Dragonbred Crates Explained: Wooden, Iron and the Lava Crate

Dragonbred crates are how new dragons enter your pen. There are three: the Wooden Crate at 100 Scales, the Iron Crate at 100 Embers, and the limited Lava Crate at 250 Embers, the only way to get a Lava dragon. Scales are earned by playing; Embers are bought in the Store with real money, and sealed Iron and Lava Crates also sell between keepers on the market for Scales. Each holds three or four dragons, sometimes with bonus Scales or an Instant Card, and on average a crate returns about a third of its price, the Lava Crate about a quarter.

That last number is the most useful thing to know. Crates are for fresh blood, variety, and hidden genes. They aren't a way to make Scales: a crate is a better bet, never a purchase of a morph.

What's inside each crate

Every crate holds dragons, never eggs. On top of the dragons, an Iron or Lava Crate has a 20% chance of a pouch of bonus Scales (a Wooden Crate has none: its Normals release for more since they were made worth raising), and every crate has a smaller chance of an Instant Card.

The morph chance is per dragon. The crate screen phrases it carefully: "The rest look Normal, and may carry something hidden." A Normal-looking dragon from a crate isn't a dud. It might be het for something you can only find out by breeding it.

Two crates have extras on top:

• Wooden Crate: 1 in 1,000 holds a sealed Lava Crate on top.
• Lava Crate: the Lava and Regal rolls and the two rare looks described below.

Reading the morph odds

A worked example makes the table concrete. A Wooden Crate's three dragons each have an 8% chance of showing a morph. The chance that none of them do is 0.92 × 0.92 × 0.92, about 78%. So most Wooden Crates are all Normals to look at, though many of those Normals carry a hidden gene.

An Iron Crate with three dragons at 35% each shows at least one morph about 73% of the time, and a four-dragon Iron Crate about 82%. The Lava Crate guarantees at least one.

Crate dragons arrive with the origin "Wild import." Their het percentages come from the crate's odds, not from known parents. That's why proving matters: a crate dragon's "possible het" is a number worth testing with one clutch before you build a project on it. Hets and possible hets explains how those percentages move once you breed.

The Lava Crate and the 2% Lava roll

The Lava Crate is a limited-time featured crate. It's the only way into the game for Lava, a recessive element morph graded Legendary.

Each Lava Crate has a 2% chance that one of its dragons is a visual Lava. That works out to about 1 crate in 50, but the odds are per crate, so streaks happen both ways.

Fifty Lava Crates cost 12,500 Embers, and even then there's about a one-in-three chance of coming up empty. If you want Lava in your line, check the market first: another keeper may be selling one, or a Lava hatchling they bred. Lava is recessive, so once you have a visual, every baby it throws with a non-Lava partner is a 100% het. Lava dragons and elements covers what to do next.

The Lava Crate has a few more rolls. 2% of crates hold a dragon showing Regal, a Mythic gene that gives gold horns, claws and antlers and comes from no other crate. 1 in 100 crates drops the Lava Barrier profile frame, a frame of flowing lava, and 1 in 100 drops the Royal Dais, a golden stand set with gems that your dragons stand on in the 3D viewer. The first of each adds it to your collection. Every spare after that is a tradeable item you can sell or swap.

Sealed crates are items too

Crates are bought sealed, up to 10 at once, and rolled when you open them. Until then, a sealed crate is an item in your inventory.

That has a few consequences:

• Sealed crates can be listed on the market or put into a direct trade.
• They count toward your 500-item inventory cap.
• Opening one needs room for its largest possible haul, counting the sealed Lava Crate a Wooden Crate might hold. The crate tells you if you're short.

Since a crate is rolled at the moment you open it, holding one sealed doesn't change its odds. It just keeps your options open.

Free ways to get crates

You don't have to buy every crate. A few come to you through play:

• The tutorial opens a crate for you on your first day: two old carriers and an Instant Card.
• The starter steps pay 260 Scales in total, and the last one, proving a het, gives you a sealed Iron Crate too. Opening a crate is the first step and pays 40; the tutorial's crate counts.
• The Daily Pass: claim a reward each day you log in. Its free track holds eight Wooden Crates, three Iron Crates and two Lava Crates over 30 days, the first Lava Crate on day 7, and members get more.
• Daily Crate, a skill at the top of the skill tree's Keeper branch, gives a free Wooden Crate every day.
• The lucky 1 in 1,000 Wooden Crate with a sealed Lava Crate inside.
• The market: other keepers sell sealed Iron and Lava Crates for Scales.

When crates are worth it

Because a crate returns only about a third of its price on average, the best reason to open one is what it adds to your breeding, not what it adds to your balance.

Crates make sense when you need:

1. 1Unrelated blood. A wild import isn't related to anything you've bred, which keeps inbreeding down. See how to plan a breeding project.
2. 2A gene you don't have. A Striped, a Piebald, or a Dark can turn up in a crate and save you a lot of searching.
3. 3A shot at Lava. Only the Lava Crate holds the Lava element, the one Legendary in the game.

They make less sense when you already know the exact dragon you want. In that case, check the market's price guide first. You'll often find it listed for less than the crates it would take to pull it.

Open your first crate, read the odds, and see what turns up in Dragonbred.

Frequently asked questions

Which Dragonbred crate is best?

The Iron Crate is the best all-round buy, with a 35% morph chance per dragon and three or four dragons a crate. The Lava Crate is only worth it if you want a shot at Lava, Regal, the Lava Barrier frame or the Royal Dais.

Do crates contain eggs?

No. Crates hold dragons, and sometimes bonus Scales, an Instant Card, or, in a Wooden Crate, a sealed Lava Crate.

Can I sell a crate without opening it?

Yes. Sealed crates are items you can list on the market or trade directly. The crate is rolled only when someone opens it.

Is there a pity timer for Lava?

No. Each Lava Crate has the same 2% chance of a visual Lava, however many you've opened before.