OSRS Yama Contracts Guide: Earn the Radiant Oathplate

Mastering the Yama Contracts: An In-Depth OSRS Guide

The arrival of Yama Contracts has set a new benchmark for solo PvM challenges in Old School RuneScape. These five distinct trials push players to their limits, demanding flawless execution and strategic adaptation. This guide provides a comprehensive breakdown of each contract, its unique mechanics, and the optimal approaches to achieve victory and claim the coveted Radiant Oathplate.

Prerequisite: Before attempting Yama Contracts, a thorough understanding of the standard Yama boss fight is crucial. These contracts feature a significantly amplified version of Yama, and familiarity with its base mechanics is essential.

Universal Contract Modifications

Across all five Yama Contracts, several baseline changes significantly increase the difficulty:

• Strictly Solo: No team assistance is permitted.
• Accelerated Attack Cycles: Yama performs special attacks after only 2 standard attacks, down from the usual 3.
• Rapid Glyph Respawns: Glyphs reappear more quickly, altering defensive timings.
• Heightened Environmental Hazards: Expect more frequent Shadow Waves and Fire Streaks.
• Phase 1 Special Attack Speed: Special attacks during Phase 1 land 1 game tick faster.
• Judge's Enhanced Attack: The Judge entity now throws double fire bombs every 3 ticks.
• Phase 3 Intensification: Triple Fireballs and Waves are more aggressive in Phase 3.

Contract #1: Forfeit Breath – The Endurance Test

This initial contract introduces a relentless drain on a core resource: stamina.

Key Mechanical Changes:

• Persistent Stamina Depletion: Stamina passively drains throughout the entire encounter.
• Damage Amplifies Drain: Taking any damage accelerates the rate of stamina loss.
• Exhaustion Equals Death: Reaching zero stamina results in instant collapse and failure.

Strategic Imperatives:

• Vigilant Stamina Management: Treat your stamina bar with the same caution as your prayer points, monitoring it constantly.
• Stamina Potions Essential: A full inventory of 4-5 Stamina Potions is non-negotiable.
• Defensive Prioritization: Minimize all avoidable damage. Every hit point lost translates to faster stamina depletion and a quicker demise.

Gear Considerations:

• Primary Weapon: Tumeken's Shadow is highly recommended, especially as its demonbane weakness is nullified in Contracts.
• Armour: Maximize magic accuracy and defence (e.g., Ancestral robes or Virtus robes).
• Special Weapon: A Saradomin Godsword can provide crucial healing during the Judge phases.
• Utility: A Purging staff is necessary for dealing with Void Flares if they are part of this contract's base Yama mechanics (universal changes imply standard Yama mechanics are present).

Contract #2: Glyphic Attenuation – The Prayer Gauntlet

This contract transforms the fight into a complex puzzle of prayer conservation and precise glyph interaction.

Key Mechanical Changes:

• Increased Health Pool: Yama boasts 3,500 HP (up from 2,400 in the standard encounter).
• Significant Defensive Buffs:
  • +80 Crush Defence.
  • +666 Defence against all other attack styles.
• Glyph System Revamp:
  • Reduced Protection Window: The window to activate a glyph for protection is slashed from 10 ticks to a mere 2 ticks, demanding near-perfect timing.
  • Fire Glyph Consequence: Absorbing a special attack with a Fire Glyph incorrectly results in triple damage.
  • Shadow Glyph Consequence: Incorrectly using a Shadow Glyph causes triple prayer point drain.
• Prayer Bonus Inversion:
  • Higher prayer bonus increases your damage output.
  • However, it also drastically accelerates prayer drain, creating a difficult balancing act.

Strategic Imperatives:

• Aggressive Prayer Restoration: Expect severe prayer drain; bring a substantial supply of Prayer Potions.
• Flawless Glyph Execution: Glyphs must be treated as hazardous elements, activated only at the precise tick before Yama's special attack lands. Misuse is severely punished.
• Crush Weapon Meta: Due to the +80 Crush Defence, melee with a crush weapon is the most viable strategy.

Melee Setup for Glyphic Attenuation:

This is the sole contract where a melee-focused approach is strongly advised.

• Armour: Inquisitor's armour is paramount. It bypasses the +80 crush defence and provides a significant prayer bonus.
  • An alternative, higher-risk setup involves the Sunfire Fanatic set combined with an Inquisitor's helm for maximum prayer bonus (and thus damage/drain).
• Shield Slot:
  • Elysian Spirit Shield: Recommended for learners due to its damage reduction passive, offering a safety net.
  • Avernic Defender: For experienced players confident in their mechanics, offering higher DPS.

Contract #3: Sensory Clouding – The Relentless Chase

Prepare for a high-mobility encounter where standing still is a death sentence.

Key Mechanical Changes:

• Increased Health Pool: Yama has 3,125 HP.
• Constant Pursuit: Yama will relentlessly chase you throughout the fight, only pausing momentarily for special attacks.
• Prayer Bypass: All of Yama's standard attacks will pierce through protection prayers.
• Reduced Ranged Efficacy: The attack range of all ranged weapons is halved.
• Lethal Void Flares: If Void Flares explode, it results in an instant kill.

Strategic Imperatives:

• Perpetual Motion: Constant movement is key to avoiding Yama's melee attacks. Practice attacking while kiting.
• Phase 3 Control with Scorching Bow: The special attack of the Scorching Bow temporarily roots Yama. This is invaluable for:
  • Creating space to dodge mechanics.
  • Safely dispatching Void Flares.
  • Establishing windows for uninterrupted damage.
• Critical Focus:
  • Utilize Death Charge (if applicable to this boss's loot table context, assuming a special attack energy system) on cooldown.
  • Void Flares are your top priority; their explosion means failure.
  • Glyphs are your only safeguard against special attacks – use them perfectly.

Gear Considerations:

• Scorching Bow: Essential not for its DPS but for its unique special attack that provides crucial crowd control against Yama's constant pursuit.

Contract #4: Divine Severance – The Prayer Flick Endurance

This contract elevates prayer flicking from an advanced technique to a core survival mechanic.

Key Mechanical Changes:

• Increased Health Pool: Yama has 3,125 HP.
• Prayer Disruption: Protection prayers automatically deactivate after a single game tick. You must manually reactivate them for every incoming attack you wish to block.
• Opportunity for Defence: Standard attacks can be fully blocked if prayer flicking is executed with tick-perfect precision.
• Intensified Void Flare Spawns:
  • Phases 1-2: Extra Void Flares spawn after special attacks.
  • General: Three flares appear simultaneously, one with reduced HP.
  • Phase 3: A new flare spawns every 12 seconds.
  • Failure Condition: Flares still cause instant death if they explode.

Strategic Imperatives:

• Masterful Prayer Flicking: Consistent, tick-perfect prayer flicking is the foundation of survival.
• Strategic Flare Negation: Time Yama's fire or shadow special attacks (and subsequent glyph usage) to coincide with Void Flare explosion timers, effectively "skipping" their damage via glyph immunity.
• Marathon Mentality: This is a test of endurance and concentration. Focus on consistent execution over raw speed, as kill times will naturally be longer.

Weapon Choice:

• Demonbane weapons are ineffective here. High-tier, non-demonbane options like the Blade of Saeldor, Inquisitor's Mace, Ghrazi Rapier, or Noxious Halberd are suitable.

Contract #5: Bloodied Blows – The Ultimate Glass Cannon

The final contract inverts typical combat wisdom, rewarding extremely high-risk, low-health gameplay.

Key Mechanical Changes:

• Massive Health Pool: Yama's health is increased to 4,125 HP.
• Wretched Strength Symbiosis: Both you and Yama deal significantly increased damage when at low HP.
  • At 1 HP, your Tumeken's Shadow can consistently hit maximum damage (e.g., 64s).
• Overwhelming Void Flares:
  • Four flares spawn at once (two with reduced health).
  • Flares possess much higher resistance to attacks.
  • Flare damage now scales with their remaining HP rather than causing an instant KO upon explosion (though still highly dangerous).
• Demonbane Immunity: The Tumeken's Shadow becomes the mandatory weapon due to its raw power synergizing with Wretched Strength.

High-Risk, High-Reward Strategy:

• The 1 HP Gambit (Phases 1 & 2): Maintain your HP at exactly 1 to maximize your damage output.
  • Emergency Healing (Minimal): Use Guthix Rests or Snowy Knights for minor healing that won't push you significantly above 1 HP. Moonlight Antelope potions should be reserved only for Judge phases.
• Phase 3 Adaptation: For Phase 3, aim to stay around 12-15 HP. This provides a small buffer against chip damage while still granting enough damage boost from Wretched Strength to one-shot the resilient Void Flares.
• Judge Phase Protocol: Always fully heal before transitioning into any Judge intermission phase. The room-wide unavoidable damage will be lethal at low HP.

Expert Insight:

This contract demands an extraordinary level of precision, akin to performing surgery while juggling. Balancing at 1 HP for maximum damage, dodging multiple enhanced Void Flares, and carefully managing healing for specific phases is an extreme test. Success, however, offers unparalleled satisfaction.

Conclusion

The Yama Contracts represent a pinnacle of solo PvM achievement in OSRS. Each contract presents a unique and formidable array of mechanics that will challenge even the most seasoned players. Diligent practice, strategic adaptation, and a deep understanding of the mechanics outlined in this guide are your keys to conquering Yama and earning the prestigious Radiant Oathplate.

While these challenges are designed for solo mastery, understanding complex PvM encounters is a skill honed over time. If you're looking to improve your general PvM capabilities or tackle other endgame content, explore our resources and services.

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