The Elemental Dragons are a crucial part of a League of Legends game, empowering the team that slays them with game-changing buffs. The game has six elemental dragons, each embodying a distinct essence: Chemtech, Cloud, Hextech, Infernal, Ocean, and Mountain. The stakes soar to new heights as two teams clash in the dragon pit to secure this all-important objective.

The first Dragon will spawn five minutes into the game and stay there until it is slain, with a respawn timer of another five minutes for the next Dragon. An almost assured victory lies in the hands of the team that manages to kill four of the elemental beasts, as the Dragon Soul buff provides a cutting edge over the enemy. With a Dragon Soul secured, the true test of mastery is the all-powerful Elder Dragon and its game-ending buff, the Aspect of the Dragon.

Let's dive into the heart of Summoner's Rift and delve into the details of each Elemental Dragon. Discover each of their buffs and some essential tips and strategies for a successful dragon kill.

Chemtech Dragon

The Chemtech Drake is controversial, having been removed in Season 12 a few months after its release. It made a triumphant return in Season 13 as part of the new jungle changes.

The Chemtech Drake provides bonus attack speed based on missing Health during combat, and upon killing the Chemtech dragon, a stack of Chemtech Blight will be granted, giving tenacity and healing power. Tenacity is helpful, as it grants increased resistance to crowd control abilities, which works well in team fights. Chemtech Soul presents 11% increased damage and damage reduction when a Champion's max Health is below 50%.

Chemtech Drake stats: 

  • Health: 5730-10290 (based on level)
  • Attack Damage: 50
  • Attack Speed: 0.5
  • Range: 500
  • Armor: 21
  • Magic Resist: 30
  • Movement speed: 330

Cloud Dragon

Killing the Cloud Dragon grants a team with Cloudbringer's Grace, giving them bonus out-of-combat movement speed and slow resistance. This works well for champions with a transformation Ultimate, like Kayn or Nidalee, as they can quickly move across the map and chase down escaping enemies.

Cloud Soul grants an additional 15% bonus movement speed and up to 60% for six seconds after casting an Ultimate ability.

Cloud Drake stats: 

  • Health: 5730-10290 (based on level)
  • Attack Damage: 35
  • Attack Speed: 1
  • Range: 500
  • Armor: 21
  • Magic Resist: 30
  • Movement speed: 330

Hextech Dragon

The Hextech Dragon is a relatively new addition, alongside the Chemtech Drake, and is by far the most unique. Every fourth attack will cause a chain lightning effect that damages all nearby targets. This Hextech effect slows all targets by 40% for three seconds.

Killing the first Hextech Drake grants the collecting team Hextech Prowess which gives 9 bonus Ability Haste and 9% Bonus Attack Speed per stack.

Hextech Soul causes all attacks and abilities to trigger a lightning strike that deals up to 50 True Damage and slows the targets for 2 seconds. The lightning strike can chain to hit three additional enemies, applying the same effect, which can be powerful for grouped-up teams.

Hextech Drake stats: 

  • Health: 5730-10290 (based on level)
  • Attack Damage: 47
  • Attack Speed: 075
  • Range: 500
  • Armor: 21
  • Magic Resist: 30
  • Movement speed: 330

Infernal Dragon

The Infernal Drake is the simplest Dragon of them all, as its attacks have a fiery AoE for any players standing near it. The Infernal Drake grants Infernal Might once killed, with a 6% bonus Attack Damage and Ability Power per stack.

Infernal Dragon Soul grants the passive effects that cause auto attacks and abilities to trigger AoE explosions, with a cooldown of three seconds per explosion. This damage increases based on various stats of the individual champions and only becomes more powerful the longer the game continues.

Infernal Drake Stats: 

  • Health: 5730-10290 (based on level)
  • Attack Damage: 70
  • Attack Speed: 0.5
  • Range: 500
  • Armor: 21
  • Magic Resist: 30
  • Movement Speed: 330

Mountain Dragon

The Mountain Drake has extremely slow attacks and is tanky, taking longer to kill. When slain, the Mountain Dragon grants the team a stack of Mountainous Vigor, granting them a 9% bonus Armor and Magic Resistance per stack.

Mountain Soul has a passive effect that grants a shield that increases based on the Champion's bonus AD, AP, and Health. The shield is only activated when the Champion is out of combat for five seconds. It works well for champions like Seraphine, allowing her to maintain her healing ability.

Mountain Drake stats: 

  • Health: 5730-10290 (based on level)
  • Attack Damage: 105
  • Attack Speed: 0.25
  • Range: 500
  • Armor: 41
  • Magic Resist: 50
  • Movement speed: 330

Ocean Dragon

The Ocean Drake grants the collecting team a stack of Oceanic Will. This is an excellent dragon for the laning phase and early game, so players can be more aggressive with their pushes without recalling and missing experience and gold.

Ocean Drake Soul is a passive buff that allows players to regain Health and Mana when they damage enemies. This effect increases healing based on bonus AD, AP, and Health. Damage done to Jungle monsters or minions offers a reduced version of this effect at 30%.

Ocean Drake stats: 

  • Health: 5730-10290 (based on level)
  • Attack Damage: 70
  • Attack Speed: 0.5
  • Range: 500
  • Armor: 21
  • Magic Resist: 30
  • Movement speed: 330

Elder Dragon

The Elder Dragon only spawns once a Dragon Soul buff has been claimed and is undoubtedly the strongest buff available in the game. Elder Dragons will continue to spawn every six minutes until the end of the game once the Dragon Soul has been claimed by one team.

The Elder Dragon grants the Aspect of the Dragon buff that only lasts 150 seconds, unlike the buffs from the Elemental Dragons that last the entirety of the game.

The Elder Drake buff only applies to teammates alive when it is executed. Aspect of the Dragon causes all attacks to burn for 75 True Damage over three seconds. Players on the enemy team are immediately executed if they are damaged by an Aspect of the Dragon holder when they are below 20% Health.

Elder Dragon stats: 

  • Health: 6400 + 290 per minute before it spawns
  • Health regeneration: 250
  • Attack Damage: 105
  • Attack Speed: 0.5
  • Range: 500
  • Armor: 120-180 (based on level)
  • Magic Resist: 70-113 (based on level)
  • Movement speed: 330

Dragon Slayer Buffs

Only three types of Dragon will spawn on the map: the first two drakes are random, and all Dragons thereafter will be the same as the element dominating the Rift.

Slaying a Dragon will grant that team a Dragon Slayer buff based on that Dragon's element, and this buff can stack up to four times for a given element.

  • Chemtech Blight: Gain 6/12/18/24% tenacity and heal and shield power.
  • Cloudbringer's Grace: Gain 5/10/15/20% slow resistance and out-of-combat movement speed.
  • Hextech Prowess: Gain 5/10/15/20 ability haste and 5/10/15/20% bonus attack speed.
  • Infernal Might: Gain 3/6/9/12% attack damage and ability power
  • Mountainous Vigor: Gain 5/10/15/20% armor and magic resistance.
  • Oceanic Will: Restore 2.5/5/7.5/10% of missing Health every 5 seconds.

Map Changes for Each Drake

After the second Dragon has been slain and the third and consequent dragons have been determined, Summoner's Rift map will transform into an Elemental Rift based on the Dragon's element, as listed below.

The map transformation occurs in the same areas: each Blue Buff, Red Buff, and Dragon Pit.

  • Chemtech: Mutated jungle plants with enhanced functions spawn more frequently in the Jungle. Blast Cones knock all champions twice the distance. Honeyfruits no longer slow the player and provide a shield and bonus healing. Scryer Bloom's also reveal areas in a cone shape and a circular radius around the Scryer.
  • Cloud: Air currents flow around the Dragon pit and both teams' Blue and Red buffs in the Jungle. When players walk through these, they are given bonus movement speed of 20% in combat and 35% outside of combat.
  • Hextech: Hextech Gates will spawn in each team's Base and Jungle. Champions can channel these Hextech Gates for 0.75 seconds, teleporting them to the end of the gate. Players can choose which direction to dash in at the end of the tunnel.
  • Infernal: The walls of both team's Red and Blue buffs disintegrate, creating new angles and vision points in the Jungle. New Blast Cones will also spawn in the Jungle and alcoves by Top and Bottom Lane. Infernal Cinders will also spawn, granting 150% bonus movement speed decaying over 2 seconds. For each Infernal Cinder stack, they gain 0.6 ability haste. Champions will drop 50% of their Infernal Cinder stacks upon death, allowing other champions, allied or enemy, to pick them up.
  • Mountain: Rocks begin to form in random parts of the Jungle, creating new angles and affecting the field of vision when moving through the Fog of War without wards.
  • Ocean: Brushes become enlarged, and new Brushes grow in the Dragon Pit and other areas of the Jungle. Players can also find more rejuvenating Honeyfruits that spawn in the River by Baron and the Dragon Pit.

Strategies and Tips for Claiming Dragons

Vision

Vision is an important factor when claiming any objective, so maintaining sight on them is important. A minute before the dragon spawns, ensure your team has vision of the Drake Pit. A ward placed by the entrance in the River can be used to gauge the enemy team's movements and see if they are going for the Dragon.

Before engaging the Dragon, use an Oracle Lens or Control Ward to check for any enemy wards and destroy them to eliminate their vision of the objective.

Positioning

While killing the Dragon is typically a task for the Jungler, they may still require assistance from their team. If you are in the Mid or Bottom lane as an ADC or Support, please help them if they are pinging for assistance.

Given the enclosed nature of the dragon pit, a team attacking the Dragon has limited escape paths, either up or down the River, so if the team is grouped together, they are less likely to fall victim to an unsuspected gank.

Use Smite!

Many Junglers lose easy objectives over misplays involving their Smite Summoner Spell. Make sure Smite isn't on cooldown when engaging a Dragon, unless you're confident you can secure the kill!

Any epic monster or Dragon should be finished off using an ability that deals heavy damage. This includes Cho'Gath's Feast, Nunu's Consume, and Smite. It would help if you did this to prevent the enemy team from stealing the objective with any large-scale Ultimates like Jinx's Super Mega Death Rocket, Ezreal's Trueshot Barrage, Lux's Final Spark, and others.

Final Thoughts

There you have it! That's everything you need to know about the Elemental Dragons and Elder Dragon in League of Legends. Remember that your team doesn't have to claim every Dragon that spawns, especially at the beginning of the game. For example, if your team doesn't benefit from a Cloud Drake buff, you can let the enemy team get a Dragon slain and focus on other objectives instead like Void Grubs introduced in Season 14. GL HF in your future games!

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