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Is Dharoks Effective at Nightmare Zone? (Yes and No)
Date 2020-03-08
Type guide
Video youtu.be/zpBhPn5MJNA

Summary

Gnomonkey explains when Dharok's set is the best DPS option at Nightmare Zone: with high combat stats and Hitpoints it beats everything but a charged scythe, while at lower stats a whip setup has more DPS. He then walks through gear, inventory, dream settings, RuneLite notifications and a 50-second interval timer, reaching about 160k XP an hour.

Outline

  • 0:00 Intro to Nightmare Zone and Dharoking
  • 0:24 Overview: how Dharok scales with Hitpoints and DPS comparisons
  • 2:00 Setup: gear and special attack weapon
  • 2:27 Inventory: locator orb, overloads, absorptions
  • 3:27 Dream settings and boss choice
  • 4:00 RuneLite notifications and plugin settings
  • 4:31 The 50-second interval timer and rapid heal flicking
  • 4:59 In-game routine and power surge

Topics covered

Dharok's armour

  • (0:24) Most equipment sets' DPS scale only with Strength and Attack, but Dharok's also scales heavily with Hitpoints level, each level being about a 1% DPS increase.
  • (0:24) Having maxed combat with 70 Hitpoints versus maxed combat with 99 Hitpoints is a 35% DPS difference with Dharok's.
  • (0:24) Because of how slowly the axe swings, with base 70 combat stats a Proselyte-and-whip setup gives better DPS than Dharok's; Dharok's begins to beat a whip setup at about 85 base combat stats and Hitpoints.
  • (1:01) With high melee stats and Hitpoints or maxed combat, a whip setup gives about 20% less DPS than Dharok's, and a Ghrazi rapier with best-in-slot melee gear is still about 5% worse than Dharok's.
  • (1:01) The only setup that beats Dharok's DPS-wise is a charged scythe at about 10% more DPS; an uncharged scythe is still worse.
  • (1:33) Gnomonkey says that for the 99.99% of players who cannot spend 1.4 million an hour on a scythe at NMZ, Dharok's is probably going to stay the best method.
  • (1:33) The only downside of Dharok's is that it is less AFK than a Proselyte whip setup, but it gives significantly better XP an hour and costs much less over time because the player does not pray Protect from Melee.

Nightmare Zone

  • (0:00) Nightmare Zone is located just outside Yanille and lets players refight quest bosses; Gnomonkey says it is known as the best place to train combat, to the point some call it overpowered.
  • (3:27) Gnomonkey picks a customizable Hard rumble dream, because Hard mode doubles the bosses' offensive stats and health but not their defence, and since the player's health is 1 it only increases XP an hour and points an hour.
  • (3:27) Gnomonkey's chosen bosses are Count Draynor, Sand Snake, Moss Guardian, Agrith-Na-Na and the Ice Troll King, which give a bonus experience multiplier and inflict no status effects.
  • (4:59) The Power Surge power-up gives 45 seconds of infinite special attack, dramatically increasing damage and XP an hour; Gnomonkey grabs it and pulls out his spec weapon.
  • (4:59) Gnomonkey considers Power Surge the only power-up worth worrying about, since the others do not improve XP and just kill or damage monsters faster.
  • (5:27) With this setup Gnomonkey gets on average 160k XP an hour depending on Power Surge spawns, and 270k points per hour; the hurt boxes (rewards) pay for the entrance fee and Dharok's repairs, leaving only the cost of prayer potions.

Dharok's armour

  • (2:00) Gnomonkey assumes basic gear: Dharok's, a blessing, an imbued Berserker ring and a fire cape; an amulet of torture gives 2% more DPS than a fury, Ferocious gloves 2% more than Barrows gloves, and Primordial boots a fraction of a percent (Dragon boots are acceptable).
  • (2:27) Gnomonkey's spec weapon is dragon claws, which he bought with 50 mil he had around and says are just slightly better than a granite maul with a handle; a granite maul is totally fine.
  • (2:27) With Dragon Slayer II completed, a locator orb is the most efficient way to damage yourself outside the Wilderness, hitting for 10 each click, unlike the dwarven rock cake whose damage scales down as health lowers; neither can kill you.
  • (2:59) Inventory is 12 doses of overload, 24 doses of absorption, a holy wrench and the rest prayer potions; Gnomonkey says this is the perfect ratio to last one hour.
  • (2:59) Gnomonkey brings extra absorptions in case the overload runs out and he gets hit hard, and has run out of absorptions before prayer potions; more locator orbs can be obtained from Ava at Draynor Manor.
  • (4:59) On entering, Gnomonkey sips overload (hits for 50 HP), drinks absorption to 200 and no higher, reduces health to 1, turns on Piety, auto-retaliate and the interval timer, and sits on the sides to reduce being hit by multiple enemies.

RuneLite

  • (4:00) Gnomonkey recommends enabling RuneLite game notifications, which play a tone when something happens like a power surge spawning or low prayer, so the player can keep their eyes off the screen longer.
  • (4:00) In the Nightmare Zone plugin Gnomonkey checks only power surge power-ups, as they are the only ones that boost XP an hour, and sets notifications for overload about to run out and absorption below 50.
  • (4:31) A 50-second interval timer beeps every 50 seconds so the player can flick rapid heal on and off, resetting the health restore timer to one minute; this keeps health at 1 without the orb, improving DPS and XP an hour and saving absorption potions.