Nex/Strategies

Nex is one of the strongest bosses in RuneScape, tied in level with the Queen Black Dragon and surpassed by the Kalphite King and Vorago. All of her attacks can hit very high and can hit multiple players at once. She has several abilities that make it near-impossible to solo.

Unless you possess the strongest gear and experience, and are willing to risk a heavy loss, it is recommended that you fight Nex with a team. You can search for teams on the official RuneScape Forums, in the Teamwork section.

Skill level recommendations

 * Level 80+ or
 * Level 75+
 * Level 80+
 * Level 70+
 * Level 68+ (for the war tortoise and bunyip)

The following levels are very useful:
 * Level 88+ (for extreme potions)
 * Level 95+ (for Turmoil and Torment)
 * Level 88-96+ (for the unicorn stallion and pack yak)

Getting there
Nex resides in the Ancient Prison. To enter this prison, one must assemble the Frozen key. The four pieces of the key are obtained by defeating followers in each stronghold of the dungeon, from Armadyl, Bandos, Saradomin and Zamorak. Each piece is found in a different stronghold, and the strongholds require 70 Agility, Constitution, Ranged, and Strength. None of these skills may be boosted.

The frozen key has ten charges and one is used whenever entering the prison. The key can be repaired at an armour stand for 50,000 to 10,000 coins per charge, depending on your Smithing level.

Inside the prison is a chamber of Zarosian followers, and another door at the very end. The followers are aggressive and can stun, so bring good armour and use Anticipation and Freedom as you run to the door. Opening it requires either 40 Zarosian killcount or a full set of ancient ceremonial robes; as the robes only cost, it is highly recommend that they be used. They have no defence stats, so equip them only when outside the door.

Beyond here is a safe room and the spirit Ashuelot Reis, with whom you can access your bank. On the eastern wall is a magical barrier, which you can dispel to enter Nex's chamber.

There is no altar within, and the only way out is to teleport or be slain. Unlike the other bosses of the God Wars Dungeon, your grave will be at the place you died: Nex will despawn if no one is in the chamber and takes a while to spawn again, so you may quickly retrieve your items and teleport before she attacks.

Equipment
If you are in a relaxed team of several people, equipment such as ganodermic armour and chaotic weaponry will suffice. Nevertheless, Nex has quite high accuracy and defence, so tier 90 weaponry and at least ganodermic armour are recommended for smaller teams.

Ranged is not a viable way of fighting Nex, as she will randomly use Deflect Missiles from time to time, blocking your attacks and at the same time sending them back at you. Only melee and mage setups are provided.

If you plan to solo Nex, you should bring a shield to counter her ice prisons. Also, surpassing her blood phase by yourself requires incredible DPS; this may require drygore or seismic weaponry.

Melee= Drygore weaponry is far cheaper than the equivalent seismic weaponry, but Melee armour is weaker against Nex's attacks. Even so, drygores are a large improvement over the chaotic staff and Virtus wand with book, and should be used unless the player owns a seismic wand.

Players using Melee should remember that Nex can deflect against it on her last phase.

Magic = Magic is the strongest class against Nex, its armour defending best against her attacks and its damage never being deflected. The downside is the weapons' price: the Virtus wand and book cost about as much as drygore weaponry, and the seismic weaponry, equal to drygores, is exorbitant.
 * Head: Malevolent helm > (Superior) tetsu helm > Torva full helm > Bandos helm / Verac's helm
 * Amulet: Saradomin's whisper > Amulet of fury
 * Ring: Ring of Vigour > Warrior ring (i) > Onyx ring (i) / Sixth-Age circuit / Warrior ring
 * Cape: Completionist cape > Max cape > TokHaar-Kal > Fire cape > Skillcape
 * Body: Malevolent cuirass > (Superior) tetsu body > Torva platebody > Bandos chestplate / Verac's brassard
 * Legs: Malevolent greaves > (Superior) tetsu legs > Torva platelegs > Bandos tassets / Verac's plateskirt
 * Gloves: Pneumatic gloves > Torva gloves / Goliath gloves > Bandos gauntlets
 * Boots: Steadfast boots > Torva boots > Bandos boots
 * Main-hand: Drygore mace / rapier / longsword > Chaotic claw / rapier / longsword / maul
 * Off-hand: Off-hand drygore mace / rapier / longsword > Off-hand chaotic claw / rapier / longsword > Enhanced excalibur
 * Shield (optional): Divine spirit shield / Chaotic kiteshield > Bandos warshield
 * Scrimshaw: (Superior) scrimshaw of vampyrism
 * Aura: Penance > Vampyrism > Reverence

If you do not have Melee weapons of a greater tier, it is recommended to use Magic. Additionally, Nex's mages are immune to magical attacks, so you will need a Ranged switch.


 * Head: Tectonic mask > (Superior) sea singer's hood > Virtus mask > Ganodermic visor
 * Amulet: Arcane stream necklace > Saradomin's hiss
 * Ring: Seers' ring (i) > Onyx ring (i) / Sixth-Age circuit / Seers' ring
 * Cape: Completionist cape > Max cape > God cape > Skill cape
 * Body: Tectonic robe top > (Superior) sea singer's robe top > Virtus robe top > Ganodermic poncho
 * Legs: Tectonic robe bottom > (Superior) sea singer's robe bottom > Virtus robe bottom > Ganodermic leggings
 * Gloves: Static gloves > Virtus gloves / Spellcaster gloves > Ganodermic gloves
 * Boots: Ragefire boots > Virtus boots > Ganodermic boots
 * Main-hand: Seismic wand > Virtus wand / Chaotic staff > Armadyl battlestaff
 * Spell: Bloodfire Barrage / Your best spell
 * Shield (optional): Arcane spirit shield / Farseer kiteshield > Ward of subjugation
 * Scrimshaw: (Superior) scrimshaw of the elements
 * Aura: Penance > Vampyrism > Reverence

Items to take
The following is only a recommendation.


 * Food: Rocktail soup > Rocktail > Shark
 * Prayer restore: Prayer potions and prayer renewal
 * Combat potions: Overloads > Extreme potions > Super potions
 * Adrenaline potion
 * Antipoison++ for the first phase
 * Runes for your best spell, if using Magic
 * Shield to counter ice prisons (only necessary if soloing):
 * Ranged switch for Nex's mages, if using Magic: Royal crossbow with royal bolts > Hand cannon with hand cannon shot > Crystal bow
 * Familiar: Bring a beast of burden, and summon a healer once it is empty.
 * Beast of burden: Pack yak > Spirit pack pig (tier 3) > War tortoise > Spirit terrorbird
 * Healer: Unicorn stallion and scrolls > Bunyip > Fire/Ice/Moss titan and scrolls
 * Emergency teleport, also used to leave the chamber

Battle overview
The battle against Nex is fought in a circular room that resembles the symbol of Zaros. Nex moves very quickly; she can jump across the room in 2 ticks, as well as being able to leap across the holes. The battle has five phases: Smoke, Shadow, Blood, Ice and a final (Zaros) phase. There are 4 level 165 mages in the four corners of the room. These mages are Fumus, Umbra, Cruor, and Glacies, and they represent the four elements of the Ancient Magicks spellbook used in the first four phases. They are weak against bolts. As their represented spell users, each one also has special benefits for themselves.

During the fight, Nex uses Ancient Magicks rush spells of the same type as the mage of that phase. Nex also has regular melee attacks that hit up to around 1500. These melee attacks are area of effect melee attacks. Players behind Nex will be spared from the melee attacks, and the players next to the targeted player will also take the damage, but the damage will not be shared between players. After 1/5th of Nex's health is gone, she will say "[Mage name], don't fail me!" Kill the mage that she has said and after a while she will begin the next phase.

The phases
This section lists all the different attacks Nex will use. See below for what players should do in the different phases.

Smoke phase: During this phase, she will use Smoke spells in the form of chaotic clouds. These have a moderate range and are also capable of poisoning the player, up to 360 poison damage. Her special abilities in this phase are: ​After she reaches 4/5th of her life points and her mage Fumus is killed, she will go to the next phase.
 * "Let the virus flow through you!" - One player (the one Nex targets) will be infected, saying "cough" every time their stats are drained. The player will rapidly lose stats and after a while, it will dissipate. It can spread to other players, and has a 3x3 spreading radius from the player.
 * "There is... NO ESCAPE!" - Nex will teleport and fly through one of the paths of the central symbol, damaging players who stand in her way for up to 4000 and disabling their protection prayers.
 * Dragging a player - Draws a player to Nex, deactivating their prayers and stunning them. Nex tends to do this during the beginning of the phase, and after that she usually tends to do the drag after she does her "NO ESCAPE!" attack.

Shadow phase: During this phase, she will use Shadow spells, which are in fact ranged attacks that represents a shadowed vampyre. This is the only phase where she uses ranged-based attacks. Her special abilities in this phase are: ​After she reaches 3/5th of her life points and her mage Umbra is killed, she will go to the next phase.
 * "Fear the shadow!" - Shadow traps will appear under every player in the area. After 3 ticks, any player still standing on them will be hit for up to 4000 damage.
 * "Embrace darkness!" - The room will be darkened drastically. The closer you are to Nex, the darker the room will be. If you stand too close to Nex for five seconds, you will get a message saying "The shadows start to consume you!" and be dealt rapid damage up to 700 per tick until you get away from her.

Blood phase: During this phase, she will use Blood spells which will heal her. Her special abilities in this phase are: ​After she reaches 2/5th of her life points and her mage Cruor is killed, she will go to the next phase. If she sacrifices the Blood reavers before she calls Cruor's name out, the health must be depleted again. If she calls Cruor's name out, she will not heal from the reavers.
 * "A siphon will solve this!" - Nex will summon up to three blood reavers and kneel down for about 8 ticks. During this, all damage she receives instead heals her, shown by purple hit splats. Any blood reavers from the previous siphon will instantly die, and Nex will be healed by however many lifepoints they had remaining.
 * "I demand a blood sacrifice!" - Nex will target a player, who will glow red. If the player does not move away from Nex in time, she will heal an amount equal to 100% of the targets maximum lifepoints and deal damage equal to 10% of them. It is advised to run if targeted. Note that the Escape ability will not work if you have recently used a stunning basic ability e.g. Backhand or Impact, and it is therefore not advised to use them until it uses the blood sacrifice attack. Nex seems to use this attack on the farthest player from her. If all players are close enough, she will pick a player within melee range.
 * Healing - This ability is active from the start of the blood phase and last until the phase ends. If Nex is attacked with a successful bleed over time ability, such as Combust, Fragmentation Shot, Deadshot, Dismember or Slaughter, the hits will instead heal Nex instead of doing damage.

Ice phase: During this phase, she will use Ice spells which will target all players, freeze them and lower prayer points. Her special attacks in this phase are: ​After she reaches 1/5th of her life points and her mage Glacies is killed, she will go to the last phase.
 * "Die now, in a prison of ice!" - Nex freezes a targeted player using an ice stalagmite attack. When the ice recedes, the trapped player will be hit for 5000+ damage. However, it is possible to use the ability freedom and eat or break the icicles and for other players to destroy the icicles that make up the prison, allowing the trapped player to avoid damage.
 * "Contain this!" - Nex creates a barrier of ice (3 by 3 squares) around her. Players caught in the original ice barrier will be dealt up to 3500 damage, get stunned and be unable to eat. Small icicle rushes will surge from them, dealing up to 2000 damage if they hit a player but will not cause any stun effects.

Final phase: During this phase, she will only use her normal magic and melee attacks. However, they will become far more accurate and powerful, hitting massive (2000) damage even through prayer. She will cycle between using Soul Split, Deflect Melee, Deflect Ranged and no overhead prayer.
 * "NOW, THE POWER OF ZAROS!" - At the start of this phase, Nex heals to 2/5th of her life points (she heals 40,000 turning it to 80,000) and activates Turmoil, giving her greater Attack, Strength, and Defence and lowering those stats from all players.
 * "Taste my wrath!" - Upon death, Nex will activate Wrath, dealing up to 3000 damage to all nearby players. Her version of Wrath has a larger radius than that of players, but activates after 3 ticks.

​Killing tactics
Note: '''Nex will spawn in the middle of the chamber. If you are too close to the middle she will notice you, however if you are near the mages she won't notice you until she manages to spot you. Always use correct protection prayers, as without them she can hit 1000+ with all of her attacks.'''

Smoke phase: Before Nex spawns, stand behind the north west pillar, near Fumus' spawn; if you are the tank stand in the entrance to the west pathway to the center. When Nex has finished spawning minions, the tank should attack her and take the cough, then run south to pull Nex out of the middle and into the outer ring in front of the entrance. The remaining members of the team should now attack, using Freedom when they are pulled, or using it earlier as this is a stun-based attack. Quickly turn on your prayers if you have been stunned.
 * "Let the virus flow through you." - If you get the virus, don't run as this can spread the cough to other team members. This cough lasts for 4-5 ticks. Quickly restore the lost stats after the cloud disappears.
 * "There is... NO ESCAPE!" - This attack can be completely avoided if you don't stand in her path. If the tactics are performed properly she will only move during this attack, and then fly back into the original spot. Using any movement-based bleeds like Slaughter are helpful, as because Nex will move to reach her target, causing the movement effect of the bleed to get in and deal extra damage.

When Nex says "Fumus, don't fail me!", run over to kill Fumus with your range weapon in the north west corner. DD (everyone on the team stands on the same square) exactly 2 spaces south-east of Fumus's spawn spot. It's possible Nex will fly towards you and then back to the middle of the room again, delaying her attacks significantly. If you do this fast enough Nex will not use Smoke Barrage again. Once Fumus is dead, you can step away from your team-mates to let the virus dissipate.

'''After an unknown update (GWD Instances or Patch notes), it is now impossible to build up adrenaline from attacking any of the mages with basic attacks. Non-combat abilities such as Freedom will work, apart from the Provoke ability.'''

Shadow phase: The damage from her shadow attacks (excluding the shadow traps from "Fear the shadow!") is based upon whether you have ranged pray active or not (300 to 2400) Therefore, it is recommended to pray range at all times. Spread out around Nex to prevent constant heavy damage.
 * "Fear the shadow!" - When a trap appears under you, move away from where you're standing. Don't wildly run away; shadow traps from other players will harm you if you step on them. The traps are normally laid after every 4 of Nex's shadow attacks. However, the "Embrace darkness!" attack is always accompanied by shadow traps.
 * "Embrace darkness!" - You'll only take constant damage if you're in Nex's melee range, up to 650 damage per tick if right next to her. Don't stand too close to her, and hit then run back to avoid the damage and her shadow traps. If hit by this attack, run away, and wait a while before attacking again.

Once the phase is finished and Nex says "Umbra, don't fail me!", the player Nex is targeting should lure her over to the boss chamber entrance, or if in a higher man team to the area between Cruor and Glacies for a smoother kill on them later on. The tank should never lure Nex to Umbra, as she will still use her attacks, and the unsuspecting shadow traps will kill most if not all of the attackers.

Blood phase: Turn Protect from Magic back on. If you haven't done so yet, lure Nex over to the entrance to the chamber. This will cause fewer reavers to spawn, and they will spawn closer to the players. Depending on weapons, switch to a two-handed weapon or dual wielded (apart from high level teams or a mass of any sort) to deal extra damage. Avoid using any sort of bleed as this causes Nex to heal from them instead of dealing damage. Bleed abilities include Dismember, Combust, Fragmentation Shot, Slaughter, Deadshot and Massacre.
 * "A siphon will solve this!" - Stop attacking Nex; Tag (hit once) the reavers. Nex uses her siphon after every 5th attack after she calls a blood sacrifice. It's easy to recognize this attack; she will stop attacking and say "A siphon will solve this!", you'll see purple hitsplats on her. Nex usually spawns 1 or 2 blood reavers (if you're on the west side of the chamber, she might on rare occasions not spawn any reavers) when siphoning. During each siphon, attack the reavers 1-2 times (referred to as tagging reavers). It is essential to at least damage the reavers greatly as all their remaining health will be conferred to Nex during her next siphon. Leaving all reavers alive with full life points results in the same phase with health equal or greater than the start of this phase if you are unable to deal enough damage in time. Once you knock her down to calling Cruor, she will not spawn any more reavers, and any living reavers will not heal her health.
 * "I demand a blood sacrifice!" - Run if you are targeted (targeted player becomes RED). Failure to run will result in Nex healing lifepoints and make the blood phase significantly longer. It is advised to use the Escape ability (with adequate space behind the player) to effectively avoid this attack if targeted. Note that the Escape ability will not work if you have recently used a stunning basic ability e.g. Backhand or Impact, and it is therefore not advised to use them until it uses the blood sacrifice attack. Typically, this attack goes on the player the farthest from Nex. After this is finished, the tank must use Provoke on Nex as Nex will now target the player that she had just used this ability on.

After the barrier is down, kill Cruor with your ranged weapon and action bar in the south-east corner. Make sure you spread out from other players now to minimize the amount Nex will heal.

Ice phase: In this stage, Nex's Ice Rush attacks drain the prayer points of everyone hit by 1/4 of the damage dealt (similar to Smite). While attacking her, keep Protect from Magic on at all times, otherwise you will be likely to get frozen for a long period of time, and her damage output on you increases drastically. With prayers, she shouldn't hit above 500.
 * "Contain this!" - Step back if you're close to Nex. This attack causes instant damage and removes protection prayers from players in melee distance, players out of melee distance should run from Nex if they see little icicles moving across the floor from Nex towards them to avoid a prayer drop and heavy damage. Reactivate prayer ASAP and resume attacking Nex. Since everyone will run off, avoid running to the tank as Nex will use it and cause you to be almost killed or dead by her attack. Use Freedom afterwards as this attack is classified as a stun. If you are hit, quickly turn your prayers back on and eat.
 * ​"Die now, in a prison of ice!" - A single player will be trapped in an icicle cage - in smaller groups it is more easier to identify then in masses. The player will be surrounded in a 3x3 area of icicles, and is stunned, with their prayers deactivating. If the player is not freed within 8 ticks, Nex will hit the target, dealing up 4000 damage (from the icicles) and up to 3800 from her attack, but this depends on distance from her. To avoid the damage, one can use Freedom and then Barricade, which will negate her attacks. If the target is an attacker, quickly attack an icicle surrounding the player. If an icicle is destroyed, the player will not receive the damage from the icicles and Nex.

Once the barrier is gone, kill Glacies with range in the southwest corner. Watch out for Glacies freezing you; he can do this through Protect from Magic and leave you open to be hit by "Contain This!".

Final phase: Once Glacies has been killed, get within melee distance of Nex. Nex returns to using Smoke spells during this phase, though with their poisoning ability negated. Nex will activate Turmoil, giving her increased combat stats (yes, this includes her offensive and defensive ability), and will target the tank. Nex's attacks deal very heavy damage on all players (can hit over 2000+ even through prayers), and will swap from Deflect Melee and Soul Split, although sometimes she will use Deflect Missiles once in a while. If she does the latter, the kills are much easier as she will take very long to swap her other overhead curses. A ranged or melee switch with a shield is heavily recommended in this phase. The tank should always be opposite of the attackers, otherwise the attackers will suffer from her shattering melee attacks as well as the magic attacks she will send out once in a while. The tank should always use every defensive ability to his disposal, such as Resonance, Debilitate and Anticipate to reduce and heal from her attacks. Attackers should do the same, but without shield abilities as this is considered the longest phase of the kill.

It is important to note that during the final phase, Nex will heal 40,000 lifepoints (taking her up to 80,000). '''NOTE: If you should die on any of these phases, your grave will just appear on the spot you died. Keep your Ancient ceremonial and Frozen key in the bank. Nex will also despawn if there is no one else in the chamber.'''
 * "Taste my wrath!" - Upon death Nex will use Wrath, so players are advised to quickly move away from Nex to avoid damage. You'll easily have time to move out of this. Being hit by this will deal up to 3000 lifepoint's worth of damage.

Drops
Nex is among the toughest bosses one can fight, but her standard drops are worth hundreds of thousands of coins, with some of them even worth more than harder bosses like Vorago. Nex's drops are also split into equal sections of 4 or 5 at a time, to let all players receive some loot due to her difficulty.

Drop splits
Depending on your LootShare potential, you may be able to receive most if not all of the split drops.
 * Magic seed - 5x split, 1 per split
 * Pure essence - 4x splits, 1200 per split
 * Runite ore - 4x splits, 20 per split
 * Green dragonhide - 4x splits, 100 per split
 * Onyx bolts (e) - 5x splits, 75 per split
 * Magic logs - 5x splits, 75 per split
 * Coal - 4x splits, 600 per split
 * Saradomin brew/Super restore; since they are combined players can receive up to 10 per item drop.

Nex's unique drops are tier 80 Power armour for every class, three full armour sets that offer high defence and offense and are sought by many players. She also drops the Virtus wand and book, tier 80 Magic weapons together equivalent to the chaotic staff, and the zaryte bow, a Ranged equivalent to the chaotic maul.

Armour

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Weapons

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