Method Description, Instructions and Tips for Success

General Description

Blue dragon scales are ground with a mortar and pestle to make dragon scale dust for antifire potions, and are always in demand. They can only be obtained from spawns in the blue dragon room of Taverley Dungeon; there are three adult blue dragons in this area, as well as a number of baby dragons, so it is a somewhat dangerous place, and also a bit of a hassle to get to.

At one time, the danger involved in this gathering method was greatly tempered by the fact that the Taverley blue dragon area was constantly busy with players fighting over the dragons; you didn't need to worry about getting attacked by them very much because there were always players waiting around for the spawns. This is no longer the case, and so players -- especially newer ones -- need to be very careful when performing this activity. I have greatly revised my methods for gathering blue dragon scales based on my tests that show even high-level players can take a significant amount of damage while collecting the scales, despite wearing armor. I now therefore recommend this task only for mid-level and higher players, and I believe the preferred method is to use protection from melee with prayer enhancing gear and antifire potion doses. This removes the risk inherent in this method, eliminates the need for healing, and allows players to wear lighter gear to conserve run energy. The major drawback is that you need to restore prayer regularly; the best way to do so is to teleport to your house after each run, restore prayer on an altar in your house, and then go through a Falador portal.

At level 70 you can use the shortcut from the dungeon entrance right to the blue dragons area, which greatly increases the number of scales you can get per hour. Higher level players also don't need to recharge prayer nearly as frequently, which saves time and allows them to get slightly more scales per hour that way as well.

I do not recommend that player with low level skills attempt this activity.

Specific Method Details

Go to a world that is at least half full -- the more players the better (as long as someone else isn't already collecting scales, of course.) Start at Falador West bank, wearing boots of lightness and a spotted cape to reduce weight, an anti-dragon shield to protect against breath attacks, and a Proselyte hauberk, monk's robe bottom and god stole to boost Prayer. (Exact equipment doesn't matter as long as it has decent prayer bonuses and is not too heavy.)

Take out from the bank a stack of house teleport tablets, a spirit terrorbird pouch, 3 Tireless Run scrolls, your dusty key or steel key ring, and an antifire potion of any size. Summon the terrorbird, and take a sip of the antifire potion and put the remainder (or empty vial) back in the bank. Set your quick prayer to protection from melee.

Run southwest from the bank, hop the wall and run northwest to the dungeon entrance. Enter, go through the gate, then follow the normal path past the magic axes, chaos dwarves and lesser demons to the gate leading to the blue dragons. Use the familiar's scrolls as needed to avoid falling back to walking. Use your key/keyring on the gate to enter, then go a bit west to where the dragon scales are on the ground. Turn on protection from melee.

Start picking up dragon scales, concentrating on the "triangle" of three scales located near the center of the lair. With your prayer and antifire potion you are immune from damage and can completely ignore the dragons, focusing on the task at hand. Be sure to also keep an eye out for valuable drops left behind by other players -- gems, good herbs and even stacks of water runes are surprisingly common.

When your inventory is full, put 12 dragon scales into the terrorbird, then pick up 12 more. Hit your house teletab, turn off your prayer, and go to your altar to recharge. Then go through your Falador portal, run southwest to the bank, store the scales and repeat the process. You can do around 11 trips per hour.