Fist of Guthix/Strategies

Tactics for the hunted
There exist two kinds of hunted, called defenders and runners. Defenders stay at the centre, attempting to get the quickest charge before they are killed, and runners run to avoid being killed. Generally, runners have a higher losing rate if they aren't very experienced with what they're doing, especially if they are hunted in the second round. However, an experienced runner is very difficult to beat. Defenders have the advantage of ending rounds quickly and in turn, guarantees stable token income. Defenders also have a higher rate of winning, because their tactics rely more on having high Hitpoints, high Defence, and good armour, instead of their skill within the minigame. Runners are often not respected by inexperienced players, because if the runner is good at evading their hunter, the hunter may become quickly irritated. Some do not respect defenders as well, due to the fact that they hide behind other players in the centre. Some players also hide in the houses but they will slowly lose hp and will be forced to leave. There are also several people in Fist of Guthix that tried to mix the 2 tactics for the hunted too. However, this can sometimes be less effective than pure runners or defenders. There are also some people who are defenders most of the time and skilled runners other times - usually known as the "fog pros."

All hunted

 * With 71 prayer and the Ancient Curses unlocked, you gain access to the deflect prayers. These work like the protect prayers in the normal book, but the deflect prayers are 150% as effective as the protect prayers.
 * Use death-dot tactic, force the hunter to scroll down a huge list of players in play. It can be used with running around inside the centre of Fist as well. Be warned, however, that this is considered one of the most unfair and cheap tactics for use in Fist of Guthix.
 * At the top left corner of the north-east portal house, you can get 21 charges instead of 15.
 * The most important things of a hunted are: use of prayer, prediction, detection/stealth, in order to win the game. It is a distinct disadvantage if the hunted's prayer level is less than 37, since the true way for defence is protection prayer. A prayer level of 37-40-43 is very helpful in competing in the game (but not critical).
 * Turning private chat off or setting it to "friends" is useful as your opponent can only see you when you're within range whether you are viewed green or not; this is effective if you go to the centre where the players are adjacent if not on the same square. The green dot will be more accurate then the arrow in this situation.
 * Always turn Auto-Retaliate off when in the centre because when you get attacked, you will start running toward the opponent, which is extremely bad for runners.
 * Notice the maximum hit of the hunter, use bandages when your health is around 15 below maximum. For example, if your hp level is 50, use a bandage at 35 hp or lower to avoid wasting another bandage.

Defender

 * 1) All kinds of armour giving the best defence bonus in melee, ranged and magic respectively, can be brought, as defenders don't need to run, except when hunting runners. Green D' Hide (Black D' Hide or Karils if Member) if the hunter is a mage (Recommended armour); Rune armour (Barrows if Member) for melee and range. If they are using a 2h sword, battleaxe, or other weapon with a "crush" attack, use a Rune chainbody, as platebodies are weak against "Crush" attacks. Remember to wear an Amulet of Defence as it gives +7 to all defence stats.You should also keep this in mind if you are the hunter as well as the hunted.
 * Prayer - If against magic trainers, turn on Protect from magic. Against mixed opponents, switch prayers quickly.
 * If the hunter has a high damage rate, turn on Rapid Heal, otherwise turn it off.
 * After the hunted is locked-on, he/she may move to a clear square in the 4x4 grid of centre, making sure he/she is facing the desired attack and take best defence measure.
 * In free playing, usually ranged attack has attack speed of 7 (rapid style bow), magic attack has speed of 5 (autocast), and melee attack has attack speed 6 (scimitar) or 3 (two-handed sword).
 * If you want you can stand by a house to get a good look at the centre. If your opponent is there wait until he leaves to search for you. The objective here is to coax the hunter out of the centre to buy time and get more charges.

Runner

 * Be warned, inexperienced Fist of Guthix players might flame you for using this strategy, to avoid getting distracted by their trash-talk, turn off Public Chat.
 * Low level strategy - First, equip the stone of power. Then walk around the arena in the area where you get 10 charges (When in high definition quality, you can see the "charge rings" in the mini-map). When you reach the other side, start running. If your opponent doesn't find you when you reach the other side where you started, walk. Repeat until your opponent finds you. Then run to the centre or use the tele-orb. When you have 2 bandages left, run to a house. If your opponent guards the house, use the portal. If he runs away, exit the house and start running in the 10 charges area. When your running energy gets low, run to a house but don't go in. If your opponent finds you, go in. If your opponent guards the house, use the portal. If he runs away, exit the house. Repeat the process.
 * Basic gear for inexperienced runners - Wearing good defensive melee armour with a magic defence top is recommended, regardless of weight, as inexperienced runners will still be getting hit very often.
 * Experienced runners should wear light armour, preferably dragonhide to block freezing attacks, as most of their protection comes from blocking the hunters behind obstacles, and they are not hit very often unless frozen.
 * The Rest feature is disabled in the arena, so relying on it would be unwise.
 * For runners, keep track of the hunter's arrow and predict which way would he/she come. Stay as close to centre as possible until the hunter finds you, then run across the centre, hug something or go inside a house. If you are locked on, DON'T use tele-orb and go inside a house as soon as possible, as the spell Bind is very deadly against runners.
 * To drive a hunter away, a hunted can enter and leave the same house in quick occasion, run across the centre and then around the houses, pretending to run away from the hunter at a distance and use tele-orb, then going opposite from hunter and so on.
 * There are several kinds of hugging. The first kind is to repeatedly enter and leave teleport houses without using the portal inside, the second is to hug houses and obstacles, the third is hug the house once and then enter it. The first method is hindered by the entering limit and large amount of damage inside the houses, the second one isn't useful except against players with very low magic level except once the second one is mastered, it's virtually unstoppable except by the best, while the third one is considered the best for those new to Fist of Guthix.
 * Running across the centre causes the hunted to gain temporarily more charges.
 * Keep moving since the hunter is probably moving around as well.
 * Run to a house and keep on the opposite side of the house that your hunter is on, switching sides as your hunter moves. This will cause your hunter to become stuck on the opposite side of a house and deal less damage to the hunted. This tactic can also be used on the low walls and piles of rubble near the edges of the playing area, though less points will be gathered.
 * Some hunters would head straight across centre to the hunted's spawning spot at the start. The hunted can circle around the teleport houses and sneak to the centre, or spawn spot of hunter (the spawn spots are opposite) to earn easy charges.
 * Mix up your strategies since other players will have different strategies.
 * Rapid Heal can save the character at very low HP and no bandages left, since every 18 seconds the character would take damage.
 * A high-levelled hunted can stay in teleport house for longer time and confuse the hunter.
 * You can go on the edge for around 15 seconds then run into the fist, when your hunter comes back to the fist and sees you, run to the back to the edge drawing your hunter, then use your Tele-orb to get back to the fist, works very well if you're a good hunted.
 * Limit the use of the portals inside the house. The more you use portals, the more likely it is that your opponent will do so
 * Tactics against Pure Mages


 * (Members) If the hunter is autocasting the spell, taking a second to attack them with Topaz bolts (e) can be very effective as this can lower their magic level and will make them take some time to switch to a less powerful spell. The Seercull special attack along with Rune arrows can also be used (the seercull is preferred due to the special always working). This, however, is considered extremely unfair by almost all Fist of Guthix players, and should only be used when you are sure to lose if you don't.
 * Tactics against Melee Pures


 * You CANNOT cast Bind, nor any spells against a melee hunter. The only way to drive hunter away is enter a house or avoid being locked-on BEFORE he or she can see you in main screen.
 * Lunar Magic can be used to cure poison and recoil damage to the hunter (possibly killing them if they are weaker), although this isn't a common practice as hunters prefer using the attack spells of other books for hunting.
 * When running low on Hitpoints and recovery tools, a player with 99 Prayer can run to the edge of the stage, use Redemption to heal, then use the Prayer Cape's effect to use Redemption repeatedly. Also, the Saradomin godsword and Enhanced excalibur can be used to heal.
 * If you keep running roughly in the same direction and your hunter is still some distance away chasing you, you can prevent the hunter from attacking you until you stop running or change direction, since melee can only be used at close range. This tactic is effective for evading the hunter long enough to find somewhere safe, such as entering a house if you are far away from one.

Hunter
The hunter's objective is quite simple: Kill the hunted player with any means necessary. The player cannot gather any charges while they are a hunter, rather their objective is to prevent the hunted player from gathering charges. The hunter does not have a stat decrease, does not have the 30 kg load of the stone and does not take damage from the energy charges, however they cannot chase hunted players into the teleport houses.

In general, people who start as the hunter have the advantage. This can be due to being able to get a general idea of how many charges your opponent has and being able to do what you want without fear of your opponent retaliating.

Tactics for the hunter

 * Use a Familiar to help you hunt. A recent update has made it possible to make your familiar attack your opponent while hunting. Considering the fact that most players don't think to use Protect from Summoning, and the fact that many familiars exceed level 100 combat, this can be devastating to your target.


 * Ancient Magics Freeze Spells work to hold an opponent and can be devastating to an opponent's health if using a dragon dagger or dark bow special attack.
 * Inflicting the opponent with poison is good if a player is along the outside or house hugging, since anti-poison potion is not allowed.
 * When using range, using a crossbow with Sapphire bolts (e) in conjunction with Smite is very effective as this will reduce the hunted's Prayer level very quickly. This is most effective if you have a weapon with a very powerful special attack that you don't want to have the hunted reduce the strength of with a protection prayer.
 * The Dragon Longsword and Dragon Dagger special attacks are very damaging because of the opponent's reduced stats.
 * The Dragon claws' special is very effective if the hunted is at low health since it can do a reasonably good amount of damage in a short period of time before they can heal.
 * The Dragon Scimitar is useful as its special attack will completely deactivate prayer for 5 seconds.
 * It is advised to have melee gear along with magic or ranged gear, whatever the players level is higher.
 * The special attack of the Ancient mace which is obtained after completing Another Slice of H.A.M. lowers a players prayer by amount of damage done and gives it to you, which will help drain the hunted's prayer. Combined with smite or Soul Split, you could possibly remove more than 40 prayer points from your opponent in one strike!

All hunters

 * When many players are on the same square in the middle, it is much easier to find your target by manually casting a spell, since when you have chosen a spell, it only shows the names of the people.
 * A good idea is when your target is in the middle and you're going to use melee, equip a staff and run into the middle then stand next to him. Equip your melee weapon then as he can't see you if its crowded and he'll use the wrong prayer. More than likely your opponent will run out the middle to find out what attack style you're using and then you can see his/her prayer/equipment. This trick works well if you equip a melee weapon then go into the middle next to him and use magic manually. Once he runs out the middle, he'll switch prayers.Once that's done, cast once or twice more then attack with melee. You'll run out and if done fast enough, your opponent won't suspect it. He'll then switch prayers and then you will cast without using your staff. If you're using normal spellbook, it's fine to use any combat spell but not the god spells. If using Ancients, its advised to use smoke spells only. If using a combat spell, it won't bring up a message at all in the chat box under "game".However, for Ancients this can happen. If using smoke though, it may come up with "You have been poisoned!" on your opponents chatbox which can make them believe you're using a dds.
 * It is quite effective to use curse spells (Confuse, Weaken, Curse, Bind, Snare, Vulnerability, Enfeeble, Entangle, Stun) to further reduce the stats of opponents or to stop opponents for running for a short period of time. (Italicised spells are for members)
 * If your opponent is hiding at the centre and there are a lot of spammers, turn your public chat off. It makes it easier to find your opponent.
 * Adding your opponent to your friends list will cause him to show up green on the minimap (providing he has his/her friends setting to "on")
 * Before you enter the arena it is extremely important to turn assist off. Having assist on will add another line per player, possibly causing the player to become invisible!
 * Players will get plenty of runes and should not hesitate to use spells. For F2P players the best missile spell for your level should be used as no magic-reducing attack is available for the hunter. (Overall, the best combat spell for F2P players is Fire Blast.
 * Take more than one weapon! The defender will almost certainly use "protect against ..." prayers if they are able, but by switching weapon rapidly between at least two, this can be negated. (Recommended, melee and ranged, as selecting a bow or melee weapon, then the player is faster than selecting a staff then spell, than the player)
 * If your target is hiding in a house, stand almost directly in the centre of the arena. If positioned correctly, you will be able to see all four houses, plus a little edge for all of them, so if your target decides to run, you will be able to see them. This works very well on less crowded world's when lag doesn't affect your visibility.
 * Try to cover two sections of the combat triangle (preferably melee and magic, since magic doesn't need a staff, although useful), by wielding a melee weapon (such as a whip or dragon dagger), and switching between melee and magic, which will cause the hunted to change protection prayers often, allowing you to hit through their prayer almost every time.
 * Some of the Ancient Curses will help you kill the hunted slightly faster, but you must complete The Temple at Senntisten to unlock them. The main advantage of the Ancient Curses is use of the Deflect prayers during the hunted phase.

Against defenders

 * For a non-pure with all three kinds of combat style, attack the hunted by shooting a few arrows, Cast magic ONCE and run next to him. Attack the hunted by melee, ranged or magic. Manually casting spells is also needed to surprise the defender. If you are not very advanced in melee then stand near the edge of the circle (where most mages stand) and range them from there. If they put on a protection spell then switch to magic. Don't equip a staff to do this, they will see that you have a staff and switch to Protect from Magic. Just manually cast a spell. Wave, Surge, and Ancients spells are the most effective. They deal a great amount of damage in 1 spell cast.

Against runners

 * When many players are on the same square in the middle, it is much easier to find your target by manually casting a spell, since when you have chosen a spell, it only shows the names of the people.
 * Use the spell bind against runners. You may obtain the Druidic mage robes set for increasing the success rate of the spell. You can even cast the spell in-between every two spells or so to keep your opponent bound for a very long time. However, this tactic won't work forever, although its more effective to use higher level bind spells to bind the hunted for longer.
 * It is easier for the hunter to locate the hunted on the minimap by adding the hunted to the friends list, turning the dot green, instead of simply relying on the arrow, this is only effective if the hunted is within the Fist's area and has private chat not set to "Off or Friends".
 * If an opponent is wall-hugging, return to the middle and the hunted will come to the centre. If he/she doesn't come, wait till your running energy has recovered a bit, prepare ranged or magic autocast and search near the centre.
 * Try to cover at least two sections of the combat triangle for a non-pure. For example, some players use Robes or Dragonhide to protect from the plentiful mage players, so having a melee weapon may prove useful.
 * Against an obviously weaker hunted (at least 30 levels lower than you), you can slowly patrol the centre and scare away the hunted, be warned this would frustrate the opponent very much.
 * During the beginning of each round, you will always be placed at the opposite edge of the arena. You can use the tele-orb and then run to the opposite edge quickly. This can be used to terrify the hunted, though in return you lack the orb for life-saving as a hunted.
 * If your target is in the middle and you're going to autocast a spell, you can manually cast a spell by using the spell list then right click on his position as it'll shorten the list to help you find him.
 * For a non-pure with all three kinds of combat style, use magic to chase the hunted, then switch to ranged and shoot for a few hits. If the hunted runs to the centre, run next to him and autocast magic again, Prepare bind to lock him/her once he/she starts running and then attack. If he/she stays away from the centre, use bind and then manually cast spells in between melee or ranged attack. Cast bind between every 3 hits.