What are Dragons in League of Legends?

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Dragons in League of Legends are objectives that spawn on the map and can give a team certain benefits – if they manage to slay it. Each dragon has unique characteristics and buffs that it provides, so there is a strong degree of strategy necessary to maximize their efficiency. Here’s everything you need to know about the League of Legends dragons in 2025!

The Basics of Dragons in League of Legends

Dragons, also known as Drakes, are the earliest epic monsters to spawn in League of Legends, in the pit of the bot side river. They come in 6 different elemental varieties, each one having different properties and rewarding the team slaying it with a stats buff based on the dragon’s element.

The first dragon comes at minute 5, then another one spawns 5 minutes after the previous one was slain.

Much weaker than Baron Nashor, drakes are supposed to start being killed early into the game. The buff that they grant is relatively weak, but a team that takes down 4 of them will receive the Dragon Soul, a massive, permanent buff corresponding to the last drake they’ve slain.

The Dragon Soul is a win condition that early-focused teams can rely on to put pressure on scaling opponents and force them into taking fights.

Elemental Drakes and Spawn Patterns

There are 6 different elemental drakes in League of Legends. Infernal, Ocean, Mountain, Cloud, Hextech, and Chemtech.

One dragon will be randomly selected to be the first one to spawn, and the Dragon pit will bear the symbol of its element from the start of the game.

A different one will then spawn in second. Once it is slain, the Summoner’s Rift will change into an Elemental Rift, governed by an element once again different from the first two.

Elemental Rifts have a number of modifications all around the League of Legends map, based on the element they’re affected by. On the Elemental Rift, only dragons of that element will spawn from then on.

After the second, all dragons have 3500 more HP. Red and Blue buffs also become empowered, granting their buff to two players instead of one.

Once a team has slain 4 dragons and acquired a Dragon Soul, Elemental Drakes will no longer spawn. Instead, the Elder Dragon will arrive, granting a massive temporary buff to the team that kills it. The Elder Dragon has a respawn timer of 6 minutes instead of 5, matching that of Baron Nashor.

Why Should You Kill the Dragon in League of Legends?

Dragons grant four rewards to the team killing them:

• Experience and a potential objective bounty,
• A stack of the Feats of Monster Slaying,
• Bonus stats,
• One Dragon Slayer stack, granting the Dragon Soul at 4.

The stats granted by the Dragon Slayer buffs are minimal, and matter little by themselves. For example, a champion with 140 AD killing an Infernal Drake will receive 4.2 AD for his trouble, and that’s it.

Most of the benefits from killing dragons only arrive later. They’re a stack towards the objectives portion of the Feats of Strength, and a stack towards the Soul, neither of which you’re guaranteed to obtain. 

Now for sure, having the Feats of Strength is good (although the dragons’ contribution is minimal), and Dragon Souls are incredibly powerful once reached.

But this is an explicit trade-off: Getting dragons puts a timer on the enemy team and gives a clear win condition. But taking that objective is a time sink that yields much less immediate reward than destroying a turret, which immediately awards a meaningful amount of gold.

This is the question that you should ask yourself before fighting the Dragon in League of Legends. Do I want to invest in this for the future payoff, or should I rather focus on other objectives or even farming? And usually, the answer is yes. But it’s best to have that be an active and conscious decision.

The experience part is also normally not considered. However, with the possible objective bounty and the experience reward increasing the further behind a team is, it is relevant as a means to come back.

When Should You Kill the Dragon in League of Legends?

Now that we’ve covered when you want and don’t want to get dragons, comes the question of whether you can.

Dragons in League of Legends are no major threat, and can even be soloed by a number of junglers even before level 6. Unlike Baron Nashor or Atakhan, they also don’t significantly disadvantage a team for a fight.

So instead, the questions become:

• Will engaging the dragon result in a fight?
• Do we want a fight?
• Can we secure the objective?

Taking dragon can be used as a pressure point to force the opponents to come contest it, or give it up. They can also trade another objective for it. If you’re fine with these options, go for it! And on the other hand, if you can’t take a fight, then don’t go for dragon if the enemies are aware of it and are in a position to contest it.

The ability to secure the objective is essential. If you’re gonna start a drake – or try to steal it – you need to have someone with a means to secure it. Almost always, that’ll be your jungler, with their Smite up.

If the enemy jungler is also present, it’s usually not worth risking to rush the objective. And if you do, ensure that you can keep them at bay. It only takes one single well-timed Smite to take away all the benefits you’ve tried to work for.

Nunu, Cho’Gath, and Kalista are also excellent at ensuring that the enemy team can’t sneak in a finishing blow!

All Elemental Drakes, Dragon Souls, and Elemental Summoner’s Rifts In League of Legends

There are 6 Elemental Drakes, plus the Elder Dragon. Each of them has its own fighting patterns, Dragon Slayer and Dragon Soul buffs, and Elemental Rift properties. Here’s everything broken down!

Passives and Stats of Dragons in League of Legends

All dragons have the same passives, and a baseline for stats that I’ll call “default stats”, that most of them follow and others deviate from in specific ways.

Dragons only fight with basic attacks and have no abilities. These basic attacks cannot be blocked or dodged.

Infernal Drake: Damage and MORE Damage!

• Stats and attacks: Infernal Drake is, quite literally, the default drake. It has the default stats, and its attacks splash fire behind its main target.

• Infernal Might (Infernal Dragon Slayer stacks): Grants 3/6/9/12% AD and AP.

• Infernal Soul: Damaging attacks and abilities trigger an explosion around their target, dealing 100 + 22.5% bonus AD + 13.5% AP + 2.75% bonus HP, with a 3s cooldown.

• Infernal Rift: Extra Blast Cones appear, and Infernal Cinders spawn around the Rift. Any champion can pick them up by walking over them, granting them a short burst of speed, and 1 ability haste per cinder collected. Upon dying, half of the cinders are dropped and can be picked up by anyone else.

A Dragon buff that scales well into the game and a soul that increases burst and tops up DPS, Infernal Drakes benefit just about everyone.

Ocean Drake: Health and Mana

• Stats and attacks: Ocean Drake has a single-target attack, but slows its target by 30% for 2 seconds.

• Oceanic Will: Restores 2/4/6/8% of the missing health every 5 seconds.

• Oceanic Soul: Damaging enemy champions heals you for 150 + 26% bonus AD + 17% AP + 7% bonus HP and restores mana equal to 100 + 3.5% max mana, over 4 seconds. This effect has 30% effectiveness against minions and monsters, and is refreshed with subsequent hits.

• Oceanic Rift: Extra bushes appear on the map, as well as puddles of water that have no gameplay impact aside from activating Waterwalking and giving Qiyana her water element. This Rift also adds more Honeyfruit.

The Ocean Dragonslayer buff is subtle but impactful in lane by increasing everyone’s regen. As for the Ocean Soul, it massively empowers the team in both poke sequences and extended fights, and forces the purchase of Grievous Wounds by itself.

Mountain Drake: Defensive Stats

• Stats and attacks: Mountain Drake has the same attacks as the Infernal Dragon, except that they’re twice as slow and deal 50% more damage. It’s also tankier, having an extra 20 resistances.

• Mountainous Vigor: Grants 5/10/15/20% armor and magic resist. 

• Mountainous Soul: After not taking damage for 5 seconds, you are shielded for 220 + 16% bonus AD + 12% AP + 12% bonus HP.

• Mountainous Rift: Changes the shape of the map by adding new walls in several places.

The Mountain buffs are the bane of assassins and burst mages. While the shield from the soul does not replenish in combat, it’s often enough to make the difference between a priority target dying, and staying alive to make its impact.

Cloud Drake: I am Speed

• Stats and attacks: Cloud Drake only has half as much AD as the other dragons, but attacks twice as fast. Given the fact that dragons in League of Legends have extra on-hit damage, that makes it have higher DPS than the others.

• Cloudbringer’s Grace: Grants 5/10/15/20% slow resistance, and movement speed when out of combat.

• Cloud Soul: Grants 15% bonus movement speed (including in combat). Casting your ultimate increases this bonus to 60% for 6 seconds (with a 30s cooldown).

• Cloud Rift: The areas around Red Buff, Blue Buff, and the Dragon pit become speed zones, increasing the movement speed of champions in them by 20%, increased to 35% outside combat. Additionally, this Rift also creates additional Scryer’s Blooms.

Despite years of being called the Clown Drake for its perceived inefficiency, the Cloud Soul is actually the most powerful one, by far. Movement speed is always underrated due to not having a direct impact on fights, but it is one of the most potent stats in the game – if not the most. Especially when given in such drastic amounts.

Hextech Drake: Faster Attacks and Abilities

• Stats and attacks: Hextech Drake only has 47 AD, but a higher attack speed of 0.75. Every 4th attack also hits 3 additional targets and slows them by 40% for 2 seconds.

• Hextech Prowess: Grants 5/10/15/20% bonus attack speed and 5/10/15/20 ability haste.

• Hextech Soul: Damaging attacks and abilities send a lightning bolt to the target that can chain to up to 3 enemies beyond it. The bolt deals 25 to 50 true damage (scaling with levels) and slows by 45% + 3%% bonus AD + 1%% AP + 0.5%% bonus health, decaying over 2 seconds. The slow is 10% weaker when triggered by a ranged champion.

• Hextech Rift: The Hextech Rift spawns Hexgates around the map, allowing champions to teleport between them.

And on the other side of the spectrum, after always being seen as the strongest soul, Hextech Soul has now become the least performing of them all. The strength that the community sees in it supposedly comes from how visible its effect is, and how annoying it is to be on the receiving end of it.

Chemtech Drake: Fill the Vacant Slots

• Stats and attacks: Chemtech Drake only has 50 AD, but gains up to 200% attack speed the lower on health it is.

• Chemtech Blight: Grants 6/12/18/24% tenacity and heal and shield power.

• Chemtech Soul: Grants 13% bonus damage and damage reduction while below 50% max health.

• Chemtech Rift: Chemtech Rift mutates all plants on the map, spawning more of each of them and granting them additional effects. Honeyfruit shield their beneficiary and no longer slow them, Blast Cones sends units twice as far, and Scryer’s Blooms have increased range, give movement speed in their wake, and take all enemy wards hit down to 1 HP.

Chemtech Drake grants a bit of everything… and not enough of anything, making it the other worst soul alongside its topside brethren. Of course, even the worst souls give a significant advantage over the enemy team. They’re just a bit further away from being a certain win.

Elder Dragon: The Game-Winner

Elder Dragon behaves like the Infernal Drake, but has significantly more health, regen, resistances, and damage.

Killing it gives your team 250g per player, and the Aspect of the Dragon buff for 150 seconds or until death. With this buff, damaging enemies burns them for 75-225 true damage over 3 seconds, and taking an enemy below 20% HP executes them.

This buff is so powerful that taking down the Elder Dragon almost guarantees winning the game on the spot.

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