Part 104: Dragon: The Storm Emperor

Dragon: The Storm Emperor



This is the team I'll be going with to fight Dragon. Now I'm going with this team for a couple of reasons. For one, it's to make things more interesting. Also, I've said a lot of times that some of these classes aren't that great, so I thought it would be a lot more effective to show you myself. A picture is worth a thousand words after all. In fact, go read the update where I dunked on Drake before he started mauling my team because I was trying to get the conditional drop.

: Oh boy! I've never fought an actual dragon before! I can't wait to see what it's like!

: I wonder if this really is a good idea.

: Hey, Fedot trusted us to deal with that thing. If he thinks we can do it, I'd say we've got a chance.

: Just because he's our leader, doesn't mean he makes good decisions all the time.

: Are you still sore about what happened here?

: Very.

PC-88 Version



It swirls around you, then vanishes as if it had been absorbed into the room. This much pressure can only be coming from a hole of some sort in the room...

: This room wasn't so windy before.

: Something must have changed. Look around and see what you can find.



: Found something!

It seems the path before you leads to another area behind the wall of trees... You can walk towards the wind, or leave the path be.



: I really can't say if this is a good idea or not.

None can say what dangers may lie ahead! You leave the area, deciding it would be best to remain cautious for now. It may be wise to scout around and come back when you have made the necessary preparations.



: Don't be a sourpuss, Aegis! Didn't you fight this dragon before?

: Yes, and that's something I REALLY don't want to remember.



Welcome to the 4th Stratum's secret area. It's the last one in the game.



:

PC-88 Version



: Hmph. Child's play.



: Before we face Dragon, how about a song to help us relax?

: Eh, go ahead.



: Piece of cake!



: La la la laaaaa...

: Huh? What's that smell? It smells too... nice.

: What do you mean by smelling too ni- OH GOD NO!



PC-88 Version



: Not these jerks again.

Meet this secret area's FOE!


Pollener
Type: Normal
Behavior: Ambush
Aggressive: Yes
HP: 1695
AT: 56
DF: 57
Skills: Petals, Sleeper
Item Drops:
-Common: Hazard Eye - See Petaloid bio.
-Rare: Risky Vine - 8 needed for Octal Whip.
--Vine drenched in lethal poisons.
-Conditional: Hazard Bud - Kill with Instant Death. See Petaloid bio.
Description: Those who succumb to this flower's pollen are in danger of sleeping through their own death.
Weakness: Fire (125%)
Resistance: Immune to Sleep

These guys are tougher versions of Petaloids. All I can really say is to not let the battle last too long. Keep in mind that you need their rare drop to unlock new equipment, not their normal or conditional drops.





: Here, have an arrow! Or two.







: Push onwards and think positive! For you all have the potential for anythiiiing!









: Mmmph.

:

:

: So much for our big strong front line.

: You're up there too, you know.

: I just like to get up close and personal.





: Go away! No one likes you!







: Hey sleepyheads. Wake up!

: HUH!? WHAA!?

: LEMME AT EM!

: Um, they're already dead.

: Oh. Why do I always miss out on all the fun?



Honestly, they're not too tough at this point.

PC-88 Version



And we're completely done with the 18th floor. Yeah, this is a small secret area.





At least this one gave us a better item.



The next room has some more Pollener spawn points, although I accidentally blocked one of them off. Oh, and there's only 4 Polleners you can fight in this secret area. You need to kill 8 to unlock a new piece of gear.



Your vision is clouded as a sea of cherry blossoms swirls all around, riding the vortex. There can be no doubt that this is the throne of thunder! Once you get your bearings again, you sense that there is an enemy ahead. As you step further in, you are greeted by a giant dragon, coated in shining gold scales. It is the Dragon Who Walks With Thunder! If you believe yourself to be prepared, then take weapon in hand and face your enemy!

Now you have to come here at night in order to fight Dragon. But once you've completed this quest, you can fight Dragon at any time as long he's respawned.



: Whoa. You guys actually fought that thing?

: It doesn't look impressive. My special formulas should easily swat it down!



Aegis has the most important job, and that's keeping the team alive.





Pauline and Emilia will do damage. Or as much damage as they can anyway.



Bellamy will do damage. More than Emilia and Pauline at any rate.



Gilbert will just support. It is also an important job.

: Let's do this!

Video: Dragon

PC-88 Version




Dragon
HP: 12000
STR: 92
TEC: 92
VIT: 100
AGI: 90
LUC: 70
Exp: 0
Item Drops:
-Common: Volt Scale - Unlocks Dragonbane and Volt Orb. Limited stock.
--Uniquely sharp scale of the magnificent Dragon.
-Rare: N/A
-Conditional: Amp Barbel - Kill with Volt. (100% drop chance) Unlocks Mobius Alb. Limited stock.
--Taken from the mane of the thunderous Dragon.
Description: This yellow dragon, master of lightning, has lived since time immemorial.
Weakness: Fire (??%)
Resistance: Volt (0%)

Skills:

Voltage: Uses the head. Deals a severe amount of Volt damage to the party.
Curse: Uses the arms. Deals a heavy amount of Bash damage to a single target. Dragon is healed for half of the damage dealt. Has a chance to inflict Curse.
Blow: Uses the arms. Deals a heavy amount of Bash damage to the party. Has a chance to inflict Terror.
Fury: Uses the head. Increases Dragon's attack.
Fang: Cannot be disabled. Randomly hits the party with very weak Bash attacks that lowers their defense.
Corrupt: Uses the head. Dispels every single buff on the party and has a high chance to inflict Curse or Instant Death.

So yeah, all three of the dragons have the exact same stats, aside from resistances. Please keep this in mind as you read on. Anyways, in every game except for EO3, Dragon is generally considered to be the easiest dragon to take down. Mainly because he doesn't have as much of a threatening skillset as the other dragons. I mean for one thing, you're very unlikely to see half of those skills I listed being used in this fight. Unless you're using a Troubadour, but more on that later.

Voltage is Dragon's elemental breath, and like the others he uses it every 5n+1 turns. Curse is a pretty heavy hitting move that heals Dragon, but has a chance to inflict Curse. That can be annoying if he uses it on your damage dealers. Blow is the real threat in this fight. It hits your party hard, and has a very high chance to inflict Terror, which can be downright nasty if your party members get scared at the wrong time.

Now the rest of his skillset is a bit special. See, Dragon is kind of an anti-buff and debuff boss. The last three moves are only used in certain situations. Fury raises Dragon's attack, which would turn Blow and Curse into one hit kills. However, he'll only have a chance of using this if his attack has been debuffed. Note that I only said a chance. This is to prevent Dragon from being stunlocked by trying to rebuff his attack. The same applies to Fang. It deals a pathetic amount of damage (I'm talking double digits. Yeah.) but it lowers your defense. You will never see Dragon use this unless someone in your party has a defense buff. Corrupt is special countermove. Dragon will only use this if your party has a total of 11 or more buffs, and unlike the other two moves, he will always use this as long as your party has too many buffs. Unless you can head bind him, don't have a Troubadour use Crusade unless you want a very fast game over. Aside from that, he's not too threatening. If you can end the fight fast, or have a way to deal with Blow, he's a complete joke.











As you can see, I'm not using Force Skills in this fight. Another reason I'm fighting with this party is to show you how to deal with bad situations with a less than optimal party. Because not everyone uses the best party possible in their playthroughs.



: Okay, if I remember right, the first thing he does is breathe electricity at us.

: Sounds nasty.

: As long as you all stay behind me, you'll be fine.



: Nnnnggh-UHH!



: Destroy!



: BEHIND ME!





: I see you still haven't learned a thing.



: Ha hahaha!









: Whatever that was, it was barely worth my-





: WHAT!?

Remember how Bellamy was a wrecking ball in the main game? Yeah, that doesn't carry over to the postgame. I mean, it's not a terrible amount of damage, but considering that Megido costs 56 TP, those are not the kinds of numbers you want to see. Especially considering that he has a 32% boost to his damage. Without Bravery, he would have dealt around 500 points of damage. Now if you're reading the Drake update, you would be able to see that Ken dealt out a similar amount of damage without buffs for the low low cost of 21 TP. Alchemists aren't terrible damage dealers, but their maintenance costs makes them not worth it compared to what else you could be using.



: HAAA! Ow! This guy sure has some thick skin.

: Actually it's scales.

On the other hand, that's better than what Emilia's dishing out.







Now I'm having some of my party members switch over to different skills.



Front Guard will drastically increase our front line's survivability against Dragon's skills.



: You just need to watch a professional at work!







: Uhhh...

: Right. Professional.



Health will reduce Blow's chances of inflicting Terror to nothing.







Another reason Dragon isn't threatening. He likes to use his regular attacks often instead of his skills.

: Don't touch me!





Counter is a nice little passive that has a 35% chance of returning the same amount of damage dealt to a Landsknecht. The more damage dealt to a Landsknecht, they more damage the counter does. Unfortunately, the Landsknecht has to be alive in order to do this, so you can't just get rid of all their armor in the hopes that they'll counter with a 1000 damage attack or something.









: Now that's more like it!







Okay, now time for a bit of math. Apollon did a decent amount of damage, but when you add that up with the damage that 2-Bolt output, it amounts to a total of 1456 points of damage over the course of 3 turns. Which means that her DPS (Or rather, DPT) is a measly 485 points of damage. Yeah, she basically has the same damage output as Emilia.



: Not so fast!





: Phew! Thanks!

Curse would have killed Pauline if it weren't for Front Guard.



: Oh come on!

Unfortunately, she can't deal damage for a while.







: All the other monsters we've faced would have been dead by now!



Keep in mind that I had Drake on the ropes on the 4th turn. In fact, I probably could have killed it on the 3rd turn if I didn't try to go for his conditional drop. I'm going all out with this team, and I've only dealt a total of 5045 damage. Yeah, I'm pretty much fighting Dragon with peashooters.







It doesn't help that he's healing back some of that damage, even though the heal isn't much thanks to Aegis.





I think you get the point by now, so let's skip forward a bit. If you really want to see how painful the fight is, just watch the video.



Now there's something to be wary about in this fight.



: Go on, electrocute us.









: Okay... I guess he did learn... Ohhh...







: You stink at your job!

: Oh, I'm sorry I can't see into the future!



Yeah, the thing about Dragon and Drake is that both of them are prone to breaking their pattern. They won't always use their breath attack every 5 turns. At any rate, Bellamy dying is a good thing for me.









: I don't think so!



Counter isn't reliable, but it's nice when it kicks in. It's hard to say no to free damage.





And here's Bellamy's Megido dealing the normal amount of damage since he isn't buffed anymore.



Dragon is almost dead at this point.







So I start prepping my party to get the conditional drop. This is why Bellamy dying was a good thing. His buffs got erased, so I'm free to use Shock Oils without Dragon getting pissed off.



Okay, Dragon is really low. Time to finish him!



WAIT NO I DIDN'T MEAN TO DEFEND!

: I have some medicine ready- oh dear, I dropped it. Ohh no...





This is gonna take a while. If only I had Aliara so Bellamy could get it for me. So yeah, the fight lasted to the point where the turn count actually got into the double digits. This is not something that's supposed to happen in EO2. Boss fights are supposed to be over very quickly, which is why offensive parties are king in this game.





Okay, phew!





Really!?





REALLY!?





: Have courage my friends! It cannot fly for much longer!

: I really hope so. I'm starting to run out of ingredients.







: GOTCHA! And stay dead this time!

: We... never actually killed him in the first place.

: Who cares? It's dead now.

Glad I got that over with.

PC-88 Version



I don't get his regular drop, it only has a 50% drop rate, but I already got it when I dunked on Dragon the first time. So yeah, the best way to succeed in any EO game is to play to your party's strengths. Even if said party composition is terrible. Try to make the best of a bad situation, and eventually you'll make it through.

PC-88 Version



The legendary fearsome dragon has been felled by your hand! Exhausted from the struggle, you breathe a sigh of relief and sheathe your weapon...

: Holy crap. That fight went on for too long.

: At least it's over now.

: Man, I'm pooped! Anyone wanna get hammered back at the bar? Drinks are on me!



You panic, fearing the dragon will recover and again rampage with newfound hatred for humans!

: WHAT!? You've got to be kidding me!

: I think all we did was just piss it off!

: Crap! Not good! What if it heads back to Lagaard!?

: If that happens... I don't want to think about it!

: But what can we do? We did everything we could to kill it.

: I... wait, what's that?

At this point, one of two things can happen. It depends on if you saved the baby monster in the An ethical dilemma quest or not. If you didn't the event proceeds as follows.

You impotently watch the dragon fly away, when a sudden black shadow pierces the air. A hail of arrows find purchase in the dragon's head! It slumps forward, its life extinguished.



: No, you were just in time. My thanks.

The winged one's chief appears behind you. He hands you the bow that vanquished the dragon.



The chief bids you farewell after bestowing the bow upon you and returns to his home. With his help, you defeated the dragon and gained the most powerful bow in the land! When you return to Lagaard, report your success to the bar.



If you chose to save the baby monster, this event happens instead.

Just then, you see something flying in the sky... Its identity is unclear, but it is definitely heading straight for the dragon! Suddenly, you recall previously saving a monster's child... And indeed, the creature flying toward the dragon is unmistakably the child you saved!

: That's... That's the baby monster we saved earlier! What's it doing here?

It seems to be trying to assist you, heedless of the legendary dragon's immense strength!

: Oh no. I believe it intends to fight the dragon.

The monster's child has been injured... at this rate, it will be smashed to the ground!

: But it'll... Can't you do something!?

You must find some way to aid its efforts before the situation worsens! A survivalist would be useful in this situation, you muse... Without one, you would have no course of action but to pray for the monster child's victory. If you do have a survivalist, use its bow to shoot the dragon and assist the monster child!



For some reason, a Gunner doesn't count for this. If say no, or you don't have a Survivalist and say yes, this happens.



: Do I look like I'm that proficient with a bow?

: I got this! Wait. It's moving around too much! No! I'm out of arrows! Oh no. Oh no...

You can do nothing but watch as the monster's child is slowly torn to shreds... However, despite the difference in size, the child succeeds in taking the dragon down with it! You run over to where the monster's child fell and stroke its muzzle as its eyes close. It seems it did not forget your kindness, and came to return the favor...

: Rest peacefully now.

: Ugh. If only I was a better shot.



The chief of the winged ones appears behind you, bow in hand.

: This beast came to the village, acting strangely, so I followed it here...



The chief hands you the bow, pays his respects to the beast's child, and returns to his home. Congratulations! You defeated the dragon and gained the most powerful bow in the land! You give thanks for the monster's valiant sacrifice before leaving the area... When you return to Lagaard, report your success to the bar.



: Thank you. I'm sorry I couldn't do anything.

: Well, you did your best Pauline. What matters is that High Lagaard is now safe. So don't dwell on it too much.

: Yeah. I guess.

You didn't gimp your party with a bad class or had any idea that this was gonna happen when you fought Dragon? Well thanks to you, a baby monster is now dead, YOU BASTARD.



But we do have a Survivalist!

: Do I look like I'm that proficient with a bow?

: I got this! Wait. It's moving around too much! No! I'm out of arrows! Oh no. Huh?



The voice from behind startles you, but you manage to catch the object flying your way.

: Pauline! Here!

: Thanks! Okay Dragon, try this on for size!

You hand it to your survivalist, who fires an arrow true in the dragon's direction! It pierces the air and strike the dragon directly in the brow!

: BULLSEYE!

: One hit?

: Whoa! Nice shot!

The monster child descends safely, and the chief of the winged ones speaks to you again.



: Yeah. You got here just in time.

After explaining the power of the bow, the chief bids you farewell and leaves.



When you return to Lagaard, report your success to the bar.



: I'm definitely keeping this baby! Thanks for helping us out, little guy!

: I didn't think it would return our kindness in such a way. I thank you

The most powerful bow, huh?





Well it provides a huge damage increase, but the 0.1 speed modifier pretty much makes it so that Pauline will be slow as molasses when she tries to do anything. Which takes away one of the few things Survivalists have going for them, so I don't have her equip this.



At any rate, we are now completely done with the 17th floor, and the entire 4th Stratum!

PC-88 Version



: Hm? Oi! Yeh came back safe and sound! Nice work! I guess yeh got some revenge on behalf of the city! So, was it really a dragon?

: Yep! But I took it down, no problem!

: Um, we helped too.

: Let her have her moment of glory.

: Then yeh can count "dragon slayer" in with all yer other accomplishments! Unbelievable... No matter how popular yeh get, yeh better not abandon this bar, all right? Haw haw haw! Here's the reward from the Duke's Palace. Keep up the good work!









The Amp Barbel unlocks the Alchemist's ultimate armor. I have no idea if I will actually purchase this for Bellamy.



And for completion's sake, the whip you unlock from killing 8 of the Polleners.