Infernal Stronghold/Guide

This page was last updated for (v1.0.4).

Why Clear Infernal Stronghold?

There three main reasons for completing the

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Infernal Stronghold

:

Manual-Eating Build

The guide assumes that you have completed

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Volcanic Cave

at least once, and have obtained the   Ancient Claw. If not, then check out this   Ancient Claw Guide for how to obtain this key item. Before attempting

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Infernal Stronghold

, it is strongly recommended that your AutoEat threshold is higher than all of   Malcs moves when you are not stunned. This build can achieve that with 900 HP, although it is advised to check it with the Combat Simulator to be sure.

The boss in this dungeon is   Malcs, the Leader of Dragons (Malcs), and the strongest attack is the combination of Sealing (Stun) + Penetrating Claws.

The   Ancient Claw can be substituted for the   Sunset Rapier at a push, but due to the boss stun attack being very powerful, the faster you can attack after stun, the better your overall chances.

Use prayers to increase your accuracy, as without your hit chance against   Malcs will be very low e.g. ~25% without prayers, compared to ~40% with. Using   Diamond Luck Potion (any level) will give you a significant advantage.

Equipping the   Infernal Cape after the first clear as this will increase DR, and will make it easier to get the 10   Infernal Claw needed for upgrading.

The   Dragonfire Shield (DFS) which can be obtained from the

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Volcanic Cave

is another good option, and can be paired with

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Icicle Volley

and

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Witch

. This combination is very effective against the   Green Dragon. Similarly, with at least 20,000 Accuracy

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Slicing Winds

is another good option.

The   DFS is one of the best defeneces against   Malcs. However, for an extra increase in DR, consider equipping   Silver Diamond Ring. Doing so will reduce your Dungeon clear time, but may increase your chances of survival. With   DFS equipped as well as 990 HP it should be sufficient to clear this dungeon with ease.

Malcs Special Moves

Pay attention to the following special moves from   Malcs:

  • Sealing + Penetrating Claws: do not underestimate this combo. The Spam Eating kicks in with a delay after you push a keyboard button, so it is important that you start before the Penetrating Claws hit you. This special move has two instances of damage separated by a short gap, so a good idea to use Spam Eating. The damage from Penetrating Claws is calculated as [math]\displaystyle{ 640 \times (1-\text{DR}) \times 1.3 \times 2 }[/math].
  • Sealing + Tail Whip: Heal to full HP before this hits, and if you have time, look what the max damage of the Tail Whip is when you are stunned. You may find that you can delay manual eating depending on whether your HP allows. The damage from this move can be calculated as [math]\displaystyle{ 690 \times (1-\text{DR}) \times 1.3 }[/math].
  • Sealing + Usual Attack: Occurs when   Malcs uses two Sealing attacks in row. The approach given in Tail Whip works well here.
  • Sealing + Inferno: Not as strong as the other attacks, and one that you can normally rely on AutoEat to survive.

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.

  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
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Cliff Balance
Slot 5 Obstacle +20
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Rocky Waters
Slot 6 Obstacle +50
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Raft Building
Slot 8 Obstacle +20
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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.

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.