With the arrival of Crownfall Act 3, Dota 2 has introduced more mini-games. While the fighting game Sleet Fighter has gained popularity for its intuitive gameplay and high production values, many players are not fans of Dragon Chess.
Here, we break down why Dragon Chess has become such a notoriously disliked mini-game and how you can score 40K and beyond.
What Is Dragon Chess In Crownfall Act 3?
Dragon Chess is a new mini-game available in Crownfall Act 3, essentially a tile-matching game. It isn’t very complicated—match a set of three to five similarly colored tiles, and it will act as damage toward the creep you need to attack.
Destroy the creep with these consecutive damages before your own health runs out from their attack. After defeating each creep, you will advance to the next level.
Yet, Dota 2 players are struggling to get beyond a 20K score on such a simplistic mini-game. Perhaps this isn’t your ordinary tile-matching game like the mobile sensationCandy Crush. One unique trait of Dragon Chess is that each color represents a hero's ability, such as Vengeful Spirit (VS), Lina, Crystal Maiden, and Broodmother. For instance, Broodmother’s tiles will heal you via lifesteal, while Lina and CM tiles deal AoE damage. The special effects only occur when you get 4 or 5 tile combos, not 3.
How To Unlock Dragon Chess In Dota 2
To unlock Dragon Chess, you’ll need to progress on the Crownfall Act 3 board up to the top left corner of the map. There, you’ll need a Chess Piece to advance. To unlock the Chess Piece, you’ll need to score at least 5,000 points in Dragon Chess, which isn’t too hard. However, if you’re looking to unlock the bonus tokens from higher scores, you might need some help.
How To Score 40k On Dragon Chess In Dota 2
Technicalities aside, here are some tips on how to play Dragon Chess. Firstly, always go for Vengeful Spirit’s ultimate and avoid 3 or 4 VS gem combos only. Try to match other types of gems from bottom to top because that impacts the most arrangement of tiles to hopefully get a combo.
When breaking an ultimate gem, match 3 gems instead of 4 to keep as many gems on the board. Additionally, prioritize breaking ultimate gems in the corners.
Dragon Chess is all about stacking as many combos as possible, so consider breaking multiple Ultimate gems at once for a WOMBO combo. Lastly, if Broodmother lifesteal gems are available, break them before other ultimate gems to heal yourself.
How To Find Matching Tiles In Dragon Chess
If you have a poor photographic memory, here’s a life hack to ease gameplay. When the board appears, quickly screenshot the board and pause the mini-game.
Go to an external app like Paint or Microsoft PowerPoint to paste your screenshot. Here, you can take your time finding the best matches, preferably 4-5 tile combos, before returning to the mini-game to perform them.
Alternatively, many players have found that letting the resident mobile game addict in your life play it for you can be an easier way to score big in Dragon Chess! After all, fans of Candy Crush, Bejeweled, and other games would be natural at Dragon Chess.
Nevertheless, keep in mind that tile-matching games require good RNG (random number generation) as well, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you do not score well.