Dragonfire shield

The dragonfire shield is an upgraded Anti-dragon shield, and widely considered one of the best shields in the game, after the Elysian spirit shield and Dinh's bulwark. A Defence level of at least 75 is required in order to wear it. The shield offers two special characteristics: it acts like a regular anti-dragon shield in terms of dragonfire protection, and it also protects against Skeletal Wyverns, similar to the elemental and mind shields.

The Dragonfire shield is unique in terms of Defence it gives. When it's "uncharged", it is tradeable and offers slightly more defences than a mithril sq shield. However, when fully charged, it is one of the best shields in the game.

To charge the shield, you will need to absorb dragonfire attacks while wearing it. Every absorption effectively increases its defences by +1, to a peak of a +50 Defence increase. However, its Magic Defence will remain the same.

Creation
The dragonfire shield is created by attaching a draconic visage to an anti-dragon shield at any anvil. The process requires 90 Smithing and a hammer, giving 2,000 Smithing experience and an uncharged dragonfire shield. Players who do not have the required Smithing level to make the shield can go to Oziach in Edgeville, who will smith the shield for any player at a cost of 1,250,000 coins.

The draconic visage is dropped by most high-level dragons, including black dragons, iron dragons, steel dragons, mithril dragons, skeletal wyverns, King Black Dragon and lava dragons. However, green dragons, blue dragons, red dragons, bronze dragons, brutal green dragons, and all baby dragons do not drop the draconic visage.

Charging
As it absorbs the dragonfire attacks of adult dragons, the dragonfire shield builds charges. The shield can also be charged by absorbing the breath attacks of skeletal wyverns, although it will still discharge dragonfire. Each breath attack gives the shield one charge, and each charge increases its Melee and Ranged defensive bonuses by +1. The shield can hold up to 50 charges, giving a total bonus of +50 to Melee and Ranged defences, in addition to the shield's base Defence bonuses. The Inspect option, while the shield is in the inventory, can be used to check its current number of charges. When fully charged, the dragonfire shield surpasses most shields in the game for Melee and Ranged Defence, although the fully charged crystal shield provides higher Ranged Defence.

A quick and efficient way to charge an uncharged dragonfire shield is to be attacked by a metal dragon's long-range dragonfire attack, which is not only quicker than a chromatic dragon's attacks, but also will not include Melee attacks. Use of food or an antifire potion is recommended due to the fact that 50 dragonfire attacks, even significantly weakened by the dragonfire shield, can build up and cause substantial damage. Food isn't necessary with an antifire potion.

Additionally, there are two ways to charge a dragonfire shield in complete safety.

The fastest way to recharge the dragonfire shield is by recharging it in the Catacombs. If entered at the center using the Teleport to Kourend spell, just run directly north to the iron dragons. You can let yourself be hit by the two iron dragons and the bronze dragon there. It will take less than 1 minute to get 50 charges if none of the dragons are in melee range, but be sure to bring an antifire with you.
 * 1) Elvarg in the Nightmare Zone by setting up a Practice dream. Requires completion of Dragon Slayer.
 * 2) A steel dragon in a player-owned house's Treasure Room. If not using another player's POH, it costs 10,000,000 coins (10M) to build, and requires 95 Construction.

Discharging
During Combat, the dragonfire shield can expend one charge to unleash a blast of dragonfire at one target, which can hit approximately 25 damage. This attack can only be used once every two minutes, and each expended charge reduces the shield's Melee and Ranged defensive bonuses by one. Note: you do not have to use these attacks, as it does lower the shields defensive bonuses per attack. The dragonfire attack follows the standard rules for dragonfire; it will be less effective against a target that has resistance to dragonfire, such as a player that used an antifire potion and/or an anti-dragon shield or dragonfire shield. Furthermore, the dragonfire attack will not work against chromatic dragons, skeletal wyverns and some boss monsters, although metal dragons are vulnerable to it. The dragonfire attack can be used at range (up to 10 squares away) and over obstacles, after which the user will initiate a normal attack with their equipped weapon, if possible. The damage splat is rolled with accordance to the user's Defence level and target's Magic Defence bonus. When used upon an NPC, Magic, Defence and HP experience is gained; however, when used upon another player, only Defence experience is gained.

Players can drain all of the dragonfire shield's charges at once by right-clicking the shield in the inventory and selecting Empty. This will release all of the shield's charges in a harmless burst. This function is useful when selling or trading the shield, as it can only be traded when completely uncharged.

Also, if dropped on death in an unsafe environment, when recovered, the dragonfire shield will be completely uncharged.