Budget Zul'rah Guide (Atlatl + BOFA) OSRS


Date	2025-04-24
Type	guide
Video	youtu.be/bBnPK55ZqUM

Summary

A mid-game Zulrah guide aimed at Ironmen (but usable on mains) built around the Twinflame staff for the magic phases and either the Eclipse atlatl or the Bow of Faerdhinen for ranged. Gnomonkey explains pillar stalling, snakeling handling, gear switches, anti-poison management and shows example kills, then compares setups using the Gearscape calculator, arguing against Bofa camping and for the Twinflame staff.

Outline

0:00 Guide introduction: a clean retake of a mid-game Zulrah guide
0:30 Twinflame staff overview and why it beats the Trident of the swamp
1:23 Atlatl weapon mechanics and the Bofa comparison
2:21 Gear setup and switches: Bellator ring, recoil, no Ring of suffering
3:32 Essential plugins and gear: Ring of recoil notifier, boots switch, Crystal shield
4:19 Banking and travel: Fairy ring BJS, Zulrah scrolls, 76 Agility stepping stone
5:27 Snakeling radius markers and potion strategy
6:22 Learning Zulrah's rotations, Zulrah helper and attack timer plugin
8:04 Phase 1 combat demonstration with pillar stalling
9:35 Phase 2 combat demonstration
12:02 Melee phase techniques and shield flicking
14:10 Alternative Bofa setup
16:52 Blowpipe and healing
18:54 Anti-poison and anti-venom tips
21:32 Gear comparison analysis with Gearscape
24:38 Common gear misconceptions: Anguish, Scorching bow, crossbows
25:55 Conclusion and other setups: Noxious halberd and Chally

Topics covered

Zulrah

(0:00) Gnomonkey's mid-game Zulrah guide is aimed at Ironmen who are just starting Zulrah, but the same setup also works on a main account and can make decent money.
(2:20) Zulrah has a total of four rotations: a mage phase, a green phase and two red phases; each kill always starts with a green phase and then changes to something different.
(6:22) Gnomonkey recommends memorising Zulrah's rotations so you can pre-switch into the correct gear, which helps DPS; he says to use the Zulrah helper plugin while learning and stop using it around 50 KC if you have memorised them.
(6:22) Gnomonkey uses magic (Twinflame staff) whenever Zulrah is green or red, and the Eclipse atlatl otherwise.
(8:22) In the mage phase Gnomonkey stands in the middle of the island, because some mage snakelings then get stuck and cannot hit him.
(8:41) Gnomonkey says the orange (tanky) phase has the lowest damage output but mage damage against it is much better, which is why a mage bonus matters and why he brings a boots switch.
(8:50) Gnomonkey notes that Zulrah's maximum hit is 41 and she can destroy you, so he says to always hover food on the boss.
(13:18) Gnomonkey says typical kills with the atlatl/Twinflame setup take roughly 120 to 140 ticks per kill.
(13:45) With the atlatl and Twinflame setup, Gnomonkey says he usually gets two kills per trip, sometimes one and sometimes three.
(13:45) Gnomonkey says that with the atlatl setup you get enough kills to maintain Zulrah's scrolls, and with the Bofa it is even easier, as roughly two to three kill trips gives effectively unlimited scrolls.
(14:44) In the green phase where Zulrah spawns snakelings, Gnomonkey says to pray mage rather than range, since praying range does nothing there and lets the snakelings hit you for free.
(24:30) Gnomonkey considers Zulrah much easier with the Twinflame staff, especially for a mid-game Iron, saying kills are easier than ever and it is a totally different boss now.
(26:18) Gnomonkey says the Gearscape calculator can show all Zulrah phases at once via its groups tab.

Twinflame staff

(0:29) The Twinflame staff gets a bonus against elementally weak monsters and is dropped by the Royal Titans.
(0:29) Gnomonkey says the Twinflame staff is very slow but very high DPS, with DPS a little better than a Trident of the swamp when casting Fire Wave.
(0:56) Because the Twinflame staff is slow it uses fewer runes, and since it casts normal spells it does not scale with Magic level the way the Trident of the swamp does.
(0:56) Gnomonkey says the Trident of the swamp is only comparable at 99 Magic, so at low 90s or high 80s Magic the Twinflame staff is dramatically better; he calls it basically a better swamp trident for Zulrah and says to grind it before doing Zulrah.
(0:56) Gnomonkey says the Twinflame staff gives very high DPS on the melee phase and green phase of Zulrah.
(21:47) In Gearscape, Gnomonkey says the Tome of fire is very impactful for Twinflame but not necessary, and he does not have a Tome on his hardcore Iron and still kills Zulrah fine.
(21:47) Gnomonkey says the Sanguinesti staff only overtakes the Twinflame staff with Heart at 99 Magic, and at 95 Magic it is already worse and about 8% worse on the flame phase.
(22:16) Gnomonkey says the Sanguinesti staff is not better than Twinflame even with thrall DPS included, is very expensive, and that he would rather prevent damage with pillar stalling than heal it with the Sang.
(24:47) Gnomonkey says the Twinflame staff is fairly easy to get on an Iron Man, and that players want to grind the Titans anyway for the prayer scrolls.

Inferno pillars

(1:27) Pillar stalling means getting out of Zulrah's line of sight behind a pillar during the green phase, then every six ticks peeking out to cast, then getting back behind.
(1:27) Gnomonkey says pillar stalling keeps Zulrah above water longer, lets you do more damage and see fewer phases, making it effectively almost impossible to get a Jad phase with this setup.
(6:52) Gnomonkey recommends the attack timer metronome plugin for pillar stalling because it makes the timing much easier and loses fewer ticks.
(19:20) With the Bofa and blowpipe setup, Gnomonkey steps behind the pillar, fits in a blowpipe shot and moves back behind, so Zulrah still does four attacks but you get extra shots.
(22:48) Gnomonkey says every time Zulrah goes underwater you effectively lose about three pieces of food worth of ticks, so keeping her from submerging increases damage dealt.
(23:15) Gnomonkey estimates pillar stalling makes phases roughly twice as long as without it, because it keeps Zulrah in a phase where she cannot hit you, though you cannot stall during snakeling spawns.
(23:45) Gnomonkey argues that pillar stalling is a major reason not to use a Bofa camp setup, saying you cannot meaningfully pillar stall with it.

Eclipse atlatl

(1:23) Gnomonkey says the atlatl scales with strength level and strength bonus while its accuracy uses ranged level and ranged bonus, so it is fairly accurate and attacks quickly.
(1:23) The atlatl does not require wasting ranging potions, so Gnomonkey drinks super strength rather than ranging potions on Ironmen.
(1:23) Gnomonkey says the atlatl does not get its full set burn damage on Zulrah, because she purges the burn when going underwater, so it deals only two or three burn splats per phase at most.
(2:04) Gnomonkey says the Bofa is roughly 5 to 8% better than the atlatl on Zulrah, depending on levels, and is also easier to use.
(2:21) The atlatl is a three-tick weapon, so Gnomonkey says to use a Bellator ring switch while ranging, because it takes two ticks to put on and those ticks are very important.
(24:38) Gnomonkey warns against wearing Necklace of anguish with the atlatl and says Amulet of fury is much better, since atlatl scales on strength.
(25:17) Gnomonkey shows at max stats a 14% difference on the blue phase between the necklaces for the atlatl, but says the gap is closer if your strength level is higher than your ranged level.
(25:55) Gnomonkey says Zulrah is not the atlatl's best boss, but you do not need a Bofa to kill Zulrah and can get kills with it.
(26:18) Gnomonkey says the atlatl got most of his Zulrah KC before the Twisted bow, as described in the video description.

Bow of Faerdhinen

(16:52) Gnomonkey says the Bofa is about 5 to 8% better than the atlatl on Zulrah depending on stats, and it is convenient because you skip the Bellator ring switch.
(16:52) With the Bofa setup, Gnomonkey says to put the recoil back on when it breaks and that you simply play brain-off.
(23:45) Gnomonkey argues against Bofa camping on Zulrah, saying it is 12% worse on the green phase and 61% worse on the melee phase than the Twinflame setup, and that you cannot pillar stall with it.
(24:12) Gnomonkey says Bofa camping leads to taking more damage and a roughly equal trip length, so it is not a net positive; he says it is fine to use if you want to chill, but he always recommends bringing a mage switch.
(25:55) Gnomonkey says the Bofa is a lot better than the atlatl on the blue phase if both strength and ranged are maxed, but the atlatl still works fine.

Toxic blowpipe

(16:16) Gnomonkey says the blowpipe overtakes the atlatl at Zulrah only with at least rune darts, because the atlatl is a lot more accurate.
(16:52) Gnomonkey says the blowpipe is very good at Zulrah even if you do not use it as the main weapon, since its special attack heals you.
(16:57) Gnomonkey recommends using the blowpipe special attack even at full health just to start the special attack energy recharging.

Snakeling

(3:30) Gnomonkey notes that snakelings will hit hard if you forget to wear your recoil ring after it breaks.
(5:27) Gnomonkey colour-codes snakelings with the radius markers plugin, importing a pastebin string linked in the description.
(5:27) Zulrah's snakelings are randomly 50-50 either a melee snakeling or a mage snakeling; Gnomonkey says you can avoid mage snakeling damage almost entirely, and the melee ones are the ones that hit you.
(10:45) Gnomonkey flicks on the Ring of recoil to kill melee snakelings and otherwise leaves the recoil on unless attacking with the Bellator ring.
(12:15) Gnomonkey says you should not shield flick unless none of the snakelings are melee ones.

Ring of recoil

(2:21) On Zulrah Gnomonkey wears the Bellator ring when ranging with the atlatl and recoil otherwise.
(3:30) Gnomonkey uses the Ring of recoil notifier plugin, which puts a giant ring on screen when you are not wearing it, to avoid forgetting after the ring breaks.
(11:45) Gnomonkey says the item charges plugin tracks recoil charges, and breaking the ring refreshes it to full charges, which you can do if it has only two charges left.

Ring of suffering

(2:53) Gnomonkey says it is silly to make a Ring of suffering on an Iron Man because it is only good on Zulrah, where it is a QOL upgrade with some okay defence.
(2:53) Gnomonkey says the Lightbearer has overtaken the Ring of suffering everywhere else, such as God Wars and the Inferno for blowpipe specs.
(3:21) Gnomonkey says a main can buy a Ring of suffering fairly cheaply and it is worth using at Zulrah, but an Iron should not bother.

Crystal shield

(4:21) Gnomonkey says the Crystal shield deflects roughly 25% of the total ranged damage coming at you during the mage phase at Zulrah.
(4:21) Gnomonkey says the Crystal shield is optional and very easy for Irons to get, and shield flicking it makes kills quite a bit harder to do, so skip it if intimidating.
(10:14) Gnomonkey says putting on the Crystal shield right after Zulrah attacks lets you use the atlatl every time since both have the same attack speed.
(12:15) To shield flick Zulrah, put your shield on right as her animation starts, because the damage is calculated as soon as her animation starts.
(15:44) Gnomonkey says shield flicking on mage phases is sweaty and not required, but reduces damage a lot and makes longer trips more likely.

Zulrah

(4:19) Gnomonkey says to bank with a dual ring and use Fairy ring BJS to travel to Zulrah if you do not yet have teleport scrolls.
(4:19) Gnomonkey says you can recharge health at the Fairy Ring pool and bank at Fairy Ring spots before going back quickly.
(4:49) Using the stepping stone at the fairy ring route to Zulrah requires 76 Agility; Gnomonkey says a summer pie as a pre-pot can allow the jump if you are close.

Anti-venom and anti-poison

(8:41) Gnomonkey advises curing venom partway through a Zulrah kill so it stops building, and not letting it get above about 10 damage.
(17:44) Gnomonkey says to cure poison during long periods where you are not taking damage, such as when Zulrah is not attacking.
(17:47) Gnomonkey says that if you get a Serpentine helm on an Iron without anti-venom, it is probably worth camping the helm to free three inventory slots, even with a DPS hit.
(18:28) Gnomonkey says normal anti-venom lasts about 30 to 50 seconds randomly, and mains should use extended anti-venom, which gives around five minutes of protection.
(20:45) Gnomonkey says regular anti-poison is easy to buy in Sophanem, where the store has 20, and you should stack a few hundred if grinding Zulrah, since a kill uses a lot.

Opinion: Scorching bow is bad on Zulrah

(25:55) Gnomonkey says the Scorching bow with dragon arrows at max stats is still 0.2 DPS worse than the atlatl at Zulrah and is terrible when not killing demons.
(26:19) Gnomonkey says the Scorching bow is about 30% worse than the Bofa and 17% worse than the atlatl on the blue phase.
(26:45) Gnomonkey says crossbows are not great at Zulrah because she has under 500 health, where ruby bolts decay, so he would wait until at least the atlatl or Bofa.

Noxious halberd

(27:15) Gnomonkey says the Noxious halberd gives solid DPS across all Zulrah phases and would be a good option for people who love Bofa camping; he says it is a bit worse than the Bofa on blue phase.
(27:42) Gnomonkey says Chally specs are also very strong at Zulrah since you can spec on red as she goes underwater without losing many ticks, and that it is a much better camping setup than Twisted bow camping.

Gnomonkey

(0:00) Gnomonkey made this guide as a clean second take after a previous attempt at the guide was sloppy.
(5:30) Gnomonkey was grinding Zulrah on his hardcore Ironman when he made this guide, and says he was short on ranging potions then.