Rust Dragon: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:46, 6 August 2021

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

Statistics

Rust Dragon

Cost per troop
15000	14

Attack	30
Defense	30
Damage	50
Health	750
Speed	17
Movement	Flying
Size	2
Growth	1
AI Value	26433

Special abilities:

• Acid breath
• Breath attack
• Dragon

Portraits

	[[File:{{{U_name}}} portrait.png]] [[File:{{{U_name}}} portrait (HotA).png]]
	[[File:Mini Portrait {{{U_name}}}.png]]

Rust Dragons are level 7 neutral creatures recruited from the Sulfurous Lair, which can only be found from the Adventure Map.

"Rust Dragons are known to hunt Gorgons, and live and feed in sulfur mines. With this appetite, Rust Dragons spew a concentrated acid as their primary attack. This acid is capable of eating through the strongest armor, lowering the defense of its target while inflicting further damage." ^{AB manual}

Placing Rust Dragons (as well as any living Dragons) in the Skeleton Transformer will give you Bone Dragons instead of regular Skeletons.

Acid breath special ability

Acid breath special ability may occur after a stack of Rust Dragons have attacked target creature stack and before the stack has a chance to retaliate. The breath reduces the target stack's defense by 3, and has 20 % chance to cause additional damage amount of 25 points per attacking unit.

Appearance

Rust Dragons were added in Armageddon's Blade so there are no Rust Dragons or Sulfurous Lairs in Restoration of Erathia. They also prominently appear in the Rust Dragons scenario from the Dragon Slayer campaign in from Armageddon's Blade.

User commentary

[Show user commentary]

[Hide user commentary]

Some may find the information in this section subjective or irrelevant.

With their incredibly high speed, health, and attack damage, Rust Dragons are generally considered the third strongest creatures in the game, following only Azure Dragons and Crystal Dragons in raw stats.

Even though in the game files themselves the Rust 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.

Toughness

Rust Dragons are true tanks; same defense as an Archangel and thrice the health, these dragons will endure much damage in early, mid-game and even some in late-game. In early game especially, it's pointless to fight them without Mighty Gorgons or powerful spells.

Offense

With a fixed damage of 50, same as an Angel or Archangel, and same attack stat as the latter, the Rust Dragons will usually deal less damage than expected. However, they are backed up by their toughness, speed and their very strategical ability, Acid breath, which reduces the target stack's defense for the rest of the battle, its effect being cumulative too. Keep in mind, they can also strike two troops by breath attack, just like most dragons.

Efficiency and cost

For a significantly lower cost in gold than a Crystal Dragon's, the Rust Dragon's more "expensive" price to pay is the sulfur , especially for a Dungeon army. Unless having a large amount of special resources, if playing with a Dungeon army you might not want to recruit more than one for the tactical advantage. Otherwise, it's a good addition for its price, as any neutral dragon.

Tactics

The strategy of a Rust Dragon is simple: block shooters, lower defense of enemy troops and soak retaliations. Aside from their powerful stats, they are vulnerable to spells, so beware of Implosion if you don't have more than 2 such dragons.

If the enemy army is more of a threat and these dragons' numbers are low, you shouldn't prioritize them too much. To fight them, it's needed to have high stats and many high level troops, so they can deal enough damage to kill them. As said before, spells such as Implosion are good.

Skill bonuses

Due to their raw strength, Rust Dragons don't get too much of a benefit from hero skills, aside from maybe Offense, since their damage is relatively low.

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 === Offense ===
-With a fixed damage of 50, same as an Angel or Archangel, and same attack stat as the latter, the Rust Dragons will usually deal less damage than expected. However, they are backed up by their toughness, speed and their very strategical ability, [[Acid breath]], which reduces the target stack's defense for the rest of the battle, its effect being cumulative too. Keep in mind, they can also strike two troops, just like most dragons.
+With a fixed damage of 50, same as an Angel or Archangel, and same attack stat as the latter, the Rust Dragons will usually deal less damage than expected. However, they are backed up by their toughness, speed and their very strategical ability, [[Acid breath]], which reduces the target stack's defense for the rest of the battle, its effect being cumulative too. Keep in mind, they can also strike two troops by breath attack, just like most dragons.
 === Efficiency and cost ===