A game-breaking Elder Dragon respawn time bug almost cost Fnatic a game in LEC Winter 2024.
In a game that calls for premeditated strategies and quick reaction time like League of Legends, timing can mean everything. It is always a scramble for junglers and midlaners to get the timing for Dragons and Barons perfectly right.
However, players recently noticed changes in the respawn time of the Elder Dragon. From its usual six-minute respawn time, it seems like the Elder Dragon is now ready for taking only after a five-minute wait. A League of Legends player took to Reddit to ask if others have been noticing the same changes or if it was only their game that was bugged.
Plenty of other players replied that they’ve been experiencing the same phenomenon in their games, citing that even their third-party overlays display an extra minute after the buff-granting Elder Dragon respawns.
After realizing that everyone playing Summoner’s Rift seemed to experience the same bug, the players took time to review the most recent patch notes for League of Legends. However, there was no mention of any changes to Elder Dragon in the 14.2 update.
Elder Dragon bug almost costs Fnatic a win
In the pro scene, the massive true damage buff of the Elder Dragon has higher stakes and may cost even the most seasoned teams a match. This was exactly the case in the recent Fnatic vs. Mad Lions Koi match in the LEC Winter 2024 playoffs.
In a YouTube video uploaded by Dribblar, Fnatic dominated the game until they missed the respawn of the Dragon. Additionally, there was no indication on the in-game minimap that the monster was going to respawn, so Fnatic was completely taken by surprise when MDK gained the dragon buff.
With the recently released 14.3 patch notes, League of Legends developers are still yet to address patches or changes to the bug. Some players note that it seems like the devs themselves are not aware of the decreased respawn timer for the Elder Dragon.
Should League of Legends keep the new Elder Dragon respawn timer or revert back to the six-minute wait?