April 2018 Dragon of the Month review and breeding guide: the Ironfire Dragon

Hello Dragon Ladies and Lords! Today's post is about the current Dragon of the Month: the Ironfire Dragon. This text will provide you with general information about potential usages of Ironfire to help you decide whether you should try obtaining him or not and guide you through different strategies of breeding him. I am sorry to keep you waiting for over a week for the post about current DotM and I hope it still can be useful for you :) So, let's start!

Dragon review

The Ironfire Dragon has a unique element combination of legendary, fire and metal elements. This means that after April ends, you can't know when, if ever, you will have a chance to obtain any dragon with this element set. There was once a divine dragon with fire and metal elements: the Hephaestus Dragon, but he was very hard to obtain and he will most likely never be available again. There are also 14 other dragons that posses both fire and metal element (1 common, 1 rare and 12 epics), 8 of them are limited-time. The rest of them are: two normally breedable dragons: a common War Dragon and an epic Ironcast Dragon, an epic Beetle Dragon available through enchanted breeding, a card-segment epic Piggy Bank Dragon, an Arena prize Torpedo Dragon and the Day 50 Daily Prize: Ragnarok Dragon. This isn't too much of a competition for the Ironfire, is it?

As a battle dragon

Legendary dragons have their base attack damage between 71 and 81 and their base health points between 228 and 266. So, Ironfire has rather good health, but pretty weak attack damage, compared to other legendaries. This isn't really good for a battle dragon, as the power of the skills increases with attack damage, not health points. Both fire and metal attacks have only one element strength, so this disadvantage isn't also compensated by the possibility of doing 150% damage to many dragons. The metal skill doesn't have any nice synergy neither with the fire skill nor with the legendary skill. So, while the Ironfire Dragon suffers all the legendary dragons problems: being forced to live in a habitat that can store only two dragons, 99 gems cost to unlock last element and huge amounts of enchantment elements needed, he isn't as great as most of them. He may still be a nice start for you if you are beginner, and not very active player - as a legendary, he still has better stats than epic dragons, and if you aren't active enough to keep four legendary dragons in your battle team, you will need some fed legendary dragons to upgrade your Temple of Legends. Therefore, you can feed the Ironfire Dragon a bit, unlock his fire element, as it will only cost you gold, not gems and keep him as a battle dragon before you get some better option. 

Another case when you may want to use the Ironfire Dragon is when you are balancing your team for the castle event restricted battles and you need to cover fire and metal elements with one dragon. In this case, there are two other good picks: the Ironcast Dragon and the Beetle Dragon. Ironcast has really nice attack damage as for epic dragon, comparable to Ironfire's, and as a metal dragon is only vulnerable to energy attacks. Beetle has lower attack damage, but he can be trained very useful plant skill, and as a fire dragon, it has double element vulnerability: to water and shadow attacks, but this isn't very bad, as water attacks don't have any on-hit effect and vulnerability to shadow attacks is in my opinion compensated by resistance to highly offensive fire attacks. Though Ironcast and Beetle have lower stats than the Ironfire, they don't suffer all the legendary dragons problems. Therefore, in my opinion, Ironfire can be recommended as a castle event battle dragon only to very active and advanced players.

Other usages 

As a legendary dragon, Ironfire will never be a good idea as a parent for regular breeding, and as a limited-time, he will probably never be a parent for enchanted breeding. The only case ever when a legendary dragon was a required parent for a Dragon of the Week was during two divine events, when a divine dragon was the DotW. In both cases, it was current Dragon of the Month. This means that it is theoretically possible that you may need Ironfire for some breeding. However, in my opinion there will be no divine event this month, because the last divine event was just two months ago, and we have also had really hard Easter castle event lately, so it's likely for Gameloft to give the players some rest now. Therefore, you will probably never use your Ironfire Dragon as a parent (unless it comes back another month as DotM during the divine event). 

As mentioned above, having the Ironfire Dragon may be helpful in upgrading your temples, especially if you don't have many legendary dragons yet. Unlocking his metal element costs gems, so you will probably stop at fire element, but it can be still a help in upgrading the Fire Temple and the Temple of Legends. This isn't the only one dragon that can play this role (for example non-limited-time Siren and Verdant can make it as well), but he seems to be the most easy to obtain legendary dragon with fire as second element at this moment. 

Legendary dragons are never perfect gold generators because of the problems with legendary habitats and the Ironfire Dragon has one of the lowest base gold/hour among the legendaries.

Breeding stategies

To have a chance of getting the Ironfire egg, you need to breed dragons that have fire, wind, water and plant elements. If any of those element is missing in your combination, you have no chance for Ironfire. However, the combinations that have any extra elements (for example the Agave Dragon that has fire, water and plant elements with the Tornado Dragon that has wind and metal element), or a duplicated element (for example the Agave Dragon with the Cloud Dragon that has water and wind element) are still correct. Most of the good breeding ideas will only include the needed elements in one copy of each to reduce the number of possible unwanted outcomes, which increases the chances of getting the Ironfire, but keep in mind that it is not the only possible option and what is the best for you depends on your very own playstyle. 

Base dragon with a tri-elemental

1. Fire Dragon + Elixir Dragon 

Breed the Fire Dragon with the Elixir Dragon (or any of: Go Green Dragon, Nurture Dragon, Springtime Dragon, Spirite Dragon)

Possibile outcomes are:

Dragon	Elements	Rarity	Breeding time	Hatching time
Smoke Dragon			0 h 30 min (0 h 24 min)	0 h 45 min (0 h 36 min)
Bee Dragon			0 h 45 min (0 h 36 min)	1 h 20 min (1 h 04 min)
Boiling Dragon			4 h 00 min (3 h 12 min)	6 h 30 min (5 h 12 min)
Agave Dragon			16 h 00 min (12 h 48 min)	23 h 30 min (18 h 48 min)
Ironfire Dragon			48 h 00 min (38 h 24 min)	57 h 40 min (46 h 08 min)

This is highly recommended combination, because it can produce only four dragons other than Ironfire, of which three have low breeding time. The reason why this combination has such a small number of possible offspring is that fire and plant are incompatible elements, so their hybrid: the Sunflower Dragon can't be bred with Fire Dragon as one of the parents. Also, there is no uncommon hybrid of fire and water. 

Unfortunately, the Elixir Dragon is a VIP Dragon and needs you to have VIP membership at level 8 at least to be bred. Other dragons that can be used in this combination are limited-time, and the last time when any of them was available was in January Dragon's Delight event, which had Spirite as a milestone reward. So unless one of this dragons comes again this month as an event reward or Dragon of the Week, there is no chance of using this combination for a new free players.

2. Wind + Agave 
Breed the Wind Dragon with the Agave Dragon (or any of: Liquid Fire Dragon, Cherry Blossom Dragon, Redflower Dragon, Seahorse Dragon, Wooly Dragon)

Possible outcomes are:

Dragon	Elements	Rarity	Breeding time	Hatching time
Smoke Dragon			0 h 30 min (0 h 24 min)	0 h 45 min (0 h 36 min)
Bee Dragon			0 h 45 min (0 h 36 min)	1 h 20 min (1 h 04 min)
Ice Dragon			4 h 00 min (3 h 12 min)	6 h 30 min (5 h 12 min)
Cloud Dragon			6 h 00 min (4 h 48 min)	8 h 30 min (6 h 48 min)
Seed Dragon			6 h 00 min (4 h 48 min)	8 h 30 min (6 h 48 min)
Leaf Dragon			8 h 00 min (6 h 48 min)	11 h 20 min (9 h 04 min)
* Elixir Dragon *			(12 h 48 min)	23 h 30 min (18 h 48 min)
Ironfire Dragon			48 h 00 min (38 h 24 min)	57 h 40 min (46 h 08 min)

This combination unfortunately has got larger number of possible common and uncommon outcomes. It also has no possible epic outcome unless you have active VIP status of level 8 or higher. But it is actually possible for any player to use it, since Agave is a normally-breedable and Liquid Fire is a regular card dragon.

3. Water + Bloom
Breed the Water Dragon with the Bloom Dragon (or the Kangaroo Dragon or the Ash Dragon)

Possible outcomes are:

Dragon	Elements	Rarity	Breeding time	Hatching time
Ice Dragon			4 h 00 min (3 h 12 min)	6 h 30 min (5 h 12 min)
Boiling Dragon			4 h 00 min (3 h 12 min)	6 h 30 min (5 h 12 min)
Cloud Dragon			6 h 00 min (4 h 48 min)	8 h 30 min (6 h 48 min)
Melon Dragon			6 h 00 min (4 h 48 min)	8 h 30 min (6 h 48 min)
Candy Dragon			8 h 00 min (6 h 48 min)	11 h 20 min (9 h 04 min)
Agave Dragon			16 h 00 min (12 h 48 min)	23 h 30 min (18 h 48 min)
* Elixir Dragon *			(12 h 48 min)	23 h 30 min (18 h 48 min)
Ironfire Dragon			48 h 00 min (38 h 24 min)	57 h 40 min (46 h 08 min)

This is another combination with rather large number of possible outcomes. It's not an easy one to use, since Bloom is only available through enchanted breeding, Kangaroo is an epic card dragon and Ash is a limited-time), but it has one less possible outcome than no. 2.

4. Plant + Ginger
Breed the Plant Dragon with the Ginger Dragon (or any of: Agnes Dragon, Imperial Dragon, Leviathan Dragon)

Possible outcomes are:

Dragon	Elements	Rarity	Breeding time	Hatching time
Seed Dragon			6 h 00 min (4 h 48 min)	8 h 30 min (6 h 48 min)
Melon Dragon			6 h 00 min (4 h 48 min)	8 h 30 min (6 h 48 min)
Leaf Dragon			8 h 00 min (6 h 48 min)	11 h 20 min (9 h 04 min)
Candy Dragon			8 h 00 min (6 h 48 min)	8 h 30 min (6 h 48 min)
Agave Dragon			16 h 00 min (12 h 48 min)	23 h 30 min (18 h 48 min)
*  Elixir Dragon *			(12 h 48 min)	23 h 30 min (18 h 48 min)
Ironfire Dragon			48 h 00 min (38 h 24 min)	57 h 40 min (46 h 08 min)

This is another combination that has low number of possible common and uncommon outcomes due to the fact that the fire element is incompatible with the plant element. Unfortunately, to breed this combination you will need a limited-time dragon, and the last time any of those dragon was available was on the last Christmas season when the Ginger Dragon was the Dragon of the Week. 

Two two-elementals

5. Smoke and Melon
Breed the Smoke Dragon (or the Bee Dragon, or the Fireball Dragon) with the Melon Dragon (or the Candy Dragon, or the Bamboo Dragon).

Possible outcomes are:

Dragon	Elements	Rarity	Breeding time	Hatching time
Ice Dragon			4 h 00 min (3 h 12 min)	6 h 30 min (5 h 12 min)
Boiling Dragon			4 h 00 min (3 h 12 min)	6 h 30 min (5 h 12 min)
Cloud Dragon			6 h 00 min (4 h 48 min)	8 h 30 min (6 h 48 min)
Seed Dragon			6 h 00 min (4 h 48 min)	8 h 30 min (6 h 48 min)
Leaf Dragon			8 h 00 min (6 h 48 min)	11 h 20 min (9 h 04 min)
Sunflower Dragon			12 h 00 min (9 h 36 min)	16 h 50 min (13 h 30 min)
Agave Dragon			16 h 00 min (12 h 48 min)	23 h 30 min (18 h 48 min)
*  Elixir Dragon *			(12 h 48 min)	23 h 30 min (18 h 48 min)
Ironfire Dragon			48 h 00 min (38 h 24 min)	57 h 40 min (46 h 08 min)

This combination has the same number of possible common, uncommon and epic outcomes as no. 3, with similar breeding times, but can also result in the Sunflower Dragon.

6. Boiling + Seed
Breed the Boiling Dragon (or the Pop Art Dragon) with the Seed Dragon (or the Leaf Dragon, or the Li'l Chick Dragon).

Possible outcomes are:

Dragon	Elements	Rarity	Breeding time	Hatching time
Smoke Dragon			0 h 30 min (0 h 24 min)	0 h 45 min (0 h 36 min)
Bee Dragon			0 h 45 min (0 h 36 min)	1 h 20 min (1 h 04 min)
Ice Dragon			4 h 00 min (3 h 12 min)	6 h 30 min (5 h 12 min)
Cloud Dragon			6 h 00 min (4 h 48 min)	8 h 30 min (6 h 48 min)
Melon Dragon			6 h 00 min (4 h 48 min)	8 h 30 min (6 h 48 min)
Candy Dragon			8 h 00 min (6 h 48 min)	11 h 20 min (9 h 04 min)
Sunflower Dragon			12 h 00 min (9 h 36 min)	16 h 50 min (13 h 30 min)
Agave Dragon			16 h 00 min (12 h 48 min)	23 h 30 min (18 h 48 min)
* Elixir Dragon *			(12 h 48 min)	23 h 30 min (18 h 48 min)
Ironfire Dragon			48 h 00 min (38 h 24 min)	57 h 40 min (46 h 08 min)

This is another option that can result in Sunflower. It has larger total number of possible outcomes than no. 5, but two of them (Smoke and Bee) have very low breeding times.

7. Sunflower + Ice
Breed the Sunflower Dragon (or any of: Amber Dragon, Ceremony Dragon, Ladybug Dragon, Golden Green Dragon) with the Ice Dragon (or the Cloud Dragon, or the Peacock Dragon)

Possible outcomes are:

Dragon	Elements	Rarity	Breeding time	Hatching time
Smoke Dragon			0 h 30 min (0 h 24 min)	0 h 45 min (0 h 36 min)
Bee Dragon			0 h 45 min (0 h 36 min)	1 h 20 min (1 h 04 min)
Boiling Dragon			4 h 00 min (3 h 12 min)	6 h 30 min (5 h 12 min)
Seed Dragon			6 h 00 min (4 h 48 min)	8 h 30 min (6 h 48 min)
Melon Dragon			6 h 00 min (4 h 48 min)	8 h 30 min (6 h 48 min)
Leaf Dragon			8 h 00 min (6 h 48 min)	11 h 20 min (9 h 04 min)
Candy Dragon			8 h 00 min (6 h 48 min)	11 h 20 min (9 h 04 min)
Agave Dragon			16 h 00 min (12 h 48 min)	23 h 30 min (18 h 48 min)
* Elixir Dragon *			(12 h 48 min)	23 h 30 min (18 h 48 min)
Ironfire Dragon			48 h 00 min (38 h 24 min)	57 h 40 min (46 h 08 min)

Other options

8. Cloud + Agave

Breed the enchanted Cloud Dragon with the enchanted Agave Dragon

Possible outcomes are:

Dragon	Elements	Rarity	Breeding time	Hatching time
Water Dragon			0 h 05 min (0 h 04 min)	0 h 05 min (0 h 04 min)
Smoke Dragon			0 h 30 min (0 h 24 min)	0 h 45 min (0 h 36 min)
Bee Dragon			0 h 45 min (0 h 36 min)	1 h 20 min (1 h 04 min)
Boiling Dragon			4 h 00 min (3 h 12 min)	6 h 30 min (5 h 12 min)
Ice Dragon			4 h 00 min (3 h 12 min)	6 h 30 min (5 h 12 min)
Cloud Dragon			6 h 00 min (4 h 48 min)	8 h 30 min (6 h 48 min)
Seed Dragon			6 h 00 min (4 h 48 min)	8 h 30 min (6 h 48 min)
Melon Dragon			6 h 00 min (4 h 48 min)	8 h 30 min (6 h 48 min)
Leaf Dragon			8 h 00 min (6 h 48 min)	11 h 20 min (9 h 04 min)
Candy Dragon			8 h 00 min (6 h 48 min)	11 h 20 min (9 h 04 min)
Bloom Dragon			16 h 00 min (12 h 48 min)	23 h 30 min (18 h 48 min)
Agave Dragon			16 h 00 min (12 h 48 min)	23 h 30 min (18 h 48 min)
*  Elixir Dragon *			(12 h 48 min)	23 h 30 min (18 h 48 min)
Ironfire Dragon			48 h 00 min (38 h 24 min)	57 h 40 min (46 h 08 min)

This is the only combination that can result in breeding the Bloom Dragon. Keep in mind that for the Bloom Dragon to be possible offspring, both parents have to be enchanted at least to level one. This combination has really large number of possible outcomes, but if you plan to breed the Bloom Dragon (or complete the Charmed Dragons collection in your Codex), you will need to use it one day anyhow, so it's good idea to try now, when it also gives you chances for the Dragon of the Month. 

10. Your own idea

If you like some extra unpredictability of your breeding, you can add one extra element to the needed one. If you still miss a lot of dragons in your Codex, adding extra element in wise way may increase your total chance of getting any dragon that you want to get even though the chance of getting the Ironfire Dragon himself will be significantly lower. For example, replacing the Wind Dragon in combination no. 2 with the Razor or the Tornado will give you chances of breeding Mercury, Regal or Coral (click here). Replacing the Melon (Candy, Bamboo) Dragon in combination no. 5 with Banana Dragon will give you chances for Lightning, Geyser and Tiger (click here). Go to the Breeding Calculator and try finding your own idea! :) 

Which combination to use?

What is best combination for you depends on your own playstyle and current situation. Since breeding a legendary dragon has got very low chances, you will probably breed dragons that you choose over and over again. So, if you aren't very advanced player it may be better for you to breed a combination with lower chance for the Ironfire, that may also result in some other dragons that you need (like no. 5 and no. 6 which give you chances for Sunflower). I recommend picking a combination that has the highest % of dragons that you don't have yet listed as possible outcomes now, and if you don't get the Ironfire soon, switching to the combination that has the lowest number of possible outcomes when you feel that you may not get the Ironfire before the month ends with current combination. If the Ironfire is the only dragon that you are trying for, the no. 1 is definitely the best combination, and if you can't use it, choosing between no. 2, no. 3 and no. 4 will depend on your playstyle. 

Another important thing to think about is when you can rebreed your dragons. For example, let's say that you want to try for the Sunflower and the Ironfire at once. You will be choosing between combinations no. 5 and no. 6. If you are going to sleep (or to work, or whatever that will make you unable to play for a long time) just after breeding, no. 5 will be better for you, because it gives you higher chances of dragons that you want. However, if you are going to play (or just be able to play) for next two hours, no. 6 will be better for you, though it has lower chances of offspring you want per one breeding, because two of possible unwanted offsprings (Smoke and Bee) means that you will just rebreed before going to sleep (work, whatever). The same reasoning applies to choosing between no. 2 and no. 3. When you know some of the combinations that will probably be good for you, take a screenshots of their offsprings table (or bookmark this post on the device you are playing) and take a quick look at them before you breed, keeping in mind when is the next time you will be able to rebreed - this will help you optimize your tries.

When you are to choose between two dragons from one combination (for example you are about to use no. 2, but you have both Agave and Liquid Fire), choose the one with higher level (unless it's one of your battle dragons). If they both are on the same level, take the one that you will not need for ruins explorations (you can check on Wiki what dragons may be recommended for ruins), or the one that is less needed for gold producing (for example, if you are choosing between Agave that lives in one plant habitat with your main battle dragon that has high level and some other dragon, and Liquid Fire, who is living in one plant habitat with two low-level dragons, pick Agave, because it will help you optimize gold production). 

Conclusion

The Ironfire Dragon isn't one of the best possible legendary battle dragons and doesn't provide you with any special utility. However, as a legendary, it is still nice dragon especially for beginner or casual players, because it's rather easy to obtain (compared to other legendaries). The decision if you should try getting him should be taken very mindfully, as breeding a legendary dragon will probably take a lot of time, which may slow down your general progress in the game, but on the other hand, no one knows when (if ever) will we have another chance to obtain a legendary dragon with those elements. If breeding Agave, Sunflower or Bloom was one of your goals, then trying for the Ironfire is rather good idea, otherwise - you need to look on what dragons you have and think twice what should you do. 

Please tell me in comments what do you think about the Ironfire Dragon. I wish you a very good luck on your breeding and a wonderful day at your Dragonlandia!