Faerie 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

Faerie Dragons are level 7 neutral creatures recruited from the Magic Forest.

"Faerie Dragons are deceptively cute, but in truth, are mischievous tricksters. Little is known about these notorious troublemakers. What is known is found more in storybooks than magical tomes. Some say they are invisible. Some say they can cast spells. Some say Magic Mirror is one of their natural defensive traits." ^{AB manual}

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

Special Ability: Spellcaster

Faerie Dragons' main attack method is to cast offensive spells. A stack of faerie dragons can cast up to five spells per combat. The spells are randomly chosen for the stack, and the occurrence probabilities can be seen from the table on the left. The spells are cast with advanced expertise, and with spell power equal to five times the number of faerie dragons in the stack (N). If commanded to attack an enemy that is immune to the spell they are currently preparing, they will use a melee attack instead. However, the melee damage of this dragon is comparable to that of a level 6 creature, so don't expect them to do much damage.

Faerie Dragon's Spells:

Spell	Lvl	%	School	Damage
Magic Arrow	1	10%	all	20+50*N
Ice Bolt	2	22%	Water	20+100*N
Lightning Bolt	2	22%	Air	20+125*N
Fireball	3	21%	Fire	30+50*N
Frost Ring	3	10%	Water	30+50*N
Inferno	4	5%	Fire	40+50*N
Meteor Shower	4	5%	Earth	50+125*N
Chain Lightning	4	5%	Air	50+200*N

Magic Arrow, Ice Bolt and Lightning Bolt are not affected by damage bonuses from the hero's Sorcery secondary skill or elemental orbs equipped.

While fighting on Cursed ground, Faerie Dragons can cast all the spells, but they cause no damage. The only effective spell is Magic Arrow.

Faerie Dragons have a 20% chance to reflect targeted spells with Magic Mirror. Faerie Dragons ignore the Orb of Inhibition in some stances of combat i.e. they cast offensive spells despite the presence of the orb.

Appearance

Faerie Dragons were added in Armageddon's Blade, so there are no Faerie Dragons or Magic Forests in Restoration of Erathia. They also prominently appear in the Faerie Dragons scenario from the Dragon Slayer campaign in Armageddon's Blade.

Horn of the Abyss

• Faerie Dragon's AI Value was increased to 30501.
• Faerie Dragon's big portrait was fixed:

File:Faerie Dragon portrait.gif  File:Faerie Dragon portrait (HotA).gif

User Commentary

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Even though in the game files themselves, the Faerie Dragon and other neutral dragons are considered to be level 7, the official editor shows they are level 8 (10 for the other neutral dragons). 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 8, respectively 10. As such, even now their levels are still being debated.

Toughness

While boasting lower defense than most living dragons, they totally excel in health, which is a value of 500. Against lower level units their defense will still be good, backed by the hero's defense and a large health pool. In early and mid-game, they are very good as tanks.

Offense and special ability

See "Special ability" section.

Take into account that if you use the "wait" command with a Faerie Dragon, their spell will change (be rerolled) when their turn comes again. This is handy for having a chance of getting rid of weak spells like Magic Arrow, but it does have a cost of opportunity (it's best to cast before the enemy creature can act).

Efficiency and cost

For their relatively low cost for a neutral dragon, Faerie Dragons are worth the money and gems , unless playing with Titans and/or Archangels. Even then, you might want to buy a few, since they are a solid addition to an army, and are almost surely going to annoy the enemy by destroying their ranged troops. Unlike the other neutral dragons, the 3 Faerie Dragons guarding the dwelling are easier to get rid of if you hit them hard in the beginning, but shouldn't be confronted if losses are high.

Tactics

The strategy of a Faerie Dragon is very simple: strike where it hurts the most from afar, dealing full damage with spells. They can endure some damage, but don't let them be overwhelmed by strong attacks since they will easily perish then. They can also be used for the first cast in the battle, due to their high speed, and are far more effective in greater numbers.

Against Faerie Dragons, you should try to overwhelm them with attacks, and don't worry because of the retaliation, since they will use a weak melee attack. Spells can be reflected by Magic Mirror, and they won't be that effective in front of the dragons' health pool. However, beware that the enemy might have a strong army besides the dragons at that point, so you will want to plan your strategy well. If there are only a few of these dragons, you might want to concentrate on the rest of the enemies then. This isn't a problem against neutral stacks, though.

Skill bonuses

Under control of Sorcery specialist, Faerie Dragons pose a great threat to enemy troops, since Sorcery increases damage of their level 3 and 4 spells.

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According to Jennifer Bullard's development documents for Heroes of Might and Magic 4, they joined the Rampart armies after almost all other kinds of dragons went extinct (including Green and Gold Dragons), the Dwarves joined Bracada and the Centaurs started complaining about 'tree-hugging wimpy druids' and left too. It should also be mentioned that the Druids altered the dragons' colors, so they would fit in with the rest of the army.

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• A Guide to the Jennifer Bullard Papers, 1999-2003
• Jennifer Bullard - Lost manuscript files (Celestial Heavens)

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This is relevant to their place in the Preserve (Nature) town of Heroes of Might and Magic 4 (where they are present as one of the max level units, along with Phoenixes).

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See Also:

• Neutral creature
• List of creatures

• Comparison of Level 7 CreaturesTemplate:Keywords