TH15 Dragon Rider Guide 2026 -- Air Attack with Monolith Bypass

Dragon Rider at TH15 benefits from the Monolith being a ground-targeting defense -- air troops like Dragon Riders and Dragons are not targeted by the Monolith beam. This makes TH15 Dragon Rider the attack strategy that does not require Monolith counter preparation. TH15 Dragon Rider focuses purely on anti-air threat management (Scattershots, Air Defenses, Eagle Artillery) while the Monolith is irrelevant to the air force path. The challenge at TH15 is the increased Scattershot DPS and Eagle Artillery capacity, which together require careful Rage and Freeze placement to protect the Dragon Rider cluster.

Army Composition and Spells

Standard TH15 Dragon Rider (320 housing): 5 Dragon Riders (super boost, 50 housing), 5 Dragons (100 housing), 4 Electro Dragons (100 housing), 5 Balloons (10 -- cleanup), filler Minions (remaining ~60). Spells: 3 Lightning + 1 Earthquake (destroy one AD), 2 Rage, 2 Freeze (Scattershots / Eagle Artillery), 1 Haste (Balloon cleanup). Clan Castle: Dragon or Balloon. Warden on air mode. TH15 housing (320) allows four EDrags, increasing chain coverage significantly over TH14 (three EDrags).

Step-by-Step Execution

Step 1 -- Lightning pre-attack: Destroy the closest AD to the planned approach angle with 3 Lightning + 1 Earthquake. At TH15 with four ADs, removing one reduces concentrated anti-air damage by 25% along the approach. Step 2 -- Scattershot position check: Identify both Scattershot positions. Choose an approach angle where the two Scattershots are on opposite sides of the Dragon Rider line rather than both on the same side. Step 3 -- Dragon Rider deployment: Drop all Dragon Riders across a 6 to 8 tile wide line. Dragons immediately behind. EDrags behind Dragons in a matching line. Step 4 -- Warden air mode: Warden behind the combined air force. Activate ability when Eagle Artillery fires at the cluster or when both Scattershots simultaneously fire on the Dragon line. Step 5 -- Rage on Dragon Rider cluster in the outer ring. Second Rage in the inner ring approaching Eagle Artillery. Step 6 -- First Freeze on the Scattershot concentrating the highest fire on the Dragon Rider line. Second Freeze on Eagle Artillery burst or the second Scattershot. Step 7 -- Haste on Balloons deployed behind the main wave for outer building cleanup. Step 8 -- Minion cleanup: Deploy Minions after the Dragon Rider wave passes to handle remaining buildings.

Scattershot Split Coverage Angle

At TH15, both Scattershots firing simultaneously on the Dragon Rider line from the same side deal enough combined splash to destroy the cluster within seconds. The correct approach is from the angle where one Scattershot is on the left and one is on the right of the Dragon line -- this splits their fire between two halves of the cluster rather than concentrating on the same group of Dragon Riders.

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