The Vanguard are three separate entities, so individually, they have less health compared to other bosses. The Vanguard are the only raid boss that does not have a barrier mechanic.

For this fight, it is recommended to bring medium-damage weaponry, such as the Zamorakian hasta. Weapons like godswords are not advised here as they may cause too much damage to a Vanguard and significantly prolong the fight.

Runescape gold's each Vanguard uses one form of attack. The magic Vanguard has no tentacles flailing out. The ranged Vanguard is carrying a bunch of rocks with its tentacles. The melee Vanguard flaunts its tentacles. Both the magic and ranged Vanguard have AoE attacks, while the melee Vanguard attacks three times for each attack.

Damage maintenance is key to fighting the Vanguard. They have a unique healing property where all three will fully heal themselves if there is a massive difference (33%). The Vanguard are also aware of their own health, so players cannot simply pile one Vanguard, as doing so will prompt them to scuttle into their shells and fully heal themselves. Slowly damage each Vanguard, ensuring that the damage between them is equal to prevent them from healing. While they are out of their shells, their health bar is shown to help players with damage maintenance.

After being out of their shells for a while, OSRS gold's the Vanguard retreat back into them and shuffle around in either a clockwise or counterclockwise formation. Stomp damage is only applied when they're shuffling.

Each Vanguard drops the combat potion (+) of their combat style, along with Xeric's aid (+), Revitalisation (+) and occasionally an Overload (+).