General Graardor/Strategies

General Graardor is the most popular of the five  God Wars Dungeon bosses to kill, as he is arguably the easiest, but players should not take him too lightly. To enter  Bandos's Stronghold, players must have at least 70  Strength and a  hammer. Unlike Runescape, you do not need any kill count to fight General Graardor.

Inventory
A typical solo/duo setup would look similar to the following:

This can be modified depending on team size, quality of armour, etc.

Getting There
To get to Godwars  Dungeon, go to the Quest tab and click on Boss Teleports. Once you enter GWD, activate your Magic protection prayer and head southwest until you reach the entrance to the Bandos section, which will be swarming with Orks, Goblins, and other Bandos creatures. Use your hammer on the big door and continue until you reach the final boss chamber.

Team Setup/Strategy
Less experienced players may choose the team strategy to quickly kill General Graardor and his minions. Teams often consist of three or more maxed or near-maxed players, one of whom is the designated tank. For tank gear, please refer to the solo setup.

Typical Team Member Setup

''Claws > Ags* - Dragons Claws are better than AGS for the simple reason of accuracy. AGS can hit 800+ at Bandos but due to the inaccuracy of the hits, claws are a better option.''
 * Helmet: Torva Full Helm > Verac's helm > Helm of neitiznot > Fighter hat
 * Neck: Amulet of fury > Amulet of glory
 * Torso: Bandos chestplate > Karil's top > Ganodermic poncho > Black D'hide Body
 * Legs: Bandos tassets > Verac's plateskirt > Dragon Platelegs > Rune Platelegs
 * Boots: Steadfast boots > Dragon boots > Bandos boots
 * Cape: Completionist cape > Max cape >TokHaar-Kal > Fire cape > Soul Wars cape > Skillcape of any kind
 * Side/Spec weapon: Dragon claws * > Armadyl godsword
 * Main weapon: Frostmourne/Chaotic longsword ** > Chaotic rapier > Chaotic maul > Armadyl godsword > other Godsword
 * Shield/sidearm: Divine spirit shield > Elysian spirit shield > Spectral spirit shield > Chaotic kiteshield > Dragonfire shield
 * Gloves: Goliath gloves > Barrows gloves
 * Ring: Berserker ring

''CLS > CR** - The Chaotic Longsword is the preferred choice at bandos because of its massive slash bonus, paired with a dragon defender. The Chaotic Rapier's slash bonus is much smaller (78). Since General Graardor is weak to slash, the Longsword beats the Rapier. However the difference between the two shrinks as gear and stats improve, and for a maxed player there no real difference between the two, and it's mostly up to personal preference (slow, bigger hits or fast smaller hits).''

Strategy

Before entering the room, be sure to take a sip of your overload and prayer renewal. Tanks should pray deflect melee at all times, while other players should pray deflect range. The first player in the room should be the tank, as Graador will focus on the first player he sees.

After the kill, players (except for the tank) should stand along the west wall until the monsters respawn. Once Graardor respawns, wait until the tank attacks him and gets his attention before engaging in combat.

Duo Strategy
Because of the server's relatively small size and the rarity of valuable drops, many players may find that duoing is one of the most efficient strategies. Duo teams consist of two players killing the boss with one being the tank and the other being an attacker. Some duo teams swap tank positions in order to prolong the trip so that one person does not take an immense amount of damage from General Graardor. In the case in which one person is the designated tanker and the other is purely an attacker, it is recommended for the tank to bring the best possible defensive gear and the attacker to bring the best possible offensive gear. The gear required for a successful duo team is below; although, this can be modified and the player could still have a successful and long trip.

* If you are wearing Bandos Armour or higher, you may wish to use a Dragonfire or Spectral Spirit Shield over a Chaotic Kiteshield due to its negative Magic resistance.
 * Helmet: Torva full helm > Verac's helm > Helm of Neitiznot > Fighter Hat >Dharok's helm > Torag's helm
 * Neck: Amulet of Fury > Amulet of Glory
 * Torso: Torva platebody > Karil's top > Bandos chestplate > Dharok's platebody / Torag's platebody > Fighter Torso> Black D'hide Body
 * Legs: Torva platelegs > Bandos Tassets >Dharok's Platelegs/Verac's Plateskirt /Torag's Platelegs
 * Boots: Steadfast Boots > Dragon Boots > Bandos Boots
 * Cape: Completionist Cape > Max Cape > TokHaar-Kal > Fire Cape > Soul Wars Cape > Ardougne cloak 3 or 4>Skill Cape of any kind
 * Primary Weapon: Frostmourne/Chaotic Longsword > Chaotic Rapier > Chaotic Maul > Abyssal Whip > Any Godsword
 * Spec Weapon: Dragon Claws > Armadyl Godsword > Saradomin Godsword > Bandos Godsword
 * Shield: Divine Spirit Shield > Elysian Spirit Shield > Chaotic Kiteshield* > Dragonfire Shield* > Spectral Spirit Shield*
 * Gloves: Goliath gloves > Barrows Gloves
 * Ring: Berserker ring



Solo Strategy
General Graardor can be soloed with Ranged or Melee at very high levels. Magic is not recommended, as Graardor has a high Magic defence. High magic levels are also needed for the player to successfully tank Steelwill's attacks.

Melee is the foremost recommended strategy, as Graardor is weak to slash. Players with a high Ranged level and diamond bolts (e) or dragon bolts (e) may choose to range instead.

Graardor often hits very high with his Melee attacks so the Protect from Melee prayer is a must. His second attack is a Ranged attack. When he uses this attack, he slams both fists on the ground and a shock-wave hits the player, inflicting up to 355 damage if the player is not using Protect from Ranged. Furthermore, this attack's emote may not always show - take necessary precautions if you notice the General suddenly "stops" attacking, as he most likely about to slam the ground with his second attack.

<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:13px;line-height:21px;">General Graardor should be attacked first. After he is dead, most players choose to deal with Sergeant Steelwill next, as his Magical attack will be dangerous for soloers wearing melee armour. Sergeant Grimspike comes next, to get his Ranged attacks out of the way. Lastly, Sergeant Strongstack, the meleer, should be killed. It is advised to keep Protect from Melee on as players finish up the sergeants, as Graardor might respawn faster than a player is able to kill Sergeant Strongstack.

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<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:13px;line-height:21px;">Common solo setup (Melee): *Helmet: Torva Full Helm > Verac's helm > Helm of neitiznot
 * Neck: Amulet of fury > Demon Horn Necklace > God Stole > Amulet of gloryBandos_gear.png
 * Torso: Ganodermic body > Pernix Body > Karil's top > Zamorak d'hide/Black d'hide body
 * Legs: Torva platelegs > Bandos tassets > Verac's plateskirt
 * Boots: Steadfast boots > Dragon boots > Bandos boots

<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:13px;line-height:21px;">* You can choose between a dragon defender or divine spirit shield, depending on whether you want faster kills/less chance of being crashed or less chance of death/longer trips.
 * Cape: Completionist Cape > TokHaar-Kal > Fire cape > Soul Wars cape >Skillcape
 * Side/Spec weapon: Dragon claws > AGS > Bandos Godsword > DDS
 * Main weapon: Frostmourne/Chaotic longsword/Chaotic rapier/Chaotic maul > any Godsword> Abyssal whip
 * Shield/sidearm: Dragon Defender* = Divine spirit shield* > Elysian spirit shield > Spectral spirit shield > Chaotic kiteshield > Dragonfire shield
 * Gloves: Goliath gloves > Barrows gloves
 * Ring:  Berserker ring/Ring of Wealth

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<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:13px;line-height:21px;">Common solo setup (Ranged):

Familiars
 * Helmet: Pernix Cowl > Armadyl helmet > Robin hood hat > Helm of neitiznot
 * Neck: Fury > Amulet of Ranging > Glory
 * Torso: Pernix body > Armadyl chestplate > Karil's top > Zamorak body > Black d'hide body
 * Legs: Pernix chaps > Armadyl chainskirt > Karil's skirt > Verac's skirt > Zamorak chaps > Black d'hide chaps
 * Boots: Bandos boots > Dragon boots > Glaiven boots > Ranger boots
 * Cape: Completionist Cape > Ava's alerter > Ava's accumulator > Ava's attractor > Soul Wars cape > Skillcape
 * Side/Spec weapon: Bandos godsword > Darklight > Enhanced excalibur
 * Main weapon: Chaotic crossbow > Rune crossbow
 * Shield/sidearm: Divine spirit shield > Elysian spirit shield > Spectral spirit shield > Chaotic kiteshield > Dragonfire shield
 * Gloves: Swift gloves > Goliath gloves > Barrows gloves > Zamorak vambraces > Black d'hide vambraces
 * Ring: Archers' ring/Ring of Wealth
 * Bolts: Dragon bolts (e) > Diamond bolts (e)/Ruby bolts (e)

Because kill count is not required, time spent between banking and killing the actual boss is reduced drastically. As a result, Beasts of Burden are relatively obsolete, and players will find that using their best combat familiar to aid in killing the boss is much more effective. Bringing a Steel Titan and Steel of Legends scrolls is the most efficient way to kill General Graardor.

Players can use their familiar to attack the minions to reduce damage taken, but if a familiar kills a monster without any help from a player, no drop will appear. Using this strategy will greatly reduce the amount of damage taken, but players should bring an extra pouch should their familiar be killed in combat.