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 get 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 "Get Out of Jail Free" card. You don't need to manually eat at all.

AFK Options

For those with

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Level 90

who have completed their Dragonfire Shield, consumable resources can provide enough additional DR to push the build above into something that can survive purely by Auto-Eating, as long as none of them run out.

Requirements

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Level 80
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Level 90 with
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Level 50 Damage Reduction Potion
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Level 65 with Witch level 4 and Yak level 3.

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%
Silver Diamond Ring	Ring	1%
Ancient Claw	Main Weapon	0%
Dragonfire Shield	Off-hand	8%
Subtotal		46%
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Safeguard	Prayer	1%
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Stone Skin	Prayer	3%
Damage Reduction Potion III	Potion	6%
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Yak	Familiar	1%
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Yak & Error creating thumbnail: File missing Witch	Familiar Synergy	2% vs Error creating thumbnail: File missing Melee
Total		59%

Prayer Scrolls or Alchemist's Bags can be used to reduce total prayer point costs or number of potions needed to survive 10 Infernal Stronghold runs, respectively.

If one has cleared

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Air God Dungeon

a handful of times, Aeris God Gloves and Aeris God Boots can be used instead for an additional 2% DR each. Similarly, after your first clear of Infernal Stronghold, swapping to your newly acquired Infernal Cape will net another 2% DR. Combined with +1% DR from

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Lake Swim

that's enough to swap your helmet for a Chapeau Noir for a reoccuring 10% chance to need one less run.

Agility

Bonuses from Agility Obstacles can reduce the amount of DR required considerably by increasing your Maximum Hitpoints.

Requirements

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Level 20
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Level 70
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Level 20
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Level 20
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Level 60
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Level 60
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Level 80
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Level 80

Item	Slot	+HP
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Cliff Balance	Slot 5 Obstacle	+20
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Rocky Waters	Slot 6 Obstacle	+50
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Raft Building	Slot 8 Obstacle	+20
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Ice Jump	Slot 9 Obstacle	+20
Dragonfire Shield	Off-hand	+30
Total		+140

For instance, assuming the same

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Level 90

as before, after these HP bonuses, the DR required to AFK has dropped to only 54%. If you're lucky enough to have Finn, the Cat, hitting only

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Level 91

for a total of 1060 HP would let you drop as far as 53%, eliminating the need for either DR potions, or Prayers and Witch Summoning Tablets, or when combined with the equipment improvements mentioned above, both. Or used with everything above to lower minimum HP to

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Level 76

, though using

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Cliff Balance

and prayers together is costly.

After Water God Dungeon

With access to magic armor with late-game DRs, you can now take on this dungeon with proper Combat Triangle advantage, meaning no need for expendable resources besides food and runes, no need for agility boosts, and even still enough DR to spare some for item doubling.

Item	DR%
Chapeau Noir	0%
Glacia God Platebody	8%
Glacia God Platelegs	8%
Glacia God Boots	8%
Glacia God Gloves	8%
Skull Cape	3%
Elite Amulet of Defence	2%
Ring of Wealth	0%
Scaled Shield	8%
Fire Imbued Wand	0%
Total	45%

Instead of the Ring of Wealth, a Aorpheat's Signet Ring can be used; it will give you an additional 100k-150K GP per clear, but only a 5% chance to double Infernal Core drops, making it worse for those farming only Infernal Cores but better for those also farming GP. For those who have already acquired their Infernal Claw, thus exclusively interested in GP, please see the Combat section of the Money-Making Guide