Azure Dragon & Emerald Guardian Advantage Play Strategy

Azure Dragon and its sister title, Emerald Guardian, feature four progressive free games meters—mega, maxi, minor and mini. The number of free games increases whenever one of the corresponding free games symbols lands in the fourth reel. These aren’t must-hit-bys, so it is completely random when the free games actually hit.

• This game is much more volatile than other uncapped progressives, such as Wolf Run Eclipse, because the payouts in the bonus are extremely inconsistent. The stacks awarded in the free games aren’t wild stacks (like in Wolf Run Eclipse) but rather stacks of credit prizes, which are only awarded if they connect starting in the first two reels. The stacks are rigged to land more frequently in the rightmost reels, so they usually just end up serving as line hit blockers. That said, if you manage to land five stacks that connect across the reels, you can get massive wins.

• The mega and maxi award three guaranteed stacks on every spin, while the minor awards two and the mini awards one.

• Combos are king in this game, which is why I built the calculator. The mini payouts can be very weak, so you’ll usually need additional support from the minor and maxi.

• The mega, maxi, minor and mini free games meters don’t increment every time a corresponding symbol lands in the fourth reel—it only has a “chance” of incrementing.

• The mega resets to 80 free games, while the maxi, minor and mini all reset to 8.

• Azure Dragon / Emerald Guardian has an RTP that ranges from...

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