Brutal Black Dragon Best in Slot Gear & Strategy Guide

To attack a brutal black dragon you need 77 Slayer. They are assigned by Konar, Nieve and Duradel, and live in the Catacombs of Kourend.

• Getting there: Run west through the Catacombs of Kourend, past the brutal blue and brutal red dragons.
• Shortcut: Use the hole in Lovakengj — reach it with the "Jewellery of Jubilation" teleport on the Book of the dead (then run north-east), or the "Xeric's Inferno" teleport on a Xeric's talisman (then run east). Unlocking this shortcut first requires climbing up the vine from inside the catacombs.

They respawn after 30 ticks, so a small cluster keeps you killing without much downtime.

The Wiki's suggested skills are 70+ Attack, Strength, Defence, Ranged and Hitpoints, and 75+ Magic, with 44+ Prayer (Eagle Eye) rising to 70+ for Piety or 74+ for Rigour.

Ranged is typically the best method, and even more so with high-level equipment — this is a classic ranged-meta dragon. The goal is gear that maximises Ranged damage, accuracy and Prayer bonus while you stand at a distance. Among weapons the Wiki lists the Twisted bow as the highest damage output, the Dragon hunter crossbow as a strong cheaper choice, and the Bow of faerdhinen with full crystal armour as another top option. For your own account, rather than chasing exact items here, use the Boss Gear Finder above to get a loadout you can actually afford for your stats and bank.

Magic is also effective with good gear. Brutal black dragons have a 50% elemental weakness to water spells, so the Dragon hunter wand casting Water Surge, or Tumeken's shadow for the very top end, exploit that weakness well. If you want to compare styles, our Ranged gear and Magic gear pages break down each tier.

The trip is built around staying immune to dragonfire and topping up prayer. A standard ranged setup brings:

• 1 Divine ranging potion for damage (and some food to restore the HP it drains).
• 1 Extended antifire potion, or several normal antifire potions, to keep dragonfire negated.
• 2–3 Prayer potions.
• Anglerfish for food.
• A Soul bearer to bank ensouled dragon head drops, and a Bonecrusher necklace (swap to it before killing) to restore Prayer from the dragon bones.
• Nature and fire runes for High Level Alchemy, plus optional law/air runes for Telekinetic Grab so you never have to step into melee range.
• A Xeric's talisman, Book of the dead, or Home Teleport runes to return.

Brutal black dragons use three attack styles, all hitting on a 4-tick attack speed.

• Dragonfire (long-range): Their signature attack can hit up to 50. An active antifire potion fully blocks it — this is non-negotiable, so never let your antifire lapse.
• Magic: Hits up to 29; its projectile resembles Iban Blast. Pray Protect from Magic and it is negated entirely.
• Melee (Slash): Hits up to 29 at close range. Because Protect from Magic plus antifire already covers the other two attacks, the cleanest approach is to stay out of melee range and safespot, which avoids melee damage completely.

With Protect from Magic up and antifire active, a dragon you are ranging from a distance simply cannot damage you — that is what makes this such a low-stress kill.

Before you enter the dragon area, drink a dose of Divine ranging potion and Extended antifire, then turn on Protect from Magic and Rigour (or Eagle Eye if your Prayer is lower).

1. Stand at a distance so the dragons can't reach you with melee, and attack with your bow or crossbow.
2. Keep Protect from Magic on and antifire active the whole trip — the moment either drops you start taking real damage.
3. Swap to the Bonecrusher necklace before killing so the dragon bones restore your prayer, and use High Alchemy on junk drops while you wait for respawns.
4. Re-sip antifire before it expires and top up Prayer with potions as needed.

If you prefer Magic, the same prayer-and-antifire rules apply — just swap Rigour for Augury (or Mystic Might) and lean on water spells for the 50% weakness.

SSOT note: the rates below are copied from the fetched Wiki page. Brutal black dragons always drop dragon bones and black dragonhide, which alone make them solid money. The dragon bones also feed your Bonecrusher necklace for free prayer.

Their unique table (a 1/128 chance to roll, with effective rates listed) includes dragon platelegs, dragon plateskirt, the dragon spear and an uncut dragonstone, each at 1/512. The marquee chase is the draconic visage at 1/10000. They also drop the ensouled dragon head at 1/20 — hence the Soul bearer. The full drop table is shown above this guide.

• Letting antifire expire. Without it, dragonfire can hit 50 — the single biggest cause of unexpected deaths here. Re-sip early.
• Forgetting Protect from Magic. Antifire alone does not stop the Magic attack; you need both up together for full immunity.
• Standing in melee range. If you're close enough to be meleed you take Slash hits you didn't need to. Safespot at a distance instead.
• Showing up under-leveled. You can't even damage them below 77 Slayer.