Introduction
Playing as a solo attacker in BA is not an easy role. Effective solo attacking requires in-depth knowledge of penance mechanics and player combat mechanics. The current solo attacker meta involves using a combination of ranged attacks and melee attacks to maximize your DPS (damage per second), with a particular emphasis on using multi-target melee attacks to maximize damage output versus large stacks of enemies, a task that requires many tick-perfect actions and a detailed understanding of game mechanics. This guide aims to provide players with an understanding of how to perform this role effectively, and how to a transition from a total beginner to a solid intermediate-advanced attacker.
Contents 1 - Requirements
2 - Gear and Inventory Setup
2.1 - Absolute Best in Slot
2.2 - Downgrades
3 - Important Mechanics
3.1 - Ranger Tagging
3.2 - 10 Tick Cycle - First Call
3.3 - 10 Tick Cycle - Second Call
3.4 - Reserves and Prioritisation
4 - Generic Wave Breakdown
4.1 Wave Start and Run Up
4.2 First Call
4.3 A/C Block
4.4 First Call to Second Call Transition
4.5 Second Call
4.6 Generic Wave Breakdown - Summary
5 - Individual Wave Breakdowns (Waves 1-10)
6 - Advanced Strategies and Other Considerations
- 6.1 - Scythe Tagging
- 6.2 - Alternative Tagging Orders
- 6.3 - Ranger Restacking
- 6.4 - Stepdown Method
- 6.5 - Penance Stack Order
- 6.6 - Forcing and Extending
- 6.7 - Quickstarting and Flowers
- 6.8 - Miscellaneous Tips
The bare minimum skill and gear requirements for playing as a solo attacker in BA Boosts are as follows:
75+ attack
90+ strength
75+ defence
90+ ranged
Full elite void knight armour
Crystal halberd
Dinh's bulwark
Note that these are MINIMUM requirements; higher combat stats and better gear are highly recommended (although better stats and gear are no substitute for skill and understanding, as will be explained throughout this guide).
2.1 Best In Slot (BIS)
As discussed previously, solo attacking requires a mixture of ranged and melee attacks. Below is an example of an ADVANCED attacker setup:
Note: You can arrange your inventory in which ever manner you wish as to your personal preference.
Elite void knight equipment is the BIS armour set for maximising your ranged DPS, mainly due to its max-hit increasing effects.
The 3rd age bow is technically the BIS ranged weapon for use in BA; bows are favorable due to the high damage output yielded by the arrows provided by the dispenser in BA, and the 3rd age bow combines the rapid attack speed of a shortbow but with 2 tiles longer range.
The crystal halberd and Dinh's bulwark will form the bulk of your damage output on later waves, as these weapons hit large numbers of enemies at once with their special attacks. The Dinh's bulwark is used for accurate calls, while the crystal halberd is used for controlled, aggressive and defensive calls. Your main method for optimising these weapons involves stacking as many penance as possible onto adjacent tiles so that your special attacks will hit as many enemies as possible. The crystal halberd's special attack consumes 30% of your energy and will hit up to 10 enemies in a 3x1 horizontal or vertical line focused on your target, while the bulwark's
special attack consumes 50% of your energy and will hit up to 10 enemies in an 11x11 radius surrounding the player (i.e., hitting enemies up to 5 tiles away from the player in any direction).
Melee switch - since the bulk of your damage output comes from the halberd and bulwark's special attacks, strength-boosting equipment is essential. Note that the max hit of the Dinh's bulwark also rolls off of your defensive bonuses; because of this, equipment that boosts both melee strength and defense (most notably torva and bandos armour) is particularly useful.
The magic shortbow (i) special attack can be useful on early waves for high damage against a single target that is out of range for dragon claws.
Dragon claws are useful for very high damage against a single target, and can almost guarantee a penance death on early waves.
The dark bow can be useful for dealing high amounts of damage to a single target, as it shoots two arrows per attack. Due to its slow attack speed, it is only recommended to use the dark bow for your last hit of the wave when only one ranger or fighter is left alive.
The Scythe of Vitur is a powerful utility weapon, as it hits up to 3 stacked or adjacent enemies with each hit. This makes it a very useful weapon for cleaning up stacks of enemies that may be left alive once you run out of special attack energy for halberd and bulwark. It also opens up the possibility of scythe tagging in the first call to improve consistency and damage output (although this is a more advanced strategy for people who are confident with basic trial requirements; see 6.1 Scythe Tagging).
The Shrink-Me-Quick Potion, Commorb, Mind Shield and skillcapes are used to force ends and extend calls (see 6.6 Forcing and Extending for an explanation), while the mithril seeds are used for quickstarting (6.7 - Quickstarting and Flowers).
2.2 Downgrades
The above image features the BIS setup that costs several billion GP to acquire. Such an expensive setup is NOT required to be an effective solo attacker. Below are some commonly used and more accessible downgrades that will only result in a marginal decrease in damage output compared to the BIS setup above.
A magic shortbow (i) is the second best option if you cannot afford a 3rd age bow. The MSB(i) has the same attack speed as a 3rd age bow, but has an attack range that is 2 tiles shorter. The special attack can also form a viable (albeit less consistent) alternative to the dragon claws for high damage against a single target.
The magic comp bow is used primarily for the first shot of each wave, due to its increased range over the MSB; this increased range also makes it useful in certain situations deeper into a wave when fighters run east and using a shortbow could risk dragging you into healer aggro range (see 4.1 Wave Start and Run Up).
Melee switch - the serpentine helm is a great option as it provides decent strength bonus, can poison enemies (although penance are immune to venom), and has high defensive bonuses to increase your max hit with the bulwark. The justiciar legguards are used due to their huge defensive bonuses that improve the max hit of the Bulwark.
Melee void - melee void is generally not recommended, due to its lower max hit increase compared to strength gear, and its very low defensive bonuses that greatly limit the utility of the Dinh's bulwark. Nevertheless, it can be useful for learning as it takes away a lot of the thought required for a melee switch.
2.3 Max hits The table below shows how these different downgrades can affect your max hits with each of the different weapons; as you can see, the budget gear is a significant upgrade over the void setup, particularly in terms of its effects on the max hit of the Bulwark. Additionally, as these are all multi-target attacks, an increased max hit will improve your overall damage output significantly; for example, a +1 max hit increase will improve the average damage output of each special attack by 10, assuming that 10 enemies are hit by the attack. As a result, improving your gear setup and getting more comfortable with large switches will help your damage output significantly (although better gear is NOT a substitute for good technique!).