Astea Frostweb
| |
| Release date | 12 April 2010 (Update) |
|---|---|
| Members? | No |
| Combat level | Varies (3, 5, 8, 16, 26, 43, 71, 97, 116, 134, 155, 189, 221, 253, 287, 331) |
| Life points | Varies (Level 3: 80, Level 97: 1750, Level 134: 2530, Level 155: 3070) |
| Slayer level | Not assigned |
| Aggressive? | Yes |
| Poisonous? | No |
| Immune to poison? |
Yes |
| Attack style | Magic, Melee |
| Attack speed | |
| Max hit | Varies (Level 3: 21, Level 97: 124, Level 134: 177, Level 155: 197) |
| Weakness | Ranged, Slash, Fire spells |
| Always drops | Nothing |
| Examine text | A summoner using a form of ancient magic. |
- For the music track, see Astea Frostweb (music track).
Astea Frostweb is a Dungeoneering boss. She summons ice spiders while attacking the player directly with magic. She also alternates among the prayers Protect from Melee, Protect from Ranged, and Protect from Magic while in battle.
Background
In her journal, Astea writes about how Astea and Lexicus Runewright, her lover, signed up with 'Bill' (Bilrach) to assist his work. Lexicus discovers a secret "Too horrible to comprehend", making it necessary for her and Lexicus Runewright, her lover, to "kill Bill".
The 18th part of Bilrach's journal revealed that they confronted Bilrach, Bilrach defeated them, placed them under his control and separated them forever as punishment for their rebellion.
Astea's Offence
Her main attacks are a melee attack that can hit diagonally, an ice spell similar to Ice Barrage which freezes the player temporarily for 5 seconds, and an avoidable spike attack which targets all players. The spike attack appears as icy spikes growing on the ground and deals damage immediately after they appear, not when they disappear, contrary to popular belief, making it not impossible but hard to evade these. The damage from the spike attack is not classified as any specific type of damage, and subsequently cannot be blocked with protection prayers. Protect from Magic should be used to nullify the damage from her Ice Barrage. Prayer flashing is possible if you can anticipate her offensive casts, but difficult to use due to her irregular attack speed, and doesn't prevent freezing.
Because her Ice Barrage spells can keep the dungeoneer at a distance, fighting her with ranged or magic attacks (preferably Fire spells) or summoning a combat familiar may be easier. Melee works well, however, if you can stay close to her, trap her in a corner, or restrain her with a holding spell such as Entangle. Using holding spells is not recommended unless your Magic level is very high (90+), as Astea has very high magic defence.
Astea summons ice spiders, the levels of which are determined by the raid's average level and difficulty. She summons two per person, for up to 10 at once for a party of five. If you're alone she can summon up to 6 spiders; however, it is possible that she doesn't summon any at all, especially when she is fought on the first floor. According to the Smuggler, Astea will summon more spiders to attack players with Protection prayers activated.
The ice spiders hit low (with a max hit of 70 life points at their highest level) but with very high accuracy, unless the player wears good armour. Protect from Summoning can help reduce the damage dealt by the spiders. Low levels either protect from melee or magic should be used; however at higher levels or with good armour, Protect from Magic is more effective.
Sometimes some of her spiders would wander off rather than attacking the players. This might be a glitch. When Astea is killed, her summoned spiders will also die, so ignore them and focus on Astea.
Astea's Defence
She uses protection prayers which switch every 25 seconds or so, regardless of the player's style of attacking. If using melee only, the best way is to turn on protect from mage, and stay close to her, until she switches prayer, then attack her with your melee choice. Using magic is not recommended because her magic defence is very high, and it appears to make her summon more spiders; however, fire spells seem to work relatively well against her, due to her icy nature.
Strategy
Firstly, players should turn off auto retaliate. Otherwise the player will significantly be distracted from killing the boss by the spiders and finishing the floor would be rendered very difficult.
Generally, ranged is weighted over melee (especially if a hexhunter bow is used), but both strongly weigh over magic. Either melee or ranged armour will work for the former two styles, that means ranged armour with a rapier is okay. Using both ranged and melee is strongly recommended, this can be easy achieved by free players, by binding a melee weapon, then they can take the ranged supply at the smuggler room. Should a player choose magic, it is advisable to bring runes for fire spells (at least Fire Bolt is recommended for free players, and at least Fire Wave is recommended for members). In addition, a Blitzer class ring is advisable over Blazer for members, as Astea's prayers will block the extra damage from the latter if she changes to Protect from Magic when the effect occurs.
When she freezes a player within melee range, she takes one step backward, much like forgotten mages. Ranged players should turn on Protect from Melee (if with good ranged armour) or a ranged boosting prayer (if less than 40 prayer) to fight. Being frozen by Ice Barrage will cause the character to stop targeting her, so clicking Astea is necessary to continue fighting.
Pure melee fighters should turn on Protect from Magic (except if they have full ranged armour) and ignore the spiders, possibly trapping them to minimise damage. Dual combat type characters should have arrows wielded and click the alternate weapon once Astea changes to ranged/melee prayer, and then switch to ranged when Astea freezes them. It is extremely helpful to have a combat familiar, preferably a bloodrager, to carry on fighting in case Astea changes her prayer to your backup style after freezing you.
If you are with 4 or more people, try to surround her so she won't escape when she freezes you. Have at least one ranger and one high level mage (preferably with 95+ Magic) on your team so you can continuously inflict damage.
For a soloer, they should try to trap her near one of the corners. This way, when she freezes you, she won't be able to move anywhere else but back to the same spot, making it very easy to target her. This however, is quite rare to do because it is rare she will be in the corners, but is very effective at defeating her without having to move constantly around.
Drops
Item Quantity Rarity GE Market Price 
Salve shoes 1 Varies Not sold 
Wildercress shoes 1 Varies Not sold 
Blightleaf shoes 1 Varies Not sold 
Roseblood shoes 1 Varies Not sold 
Bryll shoes 1 Varies Not sold 
Duskweed shoes 1 Varies Not sold 
Soulbell shoes 1 Varies Not sold 
Ectoshoes 1 Varies Not sold 
Runic shoes 1 Varies Not sold 
Spiritbloom shoes 1 Varies Not sold 
Celestial shoes 1 Varies Not sold 
Dungeoneering journals Various parts Common Not sold 
Astea frostweb's journal Various parts Common Not sold
Trivia
- If Astea freezes you just before she dies, you will be able to move about even though your player is shown to be frozen in an ice block.
- Astea's melee attack makes the motion of attacking with a staff, even though she is unarmed.
- As with all monsters that use protection prayers, is impossible to use the Smite Prayer or the Soul Split Ancient Curse to eliminate Astea's protection prayers.
- There is currently a glitch where restraining Astea with a holding spell such as Entangle will not prevent her from moving away from a player in melee range after she freezes them. This glitch also appears to occur with forgotten mages and the Mercenary leader, and has not been fixed yet.
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