Calvar’ion Best in Slot Gear & Strategy Guide

Calvar'ion resides in the Skeletal Tomb, whose entrance is north-east of Ferox Enclave in the Graveyard of Shadows. You drop into his chamber through a small tombstone, which charges an entry fee of 50,000 coins (taken from the bank). That fee drops by 10,000 for every kill where you deal the most damage, and is not required again on later trips unless you lose it to another player.

To enter you need either the completed hard Wilderness diary or a Vet'ion boss Slayer task. The fastest ways in are the Carrallanger Teleport (or tablet) to the Graveyard of Shadows, a ring of dueling or minigame teleport to Ferox Enclave, or a games necklace to the Corporeal Beast's Lair (note this last one exits into multi-way Wilderness). For the underlying combat skills you'll want to brush up on with our Attack guide and Strength guide, the Wiki suggests 70+ Attack, Strength, Defence and Prayer (for Piety) plus 75+ Hitpoints.

Calvar'ion is a pure melee kill and an undead boss, so the meta is built around a melee setup with the Salve amulet (e), which gives a large damage and accuracy boost against undead. The Wiki notes that as long as you bring a strong weapon and a couple of other high-bonus items, the Salve (e) carries your DPS with very little risk. He also has a negative crush Defence of -10, so crush weapons (and the chainmace's passive Wilderness bonus) hit him very easily.

The golden rule here is risk discipline, not maximum stats. The Wiki recommends a low-risk loadout of a Neitiznot helm, mythical cape and dragonhide or proselyte armour, which risks less than one average kill's worth, then upgrading gloves and boots as you go. The expensive 4-item-protected pieces are only worth bringing if you are confident you can escape PKers in time. To plan the exact items and weapon for your bank and stats, use our Boss Gear Finder and price your switches with the GE price tracker. Before every trip, open Items Kept on Death with "Wilderness beyond level 20" enabled so you know exactly what you'd lose.

Because Calvar'ion can be defeated without taking any damage, your supplies are mostly there to survive PKers rather than the boss. He also frequently drops large stacks of un-noted blighted food and potions that replace what you use mid-fight, so blighted supplies are the cheap, sensible choice.

• A divine super combat (or super combat) potion for damage.
• Blighted super restores instead of regular super restores, since they're cheaper and also restore prayer.
• Saradomin brews paired with restores for emergency healing.
• At least 8 Karambwan or Blighted karambwan — their lower tick delay lets you keep attacking while you eat.
• A one-click escape teleport such as the Royal seed pod (or any level 30 Wilderness teleport).
• A looting bag (recommended), and some antipoison in case a PKer poisons or envenoms you.

Calvar'ion has 150 Hitpoints per health bar (he has two, healing to full when the first is depleted). Every one of his attacks is an area-of-effect attack he announces with a shouted quote, so if you read his lines and move, you can take essentially no damage.

• Lightning (Magic): Five bolts of lightning strike tiles across the arena, each dealing damage in a 3x3 area. The tile about to be hit glows first, so you can step off it. Solo, one bolt always targets your tile or an adjacent one while four hit random tiles; one extra bolt is added per player, capped at seven.
• Shield Bash (melee): Only used when you're in melee range, he raises his shield and bashes the area in front of and under him, telegraphed by shadows. If you don't move out, you take up to 26 damage and can't attack for the next 4.8 seconds — this is the one attack worth respecting.
• Hellhounds: At 50% health he summons two skeletal hellhounds that attack with melee, so flick on Protect from Melee. They make Calvar'ion completely immune to damage until killed; each has only 30 HP, so cut them down fast. He repeats this in his enraged form.
• Enraged form: When his first health bar hits zero he charges orange lightning in a circle around himself (same 3x3 bolts) and heals back to full, with increased max hit and attack speed. Simply stand directly underneath him to dodge the ring. He dies for good when this second bar is depleted.

Run in, drop into the tomb, switch on Piety and start hitting him with your strongest crush-style weapon. Keep moving off the glowing lightning tiles between your own attacks and stay out of melee range when you can, so the shield bash never lands. When he drops to 50%, the hellhounds spawn and he becomes immune — put on Protect from Melee, kill both hounds (30 HP each), then resume DPS. He'll shout a quote when their immunity lifts.

At 0 HP he enrages: stand underneath him to avoid the orange lightning ring, then repeat the same dance — dodge lightning, kill the second pair of hounds, finish him. A useful trick is that he walks toward you between attacks, so you can lure him toward the exit and keep him there; if a PKer teleblocks and freezes you in the middle of the room, you'll likely die to both them and the boss. The exit drops you back into the Graveyard of Shadows where there are plenty of escape options with a well-timed gap or bind. Leaving a second account outside the tomb is recommended, as players can't hop in and it can divert PKer attention.

SSOT note: the drop names and rates below are taken directly from the fetched Calvar'ion Wiki page. Calvar'ion rolls his unique table on a 1/103.12 chance, and the headline uniques are the Voidwaker blade (1/912), the Ring of the gods (1/716) and the Skull of vet'ion (1/618), alongside a Dragon pickaxe and Dragon 2h sword (each 1/358). The boss pet, Vet'ion jr., drops at 1/2800. The full drop table with every rate is shown above this guide.

• Bringing items you can't afford to lose. This is level 21 Wilderness — untradeables like the Fire cape and Dragon defender are permanently lost beyond level 20 unless protected. Always check Items Kept on Death first.
• Ignoring the hellhound immunity. Calvar'ion takes zero damage while the hounds are alive; keep hitting him and you're wasting time. Kill the 30-HP hounds first.
• Forgetting to switch prayers. Use Piety for damage, but flick Protect from Melee the moment hounds spawn.
• Standing in the wrong spot during the enrage. Stand directly under him to dodge the orange lightning ring instead of running through it.
• Getting frozen mid-room. Keep him near the exit and carry a one-click teleport so a teleblock-and-freeze from a PKer doesn't end your trip.