Infernal Stronghold/Guide

Why clear Infernal Stronghold?

There are three main uses for

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Infernal Stronghold

:

Clear it once after 100
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Volcanic Caves to get the Infernal Cape that has 4% DR.
Clear it 10 times to get 10 Infernal Cores to merge Dragon Claw and Ancient Claw into Infernal Claw.
Clear it infinitely to farm money. This option is feasible closer to the end of the game.

Manual-eating build

The following build is for the players who just finished the

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Volcanic Cave

and the subsequent Ancient Claw grind.

Without manual eating, the main cause of death for the build below is Malcs's combo of Sealing (Stun) + Penetrating Claws.

Item	Slot	DR%
(G) Ancient Helmet	Head	7%
(G) Ancient Platebody	Body	7%
(G) Ancient Platelegs	Leggings	7%
(G) Dragon Boots	Boots	6%
(U) Ancient D-hide Vambraces	Hands	6%
Subtotal		33%
Fire Cape	Cape	2%
Elite Amulet of Defence	Neck	2%
Sandstorm Ring	Ring	0%
Ancient Claw	Main Weapon	0%
(G) Ancient Shield	Off-hand	7%
Total		44%

It is heavily advised to use either the Ancient Claw or at the very least Sunset Rapier because you want to get out of stun quickly, and the faster your attack speed is, the faster you will do it.

You might want to use prayers to increase your accuracy. Without the prayers, your hit chance against Malcs will likely be around 25%. With them, it's around 40%.
If you have Diamond Luck potions, it might be the right occasion to use them.

Getting the Infernal Cape after the first clear should make it a bit easier to clear it for the next 9 times if you aim for the Infernal Claw.

Optionally, it is advised to grind out the DFS, preferably with

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Icicle Volley

because it oneshots Green Dragons or with 20k-accuracy

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Slicing Winds

otherwise. DFS can make your fight with Malcs more relaxed if you can't yet survive Malcs's Sealing+Penetrating Claws from full health.

You also can swap the Sandstorm Ring for the Silver Diamond Ring if you don't have enough DR to be comfortable, but it will drastically reduce your clear speed.

Malcs's Combos

To attempt

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Infernal Stronghold

, it is heavily advised to have the AutoEat threshold above all Malcs's moves when you're not stunned. The build above can do that with 900 HP, although it is advised to check it with the Combat Simulator if you're not sure. As additional info, with DFS and 990 total HP, you definitely can do it like that.

Otherwise, you would need to keep track of many moves, which will likely lead to death and lost gear that needs hundreds of hours to get again.

Check your thresholds in the first fight just in case.

You will need to manually eat when Malcs uses Sealing:

Sealing + Penetrating Claws: It will be your cause of death if you underestimate it. Be aware that the Spam Eating kicks in with a delay after you push a keyboard button, so press it before the Penetrating Claws hit you. Also, the two instances of damage are separated by less than half a second, so use Spam Eating to be on the safe side. Calculate the damage from Penetrating Claws by [math]\displaystyle{ 640 \times (1-\text{DR}) \times 1.3 \times 2 }[/math].

Sealing + Tail Whip: Heal to full HP. If you have time, look what the max damage of the Tail Whip is when you are stunned, so you can refrain from manual eating when your HP allows it. Or you can calculate it before the fight by [math]\displaystyle{ 690 \times (1-\text{DR}) \times 1.3 }[/math].

Sealing + Usual Attack: Happens when Malcs uses another Sealing after the first one. Use the same logic as with Tail Whip.

Sealing + Inferno: A free get-out-of-jail card. You don't need to manually eat at all.