---------------- BREATH OF FIRE AND BREATH OF FIRE 2 ---------------- Dragon Handbook ---------------- ANSI. Bah. :) ---------------- Latest version: January 27, 2005 Version 1.0, 10/23/0: First release! Version 1.2, 11/25/0: Removed Breath of Fire 4 speculation section, checked every line to make sure it was under 80 spaces. Gamefaqs.com never put up version 1.0, so you didn't miss anything :) Version 1.5, 12/20/0: I remembered, after being away from the game for too long, that you can look at the characters' stats during battle in BoF1, and I used this little feature to take a look at Ryuu's stats when he transforms. Made a few minor wording changes here and there to reflect the fact that BoF4 is out now, and not 'upcoming' :) Version 1.51, 1/27/5: Minor changes to reflect that BoF1 and 2 have been out on GBA for a long time now. Updated e-mail address. Re-uploaded to GameFAQs so that all my FAQs are under the same contributor name. :) Version 1.52, 5/17/17: Updated Agni section. -------------- This information guide is copyright 2000 DarkStorm, currently wrassedragon (at) yahoo (dot) com. Do not publish this commercially without my permission (and I *will* want to be paid for it :). Do not put this FAQ on your website without contacting me first. Basically, read it all you want, save it to your hard drive, and enjoy it forever, but don't publish it or post it to another web page without e-mailing me and asking my permission (and I can't think of a reason I wouldn't give my permission). Simple, neh? Do make sure, however, that you are looking at the most recent version of this guide, which should always be on my web site and www.gamefaqs.com. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Breath of Fire A. Overview B. Pros C. Cons D. The Big List Of Dragons 1. Drakes 2. Dragons 3. Rudra 4. Agni II. Breath of Fire II A. Overview B. Pros C. Cons D. The Big List Of Dragons 1. Whelps 2. Dragons 3. Kaiser 4. Infinity E. Cheating! ----- I'm assuming that you've played BoF3 when reading this, so I may make comparisons. I think both BoF1 and 2 are out of print and difficult to find (since they're SNES games), but you can probably find ROMs if you're determined enough. (Note: Do *not* ask me for ROMs. I have the original cartridges and have no need of ROMs for these two games) :) Of course, both games are now also out on the GBA, but those are also out of print and somewhat difficult to find. This guide is based on the SNES versions, but it should work fine for the GBA version. I. Breath of Fire A. Overview The original game, the original Ryuu, the original dragon transformation spells. They're Ryuu's *only* spells (unlike BoF2 and 3, but like BoF4). BoF3's dragons are partially taken from these: the bolt of lightning striking Ryuu and the fact he remains in dragon-form until he reverts. Unlike BoF3, there is no AP cost to maintain the form. Ryuu is healed to full HP upon taking dragon-form (and doesn't revert to his previous HP total when the battle ends), but he gains no extra HP (except in Agni form), and if the dragon-form dies, so does he. On the other hand, the SnoDr transformation is a quick and relatively cheap way to refil his HP (since dragon transformations are done at the start of the round, no matter what his speed - or ACT score - is, right after healing or defensive spells) Selecting magic when in dragon form brings up only one command: Revert. Each dragon has a single breath attack that's done by simply selecting Attack. This attack does a constant amount of damage, even as Ryuu gains levels, though the dragon-forms' defense improves as Ryuu gains levels. B. Pros All dragons are immune to status changes (except Instant Death). Dragon-forms have improved defense scores. Dragon transformation lasts until the end of the battle with no maintance cost (unless you delibrately select Revert, or if Ryuu is killed in this form). You pay the AP to transform once, then you stay in the form as long as you like. Agni does incredible damage (999/round). C. Cons Since the dragons' attacks never get any more powerful, early dragons become useless later on. Even Rudra isn't that good when Ryuu can dish out 700 damage with his normal attack. The later dragons cost a lot of AP (up to 60), and Ryuu doesn't get much total AP, even at high levels (he has about 180 or so at level 40). And you can't use Masters to boost his AP, since they weren't introduced until BoF3. :) Although dragons cannot be poisoned, cursed, etc., having those condiditions already in effect will prevent transformation. Furthermore, having these conditions in effect on *any* of the party members will prevent Agni from working. D. The List And now, the noodles. Each dragon "breath" mimics the effect of one of the game's spells, except in damage. This spell will be listed along with the AP cost and damage. Damage is always an exact number, unless the target is vulnerable to or resistant to the element. Defense boosts are calculated based on Ryuu's current Defense score, *including* equipped weapons and armor, and even including the Fort spell, if it was cast before transformation. So if he had, for example, 200 Defense before transforming, he'd have 200 x 1.2 = 240 as a Thunder Drake. If had 200 Defense, then had Fort cast on him (which adds 20 points to Defense), and *then* transformed into a Thunder Drake, he'd have (200 + 20) x 1.2 = 264 Defense. Note that if it had been done the other way (transforming than casting Fort), he'd only have 260 Defense in dragon-form. So if you're going to cast defensive spells on Ryuu, get them in before he transforms. (Defensive spells go before transformation spells in any event, so you can cast them on the same round). Attack scores listed are what's given on Ryuu's Status screen if checked while in dragon-form in battle. What this actually affects is unknown. 1. Drakes The Drakes are gained in a Dragon Temple just after the Stone Robot scenario. Ryuu must fight the Talon (looks like the Gargoyles near the end of the game) alone to win these dragon spells (there's a healing spring in the temple, so heal up before you fight). There are no prerequisites for this battle. Snow Drake (SnoDr): 7 AP, 100 ice damage to a single target. Attack score: 40 (!) Defense boost: 112% Spell mimicked: Cold Flame Drake (FlmDr): 10 AP, 115 fire damage to a single target. Attack Score: 140 Defense boost: 116% Spell mimicked: Flare Thunder Drake (ThrDr): 12 AP, 130 electric damage to a single target. Attack Score: 160 Defense boost: 120% Spell mimicked: Fry Obviously, ThrDr is the best to use against bosses, unless you know they're weak against another element (for example, the Sandworm is weak against Ice, making the Snow Drake a better choice). 2. Dragons The Dragons are acquired in a Dragon Temple found by following the path between the Dark Dragon pyramid and Nabal Castle. You need the Rod5 (hidden in Tunlan) to fish for the Dragon Sword (in the well northwest of Romero). You need to have gotten the Sphere for Gobi (because otherwise, you can't *reach* Tunlan). (You can also get the Dragon Helmet from a well near Arad, and you should already have the Life Armor from the roof of Agua, thanks to Karn. Less than halfway through the game, and Ryuu has some of his best armor and weapons already - though the Dragon Sword is nowhere near as good as it is in later games. It's rather low down on the Best Swords list this time around). Once you have them, go to the temple and fight Bain, a blue phoenix. When this "training" is complete, you receive the following abilities: Ice Dragon (IceDgn): 20 AP, 190 ice damage to all enemies. Attack score: 180 Defense boost: 124% Spell mimicked: Ice Fire Dragon (FirDgn): 27 AP, 210 fire damage to all enemies. Attack score: 260 Defense boost: 128% Spell mimicked: Char (creates the interesting effect of a dragon summoning a dragon) Bolt Dragon (BltDgn): 30 AP, 225 electric damage to all enemies. Attack score: 280 Defense boost: 132% Spell mimicked: Gale Gold Dragon (GldDgn): 40 AP, 375 damage to all undead enemies only. Attack score: 300 Defense boost: 136% Spell mimicked: ZomX I find the Gold Dragon useless despite its power. The Fire Dragon does extra damage to undead enemies anyway, for a lower AP cost, and can affect non-undead in the enemy group as well. Not that you'll be using these transformation spells in casual combat, unless you have a lot of Acorns. 3. Rudra The next Dragon Training session gives you but one dragon form, but what a form. You should have the Dragon Armor from the town of Spring (fish off the docks once the town is thawed) - note you just have to have it in your inventory, not actually equipped. The Life Armor is just as good defensively, plus it also heals HP as you walk. You should also have the Dragon Shield by now (from the well encircled by mountains east of Gramor), but it's not necessary for the training. Nina needs to be able to fly to get both the Dragon Shield and to get to this training spot. Got all that? Good. Now fly to the Dragon Temple sitting all by itself on an island northwest of Gust. Go in, and fight the Avian (a recolored GrimFowl - it's an ostrich, basically) for this powerful (but, unfortunately, ultimately useless) spell. In the Japanese version, this dragon is known as Kaiser - so this form *does* appear in every game. Rudra: 50 AP, 320 damage to all enemies. Attack score: 400 Defense boost: 140% Spell mimicked: None directly. Think of Bleu's Comet spell, or any of Gobi's fish-summoning spells, and replace the rocks/fish with tiny firebirds. 4. Agni Why is Rudra "useless"? Becuase you can get Agni immediately after getting Rudra. Once you have Rudra, go back to the cave near Romero where you got the Cleansing Water. Go down to where you got it, and keep going. You'll go into the water, and find a small Dragon Shrine there (apparently, this is what is purifying the water). No fights are necessary, but you'll need the Dragon Helmet and Rudra to qualify. This spell is unique in that it combines all eight members of your party into a single centaur-like dragon with recognizable parts of most of them (Bo's face, Nina's wings, Bleu's tail, Gobi's spines, Ox's horns, and Mogu's claws). This dragon has about 999 hit points if your party is at decent level (I'm not quite sure how the game calculates the hit points; it may simply be three times Ryuu's normal HP total). To use it, *every* member of your party must be alive, have no status problems (i.e., not sleeping, cursed, poisoned, rotting, etc), and not fused with Karn. In a practical sense, you can do more damage per round with Ryuu as Rudra (using Mrbl1 to get a critical hit each time), Karn in his Puka fusion (also using Mrbl1), Bleu casting BoltX, and Nina healing and casting defensive spells, but using Agni is generally easier and quicker, since Agni is so powerful both offensively and defensively. (Though using the Rudra / Mrbl1 strategy to beat Myria's true form is a lot more satisfying). In the Japanese version, its name is "Chikara", or "The Power". ("Ultimate Power" is the connotation) Agni: 60 AP, 999 damage to all enemies. Attack score: 999 Defense boost: 200% Spell mimicked: Gale, followed by 3.5. ------ ii. Breath of Fire II A. Overview A completely different dragon system was introduced in Breath of Fire II. Maybe the BoF1 dragons were considered too powerful (999 damage per round indefinitely from a 60 AP initial investement), so they tried to balance them. My own opinion is that they went *too* far to try to "fix" things. BoF2 has arguably the best storyline (albeit a lifeless translation) of the three (though I do like BoF3's Search For Identity/Who Framed The Dragon Clan? storyline), but the worst dragon system. The Shaman system is also more awkward than the Master system or Rei's Weretiger in 3 or Karn's Fusions in 1. The dragons in this game are simply 'blasts', used much like Nina and Bleu's attack spells They're single shot spells that transform Ryuu into a dragon just long enough to dish out damage on his opponents. I say "single shot" because it eats up *all* of Ryuu's remaining AP in the process. Damage done is proportional to the number of AP remaining vs. maximum AP (Ben Siron's excellent Breath of Fire II Handbook - also on gamefaqs.com - has exact calculations, but it's approximately base damage times the square of the ratio of current AP to maximum AP. Or, in English, at half maximum AP, you'll do one-quarter damage, at one-third AP, you'll do one-ninth damage, etc). These dragons are more akin to Breath of Fire IV's Dragon Evocations than to the Transformations in 1, 3, and 4. (Yes, 4 has both Transformations *and* one- shot 'blasts') :) The reasoning, I believe, for Ryuu's weakened dragon spells is that he's only half-Dragon (his father is a normal human), so his body can't hold dragon shape for more than a few seconds. Also note that his transformation pose was reused (though redrawn, of course) in BoF3 as (adult) Ryuu's transformation pose, just before the lightning bolt strikes. B. Pros Damage! These attacks are the most powerful in the game. You're probably not going to be able to beat K.Sludges without the G.Drgn spell. They're quicker to use than the other three games, since you don't need to spend one round to transform. C. Cons You can only use them once before needing to refill your AP. This is a huge drawback, limiting the use of them to once-per-boss-battle-and-not-before. All the other games in the series let you use the dragons more than that. There's little variety. Except in one case, there's no reason to use the Whelps once you get the Dragons, or the Dragons once you get Kaiser (especially since the AP cost is the same no matter which you use). Damage done goes down based on the *square* of the AP ratio. If you use any AP to heal, or if the opponent uses Drain, or even if you gain a level so AP is no longer at maximum, you're not going to get the full effect of these spells. (And the W. Seeds of this game restore 20 AP, but also make you *lose* 20 HP when you use them, so they're not the best solution to AP problems). D. The Big List Of Dragons 1. Whelps The game calls them 'puppies', but I like the BoF3 name. You get the Whelps at the same time you find your first Shaman, just after the Save The Villagers scenario in Capitan. It's part of the storyline, so you can't miss them. FirPuppy: 256 (base) fire damage to one target IcePuppy: 256 (base) ice damage to one target T.Puppy: 256 (base) electric damage to one target 2. Dragons When you first get Jean, before going into Simafort, why not hop in the lake to the north and take a ride down the waterfall? Go on, the swim will do you good. If you don't go in when you first get Jean, you'll lose him temporarily, and you'll have to go through the entire Simafort scenario (which includes no fewer than four boss enemies) without these forms. You're not actually required to get these forms, but I can't imagine why you'd want to skip them. :) FireDrgn, IceDrgn, and T.Drgn: These three are, for all intents and purposes, identical. Despite their names, they do not cause elemental damage. Base damage of 512 to all targets 3. Kaiser Again, I use the BoF3 name (because this is clearly an early form of the dragon seen in KaiserBreath)... and becuase this dragon *is* Kaiser in the Japanese version. Why they changed it to the obscure name of G.Drgn (especially since they *never* tell you what the G stands for) is unknown. You also get this form as part of the storyline: when a Dark Dragon hits you with his most powerful breath attack, it'll release your most powerful attack... G.Drgn: 999 (base) non-elemental damage to all targets. 4. Infinity.... Not really a dragon form at all. You gain Anfini in the dragon town, as part of the storyline. It costs 0 AP, and cannot be used until the final battle, and doesn't do anything more than bringing your party back to life to attack the boss. I only mention it at all for the sake of completeness. :) E. Cheating! I don't normally include Game Genie codes, but this one is directly related to the dragon spells. CCCA-8762 + 57CB-8762: This code messes with Ryuu's spell list, giving him a random assortment of dragon and other spells at the bottom of the list (so it won't erase any spells you already have, even if you have them all). Turn the Game Genie off when you have a selection of spells you like, and save the game - the spells will still be there after saving, with or without the Game Genie. If you don't like the selection of spells, get into a fight with the code on, and your spells will change after battle, and they'll change again if you check Ryuu's status screen. You gain, randomly, a bunch of the dragon spells (except Anfini), often multiple copies thereof, but also the enemy spell Zombie, and Flrmagic (Spar's "The Flower Blooms!" Ntre ability), plus one other... Call it Failure Kaiser. Sometimes, the G.Drgn that appears by this method is not the normal one. Check its AP cost when you get it: if the AP cost is the same as your current AP, then it's the normal one. If it's 0 AP, then it's the Failure version. This version can be used indefinitely (because of its 0 AP cost), and always does 999 damage, no matter how many AP you have. The downside is that it *only* does damage to the first enemy on the list; all others take 0 damage. (Hence, "Failure"). Even if you defeat that enemy, there's still a blank space where it was (i.e., the second enemy on the list doesn't become the "first" enemy for this calculation). It's really useful on most bosses, and somewhat useful in random battles (since it pretty much means you can have your party concentrate on the other enemies while the G.Drgn utterly decimates the first one). It also makes the early portions of the game laughably easy - I'd only suggest this code if you're the type who plays through RPGs multiple times (like me) :) Do, however, be careful when using it - if you're in a battle where the object is to keep one of the opponents alive, that one is usually put first on the attack list; using Failure Kaiser then will kill the wrong opponent. This code has yet to harm my game (other than filling Ryuu's spell lists with a lot of repeated junk), but make a backup of your saved game anyway, just in case. Sadly, BoF1 has no such dragon spell codes (at least, none that I know of). If anyone knows a 'Start With All Dragon Spells' (or even a 'Start With *A* Dragon Spell') GG code for BoF1, let me know... :) ------- Random thought: Is the Dragonlord/DracoLord from Dragon Warrior 1 a dimensionally-displaced member of the Dark Dragon clan? Breath of Fire vs. Dragon Warrior... hm.... nah. The Dragon Clan / The Brood / They Who Endure would splatter Erdrick and his kin all over the map :) ------- Special Thanks to: Capcom, for making this game. May the Breath of Fire series last as long as there are consoles to play them on. The Game Genie Code Creator's Club (http://www.videogamesource.com/genie/) for the Ryuu Dragon Spell code (in their Breath Of Fire 2 Code Collection). I don't think this site exists anymore, but I still thank them. Ben Siron, for his Breath of Fire II handbook. Anyone I forgot. :) No Thanks to: Capcom of America, for delaying Breath of Fire IV for nearly two months after its original ship date (originally Oct 2, not released until Nov 30th). Halloween is my birthday, and I was looking forward to picking it up then. No such luck. Capcom of America, again, for making drastic storyline edits to BoF4 simply to remove one decapitation scene. I think I'm old enough not to be scarred for life by watching one cartoon character cut another's head off :) Capcom of America, yet again, for failing to re-translate BoF1 and 2 when they had the chance. ------- © 2000-2005 DarkStorm (Laurence A. Isen)