Dragon Rider HQ

Fan guide

How to Get a Black Dragon in Dragonkind: What Players Report

There is no confirmed way to get a black dragon in Dragonkind. What exists is a route that several players say worked for them, and a lot of luck. Here is that route, how many tries people report, and which parts nobody has proved.

What is confirmed

  • Black dragon bonds are real. Players have posted result cards showing a black dragon, and the rarest results are the ones people share most.
  • The game has about a 10 percent chance of burning you whatever you choose. Rebecca Yarros has said this herself.
  • The official FAQ says every colour is possible. It does not say how to get black.

The shadow route, as players describe it

This sequence comes from player reports on Reddit, not from the game's makers. It is unconfirmed, and it has not worked every time for everyone who tried it. The shadow option in step 2 is pure luck, so a perfect run of the other steps still ends in a different dragon most of the time.

  1. Climb the tallest tree at the fork in the forest.
  2. Look for a "follow the shadow" option. It does not appear on every run. Players describe this as the luck step.
  3. Let the blue dragon pass. Players report holding still and letting her leave if you want the black dragon later in the same run.
  4. Help the wounded cadet you find, then head south.
  5. Look back toward the sound behind you.
  6. Hold the black dragon's gaze and do not bow.

The idea behind the last step matches the books, where black dragons are the most discerning and have little patience for riders who flinch. Whether the game rewards that on purpose is something players are still testing.

How many tries it takes

Players report between 15 and 25 or more attempts before a black bond. One player is said to have seen the shadow option for the first time on their sixteenth run, and another bonded a black on their twenty-sixth. With a retry wait of about four hours, that is why people describe this as a patience game. Moderators of the Fourth Wing subreddit have said there is no specific way to force a black or blue dragon and that it comes down to randomness.

The phone battery theory

One theory says entering the Vale with your phone at 76 to 90 percent battery makes a black dragon more likely. Some players say it matched their runs. The developers have not commented and there is no test that rules out coincidence. We would not plan around it.

What to do between tries

  • Do not over-read a burn. Roughly one run in ten ends that way no matter what you choose.
  • Write down what you chose each time. When the shadow option appears, you will want to know what you did on the way to it.
  • Use the wait to practise. Our free practice run has no wait and follows the book's rules for approaching dragons. Its dragons are invented and it is not the official game, so treat it as rehearsal, not proof of the real route.

Other colours

If you ended up with a different dragon, our guide to every named dragon in Fourth Wing covers each colour line. For the basics of how the game works, see the Dragonkind game guide.

Practice the Threshing, no wait Which book dragon would bond with you?

Dragon Rider HQ is an unofficial fan site, not affiliated with Rebecca Yarros, Entangled Publishing or the makers of Dragonkind. Details are from player reports as of October 2026 and may change. Play the official game at dragonkind.com.