Dragons, also known as Drakes, are key neutral objectives in League of Legends that teams can fight over in the Dragon Pit to secure themselves permanent advantages. There are six Elemental Dragons each with their own combat powers, but more importantly, they provide unique buffs when slain. Five minutes into the game any of these Dragons will spawn and the team that slays it will gain its unique blessing. Dragons take five minutes to respawn, and the second one will always be different from the first.
However, when the second Dragon dies, Summoner's Rift will transform based on any of the four remaining Elemental Dragons, and from that point forward only Dragons of that one type will spawn. For example, if the first two Dragons were Cloud and Ocean, then all of the following might be Infernal on an Infernal Rift. This also determines what the Dragon Soul will be and the first team to slay four Dragons will gain a permanent Dragon Soul buff. Dragon Souls can be extremely strong with the variants suiting certain team comps better or worse. Once the Dragon Soul has been claimed, Elemental Dragons will no longer spawn, and instead League of Legend's most powerful objective, the Elder Dragon, will spawn after six minutes.
7 Infernal Dragon & Infernal Soul
When attacking the Infernal Drake, players will want to spread out to avoid its splash damage. For every Infernal Dragon that is slain the team will each gain 5% AD and AP, making it ideal for carries such as burst mages and any other champions who like to stack these offensive stats.
The Infernal Rift burns certain walls around the Dragon pit, as well as walls around the Red and Blue buffs, making for a more open map. Additional Blast Cones also spawn. Teams that claim the Infernal Soul by killing four Dragons will trigger a small explosion around enemies that they hit, making poke and burst all the more lethal.
6 Cloud Dragon & Cloud Soul
The Cloud Dragon has an extremely high attack speed when compared with other Drakes, but each hit doesn't deal as much and is only single target. Each Cloud Drake slain provides the team with an extra 7% slow resist and out-of-combat bonus movement speed, making it great for teams with slows and ideal for players who want to get around the map fast, such as roaming Mid Laners.
The Cloud Rift creates pockets that speed up any champion passing through and also spawns extra Scryer's Blooms for more vision. The Cloud Dragon Soul is also all about movement speed, providing the team with a permanent 15% bonus, which is increased to 60% for 6 seconds whenever a player uses their ultimate.
5 Ocean Dragon & Ocean Soul
While the Ocean Dragon can only attack one champion at a time, its attacks do slow, which is especially dangerous if the enemy team shows up. For each Ocean Drake that is slain every player will restore 2.5% of their missing health every 5 seconds, making it great in the laning phase and in long-drawn-out fights.
When the Ocean Rift spawns, a number of bushes will grow in size and four extra Honeyfruit plants will be available to those who need to top up their health. The Ocean Soul is great for teams who want to fight slow and sustain as it restores both health and mana over time when players damage enemies.
4 Mountain Dragon & Mountain Soul
The Mountain Dragon hits the hardest, but also the slowest and can deal damage to multiple champions at once if they group. Players will gain 8% armor and magic resistance for every Mountain Dragon they slay, making the whole team tankier, especially those stacking resistances such as tank Top Laners.
The Mountain Rift causes a few extra rock walls to spawn, creating tighter choke points that certain champions favor. If teams are able to slay four Dragons while the Mountain Drake is in play, then the Mountain Soul grants a shield to each team member who has not been damaged in the last 5 seconds, making it a great answer to burst.
3 Hextech Dragon & Hextech Soul
The Hextech Dragon is unique as every 4th attack chains and slows any champion hit. Each Hextech Dragon provides players with an extra 7.5% Ability Haste and Attack Speed, and certain champions can make incredible use of both of these stats.
The Hextech Rift is also one of the most unique and arguably the most fun to play on as it spawns pairs of hex-gates, which players can travel between. Astute fans might recognize these hex-gates from Netflix's hit show Arcane, which features plenty of easter eggs for League players. The Hextech Soul causes attacks to deal extra true damage that slows and can be chained, making it deadly in teamfights.
2 Chemtech Dragon & Chemtech Soul
While the Chemtech Dragon might appear weak at first, it gains power as it loses health. Each stack from killing Chemtech Drakes provides players with 6% Tenacity and 6% heal and shield power, the latter of which makes it particularly strong on enchanter supports.
The Chemtech Rift mutates all plants and spawns extra ones too. These mutations make the plants stronger with Blast Cones sending players twice the distance, Honeyfruit no longer slowing players but instead shielding them, and Scryer's Blooms reducing wards to 1 health and providing movement speed in the direction it was hit. Teams with the Chemtech Soul will gain damage reduction and increased damage when they are below 50% health.
1 Elder Dragon
The Elder Dragon is a different beast to the Elemental Drakes and only spawns 6 minutes after the Dragon Soul has been claimed, or in other words after one team has slain four Dragons. It is arguably the most powerful objective in League of Legends, and whichever team slays it often goes on to win the game.
The buff that Elder Dragon gives is called Aspect of the Dragon and lasts for 150 seconds. Not only does it provide the team with a true damage burn, but it also executes any enemies under 20% health, making fights incredibly favored. While Junglers will want to practice their Smites for all objectives, no Smite is more important to time well than one used to secure the Elder Dragon.
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