Dragon Den — Mechanics and Synergies

Dragon Den is the Nomads tower that attacks once per battle along a line and grows stronger when plots are destroyed. Patch 30 shortened its name from Dragon's Den. Destruction is therefore a growth input, while the tower's battle contribution still depends on that single attack reaching something useful.

Match growth to a usable attack

The official card reference describes a 20% strength increase per destroyed plot. Patch 29 increased its attack area and damage, without publishing a complete replacement damage table. The current base-damage field remains unknown; this guide does not multiply old numbers into a supposed Patch 31 total.

Plan for two jobs: creating useful destruction opportunities and preserving enough army strength to win after those plots are removed. A sacrificed defender is a real cost. The tower's extra growth does not automatically replace the defence that disappeared.

Destruction cards have different payoffs

Sacrifice destroys a target and upgrades adjacent plots. Offering destroys a target for tome cards. Mortgage destroys a target for gold. Each can produce a destruction event, but the remaining kingdom, hand and support structure differ. Choose the action that answers the current problem rather than treating all destruction cards as equal fuel.

Razing permanently removes the target plot and triggers a council. That has a much larger layout cost than a plan that expects to reuse the space. Keep the destroyed position and the next battle in view when deciding whether the extra tower growth is worth the loss.

Camp is a separate placement trigger

Camp rewards placing cards onto empty plots by buffing neighbouring plots. Its trigger is placement, not destruction. A plan that uses both cards should show which action creates the empty space, which card refills it and which neighbours receive Camp's support. A sequence that never refills a position cannot claim Camp's placement payoff.

This is a useful way to describe a candidate Nomads engine without pretending it has been tested at every difficulty. Save the sequence as well as the finished layout: the same final board can have different accumulated stats depending on how it was built.

Reptilian and the current name

Patch 30 reworked Reptilian to give Dragon Den an additional 3% buff on destruction effects. That is a perk modifier, not part of every plain Dragon Den. The same announcement confirms the current shorter name, so searching the earlier possessive name should lead to this entry rather than a duplicate card.

Sources and verification

The official card reference establishes the one-attack and destruction mechanics. Patch 29 and Patch 30 establish later changes. Checked through Patch 31 / 0.9.8 on 13 October 2026. Compare destruction cards and their costs in the card database.