Unleash the Duke COC Guide – BrawlOne

Release the Duke in Clash of Clans is the Feb 23, 2026 community Dark Elixir event that opens the Dragon Duke, but you can’t use him until you’re Town Hall 15 and your Hero Hall finishes upgrading to level 9 with a Builder. Once that upgrade completes, the “Imprisoned!” slot goes live and the Duke becomes selectable. He flies on defense, ignores Spring Traps, resists air traps, and has a once-per-battle heal. Keep going to learn how he compares and when to upgrade him.

Unleash the Duke COC Explained

After days of cryptic chains, dragon roars, and volcano teases, Clash of Clans kicked off “Unleash the Duke” on Feb 23, 2026 as a community-wide Dark Elixir release event where you and everyone else collected resources to open in-game doors and free the new Hero, the Dragon Duke. You watched the release roll from Feb 19–21 hints to the Feb 22 reveal, then joined the Feb 23 push that turned a grayed-out, “Imprisoned!” slot into a live addition once global goals cleared. In unleash the duke coc, progress happened server-wide, and each door phase paid out rewards as it opened. The headline takeaway: the dragon duke hero hall 9 requirement sits ahead, tied to Town Hall 15, after the community unlock lands.

How to Unlock Dragon Duke

To open the Dragon Duke, you’ve got to upgrade your Hero Hall to level 9. That upgrade only becomes available once you reach Town Hall 15. After you meet those requirements, you can recruit the Duke and start upgrading it like any other Hero.

Hero Hall 9 Requirement

One upgrade releases the Dragon Duke: bring your Hero Hall to level 9, which means you’ll need Town Hall 15 first. Once that build finishes, the dragon duke coc becomes available instantly and you can field it on offense and station it for defense right away. You’ll see it switch from the old grayed-out “Imprisoned! Coming to Hero Hall Level 9 soon!” tease to a selectable Hero.

Plan your timing, because upgrades happen in the Builder, not the Laboratory. If you start leveling the Duke, you can’t deploy it until the upgrade completes, so don’t begin right before war or a key push. Complete Hero Hall 9 first, then release the duke clash of clans with full availability.

Town Hall Level Requirement

Because Hero Hall 9 only becomes available at Town Hall 15, you can’t access the Dragon Duke until your base reaches TH15 and you start that Hero Hall upgrade. That makes TH15 the hard gate for any coc dragon duke unlock attempt, no matter how ready your army is. Once you hit Town Hall 15, queue Hero Hall to level 9 using a Builder, just like other Hero Hall–locked Heroes, not a Laboratory research path. The Dragon Duke only joins your roster after the Hero Hall 9 upgrade completes, so you won’t field him in attacks or set him on defense during that upgrade window. If you’re timing progress around the clash of clans release event, plan that build time early so you claim the Hero ASAP.

Dragon Duke Abilities and Mechanics

Once you’ve opened the Dragon Duke, you’ll time its once-per-battle healing ability to swing fights, since the restore scales and spikes every fifth level. You’ll also lean on its passive trap resistance, which pairs with Baby Dragon–style enrage to keep it threatening under pressure. On defense, you’ll plan around its Hero Banner patrol and retreat behavior, because ground-only troops can’t touch it and you can’t always force a takedown.

Healing Ability

Resilience defines the Dragon Duke’s healing ability: it can trigger a single active self-heal per battle, restoring a chunk of health that jumps higher at every fifth ability level. You’ll time this dragon duke healing ability to keep pressure while your dragon duke abilities stay online, especially when the Duke’s passive enrage-style durability already stretches its lifespan.

• Upgrade it through Builder-driven Hero Hall levels, not the Laboratory.
• Expect noticeable heal breakpoints at ability levels 5, 10, 15, and so on.
• Pair Hero Equipment to amplify the restore or tack on extra effects plus stats.
• On defense, pop the heal during banner-area fights so the Duke keeps hovering and brawling longer.

Use it as a single, decisive swing, not a routine sustain tool.

Trap Resistance

Although traps usually punish air units hard, the Dragon Duke shrugs off a big slice of that risk through a passive trap-resistance mechanic tied to its Baby Dragon–style enrage behavior. As part of your dragon duke abilities, you take reduced damage from trap hits while airborne, and the reduction scales up automatically with Hero level. You also ignore many ground threats outright: Spring Traps can’t touch you, so your pathing stays stable even through dense trap lanes. Air traps still matter, but Seeking Air Mines and Air Bombs hit for less, letting you survive sequences that would delete other fliers. Gear can push it further, since Dragon Duke Hero Equipment may add extra mitigation. If you trigger your heal, it won’t clear trap effects, but it can outpace the chip. That’s huge in dragon duke coc.

Defensive Behavior

Circle the Hero Banner and you’ll see the Dragon Duke’s defensive behavior immediately: it takes to the air, patrols that zone, and stays unreachable to ground-only targeting troops. You can’t drag this coc aerial hero into a cross-base chase; if you lure it too far, it breaks off and retreats toward its territory, resetting pressure on your push. It’s still targetable, so you must fight it when it commits, yet you don’t need to kill it for a 3-star because it can disengage and survive. Its stance echoes a Baby Dragon-style enrage and adds reduced trap damage, reshaping pathing and priorities as ground-targeting defenses can’t interact normally. Expect these dragon duke abilities to force cleaner funnels:

• Aerial patrol zone control
• Retreat leash behavior
• Trap damage reduction
• Targetable, not mandatory kill

Dragon Duke vs Other Heroes

Stack the Dragon Duke against the other Heroes and you’ll feel the difference immediately: it’s the sixth Hero overall and only the second aerial option after the Grand Warden, accessible at Hero Hall 9 (Town Hall 15), and it brings a distinct mix of builder-based upgrades, three starting common Hero Equipment pieces, and a defensive flight profile that makes it immune to ground-only targeting while it patrols around the Hero Banner and retreats if you lure it too far. In raids, you don’t treat it like your Barbarian King or Archer Queen; you time dragon duke abilities coc as a single, scaling self-heal instead of a burst of damage. As the coc new hero dragon duke, it also packs Baby Dragon–style passives plus trap resistance, while Equipment lets you customize effects without changing its core role.

Is Dragon Duke Worth Upgrading?

If you’ve hit Hero Hall 9 at Town Hall 15, upgrading the Dragon Duke usually earns its keep because it adds a second true aerial Hero to your lineup and scales into real staying power. You’ll feel the value most when you need air coverage that shrugs off ground-only targeting and when fights run long enough for its once-per-battle heal to swing momentum.

• You enable better passive stats and equipment slots via Builder upgrades
• You employ melee-range flying pressure versus weak air defense layouts
• You time the scaling self-heal (every fifth level) after burst damage
• You strengthen banner defense, even though enemies can still lure it out

Skip rushing it if your core Heroes lag behind or your comps rarely go air heavy.

Before upgrading, check the latest Clash of Clans codes to claim free rewards that can help speed up your progression.

Frequently Asked Questions

When Will Unleash the Duke Return if I Missed the Event?

You can’t know yet—Supercell hasn’t announced a return date. You should watch in-game News and social channels, because they’ll likely rerun it as a limited event or offer the Dragon Duke later.

Can Dragon Duke Be Used in Friendly Challenges and Friendly Wars?

Yes—you can use Dragon Duke in Friendly Challenges and Friendly Wars if you’ve accessed him on your account. You can’t temporarily borrow him there, so you’ll need Hero Hall 9 first.

Does Dragon Duke Count Toward Hero Availability in Clan War Leagues?

Yes, it counts toward your hero availability in Clan War Leagues if you’ve opened it. If it’s upgrading or unavailable, you can’t use it in attacks, and your roster options shrink accordingly.

What Are the Best Dragon Duke Skins, and How Can I Get Them?

You’ll find the best Dragon Duke skins are the Legendary and seasonal Gold Pass exclusives, plus limited-event shop skins. You can get them via Gold Pass tracks, the in-game Shop, special events, or returning offers.

Are There Any Known Bugs or Balance Changes Planned for Dragon Duke?

You can’t rely on any confirmed, public bugs or planned balance changes for Dragon Duke yet; developers haven’t announced specifics. You should watch official patch notes, forums, and in-game news for hotfixes, nerfs, buffs.

Conclusion

You’ve now seen why Unleash the Duke changes how you plan aerial attacks in Clash of Clans. You obtain the Dragon Duke at Hero Hall 9 and use him as a brawling flier who can flip into defense when pressure spikes. You time his once-per-battle heal to restart a stalled push, and you lean on trap resistance to cross deadly lanes. Upgrade him with Builders, tune Equipment, and he’ll earn his banner spot.