Dragon Knight/Guide

Durable Carry
's role is as a carry, with his uniqueness ability to turn from a melee Knight into a ranged Dragon with splash damage, able to wipe any crowd of enemies. If it was not only this, he still has a high Strength gain per level and increases his armor and HP regen massively, making him extremely durable for a carry. 's players like to build, so they can dominate a creep/neutral creep and use it to stack camps, and then just pop and use its splash damage to kill the stacked camp, gathering high amounts of gold. With his, you and your team can easily aim at a priority target, seeing that this is a single target stun with long duration. It is better used when you are in Elder Dragon Form (it gains increased range), or, if that is not the case, you can build a and set up ganks with it by sneaking behind the target and stunning it. is a cone shape AoE nuke ability, dealing considerably damage to all enemies hit, useful for farming, pushing and harassing when you have a, making its function as 's early/mid damage source, as it takes time and alot of farm until you can really do your job as a carry, not only because 's attack damage is quite low before you get the right items, but because he lacks ANY sort of Attack Speed Steroid (essential to any Carry).

Going in depth on his, it turns him into one of three differents Dragon Forms (depending on the level), each stronger than the previous, gaining ranged properties, increased base movement speed, splash attack damage, increased range and some attack modifier: As you can see, 's usefulness comes from his Dragon Form, seeing that it gives him to much power, which he doesn't have while in his human form. As a carry, you must build according to the game, but it is highly recommended, in most matches, to build a, seeing that has a nice defense against physical damage, but can do little against nukers, and the bar should solve this, and also, build a , as the critical strike affects the splash damage.
 * Level 1: Becomes a Green Dragon with Corrosive Breath, a modifier which causes your attacks to deal 20 magical damage per second for 4 seconds.
 * Useful for taking down towers, as the damage per second works on them.
 * Level 2: Becomes a Red Dragon with Corrosive Breath and Splash attack damage, applying the poison effect to all enemies hit by the splash damage.
 * Useful for killing crowds of enemies, especially neutral creatures and a large wave of pushing enemy creeps, and for taking down towers, as the damage per second works on them.
 * Level 3: Becomes a Blue Dragon with Corrosive Breath, Splash attack damage and Frost Breath, which slows all enemies units hit directly by hits attacks and units hit by the splash damage.
 * Useful for killing crowds of enemy Heroes, especially because the attack speed and movement speed slow from Frost Breath pierces magic immunity and will be of great use in a team fight, making it difficult for enemies to flee or right clicker to fight, and since it is his level 3 ultimate, by the game time, you should be well armed with items.

Ability Builds
Both builds requires only one skill point for, as it scales terribly, and the first level of this ability is extremely useful for the rest of the game.

Talents

 * lacks attack speed and have a nice strength gain and durability, due to, so getting the first Left Talent is the best choice you can do. As an auto attacker, you need damage, and the +40 damage from the second left talent will increase your ability to clean enemy crowds. The 3 Talent Level (Level 20 Talent) is highly situational. +120 Gold/Min can help you to finish your items, if the other means of farming are unrewarding/risky (if they have destroyed the barracks or the jungle is warded), while +300 Health may be great for boost your durability in fights, but since you already have you might not need it that much. In addition, the last Level Talent, the Level 25, doubles the effects of , making  literally unkillable in the latter stage of the game, as the physical damage tends to dominate in this stage.

General

 * Dragon Knight is one of the few heroes with no cast time on his abilities, so abilities can be cast in between attacks on the backswing animation.
 * Creep stacking is a good tactic for Dragon Knight, as his ultimate will clear camps quickly.
 * Dragon Knight has a quick, clean attack animation, making last hitting fairly easy (especially with a ).
 * With any source of lifesteal, Dragon Knight rarely needs to return to the fountain.
 * In the early game, enemies teams may choose to ignore Dragon Knight during teamfights, due to his low damage.
 * Dragon Knight's item build varies depending on what he's facing. Good players must analyze enemies' items to make an informed decision.
 * Despite being tanky against physical damage, Dragon Knight has no defenses against magical and pure damage. Don't overestimate his tankiness against a mixed lineup of heroes.
 * Like several other carries, Dragon Knight relies heavily on to keep himself from being disabled in teamfights.


 * Breathe Fire can be used to farm and harass in lane, especially if Dragon Knight has a.
 * Breathe Fire is useful as an early game nuke, being your damage source untill you can unleash heavy auto attacks.
 * Breathe Fire reduces enemies attack damage.


 * Dragon Tail is the longest (guaranteed) level 1 single target stun in the game. 's can stun up to 5 seconds at level 1, but must travel at least 1500 range and as such is difficult to hit with.
 * Dragon Tail scales poorly. One or two levels is often enough to fulfill its primary stun purposes.
 * Dragon Tail is great for ganking, especially if you have.
 * Dragon Tail's cast range increases as you transform yourself into a Dragon.


 * Max it first as it can keep you alive longer. It is a must skill when playing in offlane.
 * Restores 180/360/540/720 (360/720/1080/1440 with Talents) health in one minute.


 * Despite its long duration, make sure Elder Dragon Form is always ready before a teamfight. Without it, Dragon Knight is easily kited.
 * Elder Dragon Form changes attack range from melee to ranged. Keep this in mind when building items as it also changes the effect of items like, damage block, bash chance and cleave.
 * The Dragons' corrosive breath affects towers, easily taking them down.
 * Use the Splash damage from the Level 2 Red Dragon to clean waves and stacked camps. A is usually bought for this job.
 * Frost Breath and Corrosive Breath are not unique attack modifiers, so they are stackable with items granting unique attack modifiers.
 * The splash damage will not trigger lifesteal.
 * However, if the attack modifier increases the attack damage, it will affect splash (both Corrosive Breath and Frost Breath are applied to all units damaged by splash), and so does critical strikes. Splash damage is also affected by damage manipulation.

Items
Starting items: Early game: Core items: Situational items:
 * . One is usually enough, as can keep him in lane with minimum health regeneration.
 * makes last hitting easier, which is very important for a carry.
 * is needed because of Dragon Knight's poor mana pool.
 * grant more health, and can be used to build a Bracer.
 * gives nice attributes, and can be used to build a Magic Wand.
 * are compulsory because of the early speed boost they give.
 * provides you with some regeneration while laning.
 * is a good early game item: it gives more attributes and some damage.
 * is a useful item on Dragon Knight, as it allows him to farm using Breathe Fire constantly. The extra health regeneration from Soul Ring together with the regeneration from Dragon Blood offset the health loss.
 * are useful not only because of the attack speed they give, but also because you can switch the attribute to Intelligence if you need more mana, usually just before using an ability; otherwise you can keep them on  Strength to make you more durable and to make last hitting easier.
 * provides you with more attributes and good health and mana regeneration. Also, it uses up the branches bought earlier, making room for more items while keeping their stats.
 * is a crucial item to have in most games to prevent being disabled. With the added survivability, damage and magic immunity, you become more durable and able to jump into the fight with less risk of dying.
 * is the best item to buy if you need to be tankier. Not only it provides you with more than 1000 HP and a passive ability to gain health more quickly, but it also adds 40 damage.
 * is a good item both offensively and defensively: it gives more damage, more strength and some evasion. Its maim is nice for chasing enemies, and its disarm is a nice counter to auto-attackers and carries.
 * gives good mobility, and is a favorite for ganking players. The stealth allows you to initiate using your stun, and the bonus damage coming out of stealth is also helpful.
 * gives damage, armor and lifesteal, which means more tankiness and last hitting power. It is also useful because you can dominate a creep and use it to stack a neutral camp remotely, possibly the ancient camp. Once stacked one or two times, you can clear it to gain a burst of gold and experience.
 * solves Dragon Knight's mobility problem and allows him to initiate with.
 * However, if your team already has an initiator and you do not need to initiate, works just as well and provides more durability.
 * gives damage, attack speed, and a nice boost in strength when activated; likewise compliments a Helm of The Dominator / Satanic pickup
 * gives attack speed and armor to you and surrounding allies. It also places a debuff on enemies, making them easier to kill. It is a good item if you have many auto-attackers in your team.
 * give more survivability and tankiness for both you and your team against magic damage, the bonus health regen is also very useful.
 * allows you to chase opponents or escape from them, likewise gives you some initiating power.
 * and its upgrade supplements Dragon Knight's damage output and provides a useful deterrent against attacking enemies.
 * is the upgrade to your Helm of the Dominator: it grants more strength and more lifesteal, making you both durable and able to deal high damage.
 * makes you deal more damage, and gives you the chance to make critical hits.
 * improves Dragon Knight's tower pushing and increases his damage. It also synergizes with an pickup and creates a huge armor disparity.
 * provides you with more strength, more agility, more damage and more attack speed. Other than this, the added movement speed and its greater maim make chasing enemies easier.
 * provides a slow that stacks with lifesteal from and . It also pierces spell immunity, like the Frost Breath from your level 3 Dragon Form. Cold Attack combined with Frost Breath reduces an enemy's damage output significantly and makes it hard for enemy heroes to disengage from a fight once they are attacked by Dragon Knight. It also provides a huge health boost rivaling  and can be considered as an offense oriented replacement as it also provides intelligence that helps with your mana consumption, and agility which gives attack speed for more DPS and armor that increases your overall effective health.
 * can be considered as a final luxury when your team is far ahead.