Dragonfire shield



The dragonfire shield is an anti-dragon shield that has been fused with a draconic visage. Requiring 75 Defence to equip, it is one of the most powerful shields in RuneScape, second only to the chaotic kiteshield in overall defensive capability. Additionally, it has the highest strength bonus of any off-hand item in the game, surpassing even the dragon defender by 1 point.

Much like the anti-dragon shield from which it is made, the dragonfire shield provides partial protection from dragonfire attacks; however, it also provides the same partial protection from the ice breath of skeletal wyverns that an elemental shield or equivalent would offer. The shield builds charges and grows stronger as it absorbs dragonfire and ice breath, and it can unleash its charges in devastating blasts of dragonfire.

The dragonfire shield cannot be lent. Additionally, it can only be traded when completely uncharged.

Creation
The dragonfire shield is created by attaching a draconic visage to an anti-dragon shield at any anvil. The process requires 90 Smithing and a hammer, producing 2,000 Smithing experience. Players who do not have the required Smithing level to make the shield may seek help through the Assist System; alternately, Oziach in Edgeville will smith the shield for any player at a cost of 1,250,000 coins.

The draconic visage is dropped by most high-level dragons, including black dragons, iron dragons, steel dragons, mithril dragons, frost dragons, skeletal wyverns, and the King Black Dragon .As of January 4th update it is now possible to get a draconic visage from barrows. However, green dragons, blue dragons, red dragons, bronze dragons, brutal green dragons, and all baby dragons do not drop the draconic visage.

For a time until an update on 16 June 2009, the shield itself was a possible drop from other players on PvP Worlds.

Charging
As it absorbs the dragonfire attacks of adult dragons, the dragonfire shield builds charges. The shield can also be charged by absorbing the breath attacks of skeletal wyverns, although it will still discharge dragonfire. Each breath attack gives the shield one charge, and each charge increases its melee, Ranged, and Summoning defensive bonuses by +1. The shield can hold up to 50 charges, giving a total bonus of +50 to melee, Ranged, and Summoning defences, in addition to the shield's base defence bonuses. The Inspect option, while the shield is in the inventory, can be used to check its current number of charges. When fully charged, the dragonfire shield surpasses most shields in the game for melee and Ranged defence, although the fully charged crystal shield provides higher Ranged defence, and a blessed spirit shield provides one more point to Crush defence.

A quick and efficient way to charge an uncharged dragonfire shield is to be attacked by a metal dragon's long-range dragonfire attack, which is not only quicker than a chromatic dragon's attacks, but also will not include melee attacks. Use of food or an antifire potion is recommended due to the fact that 50 dragonfire attacks, even significantly weakened by the dragonfire shield, can build up and cause substantial damage. Two rooms in the northwestern Chaos Tunnels are particularly effective for this purpose, as they are a multicombat area and contain multiple bronze dragons, allowing for fast charging. Additionally, metal dragons in a player-owned house may be used to charge the dragonfire shield.

Discharging
During combat, the dragonfire shield can expend one charge to unleash a blast of dragonfire at one target, which can hit a max of 290 damage. This attack can only be used once every two minutes, and each expended charge reduces the shield's melee, Ranged, and Summoning defensive bonuses by one. The dragonfire attack follows the standard rules for dragonfire; it will be less effective against a target that has resistance to dragonfire, such as a player that used an antifire potion or super antifire potion and/or an anti-dragon shield or dragonfire shield. Furthermore, the dragonfire attack will not work against chromatic dragons, skeletal wyverns and some boss monsters, although metal dragons are vulnerable to it. The dragonfire attack can be used at range (up to 12 squares away) and over obstacles, after which the user will initiate a normal attack with their equipped weapon, if possible. Despite dealing Magic damage, the attack is unaffected by standard modifiers for Magic attacks (such as the user's Magical accuracy, the target's Magical defence, and Magic damage boosts). The attack gives experience to Defence, Constitution, and Magic.

Players can drain all of the dragonfire shield's charges at once by right-clicking the shield in the inventory and selecting Empty. This will release all of the shield's charges in a harmless burst. This function is useful when selling or trading the shield, as it can only be traded when completely uncharged.

Bonuses
When bought or smithed, the shield will be uncharged. The shield can be charged with dragonfire to increase some of the defensive bonuses by +1 per charge.

Trivia

 * In July 2010, the shield's appearance was updated so that both sides of the shield, the parts that were not covered by the visage, were orange. Previously, one side of the shield was orange, and the other side was the same colour as the visage.
 * Depending on current prices, players can smith dragonfire shields for profit. Currently, buying a draconic visage and anti-dragon shield, and smithing and selling a dragonfire shield, results in a profit/loss of 0 coins (amounting to a profit/loss of coins per Smithing experience point).
 * Dragonfire shields will only stack in the bank when completely uncharged. Shields with any number of charges will each take up one bank space, even if they have identical numbers of charges.
 * It is unknown whether a Dragonfire shield will be charged when used to defend against the special dragonfire attack of another shield. This most probably will not occur, since the intention is that the shield has been charged by directly receiving a dragon's fire breath attack.

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