Commander Zilyana/Strategies (2024)

This article is a strategy guide for Commander Zilyana. Information on mechanics, setups, and tactics is on this page.

Recommended levels and equipment[edit | edit source]

Strategy[edit | edit source]

This boss is fought within the God Wars Dungeon. You will need to pass through the main dungeon area, which contains monsters that are aggressive, to reach the Saradomin encampment where you fight Commander Zilyana.

Before being able to enter the boss chamber you will need to obtain 40 kill count by killing 40 Saradomin-aligned monsters (knights of Saradomin and/or Saradomin priests). If you are able to build a Totem of Intimidation or have a Saradominist or omni soulstone these can be used to avoid having to gain kill count before entering the boss chamber. If you need to get kill count it is recommended to do this in the Saradominist encampment as this is where the greatest number of Saradomin followers spawn. Additionally, if you do not have an item that provides protection against all gods' followers, this will minimise the number of followers that you need to bring items to protect against. When you have sufficient kill count enter the door to the boss chamber at the south of the encampment.

In the boss chamber you will be attacked by Zilyana and her bodyguards Starlight, Growler, and Bree. Zilyana attacks with magic and melee special attacks and her attack speed is relatively fast, she will attack every two ticks (1.2 seconds). During her magic attack her sword glows blue and she raises it in the air, hitting the player with lightning for up to 2,200 damage. Due to her fast attack speed and the length of this attack's animation, Zilyana will also launch another attack mid-way through the animation. This attack can hit multiple targets if you are fighting her with other players. The melee attack occurs when Zilyana swings her sword at you, hitting up to 1,800 damage to a single target.

If multiple players are fighting Zilyana, she targets the player closest to her upon spawning and then switches to the player who has currently done the most damage to her during the fight. If blood spells are used on her repeatedly, the message Commander Zilyana becomes more enraged by your spells and tries to channel them to increase her own power! will appear in the chatbox. Her attacks will become increasingly stronger. Exsanguinate will not trigger this effect, however.

When using magic to kill Zilyana, players are recommended to stay on the western side of the room, one space away from the middle of the wall. When she spawns Growler will also usually spawn within range of Dragon Breath and so you can begin the fight by using this ability to deal damage to both of them. Focus on killing Zilyana first and then deal with the weaker bodyguards; it does not matter in which order the bodyguards are killed. When Zilyana and her guards are killed, return to the spot again to repeat for the next kill.

More experienced players can use area of effect abilities to attack all of the monsters at the same time. You could also leave one of the guards alive until you have picked up drops to make use of adrenaline stalling to maintain adrenaline between spawns so that you can use better abilities such as Sunshine for quicker fights. However, after the completion of the quest Succession, the Infernal Puzzle Box can be added to your toolbelt, making this unnecessary.

At higher levels you should not experience difficulty with this fight. With use of Soul Split and/or an Enhanced Excalibur as well as making use of monkfish and summer pie drops from Zilyana's bodyguards you will not need to bank frequently. The ancient elven ritual shard can be useful for helping to maintain prayer points. Use of drop cleaners such as a spring cleaner set to high alch rune salvage and magic notepaper for banking can further prolong trips.

Hard mode[edit | edit source]

In Hard mode Zilyana is fought over two phases, each of which has 50,000 life points. Her attacks speed is slightly decreased compared to normal mode: she attacks every three ticks (1.8 seconds). She has increased accuracy on her melee attacks and they have a slightly higher maximum hit of 1,900, but her magic max hit is reduced to 1,990. Her armour rating is also increased. Like all other Hard mode God Wars Dungeon bosses, Zilyana can bind players for 250 damage if they are under her.

In the first phase the fight is the same as in regular mode, but she is slightly stronger. The first phase can be fought as you would fight Zilyana in regular mode.

There is a ten second period of time between phases during which Zilyana will take no damage. In the second phase she gains two additional abilities:

• Lightning: Zilyana will occasionally send lightning at players in the arena. This deals between 200-1700 hard typeless damage every two ticks. Zilyana performs this after a specific amount of attacks have been performed; the first batch appears after two auto-attacks, while the second appears roughly 8-10 auto-attacks later. The lightning randomly bounces around the chamber and may hit players other than its original target.
• Ultimate Death: Upon reaching 0 health, Zilyana will collapse on the ground, and a bar will appear above her and begin filling. If the player does not hit Zilyana with an ultimate ability before the bar is filled, which takes around ten seconds, then she will restore 50% of her health and yell This isn't over!, resuming combat as normal. Basic and threshold abilities deal no damage to her while she is in this state. Typeless damage from a Blood Reaver's passive can also finish her.

For the second phase you should ensure that you move out of affected areas when the lightning attack is used; this should be fairly easy in solo encounters. To deal with the ultimate death mechanic you will need to use an ultimate ability that deals damage to the target (abilities such as Berserk and Metamorphosis do not work). Onslaught can be used with any combat style and requires only 25% adrenaline. Otherwise, you will need to ensure that you have enough adrenaline to use ultimate abilities as the fight ends.

Magic is still recommended for Hard mode, although other combat styles can be used as well.

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