King Black Dragon/Strategies

The King Black Dragon, or KBD, is one of the stronger dragons in RuneScape; it should not be underestimated. It drops various sought-after items, such as Hard and Elite clue scrolls, dragon rider boots and gloves, King Black Dragon heads and the elusive draconic visage. Players with a low combat level or stats should avoid fighting the King Black Dragon, and bring only items you are willing to lose.

Location and getting there
The King Black Dragon is located slightly west of the Lava Maze, in the King Black Dragon's Lair. There are a few ways to get to him:
 * The safest and fastest way to get there is by using the artefact located north of the Edgeville monastery, right next to the wilderness wall. This will teleport the player directly into the lair. It is highly recommended that players use this method to reach the KBD lair as getting PKed in the wilderness makes the player lose ALL items. By using this method the player will NOT receive the 10% damage bonus that is normally received by travelling through the Wilderness.
 * Using a Waka canoe, players can send themselves to the level 35 wilderness and go north-west from there.
 * Players can also use obelisks, as the location is not far from the level 44 Obelisk. However, this is not a consistent method of transportation. Players increase their chances of getting killed by PKers, the Chaos Elemental or spend more time getting there.
 * The Lava titan can be used to teleport to the runite mine north of the Lava Maze. Players can then go south to the lair.
 * Players can use the Trollheim teleport and take the shortcut East into the Wilderness, proceed North to the altar, then directly Northeast to the lair.

Jagex has confirmed (here) that by travelling to the King Black Dragon via the wilderness the player will receive a 10% bonus in damage dealt while in the lair. It will give you text warning you that once you leave the lair, the boost will disappear.

Once at the entrance, there are several lesser demons. Ignore them and go down the ladder. Once you go down the ladder, hit the lever on the wall near the poison spiders to enter his lair. There is nothing but a Summoning Obelisk, a few items lying around (gold ring, coins, uncut sapphire), and a lever to exit.



Attacks
The King Black Dragon has various attacks. His melee attacks include a lunge attack, in which the middle head lunges forward to attack you, and a slashing attack in which the King Black Dragon jumps and rends you with his claws.

His regular dragonfire hits higher than that of other dragons. His special dragonfire hits multiple times damages the player for 1-100 life points each hit, more if dragonfire protection is not used.

His toxic dragonfire poisons the player, starting at 80 damage. Antipoison is recommended unless using the Poison purge aura, which heals you instead of damaging you. His shock dragonfire reduces a player's stat randomly, decreasing by one point. His ice dragonfire freezes the player.

Recommended equipment
*Only should be used if the player is bringing super antifires.

*Only should be used if the player is bringing super antifires.

*Only should be used if the player is bringing super antifires.

Inventory
If flasks are unavailable, regular 4-dose potions may be used.
 * Emergency teleport
 * 1 Overload OR super/extreme potions
 * 1 Super antifire / Antifire
 * 1 Prayer renewal
 * 1 Antipoison++ (optional)
 * 4-6 Super restore / Prayer potion*
 * Rest of the inventory full of food such as rocktails / sharks
 * If using magic, runes for combat spells

The Void method (with SGS and Soul Split)
For this method, it is recommended that you have 90+ in ALL Melee combat stats (Attack, Strength, Defence and Constitution). Also, 85 Herblore is a must for using super antifires, and you will need at least 92 Prayer for Soul Split.


 * Helm: Superior void knight melee helm > Void melee helm


 * Body: Superior elite void knight top > Elite void knight top > Void knight top


 * Legs: Superior elite void knight robe > Elite void knight robe > Void knight robe
 * Gloves: Superior void knight gloves > Void knight gloves


 * Weapon: Saradomin godsword


 * Other equip slots: See above


 * Note: If available use void armour upgraded to superior elite versions.

Inventory

 * Super antifire/Super antifire flask.


 * Note: Bring 1-4 pieces of food if you are unsure about this method as it could be fatal to less experienced players. But all you NEED is the Super antifire.
 * Shield if using Rejuvenate.

Ability setup
The following ability bar setup is for generating as much adrenaline as possible:

The fight
Start by drinking a dose of super antifire and head down the lair. Turn on Soul Split and start attacking.

The most common combo with this setup would be: Slice, Punish, Slice, Smash, Slice, Backhand, Slice, Fury, Slice. Always go back to Slice after you've used another ability. Do NOT use Assault or Sever until after you have used Berserk. Once you have 100% Adrenaline, use Berserk. Berserk increases the damage you do to the target by 100% but also increases the damage taken by 50%, but with the use of Soul Split and the Saradomin godsword your healing will be greater than the damage you take. After Berserk use Sever and then go back to the original combo, get 50% adrenaline and use Assault. Assault strikes the target three times, each hit capable of hitting over 5000+ with Berserk and Void knight armour. This should bring the dragon to about 10-20% health, finish off with the other abilities.

Using this method you will NEVER run out of Prayer points because of the Saradomin godsword's passive effect or special attack.

Without food or potions
An alternative method for those with 75+ Defense and ~80 in their chosen combat stat is to use a combination of a full set of Warpriest armour, a Dragonfire shield, and tier 70 or 75 weapons. The Idea of this strategy is to use Resonance, Reflect, and Rejuvenate/Guthix's Blessing as your sole method of healing. with those abilities in play, each kill should leave a player with roughly 1/3 of their Health left, at which point the player simply deposits their most recent drops into the bank in Edgeville, then runs back to the artefact to return to the lair, by which time the KBD should have just respawned, ready to be fought again. Some mid-level healing should be brought as a backup in the event of taking more damage than expected.

Tips and tricks

 * Sometimes you will get below 50% health when the dragon hits more accurately for a short period of time, when this happens use Guthix's Blessing or Rejuvenate. This can be done every 5 min.
 * To save prayer (if needed) turn off Soul Split just when you have used assault or whenever you have full health.
 * Should you for some reason run out of Prayer, there is a monastery just a few steps south of the lair where you can refill your Prayer points. If you are low on health, run to the Edgeville bank and your health will replenish after a few seconds, if done right after a kill, you can make it back before it spawns again.
 * One super antifire is enough for one inventory, most likely three doses will do.
 * You can have a total damage bonus of 40% if using a berserker necklace and obsidian weapon, using a black mask/slayer helmet when on a slayer task and by running through the wilderness. This will bring the damage of such weapons as the Toktz-xil-ak to 1029 and the TzHaar-ket-om to 1877; which is more damage than the chaotic maul.
 * Do not panic if you die. Should that happen, as long as your gravestone is at least Ornate, you will be able to easily retrieve your items. Go to the Grand Exchange (or your bank) and retrieve a second anti-dragon shield, food, some method of teleportation, and an antifire potion if you wish. Then, simply drink your antifire, equip the shield, set the food to a keybind, and re-enter. Do not try and fight the dragon, just click on your gravestone, click the option "Equip All" and teleport out. Should he hit you, just eat some food. Once you have left, take a moment to recollect for another attempt, should you wish to try again.