Drake

"I must feed... sate my hunger!"

'''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.

Damage Taken

 * 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.

Rewards

 * Killing the Drake gives a percentage chance of dragon forging equipment depending upon enhancement level of the equipped gear. (The equipment must have at least one level of enhancement for it to be dragonforged).
 * When a Dragon Horn is destroyed, Pawns will declare "The horn is destroyed!" and a piece of Dragon Horn will drop.
 * Destroying the wings causes Pawnsto 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, a Great Dragon Alula may by obtained by striking its back where the wings intersect if one has not already dropped during the fight.
 * Up to eight various Dragon parts can be obtained from the Drake in a single fight.


 * Having all three dragon tears in your inventory guarantees the Drake will drop a Wakestone (Post-Game Everfall only), and improves the chances of receiving the above drops.
 * The Drake's Tear item drop rate increases substantially in Post-Game.

Tactics

 * 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. Pawns are fully capable of bringing the Drake to one health point and will continue to attack it while waiting for the Arisen to execute it.
 * Strong against Fire enchanted weapons and spells.
 * Immune to being Blind and Tarred.
 * Weak against all Ice based spell elemental attacks, and enchanted weapons - increases damage by +50%, though freezing a drake is not possible.
 * 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.
 * Multi strike skills are good choices to increase the chance of successful debilitation.
 * Repeated attacks to the wings will eventually disable the Drake's ability to fly.
 * The longer a Drake takes damage without inflicting any, the higher the chance that it will Dragon Roar.


 * Vocation specific
 * All classes should consider the use of a rusted weapon to torpor the drake.
 * All physically based vocations climbing up to its heart and attacking is the direct route to defeating a drake. For climbing tips, see Climbing


 * Striders & Rangers & Assassins : useful weapon set-ups and strategies include:
 * Shooting the Drake with a suitably upgradedRusted Bow/Rusted Longbow to inflict Torpor, followed by primary weapon based physical attacks, preferably with an ice enchanted weapon.
 * Multi-arrow strikes such as Fivefold Flurry or Tenfold Flurry combined with Blast Arrows make short work of this battle.
 * Concentration on downing or stunning the dragon, allow attacks on the heart of the grounded dragon - skills with high knockdown are better - the core bow attack loose has better knockdown than the multistrike skills, other specialised 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, when targeting the heart can mortally wound a Drake - pawns have skill with this.
 * The Hundred Kisses based skills, and Gouge are ideal for clinging attacks on the heart.
 * Instant Reset has multiple uses in this fast paced battle.
 * Fighters - the Drake's charge attack can be Perfect Blocked in order to 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.


 * Assassins - The Drake's charge attack can be blocked or countered with Masterful Kill or Clairvoyance.


 * Mystic Knights - Abyssal Anguish,  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 reliably knocks down a Drake.
 * Sorcerers: High Maelstrom works well against the Drake, even more so with a team of Sorcerers spamming High Maelstrom can fell a Drake very quickly. High Gicel does horrific damage to the Drake if it scores a direct hit on the heart.


 * Defensive
 * 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 Dragon, as it's attacks will rapidly kill them anyway.
 * 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.
 * If engulfed in Fire from the Drake's breath attack any shield carried, regardless of blocking, and including Perfect Block, is rendered useless. Only 'invincibility frames' will save the character. 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:
 * The Dragon Roar can be interrupted inflicting enough damage to the heart, before the dragon can fully rear up on its hind legs and initiate the roar. The roar cannot be suppressed by inflicting Silence.
 * The Dragonroar is not effective behind the Dragon, or at great distance.
 * Attacking the mouth during the fire breath attack can interrupt and stagger the Dragon.
 * 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 be grabbed. Move out of the way and revive Pawns that are further away first.


 * Pawn-specific
 * Generally the skills and augments suitable for an Arisen fighting a Dragon are suitable for a pawn.
 * For an offensively orientated non-spellcasting pawn tactics, consider using the Scather inclination to encourage climbing attacks on the heart.
 * When hiring pawn knowledge is important - poor knowledge may cause the pawn to fail to target the heart with its most powerful attacks, and will 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.

== Pawn Bestiary Knowledge == Enemy Specific :
 * 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 paw will stagger it and release the pawn
 * Strike the heart


 * 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.

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.

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)
 * "The seat of god lies beyond..." (death throes)
 * "Am I to die...?" (death throes)
 * "You are not the vessel..." (upon killing the Arisen)
 * "You are not the Chosen one..." (upon killing the Arisen)


 * 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.

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