Vanguards OSRS Guide: HP Balancing (40% Rule) and Gear

Vanguards OSRS: How the Room Works

Vanguards is the Chambers of Xeric room with three guardians at once: a melee, a ranged and a magic Vanguard, each with 180 hitpoints. You have to bring their health down evenly. If the healthiest one gets more than 40% of its maximum health ahead of the lowest (33.3% in raids of five or more), all three shuffle and heal to full.

They wait underground and burst out when someone walks near one of the holes. Every attack is three hits, every 4 ticks, from all three of them, so the room is as much about controlling damage taken as dealing it.

The Vanguards HP Balancing Rule

The forced heal is the whole room. The game compares the healthiest Vanguard with the weakest one. When the gap passes 40% of max health in teams of four or fewer, or 33.3% in teams of five or more, all three immediately shuffle and restore to full. The 40% figure dates from 28 May 2020; before that it was 33% for every team size.

You get a warning. A swirling effect appears and brightens as you approach the threshold, a dark spiral on the healthiest Vanguard and a light one on the lowest. When you see it, move all damage onto the healthiest one.

Big single hits are what break the balance by accident. The wiki recommends low damage-per-hit weapons like the toxic blowpipe, and turning off damage-boosting prayers or gear when you risk overdamaging one Vanguard. Defence drains are not worth it either: every drained stat comes back when a Vanguard retreats into its shell.

Shuffling and the 1 HP Rule

Every 20 to 36 ticks they shuffle on their own, clockwise or counter-clockwise. During a shuffle they drop their target and retreat into their shells, where they cannot be attacked. Damage dealt just before the shuffle still counts. Anyone standing in their path takes 3 to 6 damage every few ticks.

If a killing blow lands after a Vanguard has gone into its shell, it survives on 1 hitpoint. Finish the low ones between shuffles.

Best Gear for Each Vanguard

That is three setups in one room. Solo, you carry all three. In a team, players usually hold one spot and switch gear as each Vanguard rotates to them.

Inventory and Supplies

• Switches for all three styles if you are solo or in a small team.
• Prayer potions. You swap between Protect from Melee, Missiles and Magic as the Vanguards move.
• A low-hitting weapon such as a toxic blowpipe for evening out health bars.
• Food. Protection prayers cut the damage a lot but do not remove it.

Vanguard Attacks and Max Hits

Prayer reduces the hits by a significant amount but does not stop them. The two stray projectiles from the ranged and magic Vanguards can still land on you when you are not the target. All three are immune to poison and venom.

Where Vanguards Fits in a Raid

Vanguards is one of the combat rooms a Chambers of Xeric raid can roll, alongside Tekton, Muttadiles, Vasa Nistirio and Vespula. Team size changes the rule here: the balance threshold drops from 40% to 33.3% once you have five or more raiders.

Fight Strategy: Keep Them Even

1. 1

   Decide who handles which Vanguard before anyone steps near a hole.

2. 2

   Solo, chase the healthiest Vanguard and stay near the edges of the room.

3. 3

   In a team, hold your spot and switch to the right weapon as each Vanguard reaches you.

4. 4

   Watch the spirals.

   A dark spiral on the healthiest means you are close to a reset, so put damage there.

5. 5

   If you pull more than one, standing under the ranged Vanguard stops it from moving.

6. 6

   Bring all three down together rather than racing one of them.

Drops and Points

Each Vanguard always drops raid potions. The melee one drops two Xeric's aid (+)(4) and an elder (+)(4). The ranged one drops a Xeric's aid (+)(4), a twisted (+)(4) and two revitalisation (+)(4). The magic one drops a Xeric's aid (+)(4), a kodai (+)(4) and a prayer enhance (+)(4). Each has a 1/3 chance at an overload (+)(4), and at least one is guaranteed per room, up to three.

Combat Achievements

Vanguards has two Elite Combat Achievements. Perfectly Balanced asks you to kill them without a health reset, which is just this guide done cleanly: low hits, eyes on the spirals, no big special on one guardian. Together We'll Fall asks you to kill all three within 10 seconds of the first one dying. The wiki's tip is to wait until all three are at critically low health and have shuffled, then dump your biggest hits, since the threshold no longer forces a heal at that point. Solo, it suggests killing the melee, then the magic, then the ranged Vanguard, and the Voidwaker special is one quick way to finish the last two. Set raid scaling to 0 for solo attempts, since scaling 1 doubles their health.

Combat Achievements guide

Ironman Notes

Ironmen are often missing one of the three styles. Each of the wiki's lists has a cheaper entry: the trident of the swamp on the melee Vanguard, the abyssal tentacle on the ranged one, and the toxic blowpipe on the magic one. A low-hitting weapon is an advantage in this room anyway.

Common Mistakes and Death Causes

• One big special attack on a single Vanguard, which can push the gap past the threshold by itself.
• Draining Defence. Every stat restores when they retreat into their shells.
• Ignoring the spirals until all three have already healed.
• Timing a kill hit into the shuffle. If it lands after the Vanguard shells up, it survives on 1 HP.
• Standing in the shuffle path, which costs 3 to 6 damage every few ticks.

FAQ

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