The Chemtech Dragon was introduced with the start of Pre-Season 12 in November 2021 in League of Legends. Most recently, it received a hidden nerf on January 4th. But what exactly makes the dragon so strong? We at MeinMMO explain the background.
What has happened to the dragon so far? With Patch 11.23, Pre-Season 12 started on November 17th, 2021. The innovations of the season included not only a comeback mechanic and new items, but also two dragons – the Chemtech and Hextech dragons.
While the Hextech Dragon has performed relatively well in its balance, there have been several problems with the Chemtech Dragon. That’s why Riot immediately introduced two nerfs with the last two patches:
- With Patch 11.24 in December, the dragon soul buff was weakened. The duration of resurrection and the damage during it were reduced. Additionally, a new indicator was placed above the heads of the resurrected players so they can be seen more clearly (via LoL).
- Now with the new Patch 12.1 on January 4th, another nerf came. New plants were introduced into the game when the Chemtech Dragon alters the map.
The developer Matt Leung-Harrison explained on Twitter that these plants are intended to help the losing team to gain vision in their own jungle to avoid losing even more.
Chemtech Dragon rewards aggressive playstyle, often makes strong teams even stronger
What can the dragon actually do?
- If your team defeats the Chemtech Dragon, you receive a buff that grants you 6% bonus damage against opponents who currently have more health than you.
- The third dragon in the game alters the entire map. With the Chemtech Dragon, several mist fields appear in the jungle. Players can hide in these mist fields and also deal up to 10% more damage.
- The dragon soul, in turn, grants the team that has killed the fourth dragon a special reinforcement: they are resurrected with 80% of their health after death and can still deal damage for another 4 seconds before they finally die. This damage is reduced by 40%, and their movement speed during resurrection continually decreases.
What are the current problems? All dragons provide buffs that greatly benefit the team that defeats the dragon. However, this factor is significantly amplified with the Chemtech Dragon.
On one hand, the passive effect with the temporary resurrection is very strong. Players can land a CC or another important ability and thus provide extreme help to their remaining team. This surpasses the strengths of the other buffs, where you get additional movement speed, more stats, or health regeneration.
The much larger problem, however, is the alteration of the map. Because the mist fields generally benefit only the winning team. They tend to play much more aggressively and frequently invade the enemy jungle. They can control it much better through the mist fields, as normal wards do not make them visible. A pink ward or revealing abilities are necessary.
If a team once controls the enemy jungle, the defending team can no longer enter it safely. This usually pins them to their own base, and the winning team gains better control over the Baron and other dragons. A classic snowball principle.
The defenders, on the other hand, can rarely use the fields for an ambush, as they always risk that the enemies will suddenly invade their base and end the game.
A comeback is automatically made more difficult by the Chemtech Dragon’s influence on the map.
How do the other dragons change the map?
- The Air Dragon creates fields on the map that allow characters to move faster. Both sides benefit equally from it.
- The Mountain and Fire Dragons alter the paths, which also affects both sides equally.
- The Ocean Dragon provides more bushes and thus potentially more ambush options. However, normal wards work here, so the influence is not as great.
- The Hextech Dragon creates teleport fields, allowing faster movement from the base to the jungle. Even the defenders usually benefit more from this than the attackers.
The Chemtech Dragon is therefore the best dragon for an already winning team.
What do you think of the changes to the Chemtech Dragon? Do the plants help as counterplay or does Riot need to further adjust the dragon’s strengths? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
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