TzHaar Fight Cave

The TzHaar Fight Cave is an activity in RuneScape released on 4 October 2005. It involves single-handedly fighting off many waves of TzHaar creatures, ending in a boss fight against one of the strongest monsters on RuneScape: TzTok-Jad, with a combat level of 702. Players will be rewarded with Tokkul for playing this activity, and if they manage to defeat TzTok-Jad, they will be rewarded with the fire cape - the strongest cape in the game.

Up until the release date of this activity, the Kalphite Queen (level 333) was the most powerful creature in RuneScape. The introduction of the TzHaar Fight Cave introcuced 2 higher-level monsters: TzTok-Jad (level 702) and Ket-Zek (level 360). The Kalphite Queen is widely regarded as more difficult to defeat than the level 360 Ket-Zek. TzTok-Jad was, for a long time, the strongest monster in the game. After some years, the Corporeal Beast (level 785) was released, which is now considered the hardest boss. Later, Nomad (level 699) was released, currently the most difficult quest boss and, like TzTok-Jad, very hard to defeat.

Playing this activity till the end takes a considerable amount of time and resources, requiring usually 2 to 3 hours of continuous playing and a considerable number of potions. At 90+ Ranged it can take as little as just over an hour to get to TzTok-Jad; however it is advised the player makes sure they can play straight for at least three hours. Logging out between waves can be done, but is risky. A good internet connection is also very helpful, as lag in the Fight Cave at the wrong moment can be deadly. Playing on a low-populated world decreases the chance of lag.

Location
The Fight Cave is located in TzHaar City, deep under the ground of Karamja. First of all, the player has to travel to Karamja. There are a few ways to do this:


 * Travel by ship from Port Sarim or Ardougne - this will cost 30 coins, unless the player brings a ring of charos (a).


 * Teleport with a charged Amulet of Glory to Karamja.


 * Teleport to one's Player-Owned House in Brimhaven.


 * Use the fairy rings (code BLP) to teleport directly to TzHaar city.

Whatever method is chosen, the player then has to make their way to Karamja volcano (this does not apply if one uses the fairy rings), east of Brimhaven and west of Musa Point. At the top of the volcano, to the southeast of the lava lake, is the entrance to a dungeon. Climb down. To the east of the rope, another dungeon entrance should be visible, made of lava-like material. Enter this - it is the entrance to TzHaar City. Now walk south to the crossroads, and then west to the bank. South of the bank is the entrance to the Fight Cave.

Alternative methods
Higher levelled players may find that the Saradomin Godsword is a useful weapon to bring into the caves. This allows for regular boosts in prayer and life points. This eliminates the need for food up until Jad (in most circumstances), and cuts down on prayer restore potion usage.

Despite some of the lower levelled creatures having 100 or 200 lifepoints, players can still heal the equivalent to what they would have hit, should the given monster have had more life points. The saradomin godsword's special attack heals on a 1:2 ratio to lifepoints (and 1:40 for prayer), meaning that a hit of 400 life points will restore 200 lifepoints (as well as 10 prayer!).

The Saradomin Godsword is best used in conjunction with range (for details of equipment, see above). Using the two methods, rangers can afford to be a little more relaxed as to the damage they receive, due to the fact that they will find they are able to use one special attack per round from roughly round 20.

An effective method of using range and the godsword is to use a Crystal bow (or alternative) as you otherwise would, and save a Tz-Kek for last, and healing on that to prepare for the next round. Sometimes even using a Dragon halberd on some of the monsters while they are stuck can save some bolts or crystal bow charges.

Another method for high levelled players is to use full Proselyte, a Soul Wars cape (from Nomad's Requiem), a God Stole, and a Dragon Halberd to complete the waves. The benefit to this method is that the gear has extremely high prayer bonus (+36 with a Slayer helm, +39 with a Helm of Neitiznot) which allows the player to use fewer prayer potions. With 90+ attack and strength, and extreme attack and strength potions, this method can be used to complete the caves as quickly as with traditional range-based methods.

However, this method is quite advanced, as the player must use caution with the halberd. Running up to a Ket-Zek with the halberd may put the player within the Ket-Zek's melee reach, so it is advised to turn run off several steps before hitting the Ket Zek, and then on again once the player is attacking from a safe distance. This is even more critical when fighting TzTok-Jad, as the player must keep the healers away from Jad, while staying within halberd reach of Jad. Often this involves complex maneuvers to line the healers up parallel to Jad.

While not a method in of itself, players with a high Magic level may wish to bring runes for a multi-targeted Blood spell, as this can speed up the caves considerably while providing additional healing. It takes some practice to learn to hit many monsters at the same time, because when cast on a multi-square monster, the spell only hits creatures adjacent to the monster's southwest-most corner square.

Players who have plenty of time on their hands could bring full penance and rest. This restores both health points and prayer, but takes quite a long time. This is best used in conjunction with ranging.

Map
The Fight Cave is a large cave that has three 'rocks' that can be used as safe spots: Orb Rock(west), Dragon Rock (north) and Italy Rock (east). The entrance is located in the northeastern corner of the cave. Many pools of lava are located near the walls.

Monsters
In this activity, players must battle past six other types of monsters ranging from level 22 up to level 360, before facing the final boss, TzTok-Jad. Each of these monsters require a different tactic by the player, though, due to the structure of the activity, most of them are best fought from a distance. The monsers generally have high Attack and Strength, along with a special ability, but low life points and Defence. This means they will hit hard and often, but can be killed quite easily.

The monsters are in order of appearance by wave number:

Waves
This is a breakdown of the waves. The monsters are referred to by their combat levels.
 * 22
 * 22, 22
 * 45
 * 45, 22
 * 45, 22, 22
 * 45, 45
 * 90
 * 90, 22
 * 90, 22, 22
 * 90, 45
 * 90, 45, 22
 * 90, 45, 22, 22
 * 90, 45, 45
 * 90, 90
 * 180
 * 180, 22
 * 180, 22, 22
 * 180, 45
 * 180, 45, 22
 * 180, 45, 22, 22
 * 180, 45, 45
 * 180, 90
 * 180, 90, 22
 * 180, 90, 22, 22
 * 180, 90, 45
 * 180, 90, 45, 22
 * 180, 90, 45, 22, 22
 * 180, 90, 45, 45
 * 180, 90, 90
 * 180, 180
 * 360
 * 360, 22
 * 360, 22, 22
 * 360, 45
 * 360, 45, 22
 * 360, 45, 22, 22
 * 360, 45, 45
 * 360, 90
 * 360, 90, 22
 * 360, 90, 22, 22
 * 360, 90, 45
 * 360, 90, 45, 22
 * 360, 90, 45, 22, 22
 * 360, 90, 45, 45
 * 360, 90, 90
 * 360, 180
 * 360, 180, 22
 * 360, 180, 22, 22
 * 360, 180, 45
 * 360, 180, 45, 22
 * 360, 180, 45, 22, 22
 * 360, 180, 45, 45
 * 360, 180, 90
 * 360, 180, 90, 22
 * 360, 180, 90, 22, 22
 * 360, 180, 90, 45
 * 360, 180, 90, 45, 22
 * 360, 180, 90, 45, 22, 22
 * 360, 180, 90, 45, 45
 * 360, 180, 90, 90
 * 360, 180, 180
 * 360, 360 *
 * 702, (108, 108, 108, 108)
 * Logging out after wave 62 and 63 (Jad) can be helpful for some player to prepare themselves physically and calm down before the final fight.
 * The four level 108 healers will appear when Jad is at half health. It may happen, that they respawn if you killed them when they healed Jad to full health. They don't have to be killed to complete the fight caves.

The progression can be summarized as follows: if a wave has two of the same level monster, the next wave will replace that monster with one monster of the next higher level; e.g.: "22, 22" becomes "45", "90, 90" becomes "180", and so on. If all monsters have different levels, an extra Tz-Kih (22) appears.

The running total of monsters is: 48 Tz-Kih (22), 40 Tz-Kek (45) [80 Tz-Kek (22)], 36 Tok-Xil (90), 34 Yt-MejKot (180), 33 Ket-Zek, 1 TzTok-Jad (702), 4 Yt-HurKot (108).

The toughest rounds are: 53 to 60 and 63 (Jad).

TzTok-Jad
TzTok-Jad is the final monster encountered in the Fight Cave. Examining it yields the discouraging message "This is going to hurt...". It is the second highest level monster in all of RuneScape that players can fight with conventional methods (succeeded by the Corporeal beast and preceded by Nomad). Defeating TzTok-Jad requires a huge amount of persistence and determination, as TzTok-Jad is rarely defeated in the first few tries by even the best RuneScape players.

General information
In order for one to reach TzTok-Jad, one must first endure 62 waves of fighting progressively tougher monsters. The current wave that the player is on is shown at the beginning of each wave. TzTok-Jad himself is a level 702, huge, four-legged behemoth and uses all three sides of the combat triangle - Magic, Ranged and melee. TzTok-Jad will attack with melee only when the player is adjacent to him. When the player is in melee range, TzTok-Jad will use Magic and Ranged attacks as well. If the player attacks from a distance - which is strongly recommended - TzTok-Jad will alternate between Magic and Ranged attacks. During the fight, the player should have auto retaliate on and focus on switching to the correct protection prayer in time. Even when the Yt-HurKots appear or the player gets hit, switching prayers is the most important thing to do.

It is also possible to use the Ancient Curses from The Temple at Senntisten to protect from his attacks. The Deflect Curses are very useful, as they work and drain the same way the normal protection prayers do, (the Curses can also be used against Yt-MejKot, Ket-Zek and Tok-Xil) and have a chance of dealing some helpful damage to the enemies attacking (up to 97 on TzTok-Jad, since its maximum hit is 970) It is widely believed that the Deflect Curses deal 10% of damage of what the enemy would have caused. The disadvantage is you need at least 68 prayer (if using range) or 71 (if using melee for TzTok-Jad.)

Attacks
Survival depends on watching TzTok-Jad's movements - an emote precedes the attack, telling the player which prayer to use.
 * Melee: TzTok-Jad quickly slams his fist into the player. This is the fastest attack, but if the player stays at a distance, they should not encounter it.
 * Magic: TzTok-Jad lowers his head while a ball of fire is created above his head - the player must turn on their prayer now. Then, the spell will be fired at the player. The same sound as the Retribution prayer being triggered is played before the attack is launched, which makes it easier to identify it.
 * Ranged: TzTok-Jad slams down his front legs onto the ground, and large cracks will in the floor appear at his feat - the player must turn on their prayer now. Next, a boulder will fall down on the player. TzTok-Jad usually opens the fight with a Ranged attack, so pray against missiles at the beginning of the fight. Note that sometimes TzTok-Jad will still start with a Magic attack; in this case, change prayers when you see the Magic attack emote.

Although somewhat slow, all of these attacks can deal enough damage in a single blow to kill even the most powerful of players if not guarded against via using the correct protection prayer, as TzTok-Jad has a maximum hit of 970 and hits very accurately.

Healers
When TzTok-Jad is down to half health, he will summon four Yt-HurKots (level 108 melee fighters with 600 LP and tiny in comparison) which will heal him, effectively causing him to regenerate endlessly until they are dealt with. In order to stop them from healing, they need to be hit once so they turn their attention to the player. The Yt-HurKots' melee attacks hit up to 140, so the player could kill them, but if one has a decent Defence level and good equipment, they should not be extremely dangerous - one should always watch their health, though. Alternatively, when all of the Yt-HurKots are attacking the player, run through TzTok-Jad and they will become trapped behind him. This is not advised unless the player is experienced. If they healed TzTok-Jad back to full health and are then killed, they will respawn; otherwise not.

Notes:


 * When the Yt-HurKots appear, before attacking them with a Ranged weapon to distract them, the player is advised to set the attack style to long range. Otherwise they may walk too close to TzTok-Jad and get hit by his melee attack.


 * If the player gets hit by TzTok-Jad, they should not panic or consume a large amount of food or potions in one go. Stay calm and focused. Heal once every time he attacks while prioritizing praying first.

Using function keys
Surviving TzTok-Jad's attacks depends on watching his movements. He warns the player before attacking with magic and ranged attacks. By listening for certain sounds and watching his forelegs prior to his attack, he/she can switch to the appropriate protection prayer and avoid severe damage. Between these attacks the player must switch as quickly as possible otherwise he/she could experience hits up to 970s. One way to do this a little quicker is to use the keys "f1" (inventory) and "f3" (prayer); if one wastes even less than a second, the results could be fatal. Using the f keys to switch between interfaces can be done on a PC, some linux, and mac computers. However, in order to use this feature on a mac you must first press the function (fn) key on the keyboard simultaneously with the f1 and f3 keys which may take more time. (however this can be changed through --> System preferences --> Keyboard -->and then check the box "use F1,F2 keys as Standard function keys" to normally use the function keys without the 'fn' key)

Restoring health


For players who wish to save their high-healing foods for later fights may choose to find a safespot and wait until their life points heal. This is very time consuming, but casting a Lunar Dream spell, having a bracelet of regeneration equip or Rapid Heal/Rapid Renewal turned on or simply Resting will speed up the healing process. An Enhanced excalibur is very helpful here, it can heal 200 life points (400 after Seers elite diary tasks) and boosts your defence level every 5 minutes. Higher level players may also find the Saradomin godsword to be useful, as both prayer and life points can be recovered.

TzHaar Slayer task
Since the release of Kuradal, players may now receive Tzhaar creatures as Slayer tasks. Upon receiving the assignment, Kuradal will offer a player the option to upgrade the task to "280 volcanic creatures of the Tzhaar Fight Caves." Defeating TzTok-Jad on this special assignment will give a bonus of 25,000 Slayer experience, the largest amount of experience to be gained from any monster. Additionally, going through the whole Fight Cave on this alternative task may yield up to 37,000 Slayer experience. This consists of all waves up to 63, including killing eight Yt-HurKots (two waves) and TzTok-Jad himself. It is highly advised to get a full slayer helmet or a focus sight before attempting this task with range. The Slayer experience breakdown of a Tzhaar Fight Caves task is:

48 TzKih (480xp), 40 TzKek [large (800xp)], 80 Tz-Kek [divided (800xp)], 36 Tok-Xil (1,440xp), 34 Yt-MejKot (2,720xp), 33 Ket-Zek (5,280xp), TzTok-Jad (25,000xp), and 8 Yt-HurKot (480xp).

If a player fails/chooses not to kill the all of the Yt-HurKot, he/she can start the fight caves over to fight eight lesser creatures, gaining 50-370xp in Slayer less than if all healers were killed. This may be considered a more favorable option, despite less xp, as killing even one wave of them is often difficult when fighting TzTok-Jad.



Rewards


If one is successful in completing all the waves and defeating TzTok-Jad, they receive 16,064 Tokkul and the much-coveted fire cape. This cape has an animated "lava" pattern. The animation shows lava flowing downwards continually.

The Fire Cape is widely considered the best cape in RuneScape. It provides more protection (+11 in all defence bonuses) than the Cape of Legends (+7), the skillcapes (+9) and the Obsidian cape (+9). It is, of course, non-tradeable. The only capes better in any area are the God capes which provide a higher magic offensive bonus only, Ava's attractor or accumulator in ranged attack bonus, and trimmed Capes of achievement as well as Vestment cloaks, Soul Wars cape, and the Ardougne cloak 2, 3 and 4 which are only higher in prayer.

The Fire cape also gives the ability to obtain an Ice strykewyrm slayer task without using slayer reward points to purchase that ability, and doubles the damage of fire spells while slaying them. In addition, it adds 40 damage to all attacks against them. Ice strykewyrms are the only monster to drop the coveted Staff of light.

Defeating TzTok-Jad subsequently after obtaining the Fire Cape awards the player with another Fire Cape and 16,064 Tokkul, allowing you to have more than one fire cape at a time. Any spare fire capes can also be sold to TzHaar-Mej-Jal for 16,064 Tokkul per cape.

If a player dies in the fight caves, they will still get Tokkul, but not as much as they would if they defeated TzTok-Jad. The further a player gets, the more Tokkul and if one dies at TzTok-Jad then they will only receive 8,800 Tokkul—about half the amount than if the player defeats TzTok-Jad.

As of 9 November 2009, defeating the Fight Cave and TzTok-Jad rewards the player with double Tokkul!



Trivia

 * When the activity originally came out, players could use the Dwarf multicannon in the Caves. This was remedied shortly thereafter.
 * TzTok-Jad originally only used Ranged and Melee; however, Jagex later added Magic to his attacks so players couldn't kill TzTok-Jad as easily.
 * When the activity was first released, you could not log out during the fight caves without giving up all of your progress. It is now possible to logout during the fight caves and pick up where you left off. When the logout button is clicked, the player will receive an option to logout immediately or at the end of the current wave. If they chose to logout immediately, the player will be required to re-do the wave they were on when trying to log out. Additionally, if a player clicks the logout button while fighting a monster, the player will appear to log out, but the "Connection Lost" screen will appear, and the player will find themselves back for the next level.
 * When summoning was released, scrolls could be brought to the caves and familiars summoned. This was probably fixed with the release of TokTz-Ket-Dill Quest.


 * Before the random event update it was possible to receive Genie, Evil Chicken, and Jekyll and Hyde Random Events inside the fight caves. This was to combat a problem with botting inside the caves for training purposes. These events were removed with the update, and random events usually do not occur in the Fight Cave anymore—it still occurs if a player logs out and logs back in after finishing a wave.


 * The fight caves can also be used as a place to recover for players killing Tzhaar monsters or Lesser Demons when their Prayer or Lifepoints are low. This is effective because it is faster to die in the caves than to go find a prayer altar.
 * If you are low on potions, food or the like when there is only one or two monsters left to kill, trapping them on the other side of the Italy rock can allow you to rest and regenerate health without using supplies.


 * The monsters' levels double as the waves increase. The first monster is level 22: 22+22 is 44, which is rounded up to 45. This makes the next monster level 45. 45+45 is 90, making the next monster level 90. 90+90 is 180, making the next monster level 180. 180+180 is 360, making the next monster level 360. Finally, 360+360 is 720, but because the hitpoint limit was 255 (2550) when TzTok-Jad was introduced, he could not have 3200LP. Therefore his combat level is not 720 (double of Ket-Zek, 360), but only 702.
 * It is possible to get roughly 90k Ranged experience by using the range only method while completing the Fight Caves. Note that this depends on how much the Jad heals and how much damage is dealt to the healers.
 * Jagex has recently hinted at the possibility of a higher-levelled boss being added, along with several more waves. This would of course bring the requirements for the fire cape in to question, and there is speculation that its requirements would stay, while a new reward, such as an upgrade to the existing cape, would be given for killing the new boss.
 * There is even more speculation that the new item would be possibly be a dragon bow, as a fire bow would seem awkward (or even possibly obsidian). As Ranged is the primary method of choice for defeating the fight caves, it would be logical to introduce a ranged reward. This, however, is fairly unlikely because it was said by Jagex that the dragon crossbow will come out once the combat triangle is balanced.
 * The equation to find what wave a given monster will make its first appearance is W = 2^x - 1, where x = the tier of the monster you wish to find the wave it appears (1-6, 1 being the level 22, 2 being the 45's, 3 being the 90's, 4 being the 180's, 5 being the 360's, and 6 being TzTok-Jad). Where W = the wave it will appear on.