Upgrading your tools and armor is a key part of progressing in Runescape: Dragonwilds, and iron is one of the first major steps up from bronze. In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know: from where to find iron ore and how to mine it, to smelting it into bars and crafting powerful gear.
How to Get Iron
If you’re looking to get iron ore for upgrading your tools in Runescape Dragon Wild, here’s what you need to do. First, head over to the Stormtouched Highlands. Be warned though, it’s constantly storming there, and you can get struck by lightning, so stay alert.
Wearing bronze armor can help reduce the damage you take while exploring this area. Once you’re in the area, explore along the cliffsides. That’s where you’ll typically find mineral veins. Iron ore here looks a lot like copper, just a little darker, so keep your eyes on it.
Tools to Mine Iron
You will need upgraded tools to mine iron because base tools won’t cut it. But if you’re properly equipped, you can collect a good amount of iron from this area. You’ll need either a Bronze Pickaxe or some Rocksplosion charges to mine it.
Just be aware: the enemies here are significantly tougher than what you’ve faced before, especially if it’s your first time hunting for iron. The safest approach is to stick to the cliffsides and look for visible veins, sometimes you’ll even find double veins right on the mountain’s edge.
Avoid mining at night if you can. The iron blends in with the rocks even during the day, and it’s nearly impossible to spot in the dark. Ideally, arrive during daylight hours, or use a bed to rest beforehand.
Smelt Your Iron Bars and Start Smithing
Once you’ve mined your iron, all you need to make iron bars is the ore itself and charcoal. Toss both into a furnace and you’re ready to smith. When it comes to crafting tools and weapons, use the smithing anvil. Iron gear is a big step up. It offers almost a 60% increase in weapon damage compared to bronze, and a noticeable improvement in armor stats too.
Remember to craft items in RuneScape: Dragonwilds, you’ll first need to smelt iron into bars using a furnace. You can build a furnace with these materials:
- 24 Stone
- 8 Clay
- 4 Charcoal
- 10 Fire Runes
- 8 Vault Shards
Once your furnace is ready, you’ll be all set to start smelting.
Find Vault Shards and Hard Leather for Armor
For armor, you’ll also need hard leather and vault shards. Vault shards are found in dungeons, which are scattered all over the map. You can identify them by blue symbols. Use the teleport pads in front of these dungeons to get around efficiently.
To make hard leather, you’ll need a tannery. Just combine regular leather with adhesive. You can get adhesive from the Whispering Swamp. Collect the muck or swamp tar from the ground there, put it in a kiln, and it’ll turn into adhesive. Once you have that, you’re all set to craft some solid iron armor.
