OSRS Sotetseg Guide: Sote Maze Trainer, Death Ball, Prayers

Sotetseg at a Glance

Sotetseg, or Sote, is the fourth boss of the Theatre of Blood: a level-995 dark beast with 4,000 hitpoints in a five-player Normal Mode raid. It stands still at the north end of a 14 by 15 tile arena, fires small orbs that split and bounce between players, and after every 10 magic attacks throws a large red ball that the team has to share. At 66.6 and 33.3 per cent it pulls one player into a maze, and everyone else has to walk the same path without being able to see it.

Its orbs do nothing through the right prayer and its melee only reaches players standing next to it, so most deaths here come from two places: a wrong tile during the maze, or a death ball that one player eats alone. Learn those two and the rest of the room is prayer reading.

It is a dark beast corrupted through haemalchemy, but it does not count towards a dark beast Slayer task, and no boss inside the Theatre counts for Slayer, so your slayer helmet does nothing here.

Requirements and Getting There

Sotetseg has no requirement of its own. You reach it by clearing the Maiden, Bloat and the Nylocas, and the Theatre itself only needs Priest in Peril for access to Morytania. The second and last supply chest of the raid opens once Sote dies, and any points left from the Bloat chest carry over to it. Newer teams should buy as many brews and restores as they can, plus one stamina potion. Experienced teams usually get by on two or three brews and restores, with one player buying a spare stamina to share at Verzik.

Recommended Stats and Gear

Sote is a melee room, so 90 Attack and Strength from the Theatre's Normal Mode suggestions do the most work here, along with 95 Hitpoints to soak your share of the death ball. The full list of suggested levels is in the Theatre of Blood guide. With its Defence drained to 100, the weapon order is the scythe of vitur, the Soulreaper axe (better than the fang after three stacks), the blade of saeldor, Osmumten's fang, then the noxious halberd or abyssal tentacle.

The halberd has a second use. Sotetseg only uses its melee attack on players in melee range, so attacking from two tiles away with a halberd, or with a ranged weapon, means the melee lunge never happens. That is the usual way people approach the Perfect Sotetseg task.

Prayers and Positioning

Sote's main attack is a small red magic orb. When an orb hits a player it splits into up to two more, red (magic) or grey (ranged), which fly on to other players. Protect from Magic blocks red, Protect from Missiles blocks grey, and a correctly prayed orb does no damage at all. An orb you do not pray against hits for up to 50 and switches off your protection prayers for 3 seconds. Retribution, Smite and Redemption still work during those 3 seconds, and Redemption is the one that matters.

The melee attack is a horn lunge for up to 45, or 22 through Protect from Melee, and its hitsplat lands one tick after the animation. It only happens to players in melee range.

Teams spread around Sote so every orb has a longer flight and more time to read. In a trio the usual spots are east, west and north-west. A four takes the corners, and a fifth player adds the south-centre tile. The orbs are small and can be hard to see when they pass through the boss, which is why some players use a RuneLite plugin to change their appearance.

The Death Ball: Share It, Tick-Eat It or Skip It

After 10 magic attacks Sotetseg fires a slow, large red ball at one player, and a chat message names who it is coming for. It can hit for up to 188, scaled by the number of players alive, and with two or more players in the arena it deals 121 or more to a lone target, which is a kill. Anyone standing inside the 3x3 area around the target takes a share of the damage.

• Share it: the team stacks in a 3x3 around the target and splits the damage. This is the safe default for learners.
• Tick-eat it: the target stays put and eats right as Sote's second attack animation starts. It keeps the team's formation, but save it for when some players are critically low on health, because an orb can land in the same window.
• Skip it: hold your damage at around 70 and 40 per cent until the ball is thrown, then push Sote past 66.6 or 33.3 per cent. The maze teleport cancels incoming attacks, the ball included.

Entry Mode softens this a lot: the ball hits a solo player for 15 and a group for roughly 80. Hard Mode throws two balls at once.

The Sote Maze, and How to Practise It

At 66.6 and 33.3 per cent Sotetseg picks one player, a bright white light fills their screen, and a message tells them they have been chosen. That player is pulled into a maze and has to follow a red path to a portal on the far side, taking 1 to 3 damage every 7 ticks while inside. Everyone else is moved to the other end of the arena and has to walk the same path, but they can only see the runner's current tile glowing red.

A wrong tile blasts nearby players for 6.67 per cent of their current hitpoints plus 15, every tick, or plus 11 in Entry Mode. That is how one mistake turns into a team wipe. The runner should stop on the third row and wait for the team to line up. As soon as anyone steps onto the fourth row a tornado spawns, follows the path and hits whoever it catches; stepping back to row three despawns it. The tornado does not chase the runner unless they are the only player in the room.

Experienced runners cut corners with diagonal and L-shaped moves, the only way to skip tiles off the path; running never skips a tile. Once the maze is cleared, Sote's Defence is back to 200, so the next round of specs goes in.

Where to practise the maze (Sote maze trainers)

• Sotetseg Maze Trainer: a free browser tool that copies the game's movement rules, times your run against the best possible tick count, marks stalled ticks and tiles that would hurt a teammate, and takes a seed so you can replay the same maze.
• Entry Mode: every boss can be retried as often as you like, and in a solo raid Sote has nobody else to pick, so you run every maze yourself. A wrong tile costs 11 plus 6.67 per cent instead of 15.
• Spectating: speak to Abigaila, upstairs in the Lumbridge General Store or by the spirit tree north-east of the Grand Exchange, to watch other teams run the maze. You must be on the same world as the team and carry nothing but an oculus orb.

Hard Mode changes the maze: Sote sends every player but one into it and splits the path between them, and the tornado appears earlier if the player left outside walks past the third row.

Fight Strategy, Start to Finish

1. 1

   Assign spec roles before the fight: 1-2, 1-3, 2-3 and a backup.

   Number 1 specs at the start, 2 after the first maze, 3 after the second, and the backup covers a miss.

2. 2

   Take your spread position and set the prayer for the orb heading your way.

3. 3

   Drain its Defence towards the floor of 100 with the opening specs, then attack with your best melee weapon.

4. 4

   Count Sote's magic attacks.

   After the tenth, the ball comes: stack on the target, let them tick-eat, or push into the maze to skip it.

5. 5

   In the maze, the runner stops on row three, the team follows the glow, and nobody steps onto row four until everyone is ready.

6. 6

   After the maze, Defence is back to 200, so the 2 specs go in.

   Repeat at 33.3 per cent with the 3 specs.

7. 7

   If an orb gets through your prayer, step away from Sote at once.

   Your protection prayers are off for 3 seconds, and a lunge in that window hits for up to 45.

8. 8

   Spend your points at the supply chest when Sote dies; it is the last one in the raid.

Where Sotetseg Sits in the Theatre

Sote is room four of six. Before it you clear the Maiden, Bloat and the Nylocas; after it come Xarpus and then Verzik Vitur.

Drops and What Sotetseg Is Worth

Sotetseg drops a lore book, which stops dropping once you have read it, and can drop long bones and curved bones. Everything worth real money comes from the chest after Verzik: the scythe of vitur, ghrazi rapier, sanguinesti staff, avernic defender hilt and the Justiciar pieces. Deaths at Sote lower the team's chance at those, and your damage here counts towards who receives one.

Combat Achievements

Perfect Sotetseg is a Master-tier task: nobody in the team may step on a wrong maze tile, get hit by the tornado, or take damage from Sote's attacks while off prayer. Attacking from range or with a halberd removes the melee attack from the equation, and skipping the death ball by pushing into the maze removes the other awkward hit.

One player stepping onto row four too early spawns the tornado, and if it catches anyone the task is gone, so the runner holding on row three matters for the task as much as for safety. The Combat Achievements guide explains how Master-tier points add up.

Ironman Notes

Sote's maze is the room where a Hardcore Ironman can die to someone else's mistake: one teammate on a wrong tile blasts everyone nearby every tick. Any death in the Theatre ends Hardcore status, even if the team finishes, so practise in Entry Mode and with the maze trainer before taking a Hardcore into Normal Mode.

Common Mistakes and Death Causes

FAQ

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