Black dragon/Strategies

Black dragons have amongst the highest defence for a normal monster in RuneScape - their melee defence is quite high, so using melee against them is not advisable. Despite this, they are weak to ranged attacks, and are most vulnerable to crossbow bolts.

They attack with a Fire Bolt spell that usually damages in the low 300s, as well as a long-distance dragonbreath attack. As with all dragons, an anti-dragon shield, a dragonfire shield, super antifire potion or Protect from Magic prayer are essential when fighting them. Without one of these forms of protection, players can be hit extremely hard by dragonfire (over 2000 points of damage). Lower-leveled players could potentially be killed in one hit by this attack. However, when using one of the listed protections, a player will be hit for much less. (Praying against magic reduces the average damage to about 250, as well as weakening their main magic attack.) An anti-fire potion used in addition to the shield will reduce the damage dealt by the breath to just one point. Additionally, players with a Herblore level of 85 may use a super antifire potion which negates the dragon's breath without the need of an anti-dragon shield or protection prayers, allowing players to safely use a two-handed weapon or dual-wield weapons with less need for prayer.

The dragon's melee attacks are only used if the player is in melee range. Thus, if ranging or maging, it is advisable to stay out of the reach of their melee attack. These monsters are primarily weak to bolts, which allows use of an Anti-dragon shield for relatively safe kills with a one-handed crossbow. However, if you wish to attain the fastest kill rates (through dual wielded or 2-handed crossbows), you will need Protect from Magic or Super antifire potions.

Recommended setups
Warning: As of the Evolution of Combat update, black dragons are magic based creatures, which gives a considerable penalty to melee accuracy. Because of this and their extremely high defence, at least chaotic weaponry is required for a consistent kill rate, and even then is NOT recommended unless there is no other alternative.

Melee method

 * Aura: (Greater/Master/Supreme) Reverence
 * Headwear: Full slayer helmet / Slayer helmet / Black mask (only for task) or Torva full helm > Bandos helmet > Dragon full helm (not on task)
 * Body: Torva platebody > Bandos chestplate > Dragon platebody > Granite body
 * Legwear:  Torva platelegs > Bandos tassets > Dragon platelegs > Granite legs
 * 2-Handed Weapon: Chaotic maul > Godsword > Zamorakian spear/Saradomin sword > Verac's flail > Other Barrows melee weapons > Dragon halberd
 * 1-Handed Weapon: Drygore mace > Drygore rapier/longsword > Chaotic rapier/Chaotic longsword > Abyssal vine whip > Abyssal whip > Korasi's sword > Dragon mace > Other Dragon weapons
 * Shield:  Divine spirit shield (with magic prayer or super antifire) > Chaotic kiteshield (with magic prayer or super antifire) > Dragonfire shield > Anti-dragon shield
 * Off-Hand Weapon: Off-hand drygore mace/rapier/longswordOff-hand chaotic rapier/longsword > Enhanced excalibur > Off-hand dragon weapons > Dragon defender
 * Neckwear: Amulet of fury > Amulet of glory
 * Footwear: Torva boots > Steadfast boots > Bandos boots > Dragon boots > Rune boots
 * Hands: Goliath gloves > Torva gloves > Barrows gloves (or dragon or rune gloves) > Regen bracelet > Dragon slayer gloves (only for task)
 * Cape: Completionist cape > Max cape > TokHaar-Kal > Fire cape > Skill cape > Cape of legends
 * Ring: TokKul-Zo > Warrior ring (i) > Onyx ring (i) > Berserker ring (i) > Ring of wealth > Explorer's ring

Note: Always use Turmoil, Piety or the Incredible Reflexes and Ultimate Strength prayers. These dragons have extremely high melee defence and a good amount of health, boosting your offence is a must if you wish to obtain a worthwhile kill rate.

Since they hit hard so frequently, it may be advisable to use a deflect curse, preferably Deflect Magic, to reflect some of their damage back to them.

Ranged method

 * Headwear: Full slayer helmet (only for task) > Focus Sight (only for task) > Void ranger helm (Void only) > Pernix cowl > Armadyl helmet/Karil's coif
 * Body: Void knight top or Pernix body > Armadyl chestplate/Karil's top > Royal dragonhide body > Black dragonhide body
 * Legwear: Void knight robe or Pernix chaps > Armadyl chainskirt > Royal dragonhide chaps > Black dragonhide chaps
 * 2-handed weapon: Royal crossbow > Zaryte bow > Hand cannon > Karil's crossbow (with bolt racks)/Black salamander (with harralander tar) > Crystal bow > Dragon 2h crossbow/Red salamander (with tarromin tar) > Rune 2h crossbow
 * 1-handed weapon: Ascension crossbow > Chaotic crossbow > Sagaie > Armadyl crossbow/Karil's pistol crossbow > Blisterwood stakes > Dragon crossbow
 * Shield (If using 1-handed weapon): Elysian spirit shield > Eagle-eye kiteshield > Dragonfire shield (ranged) > Void knight deflector (void only) > Illuminated unholy book > Unholy book
 * Neckwear: Saradomin's murmur > Ranging amulet > Amulet of fury or Amulet of glory
 * Footwear: Pernix boots > Glaiven boots > Armadyl boots > Ranger boots > Snakeskin boots/Carapace boots
 * Hands: Void knight gloves or Pernix gloves > Armadyl gloves or Mercenary gloves > Swift Gloves > Royal dragonhide vambraces > Barrows Gloves (or dragon or rune gloves) > Regen bracelet (on task only)
 * Cape: Completionist cape > Ava's alerter, Ava's accumulator or Ava's attractor
 * Ring: Archers' ring (i) > Archers' ring or Ring of wealth
 * Arrows: Dragonbane arrows (After Ritual of the Mahjarrat) > Dragon arrows (Dark bow only) > Broad arrows > God arrows > Rune arrows
 * Bolts: Dragonbane bolts (After Ritual of the Mahjarrat) > Royal bolts (with Royal or Chaotic crossbow) > Hand cannon shot (with hand cannon) > Bolt racks (with Karil's crossbow or pistol crossbow)/Harralander tar (with black salamander) > Tarromin tar (with red salamader) > Runite bolts/Broad-tipped bolts

Notes: If you do not own a void set (deflector optional) and you are killing these off-task, you can use the on-task gear to replace it, but void will lead to faster kills, especially if using a strong crossbow. You can range black dragons without antifire measures if you are very careful, by using a weapon with a large attack range, such as the Royal crossbow. You can also bring an antifire shield to use only when running out of your safespot to pick up drops.

Remember, at least three pieces of Void knight equipment must be worn along with the Void ranger helm to receive the set effect. With the addition of the Void knight deflector, players could swap out one of the pieces (other than the helm) for other equipment, but this disallows the ability to dual wield and still requires super antifires, so is not recommended. Note: It is highly recommended to use prayers like Eagle Eye and Rigour to speed up kills, as well as (extreme) ranging potions. If using these prayers however, it is advisable to keep an eye on your prayer points, especially if using a bow without super antifires. If your prayer drops and you don't have other dragonfire protection, the dragonbreath can deal large (and potentially fatal) amounts of damage.

Magic method
Using magic against black dragons is quite effective. With the use of 2-handed weapons, Protect from Magic, Deflect Magic, antifire potions, or super antifire potions are needed.

Recommended setup:
 * Headwear: Full slayer helmet / Slayer helmet / Hexcrest (only for task) or Ganodermic visor > Hood of subjugation > Batwing hood > Mystic hood
 * Body: Ganodermic poncho > Garb of subjugation > Batwing torso > Mystic robe top
 * Legwear:  Ganodermic leggings > Gown of subjugation > Batwing legs > Mystic robe bottom
 * 2-Handed Weapon: Chaotic staff > Armadyl battlestaff / Staff of light / Polypore staff > Ahrim's staff/Blisterwood staff > Toktz-mej-tal/God staves > Animal staves > Mystic battlestaves > Regular battlestaves
 * Shield:  Divine spirit shield (with magic prayer or super antifire) > Chaotic kiteshield (with magic prayer or super antifire) > Dragonfire shield > Anti-dragon shield
 * Neckwear: Amulet of fury > Amulet of glory
 * Footwear: Ganodermic boots > Boots of subjugation > Batwing boots > Mystic boots
 * Hands: Ganodermic gloves > Gloves of subjugation > Barrows gloves (or dragon or rune gloves) > Regen bracelet > Dragon slayer gloves (only for task)
 * Cape: Completionist cape > Max cape > TokHaar-Kal > Fire cape > Skill cape > Cape of legends
 * Ring: TokKul-Zo > Seers' ring (i) > Ring of wealth > Explorer's ring

Wands can be used in combination with an anti-dragon shield, but the damage output is far less then using antifire potions with a staff.

Using abilities is key in killing black dragons. Build up adrenaline to +50%, then using threshold abilities like Asphyxiate and Wild Magic will probably most likely result in a kill.

NOTE: Since there aren't any negative bonuses with armour, one could wear Royal dragonhide while using magic to attack. Players with high magic and low defence might find this effective.

It is recommended to stay within melee distance if a player has high defence, is using full ganodermic or if a player is using only one protection method, doing this will make the dragon attack less with dragonfire.