Introduction
We will be covering Dragon Strategies in LoL and everything you need to know about them to go up in ranks and increase your elo.
Sometimes the dragon mechanics in League of Legends might get confusing, especially if you are a beginner, because of all the different souls and buffs. Currently, there are five dragons on the Rift that will give different strengths to a team. Other team compositions will benefit more from a particular dragon buff. Here is a guide that teaches all about the dragons in League of Legends and several strategies to have better team fights in Summoner’s Rift.
Dragon Spawn Mechanics
If you are not aware, the dragon spawns in Summoner’s Rift has random elements. Sometimes, three ocean drakes might spawn, and occasionally, infernal drakes spawn once in a game. Do not expect to get the dragon that you want, but of course, the enemy team might get an element that is favorable to them because of the randomness of the spawn.
Nevertheless, the dragon is an essential objective in League of Legends, so try your best to kill it no matter the element.
A team will unlock an elemental soul once they have slain four total dragons. The last dragon they have killed will grant a different soul for each element.
The Dragon in League of Legends spawns every 5 minutes, so the first drake will spawn at 5:00. If your team wants to know what the next Drake element will be, you can check it by pressing the tab on your keyboard and bringing up your scoreboard. You can also try checking the pit since the next element will show as a logo inside it.
The elemental dragon will spawn after killing four elemental drakes. It is stronger than the normal dragons, but it has a much more impactful reward and buff that can change the game’s outcome. Every type of dragon will be discussed further below, as well as the best strategies for each of them.
Infernal Dragon
This dragon grants bonus attack damage (AD) and ability power (AP) when killed. The bonus stacks as 4/8/12/16 percent per team. Any team composition will benefit from this elemental dragon because every champion can use the additional firepower. Even though the first stack only grants four attack damage and ability power, the next stacks will hugely help, especially during the mid-game and late game. Imagine having 16% bonus AD and AP on top of your ability power items, and the enemy team will not expect the damage that you will deal during team fights.
Furthermore, the infernal dragon soul is also a powerful buff that any team should have. Whenever anyone that has the infernal dragon soul attacks or uses an ability on an enemy champion, it will trigger an area-of-effect (AOE) explosion that scales with adaptive damage equal to 80 + 22.5% bonus AD, plus 13.5% AP, and 2.75% bonus health. Overall, many might say that this is the best dragon soul of all because any champion will benefit from the bonus damage it gives. Not only that, but it is extremely useful during the late game because of the AOE damage that might affect the entire team.
Infernal Dragon Team Strategies
As mentioned previously, almost everyone will benefit from the buff of the infernal dragon, especially its soul buff. But the champions who have the most use for it will be the ones that strive to deal chip damage or poke, like Nidalee, Ezreal, or Syndra. Hitting a poke from these champions is punishing enough. Imagine when it deals bonus and AOE damage, the team fight will be over before it even started.
Nevertheless, prioritize the infernal dragon if it appears in the pit, no matter the situation. It is strong and can turn the tides of the match in all stages of the game.
Ocean Dragon
The Ocean dragon restores health every five seconds when killed. Like the infernal dragon, the bonus stacks 2.5/5/7.5/10 percent per team. The ocean dragon is more of a defensive type, unlike the infernal. It is also considered one of the strongest dragon buffs in the game, alongside the infernal dragon. It is also powerful in all stages of the Rift. Imagine having the power to sustain in lane without needing to recall even after receiving tons of damage. This is especially helpful for the top lane champions because of the huge health that can recover in just a matter of seconds.
On the other hand, the ocean dragon soul might be the strongest dragon soul in the game. Every time a champion with this buff damages an enemy, they heal 160 health and restore 80 mana, which is added with their 36% bonus AD, 25.5% bonus AP and 9% bonus health, which is a huge help for any situation.
Ocean Dragon Strategies
Some might say that the ocean dragon buff is not as flexible as the infernal, but the regeneration that it provides in the middle and late game is a huge bonus for every type of champion. Of course, some champions still need to recall in order to regain mana, but bruiser and tanky champions can soak more damage and make it harder for the enemy team to poke or initiate a team fight.
The ocean dragon soul is the best for sustain during team fights. The enemy will have a hard time bursting or cleaning up, especially when your whole team regenerates health and mana. Overall, like the infernal dragon soul, every team should prioritize this buff above anything else because of the value it provides.
Mountain Dragon
If the infernal dragon grants bonus firepower and the ocean dragon grants sustain, then the mountain dragon gives the whole team bonus tankiness by granting additional armor and magic resist. This dragon will grant 6/12/18/24 percent of armor and magic resist for every stack, and it is the most defensive buff in Summoner’s Rift. On paper, the bonus armor and magic resist are not that important to most team compositions, especially if they do not have that many tanky champions in the front line.
The mountain dragon soul grants a huge shield that soaks 200 damage that adds 18% of a champion’s bonus AD, 18% bonus AP, and 13% bonus health. Do not underestimate the power of the mountain dragon soul, it may not be as powerful as the ocean dragon or infernal dragon soul, but it still has its uses, especially during the later parts of the game.
Mountain Dragon Strategies
Of course, the carries might not benefit a lot from the mountain dragon and its soul buff because they are not the ones that will receive a lot of damage during team fights. But it is extremely useful for team compositions that have at least two bruisers or tanks. For instance, if the opposing team has an Ornn top lane and Dr. Mundo jungle, then it would be best to challenge the mountain dragon to prevent the enemy team from abusing their tankiness in the late game.
However, the ocean dragon soul is useful when going against assassins like Kha’zix or Zed. This will make it harder for the said champions to burst the backline because of the amount of shield that they will have from the soul. Still, protecting the backline will still be the main priority for the team, so having the mountain dragon soul might be unnecessary.
Cloud Dragon
Unlike the other dragon buffs, the cloud drake grants bonus movement speed for the team that slains it. The buff stacks for a bonus of 3.5/7/10.5/14 percent slow resistance and out-of combat movement speed. It might be the least valuable dragon buff in the game, it is not worthless per se, but not all champions will benefit from the cloud dragon buff.
On the other hand, the cloud dragon soul will grant a 10% bonus movement speed that increases to 60% for 6 seconds to champions that cast their ultimate ability. Like the cloud dragon buff, the soul is also not that valuable, which is why most teams do not prioritize getting these.
Cloud Dragon Strategies
Do not think that killing an important objective will not bring value to the team because, of course, having the cloud dragon buff is still helpful for certain situations. The out of combat movement speed boost is extremely beneficial for junglers that lack overall map movement, like Master Yi and Vi. It is also great for laners to return to their lanes in a short period, but good recall timings will often fix this problem.
On the other hand, the ocean dragon soul is not that helpful, per se. But, it still has its uses. For example, Nasus and Olaf will have an easier time closing the gap when trying to reach the enemy carries once they cast their ultimate. But outside of that, it is not that useful for any team composition.
Hextech Dragon
The newest addition to the dragon lineup in League of Legends, the hextech dragon, will grant a buff that gives bonus ability haste and attack speed to its slayers. They will gain 6/12/18/24 ability haste and 6/12/18/24 percent, to be exact. This is also one of the most powerful buffs in the game because ability haste is a pivotal part of a game of League of Legends. Any champion with this buff can now spam their abilities more. Not only that but counting cooldowns will be harder for enemies that have slain the hextech dragon.
On the other hand, the hextech dragon soul grants bonus true damage to the buff holders. Every time a champion with the hextech dragon buff strikes with an auto-attack or ability, and they will release a bolt of lightning that slows an enemy. The damage scales with level, with additional +3% per 100 bonus AD, +1% per 100 AP, and +0.5% per 100 bonus health. Not only that, but the lighting strikes also bounce up to three enemy champions.
Hextech Dragon Strategies
All champions will benefit from the hextech dragon buff because of the ability haste and attack speed that it will provide. It will be easier to manage the laning phase with this buff because the bonus attack speed makes it easier to land the last hit on minions, and the ability haste will provide more trading power for any champion.
Not only that, but the hextech dragon buff is also useful in the late game because it will make it easier for poke champions, like Nidalee, to use their abilities. Also, champions that can dictate team fights, like Ornn and Malphite, will also hugely benefit from the hextech dragon buff because they can get their abilities in a shorter period of time.
What’s more, the hextech dragon soul is also flexible. Almost every champion will benefit from the bonus true damage, especially during teamfights. The lightning strikes that bounce off up to three enemies will be a huge problem in compact areas.
Elder Dragon
The strongest dragon in the game, the Elder Drake, gives a unique buff but only spawns once four elemental dragons are slain during a single game. However, unlike the other buffs that the elemental dragons give, the Aspect of the Dragon, which is granted by the Elder Drake, is only a temporary team-wide buff.
Still, do not let this fool you, because, as mentioned previously, it is probably the strongest buff in the whole game.
A champion that has the Aspect of the Dragon buff will blast an enemy with elder immolation, which executes them by dealing 100% of their maximum health as true damage and destroys all their shields whenever they damage an enemy and drops them below 20% of their maximum health. However, elder immolation can not happen more than once every 2 seconds on the same enemy.
Elder Dragon Strategies
The Aspect of the Dragon buff is so powerful which is why every team should prioritize getting the elder dragon because this will turn the tides of the match. Often, this buff is traded with the Baron Nashor, so weigh your choices as a team carefully, whether you need additional team fighting or map control power.
It is best to avoid a team fight whenever the enemy team has the Aspect of the Dragon because you will lose 99% of the time. It does not matter whether they are behind in gold and items, the execution power when you reach below 20% health is devastating enough for anyone. It is also a great choice to gang up against a single enemy because the Aspect of the Dragon buff is lost upon death. See to it that the whole team takes down enemies one by one, but remember not to start any team fight.
Conclusion
That ends the guide that teaches all about dragons in League of Legends with additional strategies. Every dragon buff and soul is important, but since League of Legends is an objective game, weigh your options as a team whether you need to prioritize the pushing power of the rift herald or the additional strength of the dragon buff. Still, the dragon is extremely powerful during the late game, so make sure to have at least two dragon buffs as a team.
There are more guides that teach the different mechanics and strategies in League of Legends. Check them out by clicking on the links below: