31 articlesZulrah in Old School RuneScape (OSRS) has traditionally been fought using ranged and magic setups. However, after the 2025 update that allowed halberd-range attacks to hit the boss, melee is now a viable setup for taking on the boss.
While it’s not the fastest setup in the game, melee Zulrah is now one of the easiest ways to consistently farm the boss due to high survivability, lower switch requirements, and a surprisingly strong DPS.
That’s exactly what I’m going to help you with in this guide, so read on for all the details!
Basic Equipment Needs and Preparation
The most important weapon for this setup is the Noxious Halberd from Araxxor. The reason is because its reach allows you to safely attack Zulrah from melee range while maintaining excellent damage output.
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You will be using both of these weapons, so make sure to have them both equipped and ready for switching.
For the armor, prioritize high-strength melee gear with decent ranged defense. Torva is best in slot for this purpose, but you can also go for Bandos if you want a cheaper option. Lots of players also use a Blood Fury for additional sustain.
You’ll also want either the Serpentine Helm or Tanzanite Helm for their anti-venom properties, and the Ring of Suffering (ri) for its overall defensive power. Plus, the recoil is great for keeping the Snakelings at bay during the fight.
Aside from those important pieces of gear, you’ll also want a few consumables. Primarily, Super Combat Potions and Prayer Potions to buff yourself during the fight.
Of course, you’ll also want the obvious essentials. For example, food to heal yourself with and the Rune Pouch to be able to cast magic during the fight.
The Rune Pouch is important here since you’ll want to have access to Resurrect Greater Ghost and Death Charge.
With those basics, you should have what you need to melee Zulrah to death! Let’s go over the actual method now.
How to Beat Zulrah With Melee
The core idea behind melee Zulrah is maintaining halberd distance while minimizing unnecessary movement and switches. Compared to traditional methods, the fight becomes much less mechanically demanding once you learn the positioning.
Before you even take the boat to start the fight with Zulrah, chug one of the Super Combat Potions.
As soon as the fight starts, you should cast Resurrect Great Ghost as you move over to the tip of the island on your right side. From there, you can attack Zulrah relatively safely, with your Thrall doing some extra damage.
For attacking, use your Noxious Halberd as your primary weapon. Only ever switch to the Crystal Halberd to use its spec, which is one of your main sources of damage in this fight.
Speaking of, when you notice Zulrah is about to submerge and change form, switch over to the Crystal Halberd and use its spec. This is optimal for timing due to the game’s tick system.
Once the Snakelings spawn, use Death Charge to recharge spec energy on kill. You can ignore the Snakelings, as they will essentially kill themselves attacking you due to the Recoil from the Ring of Suffering.
With these basics down, you really just need to focus on positioning yourself to avoid Zulrah’s attacks while staying close enough to deal damage. It helps to try to have a rough idea of Zulrah’s rotations for this.
The charge above shows all of the possible rotations Zulrah can have. This helps you plan your positioning and what types of attacks to expect.
Lastly, for further reference, the video below shows the full fight with this method so that you know the general flow of it and what to do.
Wrapping Up
You should now know everything you need to be able to take down Zulrah in melee combat in OSRS, valid so far into 2026!
The gist of it is that you have to use the Noxious Halberd and Crystal Halberd’s spec to be able to deal good damage. Mitigating threats, such as having anti-venom and recoil for the Snakelings, also makes the fight a lot simpler.
Then, it’s just a matter of learning to recognize Zulrah’s rotation patterns. This is mostly a matter of practice, but I hope this guide helped you get started!
As of this writing, the Easter 2026 event is still going on and will last until the 15th of April! If you need help completing that, check out our OSRS Easter Event 2026 guide.
