Shadow Dragon Guide
ATK 560 · Power 800 000
Time Travel revives your dead and wipes the permanent ground hazards, but hands the dragon a new element every time you use it.
Before you pull
Shadow Dragon is immune to every debuff and impairment except Taunt.
Control heroes do nothing here.
Bring
Stats
Health680 000
Defense4 500
What you must not do
- Fight from the flanks. Cones in front, tail rectangle behind
- Walk your Dark Interdiction somewhere useless. You have 8 seconds and it stays forever
- Spend Time Travel when the floor is gone and people are dead, not on the first casualty
- Break out the Icebound Legion by attacking it. It is always your top damage dealer
- Spread when the Plague Elementals are out. Seeds transmit
- Turn away from Howling Darkness. It only takes Legions that face it
The mechanics
2Time Travel: the decision the raid turns onThere are 4 Time Suppression Bells in the Lair.
3Dark Interdiction: the floor problemEvery 8 seconds, the dragon drops Shadows of Distortion on 2 random Legions.4The heavy hitters
5Corrosive Pestilence: the one that punishes groupingThe dragon summons 4 Plague Elementals, two on the left and two on the right.
6Melee range
The fight, phase by phase
6 phasesFirst of the Five Dragons
At the start of every battle, the dragon randomly gains one elemental skill: fire, ice, lightning, poison or earth. That comes on top of its own shadow attacks.
Each time you use Time Travel, it gains another element it does not already have. The dragon you finish the raid against is not the one you started on.
First of the Five Dragons
Each time battle begins, Shadow Dragon will randomly gain a Skill with the power of fire, ice, lightning, poison, or earth, alongside its own shadow-affinity Skills. Whenever Time Travel is activated, Shadow Dragon will randomly gain another Skill type that it does not currently have.
Time Travel
There are 4 Time Suppression Bells in Shadow Dragon's Lair. When Legions ring all 4 bells at the same time, they will activate Time Travel. Once Time Travel is activated, all Legions will return to their starting positions and Unit Count at the start of battle, with all dead units revived. At the same time, Shadow Dragon will randomly gain a Skill with the power of fire, ice, lightning, poison, or earth. Whenever Time Travel is activated, Shadow Dragon will randomly gain another Skill type that it does not currently have. Time Travel can be activated 4 times, with a cooldown of 1 minutes between each activation.
Time Travel: the decision the raid turns on
There are 4 Time Suppression Bells in the Lair. All four have to be rung at the same time, so this needs four assigned Legions and a countdown.
What it gives you:
- Every Legion returns to its starting position and starting Unit Count
- All dead units are revived
- Every Dark Interdiction on the floor is removed
What it costs you:
- The dragon gains another element
Limits: 4 activations, with a 1 minute cooldown between them.
That third bullet is the one people miss. Dark Interdictions never expire on their own. Time Travel is not only a resurrection, it is the only broom in the fight. So the right moment is usually when both problems are true at once: you have lost Legions and the floor has become impassable. Spending one early to undo a single death throws away the cleanup.
Dark Interdiction
Every 8 seconds, Shadow Dragon unleashes Shadows of Distortion upon the location of two random Legions. 8 seconds later, the Shadows of Distortion generate Dark Interdictions, which deal Magic Skill damage every second to all Legions caught within them (2% of the Legion's maximum Unit Count). Dark Interdictions do not disappear, but are removed after using Time Travel.
Dark Interdiction: the floor problem
Every 8 seconds, the dragon drops Shadows of Distortion on 2 random Legions. 8 seconds later those become Dark Interdictions: 2% of maximum Unit Count per second to anything inside.
They do not disappear. Every 8 seconds, two more. Over a long fight the usable ground shrinks continuously, and the only reset is Time Travel.
So the 8 second fuse is where the fight is won. Marked Legions walk their zone to somewhere the raid will not need: an edge, behind the dragon's back line, anywhere but the middle.
The heavy hitters
Nullifying Breath: a forward rectangle taking 3% per second, and when the breath ends the dragon burns the same rectangle again for 15% of maximum Unit Count, leaving Embers. Embers deal 2% per second and cannot be dispelled. Leaving the rectangle when the breath stops is not enough. Leave the ground entirely.
Heaven Asunder: the dragon flies up, picks a random Legion's position, and lands on it for 25% of maximum Unit Count, knocking everyone around it Airborne.
It can do this several times in a row. Do not settle after the first landing.
Thunder Storm: it moves to the centre and sweeps a rotating cone of lightning around itself, 15% of maximum Unit Count on contact. Move with the rotation.
Ice Cage: it picks the Legion that has dealt the most damage so far and sends a slow Frost Storm at them, 4% per second plus Icebound. Icebound cannot be dispelled, but an Icebound Legion is freed by attacking it. Your best damage dealer is the target every time, so assign someone to break them out.
Nullifying Breath
After a short charge-up, Shadow Dragon unleashes its breath in a forward rectangle, dealing Magic Skill damage every second (3% of the Legion's maximum Unit Count). Once its breath attack ends, Shadow Dragon breathes fire in the same forward rectangle, dealing Magic Skill damage (15% of the Legion's maximum Unit Count) and leaving Embers that cannot be dispelled. Embers deal Magic Skill damage every second to all Legions that touch them (2% of the Legion's maximum Unit Count).
Heaven Asunder
Shadow Dragon flies into the air and selects a random Legion's location. After a short charge-up, it lands at that location, knocking all surrounding Legions airborne and dealing Magic Skill damage (25% of the Legion's maximum Unit Count). This Skill can be cast several times consecutively.
Thunder Storm
Shadow Dragon moves to the center of its Lair. After a short charge-up, it continuously unleashes lightning in a cone-shaped area that moves around it, dealing Magic Skill damage to all Legions who come into contact with the lightning (15% of the Legion's maximum Unit Count).
Ice Cage
Shadow Dragon selects the Legion that has dealt the most damage so far. After a short charge-up, it creates a Frost Storm that slowly moves toward the target. The Frost Storm deals Magic Skill damage to all Legions it touches (4% of the Legion's maximum Unit Count) and inflicts Icebound. The Icebound effect cannot be dispelled, but Icebound Legions can be rescued by attacking them.
Corrosive Pestilence: the one that punishes grouping
The dragon summons 4 Plague Elementals, two on the left and two on the right. Each drifts toward a random Legion. On contact it plants a Plague Seed: 1% of maximum Unit Count per second.
Plague Seed spreads to other Legions within range of an infected one.
This is the mechanic that argues against the usual "stay grouped" instinct. When the Elementals are out, an infected Legion has to get clear, or a single seed becomes the whole raid.
Corrosive Pestilence
Shadow Dragon summons 4 Plague Elementals, 2 on the left and 2 on the right. Each Plague Elemental slowly moves toward a random Legion's location. When they hit a Legion, they inflict Plague Seed, dealing Magic Skill damage every second (1% of the Legion's maximum Unit Count). Plague Seed can be transmitted to other Legions within range of the affected Legion.
Melee range
- Shadow Tear: forward cone
- Paths of Shadow: a forward cone that also leaves 3 lasting shadow trails, Damage Factor 2,000 on contact
- Shadow Stomp: everything around it
- Sky Shaker: a rectangle behind the dragon, knocking Airborne. The tail is not a safe place to stand
- Howling Darkness: Terror for 10 seconds, on every Legion that is facing it. Turn away during the charge-up and it does not touch you
Shadow Tear
Shadow Dragon slashes with its mighty claws, dealing Magic Skill damage to all enemy Legions in a forward cone (Damage Factor 1,000).
Paths of Shadow
Shadow Dragon sweeps its claw along the ground, dealing Magic Skill damage to all Legions in a forward cone (Damage Factor 1,500) and summoning 3 Paths of Shadow that extend out in front of it. Paths of Shadow deal Magic Skill damage to all Legions who come into contact with them (Damage Factor 2,000).
Shadow Stomp
Shadow Dragon leaps into the air, dealing Magic Skill damage to all surrounding Legions (Damage Factor 2,000).
Sky Shaker
Shadow Dragon swings its mighty tail, knocking all Legions in a rectangle behind it airborne, and dealing Magic Skill damage (Damage Factor 2,000).
Howling Darkness
After a short charge-up, Shadow Dragon unleashes a terrifying roar, inflicting Terror on all Legions within its Lair that are facing it, causing them to move uncontrollably for 10s.
Reference
All 17 skills, lair and alliance, with the full game text