Dragonfire shield

A Dragonfire shield, also called DFS for short, is an anti-dragon shield combined with a Draconic visage. When fully charged, it has the second greatest overall Melee defence bonus of any shield (only beaten by the chaotic kiteshield), with the Crystal shield having a higher ranged defence bonus, the Mage's book and Spectral spirit shield having a higher Magic defence bonus, the Blessed spirit shield and variants having higher crush defence bonus, and the Mage's book and Arcane spirit shield having a higher mage attack bonus. Several shields have higher Prayer bonus and Summoning defence bonus. When completely uncharged, its stats are somewhat better than a Mithril kiteshield. To wield this item, a player's Defence level must be 75 or higher. This shield is also unique for giving the highest strength bonus of any left-handed item. Its strength bonus beats both the Rune defender and Toktz-Ket-Xil by 2.0 allowing you to hit a little higher without having a Two-Handed sword equipped.

It can be smithed at a Smithing level of 90, combining a Draconic visage with an Anti-dragon shield, earning 2,000 Smithing experience after a few clicks. If you don't have the required Smithing level, you can also bring the required items to Oziach who will smith it for you for the hefty price of 1,250,000 coins. The Assist system can also be used to make it. Since many high levelled smiths would jump at the opportunity to assist and gain 2,000 experience, using the assist system is better to make the Dragonfire shield. However, it is currently 100k cheaper to buy the shield that it is to buy the visage and smith the shield. It is therefore recommended to directly buy the shield. As prices are constantly fluctuating, it is best to check what is cheaper at the time and weigh up the alternatives. Only Black dragons, Iron dragons, Steel dragons, Mithril dragons, the King Black Dragon, and Skeletal wyverns will drop the Draconic visage. The shield itself was a possible drop from PvP Worlds until 16 June 2009.

This shield, like the anti-dragon shield, does not provide full protection against dragonfire or the dragonbreath of Skeletal wyverns, even when it is fully charged. The use of an antifire potion with the shield renders full protection.

Charging
The shield absorbs dragonbreath when equipped, and each dragonbreath provides one charge, up to a maximum number of 50 charges. Each charge increases the shield's defence against stab, slash, crush, range and summoning attacks by +1. The best place to charge a shield is anywhere with Metal dragons as when you move away from them they use their dragonbreath faster than Chromatic dragons. The bronze dragons in the Chaos Tunnels are particularly good since they are in a multicombat area; it is possible to have multiple bronze dragons attacking a player with their dragonbreath at once. You can check how many charges you have by right clicking it in the inventory and selecting "Inspect."

Discharging




When the shield is worn, players can also release charges of dragonbreath by operating it. To discharge the flame, right-click on the equipped shield while in combat and select Activate. The shield will then fire a deadly blast of fiery energy at the opponent, which hits up to 250 damage, but lowers the stats of the shield by 1 for every charge used. Players can also operate the shield while not in combat and then target an opponent to release the attack on. When fired, the attack will be long-ranged, and the player will run toward the opponent to start fighting. The attack will not work against dragons. The damage of this attack is reduced just like a dragon's dragonbreath attack if the opponent is wearing an anti-dragon shield, a dragonfire shield, or is under the effects of an antifire potion. Once operated, the shield needs to cool down for exactly two minutes before the player can unleash its flames again. The only other piece of equipment to have this ability are Dragon bolts (e).

Since the shield is untradeable when charged, it must be discharged completely before being sold; this can be done by right-clicking the shield in inventory and clicking the Empty option to release all remaining charges in a single, harmless burst.

Fully Charged Bonuses
Slash, crush, stab, ranged, and summoning defence bonuses will lower by 1 after a charge is used.

Trivia

 * When a dragon breathes fire on a player wearing the shield, the player crouches behind the shield and does not make an attacking motion, however, the damage against the dragon still registers.
 * Though the dragonfire attack from the shield is a devastating attack, most players do not use it because doing so lowers the combat stats.
 * Using the dragonbreath attack against a monster will earn Magic experience.
 * Before the PvP and Bounty world update on 16 June 2009, players could get a dragonfire shield from PvP kills; however, the aforementioned update removed dragonfire shields from PvP drop tables.
 * Before an in-game name change around late 2005 or early 2006, the anti-dragon shield was widely known as the "df shield." The nickname mostly died out soon after the release of the dragonfire shield, and it was passed on to the newly released dragonfire shield.
 * The anti-dragon shield weighs 5 kg and the Draconic visage weighs 1; however, when joined, the Dragonfire shield's weight increases to 9 kg.
 * There may be a graphical glitch for the Dragonfire shield. The conditions required to recreate it are unknown, but when met the shield gains a shiny, metallic lustre. (It may be triggered merely by graphics settings, the computer being used, a combination of the two or something else.) This glitch also works on other armour. The glitch has not yet been fixed, and its cause has not yet been identified. It still works, and some players still experience the glitch.
 * The shield is not lendable whether it is charged or not.