Black Dragons

[wotmania505]

So, I came back after a ~8 month break, and am having a great time playing with the EoC stuff. However, today I got a slayer task of Black Dragons (I chose to kill them in Evil Chicken place). Now, when I last played, this wasn't a problem for me - I'd typically sit behind a rock while ranging or halberding. Now though, with their ranged magic attack I'm having difficulty. I've tried the following setups (yes - these are a casual player's equipment, that had worked fine for me in the past):

 

[spoiler=Stats]

• Attack: 87
  
• Strength: 89
  
• Defence: 87
  
• Constitution: 89
  
• Range: 77
  
• Magic: 80
  
• Prayer: 74
  

 

 

 

[spoiler=Melee]

• Cloak: Ardougne cloak 3
  
• Neck: Amulet of Glory(4)
  
• Main hand: Abyssal whip
  
• Gloves: Culinaromancer's gloves 10
  
• Ring: Ring of Wealth
  
• Helmet: Full slayer helmet
  
• Chest: Granite body
  
• Shield: Dragonfire shield (fully charged)
  
• Legs: Rune platelegs
  
• Boots: Fremennik sea boots 3
  

inventory:

• Antifire pots
  
• Combat pots
  
• Monkfish
  

This setup worked...kind of? I managed to get about 5 kills over a not huge time period. I wasn't using prayer either - I assume with that I'd do a bit better, at a higher cost. This was using melee combat abilities actively.

 

 

 

[spoiler=Range]

Range:

• Cloak: Ava's accumulator
  
• Neck: Amulet of Glory(4)
  
• Main hand: Rune crossbow
  
• Gloves: Culinaromancer's gloves 10
  
• Ring: Ring of Wealth
  
• Ammo: Steel bolts
  
• Helmet: Full slayer helmet
  
• Chest: Black d'hide body
  
• Shield: Dragonfire shield (fully charged)
  
• Legs: Black d'hide chaps
  
• Boots: Snakeskin boots
  

inventory:

• Antifire pots
  
• Monkfish
  

This setup failed completely, which suprised me, since it had worked alright in the past. I got maybe 1 kill for 1/2 of my inventory, at which point I got too frustrated to keep it up. I assume this was due to the crap equipment, especially the bolts.... This didn't include prayer either.

 

 

 

So, am I just completely failing in terms of gear, and just need to give up being frugal and farm some gold for better equipment? Are the black dragons just too strong for me currently? Am I missing something important in terms of strategy? Do I need to go spend a bunch of time with Dungeoneering and get some Chaotics?

 

I could use any advice you could give me. Thanks.

[chenw]

Unless you have super anti-fire potions, you might have a hard time against Black Dragons.

 

Black dragons are now weak to ranged, which means they are mage type, and thus resistant to melee.

 

The only decent and easily accessible ranged weapon you can use with an anti-dragon shield is probably Sagaie or Blisterwood stakes (the latter if and only if you have at least almost completed Branches of Darkmeyer). Rune crossbow is totally rubbish now because it's only t50 (coupled with the fact that it cannot fire practically all of the high end enchanted bolts).

 

Chaotic crossbow is, should you go for it, a very worthwhile investment, but only if you dual wield with it (which costs 300k tokens)

[RSDwaynee]

there really weak anyway so you'd probably be better of using whip + anti fire shield tbh.

[Quyneax]

Since EoC and the rework of defence/accuracy, using low-end equipment is a horrible idea. That means that, out of your setup, the following items are really really really bad:

Granite body

Rune platelegs

Sea boots 3

Rune crossbow

Steel bolts

Snakeskin boots

Black dragonhide body

Black dragonhide chaps

 

Also unless that dragonfire shield was a ranged dfs, you were losing some accuracy from using melee equipment when ranging.

 

Suggested replacements (assuming no Nex equipment ofc):

Bandos chestplate > Verac's body

Bandos tassets > Verac's skirt

Bandos boots > Dragon boots

Chaotic crossbow > Armadyl crossbow

Royal bolts > Dragon (e) or onyx bolts

Bandos boots > Dragon boots

Armadyl chestplate > Royal body

Armadyl chainskirt > Royal chaps

 

Note that although dragon/onyx bolts are expensive, you don't use bolts when using abilities. That means you can theoretically do the task with just one bolt equipped, although it's safer to bring a few dozen.

 

Only chest, legs and shield affect accuracy. That means you should try to use the same class (range/mage/melee) of those items as the weapon you are using. Boots/gloves/helmet can be used to focus your defence towards ranged, by using melee equipment (e.g. Bandos/dragon boots).

[xpx]

I don't think onyx bolts really have any use beyond alching. Firstly, royal bolts are identical for damage when considering abilities and secondly, only auto-attacks activate bolt specials. Couple that with the fact that you really won't be doing many auto-attacks(i average around 5 per QBD kill), they just aren't worth it under any circumstance. Basically the same applies for dragon.

[wotmania505]

Thanks for all the excellent advice. A little annoyed that low-end equipment isn't really useful anymore, but meh... Guess i'm off to find a way to get moneys.

[Hedgehog]

If you have soulsplit, use regular antifires and a royal crossbow.

[Quyneax]

I don't think onyx bolts really have any use beyond alching. Firstly, royal bolts are identical for damage when considering abilities and secondly, only auto-attacks activate bolt specials. Couple that with the fact that you really won't be doing many auto-attacks(i average around 5 per QBD kill), they just aren't worth it under any circumstance. Basically the same applies for dragon.

I was talking about tier 70 bolts (dragonstone (e) and onyx *not (e)*), since you can't get a 1h crossbow capable of firing t80 bolts with a sub 1m budget and no chaotics, which the OP seems to be. Bolt specials don't come into it.

[Ammako]

Also, if you cannot get an Armadyl crossbow, then you will be limited to Rune/Broad bolts.

[Squakus]

Also, if you cannot get an Armadyl crossbow, then you will be limited to Rune/Broad bolts.

 

Couldn't the OP use karil's mainhand pistol crossbow, or is it not worth it due to the cost? (This is assuming he uses abilities constantly and thus doesn't have to pay for a lot of bolt racks).

[Ammako]

Karil's pistol is >10m, while Armadyl crossbow is ~7.5m

Gotta check how much Bolt racks or whatever Lv. 70 bolt you can get cost. (Also, Ava's device could be used to retrieve bolts with Arma crossbow.)

[chenw]

Bolt racks are over 450 each, and they are not recoverable. Given the new ranged abilities however, you should use no more than 1 bolt rack per dragon (that bolt rack being the auto attack you do on the dragon as soon as you click on him).