TzHaar Fight Cave

The TzHaar Fight Cave is an advanced area in RuneScape introduced in October 2005. It is a Safe combat minigame in TzHaar City, which means if you die, you will retain all of your items. Up until this update, the Kalphite Queen had been the most powerful of all creatures within RuneScape. However, the introduction of the TzHaar Fight Cave created 2 monsters, the Level 702 TzTok-Jad and the Level 360 Ket-Zek, both of which are higher in level. However, the Kalphite Queen is widely regarded to be more difficult to defeat than the Level 702 TzTok-Jad, despite its lower combat level.

Location
Deep under the ground of Karamja, a new species of creature has been discovered. This was introduced in early October 2005. To find the entrance to this underground city, or TzHaar, players must go into the volcano dungeon on Karamja. Once there, players will see a cave, which leads to TzHaar.

Monsters
The residents here are much stronger than most places, which is to be expected from a race living inside a volcano, and have devised many tests of skill and strength. Some, like the TzHaar Fight Pit, are meant as tournaments between bold adventurers. However, the TzHaar Fight Cave pits adventurers against a succession of waves of monsters, each harder than the last. To get to the final boss, the immensely powerful Level 702 TzTok-Jad, players must battle past six other types of monsters ranging from level 22 up to level 360. Each of these monsters require a different tactic by the player, though, due to the structure of the mini-game, most of them are best fought from a distance.

The monsters are in order of appearance:

The goal of the Fight Cave is to reach and defeat the level 702 TzTok-Jad, but that is extremely difficult to do, and is impossible for all but the most versed in combat tactics. Unlike the Kalphite Queen, players cannot team up against these monsters.

TzTok-Jad
TzTok-Jad (sometimes referred to as "702" or "Jad") is the final monster encountered in the TzHaar Fight Cave Minigame. Examining the monster yields the discouraging message "This is going to hurt..." TzTok-Jad is the 3rd highest level monster in all of RuneScape (the highest is the Corporeal beast]and second-highest is the Spirit Beast), but those who are skilled enough to defeat it are in for grand rewards...Namely the Fire cape, the only animated cape in the game.

Tactical analysis
In order for one to reach TzTok-Jad, one must first endure 62 rounds of fighting progressively tougher monsters. TzTok-Jad himself is a level 702, huge, four-legged behemoth and uses Magic, Melee, & Ranged attacks - melee if you try to use melee against him; otherwise he alternates between using Magic and Range. All of these can deal enough damage in a single blow to kill even the most powerful of players if not guarded against via using the correct protection prayer. TzTok-Jad has a max hit of 97. It is rumoured he can hit higher, but this hasn't been confirmed. When TzTok-Jad is down to half health, he will summon four Yt-HurKots (level 108 with 60 HP and tiny in comparison) which will heal him, effectively causing him to regenerate endlessly until you deal with them. In order to stop them from healing you need to hit them once to draw their attention to you. In order to compensate from Yt-HurKot's 14-Hitpoint damage, turn on the Steel Skin prayer, or kill them. Alternatively, when all of them are attacking you, simply run through TzTok-Jad and they will become trapped behind him (this is not advised unless you are experienced and know his actions). You can use a bow such as Karil's crossbow or the Crystal bow to attack.

Note: When attacking the healers with a bow/crossbow to turn their attention to you, it is advised to set the attack style to longrange first, otherwise you may walk too close to TzTok-Jad, and get hit by its melee attack.

Survival depends on watching his movements; he warns the player before attacking with non-melee attacks. By listening for certain sounds and watching his forelegs prior to his attack, he/she can switch to the appropriate protection prayer and avoid severe damage.

Reaching TzTok-Jad takes a considerable amount of time and resources, requiring usually 2-3 hours of continuous playing and a considerable number of potions. Actually defeating TzTok-Jad requires a huge amount of persistance and determination, as TzTok-Jad is rarely defeated in the first few tries from even the best RuneScape players.

Contrary to popular belief, a player's Ranged or Combat Level to a point do not considerably affect the player's performance in the Fight Caves, as the immense difficulty of dealing with the trials and the final battle with TzTok-Jad still remains. A higher defence level, however, DOES help the player to get to TzTok-Jad easier, as the player can equip better armour and will get hit less often.

For players who wish to save their high-healing foods for later fights may choose to find a safespot and wait until their hitpoints heal. This is very time consuming, but casting a Lunar Dream spell, having a bracelet of regeneration equip or Rapid Heal turned on will speed up the healing process.

Recommended Setups
There are generally two approaches to get through the caves. One is using Guthan's and ranged, the other is using ranged only. Magic is ineffective in the caves as a vast quantity of runes is needed, and all the monsters have high magic defence. Note that these setups are only a suggestion, and they can vary from player to player depending on skill levels.

Guthan's Setup
Many players use Guthan's in the early waves as it helps conserve food, and it also has reasonable defence. Players would normally use Guthan's until the Yt-MejKots appear, in which the player would then switch to his/her ranged setup. However, they could still heal on monsters in later waves to replenish their health when needed. Ideal monsters to heal on are Tz-Kih, Tz-Kek, and Tok-Xil. If a player is low on hitpoints, they could also heal on the Yt-MejKot's with the Protect from Melee prayer active (providing there are no other monsters around), as the Yt-MejKots heal themselves during battle. This tip is especially helpful in waves 30 and 61, where there are two Yt-MejKots that will heal each other, allowing you to heal on them for much longer.

Here is a suggested equipment setup if you are using Guthan's:


 * Guthan's helm
 * Amulet of fury / God stole / Holy symbol / Unholy symbol / Amulet of glory
 * Guthan's platebody
 * Guthan's chainskirt
 * Guthan's warspear
 * Ava's accumulator / Ava's attractor / Obsidian cape / Skillcape / Legends cape
 * Adamant bolts / Diamond bolts (e) / Bolt racks / Nothing (if using crystal bow)
 * Black d'hide vambraces]] / Best Gloves obtained from Recipe for Disaster
 * Ranger boots / Snakeskin boots / Dragon boots
 * Archers ring / Explorer's ring (3)

And here is the suggested inventory to go with it:


 * Black d'hide body / Karil's leathertop / Armadyl chestplate
 * Black d'hide chaps / Karil's leatherskirt / Armadyl plateskirt / Verac's skirt (optional)
 * Rune crossbow / Karil's crossbow / 2 Crystal bows
 * Granite shield / Dragonfire shield / Elysian spirit shield (optional, and only if using Rune crossbow)
 * 1 Ranging potion (4)
 * 4-5 Saradomin brews (4)
 * 17-19 Super restore potions (4)

Ranged-only Setup
The ranged-only setup involves using ranged all the way through to the end. Many players say this is harder than using Guthan's, as more food and/or potions is required, and you would take more damage. However, it isn't very difficult to make it to the end using only ranged, and it's a good alternative to people who can't afford Guthan's. As you'll be taking more damage, it is highly recommended to maximise your defence bonus (especially slash and ranged, to help defend against Tok-Xil and Yt-HurKot), as well as prayer and ranged attack.

Here is the suggested equipment setup if you are using ranged only:


 * Verac's helm / Saradomin coif / Guthix coif / Zamorak coif
 * Amulet of fury / God stole / Holy symbol / Unholy symbol / Amulet of glory
 * Black d'hide body / Armadyl chestplate
 * Verac's skirt / Armadyl plateskirt
 * Rune crossbow
 * Granite shield / Dragonfire shield / Elysian spirit shield
 * Ava's Accumulator / Ava's Attractor
 * Adamant bolts / Diamond bolts (e)
 * Black d'hide vambraces / Best Gloves obtained from Recipe for Disaster
 * Ranger boots / Snakeskin boots / Dragon boots
 * Archers ring / Explorer's ring (optional)

And here is the suggested inventory to go with it:


 * 1 Ranging potion (4)
 * 9 Saradomin brews (4)
 * 18 Super restore potions (4)

Recommended Levels
To complete the fight caves, it is strongly recommended one has the following skill levels:


 * 70+ Attack (if using Guthan's)
 * 70+ Strength (if using Guthan's)
 * 70+ Defence
 * 70+ Ranged
 * 70+ Hitpoints
 * 60+ Prayer

Rewards
If one is successful in completing all the waves and defeating TzTok-Jad, they receive 8,000 Tokkul and the much-coveted fire cape. This cape has an animated "lava" pattern. The animation shows lava flowing downwards continually.

The Fire Cape is considered the best cape in RuneScape. It provides much more protection than the Cape of Legends and the Obsidian cape. It is, of course, non-tradable. The only capes better in any area are the God capes which provide a higher magic offensive bonus only, Ava's attractor or Ava's accumulator in ranged attack bonus, and trimmed Capes of achievement as well as Vestment cloaks which are only higher in prayer.

Defeating TzTok-Jad subsequently after obtaining the Fire Cape awards the player with another Fire Cape and 8,000 Tokkul, allowing you to have more than one fire cape at a time. Any spare fire capes can also be sold to TzHaar-Mej-Jal for 8,000 Tokkul per cape.

If a player dies in the fight caves, they will still get Tokkul, but not as much as they would if they defeated TzTok-Jad.

Map
The Italy Rock is on the east wall. The Italy rock is a rock that you can hide behind and range. It got its name because it's shaped like Italy.

It is generally considered a safer tactic to stay on the side of the Italy rock near to the exit as most of the monsters spawn on the other side, preventing them from hitting you unexpectedly.

A useful spot to range/mage the lvl180 Yt-MejKots is in the north-west "cave" standing against the east wall there. The lvl180 Yt-MejKots will almost always get trapped there so you can safely range/mage them. This is useful on waves like 30 and 61, where you get attacked by two Yt-MejKots at once.

Wave breakdown

 * 1) 22
 * 22, 22
 * 1) 45
 * 45, 22
 * 45, 22, 22
 * 45, 45
 * 1) 90
 * 90, 22
 * 90, 22, 22
 * 90, 45
 * 90, 45, 22
 * 90, 45, 22, 22
 * 90, 45, 45
 * 90, 90
 * 1) 180
 * 2) 180, 22
 * 3) 180, 22, 22
 * 4) 180, 45
 * 5) 180, 45, 22
 * 6) 180, 45, 22, 22
 * 7) 180, 45, 45
 * 8) 180, 90
 * 9) 180, 90, 22
 * 10) 180, 90, 22, 22
 * 11) 180, 90, 45
 * 12) 180, 90, 45, 22
 * 13) 180, 90, 45, 22, 22
 * 14) 180, 90, 45, 45
 * 15) 180, 90, 90
 * 16) 180, 180
 * 17) 360
 * 18) 360, 22
 * 19) 360, 22, 22
 * 20) 360, 45
 * 21) 360, 45, 22
 * 22) 360, 45, 22, 22
 * 23) 360, 45, 45
 * 24) 360, 90
 * 25) 360, 90, 22
 * 26) 360, 90, 22, 22
 * 27) 360, 90, 45
 * 28) 360, 90, 45, 22
 * 29) 360, 90, 45, 22, 22
 * 30) 360, 90, 45, 45
 * 31) 360, 90, 90
 * 32) 360, 180
 * 33) 360, 180, 22
 * 34) 360, 180, 22, 22
 * 35) 360, 180, 45
 * 36) 360, 180, 45, 22
 * 37) 360, 180, 45, 22, 22
 * 38) 360, 180, 45, 45
 * 39) 360, 180, 90
 * 40) 360, 180, 90, 22
 * 41) 360, 180, 90, 22, 22
 * 42) 360, 180, 90, 45
 * 43) 360, 180, 90, 45, 22
 * 44) 360, 180, 90, 45, 22, 22
 * 45) 360, 180, 90, 45, 45
 * 46) 360, 180, 90, 90
 * 47) 360, 180, 180
 * 48) 360, 360
 * 49) 702 TzTok-Jad, four Level 108 healers when TzTok-Jad is at half health

Trivia

 * When the mini-game originally came out you could use the Dwarf multicannon in there. This was remedied later on by Jagex.
 * TzTok-Jad originally only used Range and Melee; however, Jagex later added Magic to his attacks so players couldn't kill TzTok-Jad that easily.
 * A big problem with this game was that when it was first released, you could not log out during the fight caves unless you were willing to give up all your progress. However, you can now logout during the fight caves and pick up where you left off! Click the logout button and it will say you will be logged out after the current wave or click "logout now" to abort the mini-game entirely. Once you're sure you've finished off all the monsters in that wave, click logout. When you next login, you will start from the next wave.