Dragon fire

A Storm Drake lifts its head. Its throat starts to glow. Sparks swirl into its open jaws. Then a roaring stream of blue fire sweeps across the rocks, right where you were standing a second ago. You saw the cone on the ground, you stepped aside, and now its back is open. That is the moment to strike.

How a dragon breathes fire

Every dragon on the Dragonfire Isle has its own attack (a bite, a dive, sparks, a stomp, a charge or a claw sweep) and a fire breath. Up close it switches between the two. If you stay out of reach of its other attack, it breathes fire at you.

1. The wind-up. The dragon rears back. Its chest swells, its throat glows brighter and brighter, and sparks fly into its mouth. At the same moment a glowing cone lights the ground in front of it. The cone shows every spot the fire will reach.
2. The stream. The jaw drops and the fire pours out. The stream sweeps once across the cone, from one side to the other. It burns only what stands in the stream at that moment, a little at a time.
3. The rest. The jaw closes and smoke curls from its nostrils. For a moment it cannot breathe again.

Flying dragons breathe from the air, down at the ground. The cone on the ground is the same.

Each dragon's fire

Dragon	Its fire	Reach	Wind-up	Stream
Emberling	orange fire	4.5 m	1 s	1.1 s
Cinder Wyvern	orange fire	8 m	1.1 s	1.5 s
Storm Drake	blue fire	8 m	1.2 s	1.6 s
Venomscale Drake	green fire	7 m	1.3 s	1.6 s
Twilight Wyrm	lilac starfire	8 m	1.1 s	1.5 s
Rosecrest Ridge Runner	fire	7 m	1.2 s	1.5 s
Gold Dragon	white-gold fire	11 m	1.5 s	2 s

The reach grows a little on stronger and elite dragons.

What you can do about it

• Step out of the cone. Sideways is fastest. The fire never goes past the edge of the cone it showed.
• Or step behind it. The fire only goes forward. Behind its head you are safe.
• Hit back in the rest. After the stream it closes its mouth and recovers. Strike then.
• Mind the groups. Emberlings come in little groups, and each one breathes its own small cone.
• Fire hurts as fire. Gear and powers that guard you from fire help here too (see Combat and elements).

The Ridge Runner's lane

The Rosecrest Ridge Runner is the isle's newest dragon: no wings, six sturdy legs and a crest like a rose in bloom. It keeps the narrow passes between the lava fields, and you only meet it there, close to the glowing lava. Besides its rose-coloured fire it has a charge of its own.

1. It lowers its head and its front feet paw the ground. A glowing lane lights up in front of it, as wide as its body and as long as its run.
2. It charges straight down that lane. The lane never turns to follow you: it was fixed the moment it lit up.
3. It skids to a stop at the end and needs a breath before the next run.

The Old Warden's fire

On top of the Dragon Tower, Aurendrake, the Old Warden breathes fire too, over the front of its arena. Its head rears back for 1.6 seconds while the cone lights the floor, then an amber stream sweeps the cone for 2.2 seconds, up to 12 m. Its tail guards the back. Read The Old Warden's fight before you climb.

Where next

Take the ferry to the Dragonfire Isle (see Getting around, and animal friends) and meet the dragons on their own rocks. Every one you calm drops dragon scales for the best gear on the gear ladder. For the dangers of each land, read Continents and danger.