Beastmaster Durzag/Strategies

Beastmaster Durzag is one of the two Raids bosses that can be fought on Mazcab. He must be fought in a 10-man team and the team must be organized through the grouping system, or they will not be allowed in.

Notes/Tips

 * Durzag is affected by blood necklaces, deflection prayers, weapon poisons and dreadnips.
 * Always prioritize the Airuts before main opponents. The Airuts in the arena are stronger than the ones found elsewhere, and their rapid pummels can easily kill an unsuspecting player.
 * Durzag's "pets", Tuz and Krar, should be focused before Durzag, and the first pet should be brought to 200K, 2nd pet should be brought to 100K before the DPS roles focus on the next pet or Durzag. However, they must be left alive until Durzag reaches 750k health or he will receive a massive damage buff. The 200K/100K health provides a buffer so pet tanks can continue tanking/stalling the pets and damaging them to build adrenaline without killing them. At 750k health, Durzag becomes immune to direct damage until Tuz and Krar are finished off.
 * Enslaved Goebies will assist you throughout the pre-phase fight, however they are quite weak and are more of a distraction for the pre-phase units.
 * Bring a portent of death or a portent of life as they can save you from death.
 * Bring dreadnips because they have a chance to stun Durzag, which makes the main tanks' jobs much easier and reduces the number of special attacks he uses.
 * Make sure you do not die during the horde phase, as if you do you will be unable to loot Durzag's corpse if your team kills him. Make sure you damage him a bit when he appears so you will be able to loot from his corpse in the event of death.

Roles

 * Base tank(s) (Two or three backup) - These maintain Durzag's focus in a corner far from the pets, often southeastern corner. The tanks will use Provoke to draw Durzag's aggression off one tank whilst using Resonance, Devotion, and Barricade, among other defensive abilities while using Freedom to keep rage down.
 * Solo tanking Durzag with the walking method is no longer possible as with the October 19th patch notes, Durzag will now trample anyone who stands too close to him. Solo tanking is difficult but possible with a signficant amount of dreadnips used on the team after 750k health.
 * Base tanks will also need to have dual-wield or 2-handed weapons and ability bar setups because they have to DPS in the horde phase.


 * Pet tanks - One tank per pet, with one also tanking Cormes without a shield. Teams typically assign pet tanks as "1/3" and "2", with "2" taking the pet that spawns at the same time as Durzag, and "1/3" taking Cormes and the pet that spawns ~1 minute after Durzag. These must repeatedly voke the pets away from other players and Durzag, keeping their attention in a corner far from the boss.
 * To note, Cormes uses range and is weak to melee, Tuz uses mage and is weak to range, and Krar uses range and is weak to mage. The order the last two pets spawn is random.
 * The pet tanks can serve as base tanks if one of both base tanks are killed or are low in food. One pet tank can also serve as the second base tank during the enraged phase if the first base tank can tank Durzag alone during the first half of Durzag's health.
 * Pet tanks will also need to have dual-wield or 2-handed weapons and ability bar setups because they have to DPS in the horde phase and in the enraged phase.


 * Charger clearing - All DPS roles and the 1/3 pet tank should contribute to this. At the START of Durzag's spawn, open every Charger cage, luring every charger to you instead of the tanks. Using Devotion with melee prayer and Red chinchompas, clear all chargers. Teams will typically bring all chargers to the southwest corner so they can be quickly killed with AoE abilities. After the chargers are dead, return to DPS role. Any chargers that get on the main tank(s) during the kill should be voked off by a DPS.


 * DPS - Backup as needed.

Gear
All players are usually required to have Dreadnips and to remember to use them as often as possible, as when Durzag is attacked by 5 or more at any given time, he becomes stunned preventing him from using abilities. Like most other bosses that have access to abilities, they only use them if they can attack their target.

Ideally, ALL DPS players are in power armour or void.

Like Vorago, melee can be used but is not recommended as anyone within a 2-square range of Durzag will be hit by attacks and be affected by his enrage mechanics unless the player is the base tanker.

Note: although Dominion Tower gloves like Spellcaster gloves and Swift gloves are very effective at Yakamaru, Durzag replenishes his stats and is thus not impeded by the gloves' weakening spec. Magic = When maging, it is recommended to be on either the standard spellbook to cast debuff spells on boss and pets or the Ancient spellbook in preperation to cast Ice Barrage melee attacking airuts or chargers.

Range=

Horde Phase
To begin the fight, talk to the trapped goebie in the middle of the arena. Once you free him, he will run off to find his friends and they will all come out in panic. A bar above will tell the team to kill 39 Tuska-related units, which are enhanced Airuts (same stats as a normal Airut but hits much harder) and Chargers will appear from the gongs that the goebies came out of. Start the fight and turn on Protect from missiles or Deflect range. Pay attention to the attack style of the airuts that are currently hitting you. Pray according to the attack style of the airut that is currently attacking you as their special attacks can deal upwards of 4000+ damage per hit if not reduced by protection prayers. If praying correctly, their special attacks hits up to the low 1000s per hit. These airuts also do not give any warning when they are about to use their ability, so they should watch their attack animation to tell if they are using it or not. If a teammate is being attacked by two airuts, immediately provoke one of them off, as tanking a melee and ranged airut simultaneously is almost certain death. Protect from missiles or deflect range should be every player's default prayer in this phase. When airuts attack you with melee, switch to protection from melee or deflect melee immediately or walk backwards to impede its damage-dealing special attack. Switch back to protect from missiles or deflect missiles when the meleeing airut is dead. Prioritize killing airuts over chargers since the airuts are much more dangerous than the chargers. Prioritize killing the melee attacking airuts over the ranged attacking airuts since melee attacking airuts' special attack deals damage much faster than range attacking airuts' special attack and most players will be praying range. Melee airuts stand on two legs while ranged airuts are on all fours. Players should cast ice barrage or use a binding ability to bind melee attacking airuts to prevent them from using their special attacks on players. In the waves before Cormes appear, one melee attacking airut will spawn from the eastern gong in the middle of these waves while the rest of them will spawn from the southern gong. Players who plan in binding them should face the southern and eastern gongs to bind them quickly.

Halfway through the bar (~21 units remaining), Cormes will appear, always from the western gong, and should be tanked by a player standing in the northwest or southwest corner. In the same wave that Cormes spawn, one melee attacking airut will spawn from the northern and southern gongs. All other players should stand so Cormes is not facing them; all pets will launch attacks at every player they can see. When Cormes appears, ignore the supporting chargers that appear and kill Cormes. Do not kill these chargers before killing Cormes or a wave of airuts will spawn, making the fight more difficult. If more airuts do spawn, DPS should prioritize killing them, as they have greater KO potential than Cormes. After Cormes dies, two large waves of only airuts will be next. The one melee attacking airut will spawn from the southern and western gongs in both waves. Once all 39 Tuska-related units are killed, Durzag will appear with one of his pets.

After Boss Spawns
Durzag himself has 1,500,000 lifepoints and his two remaining pets have 700,000 lifepoints each. When Durzag and one pet appear in the northeastern corner, the arena will be lined up with 20 cages containing Chargers. Chargers can be released and attacked to kill them; it is highly advised to do this immediately, because failing to do so when Durzag hits the gong will result in them all appearing at once and swarming the players for stacked melee damage. The DPS should focus on opening the cages and killing the Chargers to prevent them from dealing stacked melee damage upon being released. To do this, before Durzag appears, at least four DPS should be standing next to a charger cage at each of the four corners. When Durzag spawns, open them quickly and lure all of them to a corner away from Durzag or the pets, usually the southwest corner. Next, kill all the chargers with the help of Red chinchompas and AoE abilities like Corruption Shot, Corruption Blast, Detonate, Dragon breath, Chain, Tsunami, Bombardment and Ricochet.

Either Tuz or Krar will spawn along with Durzag. One pet tank must immediately provoke the spawned pet and run to either the northwest or northeast corner, making sure the pet is facing the corner as well because both Krar and Tuz have similar attack mechanics to Dagannoth Supreme, where the pets will attack all players in front of them, so the pet tanks should have them facing away from the DPS group, as they can hit very high even without biting them, up to 4000s. Cycle between defensive abilities to reduce damage and continue to lower their health.

The second pet tank should stay close to the base tank and DPS Durzag with dual-wield or 2-handed weapons and abilities, pray melee, and killing any chargers attacking them or the base tank until the last pet spawns when Durzag says "HERE BOY!". Immediately pray according to that pet's attack style, provoke that pet and drag it to an unoccupied corner of the arena and switch to your shield and one handed weapon. Do this fast or the base tank may get bitten or get hit by a powerful magic or ranged attack while they are praying melee.

Occasionally, they will lose interest in the pet tank and will barge towards other players, including the base tanks, so Provoke is required to regain their attention. Players in the way of their barges will be stunned, but will not take any damage. The pets are not immune to stuns, so stunning them will stop them from attacking immediately after barging. Make sure the pet tank is at a fair distance from them, so they will barge at the pet tank and get further away from Durzag, reducing his accuracy. The pets will do high melee damage to all players within 2 squares while barging.

Durzag's attacks include the following:


 * Beast Punch and Spine Fling: Durzag punches his main target and throws spines at targets that are not behind him in the same attack.
 * Beast Pound: Durzag pounds his main target with his fist. Both nearby chargers and players will be hit for heavy damage if they aren't praying melee. Nearby chargers are always hit for 4470 damage whenever Durzag pounds his target.
 * Trample: Anyone who stands too close to Durzag or under him for too long will be hit for high constant typeless damage. There is now a few seconds of a grace period before Durzag starts trampling that serves as a warning that appear in the game messages.
 * Bomb throw: Durzag does throw rocket bombs prior to the minions' deaths, however he only throws them one at a time. Once one pet is killed, he starts throwing more bombs, one for every player on the field. The bombs will attempt to follow someone (it does not have to be the nearest person) before exploding, dealing 2000 magic damage in a 4x4 radius (including nearby Chargers and pets) and resetting defensive abilities. Players can defuse the bombs by clicking on them. The team should defuse as many as possible. If there are too many, run away from them. It is essential to defuse bombs targeting the main tanks.
 * Frenzy: Durzag starts flailing his arms, similar to the enraged attack from Airuts, dragging players that haven't enraged him, dealing very heavy melee damage on them. Durzag seems to stop using this ability after both pets are killed. If Durzag drags you towards him, immediately pray melee and either surge/escape/run away or use Devotion. You may wish to keep Deflect Melee and one of these abilities in your bar for this purpose or to keep praying melee throughout the first half of Durzag's health only switching when needed. Anticipation blocks the drag, but this attack seems to have unpredictable timing.
 * Cage throw: Like his bomb throw, Durzag throws cages prior to the minions' deaths. He either throws 4-6 cages containing Chargers, or 1-2 cages at select players which will bind them but the trapped player can still attack. These cages will open after 15 seconds if not opened early by a player. You may wish to open the charger cages and kill the chargers individually, or wait for them to open themselves then kill them; however, most teams choose to ignore chargers when Durzag is below 750,000 health. Opening a cage thrown at a player will free them.

Like other ability-using bosses, these abilities are only used while Durzag is attacking his target; stuns from Dreadnips will reduce the amount of charger cages, frenzies and bomb throws for the fight.

Durzag as well as Yakamaru have enraging mechanics, where damage against you increases over time. There are up to 15 enrage stacks that Durzag applies to its main target. One stack is applied every time Durzag uses an auto-attack. Each stack increases damage taken by 20% per hit. Durzag will warn you about increased enrage three times, saying "The beastmaster directs his rage at you!" on the 1st enrage stack, " The beastmaster's rage increases against you" on the 5th stack, and '"The beastmaster is furious with you!" on the 10th stack. Using Freedom halves the number of enrage stacks the user currently has, rounding down. Unlike Yakamaru, the 5th and 10th stack will clear all active defensive abilities and send them on cooldown for 3 seconds for the 5th stack and 6 seconds for the 10th stack. At the maximum of 15 stacks, Durzag will clear and put defensive abilities on cooldown for 6 seconds with every attack. When the message "The beastmaster has forgotten his rage on you." appears, Durzag's enraging mechanic on that player is reset to 0 stacks. But like Yakamaru, Durzag's enrage increases faster than the base tank's freedom goes off cooldown, so the base tank will always have some level of enrage on them unless Durzag forgets about it when another base tank provokes Durzag off the current base tank.

The base tank will take Durzag's aggression and lead him to a corner away from the pets, usually the southeast corner. One base tank should stand directly at the southeast corner while the second base tank should stand just right of the southern gong. The base tank that Durzag is attacking should cycle between resonance, debilitate, reflect, devotion, and barricade. From time to time the other base tank will need to draw Durzag's aggression away using Provoke to keep the main tank from taking heavy damage. If one base tank is skilled enough, they can tank Durzag alone until both pets are dead. Freedom is an absolute necessity as he has enrage mechanics that reset defensive abilities and deals increasingly punishing damage towards his target. Using Freedom will remove one level of rage, thus with experience, the tank will be able to keep Duzag's rage to a minimum. Main tanks should watch out for bites as it means all sources of damage from Durzag (excluding bombs), the two pets and Chargers will increase until their effects pass off. Like Yakamaru, Durzag's accuracy is extremely high, but with high enough defence, armour, or a combat triangle advantage, its attacks can periodically miss. However, similar to Vorago's blue bomb, if Durzag's attacks miss, another unmissable attack will instantaneously hit the player whose damage amount appearing right below the missed hitsplat. This second hit is 50% less damage than the first hit if it did not miss. Therefore, tanks should still try to wear the highest level tank armour they have and gain a combat triangle advantage by tanking in magic combat style.

Also, Durzag can sometimes lose interest towards the base tank and start attacking a DPS. The base tank should immediately provoke Durzag back on him if this occurs. This happens much less often than the pets barging away.

After killing the caged chargers, the DPS should start attacking the pets and reduce the first attacked pet's lifepoints to around 200,000 lifepoints and the second targeted pet' lifepoints to around 100,000 while deploying dreadnips at them. While DPSing the pets, the DPS should have protect from melee or deflect melee as your default protection prayer to avoid being dragged killed quickly by Durzag's unpredictable frenzy attack or when Durzag lose interest in the base tank and attacks a DPS. But switch prayers accordingly when you see Durzag's spikes flying to you, or if a pet surges next to you and is facing you and remember to switch back to praying melee afterwards. After this, the DPS will focus their attention on Durzag, deploying dreadnips as often as possible, watching out for any frenzies, bombs or charger cages that he throws since the Chargers will deal increasing damage as long as they stay alive. Once Durzag reaches 750,000 lifepoints, kill off Krar and Tuz.

For the first half of Durzag's health, the DPS should kill all chargers that spawn. But throughout the whole fight, the DPS should make sure the base tanks and pet tanks are not attacked by chargers as they can gradually deplete their food. DPS should prioritize killing any chargers that are attacking the tanks over DPSing the pets or Durzag.

Enrage Phase
At 750,000 lifepoints, Durzag becomes invulnerable to standard damage, so Tuz and Krar must be killed to remove his invulnerability. Killing each of them will cause Durzag's damage to increase by 75%.

After both pets are dead, the pet tanks should switch to dual-wield or 2-handed weapons and abilities and DPS Durzag. If a base tank dies or is low on food, a pet tank may need to serve as a base tank and switch back to a one-handed weapon and a shield.

Rotating tanks is highly useful during the remainder of the fight; a common and effective tactic is to use Devotion to block his punches, then Barricade to block all of his attacks for 20 seconds worth of invulnerability. After the tank's barricade ends, another tank will use the same method until their barricade expires. At least four rotating tanks are needed for this (three works, but DPS will need to volunteer for this). Call out when your barricade is almost expired and have someone else provoke him. If there are only two people willing to tank Durzag, the base tank Durzag is attacking should cycle between resonance, debilitate, reflect, devotion, and barricade. The other base tank should keep their shield on and build adrenaline to 100%. Provoke Durzag when the other base tank calls for it or when you see them becoming overwhelmed with damage. While on this phase, rotating tanks should be at a distance from Durzag, his melee attack range increases to 2 spaces from him and deals heavy damage. Remember to use freedom to reduce enrage stacks while Durzag is not attacking you and kill off any chargers attacking the base tank.

Chargers can be dealt with directly by the players or indirectly from Durzag's attacks during the enrage phase; damage must be piled quickly to ensure that the kill will succeed should Durzag kill a player in one hit. Thrown bombs will deal the same amount of damage the player would take to nearby Chargers, while a ground punch by Durzag will deal 4,470 melee damage on them. Devotion is helpful to reduce their attacks while focusing on Durzag.

After the two pets are killed, the whole team should use Protect/Deflect Melee since his melee attacks will hit much more harder even without enrage stacked on it, capable of dealing 7,000 damage without any damage reduction per attack. His ranged attacks however, do not seem to increase and stays the same throughout the whole fight, which can be easily recovered through Soul Split (be careful if using it) or from healing items.

The Portent of death does work against Durzag, and can be used as a last ditch option if there are few players left and Durzag himself has low health.

Notes About Pets

 * Cormes: This monster will always appear from the western gate and has 500,000 lifepoints during the pre-fight phase. Killing it does not cause Durzag to use any abilities, but doing so before he spawns will give him a slight buff.
 * Cormes ranged attack has the ability to make the player's legs numb, making it harder to move by reducing run energy by 5% per attack.
 * Cormes mage attack can burn the player's wounds, causing Combust on them. Freedom cures this bleed as normal.
 * Cormes can Barge towards a target, stunning them and any player in their path for a few seconds.


 * Tuz: This monster may appear with Durzag when he appears via north gate, and has 700,000 lifepoints. Otherwise, it will appear shortly when Durzag calls it.
 * Tuz has the ability to bite the player, causing them to take higher damage for 30 seconds.
 * Tuz can Barge towards a target, stunning them and any player in their path for a few seconds.
 * Tuz can burn the player's wounds, causing Combust on them. Bleed damage will increase with time, signified by the messages "The beast refuses to stop wounding you deeply!" and then "The beast is tearing you apart!". Freedom reduces the bleed damage, clearing the bleed if the damage is low enough. The player tanking Tuz will have this bleed for most of the fight until Tuz dies and should try to time the use of Resonance when Tuz's basic attacks are about to hit.


 * Krar: This monster may appear with Durzag when he appears via north gate, and has 700,000 lifepoints. Otherwise, it will appear shortly when Durzag calls it.
 * Krar has the ability to bite the player, causing them to take higher damage for 30 seconds.
 * Krar can Barge towards a target, stunning them and any player in their path for a few seconds.
 * Krar attack has the ability to make the player's legs numb, making it harder to move by reducing run energy by 5% per attack.

The third pet is always spawned by Durzag saying "HEEEEEREEEE BOY!", and a message for whoever he is attacking saying "As Durzag is about to summon his pet, he shatters your defenses.", resetting any active defensive abilities and setting them back on cooldown. The pet that appears will need to be provoked immediately, as it is aggressive and can potentially attack the player while their defensive abilities are on cooldown. If the player tanking Durzag receives a bite during this time, they should immediately call for a provoke.

Feats Challenges
There are 5 special challenges that progress towards "the Daredevil" title. In order to complete the feat, the challenge described must be met AND players must finish the kill.

After the fight
Players can loot Durzag's body or collect from Fetcher outside the instance (Lobby to leave instance). One random entrance in the walls of the arena will take you northeast to the canal access tunnel, leading you to the canals and Yakamaru. Players may also just lobby and login; when all players leave Durzag's arena the jellyfish will spawn.