Lil' Drake is the Super Rare fire Imp variant in Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2. His Z-Mech is a large mechanical dragon that has more health than the normal Z-Mech. It is equipped with a flamethrower, can tackle plants, and create a smoke screen shield that can tank up to 100 damage and can jump three times as opposed to one. The Drake Mech lasts for 1 minute.
From his winged cap, to his Basilisk Blasters, to his hulking Drake Z-Mech, it's pretty clear that Lil' Drake has a thing for dragons. It should come as no surprise then, that his dream is to one day achieve full flight with his butt-mounted boosters.
In-game description
His Basilisk Blasters ignite Plant foes, dealing fire damage over time.
The Lil' Drake's primary weapon is the Basilisk Blasters. Strangely, for a fire variant, the Basilisk Blasters deals similar damage to Imp's Blasters (4.1 to 5.1 damage), however they fire slower (625 rpm compared to 800 rpm) and travel 33.3% slower, but they do travel straight. They have 30 ammo and has a 2s reload.
Drake Mech
The Drake Mech's primary weapon is the Drake Flame, a flamethrower that deals 13 damage per second burning plants for an increased amount of fire damage compared to the Basilisk Blasters. It's basically Fire Chomper's Flame Spray, but with more range and monstrous damage. It can be button mashed, which results in an insane DPS, 136.67 to be precise. The Drake Flame has an Overheat system, meaning that it can be fired for 4.6s before overheating, which then goes on a 2.26s cooldown.
It's time to set your butt boosters to overdrive as you spin uncontrollably with both Imp Blasters blazing.
Strategies
With
Imp
As with all Imps, remain mobile at all times and watch your health. This is a good variant to take on plants with 150 health or less due to the fire damage. Watch out for Sunflowers and Heal Flowers, as they can ruin your burning power and, if they receive heath quickly, foil your chances of vanquishing them.
Mech
In addition, the Drake Mech is tied along with the Scallywag Mech for the most health out of all Mechs, so staying alive is easier, more so thanks to your Smoke Shield. Focus on large groups of plants or high-health plants such as bosses in Graveyard Ops, and make an attempt to stay away from Citrons. Use the Drake Swoop to close in on far off enemies or to escape a dangerous situation. Wing Flap is best used when engaging a target in combat or attacking an objective. Keep in mind that it blocks damage from all directions and not just the front. Combining this with its high health, the Drake Mech can easily defeat multiple plants for Team Vanquish and help capture gardens in Gardens & Graveyards or Suburbination. However, be aware of Pea Gatlings and Sunbeams, as they can take you out thanks to your lack of range.
Against
Imp
Lil' Drake is the fire variant for the Imp class, which can make him an somewhat dangerous opponent. He dish out some serious damage if not noticed in time. By himself, the Imp should be relatively easy to take out with classes like Peashooter, Kernel Corn, or Citron. His projectile speed is slower than most imps, so you can dodge his shots if you’re far enough away from him.
Mech
The mech is much bulkier than other mechs, and it has a shield to protect itself. This mech can attack groups from close range. It can be a devastating opponent if not dealt with properly. Since it has no method of attacking long range aside from Drake Swoop, and the Drake Swoop itself has a very long recharge and will probably not be used against you, the only safe way to take care of the Drake Mech to attack it from afar. If the mech gets into a garden in Gardens & Graveyards, use everything you have to defeat it, as it will quickly vanquish every plant in the garden if left alive. Citron's EMPeach is slightly less effective on this mech due to the Mech's absurd ability cool-down, and the fact that the Drake Mech has possibly already used said abilities getting to the garden. However, it's still good to use an EMPeach to stop its flame attack for a second or two. Because of his lack of range, Pea Gatlings and Sunbeams can easily take him out.
▲ Imps tuning focused on ensuring he had a bit more survivability outside of his mech, and also improved his primary weapon slightly
▲ Increased Imp health
▼ Fixed a bug where the Imp could not receive damage while he is making his Z-Mech phone call (he's now only invulnerable when the beam of light appears)
Please note that only official translations are used.
Language
Name
Description
English
Lil' Drake
Traditional Chinese
小火龍
French
Dragonou
German
Lil' Drake
Italian
Draghetto
Polish
Smoczuś
Brazilian Portuguese
Dragonete
Spanish
Dragoncito
Trivia
The Drake Mech has the highest health out of all the variants in the game, along with the Scallywag Mech, both having 400 HP.
Before the patch notes came out, the Drake Mech was said to have 500 health.
The "Drake" part of the name stems from the Drake, a species of the fictional creature commonly called a dragon. This is also why Lil' Drake resembles a dragon.
It was revealed by PopCap that he is their favorite Imp variant because of his fire damage and his stronger mech.
He is the only Imp variant without the word "Imp" in his name.
He is the only Imp variant with a close-range Z-Mech.
There is a larger version of him in Infinity Time called Giga Imp, first encountered when Gnomus the Yellow reaches 25% health. His Basilisk Blasters deal more damage and has a slightly higher rate of fire compared to Lil' Drake. However, it doesn't fire for long and its shots curve down. His reload time is incredibly quick, being around 0.6 seconds. He can also summon normal Drake Mechs.
The Drake Mech has the shortest jump height when compared to the other Z-Mechs.