General Graardor/Strategies


 * The following lists several strategies and methods for fighting General Graardor and his minions. For the monster, see General Graardor.

General Graardor is the most popular of the five God Wars Dungeon bosses to kill, as he is arguably the easiest, but players should not take him too lightly. To enter Bandos's Stronghold, players must have at least 70 Strength and a hammer (or a sacred clay hammer or golden hammer). To get to the boss room, players must kill 40 minions of Bandos in Bandos's Stronghold or the main God Wars Dungeon area.

Getting the Kill Count


The easiest method of killing 40 Bandos minions is to kill the goblins. The goblins are located in the main area and populate specific locations around the designated Bandos area.

Another method is to kill hobgoblins, who are located just north of the entrance to God Wars Dungeon. Goblins are often full of other players who want to quickly get their 40 kill count, so hobgoblins are a good alternative. Hobgoblins are also low levelled and can be used for Kill Count. While getting Kill Count, it is worthwhile to remember that if a bandos follower is in a fight with another God's follower, you can attack it without being damaged.

Wearing Bandos-related protection is highly recommended. Players wearing Bandos-related protection will not be attacked by the Bandos followers in the God Wars Dungeon area or Bandos's Stronghold. It is also advised to wear Zamorak-related protection - Bandos's Stronghold has monsters who follow both Bandos and Zamorak. If a player has a planned armour setup that does not include Bandos- or Zamorak-related protection, they may choose to bring an extra item to wear while getting their killcount. Common items are god books, Ancient maces for Bandos, unholy symbols, Zamorak arrows, or a dip in the Bandos pool which provides full Bandos-related protection for one hour.

Strategies
Whether a player decides to solo General Graardor and his minions or join a team, the general strategy is to kill Graardor first, then pick off his minions afterwards. Killing the minions first will only result in them respawning again, therefore wasting your time killing Graardor.

Graardor has a very high Defence level and can hit up to 605 lifepoints with melee. He also has a multi-target Ranged attack that can hit up to 355 lifepoints.

Team Strategies
There are two main team strategies players may choose to use at General Graardor: The Tanking strategy or the Berserk strategy. Players new to God Wars Dungeon are advised to begin with the Tanking strategy, as the Berserk strategy is for much more advanced players.



Berserk strategy
Experienced players often choose the Berserk strategy to quickly kill General Graardor and his minions. Berserk teams often consist of three maxed or near-maxed players. Generally, Graardor Berserkers have 99 in most, if not all, combat stats, and have at least 91 (with boost) Herblore for use of overloads and 95 prayer for turmoil curse.

Berserk teams usually stand in the middle of the room and use powerful special attacks in combination with overloads to quickly take Graardor and his minions down.

One common berserk setup:
 * Helmet: Verac'sHigh_lv_Bandos_set_up.png > Helm of neitiznot/Fighter hat
 * Neck: Amulet of fury > Glory
 * Torso: Bandos chestplate > Karil's top
 * Legs: Bandos tassets >Verac's plateskirt
 * Boots: Dragon boots > Bandos boots
 * Cape: Completionist cape > Max cape > Fire cape > Soul Wars cape > Skillcape
 * Side/Spec weapon: Dragon claws/ Armadyl godsword
 * Main weapon: Chaotic longsword > Chaotic rapier > Chaotic maul > Armadyl godsword > other Godsword
 * Shield/sidearm: Divine spirit shield > Elysian spirit shield > Spectral spirit shield > Chaotic kiteshield > Dragonfire shield
 * Gloves: Barrows gloves
 * Ring: Onyx ring (i) > Berserker ring (i) > Dragonstone ring (i) > Berserker ring > Ring of wealth > Ring of life

Duo Strategy
As the price of all God Wars Dungeon items have dropped over recent time, the teams for the bosses (Armadyl,Bandos,Saradomin,Zamorak) have become quite smaller in order for the players to recieve a better profit from the trip in general. Duo teams consist of two players killing the boss with one being the tank and the other being an attacker. Some duo teams swap tank positions in order to prolong the trip so that one person does not take an immense amount of damage from General Graardor. In the case in which one person is the designated tanker and the other is purely an attacker, it is recommended for the tank to bring the best possible defensive gear and the attacker to bring the best possible offensive gear. The gear required for a sucessful duo team is below; although, this can be modified and the player could still have a sucessful and long trip.

Tank Gear:
 * Helmet: Torva Helmet > Verac's Helmet > Helm of Neitiznot > Fighter Hat > Dharok's Helmet > Torag's Helmet
 * Neck: Amulet of Fury > Amulet of Glory
 * Torso: Torva Platebody > Bandos Chestplate > Karil's Top > Dharok's/Torag's Platebody > Fighter Torso > Black D'hide Body
 * Legs: Torva Platelegs > Bandos Tassets > Dharok's/Torag's Platelegs/Verac's Plateskirt
 * Boots: Steadfast Boots > Dragon Boots > Bandos Boots
 * Cape: Completionist Cape > Max Cape > Fire Cape > Soul Wars Cape > Ardougne Cloak 3/4 > Skill Cape
 * Primary Weapon: Chaotic Longsword > Chaotic Rapier > Chaotic Maul > Abyssal Whip > Any Godsword
 * Spec Weapon: Dragon Claws = Armadyl Godsword > Saradomin Godsword > Bandos Godsword
 * Shield: Divine Spirit Shield > Elysian Spirit Shield > Chaotic Kiteshield > Dragonfire Shield > Spectral Spirit Shield
 * Gloves: Barrows Gloves > Dragon Gloves (RFD) > Regen Bracelet
 * Ring: Onyx ring (i) > Berserker ring (i) > Ring of Vigour > Dragonstone ring (i) > Berserker ring

Attacker Gear: Inventory: Please Note that Saradomin Brews are one the best forms of healing so it is extremely recommend to bring them to prolong the trip. Tank: It is recommended that the tank brings both a BoB and a Unicorn Stallion for extra storage of Brews or Rocktails and the Unicorn for an option of healing other than food. It is of course, best to bring a Pak Yak/War Tortise/Terrorbird along with a Unicorn Stallion/Fruit Bat for maximum length of the trip. Attacker: It is also recommended that Attackers bring brews also even though they wont recieve nearly as much damage as the tanker. Attackers bring Brews in order for themselves to last longer and have an ample amount of healing supplies, but also to give to the tank in order to prolong the trip even more. It is recommended that the Attacker also brings a Pak Yak along with a Unicorn Stallion/Fruit Bat or just a Unicorrn Stallion/Fruit Bat alone. IT IS NOT! Recommended for an attacker to bring any form of aggressive familiar unless you are willing to tank and increase your chances of dieing. Note: It is only recommended to use Saradomin Brews if you have the option to use Overloads so that your stats have a constant increase and your stats do not get lowered.
 * Helmet: Torva Helmet > Void Knight Melee Helm/Helm of Neitznot > Fighter HatVoid_Knight_Attacker.PNG
 * Neck: Amulet of Fury > Amulet of Glory
 * Torso: Torva Platebody > (Elite/Normal) Void Knight Torso/Bandos Chestplate > Fighter Torso
 * Legs: Torva Platelegs > (Elite/Normal) Void Knight Robe/Bandos Tassets > Dharok's/Torag's Platelegs/Verac's Plateskirt
 * Boots: Steadfast Boots > Dragon Boots > Bandos Boots
 * Cape: Completionist Cape > Max Cape > Fire Cape > Soul Wars Cape > Ardougne Cloak 3/4 > Skill Cape
 * Primary Weapon: Chaotic Longsword > Chaotic Rapier > Chaotic Maul > Abyssal Whip > Any Godsword
 * Spec Weapon: Dragon Claws = Armadyl Godsword > Saradomin Godsword > Bandos Godsword
 * Shield: Dragon Defender > Rune Defender > Divine Spirit Shield > Elysian Spirit Shield > Chaotic Kiteshield > Dragonfire Shield > Spectral Spirit Shield
 * Gloves: Void Knight Gloves/Barrows Gloves > Dragon Gloves (RFD) > Regen Bracelet
 * Ring: Onyx ring (i)  >  Berserker ring (i)  > Ring of Vigour >  Dragonstone ring (i)  >  Berserker ring

Solo Strategies


General Graardor can be soloed with Ranged or Melee at very high levels. Magic is not recommended, as Graardor has a high Magic defence. If a player wishes to be able to stay at Graardor for more than one kill, 95+ Defence, 90+ Magic, 67+ summoning, and 90+ Attack and Strength or Ranged (depending on the method) and of course 43 prayer is recommended.

Melee is the foremost recommended strategy, as Graardor is weak to slash. Players with a high Ranged level and diamond bolts (e) or dragon bolts (e) may choose to range instead.

Graardor often hits very high with his Melee attacks so the Protect from Melee prayer is a must. His second attack is a Magic-based Ranged attack, similar to that of Waterfiends. When he uses this attack, he slams both fists on the ground and a shock-wave hits the player, inflicting up to 355 damage if the player is not using Protect from Ranged. Furthermore, this attack's emote may not always show - take necessary precautions if you notice the General suddenly "stops" attacking, as he most likely about to slam the ground with his second attack.

A beast of burden, such as a spirit terrorbird, war tortoise or pack yak, is a great help in solo tasks. The higher the level of the familiar, the better a player's chances of a longer stay are. If players do not bring a familiar of any kind, they should expect a short stay.

General Graardor should be attacked first. After he is dead, most players choose to deal with Sergeant Steelwill next, as his Magical attack will be dangerous for soloers wearing melee armour. Sergeant Grimspike comes next, to get his Ranged attacks out of the way. Lastly, Sergeant Strongstack, the meleer, should be killed. It is advised to keep Protect from Melee on as players finish up the sergeants, as Graardor might respawn faster than a player is able to kill Sergeant Strongstack.

Common solo setup (Melee):
 * Helmet: Verac's helm > Helm of neitiznot
 * Neck: Amulet of fury > Amulet of glory
 * Torso: Karil's top > Zamorak d'hide/Black d'hide body
 * Legs: Verac's plateskirt > Bandos tassets
 * Boots: Dragon boots > Bandos boots
 * Cape: Fire cape > Soul Wars cape > Skillcape
 * Side/Spec weapon: Dragon claws/Enhanced excalibur/Vesta's longsword > Bandos godsword > Darklight
 * Main weapon: Chaotic longsword > Chaotic rapier > any Godsword > Abyssal whip
 * Shield/sidearm: Divine spirit shield > Elysian spirit shield > Spectral spirit shield > Chaotic kiteshield > Dragonfire shield
 * Gloves: Barrows gloves
 * Ring: Ring of wealth > Onyx ring (i) > Berserker ring (i) > Berserker ring > Ring of life > Ring of devotion
 * Ammo: Saradomin arrows or Zamorak arrows (For protection against the corresponding followers.)

Common solo setup (Ranged):
 * Helmet: Armadyl helmet > Robin hood hat > Helm of neitiznot
 * Neck: Fury > Glory
 * Torso: Armadyl chestplate > Karil's top > Zamorak body > Black d'hide body
 * Legs: Armadyl chainskirt > Karil's skirt > Verac's skirt > Zamorak chaps > Black d'hide chaps
 * Boots: Dragon boots > Ranger boots
 * Cape: Ava's alerter > Ava's accumulator > Ava's attractor > Soul Wars cape > Skillcape
 * Side/Spec weapon: Bandos godsword > Darklight > Enhanced excalibur
 * Main weapon: Chaotic crossbow > Rune crossbow
 * Shield/sidearm: Divine spirit shield > Elysian spirit shield > Spectral spirit shield > Chaotic kiteshield > Dragonfire shield
 * Gloves: Barrows gloves > Zamorak vambraces > Black d'hide vambraces
 * Ring: Ring of wealth > Archers' ring (i) > Archers' ring > Ring of life > Ring of devotion
 * Bolts: Dragon bolts (e) > Diamond bolts (e)/Ruby bolts (e)