Drake

"Does doubt haunt you?"

'''Drakes are an astoundingly hardy and powerful adversary, possessing many mighty physical attacks, the means of flight, and will attempt to roast their foes by breathing Fire. All lesser dragonkin can seize control over the will of Pawns for a brief period and then use them against the Arisen. The Drake's chest glows red where its heart resides, which serves as an exploitable weakness.'''

Description
The Red Drake is one of the smaller cousins of the titular Dragon in Dragon's Dogma and is one of the lesser dragonkin encountered in the game.

It is likely that the Drake in Devilfire Grove will be the first dragon encountered by the Arisen in the world of Gransys - after the cataclysmic events following the The Final Battle more dragons appear in Gransys, including other species.

Drakes are similar to their cousins the Wyrm and the Wyvern in that they bear some of the same abilities and characteristics. However, they are differentiated from their cousins by their relation to the Fire element. Accordingly, Drakes bear a natural weakness to Ice based attacks.

Defeating a Drake has a small chance of dragon forging the Arisen's equipment, provided it has at least one level of enhancement.

Information and Stats

 * The Drake takes more damage when it is writhing on the ground with its heart exposed than it does when it is on its feet.

Attacks

 * When a Dragon Horn is destroyed, Pawns will declare "The horn is destroyed!" and a piece of Dragon Horn will drop. There is a horn on either side of the head.
 * Destroying the wings causes Pawns to declare "'Tis grounded, Master!" or "On solid ground, the advantage is ours!", and a Great Dragon Alula will drop.
 * Intact horns can be destroyed after the Dragon is slain, likewise, an alula may by obtained by striking a dead Dragon's back where the wings intersect.

Offensive



 * The heart on the front of its chest is its weak spot.
 * When the Drake is nearly dead the exposed heart must be struck by the Arisen in order to kill it.
 * Concentrate on downing or stunning the dragon - a reeling dragon is more vulnerable to attacks, and its heart can be easily attacked by all vocations.
 * Strong against Fire, and resistant to Burning.
 * Immune to being Blind, Tarred, Drenched, Curse, Petrification and lowered attributes.
 * Weak to ice, and can be partially frozen but not shattered.
 * Vulnerable to Torpor and Poison. A Torpor-debilitated Drake is much easier to climb, dodge and attack. Torpor will last for 25 seconds before the debilitation must be re-inflicted.
 * Repeated attacks to the wings will eventually disable the Drake's ability to fly.
 * Can be silenced, but the debilitation has no noticeable effect.

Vocation specific tactics

 * For all physically based vocations, climbing up to its heart and attacking is the direct route to defeating a Drake. For climbing tips, see Climbing.




 * Of the physical ranged attacks:
 * In terms of knocking down a dragon - the core bow attack loose has better knockdown than the multistrike skills, other specialized skills such as Deathly Arrow, Fearful Din are even more effective; Fracture Dart also so, and has the additional advantage of damaging the wings.
 * The Ranger skill Great Gamble is very effective when used against the Drake's heart.
 * Assassins - The Drake's charge attack, and other physical attacks can be blocked or countered with Masterful Kill or Clairvoyance.
 * Fighters & Mystic Knights - the Drake's charge attack, and other physical attacks can be Perfect Blocked. Perfect blocking a dragon's charge attack may stagger it.
 * Warriors - powerful "single strike" skills are best against the heart, though the Warrior should also consider concentrating on attacks and skills intended to stagger or knockdown the dragon.
 * Mystic Knights - Abyssal Anguish and Great Cannon are both effective against the Drake, especially when used with ice enchanted weapon. Perilous Sigil based spells are a powerful alternative to physical attacks on a downed dragon.
 * Magick Archers - as per other bow users, with the advantage of the ice based Sixfold Bolt. Hunter Bolt also reliably knocks down a Drake.
 * Sorcerers: High Maelstrom works well against the Drake, and with articulacy, the duration and cast time overlap allowing sorcerers to stun lock the drake when placed under the drake's chest, even more so with a team of Sorcerers. High Gicel does horrific damage to the Drake with a direct hit on the heart.

Defensive

 * Beware the Dragon Roar.


 * Prepare for Skill Stifling (Arisen), Possession (Pawns), and for fire damage and burning infliction
 * Though other smaller enemies during a Drake battle may be annoying (such as the Hobgoblins at Devilfire Grove), one tactic is to ignore them and concentrate on the dragonkin, as the Drake's attacks will rapidly kill them anyway.
 * Fire breath:
 * Standing behind a thick tree is a good defensive position. It can render the Drake's Fire Breath harmless and the Roar will not inflict Skill Stifling.
 * Not blocked by any shield carried, regardless of blocking including Perfect Block.
 * Drenched, such as from falling into Lake Hardship, will mitigate against a single breath attack, preventing Burning but not its other effects.
 * The Stability augment is very useful against all Dragonkin. All wind buffeting attacks are nullified, meaning that one cannot be blown over backwards or interrupted while casting spells or charging skills.
 * Wing buffets can also be blocked or Perfect Blocked by a shield or magick shield.
 * The application of one Sobering Wine, or other method to the status of Impervious, will clear all status effects from the party and provide an temporary immunity. This includes On Fire (from its Fire breath), Possession (from its grab attack) and Skill Stifling (from its roar).
 * Several Drake attacks can be interrupted:
 * Attacking the mouth during the fire breath attack can interrupt and stagger the Drake.
 * The Dragon Roar can be interrupted by inflicting enough damage to the heart before the Drake can fully rear up on its hind legs and initiate the roar.
 * After the Drake grabs the player and slams him/her to the ground, it will follow up with a charge attack.
 * The Drake usually uses a grab attack after using the roar. If there are any Pawns near the Drake, do not revive them first or they will likely be grabbed.
 * A sufficiently short Arisen will be able to slip underneath the Drake's legs, giving some degree of protection from various attacks, and easy access to its heart.

Pawn-specific tactics

 * Generally the skills and augments suitable for an Arisen fighting a Dragon are suitable for a pawn.A Strider pawn annihilates a Drake (almost single handed)
 * For offensively-oriented non-spellcasting pawn tactics, consider using the Scather inclination to encourage climbing attacks on the heart.
 * When hiring, pawn knowledge is important - poor enemy knowledge may cause the pawn to fail to target the heart with its most powerful attacks, and instead randomly target one of four critical targets on the Drake (the two horns, the wings, and the heart).
 * To this end, an Arisen may consider concentrating on destroying the horns and wings early on in the battle.
 * Ranger pawns can show greater than human skill with Great Gamble, as well as timed skills like Deathly Arrow.
 * Consider using a Mage pawn with the "auto-resurrecting" Legion's Might staff.
 * Ward against possession either with high possession resistant armor and rings, Placative Brew or other potions, or spells.
 * When the Drake grabs a Pawn and begins possessing them, the move can be interrupted by directly attacking the claw holding the Pawn. Inflicting enough damage to the Drake to stagger it will release the captured Pawn.
 * Alternately, if a Pawn is possessed, the player can negate the effect by going to the equipment menu and unequipping all the Pawn's weapons, at which point the Pawn will be unable to inflict any damage on the Arisen.

Dragon species knowledge

 * Draconian Strategy Vol. 1 - Knocking a Dragon off balance and to the ground will expose its heart.
 * Draconian Strategy Vol. 2 - A Dragon is vulnerable to being staggered or knocked down when it is preparing its breath attack.
 * Destroy the wings to ground them for the remainder of the fight. After knowledge is triggered Pawns will state "'Tis grounded, Master!" or "On solid ground, the advantage is ours!"
 * Destroying the horns drops it as loot which can be picked up immediately. Pawns will yell "The horn is destroyed!"
 * While a Dragon is hovering, attacking its head, heart or wings will knock it to the ground.
 * When a Dragon grabs a pawn and tries to possess it, a strong hit to the dragon's leg holding the pawn will stagger it and release the pawn.
 * Strike the heart.

Drake specific

 * Weak to Ice

In addition to witnessing these techniques, it is necessary for Pawns to participate in killing 15 Drakes either with their own Arisen or while travelling with others.

More information can be found on the Pawn Bestiary Knowledge page.

Kills on Firedrakes also count towards the overall kill count since they are of the same species, but the Firedrake is a much stronger version than the Drake or Special Drake.

Trophies / Acchievements

 * Serpents' Bane

Quotes

 * After defeating The Dragon, a special version of the Drake can be found in the Conqueror's Sanctuary. It has more health than the common drake, and unlike most Dragonkin, it speaks in English rather than Latin.
 * The Drake may shout: "Arisen!" This indicates the Drake has the upper hand in the fight.
 * Latin Quotes:
 * "I am your master now." (when possessing a Pawn)
 * "Slay your master!" (when possessing a Pawn)
 * "Aye, that is the way, chosen one!" (indicates approval of tactics)
 * "Show me your power!" (disapproves of Arisen's tactics)
 * "Such power!" (indicates approval of magick use)
 * "Am I to die...? The seat of god lies beyond..." (death throes)
 * "You are not the vessel..." (upon killing the Arisen)
 * "You are not the Chosen one..." (upon killing the Arisen)
 * "Are you at an end, little one?" (upon the Arisen reviving himself or herself with a Wakestone)
 * English Quotes:
 * "Arh..Ah! ... Who are you?"
 * "I must feed...slake my hunger!"
 * "Your heart, give it here!"
 * "What have I? Ngh? Wauuugh!"
 * "Aye, that is the way, Chosen One!"
 * "Show me your power!"
 * Standard versions of the Wyvern share dialogue with the standard Drake and standard Wyrm.

Trivia

 * During game start-up Drakes can be seen drinking water from the river that serves as a natural border between the Wilted Forest and the Cursewood, as well as roosting on The Ruins of Aernst Castle. These of Dragonkin are not in the game, nor can they be found in those locations.

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