Hi friends, we’re the Blix team, and today, we’re taking an in-depth look at one of the most meta heroes in the current patch: Dragon Knight (DK). This hero is dominating the mid lane with an impressive 60% win rate, and at one point, his win rate reached as high as 70% due to a bug that Valve has since fixed.
Despite the bug being addressed, DK remains a formidable hero who can help elevate your rankings. In this article, we will cover the key aspects of playing DK, including starting items, skill build, item build, talents, counter-picks, and strategic objectives.
Dota 2 hero: Dragon Knight
Contents
- 1 Why is Dragon Knight so Strong Right Now?
- 2 Abilities
- 3 Breathe Fire
- 4 Dragon Tail
- 5 Wyrm’s Wrath
- 6 Elder Dragon Form
- 7 Aghanim’s Shard and Aghanim’s Scepter
- 8 Aghanim’s Shard
- 9 Aghanim’s Scepter
- 10 Talents
- 11 Facet Details
- 12 Fire Dragon
- 13 Corrosive Dragon
- 14 Frost Dragon
- 15 Which Facet to Choose?
- 16 Skill Build
- 17 Strengths and Weaknesses
- 18 Strengths
- 19 Weaknesses
- 20 Which Position to Choose?
- 21 Mid
- 22 Offlane
- 23 Carry
- 24 Item Build
- 25 Laning Stage
- 26 Early Game
- 27 Mid Game
- 28 Late Game
- 29 Final Item Build
- 30 Counterpicks
- 31 How to Play Against Them
- 32 Game Strategy
- 33 0-10 Minutes (Laning and Initial Farming)
- 34 10-20 Minutes (Active Action and Map Control
- 35 20-30 Minutes (Snowballing)
- 36 After 30 Minutes (Late Game and Intense Fights)
- 37 Strategic Objectives
- 38 Farming
- 39 Fights
- 40 Roshan Control
- 41 Tips and Tricks
- 42 Counters
- 43 Conclusion
Why is Dragon Knight so Strong Right Now?
Valve has overdone the buffs for Dragon Knight in this patch. Previously, the character was already challenging and versatile, but now he has become a powerhouse for both farming and fighting. The most significant changes are to his various forms: red, green, and blue dragons. However, the red dragon has proven to be so dominant that the other options are nearly neglected. What is it that makes Dragon Knight so unbalanced?
- Red Facet: Your passive ability, Dragon Blood, grants you additional magic damage and increases your ability radius. Additionally, in Elder Dragon Form, you unleash an area stun that can knock out multiple heroes at once. It’s impressive—you have both splash damage for farming and crowd control for team fights.
- Farming Speed: With your dragon-shaped splash attack, you can efficiently clear camps and creep waves, gaining an advantage in net worth even after a difficult mid-game.
- Tankiness: Breathe Fire at level 1 reduces incoming damage by 30%, and Dragon Blood makes you nearly unkillable in the early stages of the game.
The win rate in mid is 60%, and for carry, it is 58%. This indicates that the hero is versatile and easy to master. You don’t need to be a micro or macro genius; you simply need to understand the basic item pool and use your abilities at the right times.
Abilities
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Stats
Breathe Fire
- Ability: Unit Target
- Affects: Enemy Units
- Damage Type: Magical
- Pierces Spell Immunity: No
- Dispellable: Yes
- Damage: 80 / 160 / 240 / 320
- Damage Reduction: -30%
- Reduction Duration: 11
- Cooldown: 14 / 13 / 12 / 11
- Manacost: 90 / 95 / 100 / 105
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Breathe Fire
Breathe Fire – Unleashes a breath of fire in front of Dragon Knight that burns enemies and reduces the damage their attacks deal.
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Breathe Fire
- Breathe Fire travels at a speed of 1050, taking 1.4 seconds to travel the full distance.
- With the travel distance and end radius, Breathe Fire can hit units up to 1000 range away.
- Reduces affected targets’ main and bonus attack damage.
- Breathe Fire first applies the damage, the attack reduction debuff, then the Corrosive Breath and Frost Breath debuff based on its current level respectively.
Dragon Tail
- Ability: Unit Target
- Affects: Enemy Units
- Damage Type: Magical
- Pierces Spell Immunity: No
- Dispellable: Only Strong Dispels
- Stun Duration: 1,8 / 2 / 2,2 / 2,4
- Damage: 60 / 90 / 120 / 150
- Cooldown: 16 / 14 / 12 / 10
- Manacost: 70 / 80 / 90 / 100
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Dragon Tail
Dragon Tail – Dragon Knight smites an enemy unit in melee range with his shield, stunning it and dealing damage. When in Elder Dragon Form, the cast range increases to 450.
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Dragon Tail
- In human form, Dragon Tail does not rely on a projectile and can therefore not be disjointed.
- Dragon Tail first applies the damage, then the debuff.
- While in Elder Dragon Form, Dragon Tail has an increased cast range and uses a projectile with a 1600 speed projectile, instead of being 70/100/130/160.
Wyrm’s Wrath
- Ability: Passive
- Corrosive Breath Damage: 5 / 10 / 15 / 20
- Corrosive Breath Duration: 3
- Corrosive Breath Armor Reduction: 0 / 1 / 2 / 3
- Cleave Starting Width: 150
- Cleave Ending Width: 260
- Cleave Distance: 400
- Cleave Damage: 30% / 40% / 50% / 60%
- Frost Breath Movespeed Slow: -14% / -21% / -28% / -35%
- Frost Breath Attack Speed Slow: -14 / -21 / -28 / -35
- Frost Breath Duration: 3
- Frost Breath Healing Reduction: 14% / 21% / 28% / 35%
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Wyrm’s Wrath
Wyrm’s Wrath – The life blood of the Dragon improves Dragon Knight’s attacks. When in Dragon form, these attack effects are stronger.
Elder Dragon Form
- Ability: No Target
- Damage Type: Physical
- Dispellable: No
- Duration: 60
- Bonus Move Speed: 30 / 35 / 40 / 45
- Bonus Attack Range: 350
- Bonus Attack Damage: 20 / 60 / 100 / 140
- Effect Splash Radius: 350
- Frost Breath Effect Bonus: 0% / 0% / 0% / 0%
- Corrosive Breath Effect Bonus: 0% / 0% / 0% / 0%
- Splash Damage Effect Bonus: 0% / 0% / 0% / 0%
- Cooldown: 100
- Manacost: 50 / 50 / 50
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Elder Dragon Form
Elder Dragon Form – Dragon Knight takes the form of one of three powerful elder dragons. Increases movement speed and attack damage, with Wyrm’s Wrath on-hit effects applying to all enemies near the target. Increases Dragon Tail range. Increases health regeneration and armor bonuses from Dragon Blood.
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Elder Dragon Form
- Turns Dragon Knight into a Ranged ranged unit and increases his attack range to 500 (Talent 650). His attack projectiles travel at a speed of 900.
- Elder Dragon Form is fully canceled on death.
- Successive casts of Elder Dragon Form refresh the duration and update the form, adapting to the current level of the ability.
- While in Elder Dragon Form, Dragon Knight gains the following attack modifiers through undispellable buffs.
Aghanim’s Shard and Aghanim’s Scepter
Aghanim’s Shard
Fireball
- Ability: Point Target
- Damage Type: Magical
- Pierces Spell Immunity: No
- Radius: 350
- Damage Per Second: 75
- Duration: 8
- Linger Duration: 2
- Dragon Form Cast Range: 1400
- Melee Cast Range: 600
- Cooldown: 20
Manacost: 80
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Fireball
Fireball – Ignites an area, dealing damage over time that lingers on enemies in it. Has reduced cast range when melee.
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Fireball
- The damage is provided by an aura and lingers for seconds.
- Deals 37.5 damage in 0.5-second intervals, immediately upon receiving the debuff, resulting in 21 damage instances.
- Successive casts of Fireball debuff do not stack but refresh the duration.
Aghanim’s Scepter
Elder Dragon Form
- Cooldown: 100
- Manacost: 50 / 50 / 50
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Elder Dragon Form
Increases the level of Dragon Form by adding a Level 4 Black Dragon, which increases the damage and effectiveness of the Wyrm’s Wrath attacks.
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Elder Dragon Form
- The Black Dragon is 30% larger than the other forms.
- It has unobstructed movement, allowing him to path over impassable terrain, units, buildings and trees. However, it neither grants phased nor flying movement.
Talents
Talents on Dragon Knight are selected as follows:
- Level 25: +12 Dragon Blood HP regen/armor.
- Level 10: +15 damage
- Level 15: +300 HP.
- Level 20: +150 attack range
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Talents Stats
Facet Details
Dota 2: Facets
Fire Dragon
Dragon Knight has Splash Damage on his attacks.
Corrosive Dragon
Dragon Knight has Corrosive Powers on his attacks.
Frost Dragon
Dragon Knight has Slow and Healing Reduction Effects.
Which Facet to Choose?
In any game, choosing the Fire Dragon facet is optimal. This facet increases your farming speed and boosts your damage in fights. Additionally, it assists in dealing with illusionists.
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Facet Stats
Skill Build
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Skill Build
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Skill Build Stats
Strengths and Weaknesses
Dota 2 hero: Dragon Knight
Dragon Knight is one of the most stable and versatile core heroes in Dota 2. He excels in the laning phase, boasts high survivability thanks to his passive abilities, and his ultimate makes him a formidable siege machine. However, he does have some weaknesses that can make him vulnerable in specific matchups. Let’s examine these aspects in detail.
Strengths
- Survival: With high armor and regeneration from Dragon Blood, this character is nearly invulnerable to physical damage.
- Control: Dragon Tail offers one of the longest stun durations in the game, lasting up to 3 seconds.
- Flexible Build: This character can be played as a tank, a DPS damage dealer, or a half-initiator.
- Powerful Ultimate: The ultimate ability provides splash damage, slows enemies, and applies armor debuffs, making it easy to follow up with attacks.
- Fast Farming: You won’t waste gold on regeneration, and the ultimate ability helps farm creeps efficiently.
Weaknesses
- Slow and predictable: Without Blink or Silver Edge, he’s easy to hit.
- Vulnerable to magic and percentage damage: He struggles against heroes like Viper, Doom, Lina, and Zeus.
- Passive until level 6: He is weak in the early game and can struggle against active heroes.
- Issues in the late game: He loses effectiveness against strong carry heroes.
Which Position to Choose?
Dota 2 hero: Dragon Knight
Dragon Knight is a hero capable of playing three roles: mid, offlane, and carry. Each role requires a different approach.
Mid
Utilizes line dominance and quick farming strategies. The primary objective is to secure an early Blink Dagger or Shadow Blade to enable active gameplay and create pressure across the map. This hero performs well against many melee mid-laners, such as Kunkka and Ember Spirit, but struggles against mobile ranged heroes like Lina and Queen of Pain.
Offlane
In this context, DK serves as a tank and initiator. Priority items include Blink Dagger, Black King Bar, and Octarine Core. DK pairs effectively with supports that provide crowd control or additional slows, such as Crystal Maiden and Grimstroke.
Carry
It is effective against enemy drafts that consist of substantial physical damage (e.g., Templar Assassin). The game model resembles a classic hero carry: Armlet, Mask of Madness, Black King Bar, Daedalus, and Satanic.
Item Build
Laning Stage
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Starting Items
- Tango: Regenerates health over time.
- Circlet: Provides additional stats; a billet for Bracer.
- Magic Stick: Allows resource regeneration.
- Iron Branch: Affordable stats, can be upgraded to Magic Wand later.
- Quelling Blade: Useful for farming and controlling creeps.
Early Game
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Early Game Items
- Power Treads: An essential item to enhance your farming and combat effectiveness.
- Armlet of Mordiggian: This is the cornerstone of this build. It offers a significant increase in strength, damage, and attack speed when toggled on. With Dragon Blood, you lose less health, making the Armlet particularly effective on Dragon Knight.
Mid Game
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Mid Game Items
- Mask of Madness: This item enhances your aggressive playstyle by providing increased attack speed and lifesteal, making it a great match for Dragon Knight’s Armlet and physical damage builds. While it does expose you to silence, your natural tankiness and the later acquisition of a Black King Bar will help mitigate this vulnerability.
- Sange and Yasha: This item boosts your survivability and provides resistance against enemy disables.
- Black King Bar: This item is essential for defending against crowd control, especially when combined with MoM, as it can leave you susceptible to magic damage and stuns.
Late Game
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Late Game Items
- Daedalus: Increases your damage and is particularly effective against heroes with low defense.
- Bloodthorn: Provides additional silence and is especially effective against mobile heroes like Storm Spirit.
- Satanic: Builds on MoM and significantly increases your survivability in the late game.
Final Item Build
Dota 2: Dragon Knight Final Item Build
Counterpicks
Dragon Knight faces some tough opponents:
- Phantom Assassin: Forces you to purchase a Monkey King Bar. With her Aghanim’s Shard, PA can remove your armor and quickly eliminate you.
- Lina: Can potentially kill Dragon Knight in one hit if you don’t activate Black King Bar in time.
- Doom: His ultimate completely disables DK, preventing him from using abilities and blocking his regeneration.
- Viper: Can negate DK’s innate abilities and slow down his attack speed.
How to Play Against Them
Dota 2 hero: Phantom Assassin
- Phantom Assassin
- Problem: High mobility, evasion, and critical hits.
- Solution: Monkey King Bar, Assault Cuirass, and have an Axe on your team.
- Viper
- Problem: The Dragon Knight’s passive is nullified by Nethertoxin.
- Solution: Opt for Black King Bar and Lotus Orb, and avoid engaging in 1v1 fights.
- Doom
- Problem: Doom’s ultimate completely disables Dragon Knight.
- Solution: Build Linken’s Sphere and play in the second position.
- Lina
- Problem: Ranged attacks and powerful ultimate abilities.
- Solution: Get Blink Dagger, Blade Mail, and Black King Bar.
Game Strategy
0-10 Minutes (Laning and Initial Farming)
The main goal is to stay alive while farming. During the mid-game, around 6-7 minutes in, you can use your first Elder Dragon Form ultimate. Purchasing a Soul Ring and a Bracer or Magic Wand will provide stable regeneration and allow you to spam Breathe Fire.
10-20 Minutes (Active Action and Map Control
At this stage, Dragon Knight should participate in pushes with the team. Consider buying either a Blink Dagger or a Shadow Blade to enable active gameplay. It is crucial to control Roshan; if you have a Black King Bar, you can secure the Aegis.
20-30 Minutes (Snowballing)
Investing in an Assault Cuirass or Black King Bar will make you incredibly resilient. Always play around the Roshan pit during this phase.
After 30 Minutes (Late Game and Intense Fights)
In the late game, Dragon Knight starts to struggle against more mobile heroes. It’s crucial to pre-farm items like Daedalus and Satanic to increase your damage output. In team fights, your role is to tank damage, initiate with your Blink Dagger, and don’t forget to use your ultimate ability.
Strategic Objectives
Dota 2: Roshan
The primary goal of Dragon Knight is to farm and collect key items as efficiently as possible. Until you acquire important items like Black King Bar or Assault Cuirass, it’s advisable to focus on farming rather than engaging in fights.
Farming
Utilize Elder Dragon Form to farm creeps and neutral camps quickly. Aim to leave the jungle with the maximum amount of gold.
Fights
Only join fights when you have a clear advantage or if the battle is happening nearby. Once you have key items such as BKB, AC, or Daedalus, you will become a formidable presence on your team.
Roshan Control
Dragon Knight rarely requires the Aegis. If you do take Roshan, it’s best to give the Aegis to a hero who will be more actively involved in the fights.
Tips and Tricks
- Breathe Fire’s damage reduction component is a big deal in team fights, especially since it reduces total attack damage including +dmg items. Don’t save it for kill stealing, use it early on in a fight.
- Attacks from your illusions do not apply Wrym’s Wrath or Elder Dragon Form debuffs.
- The transformation into Dragon Form is nearly as useful as the Dragon Form itself during the laning phase. No one ever expects you to suddenly go full Dragon and whip out a ranged stun in the span of no seconds. People know how far to stand away from a DK in Knight form and people know to stand much further back from a DK in Dragon form. Don’t give them the chance to adapt.
Counters
- Silver Edge Breaks DK’s Dragon Blood innate. Most DK’s skimp on survivability since they can rely on this innate passive for tankiness, so Silver Edge can go a long way for killing DKs.
- Spirit Vessel, Skadi, and Shiva’s can reduce the HP regen he gets from his Dragon Blood innate.
Conclusion
Dota 2: Dragon’s Blood
Dragon Knight is a powerful hero in this patch. His power, farming speed, and straightforward gameplay make him ideal for solo play. Even if you lose the mid lane, you can recover quickly by spending a few minutes farming in the jungle. The key is to activate your form at the right time, make wise purchases, and avoid dragging the game into the late stages. Follow this guide, and you’ll be able to effectively utilize Dragon Knight to improve your ranking. Good luck in Dota 2! We also recommend visiting the Reddit thread for more Dota 2 content.
