Phoenix Lair is part of Distractions and Diversions and was released on 6 January 2009 along with the quest In Pyre Need. Players must have completed the quest to do Phoenix Lair. Players are able to complete this once per day resetting at 00:00 GMT time, similar to killing Bork in the Chaos Tunnels: The Hunt for Surok.

This Distraction and Diversion can be done once per day, In Phoenix Lair, players must navigate through a series of caverns and fight against massive, magma-filled 'reborn' monstrosities. There are three types of guardians, each covering one side of the combat triangle and have levels ranging up to 128. The cavern is multi-combat and will most likely kill players who are not properly prepared.

In each of the first five caverns, players must use secateurs to cut a twig from the tree in that cavern, which they will cut into ribbons with a knife and are then used to build the phoenix's pyre in the last cavern. Sacred clay armour is handy here as players can use the "operate" feature while it is equipped to switch between Melee and Ranged armour.

In the final cavern, the player uses the ribbons to construct a nest in the pyre area. This will then call the phoenix to battle.

 

Location of the Phoenix Lair.

The phoenix has Combat level of 235 and her main attack is Magic-based. She also has a dust attack, which lowers Attack, Ranged, and Magic level by approximately 50 percent for a short time, nullifying Attack potions. Dust attacks are not affected by Protect from Magic, perhaps because they do no damage to health.

Cavern effects

The caverns have some strange effects that seem to hinder some abilities:

• Summoning familiars may fail to follow players through from one cave to the next. If this happens, use the Call Familiar button.
• Some players have reported not being able to teleport out of the caverns. If this happens, a player can right-click a cavern doorways and choose 'Escape cavern'. This option must be chosen from the final cavern if a player is looking for a phoenix pet.

Location

Phoenix Lair is near the Piscatoris Fishing Colony. Players can get to the area by walking or by one of these faster methods:

• Take the rowboat west of the Tree Gnome Stronghold (costs 50 coins).
• Use Fairy ring AKQ (requires partial completion of Fairytale II - Cure a Queen).
• Use the Eagle transport system (requires completion of Eagles' Peak).
• Teleport to the Piscatoris Hunter area using a Spirit kyatt's ability (requires Summoning level 57 and a Spirit kyatt pouch).

Maps of the lair

The order of the dungeons are different for each player, however the order of the trees are the same. An example of possible maps is shown below:

Preparations

Phoenix Lair

Cave 1, Cinnamon Tree	Cave 2, Sassasfras Tree	Cave 3, Ailanthus Tree
Cave 4, Cedar Tree	Cave 5, Mastic Tree	Cave 6, Pyre and Shrine

It is highly recommended that players use Prayer protection in this area. Since multiple foes using different Attack styles will attack the player at the same time, it is also highly recommended that armour with high Defence stats is used.

• If players are using melee armour, they should use Protect from Magic.
• If players are using ranged armour, they should use Protect from Melee.

The reborn monsters will not respawn. Higher-levelled players may choose to kill them all on each level for the experience or fun of it.

Lower-levelled players

The recommended minimum stats for going there are:

• 70 Attack and 70 Strength or 70 Ranged
• 70 Defence
• 43 Prayer

The recommended inventory for players with the minimum stats:

• A tinderbox, a knife and secateurs (all required), Brian Twitcher no longer has any to give to players.
• 2 Prayer potions (3 to be safe)
• 1 Super attack potion, Super defence potion, and Super strength potion (replace Super attack and strength by Ranging potions if ranging)
• A one-click teleport out (like teletabs) (some players have reported not being able to teleport out, see Cavern effects.)
• About 15 pieces of high healing food (Monkfish, Tuna potatoes, or Sharks)
• 5 empty inventory slots (for the branches). Food can be eaten to deal with this, but plan on eating food in these inventory slots even if it is not need to heal.

Sacred clay armour is useful as players can switch between armour styles while wearing it. Bringing a Ring of life may also be smart, as players can easily die here due to reasons such as lag and not paying attention to Prayer points.

Higher-levelled Players

Players who are over level 100 combat have two effective methods of completing the Phoenix Lair: the tanking method, and the Prayer method.

Tanking method

The recommended stats for this method are:

• 80+ Defence
• 70+ Attack and Strength or 70+ Ranged
• 60+ Prayer

The recommended inventory is:

• A tinderbox, a knife and secateurs (all required)
• A Falador shield (shield 3 highly recommended, although 2 will do fine)
• A prayer potion (to be safe)
• 1 Super strength potion and Super defence potion (replace Super strength with a Ranging potion if ranging)
• A one-click teleport (in case you run out of food, which shouldn't happen)
• 5 empty spaces (for the branches)
• The rest of the inventory should be filled with high-healing food, but if you do this method correctly you will only have to eat 3 or so pieces of food for the whole cave.

 

The draining effect of the phoenix.

Players using the tanking method should wear their best armour to get the highest melee and ranged defence bonuses possible, such as Torags armour and a good shield such as the Dragonfire shield. This way, they will have good protection against the warriors and rangers and will only have to turn on Protect from Magic for the mages. If players are running out of prayer, they should activate their Falador shield to restore their prayer points, and then drink their prayer potions if necessary.

Prayer method

The recommended stats for this method are:

• 80+ Defence
• 80+ Attack and Strength or 80+ Ranged
• 70+ Prayer

The recommended inventory is:

• A tinderbox, a knife and secateurs (all required)
• A Falador shield 2 or 3 (this should be wielded for maximum prayer bonus)
• 1 Super strength potion and Super defence potion (replace super strength with a Ranging potion if ranging)
• A Dragon dagger (p++) (for special attacks, if you want)
• A one-click teleport (in case you run out of food, which shouldn't happen.)
• 5 empty spaces (for the branches)
• The rest of the inventory should be filled with high-healing food.

Players using the Prayer method should wear armour that gives high prayer bonuses but fairly good defence, such as Proselyte armour or Verac's armour. Vestment cloaks, Bandos boots or White boots, and a stole are also good additions.

Players should activate Protect from Magic for the mages; the warriors and rangers should not harm too much. If they do, there is plenty of food. With the recommended stats, good prayer armour, and a Falador shield 2 or 3, players using this method will not need Prayer potions for the entire cave; their prayer will drain slowly enough so that the Falador shield will provide enough prayer points to even last for the battle with the Phoenix.

Tips

• Spirit wolves along with Howl scrolls can be used to scare away the guardians if you get cornered or blocked and can't get past them. If your familiar did not follow you to the next cave use its' "call" feature.
• Make your combat preparations before you enter the first cavern: drink any potions, turn on prayer, turn on run, etc.
• Each of the first five caverns has several choke points where the reborn monsters block you. The monster will not leave the choke point, so you must kill it before you can pass through. At a minimum, you will encounter one choke point in each of these caverns.
• When you reach the phoenix's cavern, you can turn off prayer while you get ready for the final battle. The phoenix will not appear until you prepare the pyre. Drink your potions to top up your combat abilities. It is not efficient to drink super attack potions here, though, as the phoenix's dust attack will lower your attack for a few seconds, which then resets to its normal level.
• Logging out during a run of the lair will require you to start over.
• These monsters will not be shoved by the Dragon spear or Zamorakian spear specials, as they are "too large to knock back."
• The shrine in this cavern is not an Altar and so you cannot recharge prayer points here. If you will use prayer against the phoenix, make sure you top up with a prayer potion if you are low on points.
• If you forget to talk to the phoenix before exiting the cave, the next time you enter the cave system you will be in her cave and be able to obtain your quills.

Monsters

The reborn can travel via pools of lava that spontaneously appear in the path of the player.

• Greater reborn mage
• Greater reborn warrior
• Greater reborn ranger
• Lesser reborn mage
• Lesser reborn warrior
• Lesser reborn ranger
• Phoenix

Drops

Note that the phoenix does not drop anything, but she will give 5 Phoenix quills when talked to after the battle.

Other

• Coins (more than 1,000)
• Ashes
• Battlestaff
• Unpowered orb

Food

• Curry
• Lobster (common)

Ranging Equipment

• Adamant arrows (10)
• Adamant bolts
• Adamantite limbs
• Bow string (3, noted)
• Crossbow string (1-3, noted)
• Maple shortbow (unstrung)
• Mithril bolts
• Mithril limbs
• Rune arrows

Herbs and ingredients

• Grimy cadantine
• Grimy guam
• Grimy ranarr

• Red spiders' eggs (5, 7 noted)
• White berries (1)

Seeds

• Avantoe seed
• Cadantine seed
• Dwarf weed seed
• Evil turnip seed
• Irit seed
• Kwuarm seed
• Onion seed
• Potato seed
• Snapdragon seed
• Toadflax seed
• Tomato seed
• Watermelon seed

Runes and Talismans

• Chaos runes (10, 15)
• Death rune
• Law runes (1, 2)

• Chaos talisman
• Fire talisman

Ores and Gems

• Adamantite ore (2)
• Gold ore (3, 4)
• Silver ore (4, noted)

• Uncut emerald
• Uncut ruby
• Uncut sapphire (common)

Charms

• Gold charm
• Green charm (most common)
• Crimson charm
• Blue charm

Potions

• Ranging potion (1, 2 doses)
• Super attack potion (1, 2 doses)
• Super defence potion (1, 2 doses)
• Super strength potion (1, 2 doses)

Weapons and Armour

• Adamant mace
• Adamant sq shield
• Mithril mace
• Mithril kiteshield
• Shield left half

Rewards

Reward for completing the Phoenix's "challenge" each time:

• 7,500 Firemaking experience
• 3,000 Fletching experience
• 1,000 Crafting experience
• 500 Slayer experience (NOTE: 5,000 Slayer experience is only awarded the first time the Phoenix is defeated.)
• 5 Phoenix quills
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