Dragon Tamer Gold Egg FAQ ============ v1.1 28 Jan 2008 Alan KWAN This mini FAQ explains the gold eggs and the dragons you get from them. * How to get gold eggs You can buy gold eggs from the nest in towns at the cost of 30 medals each. (It's the bottom choice from the nest menu.) There are five sources of medals: 1. Some treasure chests hold a bunch of medals. 2. When you surrender a dragon to the nest (the third choice from the nest menu), you get 1 medal for it. You also get a medal when you hatch a fourth copy of the same type of dragon and surrender it automatically. 3. You get a medal for each Wosekamui (#067) you defeat. (But Wosekamui encounters are quite rare.) 4. You can get medals for winning matches against a human player. 5. After clearing the game, almost all the dungeons become cursed, and you can get many medals for solving the cursed dungeons. Over the course of the game (before clearing the ending), you will probably get enough medals for 3 gold eggs. After clearing the game, if you solve all the cursed dungeons, you will get enough medals for all 7 wise dragon scrolls and 6 gold eggs, plus a few extra gold eggs. * Hatching the gold eggs The gold eggs give you only 6 different dragons: 1 in each element (except Neutral). However, these dragons have very good Dragon Forces (DF). Because gold eggs are rare and precious, it is recommended that you hatch them using saved spirits (sounds) so that you have better control of what you are getting. If you don't have a suitable spirit, search for one using flat eggs or other eggs. Try to collect all 6 different types without getting any duplicates. For the second to fourth one, try to find a spirit which has no chance of giving a duplicate. For the fifth and sixth one, it may be difficult to find a perfect spirit, but still try to find one which gives you a new dragon with at least 80% chance for the fifth dragon, and at least 60~70% for the last one. If your usual sources don't give you the spirits you want, try making very different sounds with your grand vocal. The human voice can make many different sounds, including imitations of hundreds of animals. If you happen to find a spirit which gives you 80% or more in one element, one strategy is to save it for last, instead of using it right away. The reason is because, if you end up getting that dragon through another mixed spirit, you can avoid getting a duplicate if you have not played that spirit. For example, let's say you already have four gold dragons, and still need Light and Dark, and you have a mostly pure Light spirit. You should not play the Light spirit right away, but should first try to find either a Dark spirit or a Light-Dark mixed spirit first. If you find a pure Dark spirit, that's great: you can now play both spirits to complete your collection. But if you find a Light-Dark mixed spirit, you can still try your luck by playing it: if you get the Dark dragon, that's great, but even if you get the Light dragon, you have avoided getting a duplicate by withholding playing the Light spirit. You can then either try to find a pure Dark spirit, or test your luck again with the mixed spirit. In case you get a duplicate gold dragon, don't be too disappointed, since you can use it. Or if you have too many medals after completing your entire dragon collection, you can get duplicate gold dragons with them. Among the six elements, Earth and Wind are probably the most worthy to get duplicates for. Raochan makes many great combos, and you may want to put out a second when the first one dies. In contrast, it is great to have multiple Seratokong out at the same time: it takes the enemy more work to take out both, and with two Seratokong out, you can earn 10 FP per turn by attacking with your three dragons, so the third dragon in your team can play its 10-cost DF regardless of any enemy Water-based FP control. * The gold egg dragons ** Leodrake (#088) Fire DF : Breath-Brave 15 : Does breath damage to one enemy. The amount of the damage is equal to the HP lost by Leodrake, i.e., its max HP minus its current HP. Leodrake's DF is just another Fire breath, but the damage is calculated in a unique way. We can compare it to other Fire-breathers: Flare Sword : 10 : 170 damage Salamander : 20 : 300 damage Carmine : 20 : damage equals to current HP So Leodrake becomes a good deal if you can deal over 250 damage with it. (You'll probably need a combo team in order to achieve this constantly.) It's also nice if it kills a dragon with over 170 HP. Combos: Tartaros (#040) - gives Leodrake the damage to fuel its breath, and boosts its defense to prevent it from being easily killed. Raochan (#091), Wanri (#001) - with taunt, you can prevent the enemy from killing Leodrake when its HP is low, which gives it more chance to use its breath repeatedly. various Defense boosters and Attack drainers - helps to keep Leodrake alive when its HP is low. Nizheg (#061) is a good choice for a team which focuses on Attack-independent damage. Uroboros (#098) - eliminates any worries about Leodrake's low HP. Oomizuchi (#043), Tiamat (#100) - HP swapping helps to give Leodrake the right amount of HP to do big damage. Housekiryu (#048) - The enemy tries to take out Attack-boosted Housekiryu, but it refreshes itself by draining HP from Leodrake, and then Leodrake starts breathing. ** Seadial (#089) Water DF : Tidal Breath 10 : 100 breath damage to one enemy. Plus, opponent loses 10 FP. Seadial's DF looks weak when compared to other dragons: Drugmada (#031) can do 100 damage for only 5 FP, while other water dragons can either reduce 20 FP or steal 10 for 5. However, in practice Seadial's DF is, strangely, more effective than the sum of its parts. The best part is that, with Seadial, you can cut your opponent's FP (and prevent him from using a horrible DF) without falling behind in damage dealing. The only other dragon which can do both at the same time is Leviathan (#095), but that one is a lot more expensive (and a lot more powerful as well). Combos: Seadial doesn't support any particular combos, but it is generally effective on its own and can be a handy inclusion in any team. ** Seratokong (#090) Wind DF : Tap Tap Fist 10 : Seratokong gains "double attack". "Double attack" means that, when Seratokong does a normal attack against an enemy, it hits twice for twice the damage - and also gains the 2 FP twice! The increased FP income makes Seratokong more dangerous than typical Attack boosters. This is an ability unique to Seratokong alone. The main drawback is that, Seratokong's DF can only be used on itself, and it cannot attack on the same turn it uses its DF. So you don't start to reap a profit until two turns later. Combos: various Attack boosters: Seratokong attacks twice, so any Attack boosting becomes twice as effective. various Defense boosters: Because Seratokong is a serious threat, the enemy may want to concentrate their attacks to kill it quickly. Boosting its defense makes that difficult ... Raochan (#091), Wanri (#001) - ... and taunt makes that impossible. Seratokong - if you manage to put two Seratokong out, the second one will get to wreak havoc for twice as long while the enemy takes them out one by one. Red Puppy (#033), Robogon 28 (#073) - The extra damage of Wind is good enough, but depending on the concept of your team, you may prefer the simultaneous Attack and Defense boost of Fire, or the FP reduction of Neutral. If you manage to set up two Neutral Seratokong, they gain 8 FP for you and reduce 4 FP from your enemy every turn, on top of the double pounding - hell for your opponent. ** Raochan (#91) Earth DF : Shield of Great Wall 10 : Raochan gains "taunt" and +30 Def. Raochan is merely an improved version of Wanri (#001), but a crucial improvement that is. "Taunt" means that all enemy normal attacks will be automatically re-directed to Raochan. In other words, your other dragons cannot be attacked (except through use of DF) while taunt is in effect. Although the +30 Def is only on Raochan itself, because the enemy is forced to attack it, it is almost as good as being on everyone (at least until Raochan dies). You may use Shoquin (#022) to further boost its defense cheaply, or Raochan can just use its DF repeatedly if you don't mind the higher cost. Taunt is perhaps the best counter to an Earth-stun combo team. The enemy is forced to attack Raochan and stun it three times per turn - a wasted effort - leaving your two other dragons free to attack. Meanwhile, Raochan is expecting to be stunned, so it simply defends or performs FP charge, whichever you prefer. Against the computer AI, one may feel that taunt may have the drawback of killing Raochan faster, as all enemy attacks are focused onto Raochan. But against an intelligent human opponent, taunt is completely advantageous with no drawbacks, because even without taunt the enemy is free to focus his attacks onto any dragon he wants; taunt merely removes his freedom of doing otherwise. The best counters against an enemy Raochan are breath (or drain or wind arrow) and cleanse (Twinkle #086 or Roc #065). There are more expensive options too, such as forced changing and instant death. Combos: taunt allows for a large number of powerful combos. Thus, it doesn't hurt to have two Raochan in your team. Tiamat (#100) - All enemies are forced to attack Raochan. When Raochan's HP is low, Tiamat refreshes it by swapping HP. Then it swaps HP with a fresh enemy for maximum nastiness. Raochan protects Tiamat from being attacked when its HP is low. Leodrake, Seratokong - explained above Oujisaurus (#101) - reducing enemy Attack combines with Raochan's boosted Defense to extend its life, while Raochan prevents the enemy from taking out Oujisaurus (and its boosted Attack). Volganon (#062) - Raochan negates Volganon's drawback, because the enemy cannot attack Volganon no matter how weak its defense. When Raochan dies, just change Volganon out. various Dark breathers - Raochan reduces their drawback, because the enemy cannot attack your other dragons despite their low HP. most Light dragons - taunt makes sure that your dragons are killed in the right order for /you/ - the taunters first, the Light dragons last. Shoquin (#022) - a cheap way to reduce all attacks on your team ** Goldist (#092) Light DF : Golden Lock 15 : "force seal" on one enemy. That enemy cannot use its DF. Force seal is an ability unique to Goldist. In order to explain its power, please allow me to explain the rules concerning DF usage. If two opposing dragons try to use their DF on the same turn, first both players pay the FP costs. Then the faster dragon (chosen randomly in case of a tie) uses its DF. After that, the other dragon's DF resolves - /unless/ the enemy DF has rendered the user unable to use its DF. Killing the user is one way to cancel its DF; a number of bad status can also do the job. But you cannot cancel a DF by FP depletion. Even if the DF is cancelled, the FP cost has been paid - and lost. Force seal is one of the bad status which can cancel a DF. And Goldist, being a Light dragon, is /fast/. Thus, force seal not only prevents a dragon from using its DF thereafter, it also cancels its DF for the current turn without returning the FP cost, and this is why Golden Lock costs so much. If you have Goldist and enough FP, it becomes risky for your opponent to use any expensive FP which is slower than Goldist. In some cursed dungeons after clearing the game, you need to prevent the target dragon from using its DF to kill itself, or you'll fail the requirement. Goldist is very handy for these dungeons, although Sunday Namazu (#084, transforms enemies) can also work. However, in duel matches you should think of Goldist's cancel ability as its main value; otherwise, it is probably too costly just for the sustained bad status effect alone. Combos: various change-sealers - 15 FP is quite expensive for a bad status which can be wiped off by changing. Better prevent that. (Note that an intelligent human player can change a front row dragon with a dead one. Thus, reducing him to three dragons alone doesn't prevent him from changing.) Garuda (#059), Griffon (#019), Scally Drey (#058) - if you need to cancel the DF of a Wind or Light dragon, this's the way. Swan Lake (#068) - if you need to seal the DF of a Dark dragon, this's the way. various Water FP-controllers - If the opponent tries to avoid losing his FP to cancellation by refraining from using his DF, an FP stealer or drainer can ruin him. And since Goldist is costly, it can use some help from an FP stealer or gainer. various Defense boosters and Attack drainers - If you seal the enemy's DF (such as breath attacks), they have to resort to normal attacks. If you also weaken their normal attacks, they run out of tricks. Karanyut (#042) - Instead of weakening their normal attacks, why not prevent them altogether. High FP cost though. ** Anubis (#093) Dark DF : Burial Blood Breath 10 : 240 breath damage to one enemy, and 120 damage to self Anubis is merely a higher version of Drug Baron (#011), and the net damage count is less advantageous than the other 10 FP breathers (Flare Sword #001, Mana Queen #003, and Gramanda #028). However, all the damage is concentrated onto one enemy dragon, which allows Anubis to kill a dangerous enemy - and cancel its DF, since Anubis is Dark and is quite fast. That extra 70 damage and higher speed (when compared to Flare Sword) can make a lot of difference in the right situation. The best moment for a Dark breather is when its HP is low and about to die. Although the final breath kills itself, any excess damage is forgiven and the breath still does full damage to the enemy. Furthermore, any enemy attacks on it are cancelled, and the 2 FP income for attacking is forfeited. Combos: Nizheg (#061) - always a good choice for a team which focuses on Attack-independent damage. Raochan, Wanri - taunt protects Anubis from being killed easily. Uroboros (#098) - the target dies, but Anubis doesn't. Tiamat (#100) - Swap the lost HP onto an enemy. Works best when protected by taunt. * Level-dependent, level-neutral, and slow DF Depending on the nature of a DF, it may be level-dependent, level-neutral, or slow. Level-dependent means that the DF becomes much more effective when used by a high-level dragon. For example, a DF which relies on the user's Attack, Speed, or general fighting ability is level-dependent. Dragons with level-dependen DFs are the highest priority targets for your level-up seeds. A level-neutral DF itself is not directly dependent on the user's level, although it is generally advantageous to have a high-level dragon so that it has better attack and defense. Most Water-based FP-control DF are slow DF, which means that when opposing dragons use their FP-control DF on the same turn, the slower dragon will usually have an advantage. This is because any FP earned from a DF cannot be lost or stolen before the DF actually resolves. (Also remember that FP control cannot cancel the enemy's DF.) However, it is still advantageous to have a high-level Water dragon when opposing a cancelling DF. Among the gold dragons, Leodrake, Seratokong, Raochan and Goldist have level-dependent DF, Anubis's DF is slightly level-dependent, and Seadial's is mixed neutral-slow. (Leodrake's is considered level-dependent because with more hit points and better defense, you can safely receive more damage without worrying about being killed easily.) Personally, I would not hesitate to use the highest level seed available on any of them except Seadial.