Dragon Shire Map Guide

Dragon Shire is a 3-lane Map belonging to the Nexus universe. The signature Objective of this Map are Shrines that reward a Dragon Knight. The team who controls both Shrines can pilot the Dragon Knight, a powerful Vehicle that can be used to deal heavy damage to enemy Structures.

Here you can find one or more formations that are viable on this Map. Keep in mind that positions in lane are not strict and will often change based on the situation.

The recommended formation for Dragon Shire is 1-1-3:

• 1 Hero, the Offlaner, covers the top lane;
• 1 Hero soaks the middle lane and rotates when possible;
• 3 Heroes cover the bottom lane and push when possible.

The advanced formation for Dragon Shire is 1-3-1:

• 1 Hero, the Offlaner, covers the top lane;
• 3 Heroes cover the middle lane and roam when possible;
• 1 Hero, the Anchor, covers the bottom lane.

• At 1:00 minute or whenever available, start clearing the allied Siege Camp in the bottom lane and capture it as soon as possible. Watch out for invades! To make this Mercenary Camp join the lane behind allied Minions, capture it at 1:12 minutes or 12 seconds after a wave of Minions spawned.
• At 1:20 minutes or right after capturing the allied Siege Camp in the bottom lane, start clearing the allied Bruiser Camp and capture it as soon as possible. To make this Mercenary Camp join the lane in front of allied Minions, capture it at 1:00 minutes or 0 seconds after a wave of Minions spawned.
• At 1:30 minutes or whenever the Objective phase starts, make sure to have a durable Hero on each Shrine. Secure at least one Shrine and keep control of it for as much as possible without dying. Then, whenever your team gets an advantage, capture the other Shrine and try to get the Dragon Knight in the middle lane. On the other hand, if the enemy team has an advantage, you should retreat.
• After that, whenever your team has an advantage while there is no Objective to contest or right after a Dragon Knight died, you can start clearing the neutral Bruiser Camp in the bottom lane and capture it as soon as possible.
• If your team wins the Objective, the first Dragon Knight should be used to destroy 2 Towers in any lane and ideally a Fort in a side lane, the second one should be used to get a Fort in another side lane, and the following ones should be used to destroy a Keep and eventually go Core. In the early game, the Offlaner should keep soaking.
• If your team loses the Objective, defend your Structures from the Dragon Knight and from enemy Heroes. If the opponents decide to push in multiple lanes at the same time, try to match them with a similar amount of Heroes and save as many Forts and Keeps as possible. In the early game, the Offlaner should keep soaking.
• Whenever you get the chance, you can capture the allied Siege Camp, followed by the neutral Bruiser Camp in the bottom lane, and then the enemy Siege Camp if available. This strategy is as powerful as getting a Boss Camp.

As shown in the image below, Dragon Shire has a total of 5 Mercenary Camps:

• 2 allied/enemy Bruiser Camps in the top lane;
• 2 allied/enemy Siege Camps and 1 neutral Bruiser Camp in the bottom lane.

Mercenary Camps on Dragon Shire disappear from the battlefield once the Dragon Knight have been activated and reappear only after the Dragon Knight has been killed.

This type of Mercenary Camp features 2 Giants. Once captured, it spawns the same units fighting for your team in the corresponding lane. When possible, push with them to get more value.

Instead of attacking enemies with Basic Attacks, Giants throw stones at them. These stones can be dodged, so it is possible to capture them without taking any damage. Once captured, they are capable of damaging enemy Structures without getting in their range. Giants deal 100% bonus damage to Structures.

This type of Mercenary Camp features 3 Knights and 1 Wizard. Once captured, it spawns the same units fighting for your team in the corresponding lane. When possible, push with them to get more value.

Right after being captured and while in lane, the Wizard creates a Spell Armor field around him which reduces some of the damage taken by Minions, Mercenaries, and Heroes within range. Avoid fighting the enemy team if they still have a Wizard helping them!

The signature Objective of Dragon Shire consists of Shrines that reward a Dragon Knight. Heroes can claim Shrines to unlock the Dragon Altar in the middle lane, and then an allied Hero can summon the Dragon Knight and pilot him. Capturing a Shrine takes 4 seconds if neutral, or 8 seconds if the enemy team has control over it.

Control the Shrines There are two shrines your team needs to control to activate the Dragon Knight's statue.

Free the Dragon Knight While activated, bring a hero to the statue to free the Dragon Knight from his prison!

Devastate Enemy Forts Use the Dragon Knight's immense power to level enemy forts!

Once claimed, the Dragon Knight lasts for 55 seconds, plus 2 seconds for each minute of Game Time that has passed. The player controlling the Dragon Knight has access to a dedicated set of Abilities and can decide where to go.

The following Abilities can be used by the player who is controlling the Dragon Knight.

Flame Breath is best used to clear enemy Minions or, if there are no enemy Minions to clear, to hit as many enemy Structures as possible.

Savage Charge should generally be used to Knockback the best enemy Hero at defending the Dragon Knight. You should avoid using it on Heroes who have mobility tools as they could use them to move you in a dangerous position.

Vehicles have two resources: Health and duration. As a general rule, you want to keep the percentage values of Health and duration balanced. If they expire with high Health, it means you played too safe. If they get destroyed while there is still a lot of duration remaining, it means you played too aggressive.

When pushing with a won Objective, you should still not fight when outnumbered and avoid being caught alone, especially when going for Keeps. If your Vehicle gets destroyed deep in the enemy territory, you will not be able to reach a safe area before getting killed unless you have a lot of mobility.

In the early game, when multiple enemy Forts are still up, Vehicles can also be used as a distraction, not just for pushing. While they clear enemy Minions and threaten enemy Structures, the rest of the team can push in another lane. The enemy team will have to split for defending multiple lanes at the same time.

Every 6 seconds, the Core will throw 2 Boulders at a nearby enemy Hero. Heroes hit are turned to stone, damaged for 5% of their maximum Health, and Stunned for 1.75 seconds.

To win the game on Dragon Shire, you should count on any of the following win conditions:

• Map Objective,
• Siege Camp plus Bruiser Camp,
• Split-push.

• Avoid using the Healing Fountain (2-minute cooldown) early because the first Objective on this Map activates at 1:30 minutes, which is lower than the Healing Fountain's cooldown.
• If your Hero has an Ability which allows them to jump over impassable terrain, you can use it to quickly enter or exit from a Shrine.
• Choose when to contest a Shrine and when to retreat depending on which team has an advantage in that area. If they commit top, try to get bottom (and vice versa).
• Heroes with percent damage (such as Drain Hope by Leoric) are the best for defending from enemy Vehicles. In case that is your Offlaner and it is still early game, you may want to send someone else to soak in the lane they left. Remember that Cursed Bullet by Greymane and Sleep Dart by Ana cannot hit Vehicles.
• If your team has a Hero with a powerful Quest that requires hitting enemy Heroes (for example Berserker on Zul'jin), you could let the enemy team get an early game Dragon Knight to easily get Quest stacks while defending from it.
• When piloting the Dragon Knight, you should generally use Savage Charge to Knockback the best enemy Hero at defending the Dragon Knight and Fire Breath for clearing enemy Minions. Be aware that Heroes with Unstoppable can counter it.