Soloing the Rank 3 Dragon?

[Aksannyi]

Okay wow that similar threads thing is nifty! However, the ones I want are either not completely related or closed. :(

I'm on my last set of missions, and I need to kill the dragon for rank 3. I took a friend yesterday on his 20 MNK, and without shadows, he quickly got owned after I ran out of MP from curing him. I was RDM/NIN, he was most likely MNK/WAR.

So my question, can RDM/NIN solo this? What gear set up would you suggest, what kind of meds would be required, etc. The only reason I didn't finish it off myself was the damn curse move. So, note to self, bring holy water.

I'm wondering if any of you have possible suggestions for me as to whether or not this can be done, or if I should just grab a few people (preferably people with shadows!) and just be done with it.

[Murphie]

Honestly, you don't even really need shadows to beat it. But they can certainly help. Bring some Holy Water, and give it another shot. Have the MNK 2 hour if he wants, and I can't think of any reason why you wouldn't win.

[Mhurron]

Wiki says BLU/NIN can do it. It might be possible unless Petrify hits you, though you can get around this by not being lvl25.

[Callisto]

It'd be tough as RDM, but I believe it'd be doable. Bring some Yag Drinks + Hi-Ethers, Sleep the dragon, and go for the eye. I'd recommend using 2 low-delay daggers for this.

Once the eye is down, you can actually Bind/DoT the dragon to death if you don't want to fight outright, he doesn't draw in very often as long as you stay rather close, is very prone to good Binds, and doesn't move super quickly. I was almost able to take it down the last 10% using DoT Bind kiting on my g/f's 25 WHM, but ran out of MP and wiped @ 1%.

Wiki says BLU/NIN can do it. It might be possible unless Petrify hits you, though you can get around this by not being lvl25.


Wouldn't matter really, even after the eye the dragon still has Petro Eyes, that's what killed me on g/f's WHM.

[Armando]

/BLU will most likely work just as well.

Either way, it shouldn't be very hard. Especially since you always have the ability to take a break mid-fight if you need it.

[Mhurron]

Wouldn't matter really, even after the eye the dragon still has Petro Eyes, that's what killed me on g/f's WHM.

Damn that sucks. Aksannyi is so dead.

[Aksannyi]

Which Enspell would you recommend? I was using Enfire because it's what I had macroed, but if another would do more damage I'll gladly use it.

Damn that sucks. Aksannyi is so dead.

:rofl: Most likely, but no XP loss in mission fight so I don't really give a damn. Pretty much trying for the sake of trying.

[Armando]

Given that there's no Enlight, I'd just use whatever element the current day is.

Re: Petrogaze - Maybe I'm missing something, but it can hit you with its hind legs and therefore has no need to turn around. Why not just fight it from behind?

For the record, I duo'd this as RDM/BLU with a 20 MNK. The MNK died fairly early due to two Body Slams. I lived through the fight even though I had to curebomb him. Not too big of a deal as long as Chaos Blade doesn't indirectly kill you.

[Mhurron]

I don't think it has an elemental weakness. It looks like both the Ahriman and the Dragon are Dark based.

[Mhurron]

Re: Petrogaze - Maybe I'm missing something, but it can hit you with its hind legs and therefore has no need to turn around. Why not just fight it from behind?
If you're soloing it, wouldn't it just turn around?

[Armando]

Hmm. Now I'm not totally sure. I'd go check with a dragon in Xarcabard, but I'm at my apartment with my ultra-weak Internet-of-fail.

Worst case scenario keep your eyes peeled and turn around.

[Callisto]

Dragons won't turn until they use a TP move, but they will turn and face you to use it.

[Caspian]

Didnt Applepie solo this a few years back? I thought there used to be a vid posted, too, unless they changed things so that the old way doesn't work anymore.

[eticket109]

A friend of mine soloed it on BLU a week or so ago. It should be soloable on RDM with meds.

[Caspian]

Can you still use high level buffs outside a mission bc and not lose them when you go in? I know even after they changed it on orb bc's, you used to be able to use them if it was for a mission, particularly ones like the rank 3 and 6 missions.

[Callisto]

Mission BCs wipe buffs now, quests do not(i.e. Divine Might will not, but individual Ark Angels will).

Edit: That's a crappy generalization probably. There are capped fights and uncapped. If it's capped, buffs will wear, if it's uncapped they won't. Fights such as ENMs and many missions are technically 'capped at 75', as opposed to uncapped, so buffs still wear.

[Raydeus]

Aksannyi, do you already have DRK to 25+ and NIN12+? (I'll mpk you if you say no btw)

If you do, you can go DRK/NIN and use bolts, you'll need Acid, Bloody and Sleep bolts. This is what I've done, although there are probably better strategies floating around. :P


First part:

This part of the fight is the most important and dangerous, since you'll want to get rid of the Eye asap while keeping the dragon out of it. Start the fight Sleeping the dragon and then use sleep bolts on it to keep it asleep (since they dont get interrupted and they rewrite sleep effect every time they hit).

I recomend using Great Axe for Sturmwind and Acid on the Eye so you can get rid of it asap. 2hr when you are at around 50% hp so you get healed and can use Last Resort at the same time.

The only thing that can mess things up is if you get petrified while using 2hr, but that rarely happens and you can retry as many times as you want anyway. :P

Second part:

Once the Eye is gone the rest is easy, get away from the Dragon (it walks very slowly) and use bloody and drain to recover hp, then Acid to deal dmg. Keep Utsu up at all times so when you get drawn-in you can run away from the dragon without getting hit. The rest is just kite and shoot whenever you can.

Edit > You can walk up to the dragon whenever you get enough TP and Sturmwind it for added dmg, Utsu is usually more than enough to go in use WS and get out. Just remember to draw your weapon before running in, and unlock target to run away right after using WS.


Good luck. :thumbsup: