This guide explains the methods, strategies, and lessons learned from a successful hunt on OSRS.

Why the Dragon Axe Matters

The Dragon Axe is a significant upgrade over the Rune Axe. Its special attack increases your Woodcutting level by three, making it invaluable for training the skill efficiently. For anyone planning to pursue 99 Woodcutting, this axe should be a priority.

Known Sources of the Dragon Axe

There are two primary sources for the Dragon Axe:

Wintertodt – A skilling boss minigame focused on Firemaking

Dagannoth Kings – A trio boss encounter in Waterbirth Island

Each method has distinct advantages and challenges, especially for Ironman accounts.

Method One: Wintertodt

Overview

Wintertodt is a relatively straightforward minigame. You cut logs from a central tree, light them, and feed a brazier. The brazier shoots fire at the Wintertodt, damaging it. After each game, you earn points that can be used to open supply crates. The Dragon Axe is a possible reward from these crates.

Drop Rate Considerations

The exact drop rate is not known when playing unguided. Community discussion suggests approximately 1 in 10,000, though this cannot be verified without external sources. Regardless, the rate is very low.

Strategy

The most efficient approach is to play on mass worlds where many players participate together. This allows for a more AFK experience. You should open crates every 20 or so points rather than saving them all, as this provides incremental chances at the axe.

Solo Wintertodt

Solo play is possible but not recommended for axe hunting. While you receive more rewards per game (approximately five versus two to three in group games), each game takes about 10 minutes compared to four to five minutes in groups. The solo method is significantly more click-intensive and less AFK. The effort-to-reward ratio does not favor solo play for this purpose.

Results from Testing

Training from 81 to 99 Firemaking at Wintertodt and opening 220 reward crates yielded no Dragon Axe. While this method provides excellent Firemaking experience and useful supplies like seeds and burnt pages, it is not a reliable way to obtain the axe. If you choose this route, do so primarily for the XP and consider any axe drop a bonus.

Method Two: Dagannoth Kings

The Challenge

The Dagannoth Kings are widely considered one of the most intimidating bosses in OSRS. There are three kings, each using a different combat style:

Supreme (green) – Uses Ranged attacks

Prime (red) – Uses Magic attacks

Rex (blue) – Uses Melee attacks

Each king is also weak to a specific combat style. Additionally, reaching the kings requires navigating a labyrinth of tunnels filled with dangerous monsters.

Required Items for Access

You need two specific items to reach the Dagannoth Kings:

Pet rock – Used to open the first door

Rune throwing axe – Used to destroy a door support (requires a special attack)

Rune throwing axes are particularly problematic because they cannot be crafted and have limited sources. You have exactly as many trips as you have axes. In testing, 50 axes were found in the bank with no memory of where they came from, providing a hard limit of 50 attempts.

The Route to the Kings

Teleport to Camelot (or use the Fishing Guild cape teleport)

Walk to Rellekka and board the boat to Waterbirth Island

Navigate through the cave system using the pet rock and rune throwing axe

Avoid or tank attacks from Wallasalkis (Magic users) and other Dagannoths

Find the safe spot by the ladder where you can peek into the arena

Climb down the standard ladder (not the slayer ladder)

The entire journey takes approximately 10 minutes each way. You will need to wait for run energy to replenish during the trip.

Monster Examine Information

Using the Monster Examine spell provides crucial information about each king:

Supreme – Weak to Melee. Has 35% Earth weakness but high defensive stats.

Prime – Weak to Ranged. Also has Earth weakness.

Rex – Weak to Magic. Has zero Magic defense, making Earth spells particularly effective.

None of the kings use protection prayers, so you do not need to worry about prayer penetration. The challenge is purely about their defensive bonuses and attack styles.

The Rex Safe Spot Strategy

The most reliable method for camping the Dagannoth Kings is to focus exclusively on Rex using a safe spot. This approach preserves your limited rune throwing axes by extending trip length.

Setup for Rex camping:

Wear high defensive tank armor. You will be taking damage from the small creatures around the arena, so defense matters more than magic damage bonus.

Bring super antipoisons rather than regular antipoisons. Poison damage accumulates significantly over long trips.

Use Blood spells (Blood Blitz or Blood Barrage) to heal through the damage you take.

Bring minimal food – five sharks is sufficient when using Blood spells for healing.

How to set up the Rex safe spot:

Enter the arena praying Protect from Magic

Kill Supreme (the ranger) first using Melee

Kill Prime (the mage) using Ranged while the ranger is down

Lure Rex to the southern side of the arena

Run to the northern side to get him stuck on the terrain

Once Rex is stuck in the safe spot, he cannot damage you. You can kill him repeatedly as he respawns every 90 seconds. The small spinolyps around the arena will continue to attack you, but Blood spells provide enough healing to sustain indefinitely.

Expected Kill Rates

The Rex safe spot method yields approximately 18 kills per hour. This is relatively slow but highly sustainable. Over a six-hour session, 200 kills were achieved. This produced multiple unique drops including a Warrior Ring and Fremennik Blades, but no Dragon Axe.

The Slayer Task Breakthrough

The key to finally obtaining the Dragon Axe came from using a Slayer task. The Slayer helm provides a 15% accuracy and damage bonus against your assigned task.

How to get a Dagannoth task:

Purchase the Boss Slayer reward from Duradel (costs Slayer points)

Cancel tasks until you receive a Dagannoth task

Note that Dagannoth Kings count as Dagannoths for Slayer tasks

Each task cancellation costs 30 Slayer points. Testing required cancelling dozens of tasks before receiving a Dagannoth assignment.

The Successful Kill

With the Slayer task active, the approach changed to killing Supreme directly rather than safe spotting Rex. On only the eighth kill of Supreme, the Dragon Axe dropped. After over 200 kills of Rex with no success, switching strategies produced the axe almost immediately.

Critical Lessons Learned

Blood Runes Are a Limiting Factor

Blood spells consume blood runes rapidly. Each Blood Blitz cast costs 2 death runes and 4 blood runes. A long camping session can consume thousands of blood runes. If you run out, you have three options:

Leave and restock

Purchase blood runes (not viable for Ironmen)

Craft your own blood runes

Crafting Blood Runes

At 77 Runecrafting, you can craft blood runes. The most effective method involves:

Mining dense essence blocks in the Arceuus region

Venerating them at the Dark Altar to create dark essence fragments

Chiseling fragments into dark essence blocks

Running to the Blood Altar to craft the runes

This activity requires 73 Agility to use the shortcut that makes the route efficient. Without it, you must run the long way around each time. The method is a good blend of AFK and active gameplay, yielding approximately 200 blood runes per inventory.

Agility Training at the Colossal Worm Course

The Colossal Worm Agility course in Varlamore offers approximately 50,000 XP per hour, similar to the Seers' Village rooftop course but significantly more AFK. It requires fewer clicks and longer intervals between actions, making it one of the most tolerable Agility training methods. It takes roughly three levels (from 70 to 73) to unlock the blood rune crafting shortcut.

The Danger of Gravestones

If you die at the Dagannoth Kings, your gravestone appears inside the boss arena. You have 15 minutes to retrieve it. Without food, armor, or potions, attempting to recover your items is extremely dangerous. If you die again before retrieval, your items go to Death's Office, where you can pay to reclaim them. Always keep a teleport option available.

Final Recommendations

If you want the Dragon Axe efficiently:

Skip Wintertodt for axe hunting. Train Firemaking there for XP, not for the axe.

Get a Slayer task for Dagannoths before attempting the kings.

Bring the Slayer helm for the 15% damage and accuracy boost.

Kill Supreme (the ranger) rather than safe spotting Rex. The drop rate may be similar, but the kills are faster and less tedious.

Prepare blood runes in advance. Expect to use thousands.

If you must safe spot Rex:

Bring super antipoisons, not regular antipoisons

Use tank armor over magic damage gear

Bring Blood spells for healing

Accept that you may need hundreds of kills

The Dragon Axe is obtainable. It requires patience, preparation, and willingness to adapt strategies when one approach fails. After months of training, nearly 200 Rex kills, 99 Firemaking, 94 Magic, 73 Agility, and 77 Runecrafting, the axe finally dropped on the eighth Supreme kill with a Slayer task active. Persistence pays off. If you ever need to supplement your gear or supplies without spending countless hours grinding, you can always buy OSRS gold from trusted vendors, and for a reliable and fast service, I recommend rsgoldfast, which helps you focus on the content you enjoy most while keeping your account well-equipped.