4s Nylocas Melee Waves
Written by Tiikzu and contributed by the Money Tobs Discord, where you can find additional resources on max-eff ToB and teammates to raid with.Prelude
This guide is part of Blert’s series of max-eff Theatre of Blood 4s guides. It is intended for players who already have a basic knowledge of the Theatre of Blood and are looking to learn how to run efficient raids.
View Nylocas waves guides for the other roles using the links below.
Mage
Melee Freeze
Ranger
MeleeRefer to the ToB Plugins guide for information about useful plugins. Of particular note are the Nyloer plugin to track spawns and splits, and Nylo Death Indicators to avoid doubling up on dead Nylos.
Overview
As a Melee, there are several things you should keep in mind throughout the waves:
- When killing splits, prioritize them in the following order: melee, ranged, mage.
- In the later waves, don’t overuse your Blowpipe or Sang, as you’re the only person on the team killing melees in the south and west.
- Remember to regularly cast Vengeance on yourself and your teammates throughout the waves.
Keep an empty inventory slot and put all of your two-handed weapons around it, so that your defender always ends up next to your weapon.
An example inventory arrangement is shown below.
Pre-cap
Wave 1
You have two options for starting the waves:
- Double up with your Mage by Sanging the wave 1 south and the wave 2 west.
- Double up with your Ranger by bowing the wave 1 west and the wave 2 east.
Waves 2-3
After your second attack, kill the wave 2 south small, then the wave 3 west small.
Waves 4-5
Help your Ranger by Blowpiping the wave 4 west small followed by the wave 5 west big, then move south to hit the wave 5 melee.
Waves 6-7
Clean up splits from the south and west, and help your Ranger with thewave 7 south big.
Waves 8-9
Sang the wave 8 west big first tick, then bow the wave 9 west ranged big immediately after.
Wave 10
Clean up splits from the bigs that died.
Wave 11
Sang the wave 11 west big first tick and commit to the kill. If any rangers from wave 10 west are still alive, you can Blowpipe once before Sanging 11.
Wave 12
Scythe the west melee doubles. If the wave 11 mage big died first tick, you have time to Swift or Blowpipe a split before Scything the doubles.
Afterwards, clean up splits before the next wave.
Wave 13
Kill the south melee small. If there are no melees in the room at this point, you can Blowpipe the west ranger before dealing with south.
Wave 14
Kill the west melee small.
Waves 15-16
Blowpipe the 15 west ranged small, then Swift the melee small next to it. Stay west and hit something in the room before your next prefire.
Wave 17
Sang the west mage big on the first tick. If it doesn’t die, do one Swift or Blowpipe before Sanging it again.
Wave 18
Clean up splits in the room.
Wave 19
If the room is clean and you killed wave 17 first tick, you can Sang the west mage big first tick. If you do this, make sure to stand one tile away from the gate when you attack it, so that its splits spawn following the wave 20 check.
If there are many splits in the room, focus on killing them instead of prefiring 19.
Post-cap
Wave 20
Clean as many splits in the room as you can. Be prepared to Scythe thewest big as soon as it enters the room if your Ranger didn’t kill it.
Wave 21
Scythe the south melee doubles, then do one Swift.
Wave 22
Scythe the south melee doubles, then path west.
Optionally, you can choose to do a more advanced method for this wave:
- Blowpipe the western 22 small in the south lane as it flickers ranged.
- Swift the other south small when it enters the room.
- Bow the 23 south big first tick and continue your regular rotation.
If you do this, pay attention to 22 west — if your Ranger doesn’t kill it, finish it off instead of bowing 23.
Wave 23
Kill splits that spawned from the wave 22 west big. At this point, only hit Nylos that are 23 or above, as the rest will expire before wave 28.
Wave 24
Path south and kill splits from the wave 23 south big.
Be prepared to finish the wave 24 west big as it enters the room if your Ranger didn’t kill it. (Advanced: If you notice your Ranger doesn’t instantly kill 24, you can Blowpipe it once in lane before it switches to melee.)
Wave 25
Scythe the west big as soon as it enters the room. If your Ranger killed the 24 big, you can Blowpipe one of its splits once before Scything 25.
After Scything the 25, you have 4 ticks to fill. You can Swift once and lose a tick, Blowpipe twice or Sang once. Path south as you do this.
Wave 26
Scythe the south big as it enters the room. From this point on, you should stay south.
Waves 27-28
Clean up the room as much as you can.
Keep an eye on the 28 south flashers: if your Ranger doesn’t kill the eastern one, it will enter the room as melee and you must kill it as quickly as possible.
Wave 29
Scythe the south melee big as soon as it enters the room.
If the wave 28 flasher didn’t die before this, kill it immediately after the 29 big.
Wave 30
Scythe the south melee doubles. If either of them survive, prioritize killing them.
Wave 31
Watch the splits spawning from the 30 west range and east mage bigs — if they walk south, prioritize them over other Nylos.
Cleanup
During cleanup, your job is to kill clear out melees in the south side of the room. Make sure to always hit higher wave Nylos first.