Mithril dragon/Strategies

Mithril dragons are among the most difficult solo fights in RuneScape, and can quickly kill an unprepared player. Stat boosters and good food are necessary for anyone wishing to obtain more than a handful of kills. Players who have not invested any money into Summoning will find themselves at a huge disadvantage. Healing familiars will help players extend their trips. Most players choose not to use Saradomin brews, as there is little chance that the drops received on the trip will pay for the cost.



Ranged
The most common and effective approach to Mithril dragons is Ranging using enchanted ruby and diamond bolts. The ruby bolts special effect will remove a sizeable portion of their hitpoints (up to 50) and diamond will decrease their Ranged defence. Ruby should only be used while the target is above half health, below half and the special effect will start to take away smaller portions that could be hit without the enchanted effect. Karils or Armadyl armour is a much better choice over Black dragonhide because of the increased magic defence. The Protect from Missiles prayer or Deflect Missiles curse is recommended when using Ranged, especially for players with lower defence who are not using a Dragonfire shield. The Sap Mage curse also works well, reducing the dragon's defense and magic, though you may have to compensate for the extra prayer with more potions and/or focusing more on prayer gear.

Recommended stats
 * 90
 * 70
 * 80
 * 60

Suggested inventory
 * 3-5 Prayer potions
 * 1-2 Ranging potion
 * 1-2 Defence potion
 * 1-2 Antifire potion
 * 15-24 Sharks

Optional inventory
 * Games necklace
 * Familiar pouch
 * Familiar scrolls

Recommended equipment
 * Armadyl helmet &gt; God coif or Mitre &gt; Seers' headband 3
 * Armadyl chestplate &gt; Karil's leathertop &gt; Black d'hide body
 * Armadyl plateskirt &gt; Karil's leatherskirt &gt; Black d'hide chaps
 * Barrows gloves &gt; Black d'hide vamb
 * Ranger boots &gt; Snakeskin boots &gt; Infinity boots - Silly jester boots
 * Amulet of fury &gt; Amulet of glory or Stole &gt; Holy symbol - Unholy symbol
 * Ava's accumulator
 * Rune crossbow
 * Dragonfire shield &gt; Anti-dragon shield
 * Archer's ring (i) &gt; Archers ring &gt; Explorer's ring or Ring of wealth
 * Ruby bolts (e) and Diamond bolts (e)

Tanking equipment Note: Mithril dragons are immune to poison and highly resistant to mithril based weaponry, so broad bolts or higher would be a better choice
 * Verac's helmet &gt; Torag's helmet - Guthan's helmet
 * Armadyl chestplate &gt; Karil's leathertop &gt; Black d'hide body
 * Verac's plateskirt &gt; Torag's platelegs - Dharok's platelegs
 * Barrows gloves &gt; Black d'hide vamb
 * Ranger boots &gt; Snakeskin boots
 * Amulet of fury &gt; Amulet of glory
 * Ava's accumulator or Fire cape or Skill cape (t)
 * Rune crossbow
 * Dragonfire shield
 * Archers ring &gt; Explorer's ring or Ring of life or Ring of wealth
 * Ruby bolts (e) and Diamond bolts (e)

Melee
The less commonly seen method is using melee, and is best attempted with a Slayer helmet while Mithril dragons are the assigned task. Protect from Melee is a must while meleeing. Mithril dragons can hit up to 28 damage, doing so frequently enough for it to be a cause for concern even for a player wearing Torags armour. Karil's is best used instead of Armadyl due to the negative Melee bonuses given by Armadyl. Much more HP regeneration is required when using Melee so a Unicorn or Titan is imperative for any player who desires a significant number of kills. If using a Leaf-bladed sword, Darklight is a good weapon to use first, as by using the Lunge style and the special attack, there is a low yet feasible chance of hitting, reducing 5% of the dragon's melee stats, which is a tremendous advantage by removing such a large amount of its defence, similar to the advantage given by Claws of Guthix when using magic. You can also try using a Zamorakian spear in conjunction with an Super antifire, as it works very well for very high leveled players.

Recommended stats
 * 90
 * 90
 * 90
 * 90
 * 79
 * 70

Recommended equipment
 * Slayer helmet &gt; Black mask &gt; Helm of Neitiznot
 * Karil's leathertop &gt; Armadyl chestplate &gt; Black d'hide body
 * Karil's leatherskirt &gt; Armadyl plateskirt &gt; Black d'hide chaps
 * Dragon Slayer Gloves &gt; RFD gloves
 * Dragon boots
 * Fire cape or Cape of accomplishment
 * Amulet of fury &gt; Amulet of glory
 * Leaf-bladed sword or Dragon dagger &gt; Abyssal whip
 * Dragonfire shield &gt; Anti-dragon shield
 * Berserker ring &gt; Ring of wealth &gt; Explorer's ring 3 or Ring of life

Magic
The spell Claws of Guthix has shown to be very effective against Mithril dragons, with its ability to remove a sizable portion of their defence. In order to further increase the usefullness of this spell, using the Charge spell can significantly decrease the time and food needed to kill one. This comes at the cost of the player's own defence as magic armour has significantly less defensive value than Ranged or Melee. Hence, praying ranged protection and wearing a high defensive shield, such as Dragonfire shield is recommended. Also, because of the negative effect of saradomin brew being less interruptive to magic than ranging and melee, it may also be used as food source to significantly lengthen the trip.

Recommended stats
 * 80
 * 70
 * 80
 * 60

Familiars
Familiars will significantly extend the number of kills per trip, the most popular being the Bunyip and Fruit bat for their ability to heal a player's hitpoints. The elemental titans are a step up from the Bunyip and Fruit bat, negating the need to bring down a Defence booster with its active scroll ability boosting the Summoner's defence and HP. Finally, the Unicorn Stallion can help the player get up to 30 kills per trip, assuming the player receives some shark drops.

Familiars cannot be taken through the whirlpool, however a Beast of Burden can still be used to carry extra supplies using a technique which was formerly adapted until a recent update to fighting K'ril Tsutsaroth in the God Wars Dungeon. This technique entails dismissing your familiar on the dock, going through the whirlpool, dropping an amount of supplies equal to what your familiar was carrying, then using a Games Necklace to teleport to the Barbarian Outpost, retrieving the supplies dropped by your familiar, going through the whirlpool, then summoning the same Beast of Burden and retrieving the supplies you dropped on the other side of the whirlpool.

By taking 5 Bittercap mushrooms and a spade to a spot of Enchanted Soil near the Waterfiends in the western part of the Ancient Cavern, you can create a Fairy Ring to Zanaris (after A Fairy Tale Part 2). You can bring a familiar through the Fairy Ring, which allows Beasts of Burden full of food to be brought to the Mithril Dragons.