| This page was last updated for (v1.0.4).
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The guide is written with the goal of idling the dungeon. If you want to do it manually, the requirements are much more relaxed, although the more DR you have, the easier it is to do anyway.
Summary
- Get the
Sunset Rapier,
- Get the
Sandstorm Ring,
- Do 100
Volcanic Cave clears as Melee,
- Do the rest of Volcanic Cave clears with
Slicing Winds. Don't forget to enable the Surge aurora.
Why Clear Volcanic Cave?
On each clear, you get the 
Fire Cape that gives 2% DR.
Volcanic Cave is the place where you gear up in preparation for the 
Air God Dungeon. According to the simulation - the average amount of clears it will take to get the full 
ancient set, is 640 clears. It takes 817 clears to get the full ancient set with 75% probability and 1377 clears to get it with 95% probability.
It is also a place to farm 10 
Amulets of Fury for 
FEZ. Check the FEZ/Guide to see if it's the best option for you.
After you clear the Volcanic Cave 100 times, you will unlock Ancient Magicks - Slicing Winds, 
Icicle Volley, and 
Ignite.
Winds are used when the hit chance of everything else is not high. They don't miss if you have more than 20k accuracy;
Ignite is used to one-shot;
Volley is used for everything else.
Ancient Magicks are not affected by damage amplification in any way except the Combat Triangle. No curses, no debuffs, no gear buffs. However, it is much stronger than the basic magic at this stage. For instance, when basic magic could clear Volcanic Cave 8 times per hour, Ancient Magicks could do it 22 times.
Gear To Idle
The main heavy-hitter of the Volcanic Cave uses the 
Melee style. Therefore, clearing it with pre-Volcanic 
Ranged build is unfeasible due to the Combat Triangle penalties.
It is assumed that you have 
Auto Eat - Tier III.
All calculations are done for the 
Hardcore/
Adventure.
If you play Standard and have lower HP or DR, use Can I Idle or Combat Simulator to check if you can survive with your build.
Melee
Volcanic Cave is usually done with Melee because the 
dragon armor set requires only 
Level 99 to produce. It then can be trimmed to provide 30% DR.
Below is the melee build that requires 820 
Hitpoints to idle the dungeon on any game mode. However, pay attention that even slightly less DR or HP will mean death for this build because it hangs a hair breadth away from the max hit of 
Malcs. Check with Can I Idle or Combat Simulator to see if you can idle with your build. Also, the Sandstorm Ring is very important for your clear time.
Pre-Volcanic Magic
The other possible option is 
Magic. Clearing the Volcano with Magic from the start is not recommended because its adjusted clear time is slower than the Rapier's.
To idle the dungeon with the build below, you need 800 Hitpoints and 
Weakening III active.
100-Volcanoes Magic
After clearing the Volcanic Cave 100 times, you will unlock Ancient Magicks.
It's theoretically possible to farm the Volcanic Cave with the 20k-accuracy Slicing Winds on the following build if you have 920 HP, Level 93, and a 
Stone Skin prayer active.
To farm the dungeon with 34% DR and without the prayer or potions, you need 940 HP. Your biggest threat is 
Prat, the Protector of Secrets with the resulting damage of 375 and your minimum HP being 377.
Check if you fulfil the accuracy quota with Combat Simulator. The 20k accuracy is important because after that number Slicing Winds cannot miss, becoming a top-DPS spell against the dungeon at this point of progression.
Combined with Stone Skin or 
Damage Reduction Potion II or higher, this build achieves the 37%+ DR required to safely idle at 920 HP.
Weapon Choice
The information in the table below was produced by using the Combat Simulator and the respective builds above.
| Details
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The clears per hour are counted for a Hardcore character with level 70 in everything except HP and Magic that are adjusted for the magic setups.
In the calculations, the time to prepare prayer points and curse runes is not accounted for because it's not as easy. In addition, the overall picture is obvious even without accounting for them.
The adjusted clear time is calculated with the notation and assumptions from the Dragons Den/Guide, but  Whales are used as food instead of  Crabs.
All intermediate steps are covered in a spreadsheet. (link)
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It should be noted that the Melee clear times become tremendously worse without the Sandstorm Ring. Only Rapier and Ancient Claw are better than 
pre-Volcanic in this case.
It is suggested to start using the 100-Volcanoes build as soon as you can because the Prat and Malcs significantly slow your clear time by high evasion. 20k Slicing Winds don't miss.
Gear Options
Gloves
The 
Ancient vambraces drop from the 
Dragons Den. You will very likely need them to idle the Air God Dungeon, so might as well get them now.
The 
Red and 
Black vambraces can be either crafted with 
Crafting or dropped from the 
Spider Forest.
Or you might just farm some 
Paladins for their 
Gloves.
Cape
Boots
The choice of boots is small because we don't want to drop in DR too much.
Ring
Conclusion
The suggested order of actions is as follows:
- Get Sunset Rapier,
- Get Sandstorm Ring,
- Do 100 Volcanic Cave clears as Melee,
- Do the rest of Volcanic Cave clears with Slicing Winds. Don't forget to enable the Surge aurora.
(G) Dragon Helmet
(G) Dragon Platebody
(G) Dragon Platelegs
(G) Dragon Boots
Paladin Gloves
Knight's Cape
Elite Amulet of Defence
Sandstorm Ring
Sunset Rapier
(G) Dragon Shield
Fire Expert Wizard Hat
Fire Expert Wizard Robes
Fire Expert Wizard Bottoms
Fire Expert Wizard Boots
(U) Ancient D-hide Vambraces
Skull Cape
Silver Diamond Ring
Miolite Shield
Ancient Wizard Hat
Ancient Wizard Robes
Ancient Wizard Bottoms
Ancient Wizard Boots
Elite Amulet of Magic
Magic Wand (Powerful)
Dragon Sword
Ancient Sword
Dragon Claw
Ancient Claw
Knight's Cape
Level 88 unique drop
Skull Cape
Firemaking Skillcape
Level 99, no DR increase
Obsidian Cape
(G) Dragon Boots
Level 60
(G) Rune Boots
Silver Diamond Ring
Aorpheat's Signet Ring
Elite Chest and 100% more money
Ring of Wealth
Gold Sapphire Ring
Combat:
