Wizards of the Coast has revealed the full statblock for the ancient gold dragon, found in the 2025 version of the Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual. And let’s just say this revamped reptile has truly terrifying potential.
Previously, even the most powerful DnD dragons were limited to bites and claws, with occasional intermittent breath attacks whenever that weapon recharged. But Wizards promised more powerful high-level monsters in the updated 2025 Monster Manual, and it seems it’s delivering.
Even a brief scan of the ancient gold dragon statblock, released in a DnD Beyond post on January 14, will uncover an absurd number of tactical options. In the hands of a canny DM, the new dragon will be a very dangerous weapon.
Last week, Wizards of the Coast teased the abilities of its new and improved dragons, followed by a partial reveal on Friday that gave us a glimpse at old Goldie, revealing features like a far higher initiative bonus, more damaging Rend attacks, and the ability to cast a 4th Level Guiding Bolt spell or use its Weakening Breath in place of one of its attacks.
Now we see the full statblock, complete with that teased breath weapon, the full list of spells, and all the dragon’s legendary actions.
First up, the spellcasting. As well as some damaging options, like Guiding Bolt and a one-off Flame Strike dealing 10d6 damage in an area, the ancient gold dragon has some valuable utility spells, such as Zone of Truth for social interactions, or Word of Recall to get out of a fight that’s gone wrong. Just imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth when the boss nopes out of the battle.
The gold dragon’s Weakening Breath attack has also been given a huge buff. It’s worth noting, initially, that it isn’t on a recharge like Fire Breath. The gold dragon doesn’t have to choose between dousing its foes in hot death or weakening their attacks, and in fact can do the latter whenever it likes.
Secondly, whereas the 2014 version only weakened Strength-based rolls, giving them disadvantage, the new version of this effect also reduces damage from all attacks, including spells. The damage is only reduced by 1d10, so big hitters may not suffer too badly. But characters or spells that rely on dealing lots of little bits of damage over multiple rolls are going to be severely hamstrung by the effect.
This is all good stuff, but it’s the ancient gold dragon’s legendary actions, which it can take up to three of per round at the end of other characters’ turns, that have seen the biggest glow up. These are supposed to make battling a deadly creature feel more like a boss fight, and go some way towards counteracting the natural advantage a D&D party of five or six has when they go up against a single creature.
Previously, even an ancient gold dragon could only batter the party with its tail and wings in between rounds, but now it has some far more intriguing tactical options. The most showy of these is the ability to banish a character until the start of the dragon’s next turn, making them more or less skip a go. They can choose where the banished target reappears, too, so if it’s a deadly melee character it’ll be miles away, while the squishy Wizard 5e will find themselves getting up close and personal.
Another legendary action allows the dragon to cast Guiding Bolt, a handy ranged attack that also sets them up for successful attack on their next turn.
And finally, they can move and Rend again, an option that should not be overlooked, as the ability to get into a good position or target a wounded or weaker character will be strong for tactical DMs.
It’s worth noting that while the ancient gold dragon gets more legendary actions and more resistances in its lair, it also grants more XP. Assuming this will be the case for other DnD monsters in the Monster Manual too, it creates an interesting choice. A more cautious party might seek to lure a monster out, whereas Bernard’s Brave Barbarian Bunch can fight it where it lives for extra rewards.
Of course, gold dragons are typically lawful good. Unless you’re playing in an evil party, or have a DM who likes to mix things up, you’re more likely to have one of these on your side of the battlefield than fighting against you. In which case these abilities will certainly come in handy. In fact, the DM will probably need to find a reason why your gold dragon BFF doesn’t enter every fight and turn the campaign into a cakewalk.
The chromatic dragons (red, green, black, white, and blue) are more common foes, and we are excited to see what challenges and tricks their stat blocks present. Last week, DnD designer Jeremy Crawford hinted that chromatic dragons in the 2025 Monster Manual can deal more damage than their metallic counterparts, but have fewer status-inflicting, crowd-controlling options. He did say, though, that every dragon has some way to impact the battlefield that is not just simple damage, giving DM’s a tactical toolkit to play with.
The 2025 Monster Manual is due out on February 18, 2025. Once it’s here, we’ll have a complete picture of the updated core DnD books, and can pass our Final Judgement. Dun dun dunnnn! Until then, please enjoy our handy guides to all the DnD classes and DnD races you can play.
Source: Wargamer
