RuneScape: Dragonwilds Dragon Slayer and Velgar

Dragon Slayer is the early-game campaign, not a side quest you can ignore. The Wise Old Man in Bramblemead sends you after General Velgar, the poison dragon that harasses the valley and answers to Dragon Queen Kuldra. You follow Cathan’s trail through a goblin castle, a swamp vault, and Garou land, then you craft a horn and pick a fight on purpose. Finish this quest and Fellhollow opens. Skip it and you stay in bronze-and-iron country forever.

The region walkthrough is the road. This page is the horn, the altar, and the three attack tells. RuneScape: Dragonwilds entered Steam Early Access on 15 April 2025 with Velgar in the live build. Kuldra and the Scorned Wilderness raid are scheduled with 1.0 on 15 September 2026; they are a different fight, covered on the Kuldra page.

Quest path before the horn

Talk to the Wise Old Man in Bramblemead after First Steps. Hunt a deer and bring an antler when he asks. Storm the goblin castle and read Cathan’s journal. Inspect the blue-flame door in Whispering Swamp, then talk to Spitfoot in the lever room of that Dragonkin vault. The swamp vault is also where the Anti-Dragon Shield recipe lives, so full-clear it rather than snatching one core and leaving. Details on flags and cores sit in the vaults guide.

Push into Fractured Plains, clear the Garou in Velgar’s Rise, and speak to Cathan’s ghost. The ghost hands you the Challenge Horn recipe. That is the point of no return on preparation, not on the fight. You still need iron, a tooth, and sap.

How to defeat Velgar and craft the Challenge Horn

Challenge Horn recipe

Craft the horn on a smithing anvil / smithing forge:

• 5 Bronze Bars
• 1 Dragon Tooth
• 1 Bloodwood Sap

Bronze bars are tin plus copper from the Fractured Plains, smelted in an unroofed furnace. The Dragon Tooth is on dragon carcasses in Stormtouched Highlands; you need an iron pickaxe to pull it. Bloodwood Sap comes from the Bloodwood tree in Bloodblight Swamp. The horn is a one-craft item you can reuse if Velgar wipes you. Do not vendor it. Do not leave it in a chest two lodestones away.

Place the horn on the Dragonkin Altar at the top of Velgar’s Rise in the Fractured Plains. That summons him. There is no accidental pull. If you are on the stairs eating potatoes, you are still safe.

Power Level 4 iron and antipoison

Velgar is a Power Level 4 fight. Ironplate armour and an iron (or better) weapon are the expected floor. Bronze can tag him; bronze will not forgive a missed evade. Bring the Anti-Dragon Shield if you have the blightwood and core to finish it. Melee players should still expect a worse time than ranged or magic because claw slam and poison breath punish anyone who stays in front of the mouth. A melee build can win with Parry, Tempest Shield, and discipline. It is not the easy lane.

Craft antipoison at a brewing cauldron: Harralander, Bittercap mushroom, clay vessel. Both herbs grow in Whispering Swamp. Drink it before you place the horn. If the first poison breath lands while the potion is still in the bag, the fight is already over. Bring extras, plus food that heals through the puddles. Windstep helps when meteors delete the floor you were standing on.

Check the weapons tier list for the best iron-and-steel sticks you actually have. Do not bring a Bone Club to a dragon. Do not bring a grey bronze sword because the name has “sword” in it.

Attack tells

Velgar repeats three patterns and they get worse as health drops.

Poison breath. A cone of blight. If antipoison is up, this is a positioning problem. If it is not, this is a wipe. Sidestep, do not tank with your face.

Claw slam plus spikes. He slams the ground, stuns anyone who did not block or evade, then spikes erupt and chase. Tempest Shield and a real evade window (Ctrl, or B on a pad) are the answers. The spike count rises after each flight.

Poison meteors. He takes off and rains blight rocks. Dodge the impacts and do not stand in the puddles they leave. This is the phase ranged and mage love, because the hitbox is in the air and you are not eating claws. Melee players should use the meteor phase to drink, not to greedy extra swings on empty stone.

Stay mobile. Do not greed a full special animation through a slam. In a 1–4 player group, split so not everyone shares the same spike. Call the flight so the group looks up.

Rewards and what opens next

Kill him. Loot Velgar’s Head. Take the Tome of the Dragon Slayer for 500 XP in Attack, Ranged, and Magic. The Anti-Dragon Shield path, Dragon Visage / Noxious Draconic Visage, and the Dragonblight Shield upgrade sit on this kill. Turn the head in to the Wise Old Man. Fellhollow unlocks. Steel is next, then mithril in Dowdun Reach, then the desert.

Velgar is Kuldra’s general, not the final boss of Ashenfall. Treat the tome XP as a combat bump, upgrade to steel, and keep the walkthrough moving. When you are ready for the God-Eater, the Kuldra guide is prep for a raid that is still on the 1.0 calendar, not a second Velgar with a new coat of paint.