Antifires
- A quick guide on Antifire Potions and their general usefulness -
DISCLAIMER: This guide is less of a "how-to" and more of a "what to expect." This is also my first guide so any sort of feedback on it is appreciated.
The Basics:Antifire potions were introduced into the game on
October 9th, 2015. They serve as a sort of "consumable stepping stone" between the Anti-Dragon Shield and the Dragonfire Shield, providing the player with more dragonfire protection than the former but less dragonfire protection than the latter. Each sip of an Antifire potion provides the player with 5 minutes of dragonfire protection, with a 4-dose potion lasting for a total of 20 minutes. Unlike potions that modify a player's stats, the dragonfire protection provided by an Antifire potion is constant and does not weaken as its duration decreases, similar to the effects of an Antipoison.
To create an Antifire potion, the player must have
81 Herblore. Optional skills also include
73 Farming and/or
1 to 82 Slayer. Each Antifire potion made, including cleaning the herb and creating the unfinished potion, yields 1,135 Herblore experience. The ingredients required are
Lantadymes and
Dragon Scale Dust. Players can recieve Lantadymes as drops from various monsters or can grow their own via Farming. Dragon Scale Dust is created by crushing Blue Dragon Scales with a Pestle and Mortar. Players can receive Blue Dragon Scales as drops from Blue Dragons or can pick them up as world drops in the Barbarian or Rimmington/Catherby Dungeons.
Usage & Effectiveness:As stated earlier, the strength of Antifire potions' dragonfire protection lies in between that of the A-DS and the DFS; however, their niche is that the protection that these potions provide to the player stacks with the shields. A player can achieve roughly the same amount of dragonfire protection of the DFS with an A-DS and an Antifire potion.
Additionally, if used with the DFS instead, Antifire potions can push the player's overall dragonfire protection to around that of a second DFS. This can be particularly useful against some of the stronger dragons like Mithril or Obsidian dragons and KBD.
However, where I see their overall usefulness in PvM is their allowance for players to use other means of weaponry against dragons which the shields would otherwise prevent. With Antifire potions, players do not have to worry about equipping an A-DS or DFS and be stuck using a one-handed weapon so long as the gear they use provides decent defensive bonuses or the player uses protection prayers to aid them in combat. Two-handed weapons like the Anger Weaponry or the Zamorakian Spear are now viable choices to boost a player's DPS and overall offensive effectiveness while the player still is able to block most of the dragonfire damage they would otherwise receive by using these weapons against dragons. They also allow players who use weapons like the Saradomin Godsword to safely use a special attack without having to worry about taking any possible damage from dragonfire by unequipping their shield. Alternatively, other shields like Spirit Shields or off-hand items like Defenders become viable options to use, allowing players to benefit from higher offensive and defensive bonuses as well as possible increased damage soaking.
There are still some drawbacks to these potions, however. As a potion, the boosts they provide are limited, so players will have to be mindful of watching the remaining duration of their dragonfire protection. Additionally, the dragonfire protection Antifire potions provide is much shorter than most stat boosts that other potions give the player, usually requiring the player to take multiple potions which can take up inventory space. On their own, the potions are still weaker than a DFS and become redundant should a player not be able to improve their DPS and offensive effectiveness enough in combat.
Regardless, Antifire potions are a nice way for players who might not have access to a DFS or have trouble killing dragons to receive better, cheaper temporary protection during combat. They also open up many more options for usable weapons and gear for players, improving their damage output. These potions generally seem to be underappreciated for the strength and utility that they provide, so I hope that this guide might help players get a better understanding of just how much strength they do have.
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