Crystal Dragon

Neutral creatures
Level 1
Peasant
Halfling
Level 2
Rogue
Boar
Leprechaun
Level 3
Nomad
Mummy
Level 4
Sharpshooter
Satyr
Steel Golem
Level 5
Troll
Gold Golem
Fangarm
Level 6
Diamond Golem
Enchanter
Level 7
Faerie Dragon
Rust Dragon
Crystal Dragon
Azure Dragon
Towns

Crystal Dragons are level 7 neutral creatures recruited from the Crystal Cavern.

"Made entirely from red crystal and brought to life through magical means, the Crystal Dragon is literally semitransparent, lit from the center by its magical heart. Used frequently as a training tool for young dragon slayers, many wizards also create these creatures for the crystal they shed." ^{AB manual}

Unlike the majority of dragons, Crystal Dragons cannot fly and they don't have a breath attack, i.e. they damage only the troops directly attacked by them. Placing Crystal Dragons (as well as any living Dragons) in the Skeleton Transformer will give you Bone Dragons instead of regular Skeletons.

Although they are described as magically-created "dragon golems", they are considered living dragons.

Special Ability: Crystal Generation

Crystal Dragons have vaguely phrased special ability called crystal generation. It produces three crystal at the beginning of each week if the player has at least one crystal dragon in any of their armies. The effect is not cumulative, which means that having more than one Crystal Dragon in the kingdom will not yield more crystal.

Heroes with a specialty

• Mutare the Overlord and
• Mutare Drake the Overlord have dragons as a specialty. All dragons receive +5 Attack and +5 Defense.

Appearance

Crystal Dragons were added in Armageddon's Blade, so there are no Crystal Dragons or Crystal Caverns in Restoration of Erathia. They also appear at the end of the Crystal Dragons scenario from the Dragon Slayer campaign in Armageddon's Blade.

Official Renders

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User commentary

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Even though in the game files themselves the Crystal Dragon and other neutral dragons are considered to be level 7, the official editor shows they are level 10 (8 for Faerie Dragon). This is either due to code limitations and impossibility of creating a unit with tier higher than 7, either because the developers didn't have time, motivation or reason to add a new creature level in the game code and invest time in that, just telling us they are level 10, respectively 8. As such, even now their levels are still being debated. They are also the second strongest creature in the game in raw stats, the first being the Azure Dragon. Crystal Dragons can also be resurrected, probably due to their magical heart, even though they are at one point referred to as golems in the campaign. Toughness Crystal Dragons have the second highest defense and health value, right behind the Azure Dragon. In all stages of the game, these dragons are terrible foes, fast and hard to get rid of. Offense Just like toughness, they have the second highest attack and damage value in the whole game. With their fast speed and excellent stats, they are the perfect troop to kill and block the enemy archers and withstand the blows of the enemy. Efficiency and cost For a pretty high cost in gold , these dragons are still a good deal to have a very high level creature (since you don't need to pay for a buildable dwelling). However, don't rely only on them and make sure you have money for other troops too. As a resource generator, a Crystal Dragon will take four weeks to recoup their crystal cost only (3 crystal per week, while they cost 10 crystal). Additional Crystal Dragons will have no effect. This makes them non-competitive in this role, although it is at least somewhat useful in very long campaigns. Tactics There are not that many strategies involving them, since they are a pretty simple, but effective creature. Fast speed allows them to reach any unit on the battlefield, and high stats make them effective tanks and attackers at the same time. However, unlike all other dragons, Crystal Dragons do not fly, so they will have to navigate around obstacles (their high speed helps) and will be blocked by castle walls and moats. Skill bonuses If you want your dragons to be even scarier, Offense and Armorer are excellent choices, skills from which most other creatures benefit from. They also benefit from the Dragon specialty of the Mutare hero, and dragon-focused artifacts (AKA, Vial of Dragon Blood).

See also:

• Dragon
• Neutral creature
• List of creatures

• Comparison of Level 7 Creatures