Nomad

Nomad is the host of the Soul Wars minigame and an immensely powerful magician. When players first arrive on the island, they will encounter Nomad and his imp minion Zimberfizz. Nomad will offer players a free tour of the battlefield along with a short explanation, or a book that explains fighting in Soul Wars.

With a combat level of 699 and devastating attacks, he has the highest combat level of any quest boss in the game. He may be re-fought as a class A boss in the Dominion Tower.

Nomad built the Soul Obelisk and used it to gain immense power from souls by chanelling their energy into a throne of his making in secret. It was believed he did this to prepare to usurp his former master, the evil Mahjarrat Lucien, which has since been confirmed by Mod Mark, but Nomad has nothing to do with Mahjarrat-quest series. However, Zimberfizz soon found out he was up to something suspicious and recruited an adventurer to check out Nomad's tent. It turned out to house an immense temple and Nomad is seen conversing with a group of elite dark knights before easily killing them.

He warns the adventurer not to go any further, but they do anyway and in the end, confront Nomad on his throne. A battle breaks out in which Nomad initially has the upper hand with extremely powerful attacks, but he is eventually defeated by the adventurer. He says "You... you have doomed this world." and falls to the ground. After this the player can buy a red/blue soul wars cape from Zimberfizz.

Getting there


To get there, go south of Edgeville and go through the Soul Wars portal. Once you're in, there's a tent standing near the bank, go into the tent and Nomad will apear. After a little clip, continue your way through the door ahead, just continue your road through the doors and you will get to the Boss's room. Once you enter, the fight will automaticly start.

Offence
Nomad is an extremely powerful warrior and battlemage who is able to cause massive amounts of damage. In addition to his basic Magic attack, he has a number of special attacks that he frequently uses during the fight. These attacks are used in the same order in which they are listed below.


 * Nomad's basic attack is an at-range Magic attack that is capable of hitting in the 100s to mid 300s. It deals typeless damage, which means that Protect from Magic and Deflect Magic have no effect whatsoever on it. However, your Magic defence does affect the attack's accuracy; for this reason, armour with high Magic defence is strongly recommended when fighting him. Nomad begins using this attack immediately when the battle begins, and uses it in-between his special attacks.


 * His first special attack is to lay a number of flame vortices in a pattern around you. Each vortex occupies one square. If you step on a flame vortex, it explodes, dealing damage for around 100-400 life points. After about a minute, or after Nomad finishes casting Soul Blast, they explode on their own. The pattern in which Nomad deploys the vortices leaves a gap to the south, but depending on where you are standing a pillar may block the path. You can safely get away from them by running through the gap or using the abilities Escape or Surge (be aware that you cannot use these in the Dominion Tower). If you are meleeing Nomad, you should turn off Auto Retaliate when he deploys the vortices so that you do not accidentally wander over one.


 * Nomad's second special attack, Soul Blast, is a powerful Magic attack that deals 750 damage. Before using Soul Blast, Nomad teleports to his throne (or to roughly the centre of the battle arena in the Dominion Tower) and announces "You cannot hide from my wrath" (which is a lie). Players should immediately hide behind a pillar in order to dodge this attack, although some players prefer to simply take the hit while continuing to attack Nomad.


 * Mirror Image is Nomad's third special attack. He teleports to the centre of the arena and creates three copies of himself. These copies will attack you, along with the real Nomad. If you attack a copy, it disappears; if you attack the real Nomad, all of the copies disappear. You can easily tell which is the real Nomad by hovering your cursor over them to see their life bars. The clones will have full health, while the real Nomad will have however many life points he had before summoning the clones. In addition, the actual Nomad will attack you slightly after the three copies attack you, also allowing you to distinguish between Nomad and the clones. If you hide behind a pillar and wait around a minute, the clones disappear on their own.


 * Nomad's final and most powerful special attack is Disintegrate. He teleports you and himself to the centre of the arena, then hits you with an Ice Barrage-like attack that won't deal any damage, but freezes you in place (you can still attack him during this time though using Magic or Ranged). He then spends several seconds charging an immensely powerful Magic attack that deals an amount of damage equal to your maximum life points minus one. For example, if your maximum life points is 990, this attack deals 989 damage. You have time to eat while he is charging the attack, and have a few moments to heal after he unleashes it.

Berserk
The first time Nomad is reduced to 25% of his maximum life points, he will heal himself to half of his health. The second time, however, Nomad will go berserk and switch to using a melee attack with his staff. Although he will not use any of his other attacks when he goes berserk, his melee attack will hit very rapidly (throwing knife speed), and it can deal 200+ damage. Protect from Melee and Deflect Melee appear to have some small effect against his melee attack. One way to reduce the damage is to use a hit and run strategy; hide behind a pillar, quickly run out and attack him, run back into hiding, and then repeat the process. This will prevent Nomad from attacking so rapidly.

Defence
Nomad has fairly high Defence against all forms of attack and has no weaknesses to any form of combat. Additionally, he is immune to damage from a number of sources, including Vengeance, poison, deflect curses, dragonfire damage from dragon bolts (e), chinchompas, and ring of recoils. Dwarf multicannons cannot be deployed in Nomad's arena.

Face me!
In addition to his powerful offence and defence, Nomad will not tolerate cowardice. If you hide from him, such as standing behind a pillar such that he cannot attack you, he will say "Face me!" If you do not allow him to attack you within several seconds of this, he will shout "Coward!", teleport to the center of the room, and fully heal himself, effectively resetting the fight. However, once he does this, he also becomes unaggressive, allowing you to teleport out or leave if you wish. If you know that you can't win the battle, you can hide from him and then leave instead of being killed.

The exception to this rule is when Nomad uses Mirror Image to copy himself. You can hide behind a pillar and neither the clones nor Nomad himself will attack you; additionally, he will not shout "Face me!" or heal himself. The clones will last approximately sixty seconds, during which time you can heal, drop vials, manage your familiar, or just take a breather. Once the clones disappear, Nomad will run to attack you again, at which point he will shout "Face me!" if you continue to hide from him.

WARNING: When in Berserk Mode, Nomad can get stuck behind a summoning familiar and be unable to attack. He can also get frozen by binding spells/abilities. During this time, even if you are attacking him, he will eventually shout "Coward!" and heal himself.

Skill levels
Players who wish to fight Nomad are encouraged to have the following skill levels. However, the higher these skills are, the better.
 * http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120123003536/runescape/images/d/d8/Defence-icon.png 80+ Defence and Magic for resisting his basic attack
 * http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120122082216/runescape/images/7/72/Ranged-icon.png 70+ Ranged (if using Ranged)
 * http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120122084602/runescape/images/5/51/Attack-icon.png 70+ Attack (if using Melee)
 * http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120122083450/runescape/images/3/3e/Strength-icon.png 70+ Strength (if using Melee)
 * http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120121220331/runescape/images/2/24/Prayer-icon.png 70+ Prayer if using standard prayers, or 80+ if using Ancient Curses
 * http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120121220228/runescape/images/e/e3/Summoning-icon.png 52+ Summoning
 * http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120207171723/runescape/images/3/3e/Dungeoneering-icon.png 80+ Dungeoneering is optional but helpful, as the Chaotic weapons are all very effective against Nomad.

Ranged
Basic Ranged Gear

Melee
Basic Melee Gear

Inventory items
Note: If Nomad kills you, you will respawn in the Soul Wars lobby, very close to your gravestone. You will easily be able to retrieve your items. However, any items in your beast of burden will be lost.

When fighting Nomad, you must devote as much inventory space as possible to healing items, in order to endure his massively damaging attacks. For the majority of players, the most recommended method of healing is to use the best kind of food that heals corresponding to your Constitution level. Stat potions, like a super set, are not really recommended. An Overload can increase the chance of victory; however, many players attempting to fight Nomad won't have access to them.

Mid-level players can bring stat-boosting potions, such as a super set or extreme potions, and use their highest-healing food. For those with the required Summoning and Prayer level, it is recommended to supplement the healing with a unicorn stallion and Soul Split (covered below).

Aside from healing items, you may need to bring:


 * Summoning scrolls if you are using a familiar with a useful special attack
 * Diamond bolts (e) if using ruby bolts (e)
 * An extra Summoning pouch if you plan to switch familiars mid-fight
 * Prayer potions if not using Saradomin brews

Familiars
There are three types of familiars that are useful when fighting Nomad. The first is a beast of burden, specifically a spirit terrorbird, war tortoise, or pack yak. Beasts of burden can hold additional healing supplies, increasing the amount of damage you can withstand.

The second is a combat familiar. Players with access to them could use an iron titan or steel titan against Nomad, both of which are effective.

Finally, a healing familiar may be used. A bunyip's healing (20 life points per 15 seconds) is too low to be useful against Nomad; however, a fire titan, ice titan, or moss titan may be used, along with Titan's Constitution, to quickly restore up to 100 life points and boost Defence. Players with 88+ Summoning are encouraged to bring a unicorn stallion, which provides the best healing of any familiar at high Constitution levels.

One common strategy with regards to familiars is to bring a beast of burden filled with food. Once the beast of burden is empty, dismiss it and summon a combat or healing familiar.

Prayers
Although protection prayers cannot be used to block Nomad's attacks, other prayers can still be very useful. For those using standard prayers, Piety, Rigour, and Augury are very good prayers to use for their respective combat styles. All three can boost one's stats reasonably high, and will be very helpful against Nomad.

For players with 95+ Prayer, the Ancient Curses are arguably more useful versus Nomad than the standard prayers. Leech Defence drains Nomad's Defence by 25% when fully activated, which makes it significantly easier to hit him, as well as boosting your Defence by 10%. Sap Mage may be used as a substitute, which drains his Magic and Defence by 20% when fully activated, but does not boost your stats at all. Because Leech Ranged is not useful against Nomad, Ranged users may wish to stick with standard prayers. However, meleers will find use in Leech Attack and Leech Strength. Magic users can use Leech Magic alongside Leech Defence to lower Nomad's Magic and Defence, which will reduce his offence and significantly reduce his defence against Magic attacks.

With 92 Prayer, Soul Split is exceptionally helpful against Nomad, provided you can hit him consistently enough. If you are using Saradomin brews and super restores to heal, note that the latter potion restores prayer points, so there is no need to bring prayer potions. Otherwise, you will need a few, and possibly a prayer renewal.

Ranged
When the fight with Nomad begins, turn on whichever prayers you're using and run to the side of the room, to stand next to a pillar. Ideally, you want to stand next to a pillar's rear corner, as in the first image below. Begin to range Nomad, eating as needed, using your ruby bolts (e). The special effect of the ruby bolts can deal up to 750 damage to Nomad, although you will lose 10% of your life points. Keep your health reasonably high; 3500 life points or higher is safe enough.

If you find yourself in need of a few seconds to heal, drop vials, withdraw from your beast of burden, or just focus yourself, you can step behind the pillar as shown in the second image below. Remember that if you hide for too long, Nomad will teleport and heal, resetting the fight.

When Nomad deploys his flame vortices, take care not to step over them. When he teleports to use Soul Blast, duck behind the pillar in order to avoid it. Move back out afterward in order to continue attacking him.

When Nomad uses Mirror Image and copies himself, hide behind the pillar and wait for them to disappear. This gives you about a minute with which to manage your health, items and familiar. Once the clones vanish, step back out.

Eventually, Nomad will teleport and freeze you, then begin to charge up his Disintegrate attack. Heal until you can survive the attack. If you are using Saradomin brews, don't drink any super restore doses until after the attack hits, or you will have to drink a super restore twice. Keep on ranging him until Disintegrate hits you. Once Disintegrate hits, immediately heal, drink super restores if necessary, and run back to the pillar. Resume ranging him, and remember that at this point, his cycle of special attacks resets.

If you brought a familiar pouch, summon it once your beast of burden is empty. . However, bear in mind that if you are too far away from Nomad. This can present problems when avoiding his flame vortices. When necessary, focus on survival rather than offence.

Follow this strategy until Nomad goes berserk. Remember that he will heal himself back to half health when he's reduced to a quarter of his maximum health; once you reduce him to a quarter of his health again, he goes berserk. When he goes berserk, switch to diamond bolts (e), turn on Protect from Melee or Deflect Melee, and, if necessary, move forward until he can attack you. Range him with the diamond bolts and duck behind the pillar if you need a moment to heal, but as always, heed his command of "Face me!" Consider activating Retribution or Wrath] if Nomad is almost dead, because if he kills you and Retribution or Wrath deals enough damage to kill him, it will count as a victory on your part.

Melee
Fighting Nomad using melee is somewhat simpler than using Ranged, in terms of strategy. When the fight begins, activate your prayers and begin attacking him. Attack him with your stab weapon and keep yourself healed with your food or Saradomin brews; 750 health is a safe limit.

Make sure you keep Auto Retaliate off! When Nomad deploys his flame vortexes, don't move quite yet. Continue fighting him standing in the middle of the flame vortexes, where you are safe from them. Take extreme care not to misclick and move on top of a flame vortex. After a short time Nomad will either teleport or stop attacking; either way, he is about to use Soul Blast. Move directly south until you are away from the vortexes, then hide behind a pillar. Heal yourself up to at least 750 lifepoints beforehand, just in case you don't make it to the pillar in time. Once he uses Soul Blast and the vortexes begin to explode, run out and continue attacking him as normal, but stay away from the exploding vortexes.

When Nomad uses Mirror Image and summons his clones, you can either attack him to get rid of them (remember, he will attack a split second after the clones), or hide behind a pillar and use the time to heal, drop vials, manage your familiar, or just take a breather. After about a minute, the clones will disappear, and you must resume fighting him as normal.

If you don't bring a Ranged weapon, you won't be able to hurt Nomad when he freezes you and uses Disintegrate. You may wish to bring a crossbow and ammunition for this reason; remember that the special effect can activate regardless of your Ranged accuracy. Make sure you are at or above your maximum life points, and if you're using Saradomin brews, wait to drink super restores until after you've healed from Disintegrate. Once he hits you, heal up and continue to attack him. His cycle of special attacks will reset at this point.

You can always bring a familiar to attack during this phase, like a steel titan for example.

Once Nomad goes berserk, turn on Protect from Melee or Deflect Melee and finish the fight. Remember that you can hide behind a pillar for a few seconds if you need to, but as always, heed his command of "Face me!" Consider activating Retribution or Wrath if Nomad is almost dead, because if he kills you and Retribution or Wrath deals enough damage to kill him, it will count as a victory on your part.

