King Black Dragon/Strategies

The King Black Dragon, or KBD, is one of the strongest dragons in RuneScape, and only behind Mithril dragons and the Queen Black Dragon; it should not be underestimated. It drops various sought after items, such as Hard and Elite clue scrolls, dragon rider boots and gloves, King Black Dragon heads and the elusive Draconic visage. Players with a low combat level or stats should avoid fighting the King Black Dragon, and bring only items you are willing to lose.

Location and getting there
The King Black Dragon is located slightly west of the Lava Maze, in the Lava Maze Dungeon. There are a few ways to get to him:
 * The safest and fastest way to get there is by using the artefact located north of the Edgeville monastery, right next to the wilderness wall. This will teleport the player directly into the lair. It is highly recommended that players use this method to reach the KBD lair as getting PKed in the wilderness makes the player lose ALL items. By using this method the player will NOT receive the 10% damage bonus that is normally received by travelling through the Wilderness.
 * Using a Waka canoe, players can send themselves to the level 35 wilderness and go north-west from there.
 * Players can also use obelisks, as the location is not far from the level 44 Obelisk. However, this is not a consistent method of transportation. Players increase their chances of getting killed by PKers, the Chaos Elemental or spend more time getting there.
 * The Lava titan can be used to teleport to the runite mine north of the Lava Maze. Players can then go south to the lair.
 * Players can use the Trollheim Teleport and take the shortcut East into the Wilderness, proceed North to the altar, then directly Northeast to the lair.

Jagex has confirmed (here) that by travelling to the King Black Dragon via the wilderness the player will receive a 10% bonus in damage dealt while in the lair. It will give you text warning you that once you leave the lair, the boost will disappear.

Once at the entrance, there are several lesser demons. Ignore them and go down the ladder. Once you go down the ladder, hit the lever on the wall near the poison spiders to enter his lair. There is nothing but a Summoning Obelisk, a few items lying around (gold ring, coins, uncut sapphire), and a lever to exit.



Attacks
The King Black Dragon has various attacks. His melee attacks include a lunge attack, in which the middle head lunges forward to attack you, and a slashing attack in which the King Black Dragon jumps and rends you with his claws.

His regular dragonfire hits higher than that of other dragons. His special dragonfire hits multiple times damages the player for 1-100 lifepoints each hit, more if dragonfire protection is not used.

His toxic dragonfire poisons the player, starting at 80 damage. Antipoison is recommended unless using Poison Purge, which heals you instead of damaging you. His shock dragonfire reduces a player's stat randomly, decreasing by one point. His ice dragonfire freezes the player.

Recommended equipment
*Only should be used if the player is bringing Super antifires.

Inventory If flasks are unavailable, potions may be used. ''If using stat-boosting prayers. If not then 2-3 prayer potions.''
 * Emergency teleport
 * 10-14 Rocktail/10+ Shark
 * 4-6 Super restore flask/Prayer potion*
 * 1 Super antifire
 * 1 Overload

Prayers Curses: Standard:
 * Deflect Melee/Soul split
 * Turmoil
 * Protect from Melee
 * Piety

High level Magic
Wielding Dragonfire shield: Abyssal wand > Wand of treachery = Ahrim's wand > Grifolic wand
 * Helm: Hexcrest/Full Slayer helm if on task.
 * Armour: Sea singer's robes + Ganodermic gloves +Ganodermic boots > Ganodermic armour > Virtus equipment > Ahrim the Blighted's equipment Armour > Robes of subjugation
 * Weapon:

Dual wield with Super antifire potion:

Main hand: As above

Off hand :Virtus book > Abyssal orb > Ahrim's book of magic > Grifolic orb

Staff with Super antifire potion: Chaotic staff > Armadyl battlestaff > Polypore staff = Staff of light
 * Necklace: Arcane stream necklace > Saradomin's hiss > Amulet of fury > Amulet of glory
 * Cape: Completionist cape > Soul Wars Cape > God cape (guthix/saradomin/zamorak)
 * Spell: Standard = Ancient, Fire Surge > Earth Surge > Water Surge > Air surge
 * Runes: Combination > Normal
 * Aura: Runic accuracy > Vampyrism aura
 * Ring: Seers' ring (i)/Ring of wealth > Ring of life

Inventory or flask if you plan to stay longer.
 * Emergency teleport
 * 12-15 Rocktail > Shark > Monkfish
 * 5-8 Super restore flask/Prayer potion
 * 1-2 Super antifire potion/Antifire potion for shield wielder
 * 1-2 Antipoison++
 * 1 Overload potion OR 1 Extreme magic potion OR 1 Super magic potion

High level Ranged

 * Helm: Focus sight/Full Slayer helm (on task) > Pernix cowl > Armadyl helmet > Blessed coif > Helm of neitiznot
 * Body: Pernix body > Armadyl chestplate > Royal d'hide body (or equivalents)
 * Chaps: Pernix chaps > Armadyl chainskirt > Royal d'hide chaps (or equivalents)
 * Weapon: Royal crossbow* > Chaotic crossbow > Armadyl crossbow > Rune crossbow/Magic shortbow With Bane arrows
 * Shield: Eagle-eye kiteshield > God books > Spectral spirit shield > Anti-dragon shield
 * Bolts: Dragonbane bolts > Royal bolts > Ruby bolts (e) > Runite bolts/Broad-tipped bolts
 * Gloves: Swift gloves > Pernix gloves > Armadyl gloves/Mercenary's gloves > Royal d'hide vambraces > Barrows Gloves
 * Boots: Pernix boots > Glaiven boots > Pernix boots/Ranger boots > Snakeskin boots
 * Necklace: Saradomin's murmur > Amulet of fury > Amulet of ranging > Amulet of glory
 * Cape: Completionist cape > Ava's device > TokHaar-Kal > Soul Wars Cape > Fire cape > Skill cape
 * Aura: Sharpshooter aura > Vampyrism aura
 * Ring: Ring of wealth > Ring of life

Inventory If flasks are unavailable, potions may be used.
 * Emergency teleport
 * 12-15 Rocktail/Shark
 * 5-8 Super restore flask/Prayer potion
 * 1-2 Super antifire flask
 * 1-2 Antipoison++
 * 1 Overload flask OR 1 Extreme ranging flask OR 1 Super ranging flask

The Void method (with SGS and Soul Split)
>For this method, it is recommended that you have 90+ in ALL Melee combat stats (Attack, Strength, Defence and Constitution). Also, 85 Herblore is a must for using Super antifire. And finally you will need at least 92 Prayer for Soul Split.


 * Helm: Void melee helm


 * Body: Elite void knight top > Void knight top


 * Legs: Elite void knight robe > Void knight robe


 * Weapon: Saradomin Godsword


 * Shield: Any (for Rejuvenate)


 * Boots: Steadfast boots > Bandos boots > Dragon boots > Rune boots


 * Gloves: Void knight gloves


 * Necklace: Amulet of fury/Saradomin's whisper > Amulet of glory > Power amulet


 * Aura: Optional


 * Ring: Ring of wealth


 * Cape: Completionist cape > Max cape > TokHaar-Kal > Fire cape > Soul Wars Cape > Skill cape


 * Note: If available use Elite void knight armor cause of the +4 Prayer bonus for maintaining Prayer points.

Inventory

 * Super antifire/Super antifire flask.


 * Note: Bring 1-4 pieces of food if you are unsure about this method as it could be fatal to less experienced players. But all you NEED is the Super antifire.
 * Shield if using Rejuvenate.

Ability setup
The following ability bar setup is for generating as much adrenaline as possible:

The fight
Start by drinking a dose of Super antifire and head down the lair. Turn on Soul split and start attacking.

The most common combo with this setup would be: Slice, Punish, Slice, Smash, Slice, Backhand, Slice, Fury, Slice. Always go back to Slice after you've used another ability. Do NOT use Assault or Sever until after you have used Berserk. Once you have 100% Adrenaline, use Berserk. Berserk increases the damage you do to the target by 100% but also increases the damage taken by the same amount, but with the use of Soul split and the Saradomin Godsword your healing will be greater than the damage you take. After Berserk use Sever and then go back to the original combo, get 50% adrenaline and use Assault. Assault strikes the target three times, each hit capable of hitting over 5000+ with Berserk and Void knight armor. This should bring the dragon to about 10-20% health, finish off with the other abilities.

Using this method you will NEVER run out of Prayer points because of the Saradomin Godswords passive.

Without food or potions
An alternative method for those with 75+ Defense and ~80 in their chosen combat stat is to use a combination of a full set of Warpriest Armour, a Dragonfire Shield, and an Ahrim's Wand/ Abyssal Whip (or its upgraded form)/ or an Armadyl/Karil's Pistol Crossbow, The Idea of this strategy is to use Resonance, Reflect, and Rejuevenate/Guthix's Blessing as your sole method of healing. with those abilities in play, each kill should leave a player with roughly 1/3 of their Health left, at which point the player simply deposits their most recent drops into the bank in Edgeville, then runs back to the Artefact to return to the lair, by which time the KBD should have just respawned, ready to be fought again. Some mid-level healing should be brought as a backup in the event of taking more damage than expected.

Tips and tricks

 * Sometimes you will get below 50% health when the dragon hits more accurately for a short period of time, when this happens use Guthix's Blessing or Rejuvenate. This can be done every 5 min.


 * To save prayer (if needed) turn off Soul Split just when you have used assault or whenever you have full health.


 * Should you for some reason run out of Prayer, there is a monastary just a few steps south of the lair where you can refill your Prayer points. If you are low on health, run to the Edgeville bank and your health will become full after a few seconds, if done right after a kill, you can make it back before it spawns again.


 * One Super antifire is enough for one inventory, most likely three doses will do.


 * You can have a total damage bonus of 40% if using a berserker necklace and obsidian weapon, using a black mask/slayer helm when on a slayer task and by running through the wilderness. This will bring the damage of such weapons as the Toktz-xil-ak to 1029 and the TzHaar-ket-om to 1877; which is larger damage than the Chaotic Maul.
 * Do not panic if you die. Should that happen, as long as your gravestone is at least Ornate, you will be able to easily retrieve your items. Go to the Grand Exchange (or your bank) and retrieve a second anti-dragon shield, food, some method of teleportation, and an antifire potion if you wish. Then, simply drink your antifire, equip the shield, set the food to a keybind, and re-enter. Do not try and fight the dragon, just click on your gravestone, click the option "Equip All" and teleport out. Should he hit you, just eat some food. Once you have left, take a moment to recollect for another attempt, should you wish to try again.