Runescape: All Hail the King Blad Dragon Graphical Rework

The updates at Runescape continue to fly fast and furious.  This week the King Black Dragon got a makeover.  I've always had a soft spot for him.  Once upon a time he was king of the hill, now he's one of the weakest boss monsters.
Back when the wilderness did not have PVP, I used to enjoy trekking out to his site and camping every now and then.  I seriously wanted the stuffed head for my player-owned-house.  Just a couple of days before the return of PVP, he dropped the head.  It was an awesome feeling.  I like dragons in general.  As far as I'm concerned, the KBD stuffed head is the best in the game.  Sure, the Abyssal Demon stuffed head is pretty cool.  And the Kalphite Queen mounted head is a neat accomplishment, though I don't really like the head itself.  But the KBD heads are the best wall-mounted trophy that can be mounted in a player's home.

Since I really dislike PVP (nothing against players who like it, but it's not my cup of tea...) it was very nice to get the drop before player-vs-player came back.  I haven't been back since then.  Now with the update, Edgeville has a shortcut to the King's lair.  Right behind the monastery, there's an artefact (that's how it's spelled in-game) kind of half-buried in the ground.  It'll teleport you directly to the KBD's lair.  Pretty awesome!

If you get there the hard way, through the wilderness, you get a 10% bonus to your attack damage.  But that's okay.  He's not that hard to take down.  I'd rather just teleport and skip the long trek.

It was pretty exciting gearing back up for him.  Ever since Jagex mentioned he'd be getting an update, I've been eager for it.  It makes sense that a lot of other people are interested too.  Especially since he's been given an improved drop table, and two unique drops listed as "best in class" for prayer bonus.

And yes, there were plenty of other players there.  They seemed like a friendly bunch, smiles, waves, and greetings.  What I didn't expect, was the InstaKill Darts.  Remember those?  Sizzling Summer, members for all of August and September got some pretty amazing bonuses.

Well, as fast as the King showed up, he was dead.  Appear, spin around, flop over.  I think MAYBE I got to hit him once.  Not entirely certain about that.  Guess it might be smart to wait for the excitement to die down.  And people to use up their InstaKill Darts.  Then maybe try again.

But for the brief moments he was there, he looked awesome!  Great graphical rework.  Really caught the spirit and gave him personality.

New Stuffed and Mounted Head

Wish I could say the same about the stuffed and mounted King Black Dragon head, though.  The ONE head that's on my wall now looks very cool.  But where the heck are his other two heads?  Very disappointing.

Old Stuffed and Mounted Head (talking to baby black dragon)

Even more disappointing is the conversation.  The old conversation was funny.  It had tons of personality and attitude.  He was the King, and even as a stuffed and mounted head, he was still convinced of it.  A bit dense, but very likable.  He even had two possible conversations, for a little variety.

The new head has a new conversation.  Only one.  No  variety.  They've made him sound far more intelligent, and very obnoxious.  I liked the old KBD.  The new one is a jerk.  In all fairness, if I was a disembodied head hanging on the wall, I might be obnoxious too.

Another one of those gain something, lose something, situations.  The actual dragon looks spiffy.  Much improved.  The stuffed and mounted head looks good as far as the one head goes... but I miss seeing all three, and the fun interaction they all had.