In Dragonfire you pick a troop per army (your 3 dragons share the type), and that single decision swings more outcomes than almost anything else. Here's what's known, what we've measured, and how to decide in 10 seconds.
The triangle's direction is official; WB doesn't publish the magnitude. In our measurements against real battles it behaves like roughly ±7% on stats — enough to flip close fights, not enough to save a bad dragon matchup.
Each dragon has affinity troops: with them its stats rise +20% (verified in-game). Since the troop is shared by the trio, the right question isn't "which troop is best?" but "which troop keeps the +20% on my strongest dragons AND wins (or doesn't lose) the triangle?"
| Situation | Right call |
|---|---|
| Your Legendary carry has Shieldbearer affinity; the enemy runs Archers | 🛡️ Shieldbearers: carry affinity + triangle advantage. The ideal case. |
| The triangle-winning troop strips your carry's affinity | Keeping the carry's affinity usually pays MORE (we've measured it: losing your strongest dragon's +20% costs more than the ±7%). |
| You don't know the enemy troop (varied PvE, blind PvP) | Prioritize the troop with the most affinities across your trio. |
In army-vs-army combat Siege is almost always the worst pick — it loses to every troop. Its role is taking down structures: Points of Interest with a Durability bar. Keep one Siege army built for that job; don't field it in open combat.
Our optimizer picks the troop by weighting affinity by each dragon's real power (stars, level, rarity), and simulates all 5 troops per army to show you the cost of switching — Siege included. Free, with your roster.
Try the optimizer →Continue with the best formations guide, or open the simulator with your roster.