Nightmare Solo Guide 12m GP/HR (And Groups!) OSRS 2020


Date	2020-10-09
Type	guide
Video	youtu.be/gDZKQ3FTuFk

Summary

A guide to soloing (and grouping) The Nightmare of Ashihama for money, covering gear, inventory, travel, world hopping, attack and phase mechanics, and how alt accounts boost profit. Gnomonkey says a maxed-combat player with an alt can make about 12m gp/hr, and that rare drops make the boss like a scratch-off lottery.

Outline

0:00 Nightmare overview: GP rates, rare drop values, solo versus group
1:07 Gear: bludgeon, Inquisitor's, Blood fury, Sanguinesti staff, SGS
2:59 Inventory: four-way mage switch, imbued heart, ancestral, sand fuse, potions
4:54 Getting to the boss: Draken's medallion or Ectophial, finding a world
6:43 Basic attacks, prayer timings, and grasping claws
9:06 Totem and sleepwalker phase
10:49 Phase one (flower phase) and husks
13:33 Phase two (parasite phase): parasites and curse
16:25 Final phase (truck phase): truck and mushrooms
17:57 Rewards, group notes, and running an alt for supplies

Topics covered

The Nightmare

(0:00) Gnomonkey considers The Nightmare one of the best bosses in the game for money at the time of the video (2020), saying an alt running supplies plus higher-end gear and maxed combat can make about 12m gp/hr on average.
(0:00) Gnomonkey says The Nightmare has horrible regular drops but incredibly valuable rare drops, comparing fighting it to playing scratch-off lottery tickets.
(0:00) At the time of the video, the harmonised orb was worth over 1.5 billion gp, the Inquisitor's mace 950 million, and every Nightmare staff drop over 150 million.
(0:32) Gnomonkey says The Nightmare is a pretty easy boss in a group, but solo it becomes a roughly 20-minute endurance match. He would not call it hard, but says it is punishing if you mess up.
(0:32) Getting killed at the end of a solo Nightmare kill costs about 300k in supplies on top of the 60k reclaim fee, plus 20 minutes of time.
(0:32) It takes about 34 hours of Nightmare killing on average to get a rare drop, which Gnomonkey says costs about 10m in supplies on average, so he recommends having a decent cash stack first.
(1:07) The Nightmare has extremely high defence against everything except crush, so Gnomonkey's main DPS weapon for the solo is a bludgeon with Bandos and max melee gear.
(6:34) A free Nightmare world shows The Nightmare slumped on the ground; a world where people have entered but not started shows it floating with a slumped head; an active fight shows it floating with its head to the ceiling.
(6:34) The symbol under The Nightmare shows the phase being fought: the Oni mask is phase one, the Yin Yang is phase two, and the spiked symbol with three teardrops is the final phase. Gnomonkey looks for the spiked symbol while hopping and right-click inspects The Nightmare to check whether it is a solo, since solo players typically leave after one kill.
(6:43) It is impossible to enter a Nightmare world once the fight has started, so other players cannot crash your fight. Once you enter, you have 40 seconds before the fight begins, and you can spectate a world to see how close they are to finishing.
(6:43) The Nightmare uses all three attack styles: magic (arms flopping with a red glow, shooting a small red orb), ranged (cracks her bones three times then flings shards), and rarely melee (leans back with hands on the ground and scrapes towards you).
(7:01) You have about three ticks to react to The Nightmare's ranged and magic attacks and about two ticks for her faster melee attack. Once a projectile has been thrown it is too late to switch prayer, and correct protection prayer reduces damage by about 75%.
(7:01) The Nightmare's ranged and magic attacks max over 40, while her melee attack, the most dangerous, maxes over 50, so most melee attacks must be caught with the correct prayer for a kill to be possible. The attacks have obvious sound cues.
(7:33) In a solo you take what would be the tank role, and Gnomonkey says the easiest approach is to swap back to Protect from Melee after each attack lands, since melee is the hardest attack to catch and the most dangerous.
(8:04) In a group The Nightmare picks its target based on defence bonuses, defence level and the prayer in use; only the tank needs to worry about melee attacks while the rest can stand safely behind her. In a solo you are always the target.
(8:35) Grasping claws is a special attack that replaces her regular attacks and can be used in any phase: black portals form around the arena and under her, and hands hit for up to 60 if you stand on a portal or walk under her. A portal almost always spawns under you with about three ticks to move, and the attack is only active for one tick.
(8:35) Gnomonkey recommends immediately sidestepping the grasping claws portals and continuing to attack so as not to waste ticks.
(8:35) The Nightmare has 2000 HP in each phase before her shield breaks.
(9:06) After her HP is reduced to zero The Nightmare loses her shield and you must swap to magic gear and damage the totems in each quarter. She continues her normal and special attacks during the totem phase, so keep evading.
(9:06) During the totem phase turn boost prayers (including Augury) off completely since they only waste prayer, and try not to heal fully so the Sanguinesti staff can heal you as much as possible.
(9:39) After all four totems are charged, The Nightmare takes one third of her health in damage, is teleported to the middle, and spawns one sleepwalker per player, so a solo has one sleepwalker. If you fail to attack the sleepwalker before it reaches her she hits you for 74, reduced to five if you kill it first.
(9:39) Gnomonkey specs the sleepwalker with the Saradomin godsword for a massive heal, which is higher with a combat potion, full melee gear and Piety on. Without an SGS he stays in mage gear and attacks the sleepwalker for more time to hit it.
(10:13) The fight repeats through three phases, with the third set of totems charged killing The Nightmare.
(10:13) In a group, if Piety gives you enough defence to take the tank role, you can flick it on occasionally to make The Nightmare walk towards you, then turn it off when she gets near to avoid all melee attacks.
(10:42) A safespot exists below the north pillars: standing just south of the pillar avoids all melee attacks.
(10:49) Gnomonkey names the three phases flower phase (phase one), parasite phase (phase two) and truck phase (phase three), and says phase two is by far the hardest, phase one a close second and phase three by far the easiest.
(11:09) Each Nightmare phase has two unique special attacks, and she typically uses a phase-specific attack every five regular attacks (including grasping claws), although this is somewhat random.
(11:09) In flower phase she spawns four vertical lines of flowers: two lines of rotten flowers with flies and two lines of regular flowers. Regular flowers mark a safe quadrant, and leaving it towards the rotten flowers deals 4 to 8 damage per tick and heals The Nightmare for the damage you take.
(11:35) Gnomonkey says the easiest way to avoid the flower attack is to stand towards the outside centre of The Nightmare and run to the nearest safe flowers if none spawn under you; you can stand on top of regular flowers. In a group, put the tank on one set of flowers and the rest of the group on the other.
(11:35) During the totem phase you can hit all four totems from the centre tile, or from a safe quadrant using long-range casting.
(12:08) Flower phase also spawns two husks with 20 HP each that freeze you in place and attack with magic and ranged: skinny husks shoot blue magic projectiles and fat husks shoot green ranged projectiles. They do 1 to 15 damage each and are weak to melee, but add up quickly alongside Nightmare's attacks.
(12:08) Against husks Gnomonkey prays Protect from Magic and immediately attacks them, swapping prayers to match Nightmare's attacks and back; if only fat husks are out he prays ranged. He says it is better to protect against the husks and catch melee than to pray melee and take their attacks at full force.
(13:08) Do not let husks spawn while you charge the fourth and final totem, because you will be frozen when sleepwalkers spawn; you can still kill them with magic but will miss the Saradomin godsword spec.
(13:08) If grasping claws is used while you are frozen by husks she usually does not put a portal under you, though Gnomonkey says it happened anyway twice, and he thinks only the guaranteed portal is skipped.
(13:33) Parasite phase removes flowers and husks and adds two special attacks. The parasite attack makes her cough up a parasite that infects you; you must cure it with a sand fuse dose or Relicym's balm (clicking the cure health orb drinks a cure automatically), or after three more attacks it bursts from your chest.
(13:43) A burst parasite heals The Nightmare every four ticks for 10 to 80 health. If you forgot to cure the disease, it bursts for about 70 damage and the parasite has 80 health instead of 40.
(14:15) The parasite has 40 health and is weak to crush; a claw special almost always one-shots it, otherwise attack it with the bludgeon. Gnomonkey counts three attacks after infection and runs underneath The Nightmare so the parasite spawns under her, where it cannot heal her.
(14:45) Gnomonkey says he has not found a consistent way to block the parasite, and that grasping claws can hurt you if you stand under her. If the parasite heals her five times it invalidates almost all the damage dealt before it spawned.
(15:14) If a parasite spawns when it cannot heal anything (totems charged, no totem damage, or the shield just broke) it attacks with ranged and magic instead, which Gnomonkey considers better. Parasites have fairly high magic defence, so swap to melee if they spawn during the totem phase.
(15:47) Curse is the other parasite-phase special, signalled by a pink glow on screen. For five attacks your protection prayers shift one to the right: mage becomes ranged, ranged becomes melee, melee becomes mage. Count five attacks so you are not caught off prayer; she can also use it during totems.
(16:17) The Nightmare almost always uses grasping claws after the five curse attacks, but not always.
(16:25) In the final phase The Nightmare can no longer curse or spawn parasites. Her truck special has her hop into the ground and teleport to a side of the arena, then blast forward and run you over for over 50 if you are in the way.
(16:50) While waiting for the truck, Gnomonkey runs to where she will end up so he wastes less time not attacking.
(16:52) Mushrooms spawn in a checkerboard pattern; stepping within one tile pops them, preventing you from running for five of her attacks and reducing attack speed by one tick with all weapons, which basically costs one bludgeon hit. You have about two ticks to get away when they spawn. They do zero damage.
(17:18) Watch for grasping claws during mushrooms since she almost always uses a special attack at least once while they are active, and be careful not to touch a mushroom late because being unable to run can coincide with the truck attack. If you cannot avoid them, take the mushrooms and keep attacking.
(17:51) In a group the mushroom effect can be spread by walking next to another player, similar to the Ohm burn attack in the Theatre.
(17:51) In a group the player who did the most damage receives big bones, which gives a 5% increased chance to receive a jar, clue scroll or Nightmare pet.
(17:51) Gnomonkey says solos are the most profitable way to kill The Nightmare because the rare drop chance is the same from one to five players.
(18:23) Each additional player after five adds a 1% roll at a second rare drop; Gnomonkey says more than five players is much more inefficient, so most groups have one to five players.
(18:52) A solo Nightmare kill takes about 20 minutes, and about 100 kills (the average for a rare drop) takes about 34 hours if done very fast.

Bludgeon

(1:07) Gnomonkey says a bludgeon with Bandos and max melee gear is the main DPS setup for a solo Nightmare, and he would highly recommend at least a bludgeon if trying to solo.
(1:34) Gnomonkey says a scythe of Vitur is only about 4.5% more DPS than a bludgeon against The Nightmare, and he does not think its cost justifies the slight DPS boost.
(1:34) Against The Nightmare, Gnomonkey says a Hosta is about 6% worse DPS than a bludgeon and a Seracnus Cudgel is about 8% worse.
(2:03) At The Nightmare, Gnomonkey says a bludgeon special attack with low prayer is significantly more DPS than dragon claws, so he drops one claw spec and uses the bludgeon spec once after the special bar recharges and prayer drops.

Inquisitor's mace

(0:32) At the time of the video the Inquisitor's mace was worth about 950 million gp.
(1:07) Gnomonkey says the best gear for soloing The Nightmare, if you can afford it, is the full Inquisitor's set with the Inquisitor's mace.
(1:34) At The Nightmare the Inquisitor's mace alone is about a 5% DPS increase over a bludgeon, and with the full Inquisitor's set the difference rises to 12.5%.

Mythical cape

(1:07) Gnomonkey says the mythical cape is about 3% more DPS than a fire cape at The Nightmare, so it should always be worn, and the infernal cape beats the mythical cape if you have it.

Blood fury

(1:34) Gnomonkey says the Blood fury is incredibly good at The Nightmare.
(2:03) Gnomonkey says, though he did not test it personally, that the Blood fury heals on average about 360 health over a Nightmare kill, equivalent to five Saradomin brews.
(8:04) Gnomonkey recommends having at least two of the three healing items (Sanguinesti staff, Blood fury, SGS) for a Nightmare solo; he says SGS is less helpful than the other two but any two are enough to secure kills.

Sanguinesti staff

(2:03) Gnomonkey says a Sanguinesti staff paired with an SGS and Blood fury should negate the need for food at The Nightmare and should allow two kill trips on one inventory.
(2:59) Gnomonkey brings the Sanguinesti staff with an imbued heart as his mage weapon for The Nightmare totems.
(3:26) Gnomonkey calls the Sanguinesti staff insanely good at The Nightmare because the totems can proc its heal effect and your max hit is over 80; lucky procs on high hits can heal you back to full health.
(3:55) Gnomonkey says the Harmonised nightmare staff with Fire Surge significantly beats the Sanguinesti staff's DPS on the totems even with an imbued heart, so if you can bring it you can skip the heart.

Imbued heart

(2:59) Gnomonkey says it is impossible to splash on the Nightmare totems even with negative magic attack, so magic accuracy bonuses are irrelevant for that phase.
(2:59) Gnomonkey calls the imbued heart incredibly good for Nightmare solos because phases last long enough to use it at nearly every totem phase, and it is a 15% DPS boost when used.

Ancestral robes

(3:26) At 99 magic, Gnomonkey says two pieces of ancestral do not give an additional max hit on The Nightmare totems, but a third piece does, for another 4% DPS; one piece alone gives a further 4% DPS.
(3:26) Gnomonkey recommends bringing one piece of ancestral to The Nightmare, or the full set if you are comfortable with your supplies.

Saradomin godsword

(2:03) At the start of a Nightmare kill you have full special attack, and it is fully restored by the totem phase.
(3:55) Gnomonkey says the Saradomin godsword is incredibly good at The Nightmare because after the totems you can spec the sleepwalker with it; the hit always counts as max hit, giving a massive heal and prayer restore.
(9:39) The Saradomin godsword heal on the Nightmare sleepwalker is higher if you are combat potted, wearing full melee gear and using Piety.

Sand fuse

(3:55) Gnomonkey brings three sand fuse doses to a solo Nightmare kill to cure the parasites, and says he used about two and a half doses on average per kill.
(4:27) For double Nightmare kill trips Gnomonkey says you need at least five sand fuse doses, or you can swap some for Relicym's balm to save money.

The Nightmare

(2:22) Gnomonkey says Dragon warhammer is usually not worth bringing in a Nightmare solo, but in a group one person taking a hammer is a very good idea because her defence does not go below 120 and is restored each phase, so only one spec is needed per phase.
(2:59) Gnomonkey's Nightmare solo inventory includes a four-way mage switch, occult necklace, god cape, tormented bracelet, and a Sanguinesti staff with an imbued heart.
(3:55) Gnomonkey also brings dragon claws to the solo because he happens to have them; they are good for killing parasites ASAP but not necessary.
(4:27) Gnomonkey brings 10 brews, 3 super combats and 5 super restores for a single Nightmare kill; double kill trips will likely require swapping some brews for more super combats and restores.
(4:27) Gnomonkey does not bring a teleport to Nightmare because it wastes inventory space; he teleports to Clan Wars after a kill instead.

Draken's medallion

(4:58) The simplest route to The Nightmare is to teleport to Theatre of Blood with a Draken's medallion, bank the medallion, pre-pot an angler and stamina dose, then run north into Sleep, enter the dungeon and run east to the boss.
(4:58) Gnomonkey says the distance to The Nightmare is long, which is part of why alts are so good there.

Ectophial

(4:58) An alternative route to The Nightmare uses the Ectophial and the boat to the north, costing 10k coins or a one-time fee of 1m gp, and landing at the dock just north of Theatre of Blood.
(5:28) Gnomonkey would probably just use the Theatre of Blood route because the Ectophial wastes an inventory space.

Alt account

(5:28) Gnomonkey says The Nightmare is incredibly crowded because of its GP rates, so he often hopped through all worlds without finding an open one; alts are so good because they allow you to hold a world indefinitely.
(18:23) After a Nightmare kill with an alt, you can either leave and have the alt trade your supplies, or stay inside waiting out the timer and have the alt enter and trade you, then have the alt leave.
(18:23) If the alt has high magic and Lunars, it can cast energy transfer and heal other to fully heal the main and restore special attack.
(18:52) If the alt carries supplies for multiple kills it can cast Dream outside The Nightmare's lair to restore the main to full health between phases.
(18:52) Gnomonkey says the easiest time to run the alt back to the bank is during the third phase, giving about five minutes to restock the alt and run back.