Best NMZ Points OSRS: Maximize Your Nightmare Zone Gains in 2025

If you’re an Old School RuneScape (OSRS) player looking to rack up Nightmare Zone (NMZ) points efficiently, you’ve landed in the right place. The Nightmare Zone is a fan-favorite minigame for training combat skills and earning points to imbue gear or stock up on resources. In this guide, we’ll dive into the best strategies, boss selections, and setups to maximize your NMZ points per hour in 2025. Whether you’re a seasoned player or just starting, these tips will help you dominate NMZ and boost your gains. Let’s get started!
The Nightmare Zone, located just north-west of Yanille bank, is a combat minigame where players fight bosses from completed quests in a dream state. Points are earned by defeating these bosses, and the more bosses you have unlocked and enabled, the higher your points per kill. These points can then be spent on rewards like imbuing rings, slayer helmets, or buying herb boxes. But to get the best NMZ points in OSRS, you need a solid strategy.
What Affects NMZ Points?
Several factors determine how many points you earn per hour:
- Boss Selection: Enabling more bosses increases the point multiplier per kill.
- Game Mode: Hard Rumble mode offers significantly more points than Normal or Endurance modes.
- Power-Ups: Using power-ups like Zapper and Recurrent Damage boosts your efficiency.
- Combat Style: Melee setups, especially with certain gear, tend to maximize points.
Why Focus on Points?
Points are the currency of NMZ. They let you upgrade gear (e.g., Berserker Ring (i)), buy absorption potions for AFK training, or grab herb boxes for profit. Optimizing for the best NMZ points per hour saves time and enhances your overall OSRS experience.
Best Setup for Maximum NMZ Points
To achieve the highest points per hour—often exceeding 1 million—you’ll need the right gear, inventory, and approach. Here’s how to set yourself up for success.
Recommended Gear
Your gear choice depends on your combat level and budget, but here’s a top-tier setup for maximizing points:
- Helmet: Slayer Helmet (i) or Neitiznot Faceguard
- Body: Bandos Chestplate or Obsidian Platebody
- Legs: Bandos Tassets or Obsidian Platelegs
- Weapon: Abyssal Whip or Ghrazi Rapier (with special attack weapon like Granite Maul)
- Shield: Dragon Defender or Avernic Defender
- Amulet: Amulet of Torture
- Ring: Berserker Ring (i)
- Cape: Fire Cape or Infernal Cape
For lower budgets, swap Bandos gear for Obsidian armor and use a Dragon Scimitar instead of a Rapier.
Inventory Setup
Your inventory should focus on sustaining long runs while leveraging NMZ’s unique mechanics:
- Overload Potions (4 doses): Boosts combat stats and reduces HP to 1 (costs 1,500 points each).
- Absorption Potions (4 doses): Absorbs 1,000 damage at 1 HP (costs 1,000 points each).
- Dwarven Rock Cake or Locator Orb: Reduces HP to 1 to maximize absorption efficiency.
- Prayer Potions (optional): For prayer flicking if not using Rapid Heal.
Combat Strategy
The goal is to stay at 1 HP with absorption potions active, flick Rapid Heal every 50-60 seconds to reset your HP regen timer, and let bosses hit you for minimal damage. Use Overloads to boost your stats, then lower your HP with the rock cake or orb. During Power Surge (a power-up that refills special attack energy), switch to your Granite Maul for quick, high-damage specs.
Optimal Boss Selection for Best NMZ Points
Choosing the right bosses is critical to hitting the maximum point cap of 1,048,575 per dream. The more bosses enabled, the higher the point multiplier—but some bosses are too tedious or disruptive to include.
Bosses to Enable
Here’s a list of bosses to activate for optimal points per hour. These are mostly melee-based and manageable with the 1 HP strategy:
- Desert Treasure I: Dessous, Fareed, Kamil, Damis (use Ultimate Force on Damis’ second form).
- Dream Mentor: The Inadequacy, The Everlasting, The Untouchable.
- Recipe for Disaster: Evil Chicken, Agrith-Na-Na, Flambeed, Karamel.
- Other Good Picks: Black Demon, Tree Spirit, Bouncer, King Roald, The Kendal.
Bosses to Disable
Avoid these bosses to prevent prayer drain, poison, or excessive difficulty:
- Corrupt Lizardman: Poisons you.
- Elvarg: Dragonfire complicates things.
- Glod: Drains prayer.
- Barrelchest: High prayer drain.
- Chronozon: Requires all blast spells.
Note: Always enable both Dream Mentor and Desert Treasure I bosses together. Enabling Dream Mentor without Desert Treasure reduces points by a factor of 6 due to a hidden mechanic.
Step-by-Step Guide to Maximize NMZ Points
Ready to dive in? Follow these steps to hit 1-1.2 million points per hour:
Preparation
- Complete quests to unlock at least 20-30 bosses (e.g., Desert Treasure I, Dream Mentor, Recipe for Disaster).
- Deposit 100k+ GP in Dominic’s coffer for Hard Customizable Rumble fees (26k GP per run).
- Stock up on Overloads and Absorptions from the NMZ reward chest.
In-Game Execution
- Select Hard Customizable Rumble and enable the optimal boss list.
- Drink an Overload to boost stats and drop HP, then use the rock cake/orb to hit 1 HP.
- Sip Absorption potions until you reach 1,000 absorption points.
- Flick Rapid Heal every minute to stay at 1 HP.
- Use Power Surge with a Granite Maul spec; activate Zapper and Recurrent Damage when they spawn.
- Exit via wake potion when you hit the point cap or run low on supplies.
Points Per Hour Breakdown
Setup | Points/Hour | Notes |
---|---|---|
Basic Melee (No Overloads) | 300k-500k | Beginner-friendly, less efficient. |
Overload + Absorption | 800k-1M | Standard high-efficiency method. |
Optimized Bosses + Power-Ups | 1M-1.2M | Maxed setup with all quests done. |
Tips and Tricks for NMZ Success
Want to push your NMZ runs to the next level? Here are some pro tips to fine-tune your approach.
Leverage Power-Ups
- Zapper (Purple): Deals extra damage to nearby bosses, boosting points without affecting XP.
- Recurrent Damage (Red): Stacks damage over time for faster kills.
- Power Surge (Blue): Refills special attack energy—perfect for Granite Maul or Dragon Claws.
- Ultimate Force (White): Use sparingly, only for tough bosses like Damis, as it gives no points.
Minimize Downtime
Start each run with full absorption and Overload effects active during the 25-second countdown. This ensures you’re killing bosses from the moment they spawn. Also, keep your coffer stocked with GP to avoid banking trips.
Alternative Methods
If you’re not at max combat stats, consider:
- Dharok’s Setup: Use Dharok’s armor at 1 HP for massive hits (requires 92+ HP).
- Normal Rumble: Lower points but easier for beginners or AFK play.
By April 08, 2025, these strategies remain the gold standard for NMZ point farming. Whether you’re imbuing your gear or stockpiling resources, mastering the Nightmare Zone will supercharge your OSRS journey. Happy grinding!