ASDFGASDFGASDFGASDFGASDFGASDFGASDFGASDFGASDFGASDFGASDFGASDFGASDFGASDFGASDFGASDF This document has been formatted for 79 character lines. PANZER DRAGOON ORTA - BOSSES WALKTHROUGH by Alan Williamson aka 'Lord Alan' http://www.split-screen.net v1.31b System- Xbox Players- 1 Genre- Rail Shooter Contents -------- 0)Update History 1)Introduction 2)Basic Strategies Boss Walkthrough 3) i) Episode 1: Assault Carrier Vermana ii) Episode 2: Yondo-Worms Episode 2: Ikrakav iii) Episode 3: Mobo and Wormriders Episode 3: Catharp iv) Episode 4: Guardian Statue Episode 4: Dragonmare Squadron v) Episode 5: Els-Enora vi) Episode 6: Atish vii) Episode 7: Sestren Orbs* Episode 7: Robo Yondo-Worm* Episode 7: Abadd viii) Episode 8: Assault Carrier Vermana Redux Episode 8: The Octopus* ix) Episode 9: Dragonmare Squadron Redux x) Last Episode: Ultimate Abadd* * denotes where I don't know the name of a boss (haven't unlocked the relevant section in Pandora's Box) and just made it up. These will be changed as I progress with the game, except for 'The Octopus' which I think sounds really cool. =) 4)Credits and Acknowledgements 5)Contacting Me x)Copyright Information --------------- 0)Update History ---------------- Version 0.5 (first release) 17/4/03 ------------------- *First version of the Walkthrough! *Formatted Walkthrough for 79 character lines. *Added a rough Contents section. *Added Introduction *Added Basic Strategies *Added Walkthrough for Assault Carrier Vermana, Yondo-Worms, Ikrakav, Mobo and Wormriders, Catharp, Guardian Statue, Dragonmare Squadron, Els-Enora, Atish, Sestren Orbs Version 1.0 18/4/03 ------------------- *Added Walkthroughs for Abadd, Assault Carrier Vermana Redux, The Octopus, Dragonmare Squadron Redux, Ultimate Abadd. *Fixed typos of 'Vermana' *Removed 'Best Time' section, because mine were a joke and made me look like some kind of moron. *Congratulated self on finishing this FAQ so quickly. Version 1.1 25/5/03 ------------------- *Added walkthrough for Robo Yondo-Worm (Episode 7) *Added some more detail to the last boss walkthrough because some people STILL aren't getting it. *Added IGN to the list of sites who are allowed to post this FAQ *Fixed typos etc. *This will hopefully be the final version of this FAQ. If you have problems with the last boss, don't post on the GameFAQs message board, email me! It's the only way this FAQ will get better. Version 1.15 29/5/03 ------------------- *Updated strategies for Robo Yondo-Worm. Version 1.2 3/6/03 ------------------- *Added Extra tip for Ultimate Abadd. Rewrote and added to Sections 4 & 5. Version 1.3 9/8/03 ------------------- *Added another strategy for Ultimate Abadd. It's great to see that people are still playing and enjoying Panzer Dragoon Orta. It's also great to see that people are still reading this FAQ ^_^ Version 1.31 21/6/07 ------------------- *Added HonestGamers to the list of websites allowed to publish this FAQ. I do intend to do a more comprehensive update a later stage, so this is just a stop- gap release to tide people over ;) Version 1.31b 15/4/11 ------------------- *Updated contact information. ------------- 1)Introduction ------------- Panzer Dragoon Orta is a rail shooter for the Xbox. It is a straight sequel to the games 'Panzer Dragoon' and 'Panzer Dragoon Zwei' for the Sega Saturn, released in 1995 and 1996 respectively. (European release dates) It is also a continuation of the game 'Panzer Dragoon Saga' released in 1998 for the Saturn. The story centres around Orta, a young girl who has been imprisoned in a tower for as long as she can remember. The Empire's Dragonmare squadron approaches the tower. At the last minute, she is saved by a dragon and her adventure begins. Of all the games I have for my Xbox (that's 60, fact fans) PDO is definitely one of my favourites. It is beautiful to look at and an intense game to play. Even four years after I wrote this Boss FAQ, PDO still stands as a highly entertaining piece of software- so much so that it is now emulated for the Xbox 360, although from what I've heard the backwards compatibility is nowhere near perfect! In this Walkthrough you can find strategies for defeating each of the bosses and sub-bosses in the game. Note that there may be more than one strategy for defeating a boss, these are the strategies I use personally. If anyone has a strategy for defeating a particular boss, please email it to me at the address below. Even though I've been updating this FAQ for four years, there may still be some inaccuracies. If you find any, email me. If you don't, email me anyway! It's fun to read fan mail. Enough talk, on with the Walkthrough! ----------------- 2)Basic Strategies ----------------- Some of the Basic Strategies for the main game and the bosses remain the same throughout PDO: Things That Should Go Without Saying ------------------------------------ 1) If you see a missile coming towards you, shoot it down with a machine gun blast. 2) Lock on to multiple enemies at once for more points. 3) Use Berserks wisely- save them up for boss encounters and tougher enemies. Sometimes it's worth saving Berserks for when you have low energy. Using the Dragon Morphs ----------------------- I'll put this bluntly: Without the different forms of the dragon, Orta doesn't stand a snowball's chance in Hell. There are 3 types. Base Wing is the default dragon. It can lock onto multiple targets depending on the level, and has a rapid fire machine gun. It can also glide to avoid enemy attacks. Heavy Wing is the more attack-orientated form of the dragon. It has fewer, much more powerful bio-lasers, and a slow firing machine gun. However, it cannot glide and thus is more vulnerable to enemy attacks. Glide Wing is the evasive form of the dragon. It cannot lock on to enemies, but has a rapid fire machine gun which automatically homes onto targets. It can move faster and has extra glide manoeuvres compared to the Base Wing. I personally find that the Base Wing is most useful for large groups of enemies, or when fighting a boss that fires with a lot of projectiles. As Base Wing you can lock on quickly, hitting the boss with the lasers and then using the machine gun to destroy any incoming projectiles. I use Heavy Wing for times when I need to inflict a large amount of damage quickly (perhaps on a weakpoint) and will not have much resistance. I use Glide Wing for when I need to dodge an attack, for example the Els-Enora scale attacks or the large numbers of missiles in Episode 4. It is also good for positioning the dragon during a boss fight. **Remember!** The dragon's glide attack can be used to damage enemies! this comes in handy in Episode 4 when facing the Anti-Laser turrets as well as any other close enemies or those who cannot be damaged by laser fire. Evolve Your Dragons Using Gene Bases! ------------------------------------- For the newcomer to PDO, you may have noticed this unintentionally. When you destroy certain enemies (see the excellent Gene Base FAQ on GameFAQs for details) you receive a Gene Base. These Gene Bases can be used to enhance your dragon's abilities. As you collect Gene Bases, the dragon will go up a level as follows: 2 Gene Bases- Level 2 4 More Gene Bases- Level 3 6 More Gene Bases- Level 4 8 More Gene Bases- Level 5 Each level makes the dragon's bio-lasers more powerful and it's Berserk last longer. In the case of the Glide Wing, the machine gun will fire faster and the Berserk will recover more of the Dragon's health. Of course, levelling up the dragon for later levels becomes essential. This is where things get a little more complicated. Remember, the Dragon has three different forms, and these can each evolve to Level 5. I would personally recommend you level up the Base and Heavy Wing types over the Glide Wing type. This is because I primarily use the Glide Wing to destroy incoming missiles etc. rather than inflicting damage on enemies. On later levels, being able to lock on to more than 3 targets with the Heavy Wing is essential. As this Walkthrough progresses the Boss Strategies will assume that your Base and Heavy Wing forms are more evolved than Glide Wing. At the end of the day, you can evolve the forms in whatever way you like and it won't make a huge amount of difference to the game, it just means certain bosses may take longer than others. **Remember!** The more enemies you kill, the more chance you have of receiving Gene Bases. If you want to do well, memorize the enemies' attack patterns! Use The Glide To Your Advantage! -------------------------------- The only way to avoid certain attacks (an early example is the Yondo-Worm in Episode 2) is to use the Glide to Accelerate and Decelerate. Although PDO is, for the most part, a 'rail shooter' it allows for some freedom of movement. The Dragon can also move around to dodge enemy fire. In the individual Boss Walkthroughs I will tell you when to Glide, but it also comes into play in the main game. If you think something is going to hit you because you are going too slow, Accelerate! Approaching enemies faster than you would like? Decelerate! A prime example are the enemies Mobo tells you to 'Get Behind' on Episode 3. **Remember!** You can Glide much more often when in Glide Wing form than in Base Wing form. ----------------- 3)Boss Walkthrough ----------------- For these bosses I have assigned a 'difficulty rating' out of 5. This does not take into account the difficulty level you are playing on, just how hard it is in comparison to the other bosses. If these Walkthroughs are followed correctly, obtaining S ranks should be no problem at all. ---------------------------- Episode 1: City in the Storm ---------------------------- Assault Carrier Vermana ----------------------- Difficulty: 1/5 The first boss is a bit of a joke compared to the others. If you're struggling here, you might want to consider giving up now. Nonetheless, here's how to beat it. 1) You start the battle at the rear of the Assault Carrier. Switch to Base Wing and shoot at all of the Missile Turrets. It helps to concentrate on one at a time, as you don't have as many missiles to shoot down when they attack. Use the Base Wing's machine gun to shoot down any missiles heading your way. 2) You will now move to the right of the carrier. Switch to Heavy Wing and aim at the underside of the carrier. If the carrier launches some small attack ships, quickly switch to Glide Wing and shoot them down before returning to Heavy Wing. 3) As the dragon passes around the carrier, switch to Glide Wing and shoot at the base of the ship for a little extra damage. 4) On approach to the front of the craft, switch to Heavy Wing and shoot at the gun turrets at the very front. When the dragon reaches the front, switch to Base Wing. **If you have a Berserk charged up, use it now. Base Wing is fine for damage, Heavy Wing is better. Concentrate the beam on one of the cannons. If you are running low on health, use the Glide Wing berserk to top it up.** Use the Base Wing to lock onto the cannons. Make sure you have a full lock (the targeting cursor will turn red) to get as many hits in the shortest possible time. 5) When the Vermana returns fire, use the Base Wing's machine gun to destroy its missiles quickly then continue to use the lock on lasers. After a while, the dragon will move round to the left hand side again. 6) As you come down the left hand side, open fire on the underside of the craft like in Step 2. Make sure to stay in Base Wing. The Vermana will then launch some homing mines- either use the Base Wing's machine gun, or the Glide Wing's machine gun to destroy them, then continue to attack the underbelly. When this is destroyed, switch to the Heavy Wing and continue firing at the front cannons. 7) After a few mine attacks, the dragon will circle the Vermana and then return to the front. Get as many hits in as you can with the Heavy Wing. By this stage it should only take a few more hits to destroy it. Congratulations! You've defeated Assault Carrier Vermana in S rank time! ----------------------- Episode 2: Altered Genos ----------------------- Yondo-Worms ----------- Difficulty: 1/5 Orta has been following the Yondo Worms throughout most of Episode 2. At this stage, you finally get to kill a couple of them. Thankfully, they aren't very difficult at all. 1) Use the Base Wing's bio-lasers to attack the worms. Get as many hits in as you can. The lasers can even be locked on underwater. 2) The worms will then fire what looks like some kind of green frog spawn. (Frog? I thought these were worms!) Shoot it all down using the Base Wing's machine gun, in roughly a clockwise motion. Then return to attacking it with the lasers. 3) When the worms start to get too close for comfort, they will noticeably leap out of the water. At this point use X (or whatever button you have configured) to Boost away from them. Now repeat the steps above. 4) The worms will move in front of Orta at some stage, but the basic technique remains the same. Just keep using the Base Wing's lasers. The frog spawn can be shot down by waving the Analogue stick from side to side quickly. 5) With less than a quarter of the worms' health left they will split up, one taking the left path through the undergrowth and the other taking the right. Switch views to the front of the dragon and lock onto one of the worms as it passes from the left. 6) The worms then go back to their normal attack pattern. Repeat the steps above until the worms die, or you die of boredom. Yawn. Ikrakav ----------- Difficulty: 2/5 Smilebit have outdone themselves with this weird boss. What starts off as a plant-like grabbing flower reveals itself to be a large bag of misshapen testicles. 1) The technique for this boss is easy, even the simpleton Mobo knows what to do. Follow his instructions and tap B twice to move to the rear of Ikrakav. Now switch to Heavy Wing and give it a pummeling. 2) Ikrakav now lifts out of the air and the real fight begins. Continue to attack with the Heavy Wing lasers. After a short time it will flip around, preparing to use that grabbing flower you saw earlier. Quickly switch to Glide Wing and Boost twice to find the white flower again. Now go crazy with the Heavy Wing's lasers. 3) As you move around you should notice a large sac has inflated. Really you should switch to Base Wing and shoot it, but it's quicker to stay in Heavy Wing and mash the fire button like crazy when the sac explodes. Those just looking to finish the boss in one piece should use Base Wing throughout this boss battle. More experienced players can use Heavy Wing. There are two types of sac- purple and blue. The purple explode in a giant cloud of frog spawn, but the blue explode to form six Yarva which are then launched at you. Destroy them using the Base Wing, then switch back to Heavy Wing and keep attacking that flower. 4) Guess what? It's turned around again! Just Glide around it accordingly and pummel the white flower. The boss will keep repeating its pattern, so follow suit and repeat the one detailed above until Ikrakav is destroyed. Finished in S rank time of course ;) ---------------------------- Episode 3: The Fallen Ground ---------------------------- Mobo and Wormriders ------------------- Difficulty: 1/5 Poor old Mobo, he isn't too bright. Luckily for you, he isn't much of a fighter either. 1) Mobo and his gang will circle Orta, but they won't attack yet. Switch to Heavy Wing and blow them apart. Don't worry about avoiding any attacks yet. 2) When Mobo says 'I'm gonna use a smoke bomb!' That's your cue to switch to Glide Wing. Pepper the worms with shots and shoot down the Smoke bombs, before switching back to Heavy Wing. Every time the worms approach the front of the dragon, switch to Glide Wing again and shoot down their bombs. 3) After a while the worms will stop circling and will use their guns- which of course fire everyone's favourite, frog spawn, only this time in a fetching shade of purple. Switch to Glide Wing and shoot it down, or just stay in Heavy Wing. There aren't a lot of bullets being shot here. 4) Some more encircling will ensue, followed by smoke bombs again. Nothing you can't handle by this stage. After an all-too-long battle, Mobo will realise you aren't really a Dragonmare and you can continue with the level proper. (Realise you aren't a Dragonmare? What kind of idiot is this guy?) Catharp ------- Difficulty: 2/5 One of my favourite PDO bosses, the Catharp looks amazing. It can be a little tricky first time through, but its attack patterns are easy to learn. 1) You start off in front of the Catharp. Switch to Heavy Wing and go postal on the weak spot (its face?) Tap the fire button to dispose of any incoming projectiles. 2) After a short while the Catharp will leap over your head. Instantly switch to Glide Wing and circle around to the front of the Catharp. At the side Catharp will fire a series of projectiles, which should be shot down or simply dodge. Back at the front, switch to Heavy Wing again. Keep repeating this. 3) With nearly half its health down, Catharp starts to get a little cranky. It now loses its back half. Continue attacking as before. 4) However, it soon speeds off into the distance. It disappears then suddenly leaps back into the screen. Boost once to reveal Catharp's weak point again, then switch to Heavy Wing and attack. Catharp's arms will charge up as it prepares to attack you. Get a few good hits in under Heavy Wing, then switch to Glide and quickly boost out before it can hit you. 5) Switch to Heavy Wing again and keep blasting it. As the Catharp jumps up, switch to Glide and press B to move to its side, avoiding the jump. 6) Catharp will soon take off again. Shoot at it with the Heavy Wing's lasers anyway- any damage is good damage! Now repeat steps 4-5. It should soon crumble into a pile of ruined mush, leaving you with another S rank time! **Extra Fun Point!** Shoot the Catharp with the machine gun while it's dying (you sadist.) Great for relieving stress after the battle! ------------------------ Episode 4: Gigantic Fleet ------------------------ I was actually quite disappointed that there was no fight against the Lathum in PDO after seeing it was the home of the Wormriders. Talk about killing two birds with one stone... hahaha. Anyways, on with the Walkthrough. Guardian Statue ------------------- Difficulty: 2/5 You've already seen the statue attack Mobo (a good thing IMO) and now it's time to get your revenge by wiping it out! Consider this a warmup for the real boss afterwards. This boss is unique in that the times for both bosses are added together. Therefore to get the S rank time you have to be equally good at both bosses! 1) Firstly switch to Heavy Wing and concentrate all your fire on the obvious weak point. The Statue will then raise its arms. Now switch to Glide Wing and fire your machine guns, dodging its eye laser by moving around accordingly. Alternatively you can use Base Wing's lasers. if you're feeling suicidal, why not try Heavy Wing? 2) Whenever it finishes the eye laser attack, switch back to Heavy Wing and blast away. Now it will lower its left (or from the dragon's position, right) arm towards you. Fire a quick volley of lasers, then switch to Glide Wing and dodge to the left. Wait until the Statue stops firing before returning to the middle and using Heavy Wing again. **Now is a perfect time to use the Heavy Wing's Berserk attack. If you wait, you can keep firing and dodge the upcoming attack.** 3) The Statue now swings its right arm at you, use the Glide Wing dash to dodge it and continue firing. Whenever you hear a radio transmission, two things should go through your mind. Firstly 'Oh no! Dragonmares!' and secondly it's almost time to change your attack plans. 4) The Statue will flash, and the weak point is gone. But all hope is not lost. Switch to Glide Wing and boost dash twice to head to the rear of the statue. Now switch to Base Wing and lock onto as many of the exhaust ports as you can. The statue will launch a few missiles, but these should be easy enough to dispose of. 5)Once all the ports are destroyed, move to the front of the Statue again and continue the assault as before. It may take another 'Anti-Laser system' move before the Statue is defeated, but persevere and the Statue will fall in no time at all. Dragonmare Squadron ------------------- Difficulty: 3/5 The first decently challenging boss you will encounter, the Dragonmare Squadron appears right after the battle with the Guardian Statue. This one caused a few problems the first time I played it, although again once you learn the attack patterns it is easily dispatched. 1) Switch to Heavy Wing and get a few hits in on the Dragonmares quickly. They will then fire some kind of flaming projectile, which I'll just refer to as 'missiles'. Shoot down all of the missiles with the Glide Wing (Base Wing is a bit awkward for these missiles unfortunately.) 2) The Dragonmares will fly up to your right, then to the rear left of your dragon. Use this time to chip away at their health. They will fire more missiles at you. Shoot them all down again. 3) Now the Dragonmares fly across to the front right of the dragon. Again, more missiles. Just keep alternating between Heavy Wing to attack them, then quickly Glide Wing to shoot down the missiles. 4) The Dragonmares now move to the rear of the Dragon. Again, use Heavy Wing to get a few hits in. Now switch to Glide Wing to shoot down the missiles, but STAY IN GLIDE WING. You should hear the Dragonmares screech. Shoot at them with the machine guns. Wait until the last instant, then boost dash to avoid their charge attack. 5) The Dragonmares should now be in front of the Dragon. Switch between Heavy and Glide Wing again. As the Dragonmares move to the extreme front and begin to dive, get as many hits in as possible. As you approach the bottom of the dive, switch to Glide Wing to destroy the missiles being fired at you. 6) The next attack is the most difficult to dodge. Follow where the Wraith Slashers (little Panzer Dragoon Saga reference there) are coming from, and in Glide Wing dodge to the opposite side. If needs be use a Boost, but don't get too close to the Dragonmares as this can make things more difficult. A little luck is required here! 7) Following the Wraith Slashers is another Missile Attack. Use the Heavy/Glide Wing combination as before. The Dragonmares will now split up in groups of two. Take the opportunity to get a few hits in. As the Dragonmares descend, switch to Glide Wing. Now face straight ahead and weave in and out of the smoke plumes to avoid taking any damage. 8) And now we're back to the start. Repeat the steps above and the Dragonmares will be toast in no time. ------------------------- Episode 5: Eternal Glacies ------------------------- Els-Enora --------- Difficulty: 3/5 As well as looking beautiful (in mutant freak terms) Els-Enora can take a while to defeat with your dragon in its wounded state. The real difficulty is beating it in a fast time. The first half of this battle isn't actually timed, so take it easy and concentrate on staying in one piece. 1) Right from the outset, open fire on Els-Enora with all you've got. It should start to fire a barrage of missiles at you. The key thing to remember here is that in most cases, only the middle missile will actually cause damage. If you're finding the battle tough, just shoot the middle missile. 2) Els-Enora will move from side to side before going behind the dragon. Here it launches missiles in groups of four. Unlike the previous missiles, all of these must be destroyed to avoid damage. It then moves to the right, then to the left, firing rows of six missiles. Destroy these. 3) After moving completely aorund the dragon, Els-Enora will repeat the steps above. Just keep shooting it. This is remedial stuff really. After having defeated the first stage of the boss, it blows up the bridge and your dragon is able to fly again! Hooray! Now the fight begins proper. 4) You will now be behind Els-Enora. Boost to the left (or the right if you prefer, but I'll assume left) and use the Base Wing to lock onto the glands beneath its wings. Then these glands start to secrete good old purple frog spawn. Use the machine gun to blast it away, locking onto the glands as you go. 5) Occasionally you will end up at the front of the beast. Simply use B to get to the side again, or prepare to be rammed. Keep attacking the glands as before. When you have destroyed the glands on one side, quickly move to the right wing (or vice versa) and repeat the process. 6) Before you can destroy the right hand glands, you will end up behind Els-Enora. Shoot it a few times with your lasers or machine guns from Base Wing. Make sure you are in Base Wing as it sheds its skin (didn't it learn any manners when it was young?) Now use the Base Wing's lasers to blast a path through the scales. Try to make a reasonably wide circle, as the scales will get a lot larger making it difficult to dodge them. 7) Switch to Glide Wing to shoot out the row of missiles heading at you, then Boost to the remaining wing again and use Base Wing to shoot at the glands. Els-Enora will quickly use its scale attack again a couple of times. Keep diving to the wing and attacking the glands. 8) After immobilising both wings, Els-Enora goes completely crazy. Switch to Glide Wing and shoot the missiles it expels, and let it finish itself off. By the end, you almost feel sorry for it. Don't despair though, at least you got your S rank time. ---------------- Episode 6: Legacy ---------------- Atish --------- Difficulty: 2/5 This 'boss' appears at the start of the level, but it's so easy you would need to be a new kind of useless to lose to. Just in case, here's the walkthrough. 1) Switch to Heavy Wing and get as many hits in as you can on the main section of Atish. Then switch to Base Wing. Missiles will come out of its arms from the Top Right arm, and then in a clockwise direction around it. If you shoot these before they can reach the dragon, you can damage Atish. Otherwise, you'll just get hurt. 2) After a barrage of missiles, Atish will drop through an opening in the tunnel. Boost before it can touch the dragon, then switch to Heavy Wing and repeat the assault, and back to Base Wing to deal with the missiles. 3) If you end up behind Atish, just pummel it with lasers from either Base or Heavy Wing until it is defeated. Otherwise you should be able to defeat it before it gets that far. I told you it was easy =P ---------------------------- Episode 7: Forbidden Memories ---------------------------- Sestren Orbs --------- Difficulty: 1/5 Not really an official boss per se, but the strategy to defeating them is still useful if you want enough health left to tackle the boss at the end of the stage. 1) There are two orbs at first, a gigantic one and a smaller one. Switch to Glide Wing and fire away at the small orb. It is incredibly weak. Make sure to dodge the laser by weaving around it. It fires at random, so try and guess which direction it is going to fire in. It is hard to dodge, but doesn't do an awful lot of damage thankfully. 2) With the small orb destroyed, the large orb starts firing lots of lasers. Here, the easiest thing to do is switch to Heavy Wing and get rid of it quickly without suffering too much damage. You can probably dodge the lasers in Glide Wing, but it's more hassle than it's worth. **Note** You encounter these orbs twice in Episode 7. They don't get any harder the second time around. Robo Yondo-Worm --------------- Difficulty: 1/5 Incredibly, I've got emails from people asking how to beat this one. Yes, I know it has a health power like a boss, but it's so ridiculously easy! 1) At the start of the fight, the Yondo-Worm appears like a hologram. You can't shoot it in this stage. Wait until it appears in robotic form and use Heavy or Base Wing lasers to attack it. 2) Remember: If the worm disappears under before your lasers reach it, they won't do any damage to the worm. You have to be quick! 3) If the worm appears behind you, use Glide Wing to dash out of the way of its charging attack. 4) Lather, rinse, repeat. I'm sorry the strategy for this 'boss' isn't very lengthy, but it really shouldn't cause any more problems than the rest of the stage. =UPDATE!= Chris Schweiter informs me that that the Robo Yondo-Worm will, after a while, create a portal that restores all of its health. There are two solutions to this problem- the first, Chris suggests, is to destroy this portal before the worm can travel through it. My solution is to kill it off as quickly as you can, before it even creates the portal. It shouldn't be that hard. I didn't even know about the portal, I always assumed the worm was easy to beat! If you're having difficulty, either shoot down that portal by locking onto the four rotating points, or kill the worm quicker. ^_^ Abadd --------- Difficulty: 2/5 Abadd can be challenging first time round. I use the words 'can be' because if you know what to do, he's not difficult at all. The key is to suss out his attack patterns before he can do some major damage. 1) Switch to Heavy Wing first, and lay into him with laser fire. As Abadd starts to fire his own lasers, switch to Base and dodge past them all, firing at him as you go. Even if you get hit by a couple of lasers, don't worry as they aren't overly damaging. 2) Still in Base Wing, when Abadd moves to your right Boost using X to avoid his arm swing attack. Now dodge the lasers as you did before, and Boost to avoid the arm attack, this time on your left. 3) Abadd's weak point will now emerge. Switch to Heavy Wing and get as many hits in ass you can. Once Abadd's head becomes targeted, switch to either Base or Glide Wing. Now move to the side to avoid his laser blast. Switch to Heavy Wing again, and hit him a few times before using Glide Wing to dodge the laser blasts and arm attacks as they occur. You should have charged up a Berserk by this stage- use the Heavy Weak's laser on the orb weak point. 4) Keep repeating Step 3 for what seems like an eternity, until Abadd begins to fly again. Now switch to Heavy Wing, and hit him with all you've got again. 5) 3 orbs will now appear to the front, lock on with Heavy Wing and attack them. You should be able to get rid of at least one of them before they begin to circle Abadd. Now keep attacking Abadd, making sure to lock onto the orbs. Your objective is to destroy them all. If you destroy them all, go to step 7. 6) The orbs will move directly to the front of the dragon and begin spitting lasers in your direction. Switch to Glide Wing and shoot at them, dodging the lasers accordingly. Try and use your best judgement on this. 7) 3 more orbs will appear in the distance. Shoot them! One of the orbs will turn into a spiked ball as Abadd moves to the rear of the dragon. Shoot down the projectiles it fires with the Heavy Wing's machine gun, while locking onto it with lasers. After the spiked ball has orbited you it will repeat the cycle. Keep attacking until it and the other orb is destroyed. 8) Abadd's weak point will reappear. Follow the same procedure as Step 3, and hose him with laser until he dies. Simple! ---------------------------- Episode 8: Imperial City ---------------------------- Assault Carrier Vermana Redux ----------------------------- Difficulty: 1/5 The Vermana (or 'Verdana' as I called it in a previous version of this FAQ- stupid typos) is back, and it's as easy as before. The only difficulty is that the dragon is in a much more confined space, giving you less time to react to it. 1) Attack the missile turrets using Heavy Wing, then switch to Glide Wing to shoot down any missiles being fired at you. You now have two options- if you're Winged Death, alternate between Heavy and Glide Wing as appropriate. If you want to take the easy option, just stay in Glide Wing the whole time. 2) Get a few more hits in on the missile turrets as you circle the Vermana. As you move to the rear of the craft, shoot at the turrets again using Heavy Wing and use Glide Wing to shoot down the missiles as before. 3) Go for the missile turrets again as you swing to the front of the Vermana. It fires remote mines again- use your Glide Wing to mow them down effortlessly. 4) Repeat the above steps until Vermana is destroyed (hopefully for good this time.) The Octopus ----------------------------- Difficulty: 4/5 'Octopus? But it's only got 2 arms!' I hear you cry. I wish that was the case, but the real battle begins when the Octopus switches into Battle Mode. That's right! What you thought was challenging was only a warmup! I am being pretty generous giving this 4/5 for difficulty, as the only REAL challenge is the last boss... sorry, I'm rambling. 1) You know the drill by now- change to Heavy Wing and shoot those weakpoints! The two arms will attack you, switch to Glide Wing and move down to dodge the left one, then quickly up to give you time to clear the right arm. 2) Use the Glide Wing's machine gun to shoot down any missiles being fired at you (there are two volleys) then back to Heavy Wing and work on the weak points again. After a few seconds, the Octopus will rotate 180 degrees. Follow it by switching to Glide Wing again and boosting twice, then using the Heavy's lasers on the weak point. 3) Whenever the pilot of the Octopus shouts 'You won't be able to dodge this!' do two things. Switch to Glide Wing and use a B glide to dodge his attack, and then laugh at the irony of the situation. Then Boost back and shoot down another two volleys of missiles. Switch to Heavy and attack the weak point. (Are you sensing a pattern here?) 4) Use two B Glides, and repeat the steps above as neccessary. After running down a substantial amount of the Octopus' energy bar, it brings in the other 6 arms. (!!!) Here's where the fun really starts! 5) You should still be in Heavy Wing, so fire off a volley of lock on lasers. Now IMMEDIATELY switch to Glide Wing and weave up and down accordingly to avoid the electric beams fired by the arms. Hold down the machine guns to shred as much damage as possible while you move. 6) When the arms stop emitting electricity, use the Heavy Wing on the weak point then return to using Glide Wing to destroy the missile attacks. The arms will begin to rotate around the Octopus- ignore them and keep attacking the weak point using the Heavy Wing lasers. 7) As you begin to move upwards, switch to Glide Wing (or Base Wing if you think you're some kind of Panzer god) and fly in a large circle clockwise to avoid the massive energy blasts. When the blasts stop, use Base Wing to shoot down some of the arms. No harm in a few bonus points while you wait. 8) The next bit requires some guesswork, and some luck. Switch to Glide Wing and when the laser beam becomes slightly more prominent use a Boost Glide to dodge out of the path of the lasers. Manoeuvre around it using Glides accordingly. If you get lucky and the laser isn't heading your way, switch to Base Wing and work on the arms while you wait. The laser will fire twice more, so just use the same tactic three times. **Super Special Tactic!** If you have a Berserk, use it the instant before the lasers are fired. They will pass right through you and you can work on the weak point or the arms for some extra damage. 9) The Octopus now begins to move down again. Fire at the arms as they move down. If one bursts into flames, move onto the next one quickly. Once you reach the bottom, the Lightning attack will happen again- except with some of the arms destroyed you should have a much easier job. If you're really lucky/ talented, you can just use Heavy Wing to damage the weak point and the remaining arms. 10) Another volley of missiles, shoot them down as before. As the arms heal go crazy on the weak point. If you have another Berserk, save it and just stick to lasers. 11) Dodge the laser blasts as before, then when it reaches the top finish it off using Heavy Wing lasers, Berserks etc. Do I really need to repeat myself? ---------------------------- Episode 9: Showdown ---------------------------- Dragonmare Squadron Redux ----------------------- Difficulty: 4/5 It's like the Episode 4 boss, only with more Dragonmares and therefore more . Apart from that, the boss is nigh-identical. Just use the tactics given for Episode 4. **Top Tip!** If a Dragonmare is bleeding, concentrate your attacks on it. That's one less attacker to deal with. And one more corpse on the ground below. ---------------------------- Last Episode: The End of Destiny ---------------------------- Ultimate Abadd ----------------------- Difficulty: 5/5 As you would expect, the final boss is the toughest of the lot but it's a huge step up from anything you have encountered. If you can clear this on Hard, then you have officially mastered the game. (Unless you count those S ranks as well...argh, I could be here all day.) **Note!** Thanks to Omega Gear for providing strategies for this boss. I couldn't have beaten it without them. 1) Firstly attack the giant crystalline structure using the Base Wing or Heavy Wing. It's better to use the Base Wing to peel off the hard exterior, then switch to Heavy Wing once the weak point has been exposed. Pummel the heart (?) with all you've got. 2) Abadd's first attack is a circle of laser emitting...circles. Use any machine gun to dispose of them. There are three circles, each with more targets to shoot down than the last. Nothing your skills can't handle. 3) Whenever the chain of spheres orbiting the heart stops rotating, watch out! It will fire a series of lasers. To dodge it, use a Glide (switching to Glide Wing can be a good idea here) to dodge to the side, and then to the rear as it fires again. 4) The final attack of this series involved a massive ring of needles being projected above the heart. Use the Glide Wing's machine gun to shoot them all down, preferably before they start homing in on the dragon. 5) To finish off the heart, simply repeat Steps 1-4 as shown above. Hopefully by the time you get to Step 5, most of its energy has been drained. The heart now morphs into the Ultimate Dragonmare, with Abadd as its rider! And yes, this is where things get tough. **Remember!** Any health you can get here is precious. Use your Glide Berserk to heal up whenever you can. 6) Switch to Heavy Wing and get as many hits in as possible on the Dragonmare, before it can dive out of targeting range. It will circle your dragon. As it moves to the front right of the dragon, switch to Glide Wing and dodge the lasers it spews. Stay in Glide Wing, as it will repeat the process on the left in a second. 7) Switch to Heavy Wing again as the Dragonmare moves to your front again. Carefully move around the tail, locking on as you go. Don't try to lock on, instead concentrate on avoiding the tail and you should be able to lock on enough times anyway. 'THE HARD PART' 8) The Dragonmare now stops for a second. Fire like crazy. It will then disappear, before reappearing in front of the dragon. Now comes the tricky part. Switch to Base Wing, and lock onto the Dragonmare's head. Keep the lock on held down until you hear Abadd's lasers locking on. You will see a couple of golden rings encircle you, before Abadd fires the 'Magenta Death' lasers. When you see the golden rings, let go of the lockon lasers and you should destroy them. If you get hit, you're doing something wrong. Keep practicing and this method WILL work, trust me. =UPDATE!= Scott Nankervis writes: "Here's a tip I found helps a lot during the lock on lasers part. You can use a berserk during the first form and still recharge enough for the lock on lasers. The first time, after shooting them down twice, I go berserk in Base Wing mode at high level (level 4 I think.) This makes you invincible and lasts almost the entire lock on attack. During the final phase, you can usually recharge berserk just before or during the lock on phase. Again, after 2 or 3 times, go berserk in Base Wing. This should take away about half its health. For the rest, just hang on tight. After memorising attack patterns, I can get up to the third form without taking a hit- only on normal though. If you can do this, you should survive (but not always.)" Good tactic Scott, but it won't work for everyone. The problem is that this method is not a precise one- if you activate the the berserk at the wrong time, you will probably get hit or even die. It also means you still have to dodge the lock-on lasers twice. So if you're having trouble against Ultimate Abadd, this might help you a little, but the best strategy remains to avoid those lasers entirely. Also remember, this strategy is highly dependant on the level of your Base Wing. If you have a low level Base Wing, you can basically forget this whole strategy. High levelers and Pandora's Box fans might want to try it out. =FURTHER UPDATE!= Lily Yue writes: "I just have a note for the last Abadd form: I'm not sure if you mentioned that it's best to stay in Base Wing or change directly to Base Wing right after beating Abadd's dragonmare, the second form of the boss, and then lock on immediately, the moment it's possible, to the dragon's final form, as it starts the lock-on lasers the second it appears. Also, it seems that if you let the lasers fly right after the beeping starts you get more hits onto the dragon and less hits on the lasers; if you shoot the lasers after letting it beep for a second or two you will hit more of the lasers than the dragon. (I'm not sure if all of this is just common sense.)" Another fine strategy from Lily. Remember that if your Base Wing is at a lower level (1-3) this may present you with some difficulties. For example, if you released the lasers just as the beeping occured and your Base Wing had a low level, you'd hit Abadd a few more times, but may not destroy all of the lasers. I never noticed the discrepancy between body and laser hits though, so thanks to Lily for pointing it out. 9) After a few rounds of laser tag, switch to Heavy Wing and get a few hits in before Abadd disappears again. Now switch to Glide Wing. Watch the direction the lasers are being fired in and dodge them clockwise or anti-clockwise accordingly. 10) (Still not dead? Argh!) Abadd now tries to ram you. Use Heavy Wing to get a few hits in on the first and second dive. Right before you hear the Dragonmare screech (you should be able to work out when it's close) switch to Glide or Base Wing and Boost out of its path. Repeat this every time he dashes you. 11) Abadd is now almost completely submerged, with only a few wings (I think those are wings o_O) hanging out. You know what to do- switch to Heavy Wing and shoot at them. If Abadd gets a chance to repeat his attacks, just follow the details above. Like the in-law from hell, Abadd refuses to die. Even in his final form, he is relentless. 12) Here's those homing lasers again, harder than ever. Again, use Base Wing to lock onto those lasers, and whatever you do don't let up. Just keep locking on. After a while the homing lasers will stop, and you can switch to Heavy Wing and dodge the tail as before to finally finish Abadd off once and for all. ----------------------------- 4)Credits and Acknowledgements ----------------------------- Thanks to: SEGA and Smilebit for making such a fantastic game. CJayC and GameFAQs for hosting this Walkthrough. Omega Gear for the Last Episode strategies. Thuyker his awesome Gene Base FAQ and continued support Abadd for assuring me my methods were correct. Chris Schweiter for pointing out a Robo Yondo-Worm correction. Scott Nankervis for giving tips for Ultimate Abadd. Lily Yue for more Ultimate Abadd tips. My family for their support and occassional nagging ;) And thank you for reading this walkthrough. I hope it was of great help to you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 8)Contacting Me ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For any queries or corrections regarding this FAQ, please contact me at the address below. I'd love to hear some feedback on what you thought of the FAQ, and what improvements (if any) I should make. Emails I like ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > FAQ Questions, Corrections and Suggestions > Any feedback, positive or negative on the FAQ. > Free games- it hasn't happened yet, but I wouldn't complain if I got any Emails I don't like ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > 'j00r FAQ sux!' etc. > Condescending, patronising emails- just don't bother. > SPAM, obviously. I don't want to reduce my debt or enlarge my penis, thank you very much. ;) Please send all your emails to my Split-Screen address: alan at split hyphen screen dot net. Make sure the subject title is 'Panzer Dragoon Boss FAQ' or it might get filtered into my junk mail or deleted. ---------------------- x)Copyright Information ---------------------- Currently the following sites have my permission to publish this FAQ: www.gamefaqs.com www.ign.com www.honestgamers.com I've changed my mind about Neoseeker- I don't like them. I can't find a way to take my FAQ down since I don't know my account details. At the end of the day, this doesn't have a huge impact, but I would discourage fellow writers from using this website. If you have come across this FAQ on any other site from those listed above, please email me. Copyright 2007-2011 Alan Williamson. This FAQ may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site without permission or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. "RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAIIIIIIIII!"- Dragon noise