Dragoon Strategy

Hey it's me Jardine! I figured since I liked being a Dragoon so much that I would make a guide on one. Alright well lets get started!

• Ch.1 Getting the job

Here are some optional requirements:

• You might want to have 3-4 hours available if you want to do this all at once
• Get a hi lvl whm to help you, you will need to teleport a lot, or maybe even a hi lvl blm to Warp 2 you, but the whm is more useful (optional)

The quest walkthrough is here: The Holy Crest

• Ch.2 Racial info

Dragoon is a very versatile class. Almost any race can accel in it. Check out the stats and make your decision.

• Elvaan Male, Elvaan Female
• Galka
• Mithra
• Hume Male, Hume Female
• Tarutaru Male, Tarutaru Female

• Ch.3 The stats

Everyone knows stats are very important when it comes down to modifying your character and killing those weak points and increasing the strong ones! I will put them in order from greatest importance to lowest importance.

• Dexterity/Accuracy

This is by far the most important stat for a dragoon. Dragoons have a tendency to miss a lot, and we cannot afford missing so much if we need TP or to be able to dish out that nice high damage. Try to find armor and weapons that have bonuses to DEX or accuracy.

• Strength/Attack

Remember we like dealing out loads of damage and strength is the way to go! If you can try to get armor/weapons that increase DEX and STR both, although rare they are well worth it.

• Vitality/DEF

Just like everyone else we need to get increases to DEF and HP so we can survive those long tough battles. Sometimes if whm is out of MP and the tank is dying, they will ask you to tank and hopefully kill the monster as well.

• Agility

Even though most of the time dodging is very hard to do, it can be done with the help of AGI. Although, most of the time you won't be getting hit and dragoon isn't a very agile class to start out with. For mithra though, this could make a difference since they have high AGI.

• Mind

Got to love those spellcasters, they can be very aggravating when it comes to killing stuff. Boosting your mind will help reduce the damage and help resist the effects of spells. Slow is a dragoons worst nightmare, since we are slow to begin with.

• Intelligence/Charisma

I don't see any dragoons using charisma for any reason ever. Intelligence is possible for those blm subs, but both of these stats really mean nothing to a dragoon.

• Ch.4 Equipment

You can't go wrong with most equipment; they keep you protected and help you dish out that lovely damage. With the best equipment, dragoons can be unstoppable damage machines.

• Armor

Try your hardest to get the stats mentioned above. DEX/STR stuff is the best though. DEF isn't a major concern unless you're around 10 lvls below regular armor for your level, then maybe you might want to change. As far as for me, I try to balance out my stats as best I can. Even though it lacks me a little bit in DEX it still helps me to do more damage. I tried to split my armor so it boosts 1/3 STR and 2/3 DEX and it seems to work quite well. I still take some pretty nasty damage from ITs (around 80-100 a hit O_o), but I hardly miss and still manage to do some decent damage even if the monster gets in a DEF buff (like those beetles and crabs, I hate them so much >_<). My hit ratio is around 1:3 which isn't perfect, but I don't miss a lot. Without those DEX bonuses I would prolly hit 1:7 or more. >_<

• Weapons

Polearms are a dragoon's best friend. Not only are they very strong, furthermore you don't even need to buy a shield (some people see this is as bad, but hey, less money u have to spend on equipment lol). Most of your normal polearms will have 0 bonuses on them, which can suck. That is why I find it always best to get +1 weapon. Even though sometimes its tons more gil, its well worth it to me. At lvl 34, you get this outstanding weapon called a Lance that only dragoons can use. It will be your best friend till your AF wep lol. Make sure you keep on using lances too, take advantage of the dragoon class. Around lvl 60-70 something there is something called a "Colossal Lance", it is the ultimate weapon. It has huge stat bonuses to STR, DEX, and much more. Only a DRK could rival the damage you can do.

• Ch.5 Abilities and Subjobs

Now, I must admit myself that dragoon is a bit lacking in the abilities the department. Some abilities aren't useful till way later and are few and far between. The 2 hr was also a bad idea too. -_- Summoning the wyvern comes in handy, but did it really have to be our 2hr? I always feel left out when parties tell everyone to use their 2 hr. lol Anyway on to the descriptions.....

• 2 hour: Summon wyvern

This ability summons your wyvern to fight beside you. This ability will always be your best friend, it's just a bit out of place. The wyvern always does around 1/2 of your max damage, BUT I have seen it do this before, "Jardine does 123 damage, Azure (my wyverns name) does 112 damage" now mind you that was on a too weak to be worthwhile monster, but its still possible for it to hit as high as you. Also this is your ws machine too. Everytime you do a ws (weaponskill), it will use one as well. It can do all the elements and healing (only with whm sub) breath attacks. This is a great deal of help because it can help you finish of the monster that you are soloing or one that your party is having a hard time killing. Of course your wyvern can die too sadly and if you die it automatically goes away. This can really suck if you just summoned it and die a few minutes later (gotta love a 1hr and 44min wait -_-). So if you think it may disappear or you might die soon, Dismiss it quickly before it takes any damage. This will set your 2hr back to 0:00 ONLY if it is at full HP.

• lvl 5 Ancient Circle

Ok here comes your first useless skill till much later levels. This enhances the parties defense against dragons. Now notice how many dragons there are in the game you have to fight. -_-' Kinda see my point now? lol Moving on....

• lvl 10 Jump

WOOOO, jump is major fun! Its a free long distance hit and even though it has a tendency to miss, it can be helpful when pulling. It does the same damage you would do as if you came up and hit the monster normally. This also can help gain TP if need a quick jolt. The best part: Cooldown is only 00:01:30. So make a macro and jump away! Also try this in 1st person mode the max distance away, weeeeeee. lol

• lvl 10 Attack Bonus

This increases your attack, enough said ^_^ This is where you don't get an ability for a looonnng time. O well enjoy these ones for awhile.

• lvl 25 (O_o) Dragon Killer

Alright useless ability #2. Remember the fact of lack of dragons in this game.....yeah. This helps you kill dragons better. Another 10 lvls to your next ability, ill bet your saying, "This better be good", by now lol.

• lvl 25 Spirit Link

I'm not 100% sure when you get this ability, but I know I had it at lvl 36. This allows you to sacrifice your HP and give it to your wyvern. Although I lost almost 200 HP for about a 60% restore to my wyverns health, so don't do this when your about to die. This is useful, even though it still drains a lot of heath. Note: It gives the wyvern more HP when you're at full health, so I'm guessing there is a % that is drained of your current HP. Found out recently you get this at lvl 25, but unconfirmed.

• lvl 30 Accuracy bonus

Alright!!! An accuracy bonus, this is an excellent bonus. Too bad you only get it once lol. This still won't eliminate the need for DEX so don't even think about it.

• lvl 35 High Jump

Wonderful another jump attack, you can never have enough of those. This one does a bit more damage than the regular jump and has a somewhat longer range (take that vokers and bow users :P) and has a longer cooldown time of 0:03:00. Once again this is great for pulling, I've managed to yoink a few monsters from the vokers and rangers because of this ability (thank goodness, they always get everything >_<). Once again try this in 1st person mode for even more fun! Woo hoo! Oh yeah and time for another long wait till next ability. -_-'

• lvl 50 (arg!) Super Jump

Now mind you I haven't gotten this ability yet, but from what I understand it does 0 damage, BUT it sheds ALL hate from you and puts you very far away from the monster. This sounds very useful if your being chased by a nasty monster and you just can't seem to shake him. This also becomes useful because Penta Thrust can cause lots of hate. >_<

• Ch.6 Weapon skills

Dragoon weapon skills are quite useful and can dish out some sweet damage if used properly. Mind you Polearm skills don't go with much else, but in a big party there is still very little problems (hopefully not a mage party where u can only chain with 1 other person >_<). Penta Thrust is the best skill, even at higher levels. It does 5 hits and not to mention massive damage. You start out with Double Thrust at lvl 10 (useful for a long time, I still use it occasionally, does 2 hits: Damage varies with TP), then move on to Thunder Thrust at lvl 30 (Personally I loathe this ws, then again its probably because I have Raiden Thrust: Thunder Element attack), Raiden Thrust at 70 (Great ws, I use it tons, very useful when monsters jack their DEF up: WAR/PLD/DRG only Does lightning damage), Leg Sweep at 100 (Its ok, I use it once in awhile to stop bomb tosses but barely chain with it: Stuns target, does small amount of dmg), Penta Trust at 150 (I want this sooo bad!!! lol), Vorpal Thrust at 175 (Sounds cool, but I'm not sure what it does., lol), Skewer at 200 (I have seen other dragoons use this, but I'm not if its as great as penta thrust, DRG only), Wheeling Thrust at 225 (Also a DRG only), and Impulse Drive (Sounds really cool, but what does it do?).

• Ch.7 Subjobs

Phew, finally an easy section ^_^' I will only list the jobs that go well with dragoon and the ones that u can sub dragoon with.

• Dragoon/Warrior

This is a great combination for tanking. It gives you high STR and VIT and gives you some very useful warrior abilities at later levels. This is preferred for Galkas because of their already amazing VIT. This combo allows for some pretty heavy damage dealing.

• Dragoon/Samurai

This is my personal class right here. It helps out a great deal in the TP department, which will allow you to do more ws's with the help of your wyvern. This will increase your HP mostly and everything else is about even. This is also more aimed towards multi-hit skills like Penta Thrust, although it kinda got nerfed now -_-' It doesn't seem very good at lower lvls, but when you get higher you will notice a big difference.

• Dragoon/White Mage or Dragoon/Black Mage

This is not a very good combo, but interesting none the less. Its best for tarus because of their high INT/MP/MND. The WHM will also allow for a healing breath, which the wyvern will heal you with if your low on HP. Its not worth going into these subjobs unless your a taru, trust me.

• ?????/Dragoon

Ok, to be honest, dragoon sucks as a subjob EXCEPT if you use a spear as a samurai. Even then sometimes warrior will be better. You will probably see me running around as SAM/DRG because #1 my war is lvl 7 -_-', and #2 because I like jump lol

• Ch.8 Playing and lvling (yayyyy!!! lol)

Alright here comes the fun the part, now that you know how to play it, lets get out there and do it! First to start off, make sure you have enough gil to buy some starter armor and a wep or if you already got stuff then put it on and lets go! Now you will likely want to start off on easy stuff, although with your wyvern you can take on some IT stuff. 1-5 lvl kill wasps, worms, saplings, rabbits, etc… As you hit 6 you should be able to start taking on some beastmen (Quadav, Yagudo, and Orc). lvl up on those till you hit 8 or so, then start working on the higher wasps, worms, etc.. or stick to beastmen. I killed sheep and maneating hornets in N gusta till around 9 or more. After that head to the next area (Highlands, Le'Thene, or Throngi) and start lvling there. I could take on VT mad sheep at 11 or so. The farthest I got was 13 I think, then I was off to Valkrum. Now you want to start partying! Put your seek up and let it rip. Stay in Valkrum untill lvl 19-20 and then head to Qufim. Remember to jump, lots! If parties ask you to pull, its ok, but it is much easier for a WAR to pull I might add (don't forget I was DRG/SAM at this time). You role in a pt is simple. Jump any chance you get, don't forget to skillchain with others, and try your best to keep your wyvern alive. You should have no problem killing just about everything that comes your way with a good pt. If your're a pt leader looking for members, don't overlook a dragoon. They can dish out decent damage and with the right equipment, are very formidible against anything. Once you hit lvl 24 in Qufim, then its to Yutunga Jungle. Out of the frying pan and into the fire is what I say to that..... Anyway, so kill mandragoras till around 30. When you hit 27 switch to Yohator, but don't plan on coming back till 30. It's hard as heck to get out of there alive. Oh, and be prepared for some supreme gobbie ownage for awhile if someone pulls a gob. Do everyone a favor and try to get people to group it and kill it, otherwise its going to kill lotsa people and probably won't stop till its dead. Now that your 30, head on over to Altepa and lvl to 34 there. From here go back to Juneo and seek. Eventually someone will invite you to a party in Crawler's Nest or Garlaige Citadel. I prefer CN anyday, but if you get an invite, you get an invite, ya know? So stay around there till 40 or so, then head to Gustav Tunnel or you could even just stay in Juneo and seek. I figured out that you can pretty much seek anywhere for an invite. The best places are usually around the area you want to lvl at though. After Gustav from 40-43, then I went to Altepa. Beetles out in Western Altepa are good to take and when you get to 44-45 head into the Quicksand Caves and keep lvling there. This is all I know of right now, I'm DRG45/SAM22 ^_^'

• Ch.8 Credits

Well I can safely say I did all of this myself, but there are still some people I need to thank. Mashengo, for letting me join this wonderful site and let me help around with things. Juhle, for actually giving me the courage to ask mashengo to let me help, giving me the idea to help, and being my Alchemy buddy. lol Thanks also to my LS the Kinkysuperheros for support and helping me make this lvling and learning possible. If there is anything that you think that should be added E-Mail me at SWDarkJedi777@aol.com and tell me and ill add the updates + credits. Do not send me hate mail or any other stupid stuff because it will be deleted! If you want as well, you can catch me on the Midgardsomr server and simply /tell me, I'm online a lot anyway. Hope you enjoyed my guide!