[Rabii]

I am new to MMOG and forums so please forgive any errors on my part. I am a 26War/13 Mon and have completed all of mission 2-3 except the final battle with the Dark Dargon. I have not played with others in a group and am not sure how to go about it. Could I complete the final BOSS as a solo and how would I best go about it? How would I get a party to help me with this BOSS? And, in general I am unsure how to use and get buffs, any suggestions? Forgive my naivete, I am a bit older than most gamers and MMOG types.

[Reverent Knight]

Your not going to be able to solo the Mission on a War job. You'll need a bit of help. A blm helps a lot because they can sleep the dragon while you kill the eye. Just use the /sh command (in one of the major cities) and put a comment like Sandoria 2-3 do you need it can i have it please assist ?/6. people will normally help if you ask, its a fun easy mission. If your on Bismark gimma a shout.

[Raydeus]

You'll probably need another job combination to solo that one, for instance you'd probably have a much better chance of winning by going /nin. For example I've soloed it as DRK/NIN without any problems and I'm sure there are many other job combos that can solo the fight.

Since you don't lose xp for dying on those battles so I'd suggest you try a dry run or two solo with the jobs you have to see how it goes. And if you have enough confidence in your skills you could get a Cross Bow (need capped skill) and Sleep/Drain bolts and try to keep the dragon asleep while you kill the eye asap (2hr it if you need to to finish it fast or it will petrify you and stuff).

/equip ammo "Sleep bolt"
/ra <stnpc>

Is the macro I used (I think, haven't played in a while) and

/equíp ammo "Bloody bolt"
/ra <t>

For Bloody bolts.

Sleep bolts "rewrite" each other so you can fire the next sleep bolt before the dragon wakes up to keep it under control (Technically the bolt does dmg and awakes the dragon but the sleep effect kicks in inmediately after that).

After the eye is gone you have to kite the dragon (without engaging) as he moves very slowly and do dmg with drain bolts which will also help you recover the HP you'll probably lose when it draws you in (this is the part that's much easier with /nin because shadows last long enough for you to run out of melee range without getting hit) you can always sleep the dragon and get close to it for a WS whenever you have enough TP, but it can be tricky if you don't have Utsusemi because you'll get hit otherwise.
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Alternatively you can simply shout for help in an active city. Hopefully some players still have a taste for replaying old mission battles and since gear is synced they don't even need to mule stuff to help, which makes it more convenient.

[GreatMno]

I've heard quite a few times that a monk main can solo the fight with their two hour, good food, and a potion or two. Just blitz the eye and wait the dragon out. I've never tried this strategy, though.

[Malacite]

It's not a terribly hard fight. 3 people can handle it easily enough, just need a tank, DD and a sleeper (BLM is ideal)

[Armando]

Even just a melee and a sleeper can do it; the dragon isn't particularly resistant, you can always re-sleep it as many times as needed to recover mid-fight if you're starting to lose.

[Malacite]

Really? I was under the notion that you needed elemental seal.

[Armando]

I've always told people to use ES to avoid freak occurrences or early wakeups but in the 30 odd times I've fought that dragon, I don't think I've ever seen a Sleep go resisted, with or without ES.

And I've employed the two person "keep sleeping it" strategy twice. I remember sleeping it three times in a row mid-fight just so we could keep resting. I think this was pre-Signet changes, so with the improved hHP, getting back on your feet would be even easier.

[Malacite]

Well, since /WHM won't offer much protection at that level anyway a BLM/SCH with Dark Arts up (for the extra few points of skill) would likely have no trouble.