For a first Ba-Ba kill, keep Protect from Melee active, dodge the marked special attacks and save a ranged switch for cracked boulders. Her normal melee attacks are fully blocked by that overhead under the base rules. The falling rocks, thrown boulder, shockwave and rolling phase still need their own movement decisions.
This guide covers the Path of Apmeken and a conventional learner Ba-Ba encounter. It does not require red-X, a boulder skip or deliberately low-health tanking. Start with the unmodified mechanics, then add individual invocations once the route and thresholds are familiar.
Preparation: stab, ranged and the right protections
Complete Beneath Cursed Sands and bring the raid’s three combat styles. A suitable stab weapon is useful for Ba-Ba; a fang is a strong later option, while a coherent lower-cost stab setup can start a low-level learning run. Check the attack style rather than assuming every melee weapon has the same role.
Bring a ranged option for the rolling boulders, compatible ammunition, Prayer restoration and healing. The cracked boulder takes maximum ranged hits, so consider the weapon’s actual max hit and attack speed. Higher path levels increase the boulders’ health; a one-shot claim from a different setup may not apply to you.
Ba-Ba is undead, but the Salve amulet does not work on her. Do not borrow the Bloat amulet swap for this encounter. Likewise, antidote protects against poison, not the cursed-baboon venom trails in the preceding room. Actual venom immunity is a different item effect.
For learners, enough health and a visible escape matter more than holding aggression with an expert low-health strategy. In groups, agree the caller and how players will use debris before starting. A protective overhead is useful only while Prayer points remain.
Apmeken’s challenge: choose the target’s weakness
Baboon | Your useful damage style | Priority |
|---|---|---|
Melee brawler | Magic | Clear without fighting its resistant styles |
Ranged thrower | Melee | Use a simple deliberate weapon switch |
Mage | Ranged | Remove its ranged-vulnerable pressure |
Shaman | Ranged | Focus early before more thralls accumulate |
Cursed or volatile | A suitable ranged option | Avoid venom trails or move away from the charged explosion |
The challenge has eight waves. Ordinary combat baboons reward the matching combat-triangle style with maximum hits. You do not need to change every armour slot if a smaller switch still does the job, but the correct weapon and target remain essential. Check darts, runes and your selected spell before the room begins.
Shamans create thralls and can make a slow room increasingly cluttered. Cursed baboons spread venom pools; volatile baboons charge an explosion after reaching a target. Move away from that charge instead of trying to heal through it. Avoid dragging the explosion or venom route across teammates who are handling another role.
Apmeken’s Sight: fix the called problem only
Take a hammer and neutralising potions from the room’s crates. The first entrant receives the initial sight, and it can pass between players in a group. The sight holder must communicate the actual maintenance task; other players should not guess by clicking every object.
Repair a called roof support with the hammer. For vents, stand at the centre of a vent that needs treatment and use the neutralising potion. Group corruption requires the agreed gathering and potion action from the sight holder. Confirm which player is calling before the next wave distracts everyone.
Using a repair or treatment when it is not required can cause damage. Group size changes how much maintenance is needed, so a solo demonstration is not a complete group allocation. Keep fighting the correct targets while responding to the actual instruction.
When the room ends, discard spent challenge tools only when they are no longer needed, arrange the boss switch and restore drained stats. Do not enter Ba-Ba already short of Prayer because the last shaman or thrall drained it.
Normal melee is one threat, not the whole fight
Keep Protect from Melee selected for her ordinary hits. That is the base survival rule; Quiet Prayers can change protection effectiveness. Special attacks still threaten the character even while the overhead is correct.
Ba-Ba initially targets the first entrant and can change attention in a team. Watch where she is moving and avoid long stationary supply sequences beside a developing shadow. Do not assume that an assigned player continues to hold attention after the situation changes.
Rockfall and Rock Throw: dodge first, use the debris second
Falling-rock shadows mark where damage will land. Move off the marked tile before impact. The larger piles of debris that appear are cover for a later attack; they are not an invitation to stand on the original falling shadow.
When Ba-Ba throws a large rock, stand directly beside usable debris so it absorbs the hit. An unopened sarcophagus or a baboon can also provide cover in the appropriate position, but an ordinary learner route should identify the available debris early rather than improvise beside a moving target.
A thrown rock can destroy the debris. Check what remains before expecting the same pile to protect the next throw. In groups, communicate the cover positions and avoid assuming every player can use a nearly destroyed object after another hit has already consumed it.
Shockwave and baboons: leave the marked space
A directional shockwave marks a damaging area in front of Ba-Ba. Move fully outside it. Shaking Things Up increases that area; do not copy the smallest base dodge when the modifier is active. Standing underneath her for too long can also provoke a faster stomp version.
During the fight, summoned baboons can start opening sarcophagi. Remove them before the opened objects add energy attacks to the room. If Jungle Japes is enabled, dead baboons leave banana peels that damage and stun when crossed. Watch those tiles while moving towards debris or preparing the next threshold.
Rolling boulders: make a gap and progress through it
At roughly two-thirds and one-third health, Ba-Ba knocks the party back and starts the rolling phase. Switch to ranged and identify the visibly cracked boulder. Attack that weak boulder, create a gap and move through the opening while checking the next row.
Do not shoot an intact boulder simply because it is directly in front of your character. The cracked target is the one with the guaranteed maximum ranged hit. If your setup needs more than one hit, allow for that before moving into its path.
Progress up the slope in controlled stages. Reaching Ba-Ba and attacking her with melee beyond the starting line can end the phase; a learner can also handle the waves normally rather than attempt an exact skip. If another teammate advances first, be ready for the fight to resume while you are still arranging the switch.
Mind the Gap! makes the central pit fatal during the knockback. Get to the appropriate side position before the threshold instead of trying to recover after the shove. Boulderdash speeds the rolling waves, while path levels can increase weak-boulder health and accelerate other hazards. Learn those changes one at a time.
Repeated failure | What to change next |
|---|---|
Prayer is correct but damage stays high | Identify the special you are taking; the overhead is not a rock or shockwave answer |
The monkey room becomes crowded | Focus shamans earlier and preserve clear routes around venom |
Thrown rock hits despite nearby debris | Check direct adjacency, object availability and arrival timing |
Rolling phase becomes frantic | Confirm the cracked target, ranged max hit and enabled speed modifier |
A clean kill still uses every supply | Review missed specials and downtime before increasing raid level |
All ToA deaths risk Hardcore status, including Entry Mode. A failed boulder skip is not safe practice on a Hardcore. The first useful clear is one where you can explain each special and repeat the route, then choose whether an advanced method addresses a real limitation.
After the encounter: choose one improvement
Review the first recurring mistake before changing equipment or adding invocations. Record whether the problem was a missed cue, an unusable switch, a supply shortage or a route you had not learned. Repeating the same setup while correcting one cause makes the next attempt easier to assess.
For access, the full raid and Helpful Spirit supplies, use the ToA first-clear guide. For difficulty progression, use the first-150 invocation guide and check the actual enabled settings before entering.
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