OSRS God Wars Dungeon Guide: Requirements & Kill Count

God Wars Dungeon at a Glance

The God Wars Dungeon (GWD) is north of Trollheim and holds four generals, one for each god, plus Nex behind the Frozen Door. Getting in needs Troll Stronghold done up to beating Dad (or the Easy Combat Achievement tier), 60 Strength or 60 Agility for the boulder at the entrance, and a rope the first time. Each general then has its own stat gate, and every boss room needs 40 kills of that god's followers, which the game now calls essence, or an ecumenical key.

The generals drop some of the most used mid-game gear in Old School: Bandos chestplate and tassets, the Armadyl set and the Armadyl crossbow, the Zamorakian spear and staff of the dead, and the four godsword hilts. Nex is a team boss and drops Torva, the nihil horn and the ancient hilt.

Entry Requirements

These get you into the main dungeon. The table above covers each general's own door.

Inside, Bandos' Stronghold is to the north-west, Zamorak's Fortress to the north-east, Saradomin's Encampment to the south-east and Armadyl's Eyrie to the south-west. The Frozen Door to Nex is on the south side of the main chamber. Crossing the ice bridge into Zamorak's Fortress drains your prayer to 0, so restore before you need it.

Kill Count (Essence) Explained

Kill count is how many of a god's followers you have killed since you came down the rope. The kill count overlay was renamed Essence in October 2021; the mechanic did not change. The rules are the same for all four generals:

• You need 40 to open a general's door. Completing Combat Achievement tiers lowers it: 35 at Hard, 30 at Elite, 25 at Master and 15 at Grandmaster.
• Each count is per god, and the generals and their bodyguards count toward their own god's total.
• Entering the boss room spends it. If you have both enough kill count and an ecumenical key, the kill count is used and the key is kept.
• Leaving the dungeon resets every count to zero, so a bank trip means starting again.
• An ecumenical key skips the count for any of the five boss rooms, Nex included. Keys drop at 1/60 from monsters in the Wilderness God Wars Dungeon, improving to 1/40 at the Grandmaster tier, and you can also make one from 50 shards that Nex drops. You can hold three, four with the Medium Wilderness Diary and five with the Hard one.
• From the Hard tier up you can rent a private instance of a general's room for 150,000 coins, which drops to 125,000, 100,000 and 75,000 at Elite, Master and Grandmaster.

Nex is slightly different. Her Zarosian followers can give more than one essence each, so you need fewer than 40 kills.

Which Faction to Start With

Graardor and K'ril are the usual first generals. Graardor's door only asks for Strength, and his room pays you back in bones for bones to peaches. K'ril has the softest gate because his Hitpoints requirement can be boosted, but nothing in his room drops bones and his prayer smash halves your prayer. Zilyana needs 70 Agility and a kiting habit, and Kree'arra needs strong ranged gear or a stack of chinchompas.

The armour each faction drops decides which one is worth your kill count. If you want a specific piece, go to the boss that drops it rather than the easiest one.

What Each God Wars Boss Tests

The God Wars bosses do not test the same thing, which is why gear that carries you through one can leave you stuck on another. Each fight's defining demand:

General Graardor: prayer discipline

Level 624 with 255 hitpoints. Two attacks in three are a melee punch that hits up to 60, and the third is a ranged slam that hits up to 35 on everyone in the room. Whoever he is attacking prays Protect from Melee; everyone else prays Protect from Missiles.

• Keep your health above 60 so a punch and a sergeant hit can never add up to a death.
• His three sergeants target whoever hit Graardor last, so fast weapons pull them onto you.
• Graardor and the sergeants drop bones, so bones to peaches stretches every trip.
• Uniques: chestplate, tassets and boots at 1/381 each, bandos hilt at 1/508.

K'ril Tsutsaroth: prayer management

Level 650 with 255 hitpoints. His melee hits up to 46 and can poison, his magic hits up to 30, and if you pray melee, one melee attack in nine becomes a prayer smash that hits 35 to 49 and halves your remaining prayer.

• Restore prayer after the ice bridge, which drains it to 0.
• He counts as a greater demon, so demonbane weapons and greater demon Slayer tasks both apply.
• He and his bodyguards drop ashes, so there are no peaches here.
• Uniques: Zamorakian spear and steam battlestaff at 1/127, staff of the dead and zamorak hilt at 1/508.

Commander Zilyana: kiting

Level 596 with 255 hitpoints. She attacks every 2 ticks (1.2 seconds) for up to 27 with melee or 20 with magic, but only when she is next to you, so ranged players run laps of her room with Protect from Magic on.

• 70 Agility cannot be boosted, and the first visit costs two more ropes.
• Bree, her ranged bodyguard, is most of the damage a clean kite takes.
• Run energy is the real supply: carry stamina potions or learn an energy-neutral tile pattern.
• Uniques: Saradomin sword at 1/127, Saradomin's light at 1/254, Armadyl crossbow and saradomin hilt at 1/508.

Kree'arra: ranged and magic only

Level 580 with 255 hitpoints, and he flies, so ordinary melee cannot hit him. His ranged tornado hits every player in the room for up to 69, so Protect from Missiles stays on until he dies.

• Bring a crossbow and a mithril grapple to cross into the Eyrie, plus 70 Ranged.
• Chinchompas thrown at Flight Kilisa splash onto him, which gets around his high defence.
• He and his bodyguards count for aviansie Slayer tasks.
• Uniques: Armadyl helmet, chestplate and chainskirt at 1/381 each, armadyl hilt at 1/508.

FAQ

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