Elvarg

Elvarg is a female green dragon and is considerably stronger than most others of her kind. She can be considered the final boss for free-to-play players. Even though lesser and greater demons have a higher combat level, Elvarg is much more difficult to beat. Elvarg lives on the island of Crandor and can be found underground, in a cave that is connected to Karamja through a series of tunnels. During the quest Dragon Slayer, players must slay her and bring her head to Oziach in order to earn the right to wear the rune platebody, blue d'hide body and batwing torso. Elvarg is the only attackable dragon of the few dragons that can be encountered by F2P players of RuneScape. There are several different dragons that may possibly be encountered during Dungeoneering, but those can't be fought. Elvarg differs when compared to the other F2P dragons in the fact that she can be directly engaged by the player in combat only during the quest, after which players cannot enter her lair again.

Previously, Mr. Mordaut - a non-attackable NPC found in the Surprise Exam random event - was another dragon found in the F2P servers, but after an update all random events have been removed from the game. Mr. Mordaut found a new home in the Varrock museum in February 2013.

Additionally, for P2P players, Elvarg can be encountered as a class G boss monster in the Dominion Tower minigame after the player has completed Dragon Slayer.

History
During the first century of the Fifth Age, Crandor was an important location in Gielinor's Southern Sea, with a well-established colony and shipping routes all over the world. In year 139 of the Fifth Age, a Crandorian adventurer discovered and ventured into a deep dungeon at the summit of the hill which made up the island. Upon entering, he awoke Elvarg from her slumber and enraged her, causing her to rise from the mountain and annihilate the human community on Crandor, torching the island in the process.

Survivors from the island took several ships and fled to the friendly shores of Asgarnia, and formed a rag-tag refugee camp near the village of Rimmington. Elvarg, however, not content with the work she had already done, found and destroyed the refugee camp, killing all but three of the refugees, and leaving them to go their separate ways. The three (by name Melzar, Lozar and Thalzar), decided that nobody should ever have to suffer the way they had, and split the last navigational map to the isle (which was surrounded by deadly coral reefs) into three parts, taking a part with them when they went.

Lozar, a female mage and scholar, settled in the quiet town of Lumbridge, but was killed and robbed by goblins during the Battle of East Lumbridge. Her map piece was taken by Wormbrain, who was imprisoned in Port Sarim Jail. Thalzar took the secret of his map piece to the grave, and protected it deep in the Dwarven Mines, sealed behind a magical door. Melzar, on the other hand, became a recluse, and shut himself away inside a maze he had built over the site of the refugee camp, and there he stayed for years, trying to resurrect his loved ones, and delving deeper and deeper into madness.

Present day
In year 169 of the fifth age, the current year of RuneScape, Elvarg remains in her lair, brooding, she is the mother of most of the living Green dragons and possibly the oldest one, and now undisturbed by adventurers. The isle of Crandor remains charred and dead, with few remains of the human settlement that once proudly stood. There are pillars, broken and fallen, noticeable upon the path to Elvarg's Lair from the wreckage of Lady Lumbridge.

Elvarg's reputation for destruction has traveled far, however, and when Oziach, an odd dealer in the rare and sturdy metal of runite, sets up shop in the newly renovated town of Edgeville, selling the valuable rune platebody to seasoned adventurers, he demands a test of strength to everyone who comes seeking one of his items. To the player, he gives you the task of slaying the vicious dragon of Crandor Isle and bringing its head to him.

To do this, the player must locate each of the three map pieces, and then buy a fast ship of Crandorian design to navigate the deadly shoals that surround the island, not to mention find a suitable captain and cabin Boy. As it happens, there is only one Crandorian ship remaining in Gielinor, the old and rickety Lady Lumbridge, currently in the possession of Klarense.

After locating the map, the player will be able to sail to Crandor and, after the boat is attacked by Elvarg and Jenkins the cabin boy is killed, Ned, the captain, will crash the ship into the island, allowing the player to find Elvarg in her lair and kill her.

Gender confusion
It is a common misconception among players that Elvarg is male. However, she is notably mentioned by several important NPCs in Dragon Slayer to be female, the most notable of which being Oziach, the Guildmaster of the Champions' Guild, and Ned, who is the captain of the ship that takes you to Crandor.

In addition, a player wrote to Oziach in the Postbag from the Hedge, and his reply referred to her as a female several times.

The Guildmaster also states that the dragon is female, and reveals much about her history when the player questions him about it during the quest.

Fighting strategy
Elvarg attacks in two ways: a standard melee attack, and a Ranged dragonfire attack that must be blocked with an anti-dragon shield obtained from Duke Horacio during the Dragon Slayer quest. Unlike most other dragons, her dragonfire attack hits higher than her melee attack even with an anti-dragon shield. Her dragon fire can hit 110 through an anti-dragon shield, but has been proven to hit as high as 650 without the shield, often causing weaker players to be killed, also, her dragonfire has the unique trait of burning prayer points. Shielded or not, it will burn between 5-8% of the player's maximum Prayer points with a unprotected dragonbreath attack. Players usually attempt to use Protect from Melee while fighting her, but her dragonfire quickly rips apart this tactic. A good strategy is to bring rune or dragon armour and a rune sword along with monkfish, or if you're not a member, swordfish or lobsters. Of course, an anti-dragon shield will be required. It is also suggested to use a ring of recoil or ring of life and a charged amulet of glory, for a quick escape teleport to prevent death.

Inventory
When fighting Elvarg, players must have an anti-dragon shield and it is recommended to equip the best one-handed weapon (preferably a rune longsword) the player can wield along with full adamant armour or better.

The rest of the inventory should be filled with food (and maybe some potions, including an antifire potion for members). For non-members, strength potions may be used to hit higher damage on Elvarg. anchovy pizzas, lobsters or swordfish are recommended, depending on the level of the player and his skill at obtaining the food (The food can be bought from the Grand Exchange). Elvarg can hit constant 110 lifepoints of damage, so lobsters are recommended since they heal 800 life points. Pizzas or high healing two-click items are recommended for higher level players as the time to eat them is lengthened. For members, the recommended food to bring are monkfish or sharks. In addition, the explorer's ring, teleportation runes and tablets are useful for quick escaping the battle in case something goes wrong. The option for teleporting with an Explorer's Ring can be quickly accessed through the equipped inventory interface.

Attacking
Even though she may hit up to 84 with melee, and 110 with dragon fire through an anti-dragon fire shield, the level 43 Prayer, Protect from Melee will not help players to slay her, because her firebreath will drain prayer, and her melee attack isn't really strong enough to warrant use of this prayer. Prayer potions are quite expensive, so relying on prayer isn't recommended. It doesn't matter which attack style the player uses, as Elvarg doesn't have a weakness.

Using melee against her is most practical as it reduces the chance of her using her prayer draining breath. Players can use Magic and Ranged, but it is hard to hide behind the pillars in her room. It is also recommended that players do not run around while fighting her, as she will continue to deal damage while the player does nothing, which will eventually lead to the player's death. It is highly recommended to use a rune mace instead of a rune scimitar in Free-to-play for its prayer bonus, as prayer is extremely helpful while it lasts. Members should use at least a dragon weapon (the dragon dagger is cheap if Lost City has been completed)

Elvarg can be defeated by players using Ranged. Since there are many crossbows and thrown weapons that are one-handed, players can wield a crossbow or thrown weapon and an anti-dragon shield at the same time (Be sure to use a main-hand weapon, not an off-hand version). If the player has a high Ranged level, they can hide in a safespot and attack until the dragon dies, while incurring less damage from the fire and preventing melee damage. In Free-to-play, Rune javelins should be used.

Players will find it very hard to kill her with Magic alone; thus, a very high Magic level is recommended if one chooses this route. At least Earth Blast or better with a Bat wand or better is recommended.

Using a friend
It is possible to have a friend weaken Elvarg to very low lifepoints then let the player finish off Elvarg as she does not really drop the head. The player's character will cut it off and it will appear in the inventory. As long as that person does not kill Elvarg, one can do this with as many people as they wish, but only players who have not completed Dragon Slayer may help.

If players manage to kill Elvarg, the head can be banked and players can complete the quest without it, as quoted by the text that comes up when Elvarg's head is examined. Players must then go and talk to Oziach, where they will complete the quest without having the head. (The head will be removed from a player's bank upon completion of the quest)

Death
Note that, if a player dies during the battle, they may not have a chance to be able to come back and retrieve their items that are dropped upon death, unless they have the most expensive gravestone in F2P which lasts 8 minutes. Players from outside the lair will not be able to repair your gravestone. Luckily, if you happen to get killed by monsters after defeating Elvarg, or kill her at the same time she kills you, you can simply talk to Oziach and tell him you've slain the dragon.

Tips

 * Not much food is required, but it is recommended that about 7-9 lobsters are brought for higher-levelled players. Lower-levelled players should probably bring a full inventory of lobsters, or even swordfish, if they are free players with adamant or rune armour.
 * Players must wield an anti-dragon shield or dragonfire shield to avoid her dragonfire. If a player chooses not to wear the shield, her dragonfire can deal up to 650 damage.
 * It is recommended that melee players bring a Strength potion, and members are recommended to bring super set potions.
 * Eating one-click foods like lobsters and tuna is highly recommended. Although food such as chocolate cakes and plain pizzas heal just as much (or higher) and are generally cheaper, they need to be consumed in multiple servings. Players with low lifepoints will find that Elvarg often can hit faster than they can replenish food if they bring such alternatives. Therefore, swordfish is the best choice for free players.
 * It is possible for players to defeat Elvarg with very low combat levels using a rings of recoil, although extreme care must be taken to keep anti-fire protection and full life points. A combat level of at least 80 is recommended.

Trivia

 * In RuneScape Classic, Elvarg was just named "Dragon" in-game and was level 110, the strongest monster in free play, a title it relinquished to the Greater demon when RuneScape 2 was released.
 * Before Dragon Slayer was updated, players did not need to cut off the head. When they defeated Elvarg, they would be teleported out of the lair and receive the "Quest complete" message.
 * Before the updates to Elvarg's home area and the update to tear her head off, a player could complete the quest by merely engaging in combat with her, then waiting for another player to run into the dungeon, kill her, and the player who first initiated combat would be teleported out with the quest complete dialogue box.
 * There used to be a number of safe spots, where rangers or mages could kill Elvarg from safety, but an update removed them all.
 * Elvarg's dragonfire drains Prayer points as well as combat stats.
 * Elvarg's dragon fire breath is similar to a chain of fire blast spells rather than normal dragonfire.
 * It used to be possible for a level 3 player to kill Elvarg by using a bronze or iron dagger (p++) and stand in the safe spot until the dragon dies.
 * Elvarg may respawn while you are still in the cave, but she will not attack, nor can you attack her.
 * If a player has completed all the achievements in the Dominion Tower, they can visit the top of the tower, where Elvarg can be fought along with several other quest monsters, with boosted combat stats. It should also be noted that the Elvarg found at the top of the tower can be used as a quick and easy way to charge a dragonfire shield, as the top of the tower IS a safe zone. Also, the attacks of the other boss monsters are easy to withstand due to the boosted combat stats while your shield is being charged by her breath.

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