Dota 2 Dragon Knight Guide: Master Davion Today!

Dota 2 is so prevalent in the world right now, that it’s pretty surprising that it hasn’t taken over yet. To be fair, there are other MOBAs that are just as prominent as Dota 2. League of Legends is the foremost example. However, the Dota 2 anime did expose a lot of people to the game, and the hero that came into their minds first is Davion, the Dragon Knight.

Who Is the Dota 2 Character Known as the Dragon Knight?

Dota 2 Dragon Knight — Screenshot by Robots

The Dragon Knight, Davion, is a strength attribute melee hero with a versatile and straightforward skillset. Through this, he can farm and gank effectively in the game, while also surviving ganks himself. When built correctly and with enough farm, Dragon Knight transforms into a powerful draconic form, which can be a significant threat when played correctly.

Backstory

Knight Davion has been trailing after the legendary Eldwurm Slyrak for years. When he caught him, however, he finds himself disappointed. The dreaded Slyrak had grown frail, its wings a tattered mess, its scales now few and stricken with scale-rot. Its once fearsome fangs are nothing more than stubs now, and its once devastating breath burned out of him.

Seeing this, Davion turned away to let Slyrak die in peace. After all, there’s no honor to be had in killing a defenseless foe. However, a voice crept in his thoughts, as Slyrak pleaded with his once adversary to honor him with death in combat. Davion acquiesces, for at the very least he can give a dying foe an honorable death, and for this, he was rewarded beyond measure.

The Ancient Eldwurm pierced his throat with a sharp talon as Davion sank his blade into Slyrak’s breast. With this, Slyrak sent out his power and wisdom towards his foe, the one that granted him death’s mercy and honor. Through the dragon’s death, and Davion’s mercy, the Dragon Knight was born.

What Changed from Dragon Knight’s Dota 1 Version?

Dragon Knight’s overall playstyle and kit haven’t changed that much from the Dota 1 days to Dota 2. The only things that changed are the addition of his Talents, the special effects of Aghanim’s Scepter, and Aghanim’s Shard to him. Of course, there were a few balance tweaks here and there over the years, but his playstyle remains the same.

Potential Roles

Dragon Knight can be a durable carry that soaks up damage in the frontline for the team as stated in his playstyle. This allows the team to use their skills safely while Dragon Knight is tanking. In addition, Dragon Knight can also be a decent offlaner with the right items. For example, Shadow Blade and Blink Dagger take advantage of Dragon Tail’s ability to surprise unaware enemies.

Playstyle

Dragon Knight is very durable due to his Dragon’s Blood skill giving him HP regen and armor. Because of this, he’s usually in the front of any fight, dealing damage while soaking it up for his team. In addition to this, he’s also a good pusher with Dragon Form and a few damage-dealing items. With enough farm and a lot of good team fights, Dragon Knight can be a force to be reckoned with.

Do note that Dragon Knight is a hero that’s very dependent on Black King Bar. This is because he’s a big, juicy target for the enemy team’s spells. He’s durable in terms of armor, yes, but magical damage can turn his high HP and regen into nothing.

Dragon Knight usually plays well with teams that can capitalize on the precious few seconds that he gives on team fights. Thus, Tidehunter, Enigma, and other heroes that have great crowd control/kill abilities are great with him.

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Dragon Knight Skills in Dota 2

These are the skills that Dota 2’s Dragon Knight has available to him. As per usual, Dragon Knight’s skills can either be improved or unlocked through Aghanim’s Scepter/Shard. Of course, we’re going to indicate which skills they are in their text. We’ll start with Breathe Fire, followed by Dragon Tail, Dragon Blood, Fireball, and lastly, Elder Dragon Form.

Breathe Fire

The Dragon Knight’s breath is now reminiscent of Slyrak the Eldwurm. Other knights remember none too fondly about the Eldwurm’s breath burning knights of their order into charred and blackened corpses.

Dragon Knight spews forth a wave of dragonfire in front of him. This burning breath damages enemies and reduces how much damage they can deal towards Dragon Knight and his allies.

Notes:

Breathe Fire bursts forth from a cone in front of Dragon Knight and travels up to 1000 units away from him.
Deals 90/170/240/300 damage and reduces attack damage by 25%, 50% with the level 10 Talent. The damage reduction lasts for 11 seconds.
The damage reduction affects a target’s total attack damage. This includes raw damage bonuses.
Breath Fire’s damage is first applied before the debuff.

Dragon Tail

The Dragon Knight is a master of armed combat. In addition to this, he combines his draconic constitution and talents to utterly ravage his enemies in a melee.

Dota 2’s Dragon Knight clobbers an enemy with his shield, stunning them for a time and dealing a bit of damage to them. This ability can only be used when Dragon Knight is in melee range except for Elder Dragon Form.

Notes:

Dragon Tail deals 70/100/130/160 damage and stuns for 2.25/2.5/2.75/3 seconds, 2.75/3/3.25/3.5 seconds with the +.5 second talent at level 10.
The skill first deals the damage before the stun debuff.
Dragon Tail cannot be disjointed when Dragon Knight is in Human Form.
Elder Dragon Form changes the ability into a 400 range projectile. When Dragon Knight gets the +375 AOE on Elder Dragon Form, he can stun enemies in a 375 AOE around his initial target.
The AOE changes the projectile’s properties as well, as its AOE can now hit enemies in the game’s fog of war, or invisible.

Dragon Blood

The blood of the Eldwurm Slyrak courses through the Dragon Knight’s veins, diminished though it may be. This gives him more vitality, strength, and power compared to an ordinary knight.

The lifeblood of Davion’s Dragonic sire gives him additional HP Regen and toughens his skin, giving him more armor.

Notes:

Gives 3/6/9/12 additional armor and 3/6/9/12 additional HP Regen per second. This is increased to 15/18/21/24 additional armor and 15/18/21/24 additional HP Regen per second with the +12 Dragon Blood HP Regen/Armor Level 25 talent.
In one minute, Dragon Knight can regain up to 180/360/540/720 HP without the talent, and 900/1080/1260/1440 HP with the talent.

Fireball

Dragon Knight fires a ball of pure flames that ignites a target area for 10 seconds. Enemies that are in the AOE will burn for 2 seconds dealing 65 damage per second.

Notes:

This is Davion’s Aghanim Shard upgrade skill.
The burn debuff is provided as an aura that lingers for 2 seconds. It can be refreshed by going back inside the Fireball AOE.
Deals 32.5 damage every .5 second interval.
Has a 600 cast range on melee form, and a 1400 cast range on Elder Dragon Form.

Elder Dragon Form

The power of draconic might burst forth from Davion’s knightly form, transforming him to a semblance of Slyrak. A devastating combination of a Legendary Eldwurm and a Legendary Knight.

The Dragon Knight’s form erupts with draconic power, taking on the form of an elder dragon. This increases his speed, the range that Dragon Tail can be cast, and several powerful abilities tied for each form:

Dota 2’s Dragon Knight can take on either a Green, Red, or Blue Dragon Form depending on the level of the skill. Each dragon form has a skill that gets passed onto the next Elder Dragon form in the level.

Green Dragon Form

Green Dragon Form has Corrosive Breath. This makes it so that every attack that Dragon Knight does deals 20 poison damage per second. This also works on buildings.

Red Dragon Form

Red Dragon Form has Splash attack. This makes it so that all of Dragon Knight’s attacks damage all enemies in a 350 radius around the attack target. Do note that Corrosive Breath is also going to be added into the splash damage, so this Dragon Form is great for accelerating Dragon Knight’s farm.

Blue Dragon Form

Next up is the Blue Dragon Form, which gives Davion Frost Breath. This slows enemy movement speed by 40% and attack speed by 40. Do note that the Frost Breath is also applied on the Splash Attack given by the Red Dragon Form. So Dragon Knight can now poison and slow enemies inside the Splash damage radius. The slow debuff lasts for 3 seconds.

Black Dragon via Aghanim’s Scepter

With Aghanim’s Scepter, Dota 2’s Dragon Knight gets access to the Black Dragon Form. This gives bonus magic resistance, Corrosive Breath damage, Splash Damage, and slow. It also gives him Free Pathing, allowing him unobstructed movement, passing through terrain, buildings, trees, and units.

Additional Notes:

Davion’s Movement speed is increased to 335 and his attack range is increased to 500. With the +150 Elder Dragon Attack Range Talent on Level 20, this increases to 650.
The Elder Dragon Form is fully canceled when Dragon Knight dies.
If Elder Dragon Form is cast in succession while the buff is still active, the duration is refreshed and the form is updated.
The 3 attack modifiers that Dota 2’s Dragon Knight gains on each Elder Dragon Form level are undispellable buffs.
Corrosive Breath deals 20 magical damage in 1-second intervals for a maximum of 100 damage in 5 seconds. This is increased to 30 magical damage in 1-second intervals with a max of 150 damage in 5 seconds with Aghanim’s Scepter.
Corrosive Breath works on buildings but only if Dragon Knight attacks them directly. They’re not affected by the Splash Damage buff on Fire Dragon Form.
Successive attacks refresh the duration of the debuff, not add additional stacks.
Attacks apply the debuff first, before the damage. When the Splash Damage buff is gained, the splash damage is applied first, then the debuff, then the debuff damage.
Splash Attack’s damage is physical, which means it can be damage blocked.
No splash damage is dealt when Dragon Knight’s attacks miss or disjointed.
Splash Damage doesn’t work on buildings.
Frost Breath doesn’t work on allied units, buildings, or wards.
Successive hits of Frost Breath refresh the duration, not stack.
Frost Breath attacks apply the debuff first before the damage. The splash damage from the Fire Dragon Form is applied after the debuff.
The slow debuff isn’t applied if the attack misses or is disjointed.
Elder Dragon Form’s 4th level can only be reached with Aghanim’s Scepter, which unlocks Black Dragon Form.

Dragon Knight Talents in Dota 2

These are the Talents that Dota 2’s Dragon Knight can get when he levels up to Level 10, 15, 20, and 25:

Level 10	Breathe Fire Damage reduction +30% – Gives Breathe Fire additional attack damage reduction, which can be useful in stopping ganks or saving allies.	Attack Damage +15 – Increases Dragon Knight’s attack damage which can help him last hit creeps and heroes.
Level 15	+400 HP – Gives Dota 2’s Dragon Knight additional HP, making him tankier and harder to kill.	Dragon Tail stun +.5 Seconds – Adds more time on Dragon Tail’s stun, giving Dragon Knight and his team more time to kill a defenseless enemy.
Level 20	+20 Strength – Gives Dragon Knight additional Strength, allowing him to deal more damage while increasing his HP and Regen.	Elder Dragon Form Attack Range +150 – Adds additional attack range on Dragon Knight’s Elder Dragon Form, which can be pretty clutch on team fights, ganks, and pushes.
Level 25	Dragon Form Dragon Tail +375 AoE – Dragon Tail can now be used to team stun, allowing for better ganks and advantageous team fights.	Dragon Blood HP Regen and Armor +12 – The additional armor and HP Regen make Dragon Knight tankier and more difficult to kill.

Dota 2 Item Guide for Dragon Knight

Now that we’ve talked about his skills and talents, let’s talk about how to build Dota 2’s Dragon Knight. We’ll start on what Davion needs to get when the game starts until we finally get to the late game. We’ll also make sure to take a look at what items Dragon Knight can get in certain situations.

Start

When the game starts, it’s a good idea for Dragon Knight to get Mana Regen items or healing items. Do note that healing items aren’t as necessary due to Dragon Knight’s Dragon’s Blood ability giving him HP Regen and armor.

Clarity – Restores some Mana for Dragon Knight to use his abilities, perfect for him to last hit creeps using Breathe Fire.
Tango – Useful for when Dragon Knight doesn’t have his Dragon’s Blood ability. After that, it’s usually a good idea to get more Clarities or a Mango instead.
Iron Branch – Gives Dragon Knight additional stats as well as building up to a Magic Wand.
Quelling Blade – Helps in last hitting creeps and escaping by cutting trees in certain areas.
Gauntlets of Strength – Gives Dragon Knight additional strength as well as building up to Soul Ring, one of his best early game items.

Early

With the early game, it’s usually a good idea for Dragon Knight to prioritize getting Soul Ring and Magic Stick. This allows him to sustain himself in lanes as well as gives him the ability to gank enemies.

Boots of Speed – Pretty much an essential item to a lot of heroes as it leads to several useful tools for increased movement speed. And maybe a few other buffs along the way. In Dragon Knight’s case, these items would be Power Treads and Phase Boots.
Magic Stick – Allows Dragon Knight to regain his HP and MP every time there are a few charges in the item.
Soul Ring – One of Dragon Knight’s best items in the early game as it gives him HP Regen and the Sacrifice ability. This allows Dragon Knight to sacrifice some of his HP to temporarily regain some mana. However, thanks to Dragon’s Blood and Soul Ring’s HP Regen, Dragon Knight can get back to full HP and use Sacrifice again and again.
Brace r- Gives Dragon Knight additional strength stat, giving him more survivability.

Mid-Game

Midgame-wise, Dota 2’s Dragon Knight wants to snowball hard into his good items. Phase Boots or Power Treads to give him either survivability or damage, then Black King Bar so he can team fight. There are other items as well, which we’ll talk about below.

Magic Wand – The improved version of the magic Stick that gives more stats and HP/MP restoration. A good item for Dragon Knight to get if he wants to take advantage of enemy lineups that use spells heavily.
Power Treads – Increases Dragon Knight’s attack speed and gives him the ability to attribute switch the boot’s main stat increase. This allows him to do things like using Soul Ring while at Strength Attribute to get regen, or use Intelligence Attribute to passively regen mana.
Phase Boots – Gives Dragon Knight additional damage and the ability to increase his movement speed on demand.
Blink Dagger – Gives Dragon Knight additional movement options as well as the ability to escape ganks or cause ganks.
Black King Bar – One of Dragon Knight’s essential items as it allows him to stay in team fights longer. This is because dragon Knight becomes spell immune, which means stuns, crowd control any spell has no effect on him during BKB’s duration.
Shadow Blade – Gives Dragon Knight the same benefits as Blink Dagger with the addition of damage and more ganking potential. It’s also one of the items that build up to Silver Edge, which allows Dragon Knight to Break passive abilities.
Armlet of Mordiggian – A pretty good choice for Dragon Knight as it gives him on-demand stats for some HP drain. The HP drain can then be alleviated by Dragon’s Blood, which allows Dragon Knight to continue fighting.

Late Game

In terms of Late Game, Dota 2’s Dragon Knight wants to be in the middle of the fight. He wants to go there, and straight-up tank enemy damage so that his team can stay in the fight and do their jobs. With enough items, HP, and damage, he can do those things and more.

Aghanim’s Scepter – Gives Dragon Knight the Black Dragon Form, which makes him stronger, while also giving him extra stats.
Assault Cuirass – Increases Dragon Knight’s armor, making him harder to kill, while also giving him more attack speed. The armor reduction aura is also great in allowing Dragon Knight and his team to burst down his enemies.
Daedalus – A damage item that gives Dragon Knight the ability to critical hit his enemies.
Overwhelming Blink – Gives Dragon Knight’s Blink Dagger the ability to slow attack and movement speed on the area he blinks towards. It also gives him a decent amount of Strength.
Satanic – Gives Dragon Knight a hefty strength attribute boost as well as an absurd amount of lifesteal. The item can sometimes act as a 2nd or even 3rd save when used correctly.

Situational Items

These are the items that Dragon Knight should get in specific situations only, or if he has a lot of gold. Do note that he also needs to have gold for buyback just in case.

Aghanim’s Shard – Gives the Fireball ability which can be used to push in lanes. Not as important as the Scepter though.
Moon Shard – A luxury item that increases Dragon Knight’s attack speed. Can be consumed to get an open item slot while keeping some of the attack speed buffs.
Manta Style – Gives Dragon Knight more push capability as the clones can also get the benefits from Elder Dragon Form.
Sange and Yasha – Gives Dragon Knight additional attributes, attack speed, movement speed, damage, lifesteal, HP regen, and status resistance.
Heaven’s Halberd – Gives Dragon Knight additional strength stats, evasion, and status resistance. It also gives him the Disarm ability, which can be used to stop enemy heroes from attacking.
Arcane Blink – Alongside Octarine Core, allows Dragon Knight to stay in Elder Dragon Form 24/7.
Octarine Core – Alongside Arcane Blink, allows Dragon Knight to stay in Elder Dragon Form 24/7.
Radiance – Helps Dragon Knight farm faster and increases his team fight capabilities because of the AoE damage over time.

When Do Players Pick Dragon Knight in Dota 2?

Dota 2’s Dragon Knight is incredibly tanky and very much a hero that wants to initiate a team fight. His kit is tailor-made for it as well with Elder Dragon Form and Dragon Tail. However, he’s also a hero that benefits a lot from being farmed until bursting with items. Thus, it’s a good idea to go for the Dragon Knight if you’re confident that the current lineup would be beneficial to him.

Good Matchups for Dragon Knight in Dota 2

These are the heroes that Dota 2’s Dragon Knight has an advantage against. As per usual though, this doesn’t mean that they can’t fight against Davion. They will, however, have a hard time doing so.

Clinkz – Clinkz’s Searing Arrows ability is pretty much negated in the early game thanks to Dragon Blood.
Riki – Riki’s lack of burst damage means that he’s sadly not much of a threat to the Dragon Knight.
Nyx Assassin – Nyx Assassin’s Vendetta is a Physical damage attack, which means it can be negated by Dragon Knight’s sheer tankiness. This also works with the rest of Nyx Assassin’s kit.
Witch Doctor – Witch Doctor’s Plague Ward is a physical damage totem that Dragon Knight can deal with easily due to his high armor. In addition, Dragon Knight’s large HP pool and regen can minimize Maledict’s high magic damage.
Templar Assassin – Unless Templar Assassin manages to get a few items, her reliance on physical damage will be useless against Dragon Knight. In addition, Corrosive Breath can easily take out her Refraction stacks because of its damage over time.

Counters Against Dragon Knight in Dota 2

These are the heroes that have a great chance to counter Dragon Knight in a Dota 2 game. Of course, this doesn’t mean that Davion can’t fight against them. However, he’s not going to have fun.

Bristleback – Viscous Nasal Goo can remove Dragon Knight’s armor advantage so that physical damage heroes can rip him to shreds. Quill Spray is also a good ability against Dragon Knight because it stacks a lot until the damage becomes unbearable.
Ancient Apparition and Lich -Ancient Apparition and Lich can reduce Dragon Knight’s movement speed to a crawl. They accomplish this with Cold Feet and Ice Vortex for Ancient Apparition, and Frost Blast and Chain Frost for Lich. This is especially useful on long team fights where Dragon Knight wants to be in the fray.
- In addition, Ancient Apparition’s Ice Blast ability ignores armor and prevents his monstrous HP regen from being a factor. Meanwhile, Lich’s Chain Frost can nuke down the Dragon Knight if he’s together with his teammates.
Drow Ranger – Drow Ranger’s Frost Arrows can accomplish what AA and Lich’s skills can do. However, the real draw is her Marksmanship skill, which ignores Dragon Knight’s high base armor. Combined with Aghanim’s Shard, Drow can destroy Knight Davion with constant application of the Hypothermia debuff.
Ursa – Ursa’s Fury Swipes can straight-up destroy Dragon Knight even through his high armor.
Viper – Viper’s copious amounts of magical damage thanks to his abilities can be a real problem for Dragon Knight. This is because Dragon Knight’s only defense against Viper is Black King Bar, which he can’t get unless he’s farmed. A Savvy Viper can and will use his abilities to prevent that, poisoning Dragon Knight until his HP is low.

Play Dragon Knight in Dota 2 Today

Dota 2 Davion Dragon Knight — Screenshot by Robots

Davion is a flexible hero that can play multiple roles. In Dota 2, Dragon Knight and his kit can help a team either with his tankiness or his ability to push. Aside from that, Dragon Knight has one of the longest stuns in Dota 2. That in itself can help in disabling a very mobile enemy hero. However, keep in mind he also has his limits and weaknesses.