Bork/Strategies

General information
Due to the legacy combat mode update Bork's power has been significantly improved though his combat level appears to be lower (107 instead of 130). It is highly recommended to NOT face him without food or other means of restoration (even high level players).

Bork has moderate defence, although he is weak to crush weapons. He is immune to poison and stuns, and can hit up to 2540 with his melee attacks. While you are fighting Bork, Surok (during the miniquest) or a Dagon'hai Elite (afterwards) will attack you every 20 seconds (or approx. every 6-7 hits made by Bork) with magic that has a 100% hit rate, and does around 500-600 damage (if not prayed/cursed against). The magic defence of your armour does not help to defend against this attack.

There are several safe spots for fighting Bork along various walls. If using ranged or magic, you can use Protect from Magic and avoid taking damage from the Dagon'hai Elite. Although, when the Ork legions appear, you might temporarily switch to Protect from Melee or Protect from Range until you kill them. If you are using range, royal dragonhide should be worn and diamond bolts(e) should be the choice of ammunition. Bork is immune to the rebound effects of Deflect melee and Vengeance.

When Bork gets to around two-thirds health, he will summon 3-9 level 125 Ork legions, which will attack you using melee and range. (Three small orks form one ork legion. In a combat round you will only be attacked once per legion, not once per ork.) The Protect from Summoning prayer will not protect against them. For high-level players, the legions are not much of a threat, so these players can ignore them and focus on defeating Bork, although the Ork legions are sometimes killed for the charms they drop at a 100% rate.

When Bork dies, Surok or the Dagon'hai Elite will teleport away, and the cave will start to collapse. Players who do not leave of their own accord after some time will be forced out of the cave. Surok is only in the room with Bork during the miniquest. However, the Dagon'hai Elite who is there afterwards is just as dangerous as Surok; his attacks have the same mechanics and do the same amount of damage.

If a player dies after defeating Bork, or is disconnected near the end of the fight and manages to defeat Bork during the disconnect time, the player's dropped items will be found in the Dagannoth chamber at the entrance portal to Bork's chamber.

You cannot fight Bork more than once in the 24-hour time period starting at 00:00 (UTC) (7:00pm EST/8:00pm EDT). Trying to enter the portal to Bork's room too soon results in you seeing the message: 'The portal appears to have stopped working for now. Perhaps you should return later?' The cutoff would appear to be when you exit the portal instead of enter the portal. If you enter at 11:55 (UTC) and exit at 0:01 (UTC) after defeating Bork you will not be able to fight him again immediately.

Battle tactics
Note: When fighting Bork, it is useful to keep auto-retaliate OFF at all times. This allows a player to direct their blows at specific legions or at Bork. It's a good idea to keep all Legions within melee range, as they will then only use Melee attacks, otherwise they will use ranged too.

Players should not wear any ring to boost the Critical hit chance, as a Ring of Wealth will give guaranteed better drops (see main article). However, it is possible to switch rings just before he dies.

Melee method
One possible plan of battle therefore is to use the Protect from Melee prayer to defend against Bork, and bring high-healing food such as Sharks. Piety or Turmoil is highly recommended. One with a high defence level could bring high melee defence armour while praying against magic, as this is the only way to defend against Surok's magic attacks (armour with a high magic defence such as Dragonhide armour does not work but high magic damage absorption does). For skilled players who don't want to risk armour it is possible to kill Bork and his legions with just a Superset, 2 prayer potions, whip and no armour, while using only monkfish. (Combat 110+ advised).

If a player stands where the portal is and does not move from that area, Surok or the Dagon'hai Elite may wander out of range at the beginning of the battle and will not attack with magic. Surok's attack range is the same as the player's range of sight on the screen. After Bork has summoned the Ork Legions, Surok or the Dagon'hai Elite may randomly wander again. Surok may move out of his attack range, or into it if he was out of range before. Players can also run south, and then west, north to trap the mage,ork legions(if any) and Bork. This keeps you immune,until the mage wanders out of the trap.

Weapon
Since Bork is weak to Crush attacks, and all weapons of the same tier/level should give similar damage out put.

It's best to use the highest level crush weapon that you can use. He can be taken out fairly easily using a Saradomin sword. As using the correct weakness will be 115% more effective than when using a different method of combat. For instance: Magic and Ranged will only be 100%. Using a slashing or stabbing melee weapon will will be somewhere in between 115% and 100%. However, an Abyssal whip, especially an Abyssal Vine Whip, will work better than a Rune or even a Dragon mace, as the whips are of a higher tier.

Prayer
A good tactic for players using melee is to change from praying melee to praying magic BEFORE Surok or the Dagon'hai Elite attacks to negate his magic attacks. The player has to time the change correctly for this tactic to work well. Only experienced players with high defence level and strong melee armour should use this tactic.

Yet another tactic to deal with the mage when you are under attack by Bork is to maintain Deflect Melee when Bork is attacking, flash Soul Split in the single game tick in which you attack, and turn Deflect Melee back on in the next game tick. If timed properly, Bork will not be able to hit you still, but now you can heal from damaging Bork and therefore get through the entire fight without needing any food at all even when under attack from the mage. For obvious reasons, 92 Prayer is required for this tactic, as well as relatively high defence armour just in case the player fails to activate Deflect Melee again in time.

Armour
Players intending on taking no damage should bring Verac's set because it offers good prayer bonuses and has good stats. Full Verac's also allows players to occasionally deal damage, ignoring Bork's defence. This allows for huge damage. If a player used a Bandos Godsword also, Verac's can be devastating. Dragon boots and Barrows Gloves also help. A player may also wish to use either an amulet of fury or amulet of glory instead of a holy symbol etc, as they give good stat bonuses. If a player, however, is also using a no-damage method, a prayer-boost can help.

In the cape slot, a/an Obsidian/legend's/skill cape cape is a good choice. Trimmed skillcapes offer the best bonuses, with an added prayer boost. A Soul Wars cape is a very good option for the hefty prayer bonus, as well as having +8 defence, which is only one less than a skillcape's +9.

Safespotting
There's only one place where you can safe spot, but it can only be done if you maneuver Bork effectively (in addition if could also be used to prevent the legions from attacking you, if you're lucky). The Safespot trap is in the north part of the cave. The cave wall somewhat resembles a "U". They way to trap Bork is to guide him to the west of the "U", then quickly run to the east side of the "u" - stand directly to the cave wall, if you move too far to the east Bork will be able to walk in and still attack you.

This allows you to pray Protect from Magic/Deflect Magic or Protect from Missiles/Deflect Missiles.

Using this strategy you could attack Bork (and the legions) with either Ranged or Magic, which you choose doesn't really matter (except for your levels) as they are both as ineffective. Since Bork (and the Legions) is weak to Crush, better idea is to attack Bork with a Halberd, which is a two-handed melee (Slash) weapon. Although this is not Bork's weakness, melee is still more effective than either Ranged of Mage, while still staying out of his/their range.

Warning (especially for lower levels): Whenever players using ranged/magic are not in the protection of a safespot, they should immediately turn on protect from melee. Players using magic especially can be finished off very quickly. Players may also have to take a few blows when trying to trap Bork.

Magic method
Remember: ALWAYS keep auto-retaliate OFF, especially when using Magic.

Probably the cheapest, quickest and easiest way to kill Bork at level 80+ magic is the use of a Polypore staff. Using a Vecna skull, Magic focus scrolls of the Wolpertinger familiar or Extreme magic potions, Bork may die before the Dagon'hai Elite even has a chance to use their magic.'

An easy, if expensive, technique is to use Blood spells from the Ancient Magicks spellbook (Desert Treasure must be complete). You will not need any food if you pray against Melee. You can kill Bork at level 56 magic with only Blood Rush, and at 62 magic you can use Smoke Burst to damage Bork AND the Ork legions, and then switch back to Blood Rush to heal after Surok or the Dagon'hai Elite hits you. At level 68 magic the fight becomes incredibly easy as you can use Blood Burst to damage everything and keep yourself at full life points. If you use this method you will only need the necessary runes and 2 prayer potions.

Players should use the safespot mentioned in the above section. When Bork summons his legions, players should immediately switch their attention to the legions. As they are all grouped together, a player can recover massive amounts of health and they can get rid of the legions fast. Because of this, there is no need to worry about the Dagon'hai elite or Surok's magic attack whilst you pray against ranged. Once you defeat the legions in melee range, turn your attention to the legions closest to Bork (if any). Cast Blood Burst on the legions rather than Bork. If players cast Blood Burst on Bork instead, the legions may not take damage as bork himself covers a 3X3 square. The player, by following this method, can finish off both the legions and Bork at the same time.
 * Finally, players should also note that it can take from 30 to 50 Blood Burst shots at level 70+ to kill Bork and his legions. This can cost from approxiamately 36k-60k worth of runes, but along with a Ring of Wealth players can get 15k-20k worth of gems and other drops besides charms. So players can lose as little as 16k to as much as 45k per Bork trip. This amount that players lose can be treated as the "cost" for the charms and Slayer experience.

Another cheap, yet effective way is the use of Fire Wave for players with a Magic level of 75+. Taking approximately 500 air runes and a lava battlestaff is enough. The tactic remains the same, pray against melee and heal after Surok Magis or the Dagon'hai Elite Elite damages you. However you could also use a shield to heal from Surok Magis'/Dagon'hai Elite magic attacks.

Note: If you die while attacking Bork, your gravestone and all your items will appear outside the portal where you can get it. You are encouraged to use the Edgeville route to get to your items faster.

Ranged method
Remember: ALWAYS keep auto-retaliate OFF, especially when using Ranged.

For lower levelled players (60 ranged)

Armour: Royal dragonhide/Black dragonhide/Red dragonhide/Blue dragonhide

Weapon: Zanik's crossbow/Rune crossbow/Dark bow (if using antifire)/Magic shieldbow (if using antifire)/God bows

Helmet: Helm of Neitiznot/Archer's helm/Royal d'hide coif/Black d'hide coif/Red d'hide coif/Blue d'hide coif/Robin hood hat

Boots: Snakeskin/Archer's boots/Dragon boots/Rune boots

Cape: Ava's attractor/Ava's accumulator/5-year veteran cape/Team cape

Quiver: Runite bolts/Ruby bolts(e)/Diamond bolts(e)/Adamant bolts(all for crossbows), Rune arrow/Rune fire arrow/God arrows (for bows)

Amulet: Amulet of ranging/Amulet of glory

Ring: Ring of wealth (highly recommended)/Ring of life/Archer's ring

Shield: God book/Anti-dragon shield

Using ranged against Bork can be highly effective if using the right equipment, abilities, and potions. The recommended inventory setup would be a few prayer potions or flasks, and super ranging flasks, along with either rocktails or Saradomin brews (in conjunction with super restores). Saradomin brews are not recommended because this fight can be very click-intensive, especially for lower levelled players. It is also advised to bring with you one dose of antifire and an anti-dragon shield to block the bronze dragon's dragonfire attack should you be attacked by one. When running through the Chaos Tunnels, turn Auto-retaliate off. This prevents you from attacking the aggressive monsters in the tunnels. If you plan on using a ring of life, bring a ring of wealth and equip it if you are about to kill him. You should also bring a teletab/teleport runes in case you die, or for the end of the fight.

When you finally reach the portal to Bork, you want to turn Protect from Mage on, and then enter the portal. After seeing the cutscene, run to the safespot. This prevents Bork from attacking you, which means that the only damage you will be taking is the damage from Surok/Dagon'hai Mage. Use your hardest hitting ability and drink your super ranging flask as needed. This will maximise your damage, and allow you to use stronger abilities. When you see that your prayer is getting low, drink your prayer flask. Do not forget to heal.

When Bork reaches around 30,000 LP, he summons 3-9 ork legions. There are two methods for this. The first method is to ignore the legions and keep praying against Magic. However, this may not be effective, especially if the legions are right next to you. The legions CAN inflict a lot of damage over time. The other method is to pray against Melee and get out of your safespot. (The legions can used ranged, but they will most likely spawn right next to you and so you won't have to worry about praying against ranged. If they are using ranged, kill them from the safespot while praying against Magic.) Since Bork uses melee, you can get out of the safespot and still take less damage (although you will have to eat more). Abilities such as Ricochet or Bombardment will allow you to hit both Bork and the legions with high damage. (Abilities will be your friend, as they can make this fight a lot simpler and easier. Use an ultimate ability whenever you can.)

When you get Bork to around 1000 LP, switch to your ring of wealth. Once dealing the final blow, the room will begin to shake. Get any drops that you have and teleport out. If you follow this guide for ranged you can consistently kill Bork. As you level up, it is advised to wear better armour, such as Armadyl or Royal dragonhide. This will allow you to speed up the fight.