Template:Sideicon Template:Enemy The Grand Dragon is a dragon-type enemy from Final Fantasy IX. It can be found at Popos Heights on the Mist Continent (can be entered via Gizamaluke's Grotto), Cazedil Plains on the Outer Continent, Lanar Island—which is near the Qu's Marsh on the south end of the Forgotten Continent—and Sacrobless Island on the Salvage Archipelago.
Stats
Template:FFIX Enemy Stats
Battle
Grand Dragon's high stats make it one of the most difficult regular enemies in the game. Its Thundaga spell can instantly KO the party if their levels are not high enough. It can also inflict Venom with its Venom Breath.
Grand Dragons are susceptible to instant death, Heat, Freeze, Petrify, the Blue Magic spell LV3 Def-Less (which lowers their Defense), and Sleep.
Grand Dragons are weak against Ice.
Strategy
To counter Thundaga, the party can either equip Coral Rings or use the Auto-Reflect ability. When cast on the entire party and reflected, Thundaga can do around 5,000 Hit Points worth of damage. To nullify the effect of Venom Breath, the party can equip the Antibody ability. Distract will help Zidane, Steiner and Freya evade Poison Claw.
Quina's Level 5 Death (learned from Whale Zombies, Stropers, and Dracozombies) is a quick way to defeat a Grand Dragon. The Blue Magic Aqua Breath also works well, but only has 50% accuracy. Another good strategy is to inflict Sleep, by either equipping everyone with the Insomniac ability and using Night, or using Zidane's Soul Blade with Ultima Weapon equipped. This will give the party enough time to get ready to attack and prepare for casualties. Grand Dragon can also be petrified using Zidane's Soul Blade with the Sargatanas equipped; this is useful for grinding AP, but experience will not be gained, nor will the victory count towards powering up Freya's Dragon's Crest
Grand Dragons can be encountered early when the party goes through Gizamaluke's Grotto, which has a route that leads to the upper plateaus of the Mist Continent. The player's best chance of felling a Grand Dragon so early would be to use Quina's Limit Glove learned from a Mandragora near a forest close to Chocobo's Forest, or Mustard Bomb learned from Bomb in the forests on the plateau near Lindblum. Limit Glove deals fixed 9999 damage when Quina is at 1 HP. Then Quina can either eat it, or perform any attack to finish it off. Mustard Bomb inflicts Heat, which will instantly kill the Grand Dragon on its next turn.
The same party can return to Gizamaluke's Grotto after the Treno events where Dagger's party can purchase a Reflect Ring from the Auction House. With everyone equipped with Auto-Reflect and Antibody, only Poison Claw can damage the party, and only a single member.
Grand Dragon can give a lot of EXP making it a useful grinding spot early on.
Tetra Master
Template:FFIX Tetra Master
Gallery
Etymology
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, which is featured in the myths of many cultures.