Skip to content

Phantom barrage

This article is compiled from the videos of GnomonkeyRS. It records what Gnomonkey said, with sources, not verified game fact. See About.

This article is about the healing technique. For the spell itself see Blood barrage.

Phantom barrage

Phantom barrage
Type Mechanic
Spell Blood barrage, cast manually12
Minimum distance 8 tiles345
Barrage range 10 tiles6
Typical heal 10 to 20 health from the extra cast7
Used in Inferno8910
Videos 6 (first 2022-07-22, latest 2026-07-13)
Main source Inferno (Twisted Bow) Teaching Stream OSRS

A phantom barrage (also "phantom") is a healing technique in which a Blood barrage is cast at a monster's corpse, so that the player is healed for the damage that cast would have dealt.31112 It is a game engine quirk: if Blood barrage is cast from eight or more tiles away at a monster as it dies, the barrage still lands on the corpse and heals the player, even if the hit is a splash or only 1 damage.1

Gnomonkey treats the phantom as the main way to regain health in the Inferno. In 2024 he called it the primary healing source, with blobs splitting into three bloblets that can be phantomed as three corpses at once.89 By December 2025 he described it as the bread and butter of health recovery there, and advises doing one every time, even without needing health, since there is no reason not to.1310

Contents

How it works

Barrage has an invisible travel time. From far enough away the spell is still in the air when the target dies, so a second, manual cast can be aimed at the corpse, and the blood barrage still heals the full amount.14114 The sequence is to cast a spell at a far-away target, then manually cast the next spell so that it is cast at the corpse as the monster dies.9 Because the extra cast counts as additional hits, it heals as if it had dealt its full damage.12

Gnomonkey keeps his autocast on Blood barrage, since most barraging for health is done while AFKing, and casts Ice barrage manually for the most part.15 The phantom cast itself must be manual. Autocast has no delay (the autocast delay was removed in 2024), but it still does not produce a phantom: the corpse cast has to be done by hand.16172 A common setup is to bring a blob down to a chosen pillar position, give it a Blood barrage, then manually cast again so the cast queues and lands on the corpse.18 It does not matter when the spell is clicked on the monsters after the first cast.19

Range

  • A phantom needs the player to be at least eight tiles from the target, because the cast's travel time has to be long enough.63495
  • Barrage has a 10-tile range, the same as a Twisted bow, so at maximum range the phantom always works.6
  • The minimum distance is eight tiles, so the player should stand at the maximum range of their sceptre.5

Targets

  • Blobs and bloblets: the strongest use. Each blob splits into three bloblets, so up to three corpses can be phantomed at once.1489 A phantom on a set of bloblets from the good position returns about 40 health.20
  • Nibblers: nibblers have the least magic defence of any mob, so phantoming far-away nibblers can give a lot of health. A phantom off six nibblers returns about 80.2120 He also uses a phantom on nibblers to confirm that all of them are dead, to guarantee he can still cast at the pile, and he notes it can be done off pets.2223 He adds that nibblers can be phantomed straight off spawn when safe, and that nobody does this.24
  • Rangers: rangers have a fairly low magic level, so they can also be used to regain health.25 Barrage accuracy is checked for each monster, with chinchompas unique in that the roll is made off the target.25 A phantom still works on a blob and ranger stack if the ranger is at the back.26
  • Any mob: a phantom works on any monster, such as bats, rangers or melee monsters, but is less effective than with bloblets.27

Gnomonkey took his shield off for the phantom in 2026 to raise his mage accuracy.1

Positioning

The blob must be close enough to the pillar for the phantom to work, and it does not work if the mage is not pulled in fully against the pillar, so the player should let it pull in first.289 Gnomonkey names two positions in the Inferno from which a blob can be phantomed; the phantom also lets the player extend far out to get nibblers and tank damage, then return behind the pillar to heal.2930 He adds a third, secret spot, in which the player stands on the tile with the blob as far down as it can go, kills it, steps back up, and clicks when the bloblets appear.30

Other positional tricks:

  • If a blob is somewhere it cannot normally be phantomed, the player can stand at a position and wait a tick so the mage blocks two monsters, then run out and phantom off the blob. He says he almost never sees first-cape players do this.31
  • The "cheeky phantom": with the blob pulled down on the corner, the player steps into the pillar and steps back down when the bloblets appear, so only the mage is on them.32

Healing amounts

Situation Health gained
Demonstration from 84 health to 9833
Bloblets from the good position about 4020
Six nibblers about 8020
Extra cast in general usually 10 to 20, varies7
2026 demo, bloblet corpses / later phantom 8 / 3034

Gnomonkey advises healing on the blobs when below 60 health.35 He uses the Tizar HP tracker plugin to see health on the pillars and enemies, and for tile markers.36

Revision history

Date Video Change
2026-07-13 YOU CAN GET YOUR FIRST INFERNO COMPLETED WITH THESE (OSRS) Described it as an engine quirk, added shield-off advice, third secret spot and phantoming nibblers off spawn.
2025-12-07 NEW Golden Trio for First Inferno Cape (OSRS) Added heal amounts (about 40 bloblets, about 80 six nibblers, 10 to 20 per extra cast); advice to phantom every time; the cheeky phantom.
2024-10-03 INFERNO IS FREE NOW! Bofa Guide (OSRS) Added the three-corpse bloblet heal as the primary Inferno source, two phantom spots, nibbler pile check and HP tracker plugin.
2024-06-13 Inferno Teaching Stream - Mage Rebalance (OSRS) Added that autocast still cannot phantom after the autocast delay removal, and that bloblets are the main Inferno heal.
2024-01-17 IRONMAN Inferno Teaching Stream (OSRS) Added nibblers and rangers as targets, the mage-blocking positional trick, and magic-defence reasoning.
2022-07-22 Inferno (Twisted Bow) Teaching Stream OSRS Page created: autocast setup, phantom method, 8-tile and 10-tile range, healing on blobs below 60 health.
## See also

References

  1. YOU CAN GET YOUR FIRST INFERNO COMPLETED WITH THESE (OSRS), 2026-07-13. ▶ 12:57 ↩↩↩

  2. YOU CAN GET YOUR FIRST INFERNO COMPLETED WITH THESE (OSRS), 2026-07-13. ▶ 22:22 ↩↩

  3. IRONMAN Inferno Teaching Stream (OSRS), 2024-01-17. ▶ 5:57 ↩↩↩

  4. Inferno Teaching Stream - Mage Rebalance (OSRS), 2024-06-13. ▶ 11:50 ↩↩↩

  5. NEW Golden Trio for First Inferno Cape (OSRS), 2025-12-07. ▶ 11:56 ↩↩↩

  6. Inferno (Twisted Bow) Teaching Stream OSRS, 2022-07-22. ▶ 41:47 ↩↩↩

  7. NEW Golden Trio for First Inferno Cape (OSRS), 2025-12-07. ▶ 22:52 ↩↩

  8. Inferno Teaching Stream - Mage Rebalance (OSRS), 2024-06-13. ▶ 14:51 ↩↩↩

  9. INFERNO IS FREE NOW! Bofa Guide (OSRS), 2024-10-03. ▶ 10:55 ↩↩↩↩↩↩

  10. NEW Golden Trio for First Inferno Cape (OSRS), 2025-12-07. ▶ 26:52 ↩↩

  11. Inferno Teaching Stream - Mage Rebalance (OSRS), 2024-06-13. ▶ 11:20 ↩↩

  12. NEW Golden Trio for First Inferno Cape (OSRS), 2025-12-07. ▶ 10:32 ↩↩

  13. NEW Golden Trio for First Inferno Cape (OSRS), 2025-12-07. ▶ 19:27 ↩

  14. Inferno (Twisted Bow) Teaching Stream OSRS, 2022-07-22. ▶ 36:58 ↩↩

  15. Inferno (Twisted Bow) Teaching Stream OSRS, 2022-07-22. ▶ 2:24 ↩

  16. Inferno Teaching Stream - Mage Rebalance (OSRS), 2024-06-13. ▶ 10:51 ↩

  17. NEW Golden Trio for First Inferno Cape (OSRS), 2025-12-07. ▶ 52:20 ↩

  18. Inferno (Twisted Bow) Teaching Stream OSRS, 2022-07-22. ▶ 5:59 ↩

  19. Inferno (Twisted Bow) Teaching Stream OSRS, 2022-07-22. ▶ 40:47 ↩

  20. NEW Golden Trio for First Inferno Cape (OSRS), 2025-12-07. ▶ 11:00 ↩↩↩↩

  21. IRONMAN Inferno Teaching Stream (OSRS), 2024-01-17. ▶ 13:16 ↩

  22. IRONMAN Inferno Teaching Stream (OSRS), 2024-01-17. ▶ 6:25 ↩

  23. INFERNO IS FREE NOW! Bofa Guide (OSRS), 2024-10-03. ▶ 11:29 ↩

  24. YOU CAN GET YOUR FIRST INFERNO COMPLETED WITH THESE (OSRS), 2026-07-13. ▶ 29:39 ↩

  25. IRONMAN Inferno Teaching Stream (OSRS), 2024-01-17. ▶ 42:53 ↩↩

  26. Inferno Teaching Stream - Mage Rebalance (OSRS), 2024-06-13. ▶ 52:43 ↩

  27. Inferno (Twisted Bow) Teaching Stream OSRS, 2022-07-22. ▶ 45:08 ↩

  28. Inferno Teaching Stream - Mage Rebalance (OSRS), 2024-06-13. ▶ 35:39 ↩

  29. INFERNO IS FREE NOW! Bofa Guide (OSRS), 2024-10-03. ▶ 12:00 ↩

  30. YOU CAN GET YOUR FIRST INFERNO COMPLETED WITH THESE (OSRS), 2026-07-13. ▶ 14:22 ↩↩

  31. IRONMAN Inferno Teaching Stream (OSRS), 2024-01-17. ▶ 6:53 ↩

  32. NEW Golden Trio for First Inferno Cape (OSRS), 2025-12-07. ▶ 30:21 ↩

  33. Inferno (Twisted Bow) Teaching Stream OSRS, 2022-07-22. ▶ 40:00 ↩

  34. YOU CAN GET YOUR FIRST INFERNO COMPLETED WITH THESE (OSRS), 2026-07-13. ▶ 13:24 ↩

  35. Inferno (Twisted Bow) Teaching Stream OSRS, 2022-07-22. ▶ 50:23 ↩

  36. INFERNO IS FREE NOW! Bofa Guide (OSRS), 2024-10-03. ▶ 12:16 ↩

Mechanics

Colosseum invocations • Yama contracts • Invocations (Tombs of Amascut) • Jal-ImKot • Inferno pillars • Jal-Ak • Alt account • Thralls • Nex gear setup • Tempoross • Turael • Inferno waves • Jal-Nib • Doom of Mokhaiotl: rock block method • Monkey Room • Fortis Colosseum pillars • Phantom barrage • Awakened bosses • Melee gear progression • Demonic Brutus • Jal-MejRah • Prayer flicking • Butterfly Tech • Fortis Colosseum setup • Doom of Mokhaiotl: melee punish • Sulliuscep • Botting • Off-ticking • Corner trapping • Doom of Mokhaiotl: car attack • Combat Achievements • Doom of Mokhaiotl: shield phase • Pest Control • Blood Barrage • Nylocas • Great Olm 4-1 method • Nex reset • Triple Jad • RuneScape 3 combat • Tightrope skip

Category: Mechanics