Feedback Update: Ancient Prison

January 17th, 2011

Welcome, one and all, to the first feedback update of 2011! It's been over a month since the last feedback update but hopefully you won't be too upset when you see what we have in store for today's update. We're expanding the most dangerous place in Gielinor, adding a swathe of cool new equipment and trying to balance the combat triangle all in one update! Awesome. So, head over to the ol' God Wars Dungeon to see what's going on beneath the ice and discover four (yes, that's right, four!) new dungeons for four gods with four new bosses and new creatures beyond count! Not quite as powerful as the ancient Nex, these bosses are still a force to be reckoned with and come complete with full voice acting and spectacular graphics - mischievous Marshal Agenei of Marimbo, mysterious huntress Resillyaf of Seren, commanding Lord Rasett of Tumeken and the forgotten druid Ketunix the Great of Guthix. Enter if you dare...

God Wars Dungeon Lower Level
The lower level of the God Wars Dungeon can only be accessed if the player has killed Commander Zilyana, Kree'arra, K'ril Tsutsaroth and General Graardor and opened the frozen door to Nex's army. Once all the criteria have been met, the next time the player enters the dungeon a cutscene will play showing an earthquake and part of the ice near the dungeon entrance caving in. Players can then attach a rope to this hole and climb down. This only needs to be done once. Upon climbing down, the player will arrive in a small cavern similar to the one above where the forces of the gods fight. However, these are the forces of Marimbo, Seren, Tumeken and Guthix. There are four doors leading off from this cavern that are the areas for the specific gods. To the northwest lies Marimbo's Temple, to the southwest is Seren's Sanctuary, to the northeast lies Tumeken's Bastion and to the southeast is Guthix's Grove.

Marimbo's Temple
Marimbo's Temple is in the northwest of the lower dungeon. The door is locked and can be opened with 70 Thieving and a lockpick. Being the domain of Marimbo, this area contains many different kinds of monkeys. Along with spiritual rangers, spiritual mages and spiritual warriors, there are level 6 monkeys, level 90 monkey archers (although not on platforms), level 94 monkey knife fighters level 171 monkey guards. Most of the monkeys are similar to as they are on Ape Atoll except the knife fighters cannot be pickpocketed and attack with ranged throwing knives. They have 710 lifepoints and can hit up to 100 damage very rapidly. As with all other God Wars Dungeon bosses, once 40 of these minions have been killed, the boss of Marimbo's Temple can be fought.

Marshal Agenei
Marshal Agenei is an armoured gorilla slightly larger than an Elder Guard. He is level 602 and has 2250 lifepoints. Agenei has two attacks - a sweeping melee attack with his armoured hands and a ranged attack where multiple players are pelted with rocks. The melee attack can hit up to 580 lifepoints damage and the ranged attack can hit 340. The rocks may shatter on impact, reducing the max hit to 220 but hitting up to four players at once. Agenei's armour means he has a much higher defence and has damage soaking capabilities of around 30%, meaning hitting through his armour can be quite difficult. Every one third taken off his health, the damage soaking will decrease by 10% - highlighted by his armour falling off.

Agenei also has three assistants to help in the battle - Oiran, Wesiji and Samoka. Oiran attacks with a slow but highly accurate melee attack that can hit up to 400 damage. Wesiji uses a magic attack that has a max hit of 250 damage but can also poison starting at 52 damage. Samoka uses ranged with a very fast firing shortbow that can hit up to 170 damage. All of these are level 139 and have 1230 lifepoints, except for Oiran who has 1250.

Seren's Sanctuary
Seren's Sanctuary is in the southwest of the lower level of the dungeon. The door to the sanctuary has a magical lock that can be dispelled with 70 Magic. There are many different elves and their allies on this level, along with the spiritual rangers and mages along with level 94 and level 112 elf warriors and level 92 dire wolves. This is the only part of the God Wars Dungeon not to have any Spiritual Warriors. There are also elf archers, level 97 with 1040 lifepoints and a max hit of 170 with their own crystal bows, and crystal shapeshifters, level 152 with 1330 lifepoints who alternate between a melee form and a magic form, both with a max hit of 290. Once 40 of these opponents are killed, the door to the huntress' chamber is unlocked.

Resillyaf
Resillyaf the huntress is the boss of Seren's Sanctuary. She is level 599 and has 2350 lifepoints. What's unique about this boss fight is that Resillyaf stands on a platform of ice and cannot be attacked with melee for most of the battle. She uses both ranged and magic to attack players - her ranged attack can hit up to 450 damage and her magic can hit 390. The magic attack also has a chance to freeze the player in a crystal block, much like an ice attack, so they can't move for up to 5 seconds. Only when she reaches a quarter health will the huntress jump down and start attacking with melee. At this point, she continues to use magic but switches from ranged to a long dagger that can hit up to 240. Occasionally, she will use a special exactly the same as a dragon dagger - hitting twice in one attack (up to 480 damage).

As with all the other bosses, Resillyaf has three little helpers to make the fight tougher. The first is an eleven warrior called Llarta. He is level 145 and has 1280 lifepoints. He attacks players with melee throughout the fight using his pike, which can hit up to 360 damage. The other two elves are a mage named Urundir and a ranger named Nirvaen. They stay on the platform with Resillyaf for the whole fight and are both level 135 with 1210 lifepoints. The ranger attacks slowly but accurately and has a max hit of 380. The mage uses the same crystal attack as Resillyaf, with the same chance to freeze but a lower max hit - only 290.

Tumeken's Bastion
Tumeken's Bastion is the northeastern area of the lower level. The door to the sanctuary is frozen solid and can be melted with 70 Firemaking and a tinderbox. Within the bastion are the usual spiritual opponents along with several desert enemies - level 97 dust devils, level 88 and 128 mummies and level 35 vultures. There are also level 107 menaphite guardians - who take on the form of either the jackal-headed Icthlarin, the falcon-headed Tumeken or the crocodile-headed Crondis. The guardians of Crondis use melee, Icthlarin ranged and Tumeken melee. When forty enemies have been defeated, Lord Rasett's chamber is unlocked.

Lord Rasett
Lord Rasett is the level 630, 2540 lifepoint boss of Tumken's Bastion. He is unique in that he has no assistants for the part of the battle but does begin with three - Nahud, Mejak and Gatan. Nahud has the head of a jackal and uses ranged, Mejak is falcon-headed and uses ranged and Gatan is a crocodilian melee warriors. All three are level 144 with 1250 lifepoints and have a max hit of 305. Each of them are statues that come to life in a cutscene at the start of the fight and will crumble to dust when killed. Rasett himself attacks with magic and melee - with max hits of 350 and 410 respectively. When one third of his health has been removed, another cutscene will occur where the surviving statues return to their walls to be repaired magically while new ones are formed to replace the destroyed. During this period, Rasett cannot use magic but his melee max hit is increased to 500. When another third is down, the final cutscene will occur and the statues re-enter the fight with full lifepoints and a new max hit of 380. Rasett can now use both magic and melee again and his magic can now hit multiple opponents. Once his final third is removed, Rasett and his statues will die.

Guthix's Grove
The final dungeon is in the southeast and is known as Guthix's Grove. This is home to the frozen extremist warriors of Guthix, who had grown tired of waiting for their god and so decided to take arms in the name of balance. The door is overgrown with frozen vines that can be cut down with 70 Woodcutting and any hatchet. Inside the grove are the usual three spiritual enemies and familiar Guthixians from the surface - level 37 druids, level 5 gnomes, level 32 terrorbirds, level 83 and 96 tortoises, level 29 and 52 black guards, level 70 black guard berserkers, level 87 crossbowdwarves, level 104 hand cannoneers (only not evil) and level 90 elite black guards. There are also dwarf cannons manned by level 13 dwarf engineers and guarded by other, higher level dwarves.

Ketunix the Great
Ketunix the Great is the druid boss of the grove. Aside from Nex, he is the highest level boss in God Wars - 656 - and has 2570 lifepoints. He attacks with all three combat styles but only has one aid - a level 150 cannoneer with enhanced dwarf cannon. The cannoneer is on a ledge and can only be attacked with ranged, magic or a halberd. If he dies, the cannon will continue to shoot until out of ammunition and then a new cannoneer will appear whenever the druid calls for one. The cannon rotates only 180 degrees so it can fire on enemies for longer and can be loaded with 60 cannonballs, not 30. The max hit is the same but the combat style is fixed on ranged. Ketunix himself attacks with a magic attack that can hit up to 420, melee that can hit two times, up to 280 each time, and ranged that can hit 290. The magic attack has a random chance to heal Ketunix by one quarter of what is hit.

When one quarter of his health has been lost, Ketunix will summon a random familiar. This could be any combat familiar between the spirit wolf and terrorbird. When half health, the druid will summon another familiar, even if the other is still alive. Again, this could be any combat familiar but between the spirit terrorbird and steel titan. At one quarter health, he will summon any two combat familiars, even if the other two are alive. The worst possible combination for players fighting available at this point is a spirit terrorbird and three steel titans so it is wise to eliminate the familiars before too many are present simultaneously. All the familiars will use their special abilities once very 5 attacks.

Drops
Each of the bosses in the lower level of the dungeon can drop the godsword shards and has their own special hilts. However, these hilts and shards are not connected to a blade but to a godstaff to form four new magical weapons - the godstaves. All godstaves have the following bonuses:

They require 75 Magic to wield and, although they provide no infinite runes, they each have a unique special atatck. Godstaves can be bought whole or crafted from three shards, a godstaff and the unique hilt with 80 Crafting. There are also new weapons and armour sets unique to each dungeon as on the upper floor, along with more regular drops.

Marimbo's Temple
Marshal Agenei and his three bodyguards - Oiran, Wesiji and Samoka - all have a chance to drop godsword shards, godsword staff and the Marimbo hilt, which can be combined into a Marimbo Godstaff. It has a special attack called 'Hand of the Monkeys' that makes deals extra magic damage to all players within 2 squares of the player on the next attack. Each extra damage has a max hit of one third of that of the spell. This takes up 100% of the special bar.

The boss and his guards can also drop a new ranged weapon - the ancient throwing knife. The new level 94 monkey knife fighters also have a chance to drop new dragon knives. The ancient knife requires 70 Ranged to wield and the dragon knife requires 60. Both of these follow on from the previous knives in terms of stats - the dragon knife has +35 ranged attack and +34 ranged strength and the ancient knife has +45 ranged attack and +44 ranged strength. The dragon knife can be poisoned while the ancient cannot and both are stackable with the same impressive attack speed as all other throwing knives. The dragon knife also has a special attack called 'Dual Throw' where two knives are thrown at once - either two at the same target in single combat or at two different targets in multi-combat. This takes up 90% of the special bar. The dragon knives were also added as a new, very rare pickpocket loot from the monkey knife fighters on Ape Atoll.

Seren's Sanctuary
The huntress Resillyaf and her three aides - Llarta, Urundir and Nirvaen - all have a chance to drop godsword shards, staff and Seren hilt. These can be combined with 80 Crafting into the Seren Godstaff. This godstaff, like all others, requires 75 Magic to wield and does not provide any infinite runes. The special attack of this godstaff is called 'Crystal Strike', which will rain sharp crystals down onto the enemy from above, dealing up to 300 damage that cannot be prayed against. This takes up 100% of the special bar.

Seren's boss and bodyguards also have a chance to drop another new magic weapon - the dust battlestaff. This provides infinite earth runes and air runes. This has the same bonuses as the mist battlestaff and, like it, can also be upgraded into a mystic earth staff by Thormac after Scorpion Catcher for 40,000 coins. It has a special attack called 'Seismic Shock' that causes a small earthquake, making the opponents' next attack 50% less accurate. This takes up 55% of the special bar. The level 152 crystal shapeshifters also have a unique drop - the shapeshifters' amulet. This is very rare and provides a +5% defence against the two combat styles that the player is not praying against. It provides no bonuses if a protection prayer is not active and continues to provide the same bonuses for two ticks after prayer is activated, deactivated or switched.

Tumeken's Bastion
Lord Rasett and bodyguards - Nahud, Mejak and Gatan - can all drop the shards, staff and hilt (bodyguards will only drop something when killed after their repair). Together these make the Tumeken Godstaff. The staff's special attack is called 'Ancient Sands' that will make the player invisible in a cloud of dust. After 10 seconds, the player becomes visible again and this takes up 75% of the special bar.

The bosses of the desert god can also drop a new melee weapon - the Tumeken Mace. The mace is two-handed and is primarily a crush weapon with a weaker stab attack. It is quite a slow weapon but not as slow as other high-level crush weapons like the chaotic maul. It has a special attack called 'Tumeken's Glory' that increases the accuracy and power of the next attack by 25% while halving the speed and reducing defence against the enemies' next attack by 25%. This takes up 30% of the special bar. It requires 70 Attack to wield and has the following stat bonuses:

Guthix's Grove
The great druid Ketunix alone can drop the Guthix hilt that, when combined with shards and staff he also drops, forms the Guthix Godstaff. The special attack of this staff is the 'Vines of Balance', which traps the opponent in vines for up to 6 seconds - stopping any movement or attacks. This takes up 100% of the special bar. Being the second most powerful God Wars boss, Ketunix has a second drop - a set of armour similar to that of Bandos or Armadyl but for mages. This requires 70 Magic and 70 Defence to wear and is made up of three parts - robe top, robe bottom and hood. The bonuses for the set are shown below:

While the cannoneer in the boss room does not drop any part of the godstaff, they do have a chance to drop pieces of Guthix armour and a new type of cannonball - the ancient cannonball. The only way to obtain these is to use telekinetic grab to take them from the shelf where the cannoneer stands. The cannonballs do no extra damage from the normal cannonballs but have a special attack where they shatter on impact, hitting multiple enemies with fragments and doing additional damage to the hit player. This happens around once every 10 balls fired.