Vorago/Strategies

Vorago is the strongest boss in RuneScape, and you'll need the best of gear and equipment if you're planning to kill him. His drops are some of the best, as he is the only dropper of Tectonic energy, the raw material to create Tectonic armour, level 90 magic power armour which has similar effects to PvP armours. He's also the only dropper of the Seismic wand and Seismic singularity, level 90 magic weapons.

Vorago's attacks will change on a weekly basis, so players will need to be careful when dealing with him.

Vorago's 'Special Time' rotation is: Ceiling Collapse > Scopulus > Vitalis > Green Bomb > Team Split > The End.

Starting the Fight
Unlike the previous boss, the Kalphite King, Vorago's battles are just like the God Wars Dungeon Generals; he can be fought with or without an instance. To reach him, go inside the Borehole, which is north of the Falador Lodestone. Afterwards, you can click on the entrance, which gives you two options; start an instance or just go in. First-timers should go in first, unless they are with a group of players killing Vorago.

When starting an instance, Vorago's price is much higher, up to four or five times as high as your typical God Wars Generals. For 1 hour, you pay, and you can stack it up to four hours. Like all instances, the instance is over when there are no more players inside the instance (meaning no one is in the instance lobby/fight). Vorago also has a non-instanced variant, which anyone can use for free. Due to this however, only one team can fight him at a time. You cannot interact with Vorago by any means if his colour is teal instead of yellow. You can challenge him after the team before yours wins or loses the challenge.

At all times, up to 50 players can challenge Vorago.

When talking to Vorago, you will introduce yourself to him. If you want to challenge him, you need to go through the challenge options until he has verified that you want to challenge him. Doing this results in two coloured messages showing up; if these two do not show up, it means he has not verified you yet. Once he verifies you, you are now capable of joining other player's challenges and challenging him personally.

When challenging him, he won't hold back on his "raw" power. Upon challenging him, he will start to charge a 50,000 damage power wave onto players. However, this attack will only hit players who wished to accept his challenge. The 50,000 damage wave is split amongst all the players, meaning without a group of five (which means 12,501 health per player), Vorago will kill anyone with this wave. The more players who accept the challenge with you, the less damage split amongst the group. When Vorago unleashes this power wave, all players get hit with the right damage and are sent flying into the borehole, but only if they are in front of him. Players who accepted but are too far from him inside the borehole will be dealt with the damage and not sent flying in. After the rough landing, Vorago crashes in and the fight begins.

Hard Mode
Vorago also has a hard mode, but that is only when all six Vorago specialties have been defeated. The player also has to use the Maul of Omens on him first on all rotations before the player can host this. Anyone can join the hard version, but it can only be hosted by one that has met all the requirements above.

There are a few differences in Hard Mode than in Regular Mode:

Attacks

 * A red bomb in hard mode is 50% more powerful; it begins with a 3,000 hit and is affected by a 1,500 multiplier for a maximum hit of 10,500.
 * Vorago launches one normal mode red bomb (beginning at 2,000 and increasing by 1,000) at each player at the beginning of the fight.
 * Vorago launches two blue bombs at a time rather then one, regardless of the size of the team.
 * Vorago's stomp attack will deal 25% damage that the player took from the stomp to the familiar.
 * Vorago's dismember attack is buffed considerably, and being double-bled ("double dismembered") will hit 10,000 stacked on top of the dismember bleeds as opposed to 6,000 in normal mode.
 * Messages do not appear for red bombs, reflecting, team split, waterfall, etc.
 * Vorago's reflect attack will affect 3/4th's of the team facing him and will hurt any attackers as well.

Phase 1

 * Vorago can now pull the jumper down from the side of the arena into the main arena if within range.

Phase 2

 * Damage from "Bring him down!" increases from 150 to 250.
 * Players have a much more shorter time frame to loosen the weapon piece.

Phases 3-8

 * Three scopuli are summoned rather than two. They also gain massive offensive bonuses.
 * Eight vitali spawn per orb rather than five.
 * The damage taken from blocking the vitalis' spawns increases to 3000.
 * Damage from destroying debris increases from 4000 to 7000.
 * Being hit by debris deals 6000 damage to all players in the affected area.
 * Players have 5 seconds to reach their box when Vorago separates the team. Those not in the boxes will take 9000 damage. The box size is also reduced from 2x2 to 1x1.
 * Purple bombs deal double damage and their area is increased from 5x5 to 7x7.
 * Vorago's arm swipe during "the end" is doubled
 * Vorago's choke during "the end" hits twice as fast
 * During "the end", the amount of blue bombs is doubled and when the attack finishes, two are launched per player instead of one.

Phase 9

 * Players have considerably less time to reach the waterfall, and has a maximum hit of 11,000.
 * More stone clones are summoned and they start with 50% adrenaline.

Phase 10

 * Vorago may not use the dismember attack on this phase as he does in normal mode.
 * Instead, Vorago may replace it with another weekly attack. This used to depend on the previous week's rotation, but is no longer the case. The following is a list of Vorago Hard mode final phase rotations for each specific week:
 * Ceilings: Team split and Green Bomb
 * Scopulus: Purple bomb and Team Split
 * Vitalis: Vitalis and Purple bomb
 * Green Bomb: Green Bomb and Vitalis
 * Team Split: Team split and Team split
 * The End: Purple bomb and Dismember.
 * Any players that die to a reflect will result in Vorago instantly moving one space further from the maul zone.

Phase 11
When the first maul occurs, the animation goes on as normal, but before the mauler smashes Vorago's face, he will grab the mauler and yell "Enough! If you truly are the Defeater (player's name) - show me!" jumping and giving enough space similar to how the phase initially begins, and will use his purple bomb attacks. The team must then force Vorago backwards to the other side to finish the kill.

The attack rotation also changes to: Compared to the other purple bomb phase, only purple bombs converge on the players. There is also a maximum of 10 players affected by them.
 * Ceilings: Team split and Vitalis
 * Scopulus: Purple bomb and Vitalis
 * Vitalis: Vitalis and Dismember
 * Green Bomb: Green Bomb and (Unknown)
 * Team Split: Team split and Purple bomb
 * The End: Purple bomb and Vitalis.

Attacks
Vorago has many attacks. Vorago's attacks are split evenly towards the amount of players hit by the attack, so in large groups, staying very close is preferred against his standard attacks, but not against red bombs. Here are Vorago's set of attacks:
 * Melee attacks: Vorago swipes his claws onto a player. This can hurt other players around Vorago (approximately 3 squares away from him)
 * Dismember: A strong melee bleed that deals up to 1062 damage per tick. Vorago performs this attack five times in sequence many times throughout the fight. Players can use Freedom to clear this bleed, or they can run away from Vorago (the bleed will clear if far enough away). Players hit by this attack who are already suffering from a bleed will instead be hit for 6000 damage. See the "Voke Order" section of Team Roles for more information on dealing with this attack. Devotion WILL NOT block the damage, but the damage from the bleed decreases the further you are from the spot you were given the bleed. Moving 7 spaces away from the tile you took the bleed will remove it.
 * Magic attacks: Vorago has two different types of magic-based attacks. They will target multiple players he picks out. Vorago sends one to three (depending on the size of the team) blue rocks at players he picks. The farther you are from Vorago, the more likely it becomes that he will use magic attacks on you.
 * Blue bomb: A rock in blue aura. Regular magic attack with an AoE element. This heads for one player, however it can deal damage to other players if they're too close to a player that has been hit with this rock. It can hit up to 2300+, even through protection prayers. One bomb is thrown in a group of 10 or less, two bombs are thrown in a group of 11 or higher.
 * Red bomb: A rock in a red aura. Vorago sends this rock at one person, and has a base damage of 2000 and increases by 1000 for nearby players, up to 7000. Damage increases by 1000 for every player within 5 squares of the targeted person. However, if a player is within 3 squares of that person, they will also suffer the damage that the targeted person would also receive. When Vorago sends a red rock, a blue rock will also be sent flying towards them and will hit first before the red bomb. The red bomb can be blocked with Barricade, but regardless of the result it will restart all defensive abilities.
 * Rampage: After the end of each phase (except the final one), Vorago will jump around the room, smashing the foundations of the ground. Players within 5 spaces from him will get hurt, and the damage dealt will be based on where you were when it happened. Being under him will result in the player taking half of their maximum lifepoints as damage, while being on the edges of the affected area will deal around 6-7% of their maximum lifepoints as damage. Using Surge or Escape can reduce some of the damage, as long as the screen vibrates violently but the damage has not appeared yet.
 * Reflect: Vorago uses this on phase 2 and onward. A select amount of players (varies on team size) are picked for any damage Vorago is dealt with sent to them instead. Protection prayers do not block the attacks; what Vorago gets dealt with will be sent straight to you. Stuns will also carry over to the player, and incoming reflects can be blocked with Barricade. This attack will always be done as the 3rd attack after the Melee Bleed Sequence on phases 2 and 4, or the 5th attack after the Purple Bomb on phase 5 and phase 3 on any week except Scopulus.
 * Stomp: Players under Vorago will get dealt with major damage (4000-5500 damage) and be stunned if under him for a short time.
 * Automatic Healing: During Phases 1, 2, 4 and 5, if Vorago's health is lowered below 12,500 life points, he will heal himself by approximately 1/4th of his life points until the the correct requirements have been met. This healing cannot be "out-DPS'ed," regardless of the size of the team.
 * For phase 1, he will automatically heal until a player has jumped onto him to retrieve the first Maul piece.
 * For phase 2, he will automatically heal until enough damage is done when he "stumbles".
 * For phase 4, he will automatically heal until his third waterfall.
 * For phase 5, he will automatically heal until he is defeated with the Maul of Omens.
 * Special attacks: Vorago has some special attacks (stage-wise):
 * Reflect: Vorago will redirect any damage he takes to one player. This is not affected by protection prayers, but can be blocked by Barricade. This effect lasts 5-10 seconds. Reflect is always used as the 3rd attack after the bleeds.
 * Cloning: Vorago uses this on phase 4. Stone clones are spawned and scale with the combat level of the cloned player, also copying their combat style. He will also gain a massive defensive buff, with all incoming damage being reduced by 90%. After 20 ticks, this buff will be lifted. If the clone is not killed, it will simply disappear.
 * Smash: If Vorago's target still has Dismember on them, when he smashes them again they will take 6000 damage and get another Dismember.
 * In the fourth phase, Vorago will summon a waterfall in one of the corners of the arena whilst charging a powerful fire attack. Players must move behind the waterfall to avoid damage that can be as high as 10,000.
 * Area of Effect: If Vorago is unable to attack a target (because he cannot reach them with melee), all players will be dealt with 1980 unblockable damage.

Stages
If a player holding a maul piece dies or logs off, the maul piece will drop under the spot of their death/log. If you die or leave Vorago's cave (only by logging), you will be unable to return to the fight. You cannot teleport during the fight, as Vorago prevents you from doing so.

Cliff Diving
After being knocked down by Vorago, you will be scattered across the Borehole. One player should stand near the cliffs to gain a head start to climbing. While this occurs, only one player may navigate the cliffs, and Vorago can and will target them once in a while. The climber must get through five different obstacles until they reach a platform. While this phase occurs, Vorago has no special abilities in effect, and only uses melee and magic attacks. In order to get the first maul piece, the climber must be at the "Jump!" option, and Vorago's back must be in front of the player.

The dots must also line up in order to do this, and the player also needs to have one free inventory space. The jumper should be two spaces northwest of the "Jump!" option, then use Provoke on Vorago to gain his attention, which will lure him properly. Once the player manages to jump on Vorago, they will obtain the first piece of the Maul of Omens. Then end this phase by reducing his lifepoints to 0.

Melee Rage
During this phase, Vorago adds new special attacks to his arsenal of attacks. Vorago will first pick a target, and then hit them with a very strong Dismember ability. He does this five times. If his current target does not get rid of the bleed, his next pummel will deal 6000 damage on them. On his third pummel, the bleed will occur, while he will launch magic attacks at the furthest players at the same time.

Follow the voke order to get through the bleed without difficulty: After three normal attacks from Vorago, he summon a gravity orb, and for 10 ticks, all damage dealt to him will be reflected on the targets, which he randomly picks. Attacks launched on him will hit the targets instead for full damage, and any side effects will be carried over to them. Lure Vorago to the orb if needed, and once the reflect ends, resume attacking him. Repeat this four times. The base tank must use Provoke to get Vorago's attention again, as during the reflect he may attack someone else instead.
 * The base tank should tag Vorago, then use Freedom when the bleed hits. On the second bleed, they should line themselves properly (if needed), and use Surge/Escape to get rid of the second bleed.
 * The bomb tank should be within melee distance on the second bleed, then use Provoke to get Vorago's attention. The base tank should use Resonance, Reflect or Devotion to tank the blue bomb that Vorago sends at them. On the fourth bleed, they should line themselves properly (if needed) and use Surge/Escape to get rid of the fourth bleed.
 * Another teammate (usually the jumper) will then use Provoke to get Vorago's attention and use Freedom to get rid of the final bleed. The base tank will now use Provoke.

Upon the fourth gravity orb, he will stumble, and you must take him down. Players are dealt with 150 damage constantly every 2 ticks until they are finished. When Vorago stumbles again, the group is given 25 ticks to deal a "set" amount of damage to knock the second piece off. If the group fails to meet the requirement, the piece will not budge off with a message saying "You failed to do enough damage in time. The weapon piece still looks secure." Vorago will restore all of his health and the process must be repeated again, although with two orbs this time rather than four. If successful, Vorago will not heal and the second piece will fall off.

Special Time
During this phase, Vorago's weekly special takes effect starting on this phase. There are five different specials, which are mentioned in his attacks section. Apart from this special ability, Vorago does not use any dangerous moves during this phase. Depending on the week, you will need to do the following:
 * Scopuli: Kill the two to proceed to the next phase. Vorago is immune to all attacks.
 * Anything else: Deplete all of his lifepoints.

Vorago will still use his reflector attack as long as the weekly special is not Scopuli. Vorago will not use his bleed attack during "Team Split" rotation. Apart from this, the fight is similar to second and the upcoming phase.

Waterfall
During this phase, upon Vorago's entry he will charge up for 10 ticks. The sides of the game screen will show red flames (which can impair visibility, especially for those with smaller screens). At the same time, a waterfall will spawn in one of the four corners of the arena. To avoid taking damage, you need to be behind the waterfall, not at the waterfall edge. If you are caught in his blast you will be dealt up to 10000 damage.

After the explosion, Vorago will then summon stone clones of one or more players, depending on party size (groups of seven or more will see at least two clones). He will also gain massive damage reduction, blocking 90% of the damage that would have been dealt to him. Although it is not needed to kill the stone clone, they can use abilities such as stuns, which can be fatal in some rotations. Five ticks before Vorago uses his weekly special (if possible), the damage reduction will be lifted.

After a while, Vorago will use his weekly special (only specific rotations; see below) then his Melee Bleed sequence, followed by his reflector attack on the players. Once it ends, he will begin with another waterfall attack after two ticks. Three waterfall attacks (including the first) will be enough to cause the piece to fall out. It is highly recommended his health be reduced to 20,000 so the clones will not spawn and end the phase faster.

If players cannot deal enough damage to Vorago in time, the fight will be similar to that of phase 2, along with the spawning of stone clones. No waterfall specials will occur if this happens.

Final Stand
During this phase, you end up on a narrow strip of land. Vorago comes crashing down soon after. Upon entry, Vorago will be desperate to kill you and will try to knock you off the land, gaining massive buffs and the ability Provoke Immunity during this phase. If he is successful in doing so, everyone in the battle will die, regardless of any signs/portents of life/death on them. In order to knock Vorago back, you must deal more damage to him than he does to you, so dual-wielding is highly advised during this phase. Depending on the size, in a ten man group or less one bomb tank is needed, and two if more than that. Avoid attacking Vorago when he summons his reflectors. Vorago will start his first reflector after ten to thirteen ticks upon entry (unless the week is Scopuli or Purple Bomb). He will immediately use his weekly special (if it is a phase 3-5 ability, then that will be used, otherwise he will use a different weekly special instead.

Provoke cannot be activated against him in this phase, as he gains immunity to the ability. As such, the voking order will not work and during his Dismember attack, players may get hit twice by it. Use Freedom on the first bleed, and if you get hit by it again, use Escape or run all the way back to cancel the bleed. If a blue/red bomb heads towards your way, do not run back into melee range or other teammates will be hurt and possibly die.

If you have maul pieces, quickly form them. Otherwise, the maul pieces will "come to life" and deal 100 unblockable damage per tick to the player(s) carrying them, until they are combined. Make sure your maul is formed. Once Vorago has low health and is on his side (at least one or two spaces behind his edge), use the Maul of Omens to finish him off. Grab the rewards before leaving by the red orb he provides. It should be noted that the player must be within one space or melee distance of Vorago to maul him.

Note: During "Team Split" week, the further you push Vorago in, the more likely he will create a color box close to him rather then far. Pay attention to the box colors so you do not make this mistake. At the beginning, the two boxes are next to each other where the bomb tank(s) should be.

With the release of the Purple Bomb rotation, phase 5 will be fought as normal, but will be a bit more difficult as another rotation's mechanics will be used if it is not used normally on phase 5 (E.G Vitalis occurs on Phases 3 to 5, so it would be the same rotation). The following base rotations receive the following abilities:


 * Ceiling Collapse: Team Split
 * Scopuli: Purple Bombs

Weekly Special Overviews
It is important to know how to deal with the weekly specials, in small groups or in large masses, since failure to fight against them can result in a lost kill. Although players may kill Vorago on the weekly rotations shown below with less players, it is not recommended to do so unless players are extremely experienced in that rotation. It should also be noted that a minimum of 5 players are required to fight Vorago also; he will not let players if less then five accept his challenge.

The overviews also presume that you are fighting Vorago on Normal mode.

Team Roles
You will want to have designated roles among your group. A group without roles is nearly guaranteed to fail. Here are the roles you should have in your group:
 * Base Tank - This person stands next to Vorago and tanks his Melee hits. The base tank is the only position where Melee is acceptable, as Vorago's melee attacks hit everybody within 2 squares.
 * Bomb Tank - stands farthest from Vorago and tanks his magic blue bombs and most of the red bombs. In groups of 11+ or hard mode, two bomb tanks will be required. Range or Mage.
 * DPS - Everybody else. These players use Ranged or Magic, and stand near Vorago (but out of melee distance). These players deal the heavy damage responsible for getting through phases 2, 3, and 5.
 * "Voke Order" - A rotation of players three players who tank Vorago's five melee bleeds on phases 2 and 4. Typically, Base Tank takes bleeds 1 and 2, Bomb Tank takes bleeds 3 and 4 (while Base Tank uses Resonance to heal from a blue bomb), and one of the DPS players takes bleed 5. Players should use Freedom to clear their first bleed, and Escape or Surge to get far enough away from Vorago to clear their second bleed.
 * Mauler - this person is responsible for using the Maul of Omens to finish off Vorago at the end of phase 5. Typically, this is done by the Base Tank, since this is the person within mauling range (i.e. melee range) of Vorago at all times.
 * Jumper - This is usually the weakest of the DPS players. The Jumper is responsible for jumping off the cliff in phase 1 to get the first maul piece, and also responsible for gathering the other two weapon pieces, assembling the Maul, and dropping it for the Mauler at the beginning of phase 5. The Jumper usually also takes "5th Voke." Jumpers in small teams are required to know how to top lure; this means to lure Vorago to the jumping area without the base tank doing so. This is not required in masses.
 * Optional: Backup Bomb, Backup Base - These people are responsible for taking over a tanking position to save the kill, if the designated tank dies. A backup tank usually has more experience at tanking than the designated tank, and is assigned only when a designated tank is trying to accumulate experience in a tanking position. Usually done in large groups or training teams.

Familiars
Familiars can be used in the fight, but are optional in small groups since the majority of healing in those teams comes from Soul Split.


 * War Tortise - not a frequently used familiar as it only holds 18 food or potions.
 * Nihils - Shadow and Ice nihils are often used in small teams, mainly because of the accuracy they provide for the user, which is important in small teams as more DPS must be done by less people. However it can cause the player to bank much more often if they take too much damage per kill, and should not be used on specific rotations.
 * Pak Yak - the most commonly used familiar by small teams, it holds enough food to ensure 2 or 4 kills depending on rotation, and is used often regardless.

Tips

 * When killing Vorago, stay close to each other. This way, his attacks won't deal as much damage as it would on you only. Blue bombs can hit up to 5000 damage from a single magic attack without prayers, and 3300 with prayers.
 * When dealing with red bombs, get away from other players. The red bomb's base damage is 2000, but for every player within a 5x5 square around the target, the bomb will deal an extra 1000 damage, with up to 7000 if you have 6 players nearby. The bomb can also hurt other players who are standing in a 3x3 square around the player, dealing the same damage onto them.
 * When a phase ends, watch where Vorago faces before he jumps. That's the direction he will jump towards, so you can avoid him easier. If he doesn't show any direction (e.g facing northwest in a northwest corner), he will stomp back at the same spot. Damage can vary, up to 5500 (which depends on distance to him, usually directly under him causes massive damage), so use Surge or Escape if needed, as damage will not be calculated until the ability ends.
 * Although more players may seem like a good idea (to reduce the blast damage), it is not recommended because it will simply make Vorago harder with his attacks and defence. All of his attacks are AoE, and redirectors can easily kill a player. Smaller groups do not need to worry about this, and it is shown and proven that less food is used in smaller teams as bombs do not fly towards the DPS group often.
 * Use everything that can improve your accuracy. The best ability for long-range fighters is Debilitate, as it will cut damage in half, saving food in the long run.
 * When using a shield, always have Preparation after Resonance is used. Vorago's attacks will easily restore it, allowing you to get another free heal. If Resonance is unavailable, use Barricade to avoid being hurt from his attacks.