devtrackers.gg
This is a story about how an average Revolution player can obtain every drop from every boss - and so can you.
After the EoC shock, like many other players I decided I was done with combat. Maxing and the 2013 release of Divination meant I was busy skilling for a couple years, but addition of Revolution got me curious - perhaps there was a way to do Slayer with minimal inputs again... and perhaps something more. My first forays into bossing with abilities were a few very tedious GWD1 trips and especially QBD, where I tested out all three styles of the newly reborn combat triangle. Letting Revo rotate my basic abilities was just what I needed to keep up with the necessary inputs - an occasional threshold or ultimate ability, and sometimes movement.
But my bossing journey began for real in 2015 when my good friend got me into a semi-permanent team for then relatively new and ambitious 10-man Mazcab raid. I was completely clueless, undergeared and unprepared at first and just barely survived my first Yakamaru kill. However, the difficulty gradually went away with every raid. Soon I could take on some of the roles. This kick-started my PvM years. I got in the habit of regularly completing reaper tasks by myself at Araxxor, which I decided to learn using melee. In parallel, I practiced magic in then-standard 5-person Vorago teams. Consistency with reaper tasks, as it turned out, was a foundation for wealth building. More importantly, the simple combat skills acquired at the early EoC bosses transferred to other types of combat. I learned what ability to use and when, and how to keybind my abilities to suit my playstyle.
Probably the pivotal point of my experience with RuneScape bossing came from a stroke of luck. In one of my early Vorago kills I received Vitalis, the 1-in-5k, bane-of-the-unlucky, OG boss pet. I knew this was a sign. I had to climb the PvM ladder and get proficient at every boss - proficient enough to unlock every boss pet. This goal took me 3 years, start to finish. Every boss poses a different challenge and has to be approached in a different way. However, this means that every boss teaches you something new. Not only did I learn the combat styles, but I also learned networking, teamfinding, and met many people who helped me with group bosses along the way. When Nex AoD came about, I was in position to start grinding kills right away. Getting the AoD pet on release day reaffirmed my decision to go for all pets.
Then, disaster struck. Solak was a significant jump in difficulty compared to other bosses at the time. My 7-man team fell apart. I barely managed to get a single kill in a duo after a week of attempts, and called it quits. I decided to focus on other bosses first. This was also a valuable lesson: if a boss is too difficult, you can always return later once new tactics are established and powercreep makes you more comfortable. Patience was just another thing I had to learn about bossing. When I came back to Solak a few months later, I used every last bit of my networking skills to find 7-man teams, practice then-newly-developed hybridding meta, and transition into duos with a friend, after I convinced him we can do it. And then we did a thousand kills together.
When I finally obtained my last boss pet and the title Insane Final Boss after release of ED3 in 2019, I knew the road doesn't end there. As a byproduct of hunting for pets I came relatively close to the ultimate goal: every drop from every boss. This is the golden Reaper title, also called the "Insane" Reaper. That's where the real grind started. First I had to learn a completely new skill: prayer flicking for Raksha. Then I had to start getting rare drops faster than Jagex released new bosses, which proved difficult. When I was nearing my goal, Elder GWD brought us 5 bosses in a span of 2 years. It tested my entire combat knowledge and resistance to streaks of severely bad luck. But I persevered. The return to AoD, now commonly done with necromancy, was the home straight.
Now understand this. I'm a skiller at heart. I play for the story. My reflexes are terrible and I can't multitask well. My kills aren't fast. I stumbled and died a thousand times. I struggled with Ambassador. My first Raksha kill took me over a hundred attempts. I ruined not only my solo kills but entire teams' worth of time. That one hour of Solak in which I died in every kill still keeps me up at night from embarrassment. But in the end I found ways to deal with every boss and survive every mechanic. I learned them and I tamed them. Even though I will never be an excellent PvMer, I improved immensely in many areas. On the road there I've drunk 10 thousand overloads and I've made 100 billion gold. And I did it all with Revolution, for better and for worse.
Let this be an inspiration to you. If you're hesitant to try bossing - do it anyway. You can do it. Start easy, start small. Get out there and try a new boss. Mastered Kree or Vindicta? Aim higher. Araxxor, Kerapac, and Zuk are waiting for you. It's a new way to experience what RuneScape has to offer, and it's worth it. See you in the broadcasts!
External link →