Game of Thrones Dragonfire Beginner Guide (October 2026): Your First Reign

For new Game of Thrones: Dragonfire players, and for alliance leaders who want one link to send recruits. Checked October 2026.

Short answer: In Game of Thrones: Dragonfire, put long-term effort into what carries over: dragon Star Rank, Habits, relics and Heirlooms. Stronghold upgrades reset every Reign, so rush Rapid Recruitment, feed dragons Meat for Reign Level, match troops to dragon affinity, join an active alliance and reach Stronghold Tier 10 before the Reign ends.

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Game of Thrones: Dragonfire is a dragon strategy game from Warner Bros. Games Boston, set in the time of House of the Dragon. You build a stronghold, hatch and grow dragons, lead troops across the hex tiles of Westeros and fight with your faction and alliance.

It works differently from most strategy games, because most of your progress resets every few weeks. Learn that first and the rest makes sense. Everything below comes from the developers' official guide hub unless we say otherwise.

Step 1: understand Reigns

A Reign is a season of about 8 weeks. Each Reign has a campaign, the story you play through, with time-limited stages and long-term goals. When it ends, a Transition moves you into a new Reign, usually with players from other worlds (Guide to Campaigns).

So the rule is simple: your dragons are your account. Your stronghold is rebuilt each Reign. Our Transitions guide has the full list.

Step 2: stronghold priorities

The Stronghold Guide splits upgrades into three tabs: Infrastructure (Granaries, Quarries, Lumber Mills, Foundries, Storehouses, Rapid Recruitment), War Tactics (Army Expansion, march speed, troop attack and defense) and Dragon Care (troops per dragon and dragon stats).

• Rush Rapid Recruitment. The official guide says to train toward it as quickly as possible. It lets you train more troops per second.
• Raise Storehouses once resource production hits its cap, so nothing goes to waste.
• Use each reset to test. The guide suggests trying a different upgrade path each campaign.

Step 3: hatch and grow dragons

From A Guide to Dragons:

• Dragon Relics (Rare, Epic, Legendary) hatch new dragons and raise Star Rank. Star Rank carries over and gives better stats.
• Dragon Chests give relics. They open with Dragonbone, Dragonglass or Dragonfire Keys. Tap the Dragon Egg icon at the bottom right of the tile map. Dragonbone Keys are the most common.
• Habits are passive skills. They unlock with Star Rank and upgrade with Breedmarks and Rarity Cores. Upgraded Habits are permanent.
• Reign Level is your dragon's level for the current Reign. It raises army size and stats. Feed Meat from events, quests, stages and tile enemies to level it.

Feeding has a cap tied to your highest dragon. Early in a campaign it sits below your top dragon's level, and later it rises so you can feed up to level 49. An October 5 change log on the game's Discord added extra dragon Reign Level XP through Meat on the tile map.

Step 4: learn the four breeds

Step 5: match troops to your dragons

There are five troop types: Cavalry, Shieldbearers, Archers, Spearmen and Siege. Each dragon has Positive, Neutral or Negative affinity with each type. Positive affinity raises combat stats.

Troop advantage works in a circle: Cavalry beat Shieldbearers, Shieldbearers beat Archers, Archers beat Spearmen, and Spearmen beat Cavalry. Siege is weak to all, but hits harder against Durability on some points of interest.

One warning from the official guide: a level 3 resource tile can have level 7 defenders. Scout before you march.

Step 6: join a faction and an alliance

From the Factions and Alliances guide:

• You join a faction at the start of your first Reign. Factions fight together for Seats of Power and campaign goals.
• Alliances open once a campaign starts. They are smaller groups inside a faction. Only alliance members can hold docks, tunnels and towns.
• Alliances last across Reigns. Your faction can change. If you are in an alliance, the leader picks the faction for the next Reign.
• Leaving an alliance starts a 1 hour cooldown before you can join another.
• If a leader is idle for 72 hours or more, members can start a mutiny. The leader has 24 hours to return before Wardens, then Councilors, get the chance to take over.

Join an active alliance early. The heirloom currency Valyrian Tablets comes partly from alliance login rewards, and alliance-held ground feeds everyone.

Step 7: know the useful buildings

• Market: trade Gold for resources, or one resource for another. You can also turn Dragon Shard Dust, which only comes from relics on dragons already at max Star Rank, into relics and Dragonbone Keys.
• Boost Center: shows your Efficiency (E). Read our Efficiency guide before you buy boosts.
• Heirlooms: permanent upgrades that carry across Reigns. See our Heirlooms guide.
• Dragon Strike: a level mode with rewards for dragons and your stronghold. Its progress carries across Reigns.
• Relocation: move your stronghold once every 2 days, but only after your faction has taken that region's Seat of Power.

Daily habits that add up

• Clear Daily Quests. An October change log on the game's Discord says they give points toward Milestone Chests.
• Hunt tile enemies for Meat, and use it. Meat resets each Reign.
• Open Dragon Chests with the keys you have. Dragonbone Keys come often.
• Check campaign stages and claim rewards when a stage ends.

Your first-Reign checklist

1. Push Infrastructure and Rapid Recruitment.
2. Pick two or three dragons and feed them Meat.
3. Build troops that match your dragons' positive affinity.
4. Join an active alliance.
5. Reach Stronghold Tier 10 before the Reign ends, so Faction and Personal Goal rewards reach your mail.
6. Claim every stage reward before the campaign ends.

For spenders and alliance leaders

• Put long-term money into what carries over. Dragon relics, keys, Star Rank, Habits and Heirlooms stay. Stronghold speed-ups and resources reset each Reign.
• Spend stronghold budget early in a Reign. Speed-ups do the most at the start, when everyone builds from zero.
• Leaders: pin this guide for recruits, and post the Tier 10 target and claim deadlines before each Reign ends. More tools are on our alliance leaders page.

Sources: official guide hub, Stronghold Guide, A Guide to Dragons, Guide to Campaigns, Factions and Alliances guide, Dev Log #2 and the October 2026 change logs and FAQ on the game's official Discord.

Spotted a mistake? Tell us in the Play Smarter Discord and we will fix it.

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More Game of Thrones: Dragonfire guides: Transitions explained, new dragons, how to top up.

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