Legend of Dragoon - Chapter 3: Dragon and Dragoon

Before heading off to Hoax, if you want to make the journey, you can now return to Seles with Shana for a scene with her and Dart. You can view this later, but I believe there is a cutoff point where it is no longer available. If you make the trek, try to get Dart's Volcano addition to level 5 and Lavitz's Spinning Cane near mastery to move on to Burning Rush and Rod Typhoon soon.

Hoax is to the east of Bale and is a former town that has been turned into a defensive point for Basil. It's important that you thoroughly explore the town as a good portion of it will be inaccessible very soon and with it a few minor treasure chests. Near the entrance, enter the pathway cut into the stone wall to climb stairs into the inn. If you did some fighting, you may need to rest, but otherwise, grab the Angel's Prayer chest in the right-hand corner. This chest disappears soon.

 

Beside the inn, climb the stone stairs and enter the home just before the next flight of stairs. Descend the stairs of the house into the basement and check the fireplace for some Stardust. This is not missable.

Return outside and work your way around the outside ramparts and wooden bridges; over the rooftops toward the lower-right of the screen. Move down a set of stairs and into the doorway near the center. In the lower-right-hand corner of the room is a chest with a Healing Potion. This will be unavailable soon.

 

Outside, climb back up the stairs and you'll see an open window Dart can enter the attic of a house through. Grab the missable 20G chest, then use the ladder to talk to the midwife, Gilda for a scene with her, Dart, and Shana.

Back across the ramparts, enter the room near the inn with a soldier standing outside. Approach the table to meet Kaiser, the commander of Hoax. He'll brief the party and suggest that Dart and Lavitz take the night watch while Shana helps prepare meals for the soldiers. Dart will be given an option of how to respond to Shana cooking. Choosing the first pokes fun at her terrible cooking, while the second choice has everyone else do it for him.

 

Kaiser will suggest you take a look around town during their strategy meeting. Have Dart search the boxes near the candle in the bottom-left of Kaiser's room to find your ninth Stardust. This isn't missable, either. When ready, talk to Kaiser and tell him you are finished.

That night, Dart and Lavitz take watch over the town. Dart thinks that it is a little too quiet, but will go to grab something to eat. As he's descending the stairs...

 

Sandora attacks and you're thrown into a battle against some simple soldiers. Afterward, an elite soldier appears on the top of the ramparts with Dart moving in to engage.

The Sandora Elite is much more like a boss fight. Just use your additions and watch your health. After a few turns, he'll use an illusion trick by splitting himself into mirror images. The real Elite soldier is always first on the left, then the second time, the right. I killed him by then, but I assume center is his next location, with it repeating.

 

Sandora brought the Giganto, Kongol, with them and he's plowing through Basil's best until Dart and Lavitz step in to stop him. Kongol is extremely weak against magic, so if you've brought some spare magic items, have Dart lob them over while Lavitz attacks. Even without magic, as long as you complete your additions, which a failure products a Kongol counter, he's not difficult. Don't be afraid to use Healing Potions, but try to save your Healing Breezes, for now. For winning the party will receive the Power Wrist accessory that increases physical attack power.

Kongol will counter Dart's attempt to finish him off, but before he can follow up, a woman clad in black will appear and awaken the sleeping Dragoon within Dart. The power of the Red-Eye Dragon will be unleashed upon Kongol, leaving Dart and the others in awe.

 

The fellow Dragoon is Rose, whom saved Dart from the Dragon at the beginning of the game. Still shocked by what happened, Dart will collapse, with Kongol managing to survive and escape.

When Dart awakens, he'll have the option to either explain his past interaction with Rose to Shana, or a poorly-worded option. Either way, Dart has become a Dragoon and his Father's Stone item has changed to the Red Dragon DS. Rose will explain her reasoning for helping Dart and his destiny as a bearer of the Dragoon Spirit of the Red-Eye Dragon. Outside, a soldier will arrive with news that the Dragon has attacked the Seventh Fort in the Marshland and needs reinforcements. Normal humans cannot hope to stand against a Dragon, but perhaps Dragoons can and your next destination is set. Rose joins the party and adds the Dark Dragon DS item to your inventory. Rose is of the darkness element, and weak against light.

 

As expected, Rose comes equipped with a few rare items. Her Rapier is one-of-a-kind and a second one cannot be obtained, so make sure not to sell it on accident. The Felt Hat and Leather Shoes, of which Shana has equipped too, can never be purchased and while you'll find an additional Felt Hat, these two Leather Shoes are the only ones in the game. With the Power Wrist accessory gained from the Kongol battle, I suggest that this be given to Shana, the Knight Shield equipped to Dart, and an Elude Cloak placed on Rose. If you didn't get an Elude Cloak from the Yellow Bird, Rose can use the Knight Shield and Dart can stay with the Poison Guard accessory.

Before leaving, Rose will offer Dart a tutorial on fighting as a Dragoon. If this is your first time playing, I suggest you practice the Dragoon additions. The trick is to press X as the light revolves around and hits the top portion of the indicator. However, this will not work for the final hit. To achieve a perfect combo, on the last revolution, you need to instead hit the notch that is at 10 o'clock in the screenshot above. They don't bother to explain this to you, for whatever reason. A couple of notes about Dragoons:

• All statistics are increased while in Dragoon form.
• All Dragoon additions are elemental.
• Dragoon levels increase with gained SP through performing additions outside of Dragoon form. Some additions give more SP, with lesser damage, while the vice versa also exists.
  
• You can only stay in Dragoon form a number of turns equal to your Dragoon level and accumulated SP. The max level is 5.
• Dragoons are immune to all status effects, and transforming into a Dragoon cures a character of all current afflictions which is a great thing to remember going forward.

Our next destination is the Marshland that is southwest of Hoax. There will be three concurrent dungeons upcoming, so make sure to prepare accordingly. If you're planning to use Shana in your party, I highly recommend returning to Bale and picking up Spear Frost and Meteor Fall items for some of the upcoming boss fights.

Entering the Marshland, move Dart immediately northeast, ignoring the branching path across the marsh. In the next screen, continue northeast through the ruins of part of a fort to find an ongoing battle between the Seventh Fort and Sandora soldiers. Dart will have to fight his way through several battles, each time choosing not to retreat, until he faces off with the Commander. These soldiers are much stronger than the usual bunch; and love to use Spear Frost on Dart heavily damaging him, so watch your HP.

 

During the Commander battle, have Rose transform and use Astral Drain on the minor soldiers to restore some HP with Dart targeting the Commander with Flameshot; Shana and Lavitz can just chip in with their attacks. Upon winning, the party will receive an Attack Ball. This is a rare, but later purchasable item that generates a random magic attack upon use. While a gamble, I really like these, myself. With all the soldiers cleared, grab the Sun Rhapsody treasure box on the tree roots and climb the stairs to the fort.

The fort is in ruins from the Dragon's poison breath...Have Dart search the barren fireplace for your tenth piece of Stardust. There are chests scattered around containing another Sun Rhapsody, Healing Potion, and Spirit Potion. As you approach the dying soldiers in the lower-right-hand corner, he will give Lavitz a second, and last, Wargod's Amulet accessory before passing away. Also, this scene is only available for a limited amount of time and will eventually become missable along with the second Wargod's Amulet. Note: Use the Spirit Potion during battle for an immediate +100 SP gain toward your Dragoon level. While not purchasable, the item is not that uncommon.

 

Exit out the left-side of the fort and pick up the Lance treasure chest; a new weapon for Lavitz. Now, with 10 Stardusts on-hand, we can receive our first reward from them. Leave the Marshland and head back toward Bale.

In Slambert Plaza, enter the house on the western side of town. The rude woman whom you bumped into earlier on is here. Talk to her and she will tell the group about her quest for Stardust. If Dart has found 10 Stardust, he'll hand them over and she'll give you a Physical Ring that increases a character's maximum HP by 50% and is the only one of this accessory in the game. I, personally, don't use this accessory but it is excellent for Rose, Shana, or even Dart. While in Bale, if you stop by Lavitz's house you'll find the the family from the Prairie has taken up residence there with his mother.

 

Back at the Marshland, the Merman monster can rarely drop Lavitz's initial weapon, the Spear. It's the only place in the game you can obtain multiple of this item.

From the entrance, guide Dart across the bridge-like tree roots to the western side of the marsh. On the following screen, hop in the nearby boat and get off at the first stop to plunder another Spirit Potion treasure among the protruding roots. Use the boat again to head downward, stopping again to grab the Burn Out chest, then, south one more time to find a Body Purifier.

 

Use the boat to move left to the western side of the marsh. The two treasures here are the Stun Guard accessory that protects against the Stun status, and the Magic Signet Stone. The latter is a unique item that can be used once per battle and will never disappear from your inventory. When used, it, essentially, paralyses an enemy for three turns: extremely useful! Remember the Yellow Bird? Using this can help you get several free shots on it before it can run if you need to farm some Gold or an Elude Cloak. Once you've gathered the treasures, use the boat to head back east to where you found the boat and the signpost and follow the linear path around to the northwest. You'll have a short scene where Shana will twist her ankle and Dart will carry her, like he did when they were younger, then you can exit the Marshland and enter the Volcano Villude to its south. Note: You may want to equip either Dart or Lavitz with the Stun Guard accessory before going in. There is a monster and boss inside the Volcano that can potentially Stun your characters.

As you work your way around the first screen of Volcano Villude, the party will be stopped by a Fire Bird in the distance. Thankfully, the party will manage to flee before it can find them and you'll be automatically on the next screen. Wrap around the linear, rocky path and open the chest for a Spear Frost before exiting to the east. About midway on the path leading north, Dart can jump across the gap and open a treasure with a Mind Purifier, then take the right-most path.

 

The Fire Spirit enemies in Volcano Villude carry a very nice accessory, occasionally. The Spirit Cloak is the magical evasion version of the Elude Cloak, and is a nice choice for the magic defense-deficient Lavitz. Like the Elude Cloak, WAY later into the game you can purchase this, but this is your only chance to obtain one early.
 

Climb around the edges of the Volcano in this room to the northeast to find the Panic Guard accessory that prevents the Confusion status. Return to the previous room, using the left side exit this time. Make sure to heal up and save at the glowing pillar before entering the lava-filled room beyond it.

There are no random encounters or treasures in this room, however, you'll need to dodge the Magma Fish jumping across the lava rocks or it'll instigate a battle. As you move toward the bottom of the screen, Shana will feel that something is calling her and run off to the west; follow her. Soaking in the lava is a remnant of the Dragon Campaign: the Dragoon's nemesis, Virage. It has sensed the power in Shana and the Dragoons and you'll be thrown into a boss fight.

 

The Virage has three parts: Head, Body, and Arm, but only the Head needs to be defeated; destroying the others just limits its attack capabilities. Target the arm first: even though it will eventually regenerate, it has very low HP. Afterwards, go all-in on the head. Dart should use all his MP to cast Flameshot, but Rose should conserve some of her MP for the next boss. Even though the boss does not have an element, Shana can still be effective using magic items, and Lavitz with additions. The Virage has the potential to inflict status effects, which is your only major concern here, just remember: transforming to a Dragoon eliminates all effects and you are immune to them while in the form. Try to be conservative on your items as there will be another boss upcoming. When you're back in control of Dart, return to the save point to heal and rest once again before using the lower-right exit in the lava-filled room to continue on with the dungeon.

 

The party will meet Dabas, a merchant from Lohan, hanging on for his life on the rocky cliffs. For saving him, he gives the group a Sapphire Pin accessory and invites them to visit him in Lohan. The Sapphire Pin recovers MP when a character is hit with a magic attack, but I don't find it particularly useful, especially with our current roster of Dragoons. Continue to the east, but as the group attempts to wrap around the outside of the Volcano, the Fire Bird will attack.

Pretty easy here. Despite the Fire Bird, obviously, being fire elemental, go ahead and use Dart's Dragoon form here anyway, but stick with additions instead of magic. Rose should use the rest of her MP casting Astral Drain, while Lavitz attacks, and Shana throws magic items. If you brought Spear Frosts from Bale, they will absolutely devastate the boss. If he summons Volcano Balls, and Rose has additional MP, you may want to cast Death Dimension, but otherwise, I recommend ignoring them and just focusing on the Fire Bird itself.

 

The Fire Bird drops the Red-Eye Stone accessory and it is one-of-a-kind in the game. When equipped, it reduces fire elemental damage, and combined with Dart's inherent fire resistance, it can make him nearly untouchable from it. However, this is just for note and not a general recommendation.

 

Continue on to the last screen where a 50G chest and Dabas is waiting. Dabas is running a temporary store here that has some items of note. First: this is your first chance to buy Dancing Ray items and you won't have another opportunity to find these for quite a while later into the game. Second: This is the only place in the game where you can buy the Pellet item. Once Dabas returns to Lohan after the next dungeon, you can only obtain Pellets from enemy drops. Speaking of Pellets, if you didn't pick up several Meteor Fall items back in Bale, buy these instead for the next boss fight. You may be tempted to buy Sun Rhapsody to restore your MP, but hold off on this as there will be a recovery point in the next dungeon. When prepared, exit Volcano Villude and continue the trek south to the Nest of Dragon.

Head north and at the intersection there will be a scene where Shana is beginning to feel the effects of the Dragon's poison within the forest. After resting, continue east to the location in the above screenshot. Don't walk on the second large spiderweb to the north, instead, have Dart use an action icon near the stream to move over to the right-side of the screen. Follow the path all the way south to pick up a treasure chest with a Chain Mail inside. This has increased magic defense over the Scale Armor, so I recommend it for Lavitz. Return the way you came and back across the stream. Attempt to walk on the webbing and the party will fall through to the underground nest.

 

You'll be in some strange, Alien, Predator, spaceship-looking place. Your party can recover at the spring below, then climb the pillar thing to the second level. There will be black, plant-like things that look like Creeps from Final Fantasy VIII blocking your route north, so for now, climb down the pod on the right-side to be back on the first floor. Move left through the opening to take Dart up to a Mind Purifier treasure, then, use the glowing entrance near the bottom-right of the path and follow it to climb back to the second level. On this route there will be another strange plant-looking thing that can Dart can inspect and it will kill one of the black plants on the nearby path. Climb down the pod after it to find a Bravery Amulet accessory that prevents the Fear status. Climb back up the pillar and make your way back to the first floor. This time, climb the pillar in the lower-right corner of the screen.

On the second floor again, on the outside rim this time, there are two plant things Dart can interact with to destroy the remainder of the dungeon's black plants allowing you to pick up a Spirit Potion treasure, then use the western pod to climb down to a Body Purifier item. Move back to the beginning of the underground to recover at the spring, then proceed north, past where there use to be two black plant barriers, making sure to save at the save point. There is a major boss fight awaiting above.

 

Before the boss, there are two noteworthy things to cover. First, if you're a player that likes to encounter all of the monsters, there is an extremely rare encounter inside the Nest of Dragon known as the Man Eating Bud. It is only of note due to its rarity, however. You can encounter it on the screen with the save point and the above-ground one where the party fell through the large spiderweb.

Second, the Lizard Man enemy will very rarely drop the Beast Fang weapon. While, at the moment, the character who can use this hasn't joined, it will be useful to you when he does. You can find one in a treasure chest a little later in the game, and will eventually be purchasable, but this is your first chance to pick one up.

 

Lavitz's father's former friend, and killer, Greham, having obtained the power of the Dragoon, is waiting for you along with the Green Tusked Dragon, Feyrbrand. Lavitz swears revenge and the battle is on. Despite the fact that Feyrbrand increases his attack power, albeit slightly, when hit by magic, it's still going to be our go-to in this battle. Have Dart transform and focus Flameshot on Greham, with Lavitz using additions and Rose/Shana using magical items like Meteor Fall and Pellet; with Greham being the primary target, applying recovery items when needed. If you brought several of the earth elemental magic items, you'll be in really good shape and take Greham out quickly. With Freybrand by himself, you'll only need to watch for potential status effects and keeping Rose/Shana protected from physical attacks.

Upon defeat, Feyrbrand gives up a Down Burst item, which is the strongest wind magic item in the game. It's rare and unpurchasable, but you will have more chances to find them later. Greham has the potential to drop a Plate Mail armor. If you can manage to get one, it is a fantastic piece of armor that you will have to wait much longer into the game to purchase. If you found the boss fairly easy, I recommend replaying the battle if one doesn't drop for you. The Chain Mail offers slightly better magic defense than the Plate Mail, so I leave it equip to Lavitz, with Dart receiving the Plate Mail. With it, Dart hardly needs the Knight Shield accessory (If you were like me and using it), and I replaced it with the Wargod's Amulet.

 

A dying Greham will explain his reasoning for accepting the power of the Dragoon from Emperor Doel and betraying Lavitz's father. Upon his death, Lavitz will be chosen as the next bearer of the Jade Dragon DS (Added to inventory) and become a Dragoon, as well. The celebration is cut short, however, as Shana has been overcome by the Dragon's poison and needs a doctor immediately. She'll be temporarily unavailable to use in your party for a while. Back in control, climb the giant pillar to emerge topside of the Nest. If you need to return to the southern end of the dungeon, you can use an action icon near the stream, but you'll need to jump down into the lower levels to reach the other side again. When done, take the northeastern exit to be out on the world map near the commercial town, Lohan.