Method Description, Instructions and Tips for Success

General Description

Like all colored dragons, black dragons are popular monsters for making money, since they give two valuable guaranteed drops on each kill: black dragonhide and dragon bones. In addition, they are the only color-coded dragon that has a chance to drop the much coveted draconic visage (as does the King Black Dragon). The visage is an extremely rare drop, which I estimate at about 1 in 10,000 kills, but if you do get lucky it can be a big boost to your pocketbook!

Black dragons are traditionally ranged, because they hit very hard and have high melee defence. However, the fastest way to kill them is actually using Veracs. This used to be impractically expensive because of the need to use Protection from Magic constantly to prevent high hits from dragonfire, but the new super antifire potions have changed the equation entirely. It is now possible to get a good 25% more kills per hour using Veracs with the Piety prayer and food, and that's what I recommend at extremely high levels. This is dangerous and the benefits are much less at lower levels, so stick with ranging there.

The best place to fight black dragons is the Evil Chicken's Lair in Zanaris. To get there you must complete the Sir Amik Varze portion of the quest Recipe for Disaster. This spot is good because there are four dragons here (as opposed to two in Taverley Dungeon) and the bank is much closer. Crowds used to be a big problem there, but this has become less of an issue recently.

Note that since you are ranging from a safe spot, you can fight without an anti-dragon shield; an unholy book gives you a better Ranged bonus. I recommend bringing one with, though, so you can swap it in when you need to grab drops or if the need arises for other reasons.

Specific Method Details

Start by going to Zanaris and equipping the best ranging gear you have. I recommend taking adamant bolts and enchanted emerald bolts. Lesser bolts actually cost you money, effectively, because you get fewer kills per hour. Take out of the bank a raw chicken, spirit terrorbird pouch, 4-dose ranging potion and a handful of cheap food like salmon (in case of accidents, and they do happen).

Run east to the Evil Chicken's shrine. Put on Protection from Magic (to cut down on damage if you get blasted) and use the raw chicken on the altar. Run just northeast and set up among the rocks leading to the small mine there. You may need to worldhop if someone is already around.

Turn off your prayer, equip the emerald bolts (e) and attack the dragon nearest you. You may run up a bit as you do; if so, run back so you don't get blasted. Once the dragon is poisoned switch to the addy bolts. Continue until it is dead and pick up its drops. There are two dragons you can fight from this spot; one of them tends to wander north quite a ways so you may need to chase it a bit. Summon the terrorbird when you need it to store extra drops.

Each trip should last about 30 minutes; when done, bank and repeat.