Dragonhawk Rider

[e][h] Dragonhawk Rider

Unit Information

Built From:

Gryphon Aviary

Cost:

 200  30  28  3

Hotkey:

D

Hit Points:

625 (725)

HP Regeneration:

0.25 (always)

Armor:

1 (4)

Race:

Human

Formation Rank:

2

Sight:

1600 / 900

Acquisition Range:

600

Level:

3

Mana:

300

Initial Mana:

150

Mana Regeneration:

0.75

Selection Priorty:

4

Movement

Speed:

350

Turn Rate:

0.4

Move Type:

fly

Collision Size:

8

Cargo Size:

0

Icon

Combat

Damage:

18 - 21 (21 - 29)

Range:

300

Weapon Type:

missile

Cooldown:

1.75

Targets:

• ground
• structure
• debris
• air
• item
• ward

Swift flying unit mounted by an Elven warrior. The fierce warriors of the Dragonhawk battalions are often the first into combat, picking apart the enemy ranks and surrounding enemy towers with dense fog so that reinforcements can strike unhindered by enemy defenses. Attacks land and air units.

Strategy

Dragonhawk riders are designed to counter heavy air units like Frost Wyrms and Chimaeras. To win an air battle with dragonhawks, you have to make sure you have a similar amount of dragonhawks as the enemy's air units, so you can shackle most if not all of the enemy's air units. If you are fighting an army of Gargoyles, and the enemy has twice as many gargoyles as you do dragonhawks, then you will not be able to shackle them all, and the unshackled gargoyles will be free to attack your dragonhawks and free the ones that are shackled. In these situations, it's probably better to use Flying Machines.

Dragonhawk rider's normal attack has relatively poor damage output, so it's probably not wise to use them for their normal attacks. Aerial shackle is what makes dragonhawks powerful so make sure you are using it during a fight.

One thing to note is that dragonhawk riders are much more difficult to micro than other air units, as you have to manually use aerial shackle with each dragonhawk. In big fights with lots of air units, it is easy to shackle a wrong unit or shackle the same unit several times. With that in mind, in big air battles, especially in 3v3 or 4v4 team fights, Flying Machines may be a better option simply for the fact that they are more straightforward to use.

Dragonhawk rider's Cloud ability has incredible range (1000) which is longer than that of any defensive tower. If you are going to attack into an enemy base with a lot of towers, getting a single dragonhawk just for its cloud ability could be a great investment.

Spells & Abilities

Aerial Shackles
	Cast Type : Channel  Ability Type:  Magical Target Type : Unit Target  Damage Type:  Magic Magically binds a target enemy air unit, so that it cannot move or attack and takes 30 damage per second.
Cast Requirements : 75 30 s  Range:  550 Targets Allowed : Air, Enemy, Organic Duration : 40 (10) s Damage : 30 per second

Notes

Do not move the Dragonhawk Rider while it is casting Aerial Shackles or it will stop casting Aerial Shackles.

This spell must be maintained by having the Dragonhawk Rider stay still while the spell is cast to get the full effect. Force the Dragonhawk Rider to run which will cancel Aerial Shackles. The spell can be interrupted.

Cloud
	Cast Type : Channel  Ability Type:  Magical Target Type : Area Target Creates a small cloud that stops buildings with ranged attacks that are within it from attacking.
Cast Requirements : 100 20 s  Range:  1000 Targets Allowed : Structure Area of Effect : 300 Hotkey : C
Upgrade: Cloud
Cost : 50 100  Research Time:  35 Researched at : Gryphon Aviary  Hotkey : C  Requirements : Arcane Vault, Castle

Notes

Do not move the Dragonhawk Rider while it is casting Aerial Shackles or it will stop casting Cloud.

This spell must be maintained by having the Dragonhawk Rider stay still while the spell is cast to get the full effect. Force the Dragonhawk Rider to run which will cancel Aerial Shackles. The spell can be interrupted.

Animal War Training
	Cast Type : Passive Target Type : No Target Increases the maximum hit points of Knights, Dragonhawk Riders, and Gryphon Riders by 100.
Hit Point Bonus : 100
Upgrade: Animal War Training
Cost : 125 125  Research Time:  40 Researched at : Barracks (Human)  Hotkey : A  Requirements : Lumber Mill, Castle, Blacksmith

Upgrades

Iron Forged Swords

Increases the attack damage of Militia, Footmen, Spell Breakers, Dragonhawk Riders, Gryphon Riders and Knights. Researched at : Blacksmith  Hotkey : S  Cost : 100 50  Research Time:  60 Damage Dice Bonus : 1

Steel Forged Swords

Cost : 175 175  Research Time:  75 Requires : Keep Damage Dice Bonus : 2

Mithril Forged Swords

Cost : 250 300  Research Time:  90 Requires : Castle Damage Dice Bonus : 3

Studded Leather Armor

Increases the armor of Riflemen, Mortar Teams, Dragonhawk Riders and Gryphon Riders. Researched at : Blacksmith  Hotkey : A  Cost : 100 100  Research Time:  60 Armor Bonus : 2

Reinforced Leather Armor

Cost : 150 175  Research Time:  75 Requires : Keep Armor Bonus : 4

Dragonhide Armor

Cost : 200 250  Research Time:  90 Requires : Castle Armor Bonus : 6

Version History

Balance Patch History
Version	Release	Balance Changes
1.31.0	2019-05-28	Animal War Training now provides 100 Hit Points, down from 150. Animal War Training lumber cost reduced from 175 to 125. Dragonhawk Rider base Hit Points increased by 50.
1.15	2004-05-10	Dragonhawk Rider damage reduced to 1d3 + 17 from 1d3 + 18.
1.12	2003-07-31	Animal War Training upgrade cost has been reduced from 150/250 to 125/175. The gold cost for a Dragonhawk Rider has been reduced from 235/40 to 200/30. Aerial Shackles damage has been increased from 20 points per second to 30 per second.
1.10	2003-07-03	Gryphon Aviaries now require a Keep instead of a Castle. However, both the Cloud upgrade and Gryphon Riders require a Castle to access. Dragonhawk Riders are now correctly a level 3 unit instead of a level 5 unit. This only impacts the experience gained when they are killed. Dragonhawk Rider build time reduced to 30 from 45. When "attack-moving", air units now prefer to attack other air units more often than previously. Flying Unit Improvements: We have turned off collision detection for flying units so that they can now easily pass through each other. This will allow air units to move about more smoothly than before. We have also added "separation behavior" so air units will break out of clusters once they reach a destination.

References

http://classic.battle.net/war3/human/units/dragonhawk.shtml