Vardorvis Best in Slot Gear & Strategy Guide

Vardorvis is found at the Stranglewood Ritual Site, in the far north-west of the forest in the Kebos region. He is unique among the Forgotten Four in that he can be seen out in the overworld but is fought inside an instance. He was a high-ranking Zarosian executioner — his title Carnifex Maximus means 'supreme butcher' — whose body was reanimated by the Strangler parasite.

Players fight him for his unique drops: pieces of the Virtus robes, the executioner's axe head (a Soulreaper Axe component) and progress toward the Ultor vestige that builds into the Ultor ring. The post-quest standard fight (combat level 784) is the one you farm; an even stronger Awakened version exists but is outside the scope of this guide. He can also be handed out as a boss Slayer task by Konar, Nieve or Duradel once the quest is done.

The only hard requirement is completing the quest Desert Treasure II - The Fallen Empire. After that you can re-enter the Ritual Site freely; the fight only begins when you attack him, as he is not aggressive post-quest.

The site sits north-west of the Stranglewood forest, reached by climbing over rocks. The fastest route is the ring of shadows teleport to 'The Stranglewood', which unlocks once you use a strangled tablet on it (a Vardorvis drop). Other quick options are the bls fairy ring or Xeric's talisman to Xeric's Honour, both of which drop you near the rowboat that connects the Kebos Lowlands to the Stranglewood. During the quest you unlock a shortcut from the temple grounds straight to the Ritual Site — use it, as it saves a lot of time. Note that every route runs you past some Strangled and a Strangled Boar; the Strangled hit 1-3 and the boar 2-4, so expect a little chip damage on the way in.

If you die at Vardorvis your grave appears by the rocks, and your reclamation fee is reduced by 75% for your first five kills before the standard death cost applies (this reduction does not apply if you already had an active gravestone elsewhere).

The wiki's suggested skills for the standard fight are Attack 80+, Strength 85+, Defence 80+, Hitpoints 85+, and Magic 76+ so you can cast Resurrection spells for thralls. Higher is always better — sustained accuracy and damage shorten the trip and reduce how much he heals. Push these with our Attack guide, Strength guide and Defence guide, and bank a comfortable Hitpoints buffer before you start.

This is a slash-melee fight. Vardorvis is weakest to slash (only +65 slash defence versus +215 stab), so the meta is a high-tier slash weapon paired with the highest slash accuracy and defence armour you own — the wiki highlights Oathplate for its high slash defence and slash accuracy bonus. Because he heals on the damage you take, damage-reducing sets like Justiciar can actually win by denying his heals, even at some strength cost. A defensive amulet that heals you (blood fury) or a strong offensive one (rancour) both see use, and a special-attack weapon such as dragon claws, burning claws or the Voidwaker helps burst him. Importantly, defence-draining specials (BGS, DWH) are useless here — his defence already falls as his health drops, so bring damage or sustain specs instead. He also has a 35% elemental weakness to fire spells, though the fight is fought in melee. Set every slash-capable weapon to its slashing style. For an exact, gear-checked loadout, build yours with the Boss Gear Finder rather than copying a fixed list, and compare slash options in the melee gear guide.

On weapons specifically, the wiki rates the Soulreaper Axe as the best option, partly because Vardorvis' 2x2 size limits the Scythe of Vitur's extra hits. Strong slash alternatives include the noxious halberd and blade of saeldor, and lower-tier slash weapons remain viable — though because he heals on the damage you take and starts with high defence, multiple gear downgrades stack up and make trips noticeably longer. Echo boots or a ring of suffering add a recoil effect that helps when you are struggling, and the ancient godsword provides a guaranteed heal if you want extra sustain.

Be on the Arceuus spellbook so you can cast Death Charge and Resurrection spells to summon a thrall (any style of thrall is fine). A standard standard-mode inventory looks like this:

• A special-attack weapon (dragon claws, burning claws or Arkan blade).
• 1 divine super combat potion.
• 2-4 super restores or prayer potions.
• Anglerfish for chunky healing — pre-eat one before you start the fight.
• Cooked moonlight antelope (or other 3-tick food) to eat after a Strangle.
• Cooked karambwans as 2-tick food for healing mid-rotation when needed.
• An optional haemostatic dressing if you keep getting clipped by axes.
• Book of the dead plus a (divine) rune pouch with runes for Death Charge and Resurrection.
• Ring of shadows for quick re-entry, and a house teleport (or Desert amulet 4) to bank.

The thrall and Death Charge come from the Arceuus book; lean on our Prayer guide to keep restores efficient, since prayer is the resource you burn fastest in this fight. Pre-eating before you start means your first few hits land while you are at full health, giving you margin if an early axe or spike clips you.

Vardorvis uses a standard slash melee auto-attack on a 5-tick speed. His base max hit is 32, climbing to 43 when his health is critically low, and every hit — auto or special — heals him for 50% of the damage dealt to you (rounded down). Keeping Protect from Melee active reduces his auto-attack potency by about 75%, dropping his max to roughly 8-10, which is why you keep that prayer up by default. A defining quirk: his Strength and Defence scale with his remaining HP — as he loses health his Defence falls (he gets easier to hit) while his Strength rises (his autos hit harder). He fires the four specials below in random order.

Swinging Axes. The Strangler's tendrils fling Vardorvis' axes across the arena. A direct hit deals up to 35 damage plus a bleed over 14 ticks (roughly 15+ damage; the bleed gets worse and ticks every tick if you run while bleeding). Protect from Melee halves the initial axe hit but does not stop the bleed. The arena is a 3x3 grid of quadrants; dodge by running two tiles diagonally away from where an axe is headed. When three axes come from one row, run four tiles diagonally, or learn the tick-precise 'axe skip'.

Darting Spikes. He darts around you, leaving cracks that erupt into tendrils for up to 25 damage (and heal him for half). A crack usually appears right under you on the first dart — stand by the arena edge to minimise cracks and stop one spawning beneath you. The number of darts scales with his health (one above ~500 HP, two from 231-500, three below ~130).

Head Gaze. Once he is below 570 HP, Vardorvis' Head launches a single green projectile (heralded by 'Vardorvis' head gazes upon you...'). You must block it with Protect from Missiles. Failing to block drains 10 prayer points and disables your overhead protection prayers for 3 ticks. He won't melee while the projectile is airborne and takes 2 ticks to resume attacking after it lands — so if you miss the block, immediately flick Protect from Melee back on (he will always melee next), watch your feet for spikes, and heal.

Strangle. Also from below 570 HP, he slams his arm into the ground and entangles you, spawning spores in the centre of the screen that you must destroy within 5 ticks or take high damage. He can still attack you through the animation. A minimum of four spores appear, rising up to six the more he uses it. You can right-click attack him after the overlay appears to sneak in a free hit without losing ticks.

Enrage. At 33% health (~231 HP) he enters an enrage phase after his next attack — with no visual cue — and his specials come far more frequently. Axes spawn faster and the head appears more often, so this is where most learner deaths happen. A lull in the axes usually means a Strangle is coming, giving you a brief breather.

A few finer points tie these together. The number of axes scales with his health — one when he is above 690 HP, two (sometimes a third) between 231 and 690, and three once he drops below 231. The arena divides into nine 3x3 quadrants and axes travel in straight or diagonal lines, which is why fixed safe-spots and the axe-skip exist. He is extremely accurate (Attack level 280, +190 attack bonus), so you will rarely out-defend his autos — the prayer, not your armour, is what keeps those hits small. And because the head only starts gazing and the Strangle only begins once he is below 570 HP, the opening stretch of the fight is comparatively gentle: get your special-attack opener and steady damage in before the full mechanic set comes online.

Pre-eat an anglerfish, run in, and turn on Protect from Melee before you attack — it stays on as your default the entire fight. He performs three auto-attacks before axes begin, so open with your special-attack weapon while his defence is at its highest: a Voidwaker ignores defence (note its opener always hits 0, so use the second swing), while dragon or burning claws have very high accuracy and effectively act as a defence-reducer when used early.

Then settle into the rhythm: keep Protect from Melee up, dodge each axe set by stepping two tiles diagonally (four for a three-axe row), flick to Protect from Missiles the instant the head gazes and back to melee once it lands, and burst the strangle spores the moment they appear. Cast Death Charge and keep a thrall summoned for free passive damage. Because he heals off every hit you take, the priority is avoiding avoidable damage — cleaner kills are faster kills.

From 33% (~231 HP) brace for enrage: more axes, more head gazes, overlapping threats. Prioritise movement and prayer flicks over getting extra hits in; eat with karambwans (2-tick) so you don't lose attack rhythm. Remember the scaling cuts both ways here — his defence is now low so your hits land far more often, but his strength is high so an off-prayer auto or a clipped axe hurts much more than at the start. The strangle attack also gives you a small opening: after the overlay appears you can right-click attack to land a free hit. Killing the boss perfectly — taking no avoidable damage — earns 50% more loot from the standard table, so tidy play pays off twice. He respawns about 10 seconds after dying, so you can chain kills.

Vardorvis' headline uniques are the Virtus robes (mask, robe top and robe bottom, each 1/3264), the executioner's axe head at 1/1088 — a component you build into the Soulreaper Axe — and progress toward the Ultor vestige, which forms the Ultor ring. He also drops the pet Butch at 1/3000. Secondary uniques include the awakener's orb, strangled tablet (which unlocks the ring of shadows teleport) and the blood quartz. The full drop table, with every rate, is shown above — this section just names the marquee items.

• Letting Protect from Melee drop. Without it his autos hit up to 32-43 instead of 8-10, and he heals more — keep it as your default prayer.
• Running while bleeding. The axe bleed ticks faster and harder if you move while it is active, so avoid unnecessary running once bleeding.
• Panicking after a missed head gaze. If you fail the Protect from Missiles flick, your overheads are disabled for 3 ticks — immediately re-flick Protect from Melee (he always melees next) rather than spam-swapping prayers.
• Bringing defence-draining specs. BGS and DWH do effectively nothing here; bring damage or sustain specials instead.
• Standing in the open during Darting Spikes. Stay near the arena edge to minimise cracks and stop one spawning under you.
• Greeding hits in enrage. Below 33% HP, prioritise dodging and flicking over squeezing in extra attacks — overlapping axes and head gazes are what kill learners.