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"D slayer" redirects here. For the Demon Slayer quest, see Demon Slayer.


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This is the quick guide for Dragon Slayer.
For a more in-depth version, click here.
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The Dragon Slayer is widely regarded as the most difficult free-player quest available in RuneScape. It is usually the last quest that free players embark upon, and upon successful completion, players may equip the ultimate free-to-play Melee and Ranged body armours: the rune platebody and green dragonhide body. It was also the last quest in RuneScape to be released before the addition of membership.

Official description

Prove yourself a true hero. Kill the mighty dragon Elvarg of Crandor Island and earn the right to buy and wear the powerful rune plate mail body.

Development team

Rework

Walkthrough

Start pointQuest map icon Speak to the Guildmaster, located inside the Champions' Guild.
Member requirementF2P icon Free to play
Official difficultyExperienced Experienced
Official lengthLong (60 - 90 mins)
RequirementsSkill requirements are not boostable unless marked with a [B] for boostable.
Items requiredItems from the tool belt are not listed unless they do not work or are not automatically added.

For the Boat

2nd Map Piece door
3rd Map Piece
The Fight
Recommended
  • Armour (at least Adamant armour recommended)
  • If you have a low combat level, higher level food may be needed for the final battle (lobsters or better)
  • 33 Magic recommended for Telekinetic Grab (boosts such as Wizard's mind bomb may be used)
  • 43 Prayer recommended for Protect from Melee and Protect Item in the event of death, but this is not necessary, as your prayers will be drained.
  • 40+ combat skill level (Attack, Strength, Defence, etc.)
  • 34 Smithing and 30 Mining recommended if you plan on making your own steel nails from scratch.
  • Potions
  • Anti-Fire potions
  • A hatchet for canoes is no longer needed, as hatchets are provided. However, stronger hatchets can be used for faster canoe creation.
  • A combat bracelet to quickly get to the champion's guild
Enemies to defeat *Some of these creatures may have to be defeated more than once as the keys to Melzar's Maze are not a 100% drop. Of the monsters there are only one of each drops the keys. They can be noted by small differences.

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To start the quest, speak to the Guildmaster in the Champions' Guild. After asking him for a quest, he will tell you to talk to Oziach, who is located north-west of Edgeville in a tiny house situated just below the Wilderness. Oziach says that to be able to purchase a rune platebody from him, you will have to slay Elvarg, the mighty female dragon, who is located within Crandor Isle. He will tell you to visit the Guildmaster for information on how to kill Elvarg.

Go back to the Guildmaster. Talk about the map pieces to get the key, about protection against dragon breath, and about buying a boat. If you do not talk to him about all three things, you will not be able to move on.

Note: You must ask the Guildmaster about all three map pieces in order to receive the key to Melzar's Maze.

Obtaining an anti-dragon shield

Travel to Lumbridge and speak to Duke Horacio on the 1st2nd floor[UK] of the Lumbridge Castle. Ask him about "a shield that will protect you from a dragon's breath," and when he asks you which dragon you're going to use it to fight against, tell him that you will be slaying the fearsome Elvarg of Crandor.

He will then give you an anti-dragon shield and tell you a bit more about the story of Elvarg and the fall of Crandor. Note that if you lose your current shield, you can always talk to him again to obtain another. It is also possible to receive multiple shields by getting one from the Duke just by talking to him again; there is no need to use the drop trick as he'll be happy to give you multiple shields.

Obtaining the Map Pieces

Crandor map close-up

A complete view of the Crandor map

Once you have all three pieces of the map, use any of the three pieces on any one of the other pieces to form the complete Crandor map. You can also get more than one of each map piece by dropping one and getting another. You do not have to do these in this order; it does not affect the quest.

First Map Piece

For this section, it is recommended that you have a combat level of at least 35 and a substantial amount of food.

The first piece is found in Melzar's Maze, south of the Crafting Guild. Bring some food and armour for the fight with the lesser demon. To enter, use the maze key on the door.

  • Kill the smallest zombie rat with the long tail, and it will drop the red key. Use this on the north-west door, then go up the ladder. It is a good idea to get several keys from it.
  • The orange key is dropped by ghosts. You must kill ghosts that wear the hooded shirt without cape until the orange key drops, then go through the middle door, second from the north, on the east wall and climb the ladder (Note: occasionally the ghost that drops the key spawns behind a door. If this happens, just log out and log back in on another world).
  • Kill the skeleton with the small round shield (buckler) which drops the yellow key (not the skeleton with the square shield or no shield). Use the key on the south-west door and keep climbing down until you get to the zombies.
  • Kill the zombies to get a blue key. Make sure to open the BLUE door, NOT the exit door. If you go through the exit door you'll have to repeat the above steps again.
  • You must now fight Melzar the Mad. He primarily uses melee attacks but be cautious of his magic, mainly Fire Strike and Weaken. While you are fighting him cabbages will pop out. This indicates a next magic attack after the battle. Taking the cabbages is advised during the battle if you have low life points, although it only heal 10 life points it's worth it. When killed, he drops the magenta key. Use this key on the magenta coloured door (a word of caution: IF you decide to rest in the room where you fought Melzar the Mad, he will revive and attack you again, so resting is not recommended).
  • You now have to fight a lesser demon, which drops the final green key you need. If you plan to use melee attacks, it is recommended that you use Silverlight or a rune longsword. Lower-levelled players can defeat the demon using magic or ranged from a safespot (though you would have to move around a bit). It is recommended that you have a reasonable amount of food if you are a low-level (for example, quite a few lobsters or other foods that are one-times). If you need to escape you can run through the brown door on the left of the entrance. Pick up the map piece before you use the exit ladder. If you don't think you can do it, then get some higher level player to attack it, and leave it with low health. Then you can finish it off.
File:Safe spot when fighting the lesser demone.gif

Safe spot when fighting the lesser demon is by making him stuck in between the walls because he is so big.

  • NOTE: If you have a Magic level of at least 15, you can collect bones from zombie rats then cast Bones to Bananas, bananas heal 20 LP.

Once the demon is defeated, open the final green door, take the map piece from the chest, climb ladder and exit the building through entrance. Return and speak to the Champions' Guild Guildmaster once more before speaking to the Oracle(this step is unnecessary if you have already spoken to the Guildmaster earlier about the Oracle.

Second Map Piece

The Oracle

A player talking to the Oracle atop Ice Mountain.

Ascend to Ice Mountain and speak to the Oracle. She will tell you a riddle which holds the answer to the location of the second map piece:

"The map's behind a door below,
but entering is rather tough
This is what you need to know,
You must use the following stuff:

First, a drink used by a mage,
Next, some worm string changed to a sheet,
Then, a small crustacean cage,
Last, a bowl that's not seen heat."

Dwarven Mine entrance

The entrance to the Dwarven Mine

  • Once you have obtained all these items, venture down into the mysterious and damp Dwarven Mine. Inside the mine is a room with a sealed door in the northeast part of the mines, just north of the scorpions. When you've found it, use all the items on the "Magical Door." Be sure to use the Wizard's Mind Bomb with the door, as the left-click action for it is to drink it. The items will disappear after usage.
Dragon Slayer mine map location

The hidden room.

Trying to use the items on the door without consulting the Oracle results in the message "I have no idea what I should put in the opening of this door. Maybe I should just leave it for now."

When you open the chest inside, the following message is displayed:

"Here I rest the map to my beloved home. To whoever finds it, I beg of you, let it be. I was honour-bound not to destroy the map piece, but I have used all of my magical skill to keep it from being recovered.
This map leads to the lair of the beast that destroyed my home, devoured my family, and burned to a cinder all that I love. But revenge would not benefit me now, and to disturb this beast is to risk bringing its wrath down upon another land.
I cannot stop you from taking this map piece now, but think on this: if you can slay the Dragon of Crandor, you are a greater hero than my land ever produced. There is no shame in backing out now."

Note: The chest found within the room contains the second map piece.

Third Map Piece

File:Wormbrain's Map Piece.PNG

A player obtaining the final map piece.

The Champion's Guildmaster can tell you about how to get the third map piece.

First, you can speak with General Bentnoze or General Wartface in the Goblin Village. He will explain to you that one of his goblins has it. The third, and final, map piece is apparently in the possession of a goblin named Wormbrain, who is being held in the Port Sarim Jail. Head to Port Sarim jail and talk to Wormbrain.

Note: The game glitches sometimes and General Bentnose will keep arguing with General Wartface. So you might have to keep doing it over and over until you can finally get the answer. If you are caught in the glitch, it can take up to 60 minutes to get the answer. (If you finish Goblin Diplomacy this will not happen.)

There are two ways to obtain this map piece:

NOTE You can obtain multiple copies of each piece of the map, however, when you put the map together, the extra pieces will all disappear and leave you with only one complete map. It is possible to drop the additional pieces, assemble the map, drop the assembled map, pick up the dropped pieces and assemble them, resulting in one (or more) additional maps. These serve no purpose, however. Remember to only use a Wizard's Mindbomb if you are level 31 or over as effects don't stack.

Obtaining a Ship

  • Return to the Guildmaster and ask him about acquiring a ship (this is not necesary if you asked him about acquiring a ship before). He tells you that there's probably a ship for sale in Port Sarim. You buy it from an NPC by the name of Klarense. He can be found on the second dock from the Port Sarim jail. The ship will be damaged, so you will need 90 steel nails, 3 regular wood planks (other variations, such as oak, won't work), and a hammer (to drive the nails) to repair it. You can craft the steel nails with level 34 smithing (6 steel bars makes 90 nails.) If you don't have a hammer, you may purchase one from a nearby general store or take the one found in the upstairs room of the Falador forge. A golden hammer can be used as a substitute for a regular one.
  • After obtaining and bringing all the aforementioned items, along with 2,000 coins, head over to Port Sarim and look for Klarense at the southern docks. Buy his boat, the Lady Lumbridge, for 2,000 coins. Board the ship and descend the ladder. Make sure to repair the opening in the hull by using the planks with the hole. Using each plank consumes 30 steel nails. Do this three times to repair the hole completely.
  • Venture forth to Draynor Village and converse with Ned. He sells and crafts ropes. Bring your map and ask him to pilot the ship and assist you in sailing to Crandor. He agrees and tells you to meet him on your ship in Port Sarim.

The Fight

File:Cabin-boy-jenkins-crispy.PNG

Cabin Boy Jenkins being killed by Elvarg.

  • Before setting off for Crandor Island, stop at the Draynor Village bank. Withdraw your anti-dragon shield, your best armour suited for your fighting style, your one-handed weapon, any potions you may need, runes/bolts (if maging/ranging, however if you are note that there are no safespots and Elvarg can hit up to 120 lp worth of damage with her firebreath attack, even if an anti-dragon shield is equipped and far more if it is not; ranging is especially inadvisable for non-members due to the lack of any decent one-handed weapons), teleport runes, and fill the rest of your inventory with food (lobsters or better). Member foods, such as sharks and sea turtles will heal you if you have low life points easily; make sure your health is at least 121 because Elvarg can deal up to 120 life points even if you are wearing rune armour. This also means it is strongly advisable to bring food which heals at least 120 life points per bite, otherwise Elvarg may defeat you even if you are continuously eating.
  • If possible, try to avoid bringing food that is eaten in more than one bite, such as pizzas. They may heal more life points over time, but the extra time needed to eat them could mean defeat in the battle with the dragon.

WARNING: If you die, you will most likely lose your items as there are rarely other players in Elvarg's lair. And you will need to fix the boat again, but you wont need to find the map or captain. If you find yourself losing healh points, teleport. Don't run out of the lair as the skeletons will attack you.

NOTE: Elvarg can be killed in more than one trip, so if you run out of food you can always re-bank, come back and Elvarg's Life Points will still be the same as when you left off. However, this only applies if no other players do the quest simultaneously. If you leave and someone else enters the dragon's lair while you are gone, and succeeds in slaying the dragon, it is likely to regenerate with full life points. Likewise, if someone fails to kill the dragon, you can enter and continue to attack it, and its life points will be as the other player left them. If you are a lower levelled player, it is recommended that you do so.

  • Board your ship, and talk to Ned. Tell him you're ready to sail to Crandor Isle. A short cutscene will play, during which Elvarg flies over your ship in circles and sets it on fire! Cabin Boy Jenkins will start to panic. He will catch on fire, receive damage of 100 life points and, sadly, dies. After crashing on the island shore, make your way across the island to the peak, avoiding the progressively stronger monsters (Skeletons level 24, then Moss Giants level 42, and lastly two Lesser Demons level 82 on the summit). Run past the lesser demons at the top and take the stairs into the heart of the island.
  • Another cutscene plays, showing Elvarg's lair, full of bones, skeletons, and a silhouette of a warrior that came before (and was burnt-down) on the wall, before moving the camera angle to Elvarg, showing her as if she was slowly moving towards you. A music track, (Attack 2), starts playing in the background. Your Prayer will drain upon entering the lair.
  • Move past the skeletons until you see Elvarg behind a short wall of spikes protruding from the ground on the east. Climb over it, making sure that your anti-dragonfire shield is equipped, and begin the fight. If in the middle of the fight you leave Crandor Island, via teleport or any other means, you don't need to repair the Lady Lumbridge or convince Ned again, you can just use the secret passage way through the Karamja Volcano dungeon, after you unlock it first, of course. To do this, you must have first walked through the secret passage wall at least once from Crandor heading to Karamja Volcano, and it will always be open for you, so you can use it to travel underground from Karamja to Crandor and vice versa. However, if you do leave mid-battle and have not opened the secret passage way, you will need another three planks of wood and 90 nails to repair the vessel, Ned will already be on board ready to sail again.
  • It helps to unlock this passage before fighting Elvarg, to provide a fast escape route should the battle go wrong. For obvious reasons, you can't use this passage from Karamja if you haven't reached this point during or after the quest before, as you can't reach Crandor before doing so.
  • After unlocking this passage, it becomes the only way to reach Crandor, as Klarense won't let you board the ship again under the excuse that it is another ship (he supports this by painting Klarense's Cruiser on top of Lady Lumbridge).

Battle Strategies

Extra Precautions

Whatever your fighting style, as stated before, an anti-dragon shield is a must. Members can make use of antifire potions to completely negate the damage from Elvarg's dragonbreath attacks. If your Prayer level is high enough, Protect from Melee will block Elvarg's melee attacks; a combination of Protect from Melee, an antifire potion, and an anti-dragon shield will negate melee damage and reduce fire breath damage to a maximum of 70. However, prayer points are drained during combat, so a prayer restoration method (such as prayer potions) may be necessary if you choose to rely on prayer heavily.

Elvarg's dragonbreath can hit up to 600s without an anti-dragon shield! Keeping your health above the 200s, just to be safe, is a good strategy in case Elvarg hits multiple times in a row. Her melee attacks can hit up to 100, so wear the best armour possible. If you are a ranger, use a crossbow, as you will need your anti-dragon fire shield.

WARNING: If you die, you will most likely lose your items as there are rarely other players in Elvarg's lair.

If you run out of food (If you don't have a emergency teleport), you can go to the Tz-Harr Fight Pits. There is a bank. You may want to use bones-to-peaches magic. If you are in free-to-play, you can, as a last resort, use the Bones to Bananas spell to give you a means of survival. Teleport unless you can kill Elvarg in one or two more hits. Because only players who are doing Dragon Slayer and are on the fight with Elvarg may enter the lair, it is extremely unlikely that anyone will be able to repair or bless your gravestone. Elvarg is extremely strong, therefore, bring foods which heal plenty of LP, such as lobsters or swordfish for F2P and monkfish and sharks for P2P. One more precaution is that you may want to have high health (level 35+) just to be more safe for all classes.

The members'-only Ring of Life may help to prevent an imminent death by teleporting you automatically to your spawn point when you are close to death, however it cannot be relied upon!

Also note, if you have a higher level friend willing to help you whom is also on the Dragon Slayer quest (If they are not on Dragon Slayer they cannot reach her and aid you in any way.), they can lower the dragon and allow you to get the final blow, giving you the dragon's head in your inventory and completion of the quest.

Melee

Being a dragon, Elvarg is weakest to stab attacks. If you use a slashing weapon, such as the popular rune scimitar, you can still defeat Elvarg but keep in mind that you will not hit her as often. Crush attacks perform moderately well against Elvarg, but not as well as stab attacks. Avoid using Silverlight or Darklight, as they do little damage and are very inaccurate unless used against a demon.You are advised to wear either rune or adamant armour.

For stab attacks, the best Longsword or sword, if you do have not have much money you can buy the rune sword as it is under 13k. You could also try using a battleaxe for its crush attack.

Elvarg's maximum hit with dragon-fire is only 120 life points. With protect from magic you can lower the max hit even lower. But keep in mind that Elvarg can hit 580 if you're not wielding a Anti-dragon shield or a Dragonfire shield. P2P players really should use Anti-fire potions and super antifire as they negate dragonbreath. A P2P Player would then use Protect from Melee and kill it. If you have a strength level of about 40+, you can easily hit 100 with a rune longsword. If using corrupt dragon (F2P) weaponry, use the longsword only. It's stab is decently high, yet it requires 60 Attack. If you're a member and you have 60 Attack and have completed Lost City then you can use a dragon dagger (p++) special to poison it and the use a dragon longsword's stab to kill the dragon quickly and very efficiently.

Keep in mind that while the battle may seem tough, many players have been able to defeat Elvarg with a combat level lower than 50. If you attempt to beat her with a low level, make sure you bring plenty of swordfish or lobsters (if F2P), or monkfish (if P2P).


Ranged

File:Player vs elvarg.png

A player ranging Elvarg with a crossbow

If you use ranged on the dragon, make sure you are using a crossbow since it is one-handed, unlike a bow which is two-handed. With the crossbow, you are still able to equip the anti-dragon shield necessary for the final battle; it is also recommended to use enchanted bolts if you are a member. Bring plenty of bolts as the battle will not be easy, and wear your best leather or dragonhide equipment.

A good outfit is rune chainbody, green d'hide chaps, green d'hide vambraces, rune full helm, power amulet, anti-dragon shield, crossbow and about 300-500 bronze bolts. And fill your inventory with swordfish only. It is a good idea to be close to the dragon, because the dragon breath can cause more damage than the melee attacks. This is recommended for f2p.

As your armour will most likely not have high melee defence, make use of the various obstacles located within the south-east area of her lair (also amongst other places) behind the wall of stalagmites. This won't protect you from her dragonbreath, which can hit at a distance, but will keep you away from her melee attacks, which can be devastating to you since you will most likely have poor melee Defence.

A member may also use super anti-fire potions (85 herblore required), which act as substitutes for an anti-dragon shield. This also means a person using the potion can use a bow because they do not need to wield the anti-dragon shield.

Magic

Magic is not a common approach to the fight with Elvarg and will hit almost nothing on the dragon unless you have at least 50 Magic. Magic is more effective against monsters such as Lesser Demons and Greater Demons and is not heavily advised, but it is still possible to use, and can give certain members an advantage.

Mages should choose to employ at least Fire Bolt (Maximum hit with Fire Bolt is 120) and bring plenty of runes for casting many offensive spells. If you do in fact choose to mage Elvarg, try to avoid her melee attacks by hiding behind the stalagmites in the south-east area of the room, or using other obstacles to block her. For members, it'll be much easier with anti-fire potions used in conjunction with an anti-dragon shield as Elvarg's dragonfire can and will shoot over long distances, and since you will probably be a far distance away from Elvarg, she will automatically use dragonfire. Plus, anti-dragon shields attain no negative offensive Magic bonuses.(50+ defence, 50+ magic and 55+ Constitution recommended)

An experienced mage could easily defeat Elvarg in F2P using only magic. To do so, have a reasonably high mage level (50-65+ is mandatory) and wear equipment that gives high magic bonuses. An example of the equipment needed would be to have a wizard hat, wizard robe top, leather chaps, leather gloves, a regular cape, an amulet of magic, an air staff, swanky boots, an Explorer's ring, and an anti-dragonfire shield. The mage should bring 150 death runes, an emergency teleport and lobsters or better. Use the Wind Blast spell (magic level 41 needed) and eat fairly often. Most of the items can be obtained inexpensively from the Grand Exchange, and everything listed is available for free-to-play. Swanky boots and the Explorer's ring are optional.

Conclusion

File:Elvargwiki.PNG

A player who has killed Elvarg.

Once you kill Elvarg, a cutscene will play during which you cut off Elvarg's head. It will appear in your inventory. Leave Crandor and take the head to Oziach, who will declare you worthy and give you your reward.

There are several ways to leave Crandor after the fight:

  • Teleport away using methods such as Lumbridge Home Teleport, an Explorer's ring 3 or a teleportation spell.
  • Exit Elvarg's lair and continue along the dungeon, avoiding the skeletons and lesser demons, until you come to a wall. If you push that wall you will pass through a secret door and end up inside the Karamja volcano. From there on you can pay 30 coins (which you can bring with you or raise on the island by selling items to the general store or working for Luthas) to sail to Port Sarim.
  • If you have not yet opened the secret door, which is a passageway connecting the lair and the rest of the Karamja Volcano, it is advised that you teleport out because if you are on low health from the fight then the various monsters outside the lair might kill you.
  • Members can use an Amulet of Glory to teleport to Edgeville for the quickest turn in method.

If you lose the head, you cannot go back and kill Elvarg for another. Simply return to Oziach and the quest will end as normal. Note: You can bank the head, but it will disappear after you receive your reward.

Congratulations! The quest has been completed.

Reward

File:Dragon Slayer Reward.png

Music unlocked

Required for completing

Completion of Dragon Slayer is required for the following:

Trivia

  • After completing the quest, your Adventurer's Log will say, "To prove my worthiness to wear rune armour and join the Champion's Guild, I travelled to Crandor and slew the dread dragon Elvarg."
  • It used to be that when Elvarg died, the player would be teleported outside with the Quest Complete banner without cutting off Elvarg's head. There was no need to return to Oziach afterwards.
  • Elvarg used to be locked in a cage with a door to pass through, rather than a wall to jump over.
  • In RuneScape Classic, Telekinetic Grab was the only way to complete the quest after some quest items were made untradeable, as there was no option to buy the map piece from Wormbrain. Thus the quest carried a requirement of 33 Magic.
  • After completing the quest, if you talk to Juna, your character will say, "...So with Elvarg the dragon dead, the master of the Champion's Guild let me in, and I was able to wear a Rune Plate!"
  • Dragon Slayer was the first quest to be released with an Experienced difficulty.
  • After compeltion of the quest when trying to board the lady lumbrige Klarense will tell yo that the ship is not yours, but his new ship. Your player will point out that it has Lady Lumbrige painted out and another name on it. Klarense will deny your accusation and the conversation will be over. If looked at the right angle in the ship you can see the holes you repaired in the hull.

References

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