Theatre of Blood/Hard Mode
Theatre of Blood's Hard Mode is a Theatre of Blood raid with increased difficulty. Similarly to Challenge Mode Chambers of Xeric, the enemies have more health, though their combat stats are usually the same or lower, and the bosses' mechanics are modified.
To attempt a hard mode raid, all participants must have at least one normal mode completion. However, it is not recommended to attempt hard mode until the player is experienced with the tactics required in normal mode, as they are more or less the same as in hard mode.
The chests are still available in hard mode, but they give less points than normal mode - assuming no deaths before or during Sotetseg, the player will usually have an average of 15 points, though the highest is 18.
Equipment
Compared to regular Theatre of blood, Hard Mode setups are much stricter to make challenge mode times and complete the raid consistently. Inventories bring additional supplies, as you will be taking much more damage, spending more time at each boss, and will receive less supplies over the course of a raid. Non-range roles often opt out of bringing Elite void to save inventory space.
Scythe of vitur is especially powerful for Hard mode due to the importance of quickly killing bosses such as Maiden, Xarpus, and Verzik, as well as completing the raid in the overall challenge time. Every role will bring the best melee equipment available, as melee is used predominantly throughout the raid.
Notes:
- Raiders should enter the theatre with a one-handed weapon and offhand equipped and bring in an anglerfish to eat after Maiden
- Salve amulet (e) should be dropped after the Bloat room to gain an extra inventory space
- A Swift blade or Ham joint is helpful for the meleers in the Nylo room. However, a fast 4t weapon such as an Abyssal tentacle will work.
- All roles should bring both dragon claws, crystal halberd, Elder maul/Dragon warhammer and a Bandos godsword when possible.
- The rune pouch should contain runes for Thralls along with a book of the dead. Additional runes can be brought for Spellbook Swap, Potshare, and Vengeance if inventory space allows.
Freezers will bring additional magic equipment for freezing Nylocas Matomenos and for Nylocas Hagios. Non-freeze roles should only bring a powered staff for the Nylo boss and killing Nylocas during Verzik P3.
Notes:
- In 4 man raids, one freezer (the melee freeze) should additionally take a Swift blade, Ham joint , or other fast melee weapon for the Nylocas waves
- Ice ancient sceptre will extend the freeze duration of Nylocas Matomenos, which is helpful for stacking and skipping at Maiden. Otherwise, the additional magic damage is preferred over a longer freeze duration
- Raiders should enter the theatre with their one-handed weapon and offhand equipped and bring in an anglerfish to eat after Maiden
- The Book of darkness can be dropped after Maiden to gain an extra inventory space once the additional magic accuracy is no longer needed.
- Maging in Elite void can save considerable space when bringing in Elite void ranged as well. Using a Twisted bow at Maiden is also much more forgiving when preparing to freeze nylos.
- 2 Pieces of Ancestral robes will give an extra Sang/Trident max hit, while 2 pieces of Virtus will give an extra barrage max hit in most setups. While magic equipment below ancestral/virtus can be used, they are only marginally better than elite void equipment.
- For 100% freeze rate at Maiden (without a boosted magic level), +103 magic accuracy is required for ancestral/virtus, and +54 magic accuracy is required for void, both assume Augury is active. If using equipment other than this, refer to Nylocas Matomenos for magic accuracy requirements.
- Void freezers may need to take off their defender and boots to reach 100% freeze rate. If freezing with a powered staff put it on accurate for an invisible accuracy bonus
- Freeze roles should take a saturated heart or imbued heart for the nylo room.
- Tonalztics of ralos can be used to reduce Maiden to 0 defence in only 2 specs after a single Dragon warhammer or Elder maul to save special attacks for stacking or 30s skip.
In addition to full melee gear, the ranger will bring full Elite void as its damage far exceeds other range equipment on Nylocas. Other roles can elect to bring full elite void, Masori, or no additional switches besides their range weapon depending on how much additional inventory space is desired.
| Slot | Item (most effective → least effective) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 |  Void ranger helm[a] | N/A | N/A |
 |  Necklace of anguish | N/A | N/A |
 |  Dizana's quiver |  Ava's assembler | N/A |
 |  Elite void top[a] |  Masori body (f)[b] | N/A |
 |  Elite void robe[a] |  Masori chaps (f)[b] | N/A |
 |  Twisted bow &  Toxic blowpipe | N/A | N/A |
 |  Twisted buckler[c] | N/A | N/A |
 | File:Dragon arrow.pngDragon arrow[d] /  Ghommal's lucky penny | File:Amethyst arrow.pngAmethyst arrow[d] /  Rada's blessing 4 | File:Peaceful blessing.pngGod blessing /  Rada's blessing 3/2 |
 |  Void knight gloves[a] | N/A | N/A |
 |  Dragon claws and Elder maul | File:Crystal halberd.pngCrystal halberd and Dragon warhammer /  Bandos godsword | N/A |
Notes:
- Raiders should enter the theatre with a one-handed weapon and offhand equipped and bring in an anglerfish to eat after Maiden
- Toxic blowpipe should be loaded with rune darts or better
- Ranger should bring 15-25 black chinchompas and a twisted buckler to hit groups of Nylocas Matomenos and Nylocas Toxobolos
- The rune pouch and inventory should contain runes for Potshare and Vengeance. Additional runes for Spellbook Swap and Thralls can be brought if inventory space allows.
Bosses
Maiden of Sugadinti
The blood spawns that appear are now invulnerable to damage and the pools of blood they leave behind will no longer despawn. She will also spawn all eight Nylocas Matomenos at every interval, which alongside healing her and increasing her damage also increases her attack speed. Therefore, it is vital to freeze all nylocas, and to a lesser extent, blood spawns, as getting hit by blood spawns will significantly increase the chances of a wipe due to more blood spawns appearing and covering more tiles.
The Maiden's attacks will deal more damage after three auto-attacks on a single target, so teams should rotate accordingly to minimise overall damage.
Freezers often follow the convention of N1234, S12 (clumping S2 and backing up 4s if needed). If the ranger is bringing chinchompas to attack the pile of Nylocas, this allows the south freezer to continue scything maiden earlier. Otherwise, they will continue to barrage the clump of nylocas as normal.
Pestilent Bloat
The boss can change directions multiple times rather than once per rotation. In addition, parts will fall from the ceiling for the entire duration of the fight, so players should watch for falling shadows and be on the move even when attacking. Due to this, bandos godsword drivebys are not recommended, as getting caught by a falling part will likely result in a guaranteed death alongside the ranged attacks. Having radius markers active can help improve reaction times when the boss makes a turn.
Nylocas
All normal nylocas now act similarly to Nylocas Vasilias - attacking them with the wrong combat style will reflect the damage the player would have dealt back onto them alongside preventing them from being attacked by that player. While the damage is capped to the nylocas' health, it is important not to instinctively AoE clusters of nylocas as this can result in a lot of damage if the team is faring poorly on the waves.
Three Nylocas Prinkipas will also spawn during pre-challenge build-up, working similarly to normal mode Vasilias, on the tenth, twentieth and thirtieth wave. The first two should be killed immediately as soon as they appear, with all players ideally dumping a scythe auto and a crystal halberd special attack, as Prinkipas has fairly low health (300/350/400 health); these two attacks alone are usually strong enough to remove 80% of the Prinkipas' health before it changes form, after which one or two players can focus killing on nylocas again. The third one should be ignored until all of the lesser nylocas are killed, as it is more important at this point to preserve the pillars as no further nylocas will appear unless going for the Royal Affairs achievement.
Vasilias itself has its ranged and magic attacks imbued with special properties - the ranged attack hits everyone within 3 tiles of its primary target, so players should spread apart to minimise damage. The magic attack instead bounces through the whole team if they are not all on the same tile (known as death-dot). If the attack bounces, it will always hit, ignoring protection prayers and defence bonuses. It deals half damage if within two tiles of the primary target; otherwise it deals increased damage. Therefore, spread at least three tiles away when it is in its ranged form, and death dot when it is in its magic form. Vasilias' attacks are also stronger, capable of one-hitting players with an unprotected attack.
Essentially, after Vasilias' second attack in its mage or range form, the team should converge/scatter respectively to minimize damage taken. In its melee form, players should expect the next style to be ranged as its attack hits faster than the magic style and cannot be as easily reacted to.
Sotetseg
Depending on the quadrant the player takes, this will also be their quadrant for both Xarpus and Verzik.
Sotetseg's fight is very similar to normal mode, with the exception of the maze and large ball mechanics. Sotetseg now sends all but one player into the Shadow Realm, and those players sent there will now have the maze divided amongst them, based on orb order.
The tornado can spawn in the shadow realm as well as in the overworld. Once the player that is lowest in orb order passes the 3rd row of tiles, the shadow will spawn INSIDE the shadow realm. However, if the player in the overworld passes the 3rd tile it will spawn the tornado BOTH in the shadow realm AND in the overworld. This makes it especially important for the player above to wait on the 3rd row until the last player in the shadow realm begins running.
Soteseg will launch 2 death balls, and need to be split evenly between the team. Each player chosen for the death ball will stand on opposite sides of the death-dot tile, with the remaining team standing ON the death-dot tile to evenly share the damage between them.
If a 2nd set of death balls appears, they are often tick-ate as most players' health are too low to safely split the damage. If the entire team heals between rounds, these can be shared the same as above.
Make sure to have a 4-dose stamina potion before leaving this room!
Xarpus
As soon as the fight is initiated, Xarpus will spit poison around the edges of the arena, covering up to two tiles' worth from them outside of the three tiles in front of the entrance, resulting in a three tile radius around Xarpus which is left untouched. Learning how to melee Xarpus is essential in hard mode, since there is less room to work with and the boss must reach phase 3 faster. However, as a result of the poison layers, Xarpus' Defence is lowered from 250 to 200 to make him easier to hit. Players should enter the arena from the middle tile of the barrier to avoid unnecessary damage.
During the stare phase, Xarpus will immediately focus on the quadrant he was attacked from, overriding his natural rotation. The team should spread out on all four quadrants and attack on different ticks to force Xarpus to continually rotate, therefore making it impossible for any player to get hit by the retaliatory attack unless someone stops attacking. In a five man team the quadrant with two players should exercise some caution to avoid killing the other player, or attack on the same tick together.
Verzik Vitur
In phase 1, whenever Verzik damages the pillars, rubble will fall from the ceiling in a 1x1 AoE up to 3 tiles from the edge of the pillar. Getting caught by one will stun the player and deal up to 35 damage. To mitigate this, rotate between two pillars to avoid getting hit by debris.
In phase 2, Verzik's urnbombs will leave behind a pool of poison that lasts for 16 ticks, dealing 9-10 rapid poison damage if stood on (and inflict poison) and deal slightly more damage. Players will need to utilise several tiles to attack Verzik and avoid the pools without losing too much ticks - ideally five tiles to run to and from, as the first pool will dissipate after the fourth one is launched in order. During the last 35% interval, the Nylocas Matomenos that she spawns will explode and deal damage to any player near them if they are still alive when Verzik summons a new set. The combat nylocas that she spawns will only pop upon being killed or having the player they were following trigger the explosion, though apart from the twisted bow, the player will always max on them. Phase 2 is still dealt with the same way as in normal mode.
In phase 3, Verzik will periodically change aggro rather than focusing on one player, so all players should be prepared to tank throughout the entire fight. The charged attack also strikes three times per player, with three tiles to protect them from each strike. The large green ball attack will now instantly kill if there are two or more players in the arena; otherwise, it acts as in normal mode. The damage will be lowered to 89, 74 and 49 for 1/2/3 bounces respectively. However, experienced teams can abuse invulnerability frames to bypass this via Redemption by having it go off, resulting in the ensuing heal blocking the damage. To do this, the player must have 20 health and take sufficient damage to trigger it, such as tanking a tornado, using a locator orb or other specific self-damaging items; Zamorak brew does not work.
Unlike normal mode, it is not recommended to trigger the 20.0% threshold until after the charged attack ends to avoid having to handle the triple shot and tracking tornadoes at the same time, which will often result in one of the two mechanics damaging the player. While the green ball will be launched with players having to run around, tanking a tornado in this case is much better over getting instantly killed by the green ball if not using the Redemption method, since each tornado only damages the player they were tracking, not other players, and the health Verzik restores is usually low enough that the team can easily negate it. Still, it is recommended to keep health high if the green ball has to be tanked alone, since it and Verzik's increased auto-attacks can deal a lot of damage.
Finally, as a final stand, upon reaching 5% or lower of her health, Verzik will trigger a one-time heal, yelling You think this is over? and heal 30% of her health.
Rewards
Completing the Theatre of Blood in Hard Mode grants 15% more common loot. Completing the raid within the target time will give players an additional 15% in common loot, as well as giving players the chance to obtain Hard Mode-exclusive rewards (specifically, the sanguine dust and ornament kits).
The time thresholds are based on the total raid time.
| Players | Time |
|---|---|
| 5 | 25:00 |
| 4 | 27:00 |
| 3 | 30:00 |
| 2 | 35:00 |
| 1 | 1:10:00 |
Uniques
The unique drop mechanics for Hard Mode are identical to Normal Mode, aside from an overall increased unique chance to 1/7.7 (~13%),[1] and reduced weighting for the Avernic defender hilt, making the other uniques even more common.[2]
| Item | Quantity | Rarity | Price | High Alch | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Avernic defender hilt | 1 | 7/138.6 | 48,952,133 | 1,500,000 |
 | Ghrazi rapier | 1 | 2/138.6 | 46,256,730 | 3,000,000 |
 | Sanguinesti staff (uncharged) | 1 | 2/138.6 | 71,198,434 | 3,000,000 |
 | Justiciar faceguard | 1 | 2/138.6 | 12,757,075 | 1,200,000 |
 | Justiciar chestguard | 1 | 2/138.6 | 14,773,194 | 3,600,000 |
 | Justiciar legguards | 1 | 2/138.6 | 11,434,345 | 2,700,000 |
 | Scythe of vitur (uncharged) | 1 | 1/138.6 | 1,658,524,044 | 2,400,000 |
Tertiary
| Item | Quantity | Rarity | Price | High Alch | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Clue scroll (elite) | 1 | 3.5/25[d 2][d 1] | Not sold | 12 |
 | Sanguine dust | 1 | 1/275 | Not sold | N/A |
 | Sanguine ornament kit | 1 | 1/150 | Not sold | N/A |
 | Holy ornament kit | 1 | 1/100 | Not sold | N/A |
 | Lil' zik | 1 | 1/500 | Not sold | N/A |
- ^ Drop rate scales down based on the individual's performance during the raid.
- ^ The elite clue scroll drop rate increases to 1/6 after unlocking the elite Combat Achievements rewards tier.
Combat Achievements
There are 0 Combat Achievement tasks (totalling 0 points) available for Theatre of Blood: Hard Mode.
| Name | Description | Type | Tier | Comp% |
|---|
References
| Ver Sinhaza | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NPCs (inside) |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Items |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Rewards |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Scenery | |||||||||||||||||||
| Music | |||||||||||||||||||
| Related | |||||||||||||||||||
.png){kind=link}
.png){kind=link}
.png){kind=link}
.png){kind=link}
.png){kind=link}
