Yama the Master of Pacts boss guide 2026: phases, contracts, Judge of Yama, and how to win without a full contract set

Yama overview

Yama is a boss located in the Depths of Despair, a dungeon in the Morytania continent accessible from the Lumbridge area. He is encountered after completing The Nightmare quest, which unlocks access to the Dungeon of Despair.

Yama is a multi-phase boss with three distinct phases. Phase 1 is the Judge of Yama, where you fight six sub-bosses in pairs. Phase 2 is the Duel, where you fight Yama directly. Phase 3 is the Contract, where you fight Yama again with all contracts activated. The beauty of Yama's design is that all three phases can be skipped if you bring the right contracts — the contract of storms skips both Phase 1 and Phase 3, bringing you directly to the duel.

Phase 1: Judge of Yama

The Judge of Yama is a sub-boss that spawns six sub-bosses you must defeat in pairs. The sub-bosses are: Hellhound, Hellhound Shaman, Fire Elemental, Frost Elemental, Storm Elemental, and Bone Golem. You fight two at a time, alternating between the pairs. Each sub-boss has a different attack style — the hellhounds use melee, the shamans use magic, and the elementals use their respective elemental attacks.

The sub-bosses are relatively easy to defeat with proper gear. They drop the soulbound necklace, which allows you to skip the duel phase in future fights. They also drop contract fragments, which can be combined to create contracts. The soulbound necklace is the most valuable drop from this phase, as it saves you from having to fight the duel phase entirely.

• 6 sub-bosses fought in pairs: Hellhound, Hellhound Shaman, Fire Elemental, Frost Elemental, Storm Elemental, Bone Golem.
• Sub-bosses drop the soulbound necklace — skips the duel phase in future fights.
• Contract fragments drop from sub-bosses — combine to create contracts.
• Sub-bosses are relatively easy with proper gear — all three attack styles are present.

Phase 2: The Duel

The duel phase is where you fight Yama directly. This is the most dangerous phase because Yama has high hitpoints and uses a variety of attacks — melee, magic, and range. He has telegraphed attacks that require you to dodge or block. The phase is designed to be a test of your combat skill — you need to kite his attacks and maintain your health.

If you have the soulbound necklace (from the Judge of Yama phase), you can skip the duel entirely by using it. This is the primary reason the soulbound necklace is valuable — it skips the most dangerous phase of the fight. Without the necklace, you need to fight through the duel with good defensive gear and prayer.

Phase 3: The Contract

Phase 3 is the final phase where Yama fights with all contracts activated. In this phase, Yama's attacks become more powerful and faster. The contract phase is where Yama uses his full power — his melee, magic, and range attacks all increase in damage. The phase is designed to test your overall combat skill — you need to manage your health, prayer, and gear while dodging Yama's attacks.

If you bring the contract of storms, you skip Phase 1 (Judge) and Phase 3 (Contract) entirely, going directly to the duel. This makes the contract of storms the most efficient contract to bring for most players.

The three contract sets

Yama has three contract sets, each with five contracts. The fire set (Fire contracts 1-5) gives Yama fire-based attacks — good for players who want fire-themed combat. The cold set (Cold contracts 1-5) gives Yama ice-based attacks — the most defensive set, reducing Yama's damage. The storm set (Storm contracts 1-5) gives Yama lightning-based attacks — the most offensive set, with the highest damage but also the fastest phase skip.

Each contract is obtained by completing the contract trial — a challenge where you fight Yama with a specific contract active. The contracts can also be purchased from other players or obtained from the Judge of Yama's sub-bosses as contract fragments. The optimal strategy for most players is to bring the contract of storms, which skips the most phases.

• Fire set (5 contracts): fire-based attacks, medium damage.
• Cold set (5 contracts): ice-based attacks, lowest damage, most defensive.
• Storm set (5 contracts): lightning attacks, highest damage, skips the most phases.
• Contracts obtained from contract trials or purchased from players.
• Contract fragments drop from Judge sub-bosses — combine to create contracts.

Gear and tips

For the Judge phase, bring melee gear with good overall defence. For the duel phase, bring magic gear with good defence and prayer — Yama's magic attacks are the most dangerous. For the contract phase, bring your best overall gear with full prayer.

Bring food (50+ restore) and super combat potions. Bring the soulbound necklace if you have one — it saves you from the duel phase. Bring a dragon scimitar for melee damage. Use Protect from Melee and Protect from Magic as appropriate. The Yama fight is a test of kiting and defence — you need to stay mobile and manage your health throughout all three phases.

Drops and rewards

Yama drops the Yama's soulbound necklace, Yama's spellbook (a max-cast spellbook that removes the range requirement from some spells), contract items, and various rare drops. The soulbound necklace is the most valuable drop, as it can be used to skip the duel phase in future fights.

Yama is also a source of Slayer XP for bloodvelds and mutated bloodvelds — defeating Yama's sub-bosses counts toward Slayer tasks. The contract items can be used to access the contract phase directly, skipping the Judge phase. Yama is a worthwhile boss for players looking for high-value drops and a challenging multi-phase fight.