Mithril Dragon Guide

Killing a dragon

This area has been rated as EXTREMELY HIGH-RISK. You should never attempt to fight Mithril Dragons with items you are not willing to risk losing, and while there, you should expect your death as a possibility at all times.

 

Overview

Mithril Dragon Basic Facts (Bestiary Profile)
Combat Level: 304 Mithril dragon Lifepoints: 2540 Maximum Hit:
180+ (ranged & magic)
280 (melee)
500+ (dragonfire)
Attack Style(s):
All three & dragonfire
Experience Summary
Mithril dragons offer little experience for melee or ranged, however, magic users will gain a reasonable amount of experience depending on their choice of spell.
Drops Summary
Mithril Dragons are the only monsters that drop the extremely rare dragon full helmet. They also have a chance to drop chewed bones, draconic visages, starved ancient effigies, and elite clue scrolls. Additionally they also drop many runes, runite items, dragon bones, and hard clue scrolls.
Special Notes
Mithril Dragons use dragonfire and all three styles of combat to attack. It is essential to have some form of protection against dragonfire active at all times, such as a super antifire potion OR antifire potion with an anti-dragon or dragonfire shield equipped.
Recommended Levels
85+ melee, 70+ prayer and a chaotic melee weapon
OR 80+ magic (higher recommended)
OR 95+ ranged and 74+ prayer
High summoning (for a beast of burden or healing familiar) is recommended for all set-ups.
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Getting There

To get to Mithril dragons, here are four recommended routes: (from fastest to slowest)

  • Route A (not shown): Teleport directly into the Ancient Cavern (Fairy Rings or Ferocious ring teleports*)
  • Route B (green): Barbarian Outpost (games necklace or Lunar spell - Barbarian Outpost teleport)
  • Route C (orange): Grand Tree bank - first floor (37 agility required for shortcut)
  • Route D (blue): Gnome Stronghold bank (37 agility required for shortcut)
  • Route E (yellow): East Ardougne or Fishing Guild bank (Ardougne teleport, skills necklace or Lunar spell - Fishing Guild teleport with 85 magic)

*The routes for faster fairy ring and ferocious ring teleports are displayed in the map of the caverns below.

Overworld routes

Inside the Cavern

If you enter the Cavern through the Whirlpool, you will be located in a small room (seen in the top-right) where nothing will attack you. Here you should use your antifire potion, and activate the Protect from Magic or Protect from Range prayer, depending on what armour you are wearing. Now go down the stairs, run south past the Brutal Green Dragons, and climb the stairs located to the south-east. Once upstairs, activate your prayers/curses for combat, drink any boosting potions, and fight the dragons. This route is marked in green on the map below.

If you enter using fairy rings, you will arrive standing in the center of the fairy ring. In this position, nothing can attack you, so you are safe from combat. However, once you leave the fairy ring, you are subject to the attacks of the nearby monsters, including Brutal green dragons, so make sure to drink a dose of antifire potion before running east to the stairs. The fairy ring route is marked in purple on the map below.

Finally, those who enter using a ferocious ring teleport should drink their antifire potion and proceed down the stairs to the north, following the red route marked on the map to get to the Mithril dragons.

routes inside the ancient cavern
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Setting Up

It is possible to kill Mithril dragons effectively with any of the three combat styles, however magic is the most effective, offering up to 120 kills per hour. Melee is far cheaper, though this will come at the cost of a slower killing speed. Players using ranged can still kill Mithril dragons well, but it should be noted that magic and melee both are better options. Dreadnips should be used with all set-ups if possible as they will lead to a considerable increase in kills per hour.

Melee

Since you are in close combat, the Mithril dragon will not attack with ranged, meaning you will be hit by melee and magic attacks. You can use a Protection prayer to negate damage from one of these, and wear high-defence armour to protect against the other. Since they hit lower with magic, it is advised to use Protect from Melee/Deflect Melee and heal the damage taken from the magic attacks. If you stray out of the short range of the dragons melee attacks it will use ranged in addition to magic, so it is important to change briefly to Protect from Ranged/Deflect Ranged if only for a moment to pick up drops.

Melee Set-ups
 
 
Monster Hunting Prayers Curses Text Protect From Melee On Piety On
Deflect Melee On Turmoil On
Helmet: Slayer helmet (when on a Slayer task) > Void melee helm** > Helm of Neitiznot > Berserker helm
Necklace: Amulet of fury > Amulet of glory
Cape: Completionist's cape (Max cape) > Fire cape > Ardougne cloak 3/4 > Soul Wars cape
Chest: Elite void knight top** > Karil's top > Ganodermic poncho > Black d'hide body
Legs: Elite void knight robe** > Karil's skirt > Ganodermic leggings > Black d'hide chaps
Weapon: Chaotic rapier > Chaotic longsword > Korasi's sword > Brackish blade > Zamorakian spear > Abyssal vine whip
Special weapon: Dragon claws* > Korasi's sword > Dragon dagger (p++) > Enhanced excalibur
Shield: Dragon defender* > Dragonfire shield > Anti-dragon shield
Gloves: Void knight gloves** > Goliath gloves > Culinaromancer's gloves 10 > Culinaromancer's gloves 9
Boots: Steadfast boots > Dragon boots
Ring: Berserker ring (i) > Onyx ring(i) > Berserker ring > Ring of wealth
Familiar: Pack yak > Unicorn stallion > War tortoise > Spirit terrorbird (beasts of burden should carry food or brews for healing)
Aura: Vampyrism = Greater Reverence > Reverence

*Only to be used in conjunction with Super antifire potions.
**You will only recieve the melee void set effect when all four void items are worn at once. The standard void set can be used as a substitute for elite void.
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Magic

Magic is by far the most effective style to use for Mithril dragons, offering the fastest kill speeds at high levels, however it is the most expensive due to the cost of runes. Using a Polypore staff is cheap and effective, giving kill speeds similar to melee.

Magic Set-ups
 
 
Monster Hunting Prayers Curses Text Protect from Missiles On Augury On
Deflect Missiles On Soul Split On Leech Magic On
Helmet: Full Slayer helmet (when on a Slayer task) > Virtus mask > Ganodermic visor > Farseer helm
Necklace: Arcane stream necklace (Other arcane necklaces) > Amulet of fury > Amulet of glory
Cape: Completionist's cape (Max cape) > Ardougne cloak 3/4 > Soul Wars cape > Trimmed skillcape
Chest: Virtus robe top > Ganodermic poncho > Ahrim's robe top
Legs: Virtus robe legs > Ganodermic leggings > Ahrim's robe skirt
Weapon: Armadyl battlestaff (using Storm of Armadyl) > Polypore staff > Chaotic staff (using Surge spells) > Staff of light (using Surge spells)
Special weapon: Enhanced excalibur
Shield: Arcane spirit shield* > Farseer kiteshield* > Mages' book* > Illuminated unholy book* > Celestial surgebox (only when using Fire surge) > Anti-dragon shield
Gloves: Spellcaster gloves > Culinaromancer's gloves 10 > Culinaromancer's gloves 9
Boots: Ragefire boots > Infinity boots > Wizard boots
Ring: Seers ring (i) > Onyx ring (i) > Dragonstone ring (i) > Seers ring > Ring of wealth
Familiar: Pack yak > Unicorn stallion > War tortoise > Spirit terrorbird (All beasts of burden should carry food or brews for healing)
Aura: Vampyrism = Greater Reverence > Reverence

*Only to be used in conjunction with Super antifire potions
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Ranged

Ranged is the least effective style to use against Mithril dragons, and is only recommended if your Ranged level is significantly higher than your magic or melee stats. Players using range will employ the same tactics as those using magic.

Ranged Set-ups
 
 
Monster Hunting Prayers Curses Text Protect from Missiles On Rigour On
Deflect Missiles On Soul Split On Leech Defence On
Helmet: Full Slayer helmet (when on a Slayer task) > Void ranger helm** > Pernix cowl > Armadyl helmet > Robin hood hat > Archer helm
Necklace: Amulet of fury > Amulet of ranging > Amulet of glory
Cape: Completionist's cape > Ava's device > Soul wars cape (only when using Handcannon)
Chest: Pernix body > Armadyl chestplate > Karil's top > Black d'hide body
Legs: Elite void knight robe** > Pernix legs > Armadyl chainskirt > Karil's skirt > Black d'hide chaps
Weapon: Chaotic crossbow (Dragonbane bolts > Diamond bolts (e)) > Hand cannon* (Hand cannon shot ammo) > Rune crossbow (Dragonbane bolts > Diamond bolts (e)) > Sagaie
Special weapon: Enhanced excalibur
Shield: Void knight deflector** > Eagle-eye kiteshield* > Spectral spirit shield* > Illuminated unholy book* > Zamorak's unholy book* > Anti-dragon shield
Gloves: Void knight gloves** > Swift gloves > Mercenary's gloves > Culinaromancer's gloves 10 > Culinaromancer's gloves 9
Boots: Glaiven boots > Ranger boots > Snakeskin boots
Ring: Archers' ring (i) > Onyx ring (i) > Dragonstone ring (i) > Archers' ring > Ring of wealth
Familiar: Unicorn stallion = Pack yak > War tortoise > Spirit terrorbird (All beasts of burden should carry food or brews for healing)
Aura: Vampyrism = Greater Reverence > Reverence

*Only to be used in conjunction with Super antifire potions
**You will only recieve the ranged void set effect when all four void items are worn. The void knight deflector also requires the use of super antifire potions.
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Strategy

Mithril dragons have the potential to hit hard and fast, so it is important to pay full attention while killing them. Below can be seen the attack styles of the dragon, it is important regardless of style to switch prayers between ranged or melee should you find yourself under attack by one of them. All styles tank the damage from magic hits, so rangers and mages will need to switch to protect from melee when moving close to the dragon, and players using melee should switch to protect from ranged when under attack from afar.

Mithril Dragon Attack Styles
Melee Ranged
Mith melee Mith range
Magic Dragonfire
Mith magic Mith dragonfire

Below is a small map of where you will be killing the dragons, and depending on your style or weapon you should aim to kill a different set of them:

  • Melee - Target the three dragons in the center, and be careful not to come under attack from the south-western dragon.
  • Magic - Also target the three center dragons, however competition may be fierce. The south-western dragon can also be targeted without wasting too much time running to the monster. Take care to not get into melee range of the dragons in the tightly packed center area.
  • Ranged - Kills are significantly slower, so to avoid being forced into competition it is recommended to alternate between the dragon at the entrance, and the one to the north. Players using Sagaies should always use this spot, as it is the only area where it is easy to maintain a distance large enough for the weapon to be effective.
  • The south-eastern dragon should never be targeted, as it is the furthest from the group and it is easy to come under attack from the skeleton.
Spawn locations

Finally, if possible it is recommended to use a beast of burden to bank bones. This may require additional food to eat when running between monsters (to not interrupt combat) or soul split flashing to recover the majority of your health. These carry added risk, however the dragon bone drops make up a significant proportion of the potential profit, meaning they should be banked whenever possible.

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Tips & Tricks

Dragonfire Shield vs. Anti-dragonfire shield - For meleeing without super-antifire potions, a dragonfire shield is the superior choice. However, it carries penalties to magic and ranged attack, so players using magic or ranged are not recommended to use one unless they feel the extra defence is required.

Summoning - Summoned familiars cannot be taken into the whirlpool, however, they may be summoned from pouches once inside. In addition, the entire dungeon is single combat, so familiars that can be useful here are mainly healers or beasts of burden. All beasts of burden used should carry high-healing food, however this will only be possible when reaching Mithril dragons from the inside of the cavern. For this reason it is recommended to unlock these teleport methods if possible.

Chewed bones - If you get a chewed bone drop, keep it! Refer to the Ancient Cavern section of the Barbarian Training guide to learn how to make a pyre ship to give yourself another chance at a Dragon full helm or other useful reward.

Note: You must be careful in this cave. All creatures are high level and potentially hit you for substantial amounts of health.

 

Credits

Original Guide by: Cinderovo

Revised Guide by: Octarine19

Thanks to: All_Bogs, Boomstick911, Bows, Cowman_133, Darkblade986, Devildog15, Dragontotem, ExxpaniumJr, Eyehawk78, Ginger_Warrior, halo2_rocks7, Headnazgul, Jaffy1, jmill331, Juhniz, Languished, Last_to_kn0w, Master_Smither, Mchainmail, oddfaery2, Opeth, Quyneax, RayOxide, Returnofmic, richieNL1, Saladin643, sjefderat, Sk8er700, Warriormonkx, Zaaps1

Last updated by: Aurhora

Last updated: 25-Mar-2012


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