Elvarg

Elvarg is a female Green dragon who is slightly stronger than most others of her kind. Elvarg lives on the island of Crandor and can be found underground, in a cave that is connected to Karamja through a series of demon-infested 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 and Green d'hide body. She is one of the few dragons that can be encountered by F2P players of RuneScape, along with the Dragon in the tutorial (Unstable Foundations), Mr. Mordaut - a non-attackable NPC found in the Surprise Exam random event and several different dragons encountered during dungeoneering. 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.

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 the other three 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 castle 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 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 travelled 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 which 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 580 without the shield, often causing weaker players to be killed.

Inventory
When fighting Elvarg, players must have an anti-dragon shield, recommended to have a one-handed weapon (preferably a rune longsword), and full armour at least class of adamant. Members may also use a poisoned weapon.

The rest of the inventory should be filled with food (and maybe some potions, including antifire potion for members). For non-members, Strength potions may be used to hit higher damage on Elvarg. Lobsters or swordfish are recommended, depending on the level of the player and his skill at obtaining the food. Elvarg can hit constant 110s, so lobster is recommended since it heals 120 life points. Pizzas or high healing two-click items are recommended for higher level players as time to eat is lengthened. For members, the recommended food to bring is monkfish. In addition, the Explorer's ring, teleportation runes and tablets are useful for the battle in case something goes wrong. Due to a recent update, the option for teleporting with an Explorer's Ring can be quickly accessed through the equipped inventory.

Attacking
As she may hit up to 100 with melee, and 110 with dragon fire through an anti-dragon fire shield, however the level 43 Prayer, Protect from Melee, will not help players trying to slay her. This is because her fire-breath will drain prayer. Prayer potions are extremely expensive, and so relying on prayer cannot be recommended. Like most chromatic dragons, she is weak against stab and Ranged, and she is resistant to Magic attacks.

Players are recommended to use melee against her. They 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.

Elvarg can be defeated by archers. Since the crossbow is one-handed, players can wield a crossbow and an anti-dragon shield at the same time. The player, if he has a high Ranged skill, can hide behind cover and fire bolts until the dragon dies, while incurring less damage from the fire and preventing melee damage.

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. Spells with power higher than Wind Bolt are strongly recommended.

Using a friend
It is possible to have a friend weaken Elvarg to very low Hitpoints 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 wished, 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.

Death
Note that, if a player dies during the battle, they may not be able to come back and retrieve their items because other players cannot repair the gravestone from the outside of the lair. Also, if you happen to get killed by monsters after defeating Elvarg, 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. It is highly recommended that players have combat levels of 55 or higher, however some players with lower combat levels (one person managed it with a def pure at level 17) have completed this quest using anchovy pizzas and sometimes even salmon and trout. Using pizzas is bad idea though, as it heals in bits and takes more time to eat.


 * When fighting her on a free server, players must wield an anti-dragon shield. If a player chooses not to wear the shield, her dragonfire can deal up to 580 damage.


 * It is recommended that melee free players bring a Strength potion, and members are recommended to bring super set potions.


 * Eating such one-click foods as lobsters and tuna is highly recommended. Although food such as chocolate cakes and plain pizza heal just as much (or higher) and are generally cheaper, they need to be consumed in multiple servings. Players with low Hitpoints 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 to poison her, then climb over the wall. Players will just have to wait until she is on low health and then finish her off. This option is only for members.
 * It is possible for players to defeat Elvarg with very low combat levels using rings of recoil and poison, although extreme care must be taken to keep anti-fire protection and full life points, which can be depleted to zero in just two hits if your Constitution level is less than 21.

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.
 * The lowest combat level of a player completing the Dragon Slayer quest and killing Elvarg is combat level 3, which is also the lowest level a player could ever be.
 * There used to be a number of safe spots, where rangers or mages could kill Elvarg from safety, but an update eliminated all but one.
 * Elvarg's dragonfire drains Prayer points.
 * She is one of the 3 monsters which require special equipment to be killed in F2P. The other being Delrith and Count Draynor. Interestingly, the quest that involves them are named with the word "slayer", though free players don't have access to the Slayer skill.
 * She is currently the only dragon that has been seen flying (during a quest) in Runescape.
 * Unlike other dragons, Elvarg does not drop dragon eggs/dragon bones. Players can only dissect the head (which cannot be mounted in player owned house).
 * Elvarg may not be a green dragon purely as the examine text of green dragons suggest that she is merely a cousin.
 * Elvarg can only be killed once, unlike Count Draynor.
 * Despite her backstory and fearsome reputation amongst free players, before the update to this quest Elvarg was actually the weakest dragon in Runescape. This was changed to make her slightly stronger than her fellow green dragons, though she is still weaker than almost all the other dragon types, who seem content to sit in the bottom of dungeons.
 * Elvarg's destruction of Crandor may be a reference the Godzilla films.
 * Despite Elvarg's combat level compared to green dragons, she is rather small for a dragon.