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Lightning Dragon – Tanaris

Infinity Kingdom Guide: Taranis, the Lightning Dragon

Among all the elemental dragons in Infinity Kingdom, Taranis (the Lightning Dragon) stands out not only for his striking design — easily one of the best-looking in the game — but also for his consistent usefulness. Even before dragon skills were introduced, Taranis was already considered one of the strongest elemental dragons.

In this guide, we’ll break down his skills, how they really work, and which ones are worth using. We’ll also look at why he still ranks among the top 3 dragons in the game and how to best integrate him into your Lightning marches.

Why Taranis Matters

  • Core Element Dragon: Lightning remains one of the most popular elements in Infinity Kingdom because of its fast-paced, crit-heavy playstyle. Taranis fuels that with dragon buffs that amplify burst damage.
  • Scales With Meta: With the rise of talents, crit-Khan builds, and support backlines, Lightning marches have become even more dangerous — and Taranis’ dragon skills synergize perfectly with this evolution.
  • Long-Term Investment: Even if you eventually diversify into Earth or Shadow, Taranis stays relevant as a secondary dragon because of how well his skills fit high-burst teams.

Dragon Skills Overview

Taranis has three possible dragon skills. On paper, they all look useful, but in practice, some are much stronger than others. Let’s go through them:

1. Lightning Shriek

  • Effect: Increases true damage by 6%. Damage doubles if the target is stunned.
  • Reality Check: Sounds great, but it’s inconsistent. Unless you have reliable stuns in your march, the bonus damage rarely triggers at full potential. When it does, it’s nice — but overall too situational for most Lightning setups.
  • Verdict: Fun, but not reliable.

2. Lightning Cage

  • Effect: 90% chance to reduce damage dealt by 3 random enemy immortals by for 12s.
  • Possible Bug Note: The in-game tooltip mentions normal attack damage, but testing seems to indicate that this may not be true. There are reports which points towards this reducing all damage, not just basic auto-attacks. If this is true, this only further improves Tanaris and cements him as one of the absolute strongest dragons.
  • Reality Check: This is actually a very powerful defensive option. Shutting down three enemy DPS units for 12 seconds can swing battles — especially in Conquest where fights drag out.
  • Verdict: Excellent vs. strong AoE and burst teams.

3. Ghostly Drumming (passive)

One of Taranis’ most underrated strengths is his passive skill, which increases all damage dealt to the enemy by 3% for each debuff applied, stacking up to 5 times for a maximum of 15% bonus damage. This might not sound like much at first glance, but in practice it’s extremely powerful for Lightning teams, which naturally layer debuffs through immortals and skills. Since Lightning marches thrive on burst damage windows, this passive turns every well-timed debuff into a damage amplifier, letting your big hitters like Khan and Hammurabi land devastating ultimates. In high-end matches where debuff management is critical, this passive can easily tip the scales in Lightning’s favor.

Talents: Thunder Cry (Recommended)

  • Effect: Increases ultimate skill damage dealt, and reduces physical damage taken by your team for 12s.
  • Reality Check: This is the bread and butter skill for Lightning. It directly amplifies Khan and Hammurabi’s ultimates (and even Peter’s if you run him). On top of that, it reduces incoming physical damage, giving your fragile backline some survivability against heavy hitters like Wukong or Apollo.
  • Verdict: Best overall skill — synergizes with Lightning’s high-crit, ultimate-burst playstyle.

Best Setup: Thunder Cry All the Way

After years of testing, most Lightning mains agree: Thunder Cry is the go-to dragon skill for Taranis.

  • Boosts Khan’s crit-ultimate bursts.
  • Supercharges Hammurabi’s mage damage.
  • Adds survival value against physical comps.
  • Works across multiple Lightning march variations, from spender builds (Qin + Hammurabi) to more consistent F2P builds (Theodora + Khan).

Pair this with strong debuff skills like Energy Mastery, Corrosive Power, or Psionic Tide, and your Lightning march becomes a burst monster.

Ranking the Dragon Skills

  1. Thunder Cry – Best choice
  2. Lightning Cage – Niche but powerful
  3. Lightning Shriek – Situational
  4. Overload – Avoid

Final Thoughts: Where Taranis Ranks

Even as new dragons and content arrive, Taranis remains in the top 3 dragons of Infinity Kingdom (only Shadow and sometimes Earth rank higher). His synergy with the Lightning element, his ability to amplify burst damage, and his versatility in both spender and free-to-play builds keep him relevant across all seasons.

If you’re a Lightning main, Taranis is non-negotiable. If you’re dabbling in multiple elements, he’s still one of the best dragons you can invest in long term.

⚡ Verdict: Third-best dragon overall, and an absolute must for Lightning players.

Published: 20-08-2025