The Dragon was recently replaced by four Elemental Drakes and an Elder Dragon. Each drake has its own unique buff that you get for slaying them, and each one is a useful tool for getting to that sweet victory screen. If you kill the same drake more than once, it upgrades the original buff, up to three times a game (only three of the same element can spawn). Which drakes do you want to prioritize getting over the others, though? Don't worry, I'll tell you!

Original Dragon

Infernal Drake:

Easily one of the best Elemental Drakes in the game right now. Giving 8/16/24% increased Ability Power and Attack Damage, Infernal Drake can lead to large advantages, possibly even being the difference between winning or losing the game. You definitely want to contest this drake at all stages of the game, the large buff can make up for a gold disadvantage that your team has or push you ahead so far to the point where the opponent can't fight back anymore. Keep vision control of this drake at all times to make sure your team can secure it, and secure the win.

Infernal Drake

Ocean Drake:

Restores 4/8/12% of your missing health and missing mana over 5 seconds if not damaged by a champion or tower in the last 8 seconds. Notice that this buff is not affected by being damaged by minions or monsters! That is a key part of why this is arguably the best drake to have in the early game. Junglers can stay healthy much longer, and if you aren't being harassed in a lane, you can keep sustaining up as well. This Elemental Drake should be a high priority, especially in the early stages of the game.

Ocean Drake

Mountain Drake:

Grants 10/20/30% additional damage as true damage to epic monsters and turrets. For team compositions with a lot of siege potential or a strong split pusher, this drake is great. You will be able to take turrets much quicker, so you don't even need to fight the enemy team to build your lead. Now, if you do want to team fight, this buff can be useful for taking down Baron before the opponent can get there to stop you. This Elemental Drake should be a higher priority to siege and split push teams, however still being useful in almost all situations.

Mountain Drake

Cloud Drake:

Grants 15/30/45 bonus movement speed while out of combat. Many players found this drake to be quite underwhelming, so in the next patch, the bonus movement speed will be increasing to 25/50/75 while out of combat. You may not notice this buff all that much, but it is surely underrated and can have an impact on the game for sure. With your whole team getting extra movement speed, you can rotate around the map much easier, leaving your enemy in the dust. You may not want to prioritize this as much as the other Elemental Drakes, but it is surely useful to have and can help when Elder Dragon comes around.

Cloud Drake

Elder Dragon:

Elder Dragons buff grants 45 + (45 for every elemental dragon stack) true damage on all spells and basic attacks against non-turrets over 3 seconds. Obviously, this is a much larger objective than the four Elemental Drakes and is enhanced based on how many drakes you already have. If you want to fight the enemy team, this buff can really tip the scales in your favor, and you may want to even take it over a Baron. However, Baron has a lot more siege potential and pressure on the map so you may want to consider taking that instead if you have to choose between the two. Elder Dragon should definitely be a high priority for you in the late game.

Elder Dragon

Conclusion:

All four Elemental Drakes and Elder Dragon can be useful. Maybe Reddit will even stop complaining about Cloud Drake now that it received some buffs. Which drake you want more varies based on your team comp, but even if you don't care about the buff, your team gets gold for every drake and future Elder Dragons will be stronger. Don't underestimate the power of these new Elemental Drakes, they can be scary when stacked together. Keep your wards ready to control the vision around drake and make sure the scales are tipped in your favor!

Don't be afraid to leave a comment and tell me what you think, or what you'd like to see me write about next. Any criticism is appreciated. I hope this helps you on your climb to Challenger. Good luck! Thanks for reading and keep an eye out for future content from me onteam-dignitas.net.

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