What Does Killing the Dragons Do in League of Legends?
Killing dragons in League of Legends is a critical objective that significantly impacts the course of a match. The effects of slaying these powerful neutral monsters are multifaceted, ranging from experience gain and stat boosts to potent, game-altering buffs that can swing the tide of battle. At its core, killing dragons provides a team-wide advantage, driving the need for strategic decision-making, teamwork, and a keen understanding of the various dragon types and their associated benefits. The rewards for securing a dragon go beyond simple power gains, they’re often key in securing a win.
The Core Benefits of Dragon Slaying
The immediate reward for killing a dragon is experience points, distributed to the killer and nearby allies. This experience gain can be crucial, especially in the early to mid-game, allowing teams to level up faster than their opponents and gain a combat advantage. Moreover, if the killing team is lower average level than their opponents, a bonus XP of +25% per average level difference is granted, making dragon kills a significant catch-up mechanic for teams that are falling behind.
Beyond the experience, dragons also offer powerful, stackable buffs. These buffs are tied to the elemental type of the dragon slain and last for the entirety of the game. This means a team can accumulate multiple dragon buffs, significantly bolstering their stats and pushing them towards victory. Once a team has acquired the Dragon Soul, a powerful, game-changing buff, the elemental dragons stop spawning and are replaced by the Elder Dragon. These mechanics make dragon control a strategic objective that can either make or break a team’s chances.
The Elemental Dragons: Power in Variety
There are six different elemental dragons that can spawn on Summoner’s Rift: Chemtech, Cloud, Hextech, Infernal, Ocean, and Mountain. Each dragon provides a unique permanent buff when slain:
- Chemtech Dragon: Grants increased tenacity and healing.
- Cloud Dragon: Grants increased movement speed, particularly when out of combat.
- Hextech Dragon: Grants ability haste and increased attack speed.
- Infernal Dragon: Grants increased attack damage and ability power.
- Ocean Dragon: Grants increased health regeneration and healing.
- Mountain Dragon: Grants increased armor and magic resistance.
These individual buffs provide teams with the capacity to specialize their strength and adapt to the ever-changing circumstances of each game.
Dragon Souls: The Turning Point
Acquiring four elemental dragons will grant a team a Dragon Soul, which is a powerful buff based on the element of the fourth dragon they slay. This Dragon Soul can often become the difference maker between victory and defeat. For example, the Hextech Soul is considered one of the strongest by many, granting bonus true damage on attacks and abilities which has the potential to slow enemies. The Ocean Soul provides massive health regeneration while in combat, while the Infernal Soul allows for constant damage. These game changing souls force opposing teams to play strategically and engage with a different battle plan if necessary.
Once a team claims the Dragon Soul, the elemental dragons cease to spawn. In their place spawns the Elder Dragon after six minutes.
Elder Dragon: The Final Push
The Elder Dragon is the most powerful objective on Summoner’s Rift. Unlike the elemental dragon buffs, the Aspect of the Dragon buff granted by slaying Elder Dragon is not permanent; it only lasts for 150 seconds and only applies to the teammates alive when the dragon is killed. This buff causes attacks to burn for 75 True Damage over three seconds and executes enemies that are below 20% Health when damaged by a holder. The power of the Elder Dragon can easily turn around a losing game. Securing an Elder Dragon is a high-risk, high-reward objective that often determines the winner.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are 15 FAQs designed to provide more clarity on dragons in League of Legends:
1. What exactly is the “Dragon” in League of Legends?
The Dragon, often called the “Drake” in-game, is the second-most powerful neutral monster on Summoner’s Rift. Slaying it grants your team powerful buffs. Its importance makes it a central objective around which teams constantly compete for.
2. How do the Elemental Dragon buffs work?
Slaying an elemental dragon grants a team a specific buff based on the slain dragon’s element. These buffs stack up to four times for a given element and last the entire game, providing progressively stronger advantages.
3. How are dragons spawned in a game?
The first dragon spawns at five minutes into the game. It has a respawn timer of five minutes. The first two dragons are random. After they are slain, the Rift is dominated by a random element not present yet.
4. Are dragon spawns random?
Yes, the first two elemental dragons that spawn are chosen at random. Once these two are defeated, the next spawn will be random, and will continue as such, while avoiding repeats.
5. What does the Mountain Drake do?
The Mountain Drake buff increases a team’s armor and magic resistance, making them more durable in extended fights. It promotes more prolonged and engaging team fights.
6. What does the Ocean Drake do?
The Ocean Drake buff significantly increases health and mana regeneration, allowing the team to quickly recover from damage and sustain in long fights or sieges.
7. What does the Hextech Drake do?
The Hextech Drake‘s attacks chain to up to 3 nearby enemies, slowing all targets struck by 40% over 2 seconds. It’s known to provide valuable crowd control. Additionally, it grants ability haste and increased attack speed.
8. What is the “Dragon Soul”?
The Dragon Soul is a powerful buff gained when a team slays four elemental dragons. It’s based on the element of the fourth dragon they claimed and offers a unique, game-changing effect.
9. Can you have multiple dragon souls?
No, once one team achieves a dragon soul, elemental dragons stop spawning and are replaced by the Elder Dragon. A team can only possess one Dragon Soul at a time.
10. How long does the Elder Dragon buff last?
The Aspect of the Dragon buff granted by killing the Elder Dragon lasts for 150 seconds, unlike the permanent buffs from elemental dragons. It’s a temporary but incredibly impactful boost.
11. What makes the Elder Dragon so powerful?
The Elder Dragon’s buff adds significant true damage burn to attacks and abilities and executes enemies below 20% health. This can drastically increase damage output, making it a powerful objective to secure.
12. Can Elder Dragon be captured or is it only killed?
You can only kill Elder Dragons. You cannot capture them; traps do not work. Like all dragons in the game, it has to be killed to secure the advantage it offers.
13. Are Elder Dragons stronger than Baron Nashor?
While both are powerful objectives, they provide different benefits. Elder Dragon is more combat-oriented with its burn damage and execute, while Baron Nashor buffs minions and grants stats. The Elder Dragon is often considered more impactful in a team fight scenario due to the pure damage output, and high HP regen.
14. Do Dragons give gold in League of Legends?
Dragons no longer grant direct gold to the killing team. The focus is now purely on the combat stats and buffs they offer.
15. Why is it important to kill dragons in League of Legends?
Killing dragons is crucial for gaining a variety of advantages in the game. From experience and stat boosts to powerful, game-changing buffs, dragons provide the edge a team needs to push to victory. The strategic decisions surrounding dragon control often determine the outcome of a match. Controlling the Dragon will always be beneficial, regardless of the current standing of your team.