Brother Bryan’s Beginner’s Guide to DPS at Nex
Nex is a Zarosian standing at an impressive 1001 combat level and is the most fearsome creature in the God Wars Dungeon. Before you can start this fight you must collect 4 key parts from each of the encampments and fuze it together to form the frozen key. This key will allow you through the frozen door next to the entrance to the Armadyl encampment.
It is HIGHLY recommended to purchase a full set of Ancient Ceremonial Robes so you can bypass the 40 Zaros kill-count.
Players who have completed the Fate of the Gods quest will have access to the Shard of Zaros, it is highly recommended to bring this to protect you from ALL followers in GWD (including the Zaros ones). Additionally, if you have completed Ritual of the Mahjarrat, you can use the fairy ring code DKQ to teleport to the Glacor Caves. On entering you will gain a 4-hour empowerment due to residual energy from the Stone of Jas – this will increase your combat abilities (damage/accuracy bonuses?) in certain areas, including within GWD.
Nex is immune to Poison, Stuns and Deflect damage. The fight revolves around 5 different phases. Each phase starts when Nex drops to a certain lifepoints level, at which point you must kill one of her mage followers (who can only be attacked with ranged weapons) to proceed to the next part of the fight.
All fighters should bring the best gear they have in their chosen combat styles. As a DPSer, you should bring either magic or melee AND ranged weapons. Bring a helm, top and leg switch for your secondary combat style. I.E. Wear full melee gear, in your inventory have a ranged weapon, ranged helm/top/legs. I only advise players familiar with Nex mechanics to use void.
You should bring Overloads if you have them, else extremes. Bring several Super Prayer Renewals or Super Restores. Bring enhanced excalibur, a 1-click teleport and a BoB (filled with high level food).
NOTE: There is a bank just before the entrance to this boss, so on your way up you need only bring your Ancient Ceremonial Robes, Frozen key and Shard of Zaros – these items should all then be banked before entering the boss room!
On entry to the boss room, all DPSers should stand just north of the steps (directly next to the entry point – near Fumus) and wait for the Tank to lure Nex up to the top of the stairs.
SMOKE PHASE:
Use Protect from Magic during this phase.
In this phase Nex will randomly drag players in and stun them for 3 seconds, this is unavoidable – simply wait for the stun to run out, then move back to the group of DPSers. When Nex says “There is…” all players should use Freedom or Anticipation and move away from the paths to the center, to avoid being dragged for extra damage.
At 160,000LP Nex will call out to fumus. If not already, swap to ranged and kill fumus as quickly as possible.
SHADOW PHASE:
Use Protect from Ranged during this phase.
It is advised for beginners to use either magic or ranged during this phase, as if you remain within melee distance to Nex for too long you will start to take rapid damage until you move away – If this happens you’ll get a message saying “The shadows start to consume you!”. If you really want to melee here, you need simply to run in, deal a few blows to Nex, then run back to reset the counter on if you’ll take tick damage or not.
When Nex says “Fear the shadow”, she’ll lay a shadow trap underneath you, simply step one square in any direction to avoid this – Make sure you don’t accidentally step on someone else’s trap or you WILL take damage.
At 120,000LP Nex will call to Umbra. Move around the outside of the room and kill Umbra as fast as possible. You should ideally have timed it so by the time Umbra is dead you’ll be at 100% adrenaline for the Blood Phase.
BLOOD PHASE:
Use Protect from Magic during this phase.
Nex will usually start this phase off by saying “A siphon will solve this!” and summon some blood reavers. EVERYTIME you see her say this, stop attacking Nex, as any damage dealt to her will heal her instead. If the reavers are nearby, attack and kill them – Don’t however waste your time running away to kill them. After Nex attacks 4 times, it is safe to attack her again.
Nex will then call out “I demand a blood sacrifice!”, this will cause one player to turn red. If you turn red, run away from Nex (using escape or surge is recommended). If you don’t get far enough away, Nex will heal your maximum lifepoints, drain your prayer by half and heal more if you’re near other players.
The best way to deal with this phase is to wait until 4 attacks after she calls a siphon and using berserk/sunshine/death’s swiftness, build adrenaline, then use a threshold ability. This phase is usually the hardest for soloers or small teams.
You should also avoid using any bleeds during this phase, as they will heal her instead of doing damage.
At 80,000LP Nex will call to Cruor, run across and kill Cruor as fast as possible.
ICE PHASE:
Use Protect from Magic during this phase.
Nex has two special attacks during this phase, that she rotates between. When she calls “Contain this!”, Nex will cause 4 icicles to spawn around her in a 3X3 area that will stun players and cause damage. When Nex calls a contain, simply make sure you’re 5 square away and you’ll be fine. You will only be stunned if within 3 squares, if within 5 squares you will take damage.
When Nex calls “Die now in a prison of Ice!”, a player will be trapped in ice, stunned for 5 seconds and their overhead prayers will be disabled. Shortly after the prison is spawned, it will break dealing 8,000 damage – this attack very rarely hits anyone but the tank. If you get caught in a prison, simply eat up to full health. Anyone not caught in a prison should run up and click on the ice incasing the trapped player and “break” it. Once one piece of ice is broken, the trapped player will not take the 8K damage hit.
At 40,000LP Nex will call to Glacies – run off and kill Glacies as fast as possible.
ZAROS PHASE:
Use Protect from Magic during this phase.
At the beginning of this phase Nex will heal back to 73,333LP and activate Turmoil, she can also use Soul Split during this phase. It is inadvisable to use melee during this phase – players should also stand away from the tank as Nex’s melee attacks shatter around the tank and deal damage to anyone directly next to them (usually DPSers stand on the opposite side of Nex to the tank during this phase).
Use abilities such as berserk/death’s swiftness/sunshine and spam out as much damage as you can. When Nex is killed she will use Wrath, so surge/escape/run away quickly to avoid taking damage from this.
NOTES:
- During all phases, Nex can use protection prayers, so pay attention to this and adjust your attacks accordingly.
- Minions can only be killed with ranged.
- Keep your health above 2/3rds during the fight until you have a good understanding of what’s going on.
SHORT NOTES FOR EACH PHASE:
- SMOKE: Pray Magic. Anticipate/Freedom when “There is…” is called.
- SHADOW: Pray Range. Stay out of melee distance. Move off your current square when “Fear the shadow” is called.
- BLOOD: Pray Magic. Don’t attack for 4 (of Nex’s) attacks after a siphon is called. Kill revers if nearby. Use ultimates at the end of first siphon. Don’t use bleeds. Surge/escape away if you turn red
- ICE: Pray Magic. Move away from Nex if a contain is called. Click on the ice to free players trapped by a prison (keep hitpoints above 9,000 if trapped in one).
- ZAROS: Pray Magic. Keep away from the tank. Use magic or ranged attacks. Run away when Nex is killed.
Anyone wanting more detailed information can feel free to message me. I’ve tried to cover all the basics without overloading you with information that you don’t need to know as a beginner.
Courtesy of Bryanqwert, last updated April 2nd 2016