Astea Frostweb is among the earlier bosses found in Daemonheim. She appears only on the frozen floors, and she can be found in a variety of levels (depending on the combat levels of players in the dungeon). When soloing a dungeon, she can be very difficult and time consuming because she constantly changes protection prayers, so it is advised to bring two attack styles to fight her effectively. Stab and slash attacks are recommended for melee, and ranged is also a good choice for maximising damage dealt to Astea. Also note that the “protect from magic” prayer is the most effective of the three protection prayers against this boss.
If you have a melee weapon bound, it is recommended that you pick up a bow from the tables, or from a monster drop, and buy arrows from the smuggler. This will ensure the maximum efficiency for the boss fight. Approximately every 30 to 60 seconds, she will change protection prayers between protect from melee, magic, and ranged. There is no particular order in which prayer she will change to. Also note that her prayers absorb 100% of the damage dealt to her, meaning that if you try to attack with the style that she is protecting against, she will not take any damage at all. This is why it is important to have another attack style to switch to, in the case that she protects against your dominant attack style.
The other unique thing about Astea Frostweb that makes her tricky is her ability to freeze her opponents. She will often freeze them, and take a step back. She will continue to shoot with magic attacks, and her minions will also be able to attack. This state of being “frozen” will only last about 15 seconds, and then it will wear off. You can still attack when frozen, but if you want to fight the boss, melee is not an option for this period of time, as she is out of range.
If you would like to speed up the boss fight, the “Ultimate Strength” and “Incredible Reflexes” prayers will assist a small amount. These two prayers drain many prayer points for only a small boost, but in any case, they are an option. Astea Frostweb is among the first of the bosses that you will encounter while Dungeoneering, but she is by no means among the easiest.