Dragon Rider

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"This aerial engine of destruction readily and frankly, quite excitedly lays waste to any defense it comes across. The skeleton onboard swears he's not touching the controls."
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Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
==Summary==
*The Dragon Rider is the fifteenth Elixir Troop unlocked in the Barracks when it has been upgraded to level 15, which requires Town Hall level 13. This flying unit is a mechanized dragon ridden by a Skeleton that prioritizes defenses.
*The Dragon Rider is a fearsome aerial unit that has high hitpoints and attack damage, but moderate movement speed. It is also more powerful and faster than the Dragon and Electro Dragon, which can make it a preferable choice for taking down defenses.
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==Strategies==
===Offensive Strategy===
*The Dragon Rider can be used to hunt down defensive buildings far away from each other to take them out. It is better than a Dragon in that aspect due to the extra speed, health, and damage.
*The Dragon Rider has more hitpoints than Dragon and even the Electro Dragon, which makes it tankier, and its damage is okay, meaning that it can do a lot on its own without any spell or troop support.
*The Dragon Rider can be effective for funneling defense-targeting troops, since its high health, defense targeting traits, and its good damage makes him good for funneling. However, in some cases, the Rocket Balloon can be better for single-targeting defenses or defenses inside the base.
*The Dragon Rider has faster speed, higher DPS, higher hitpoints, and lower housing space than the Electro Dragon of a similar level, making him a good alternative. They also target defenses, however, they cannot damage multiple buildings in one attack, unlike the Electro Dragon.
* Adding an Invisibility Spell and Rage Spell along with an army of Dragon Riders will destroy most of the defenses, making way for the weaker troops, Electro Dragon and Dragon to easily raid the place and secure a victory.
*It can be paired with Lava Hounds, as they are able to distract the defenses while the Dragon Rider destroys them. However, this is dependent on the combination's proximity to an Air Defense, as the Lava Hounds target them and thus can only tank defenses around that area. This combination is also very susceptible to seeking air mines, so consider taking Balloons with the Dragon Riders.
===Defensive Strategy===
*It is pretty difficult to stop a Dragon Rider from reaching a certain defense because of its high damage and hitpoints. One way to stop a Dragon Rider is by using a Skeleton Trap (set to air mode). This is because of the Dragon Rider preferred target, thus ignoring the Skeletons. Even if all defenses are destroyed, the Dragon Rider can only shoot at one at a time, thus hindering the Dragon Rider.
*Seeking Air Mines can heavily damage, or even kill, Dragon Riders. Placing one near defenses that Dragon Riders are likely to target can ruin the attacker's plan. This is especially valuable to the defender, as a death of one Dragon Rider is a 25 housing space loss.
*The Dragon Rider is not the best choice as a Clan Castle troop, as it can only attack a single target at a time, which makes it easy to overwhelm with hordes of units. However, it's high hitpoints means that it can take a while to kill, depending on the army the attacker is using. It can also stop unprepared attackers, such as one using an all-P.E.K.K.A army.
==Upgrade Differences==
The Dragon Rider undergoes visual changes at all levels.
*Initially, the Dragon Rider is a mechanical dragon made of iron and wooden planks, with metal supports in the wings, and a Skeleton pilot on top. The dragon's head is made of grey metal.
**At level 2, the horns of the dragon become golden, and the metal supports on the body and wings of the dragon turn golden and slightly grow in size.
**At level 3. the top part of the dragon's head is now golden as well, and the Skeleton's helmet appears to have an explosion symbol on it. The Skeleton's hat also appears to be on fire.
**At level 4. the jaw of the dragon becomes golden and the scarf of the rider becomes purple.
==Statistics==
Preferred Target	Attack Type 	 	Movement Speed	Attack Speed	Range 	Death Damage Radius	Barracks Level Required
Defenses 	Single Target	25	20 	1.2s 	4 tiles	2 tiles 	15
Training Time of Dragon Riders	Training Time of Dragon Riders
Barracks available 	Barracks upgrading
4m 10s 	8m 20s
Level	Damage per Second	Damage per Attack	Damage Upon Death	Hitpoints	Research Cost	Research Time	Laboratory Level Required
1 	340 	408 	700 	4,100 	N/A 	N/A 	N/A
2 	370 	444 	800 	4,400 	9,600,000 	9d 	11
3 	400 	480 	900 	4,700 	16,500,000 	14d 	12
4 	430 	516 	1,000 	5,000 	21,500,000 	16d 	14
==History== 
Patch 	Description
June 13 2021 	Announced Dragon Rider.
June 15, 2021 	The Dragon Rider was added along with 3 levels.
September 27, 2021	Reduced the Dragon Rider's range from 4.5 -> 4 tiles.
January 20, 2022 	Reduced the Dragon Rider's hitpoints at levels 2 and 3:
*Level 2: 4,500 -> 4,400 
*Level 3: 4,900 -> 4,700
==Gallery==
Avatar Dragon Rider.png|Dragon Rider icon
Dragon Rider1.png
Dragon-rider.jpg.webp
Dragon Rider Sneak Peek.jpeg|Dragon Rider sneak peak
New Dragon Rider Troop Explained (Clash of Clans)-2
==Trivia==
*
*The Dragon Rider, Headhunter and Druid are the troops with the least amount of levels.
*The Dragon Rider is one of the five troops associated with Dragons, the others are the Baby Dragon, Electro Dragon, Super Dragon, and the Inferno Dragon.
*As a troop that's associated with Dragons, the Dragon Rider is:
**The only dragon troop not to be organic.
**The only dragon troop that targets defenses.
**The dragon troop that deals the highest damage, although the Inferno Dragon deals the highest damage in its third stage.
===Comparisons===
*The Dragon Rider is one of the several troops, along with the Healer, Miner, Electro Dragon, Yeti, Golem, Ice Golem and Headhunter not to have a Builder Base Troop or Super Troop counterpart.
**The Dragon Rider is the only Wall Breaker-like troop not to have a Super Troop or Builder Base counterpart.
*It is one of the three "vehicle" troops that are manned by Wall Breaker-like skeletons, the others being the Balloon and the Rocket Balloon.
*The Dragon Rider, along with the Dragon, P.E.K.K.A, Yeti, and Headhunter are the only troops to have upgrade differences at each level.
*The Dragon Rider, along with the Mighty Yak, Hog Glider and Battle Machine are the only units not to appear in loading screen images, excluding the Super Troops (with the exception of the Super Giant and Rocket Balloon).
*The Dragon Rider is one of the 13 units to appear in a Scenery, the others being the Barbarian, Goblin, Balloon, Hog Rider, Barbarian King, P.E.K.K.A, Baby Dragon, Skeleton, Archer Queen, Grand Warden, Cannon Cart, and the Party Wizard. In its case, it appears in the 9th Clashiversary Scenery.
*The Dragon Rider, along with the Dragon, Yeti, and Headhunter are the only Home Village troops not to appear in Clash Royale, excluding Super Troops (with the exception of the Inferno Dragon).
Category:Troops
Category:Air Troops
Category:Elixir Troops
Category:Home Village
es:Montadragones