ie. If Nomad is south of the player and the player stands on the southern square behind the pillar). For this reason it is advised that players stand as far away from Nomad as possible while still being "behind" the pillar. The player should be careful not to step on the flame vortices since it reduces their run energy to zero, and also deals 400 damage. One method that helps is to move out of the circle of mines and use ranged on Nomad from his side, giving the player more time to avoid the 750-damage attack as Nomad charges up for it.

When Nomad creates illusions of himself, the player may stand behind the pillars in the room, completely avoiding all attacks. They will disappear after one minute. If Auto retaliate is turned on, the player's character used to attack the real Nomad automatically but this has been fixed and they all attack at the same time now. It is possible to see which of the illusions are fake. The first 3 to attack are fake; the last one is Nomad. A player can also use rune thrown axes' special ability to quickly find the real Nomad at the expense of the special attack bar drained.

When the player is frozen just before the Disintegrate attack, the player must be sure to be at or well above their maximum life points. However, they should not drink a super restore potion, as the player needs to use Saradomin brews again after the attack. This makes better use of their super restore potions. The player can use ranged to attack Nomad when he freezes the player, and familiars can still attack Nomad during that period. However, be careful if using enchanted ruby bolts, as their special effect (which drains 10% of the player's current life points) may go off just before Nomad's lightning attack. This could cause the player to die, unless their hitpoints are boosted to 15% above maximum with the use of Saradomin brews, although this is very dangerous. Since it takes pretty long for Nomad to charge the attack, they can get several free hits if using Ranged or Magic. It is recommended to use Diamond bolts (e) if attacking while Nomad charges the Disintegrate special. After launching his lightning attack Nomad will stop attacking the player again for a few seconds. This gives enough time for the player to restore their life points and restock their food and potions from their summoning familiar, if they brought one.

A very effective way of preserving food is to activate the redemption prayer while he is charging his attack so when it hits you, you will be restored some health, requiring you to drink less Saradomin brews, as it counts as being reduced to less than 10% of your maximum. In order to maximize the effectiveness of this method, however, is to try to keep low prayer points while nomad charges his disintegrate attack. That way less prayer points will be wasted, as the redemption prayer reduces prayer points to zero after activation.

If the player is hiding behind a pillar, Nomad will run to the other side of the pillar. Doing so may allow a hit and run method, attacking Nomad once, then running behind a pillar again, thus equalizing his attack rate with the player's if theirs is slower. If using the hit and run method, one should stand behind a pillar, always letting Nomad hit them once every time he says "Face me!". The player should stand on a square south of Nomad, behind a pillar. They should run back behind the pillar when their character attacks. Doing this will give the player time to consume up to four potion doses when hiding behind the pillar. The hit and run method works no matter what side of the combat triangle the player is using, but melee requires slightly faster clicking reflexes because the player has to walk up right next to Nomad. If Nomad is ever unable to attack for more than five seconds, he will teleport back to the centre, shouting "Coward!" and completely restoring his life points. 5 seconds goes by a lot quicker than it seems in the heat of battle. BE PREPARED TO LET NOMAD HIT YOU. One of the most frustrating things that can happen when using this method is being a bit slow on the draw to attack nomad, forcing you to start the ENTIRE trip over again. This should be avoided at all costs.

When Nomad has 1/4 (2,500 LP) of his health left, he will heal himself to half health (5000 LP) and continue the fight. He will only do this once, and there is no way to stop it.

When Nomad has only 1/4 (2,500 life points) of his health left for a second time, he stops using his special attacks and begins attacking very fast but inaccurately with melee, at the speed of throwing knives (rapid stance). Protect from Melee and Deflect Melee seem to slightly reduce damage from this attack. If using a safe spot, one should stand next to a pillar, one step away from Nomad. Then the player should walk up to Nomad and hit him once, then immediately step back one square. By doing this, the player can fire one crossbow shot for every hit Nomad does, without resetting Nomad's health. It is recommended to switch from Ruby Bolts (e) to Diamond Bolts (e). During this portion of the fight it will be assumed that if ranging with a crossbow, you will have a Spirit kyatt and it will do most the damage with its special attack, for between Nomad's rapid attacks and the crossbows relatively slow attack speed, you will be replenishing your health often and not have many opportunities to hit him. If meleeing nomad, however, WATCH YOUR HP CAREFULLY. Despite his "inaccurate" attack at this point of the fight, the sheer speed at which his attacks come will deplete lifepoints at a very fast rate. If you're low on food (as in only 1 or 2 brews remaining), do not attempt to melee him unless you are of very high combat stats (85-90+) and using piety or turmoil.

The recommended method to kill Nomad for most players with 80's combats stats, is to wear range boosting armour, use a rune crossbow with Ruby Bolts (e) and Diamond Bolts (e), and have the summoning level for a War tortoise beast of Burden (67), or at least for a Spirit kyatt (57) (and use the Spirit terrorbird as your Beast of Burden, and also have 80 Ambush scrolls (stored in an archer helm or Armadyl helmet. The fight consists of ranging with the enchanted bolts (alternating as recommended in his different attacks), and switching your familiar to the kyatt once it is empty, and then spam the familiar special move button (Recommended to have familiar quick button switched to special move) whenever possible.

Along with this method, are some available tips with which you can gain a bit more advantage within the fight, giving mid-range players better chance at success in defeating nomad (note that some may also be more risky if not timed well).
 * Dismissing your beast of burden whilst it still has some potions stored in it, to summon your Spirit kyatt as early as possible, and collecting them within the 2 minutes they will stay on the ground for as you gradually use those in your inventory up.
 * For the berserk mode in the final leg of the fight, you can have a more Saradomin Brews favoured potion ratio, since Super Restores aren't needed to counter Saradomin Brew's effects because range would only be your secondary attack, and the special attack of the enchanted bolts can still be used regardless of Ranged level.
 * Bring a Bandos Godsword and use its special at the start of the battle, and again when you have emptied the beast of burden and summoned your kyatt; for, if you hit with the special, the lowering of his defence will allow you and your kyatt's attacks will be much more accurate throughout the fight. The special is likely to have recharged by the time Nomad starts using his rapid melee attack - using it again then will bring his defence down further, allowing you to finish him off swiftly before his highly dangerous melee attack kills you. Whilst it is recommended to drink stat boosting potions at the bank near his camp before the fight starts for that slight starting bonus, this is especially useful for this first special attack).
 * A cheaper and potentially more potent special attack buffer (with 100% guaranteed success), would be bringing a staff of light with you and using its special during Nomad's berserk-mode, for it will reduce any taken damage by 50%, allowing you to survive longer and let your kyatt get many more hits on him during the minute that it is active.
 * When nomad is berserk you may safe spot him for a few hits before going and taking one from him; but be careful for there is a timer with which if he doesn't attack you, he calls out 'coward' and returns to full health. Safe spotting can also be done with the kyatt. The few clicks that should be performed in order is: Click on the space next to Nomad, on the safespot space, on the food, and then on the special kyatt move. This means that you will not be attacking, only the kyatt will be.
 * Turning on the Rapid Restore and Rapid Heal prayers as well as whatever combat boosting and protection prayer you are using can provide a mild bonus; since you have to drink brews/restores so often, there is little danger of running out of prayer in the fight, or even going below half.

Having a Divine spirit shield or an Elysian spirit shield equipped significantly reduces the damage taken from Nomad's attacks. This can make the fight much easier and greatly reduce the risk of death, but is extremely expensive, cannot be borrowed, and has no effect against the 750-damage attack and the Disintegrate special.

NOTE: Do not forget that Nomad's lightning attack does not reduce your life points to one, it hits your maximum life points level minus one. As such, the attack will result in a guaranteed death if you are not at or above maximum life points. This also applies if you are wearing Torva, Pernix, or Virtus armour.

Ranged Setup
Here is the suggested equipment setup if you are using ranged only:


 * Void ranger helm / Pernix cowl / Armadyl helm / Full Slayer Helmet / Helm of neitiznot / Blessed dragonhide coif / Archer helm
 * Elite void knight top / Pernix body / Armadyl chestplate / Black d'hide body
 * Elite void knight robe / Pernix chaps / Armadyl chainskirt / Black d'hide chaps
 * Chaotic crossbow / Rune crossbow / Zaryte bow / Crystal bow / Hand cannon (WARNING: The Cannon may explode)
 * Void knight deflector / Divine spirit shield / Elysian spirit shield / God book / Dragonfire shield / Dragon sq shield
 * Ava's alerter / Ardougne cloak 3 / Ava's accumulator / Ava's attractor / Trimmed Skillcape / Fire cape
 * Ruby bolts (e) / Diamond bolts (e) / Broad-tipped bolts / Hand cannon shot
 * Barrows gloves / Regen bracelet / Black d'hide vambraces / Other Gloves obtained from Recipe for Disaster or Fist of Guthix
 * Ranger boots / Snakeskin boots / Dragon boots
 * Archers' ring (i) / Archers' ring / Explorer's ring

Note that the helm used should be picked on preferences of affordability, range bonus, and if you have the summoning level to enchant it and store ambush scrolls inside (summoning level 60 is the most that is required (for Armadyl Helm).

Using the Void Knight Ranged armour is highly recommended, especially if you have access to the Elite versions of each piece. The prayer bonus and the 10% bonus to both ranged accuracy and damage are extremely useful throughout the fight.

The suggested inventory will differ somewhat depending on your Summoning familiar.

If using a Beast of Burden
 * A summoning familiar filled with Saradomin brews (4)
 * 21 Saradomin brews in your inventory
 * 7-15 Super restores (4). (Start with 7 and add 1 for every 3 Saradomin Brews in your Beast of Burden. Remember, drink 1 dose of Super restore for every 3 doses of Saradomin Brew)

Make sure the Summoning icon in the top right of the interface is set to "Take BoB" upon left-click. As you finish potions, drop the vials and withdraw more by simply clicking the icon. When/if a kyatt is used, make sure to switch the left click option to the special attack, and withdraw any stored scrolls (can both be done with ease whilst hidden behind a pillar during his mirror image attack, or just per normal avoidance if quick enough).

Tips

 * Drink stat-boosting potions at the Soul Wars bank before the fight, then bank and re-pot. This can let you start off with a head start!
 * It's advised that the player uses the spring pools at Oo'glog if they have done As a First Resort... to boost their Prayer and life points.
 * If you need to leave, and you don't want to die, you can hide from Nomad and log out, teleporting back to Soul Wars.
 * Fighting Nomad is somewhat safe, if you die you will spawn near the Soul Wars bank next to your gravestone and you can collect your items immediately. Even the default shortest gravestone is quite adequate.
 * You will lose any items your familiar is carrying if you die. A war-tortoise and a full load of brews is worth, a significant amount of coins.
 * Fighting Nomad can be expensive if using Barrows equipment, as it will degrade to 0 upon death, unless it is one of your 3 most valuable items kept on death. However, if the player has run out of supplies, and know they are going to die, run behind a pillar and safe spot. When Nomad heals to full life points he will no longer be aggressive towards the player. Log out and log back in, you are now safe near the Soul Wars bank.
 * When fighting Nomad, it is recommended to use either ranged with Ruby bolts (e) and have auto-retaliate turned on (switch to Diamond bolts (e) when Nomad goes berserk), or use a high hitting melee weapon such as the Godsword; the Saradomin godsword's healing special effect is minimised by the large amounts of damage Nomad often inflicts.
 * A Bandos godsword can be useful since it can lower Nomad's defence significantly. If the player doesn't have one, Darklight is a good alternative to lower Nomad's defence. The best weapon to use to lower Nomad's defence would be using the special attacks of Statius's warhammer, but that weapon is very expensive to use and will always be destroyed upon death. If defeat is imminent, however, a way to avoid the warhammer being destroyed is to deliberately hide behind a pillar until Nomad teleports back to the centre and heals himself. When this happens, he will be non-aggressive, and you can leave the arena.
 * Nomad is classified as a large monster and will therefore take double damage from the Dragon Halberd special attack.
 * Since protection prayers only have partial effect, Soul Split is a great alternative for players with at least 92 Prayer, but may not be sufficient enough on its own. During Nomad´s berserk mode using protect from melee DOES help a little. Do not fear to experiment however, as magic protection prayers such as Protect from Magic or Deflect Magic might be able to absorb at least a small split of the damage done, which may save your life.
 * It is recommended to turn on Retribution Prayer or Wrath Curse if Nomad has about 100 LP or less left. If you both die at the same time then it still counts as though you had defeated him.
 * Leech Defence DOES work on Nomad, and is highly recommended if you have level 80 Prayer. The best prayers to use against Nomad would be Sap Mage, Leech Ranged, Leech Defence, Berserker, and Soul Split (requires level 92 Prayer), Wrath (level 89 Prayer) if you happen to die.
 * Since protection prayers DO NOT work it is useful to use boost prayers or leeching curses like Steel Skin or rigour.
 * There may be certain glitches to cause Nomad to shout "Face me!", even though he is within range with you (or alternatively, you may have triggered his berserk-melee mode and missed his chat-queue). If this happens, just run through him to allow him to attack you again, otherwise he will teleport back and heal to full lifepoints regardless of him being attacked.
 * If you're using Ranged against Nomad and have a familiar out, make sure the familiar is not standing between you and Nomad, otherwise Nomad might not reach you and he'll shout "Face Me!". Again, should that happen, move closer to him, so that he may hit you, before he teleports to the centre and resets the battle. This is especially important when he goes berserk.

Trivia

 * A bug existed that allowed Nomad to be killed without retaliating or using any of his special attacks by using a Spirit kyatt. This allowed many low levels that would not have been able to defeat Nomad normally to complete the quest. This has since been fixed.
 * Nomad's appearance may have been based upon Darth Malak, of the "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" game series.
 * Some medium-level Quest Cape owners were disappointed upon release, as Nomad is very difficult to beat even with high combat stats. This has sparked some debate among the forums. Although there has been some complaint, Jagex has mentioned that they will not weaken Nomad.
 * His name derives from the nomads, a community of people who move from one place to another rather than living in the same location.
 * On the 10 January 2010, Jagex issued a hint via their Twitter feed, "Next week in RuneScape: Why did Nomad get updated last week?!"
 * Before the graphical update in association with the quest Nomad's Requiem, he looked similar to an Elite dark mage.
 * Nomad has the highest maximum hit possible by a monster in the game at 1389, but only when fighting a player with 99 Constitution and wearing full Torva armour (This does not work with Pernix armour or Virtus armour as they soak up magic damage) and no magic damage soaking armour: one of his special attacks hits one less than the player's maximum life points. The maximum hit in Dungeoneering is 990, which is done by Yk'Lagor the Thunderous, if you don't avoid his "This is ... TRUE POWER" attack. Kal'Ger the Warmonger is also capable of hitting 990 once he gets out his Primal maul.
 * As of the Damage Soaking and Hitsplat update, the fight against Nomad has become easier. If you are wearing equipment which has magic absorb, you will find his more powerful attacks, such as the 750lp blast and Disintegrate attack no longer hit as hard, lowering the difficulty. This might be a glitch, however.
 * The Disintegrate attack used to be avoidable. After Nomad's clones had disappeared and he resumed normal attacks, the player would run south towards the exit door. As Nomad was launching his sixth attack, the player would attempt to exit through the door. The player would receive the message "And where do you think you are going?" and was teleported back to the centre of the arena. If this was done correctly, Nomad would say "Face me!" before launching more regular attacks. This restarted the cycle. This was fixed on December 20th of 2010.
 * In the Boss rematch V poll Nomad was chosen by the most number of players to face again.
 * Nomad is currently the second highest levelled monster that requires a right click to attack, behind only the TzTok-Jad and ahead of the Decaying avatar.