How to beat a dragon!

Umm, wrong. Immune, counter magic, 900 HP, 100 MR and 70 Element and I have been killed multiple times in one hit by antharas. His attack goes RIGHT through counter magic.

And having tested Vala and Faf, I can safely say they are the same exact way.

Ever wonder why the dragons are constantly up now, instead of a big pledge getting together to end them like they used to?

f

Call me for a dragon hunt im available :P

Dragons=invincble!

Gets stronger every update///2x stronger in korean server

yea thats cheap nc should change that. make it either not a 1 hitter or make counter magic effective.

Dragons all have a 1-shot attack. All of them. No matter what hp, mr or buffs you might have on. If you are the target, you are dead. Period.

The function of this is to ensure one thing, that the group size that can accomplish killing them is so large as to negate any exceptional value in whatever might drop above and beyond your average boss (which is to say, sucky).

That's the theory anyways. The reality is, whoever gets the drops is under no obligation to share any of it, and outside of the people in the party with them, nobody will know what anyone else might have gotten.

So, in reality all it does is discourage anyone from even bothering to try because all you are really doing is just bundling up a large chunk of xp and throwing it away.

Killing Dragons is actually not "hard" it just requires a level of cooperation and coordination (edit: and sacrifice) greater than most people are willing to give (and get nothing out of). Well that and it takes many times more support players than it does active participants. Everyone wants to be the one "killing" the dragon...not enough people are willing to be the force keeping the momentum going.

Wait...What??

i doubt dragons a killable now, their area magic is 1 hit and hits whole screen, all heal mages will die

Well I feel few of ur comments r wrong. Coz some 3 days back I saw a video in Youtube. It was done by vAmphetamines. He went inside the Valakas lair n stayed alive atleast for 30 - 45 secs. No one else was with him. He went inside the layer, dragon was hittin him, he ran for few secs, then started attacking it> his mp went down so he again started runnin n comes out of lair. This is the whole video. I forgot to take tat link. Jus try searchin for it.

Happy Hunting!!

Svat

How to beat a dragon? (Well, Valakas specifically because each dragon is different, to an extent)

Basic Guidelines on how it can be done, from my observations of being involved in dragon hunts of the current strength dragons (which are much stronger than all previous versions...)

Really, the groups that are actually capable of ending a dragon (skill + Level + items needed) already know how it has to be done in order to succeed.

One thing to think about... Be prepared to die. And when you do... Dont waste a mages mp on Gres... Accept the B-res scroll as your res... And forgo the exp. If mages are to busy wasting mp on Gres, they will have no mp left for what they really need it for.

Estimates for Success:

Team - Minimum of 3-4 65+ DE's (suggested 65-75). The DE's are the real damage dealers on Dragons, Knights dont do much more than keep regen down. Obviously a high level 70+ knight can hit often enough to do decent actual damage beyond that of the dragons regen. (As a level 57 knight with full buffs, I hit the dragon maybe 1/4 swings it seemed... which is enough to do absolutely nothing... almost..)
I would suggest a team of tanks twice that size for a smoother battle. Because at all points at least one tank will be dead and need a res.

Elves... If you are not a melee elf that is VERY high level, you are best not even being there, sadly... Your arrows are not going to do much, so its a waste. NB elves should be in cast morph, not shoot morph. Other elves can do support roles.. Resing, healing, buffing. You have unlimited mp for these things, use it.

A very high level bind elf can be good for getting set up!!!!! At the current bind rate... A 65+ earth elf can bind any dragon!!!! Keep this in mind!!! Bind the dragon while you get in place (if done right this is very beneficial, if done wrong, everyone will die because the elf failed to do their job correctly and the hunt will be over before it starts.)

Also, for absorbing the initial blast... Send an AB mage!

Here is the key to success, and where most teams get it wrong when attempting to do dragons.
Healers...
NB elves... Are not your healers for dragons... Not that NB doesnt serve an important role (more later)
Mages... Mages are the healers. Mages are what keep the tanks alive, not NB elves.
You will need at least 4 25+ int mages.
These mages should be in the same party. These mages should be in the same pledge as EVERYONE else on the screen. (Do not attempt the dragon with a group of people from different pledges, you wont succeed, you need the 'in pledge' buffs and heals or you dont stand a chance.)

Why is pledge so very important?

The main source of heals during the fight is not NB (as mentioned,) it is Heal Pledge.
One mage can heal the whole screen quickly and easily, regardless of party. A high int mages Heal pledge is almost as good as doing a Full Heal to everyone on the screen. Couple that with 3-4 other mages doing the same thing, and you have the heals you need to keep the people alive. Alternating heals between the mages. One after the other after the other. Regardless of how much damage the dragon is doing, keep the heals up non-stop in a rotation.

All tanks can be in the same party (easier for drops too).
4-5 Heal Pledge mages can be in another party, with a couple NB elves in that party. These NB elves can be off screen of the dragon (where they are pretty much safe as long as the dragon doesnt move.) Their role is to keep the heal mages alive. Standing with them are the other support characters. More mages for heals. Characters standing by to res people. And most importantly... Mages standing by to Ith.

Ith Mages... This role needs to be clearly stated ahead of the battle.
There should be two ith mages standing off screen of the dragon, behind the Heal Pledge mages. Their role, keep the heal pledge mages ith'd.
For every 3 tanks there should be a ITH mage assigned to them. This mages sole purpose is to ith their three tanks on a cycle. Having a specific group assigned to each ith mage allows the mage the ability to keep track of the 30 second duration and who is still on ITH and who needs it. The mage can come on screen, ith and return off screen. (Which can sometimes be deadly because its not uncommon for the dragon to immediately target anyone that comes on screen regardless of what is going on already on the screen.)

Having the team to do it, and setting out the roles before the battle, is not enough to guarantee success.

Obviously the tanks need to know what they are doing and have the supplies needed to do it. Things like Rabbit Livers and counter magic scrolls. They should also have b-res scrolls to res the fellow tanks that drop.

Obviously mages need to have their supplies. Everyone should use CM scrolls, even those that can cast the actual spell... Because the scrolls save precious mp. (CM scrolls are not the only spell scroll that can be used to save mp on a dragon hunt, think about some other options too)

Positioning is key. The stronger tank that pulls agro should be able to turn the dragon away from the heal group.

One hit kills!!!!!
Yes, we all know the dragon has one hit kill attacks, that go through ith, cm, mr, er, even 1500hp... You die!

Does that mean its impossible? No, it doesnt.

He does not always use that attack! And when he does use that attack, he signifies first that he will do so...
He yells! Not only does he yell, but he says the name of the person that is about to get hit with that attack... That attack is going to drop that person (unless its a mage that can get AB off in time...)
More importantly... That attack (with Valakas) is a fireball attack. It will hit people directly next to that Target that he called out...

Heal pledge mages should be spaced apart to avoid this. So that when one does get taken out, they do not all get taken out.

Support characters need not be on the screen of the dragon. Avoiding the hits entirely.

Do not stand in big groups... Big groups get easily eliminated by his instant kill attack.

He does not full screen mass kill!!!! This is a common misconception!!
The tanks do not take much damage when they are not getting wailed on by him directly. His Firewall like attack is not that great either, simple pots keep up, specially with the heal pledge mages doing their thing.

The reason it seems like he does a full screen attack is because of his one hit kill. He yells, he targets that person, and he drops them and anyone near them... When everyone is grouped together, it only takes 1-2 of these to drop the whole screen, and he can do them fast (in seconds)... This is avoided by not grouping up in bunches. This way he does do his attack (which is unavoidable) but he cant take out 15 people with it, he only gets 1-3, which are then res'ed.

Skill is key on success. Organization is even more important. Know who the hunt leader is (usually a tank)... Know who the lead mage is... Listen to them!!! Renegade people doing their own thing lead to not only themselves dying, but everyone dying!!!

Most importantly... Trust your party! Know your party! AND HAVE FUN!!!! Dont get stressed that you die... Because you will die, more than once.

Good luck, have fun, and kill a dragon!

Got Blog?

hihi, based on past experience, Sk8 is right.
When I participated in a hunt for Fafu one night, the leader of the group,
told us all prior to entry into the cave: Faf will seek out the lowest level players first,
if they are in the rear of the main group, he will trample everyone in front
to get to the lower level players first.
So in essence everyone will get killed the 1st time around if there was
1 low level player standing in the rear,
(even if that player wasnt attacking, but in observance.)
Faf would still come after the lowest level player 1st and kill anyone in his path.
So since i my Relic at that time was only around lvl 23 or so,
(and desinated to only come in to res players,) I was told to stay out of the cave
till I was called in to assist.
When I went in, there was several dead on the ground but also several still battling on.
I res'd them all and got out the 1st time in, but the 2nd trip in,
after I was called to come res, I got a few res'd and then Fafu got Relic,
before she could make it to the exit circle.
A few tried to return to re-res us, but since no one else was still there
in the attempt to kill him to keep him distracted, the few that came back also died to Fafu.
So after taking a break, many returned to try the attempt again,
which I was then told to come into help heal others. Fafu, proceeded to come my direction,
of which i was told to run out.
After I left, he stopped and returned to his attackers...so its true,
he will come after the lowest level players and trample/kill anyone else in his path,
to get to them first.
Maybe the programming thinks lower level players are like several fleas on a dog,
once the fleas are removed, the worse is over...lol.
(I dunno, but it was a good example to try to explain why Fafu came after 2 of us,
that were the lowest level players in the group, and was closest to the exit at that time, ha.)

But I will tell you this based on experience, using my dark elf when I used to go
in there looking for scales.
Since DE's have "blind hiding", they can use, And I use the 'crawling hand' morph as well.
Ive outran him several times in that cave, with my de "Auraia."
It's like a hide and seek game I play with the dragon....
If ya go in with crawling hand equipt, hasted, and invisible, you can
make it around the cave floor at least once before he will detect your presence,
(but thats only if he's standing in the far right corner, east side of the cave.)
So when he does detect your presence and starts coming after you, hug the wall,
and run to the exit. Ive escaped him many times that way.
If you go in and he's in the center of the cave at the circle, you may get 1/2 way
around the floor before he detects your presence,
but then like i said, hug the wall, and run like h.......l, and hopefully you will escape him that time.
(He really isnt that fast, but everytime i go in there, Im nervous as h...l. :))

If you take down a newbie char that you dont care about as to dying alot,
use that one as your dummy, and let it be your char to lead him off to the
farest corner from where you intend to go, which would be the far right side/east corner pocket. >>
He will chase the lower leveled char 1st, then come after you.
If your quick, you might find 1-2 scales doing it that way.
Ive found most scales on the west side and north end of the cave floor,
(thats when I used to go down there 6 days a week.)
If you would like any other secrets I may know about where to find scales,
drop me a email, subject title: dragon scales.
That way i'll know youre not some spammer...as I normally get around 5000 of them weekly
in my email and its just plain frustrating sorting thru them all. -.-
well take care all, I gotta bake some cookies^^
LC

"Patience fair one, for thou art only human...
If there's a will, there is a way."