Beating the story in Dragonkin: The Banished takes about 24 hours on average, with a median closer to 21.5 hours, according to HowLongToBeat's player submissions. Doing the story plus the endgame and side content stretches that past 85 hours, and the platinum trophy sits in the same range because it asks you to take four different heroes and Wyrmlings to level 50. In practice, plan on a long weekend for the campaign and a few months of evenings for 100 percent.
We checked these numbers against HowLongToBeat, the PS5 trophy list on Exophase and Eko Software's own patch notes and developer blogs on Steam in November 2026.
How Long Each Playstyle Takes
HowLongToBeat splits its data by how people play. Its sample for Dragonkin is still small, so read the figures as a guide rather than a promise: ten players logged a main-story time, only two logged story plus side content, and a single player logged a completionist run. The spread between rushed and leisurely players is wide, from under 15 hours for the story to well over 30.
| Playstyle | Players polled | Average | Median | Rushed | Leisure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main Story | 10 | 24h 3m | 21h 32m | 14h 54m | 32h 39m |
| Main + Sides | 2 | 85h 30m | 85h 30m | 68h 45m | 102h 15m |
| Completionist | 1 | 88h | 88h | 88h | 88h |
| All playstyles | 13 | 38h 26m | 33h 10m | 21h 24m | 77h 24m |
All of HowLongToBeat's per-platform submissions so far are on PC. No PS5 or Xbox times have been submitted yet, but the content is the same on PS5, where the game launched on 19 March 2026, so the PC numbers are a fair guide for console players.
What the Story Covers
The campaign follows a prologue and four acts. During Early Access, players could only see the prologue and the first act, which ended with the defeat of Kaaralang, Banished Lord of the Jungle; the 1.0 release on 16 March 2026 added the remaining three acts and new cinematics. The PS5 trophy list tracks the main bosses: the Banished Lords of Ja'Ksara, Okeanos, Nurõrgartt and Erde-nòr, then the Primordial Banished Lord. The Harrower update on 12 November smoothed the second phase of the final boss, Mephestel.
Your pace through the acts depends on how much you stop to build. The Ancestral Grid rewards experimenting with skill fragments and modifiers, the City of Montescail needs upgrades to unlock services, and the loot keeps tempting you to re-gear. Players who keep moving land near the rushed figure; players who optimize every skill land near the leisure figure.
Eko also made the story optional. Its February 2026 guide to the 1.0 transition states that players can jump into endgame mode at any time, which matters for later characters: once you have seen the story, a second or third hero does not have to repeat it.
Why Older Length Estimates Are Wrong
If you search for Dragonkin's length you will find very different answers, and most of the short ones are out of date or were measured before the full release. The game spent a full year in Steam Early Access from 6 March 2025, and for that whole period the story stopped after the first act. Playtime figures gathered then measure a much smaller game.
The structure also changed shortly before release. The Multiplayer Update on 25 February 2026 brought online co-op and the post-50 Ancestors system, and the 1.0 release three weeks later completed the story and reset story progression for Early Access players while keeping their characters and city. Only numbers gathered after March 2026, like the HowLongToBeat table above, reflect the full campaign. Even those predate the July Purgatory content and the November Harrower update, so the endgame portion has only grown since.
The Endgame: Where the Hours Go
The jump from 24 to 85 hours is the endgame, and it has grown with every update. Hunts are the core loop, and since February 2026 a regular hunt takes 10 to 15 minutes while a final hunt lasts up to about 25. Hunting Board hunts and Chaos Hunts sit alongside Dungeon Purifications, the Test of Will challenge ladder, Deep Dracomundus and the Dracomundus Purgatory added in July. Purgatory sends you through three islands drawn from a pool of more than fifty and asks you to clear them before a timer runs out, with Ravenous Weapons as the prize.
Difficulty is tiered, and the trophies reference three bands: Desolation, Calamity and Apocalypse. The July crossplay update added Apocalypse ranks I to V and gave enemies extra resistances at higher thresholds. On top of that, the post-50 Ancestors system keeps characters progressing once they hit the level cap: there are 14 Ancestors, each leveling to 20, and experience earned for them doubles once both your character and your Wyrmling reach level 50.
- The Harrower update added Survival, a permadeath mode with its own Pantheon of fallen heroes, for players who want a reason to start over.
- Eko has said Dragonkin is not becoming a live-service game: it plans free updates and optional DLC rather than seasons.
- Five playable heroes now exist, so a player leveling every class has five characters to raise; our Dragonkin: The Banished classes guide compares them.
How Long the Platinum Takes
The PS5 list has 44 trophies worth 1,350 points, and only 8.37 percent of the roughly 900 PS5 players tracked by Exophase had the Elite Hunter platinum by mid-November 2026. Expect something close to the completionist figure, 80 to 100 hours, because the slow trophies are all endgame or leveling tasks:
- Four max-level heroes: separate trophies for Lothair of Montdragon, Electrane, Rurik Haraldson and Qara-Tani at max level, plus Legend of the Alliance of Men for four different characters and Wyrmlings at max level (9.58 percent).
- Apocalypse bosses: No Dragon will Tempt Me asks for the Banished Lords of Ja'Ksara, Okeanos, Nurõrgartt and Erde-nòr on Apocalypse difficulty (11.89 percent).
- Endgame ladders: every hunt on the Hunting Board (11.56 percent), trial 20 in a Test of Will (11.01 percent) and 10 Dungeon Purifications (16.08 percent).
- Crafting: a Divine, Mythical and Draconic item forged at max level 50 (10.13 percent), a full armor set with ornaments (10.79 percent), and a piece of Wyrmling armor at max level (9.69 percent).
Nothing on the list is tied to a story choice, so there are no missable trophies in the usual sense, but the order you do things in matters. Leveling heroes in co-op with a higher-level friend, then finishing Apocalypse bosses and the Hunting Board on your strongest character, saves the most time.
A Sensible Order for 100 Percent
- Finish the story on your first hero at a comfortable difficulty. The five Banished Lord trophies and several early counters arrive along the way, and you unlock the endgame systems.
- Start developing the city early and keep it moving, since every character benefits from its services and Master Artisan wants 100 items created or improved there.
- Take your main hero to level 50, then push the Hunting Board, Dungeon Purifications and Test of Will while learning the Desolation and Calamity tiers.
- Level the other three original heroes and four Wyrmlings, ideally in co-op with a max-level friend so the Level Catcher speeds things up.
- Finish with the Apocalypse boss trophy, the max-level Divine, Mythical and Draconic forge, the ornamented armor set and the max-level Wyrmling armor, which all need a strong late-game character.
Working in that order means you never grind the same content twice for different trophies, and the endgame runs that feed the Ancestors also fill your loot counters (500 pieces of equipment, 500 ancestral fragments and 100,000 gold) without extra effort.
Ways to Finish Faster
A few systems shorten the grind if you use them deliberately. In online co-op, Eko's multiplayer blog describes a Level Catcher that makes lower-level players level up faster when a high-level player is in the group, so pairing a fresh hero with a friend's max-level character is the quickest way to the four Champion trophies. Story groups share progression too, so a new character can join a group mid-campaign without losing its place.
The city helps every character at once. City experience comes from almost everything you do, and the February 2026 Multiplayer Update raised experience gains by roughly 30 percent for characters, Wyrmlings and the city alike; our Dragonkin city upgrade guide covers which services to unlock first. Online play is optional, but the Level Catcher only works there; our Dragonkin: The Banished review roundup covers what online co-op needs on PS5 and how the game has held up since launch.
Finally, watch for trophy glitches before you repeat content. The July update fixed the final boss trophy not triggering for every player in an online session. If a trophy you earned still does not appear, our checklist for PS5 trophies that did not unlock covers syncing and version checks.
Want the Platinum Without the 90 Hours?
If four max-level heroes and Apocalypse bosses are more than your schedule allows, the Dragonkin: The Banished platinum trophy service covers full platinum completion on PS5, unlocked on your own account, with a choice between instant timestamps and realistic ones spread across different dates. It is PS5 only and works by signing in to your PSN account, so read how a PS5 platinum service works and what the login involves before ordering.
The Dragonkin: The Banished page also lists a PS5 modded save with four heroes at Level 50, which does not include trophies.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is Dragonkin: The Banished?
About 24 hours for the main story on average, around 85 hours with side and endgame content, and roughly 88 hours for a completionist run, based on HowLongToBeat's small sample.
How many acts are in Dragonkin?
A prologue and four acts. The 1.0 release in March 2026 added the three acts that Early Access players had not seen.
Can you skip the campaign in Dragonkin?
The storyline is optional. Eko says players can jump into endgame mode at any time, which is useful for second and third characters.
How hard is the Dragonkin platinum?
It is long rather than hard. Only about 8 percent of tracked PS5 players have it, mainly because of four max-level heroes, Apocalypse bosses and the endgame ladders.
Are there missable trophies?
No trophy depends on a story choice, so everything can be earned later, including on new characters.
Does the Harrower count for the trophies?
The four Champion trophies name the original heroes, and as of 13 November 2026 the list had no Harrower trophy, so plan the hero trophies around Lothair, Electrane, Rurik and Qara-Tani.