-240214-173043.png "Screenshots copyright Square Enix.")
Anchor Link Index
Kefka unleashed many evils when he undid the world, and among them are the Eight Dragons. Appearing only in the World of Ruin, the Eight Dragons serve as optional bosses that populate various dungeons. Unlike other enemies they appear on the map, occasionally moving around, and as soon as you approach one you’ll engage it in combat.
This guide will help you track down and defeat the Eight Dragons of Final Fantasy VI. Each dragon reflects one of the eight elemental properties of Final Fantasy VI, and knowing that property will help you face the Dragons. Defeat all Eight Dragons, and... well, you’ll see what happens. You can fight them in any order, so feel free to hop around this document however you like.
Ice Dragon
HP: 24,400
Weakness: Fire
Found wandering the snow fields beyond Narshe, just before you find the Frozen Esper. The Ice Dragon uses the following attacks:
- Normal melee attacks
- Absolute Zero / Avalanche, Ice spells against your whole party
- Northern Cross, which can inflict Frozen status on your whole party
The Ice Dragon lives up to its name, not only using high-level Ice spells but attacks that can freeze your team members in their tracks. It also likes to counter physical attacks with its own attack, which is moderately powerful.
The Ice Dragon is, predictably, vulnerable to Fire spells, so use out Fira / Firaga or any fiery weapons you have to beat it down. Use Fire on your team if anybody gets Frozen to thaw them out and get them back into the fight. Equip any Ice Shields you have on your party members and this fight should be a breeze.
You’ll receive a Force Shield after defeating the Ice Dragon.
Earth Dragon
HP: 28,500
Weakness: Wind, Water
Found in the Opera House, sitting on the stage. You need to pull the right switch in the cluster of three switches in the right backstage room to fall down to the stage. The Earth Dragon uses the following attacks:
- Normal melee attacks
- Horned Tusk, a powerful melee attack on a single target
- Magnitude 8 / Landslide / Quake, Earth-elemental spells
- 50 Gs, which removes Float status from your whole party
The Earth Dragon specializes in Earth-elemental attacks, all of which hit the entire party. It also has a powerful normal attack, and Horned Tusk can wipe out weaker characters in a single hit.
50 Gs will pull any Floating party members back to the ground, so your best bet for avoiding the Earth Dragon's spells is the Angel Wings relic. You can get these from the Auction House in the World of Balance, so hopefully you already bought a few before transitioning to the World of Ruin. Anyone else should use the Float spell to avoid damage, reapplying it whenever the dragon uses 50 Gs. The Vanish spell can keep your characters safe from the physical attacks. Wind and Water attacks are not especially common, so you'll probably have to rely on neutral attacks to defeat the Earth Dragon.
You’ll receive a Magus Rod for defeating the Earth Dragon.
Red Dragon
HP: 30,000
Weakness: Ice, Water
Found in the Phoenix Cave, not far from the end of the cave, in the chamber with the two buttons where your two parties meet up. The Red Dragon uses the following attacks:
- Normal melee attacks
- Eraser, which removes Reflect status
- Fireball / Fira / Firaga, Fire spells
- Flare, a strong, neutral spell against a single target
- Lv. 4 Flare, which inflicts heavy damage to any party member whose level if a multiple of 4
- Flare Star, a strong Fire spell against your whole party
- Southern Cross, which can Freeze a single target
The Red Dragon is a Fire-based monster that relies on fire magic. Early in the fight it will use Fira, and as you do more damage it will switch to Firaga, Flare, Flare Star, and Lv. 4 Flare. Its Eraser attack allows the Red Dragon to negate any attempts at using Reflect on your party. Most attacks draw physical counterattacks from the Red Dragon.
Equip Fire Shields on as many party members as you can before this battle and you'll absorb many of the Red Dragon's attacks as HP. Heal anyone who isn't equipped with a Fire Shield. Otherwise, rely on Ice spells and strong normal attacks to bring the Red Dragon down. If you can get this far into the Phoenix Cave you shouldn't have too much trouble with this creature.
You’ll receive a Murakumo for defeating the Red Dragon. If you bring Strago along he can learn the Lv. 4 Flare Lore from the Red Dragon.
Blue Dragon
HP: 26,900
Weakness: Lightning
Found in the Ancient Castle, in the secret room where you morph the Odin Magicite into Raiden. Inspect the third set of stairs south of the right throne to open its chamber, in the bedroom to the east. The Blue Dragon uses the following attacks:
- A normal melee attack
- A physical attack that drains some MP from one target
- Aqua Breath / Tsunami, Water spells against your whole party
- Flash Rain, a Water / Ice spell against your whole party
- Acid Rain, a Water / Poison spell against your whole party that inflicts Sap
- Slow, which inflicts Slow status on one target
- Rippler, which swaps status effects between the Blue Dragon and a single target
The Blue Dragon is an almost strictly offensive boss that relies on Water attacks, and it will attempt to wash your characters away with a series party-wide spells. Acid Rain inflicts Sap, which gives this battle a bit of a timer, though on the whole it isn't too bad.
The answer here is to use Lightning spells. Thundara / Thundaga are both quite effective against the Blue Dragon, as are physical attacks with a Lightning element. Nothing fancy, just pummel it to death.
You'll receive the Zantetsuken for defeating the Blue Dragon. If you bring Strago along he can learn the Tsunami and Rippler Lores from the Blue Dragon.
Holy Dragon
HP: 18,500
Found in the third treasure room of the Cultists' Tower. The Holy Dragon uses the following attacks:
- A normal physical attack
- Holy, a Holy-elemental spell
- Dispel, which gets rid of beneficial status effects
Despite the difficulty of getting up here, as well as your inability to use anything but magic, the Holy Dragon is a piece of cake. It doesn’t have much HP, its only real attack is Holy - which it uses over and over - and you can waste virtually all of its turns if you have Reflect Rings equipped, which it will attempt to Dispel with no success. So long as you have some moderately-powerful attack magic at your command this is a pretty simple fight.
You’ll receive a Holy Lance for defeating the Holy Dragon.
Storm Dragon
HP: 42,000
Weakness: Lightning
Found in Mt. Zozo by hitting a floor button, opening a chest, and waiting for the dragon to run into you. The Storm Dragon uses the following attacks:
- A normal physical attack
- Wing Saber, a powerful melee attack against a single target
- Leaf Swirl, a non-elemental attack against your whole party
- Wind Slash / Aero, Wind-elemental attacks against your whole party
- Cyclonic, a Wind-elemental attack that reduces your whole party's HP to 1/16 of their former total
The Storm Dragon is one of the most difficult of the Eight Dragons. Not only does it have a very painful physical attack, it likes to use Cyclonic, a spell that reduces everyone to low HP levels, and several group-wide attacks which can wipe your party out if you’re very unlucky.
One person should always be ready to heal while the others go after Storm Dragon with Lightning-elemental attacks. The Storm Dragon likes to counterattack a lot, so don’t waste piddly normal attacks on the creature unless you know they’re going to inflict a lot of damage. Thunder Shields are recommended to negate the Wind-elemental attacks, and if you have one a Minerva Bustier can protect your female party members in the same way.
You’ll receive Force Armor for defeating the Storm Dragon. If you bring Strago along he can learn the Aero Lore from the Storm Dragon.
Gold Dragon
HP: 32,400
Weakness: Water
Found down the middle path in Kefka’s Tower. The Gold Dragon uses the following attacks:
- Normal melee attacks
- Thunder / Thundara / Thundaga / Gigavolt, Lightning-elemental spells
- Reflect, a spell that bounces other spells back at your party when aimed at the Gold Dragon
This is another relatively easy Eight Dragons fight. The Gold Dragon is a Lightning-elemental creature, and its attacks almost universally reflect its nature. At its strongest the Gold Dragon will use Gigavolt to hit one or all of your characters for an admittedly painful amount of damage, but by this point it shouldn’t be enough to one-hit anybody.
The Gold Dragon is specifically weak to Water, making Strago a decent person to bring along if he knows the Tsunami Lore. As long as you avoid using Lightning-elemental attacks of your own, however, you can use whatever you like to trash the Gold Dragon.
You’ll receive the Crystal Orb for defeating the Gold Dragon.
Skull Dragon
HP: 32,800
Weakness: Fire, Holy
Found down the right path in Kefka’s Tower. The Skull Dragon uses the following attacks:
- A normal melee attack
- A melee attack that removes Reflect status
- Will o' the Wisp, which inflicts Fire-elemental damage on a single target
- Doom, which inflicts a countdown timer to a KO on a single target
- Disaster, which inflicts a string of status ailments on a single target
The Skull Dragon doesn't put much stock in causing damage. Instead it attempts to level your party with status ailments and OHKOs, using Will o' the Wisp to do damage and Doom to go for the kill. Every four turns it will use Disaster, which, similar to a Malboro's Bad Breath attack, inflicts a litany of negative status ailments on one character.
The Skull Dragon is another relatively eeasy fight so long as you have protection against status attacks. Equip Ribbons on as many characters as you can. Otherwise it doesn’t do a whole lot of damage, and if you have even a single powerful Fire attack you can smash the dragon to bits in a few turns. Firaga is easily your best and most economical weapon against the Skull Dragon if you’re at a lower level.
You’ll receive a Muscle Belt for defeating the Skull Dragon. If you bring Strago along he can learn the Doom Lore from the Skull Dragon.
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Aftermath
Defeating all of the Eight Dragons earns you the Crusader Magicite, regardless of where you are when you defeat the last one. Crusader is the last piece of Magicite you're likely to get in unexpanded versions of Final Fantasy VI (the original and Pixel Remaster versions, in other words), and is a powerful, double-edged sword, as the summon damages your party as much as it does the opponent's. Use it wisely.
In the later releases of Final Fantasy VI (GBA onward) you will also unlock the Dragons’ Den, an exclusive dungeon that serves as the most difficult dungeon in the game. You should only attempt the Dragons’ Den if you can beat Final Fantasy VI, as the enemies are stronger than the creatures in Kefka's Tower. You'll even get a chance to fight the Eight Dragons again, and they've picked up many new tricks on the second go-around...