RuneScape Forum Archive | Canon Boss Hierarchy?

Jan

2021

AesirWarrior

Posts: 1,060 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Boss encounters have a... special relationship with lore. On one hand Jagex try to give bossess intimitading backstories to justify their difficulty. Telos is the warden (que dramatic music), Nex sort of scared the gods themselves, Araxxor scares the Vampyres and so on.

But Runescape is also over 15 years old and once-mighty bosses continually get outclassed by the next big thing, story be damned. This is the case with almost all games. Gameplay/Story segregation is necessary because sometimes the game's desire to tell a good story conflicts with its desire to be an enjoyable game.

As a result, the gameplay and story often end up telling two completeling different stories. The Bandos Avatar is an immensely powerful force of destruction, virtually indestructible. To defeat it, you need the aid of a techo-magic Deus ex Machina crossbow! ...In the game it has a combat level of 77, because it's not supposed to be a difficult quest.

So since the gameplay itself often misrepresents the power of these bosses, let's ignore all that. Let's not consider how difficult these boss fights are, or how high their combat level is. If you only look at lore, how would you rank the bosses?

(Note: I'd still consider most of their attacks canon. For example Zilyana shooting lightning out of her sword. It's a very blurry line though, I'll give you that)

Since there is such a ludicrous amount of bosses in the game, feel free to focus on the ones you feel are misrepresented the most by gameplay. Are an Arachnid and a Bug really stronger than the gods' most valued generals? Does Durzag deserve to be so high up? Why the hell is the Balance Elemental a chump?

Thought it'd be a bit fun. -

I have noticed your kind does tend to blindly stumble forward towards danger simply because it exists. What is your word for that?

- We call it being a hero.

08-Jul-2017 04:10:25

Deltaslug

Posts: 32,671 Sapphire Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

There are usually a few explanations:

1) The person is at a low point in their power.
Nex - She was imprisoned for a long time and THEN sealed in cryo-stasis with the rest of the GWD armies.
Delrith (Demon Slayer) would be yet another example. He was crossing the voids between worlds, so he wasn't at 100%.

2) Times change
Characters that existed long before the 5th and 6th Age are still pretty mighty in their own right.
However the access to magics and weapons that others might have used in the past are less impressive.
Zarosian armies (and even some modern) relied on Bronze and Iron.
Yet we have adventurers with cobbled together weapons and armors that are the best around and have had far more training than some recruits.

3) They aren't tapping into their full potential when they fight you.
Here you are, an average sized human.
Here they are, a being that dwarfs you in size 2:1, 3:1, or greater.
They might not feel the need to really flex their muscles.
By the time they realize you're more of a challenge and try to go all out, you've already seriously hurt them, so they become a glass canon.

4) They got their power 5 minutes ago.
The Avatar of Bandos is a good example.
The High Priest wasn't the avatar for very long. So while he had access to a fair amount of power, it's possible he didn't fully know how to wield all of it.
(sort of like handing a 5 year old the keys to an Indy car.)

08-Jul-2017 20:43:11 - Last edited on 08-Jul-2017 20:46:03 by Deltaslug

Aug

2008

Cybernet377

Posts: 2,725 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I'd assume that all of the Mahjarrat (including the pile of bones formerly known as Sliske) and God Wars 1 Bosses are stronger when at their peak than we've seen.

Quite notably, the God Wars bosses we fight in the GWD have, timeline wise, only just recently been unfrozen, despite how long ago the content came out. It's more than reasonable to assume that all of them are suffering some level of injury or weakness from their time spent frozen, and that none of them are fighting anywhere near their full ability.

09-Jul-2017 03:26:06

Marine Doge

Posts: 1,213 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Alright okay let's gooo.

I'm just gonna tier list this stuff. Not god-tiers, obviously.

Tier 1 Bosses:
Vorago, Telos, Yakamaru, Angel of Death, Sliske

Tier 2:
Queen Black Dragon, Balance Elemental, Cacus the Penance King, Nex

Tier 3:
Oreb, Araxxor/Araxxi, Drakan, Corporeal Beast, Pest Queen

Tier 4:
Zilyana, Graardor, Kree, K'ril, Kalphite King, Twin Furies, Gregorovic, Rise of the Six Barrows, Abomination, Nomad

Tier 5:
Vindicta, Helwyr, Chaos Elemental, Har-Aken

I didn't list things that we already have measurements for via the godhood scale, like the Avatars of Creation and Destruction, or the Mahjarrat (Sliske not included).
ALSO, on the Zilyana lightning thing, I'd say that's 100% canon, no blurry lines there. Saradominists tend to favor lightning spells. Mods pls notice me

11-Jul-2017 00:48:23 - Last edited on 11-Jul-2017 01:19:22 by Marine Doge

Forums

Canon Boss Hierarchy?

AesirWarrior

Deltaslug

Cybernet377

Marine Doge