Dragoon

Final Fantasy XI artwork

Dragoon (Japanese: 竜騎士, literal translation: Dragon Knight), also known as Lancer, is a recurring character class in the Final Fantasy series, starting with its debut appearance in Final Fantasy II. Notable members of the class include Ricard Highwind (FFII), Kain Highwind (FFIV), Cid Highwind (FFVII), and Freya Crescent (FFIX). Dragon Knights are also occasionally connected to the Wyvern, a winged dragon capable of flight. They are a major plot point in Final Fantasy II, as well as Final Fantasy V and its OVA sequel, Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals.

General information

The Dragon Knight is a skilled warrior class, although they usually cannot wear heavy armor. This Knight's weapons of choice are spears and lances, and their signature skill is a leaping attack. The traditional Dragoon "Jump" command (and its kin) causes the Dragon Knight to launch skyward, usually to remain in the air for the equivalent of one combat round or so. During this time the Dragoon cannot be harmed or even targeted by friend or foe, and is effectively out of the battle. From above, some Dragon Knights thrust downward with their spears, falling upon and skewering their foes. In some incarnations, these warriors choose instead to toss the weapon down from on high, adding the momentum of their fall to that imparted by their throw. Either way, the attack causes approximately twice as much damage as an attack launched from the ground. In addition, the Dragon Knight's speed and skill at handling such potentially unwieldy weaponry allows an experienced Dragon Knight to strike multiple times during one combat round.In rare cases they can inherit powers of dragon and maybe change into one.

Alexander Highwind Tycoon (FFV), though not specifically stated to be a Dragon Knight, shares the common Highwind surname and wears armor resembling the traditional Dragon Knight garb. Cid Highwind (FFVII) and Ward Zabac (FFVIII) are similar to Dragon Knights in that they both fight using a harpoon-style weapons and both characters' limit breaks are aerial attacks ("Jump"-like attacks). Kimahri Ronso (FFX) has abilities from both the Dragon Knight class and the Blue Mage class. An interesting side-note about the character class is that almost all Dragoons (with the exception of the first Dragoon, Ricard) are left-handed. In Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, only Bangaa can become Dragoons.

History

Final Fantasy series

Final Fantasy VI

In Final Fantasy VI the "Jump" skill made an appearance as a special ability conferred by the "Dragoon Boots" relic. Any character capable of equipping the relic found their standard "Fight" command replaced with "Jump," which allowed them a traditional Dragoon-style Jump attack. Unique to this incarnation of the skill was the ability of the "Dragon Horn" relic to, when paired with the "Dragoon Boots", allow any Jumping character two to four successive Jumps. Alternatively, by summoning the Esper called Palidor, all the player characters in a given battle could Jump simultaneously.

Final Fantasy XI

In Final Fantasy XI, Dragoons (DRG) are also able call upon a Wyvern to fight by their side through the DRG ability "Call Wyvern". The ability was originally only available once every 2 hours, in the December 2005 update it was changed to a 20-minute timer, and a new two hour ability called "Spirit Surge" was made available. Spirit Surge greatly enhances all of the Dragoon's stats, as well as giving large amounts of extra HP, MP, and TP. The wyvern cannot be called until Spirit Surge wears off. Depending on the Dragoon's subjob, his Wyvern uses one of three sets of skills: Offensive, Defensive, (healing) or Multipurpose. Dragoons with Defensive-type Wyverns can effectively solo from level 60-75 by equipping the Drachen Armet, which enhances the Wyvern's healing ability. Dragoons have the traditional "Jump" attack along with an improved "High Jump" which does some damage and removes some enmity, and a "Super Jump" which does no damage but removes any current monster enmity from the Dragoon. They can also heal their wyverns by transferring their own HP (Wyverns cannot be targeted by spells like Cure), and have bonuses when fighting dragon-type monsters. In party situations, Dragoons generally fill the role of melee damage dealers.

Kingdom Hearts II

In Kingdom Hearts II, one of the Nobody breeds who are commanded by Xaldin, a member of Organization XIII are the Dragoons. They wield spears, reminiscent of the Dragoon class in the Final Fantasy series of games. They also typically float with one leg bent so that their foot rests near their knee, reminiscent of Kain Highwind's stance. When fighting against Dragoons, Sora can even "learn" the Jump attack through a Reaction Command. Xaldin himself could also be considered a Dragoon, because he wields lances (6 of them), performs the "Jump" technique, and he can combined his lances together to create a large dragon (similar to the ones from Chinese folk tales), which releases a large slicing whirlwind from its mouth.

Game appearances

The Dragon Knight class is a job class in the following games:

• Final Fantasy II
• Final Fantasy III
• Final Fantasy IV
• Final Fantasy V
• Final Fantasy VII
• Final Fantasy IX
• Final Fantasy X
• Final Fantasy XI
• Final Fantasy Tactics
• Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

External links

• Dragoon on BG FFXI Wiki
• Dragoon on FFXIclopedia