Hatchling: the Little Wings Quest
A beginner dragon breeder's guide
Ordinary dragons are rather dim creatures, unlike their elder kin, the Ancient Dragons: fierce, cunning and treacherous, terrifying at a glance and wielding spells that even the mages of the Nine Pentagrams never dreamed of. Fortunately, Ancient Dragons are too intelligent to be tamed, so you will have to deal with the younger ones. To become a dragon breeder you need a little knowledge, a little patience and... lots of free time and money.
Controlling a dragon works the same as controlling a wolf (see Pets: General Information), so let's go straight to the kinds of dragons.
The three kinds of dragons
| Kind | Nature | Role | Fullness per unit of food |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon of Star | very tough scales, sharp teeth; dim-witted, slow and very gluttonous | mini-tank | +7% |
| Dragon of Wind | weaker scales, but a vicious temper and teeth to match | damage dealer | +12% |
| Dragon of Twilight | fragile scales, blunt teeth; smarter than the others, eats the least | the cheapest to raise into a mount | up to 100% |
Dragons of Star are mini-tanks. They have the typical tank special skill Hate - "draw fire onto yourself". Lots of HP and the highest P.Def among the dragons make it an indispensable helper for a mage, and in a critical situation it will help you hold out until the next heal. Its food consumption is directly proportional to the thickness of its scales.
Stats of a young Dragon of Star. You can't pierce armor like that.
Dragons of Wind are damage dealers. Their armor is weaker than the Star dragon's, but their damage is much higher, and their special skill Mortal Blow resembles dagger-user skills. It is useful in any party that needs extra damage, but it is no tank at all: it has too little HP to survive more than 2 hits from a monster.
Stats of a young Dragon of Wind. Teeth like a sharp razor.
Dragons of Twilight have the weakest defense and attack, but moderate HP and need the least food. This makes them the ideal low-cost choice for raising a riding dragon - a strider.
Stats of a young Dragon of Twilight. Didn't eat its porridge!
Feeding
Dragons are gluttons: no wolf can match the appetite of even a small hatchling. And dragon food (Food for Dragonling) is very expensive. Food, weapons and armor for dragons are sold by the Pet Manager.
How to get a hatchling
A hatchling is the reward for the Little Wings quest, which can be taken from level 35. The dragon starts at level 35. You cannot know in advance which dragon you will get, so you may have to do the quest several times - fortunately, that is allowed. Binders of unwanted dragons can be thrown away, kept for later, or sold to those who lack the time or desire to do the quest, let alone several times: the Star dragon you don't need may be exactly what someone else wants.
If you are below level 35, you can simply buy a binder from other players. But remember that a dragon higher in level than you will take most of the experience when hunting.
Walkthrough
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Teleport to Giran. Near Luxor find Pet Manager Cooper and talk to him. |
| 2 | Teleport to Hunter Village, find Wiseman Cronos and talk to him. Choose Regular Egg to receive the Fairy Stone List, or Deluxe Egg to receive the Deluxe Fairy Stone List (see the difference below). |
| 3 | Teleport to Giran and buy the materials. Regular Egg: 10 Coal, 10 Charcoal, 1 Gemstone: D Grade, 3 Silver Nugget. Deluxe Egg: 10 Coal, 10 Charcoal, 1 Gemstone: C Grade, 5 Silver Nugget, 1 Stone of Purity. |
| 4 | Teleport to Dion and run to Cruma Tower. Hunt Toad Lord until you collect 10 Toad Lord Back Skin (20 for Deluxe). |
| 5 | Use SoE. In the magic shop find Maria and talk to her - you receive a Fairy Stone or Deluxe Fairy Stone. |
| 6 | Teleport to Giran, then Hunter Village. Talk to Wiseman Cronos. |
| 7 | Find Guard Byron and talk to him. |
| 8 | Teleport to Ivory Tower and run to the northern entrance of Enchanted Valley; once inside, turn east right away. Find Fairy MyuMyu and talk to her - you receive Juice of Monkshood and a list of 5 dragons. You only need to visit one of them and complete its task (steps 9-13). Use SoE. |
| 9 | Drake Kalibran (northwest of Oren): talk to him to receive the Scale of Drake Kalibran. North of Death Pass hunt Road Scavenger until you collect 20 Egg of Drake Kalibran. Return to the drake to receive the Egg of Drake Kalibran. |
| 10 | Drake Exarion (northwest of Oren): talk to him to receive the Scale of Drake Exarion. West of Oren hunt Leto Lizardman Warrior until you collect 20 Egg of Drake Exarion. Return to the drake to receive the Egg of Drake Exarion. |
| 11 | Drake Zwow (southeast of Elf Village): talk to him to receive the Scale of Drake Zwow. Near Cruma Tower hunt Marsh Spider until you collect 20 Egg of Drake Zwow. Return to the drake to receive the Egg of Drake Zwow. |
| 12 | Wyvern Suzet (north of Giran): talk to him to receive the Scale of Wyvern Suzet. North of Giran hunt Breka Orc Overlord until you collect 20 Egg of Wyvern Suzet. Return to the wyvern to receive the Egg of Wyvern Suzet. |
| 13 | Wyvern Shamhai (northwest of Giran): talk to him to receive the Scale of Wyvern Shamhai. In the Execution Grounds hunt Dead Seeker until you collect 20 Egg of Wyvern Shamhai. Return to the wyvern to receive the Egg of Wyvern Shamhai. |
| 14 | With the egg in hand, teleport to Oren, then Ivory Tower, and run to the northern entrance of Enchanted Valley (turn east right away). |
| 15 | Talk to Fairy MyuMyu - you receive a Dragonflute of Star, Dragonflute of Wind or Dragonflute of Twilight. Quest complete. |
Regular Egg vs Deluxe Egg
- The choice has no effect on the dragon's kind or stats.
- Deluxe also gives you 20 Deluxe Food for Hatchling, and with a small chance a hatchling weapon ("jaws") worth 400,000a.
- With the Deluxe Egg, you must not fight anyone on the way from the dragon to the fairy, or the egg will break.
Walkthrough notes
- Talking to NPCs: choose the QUEST option and click through all dialogues; if no line choice is given, it does not matter (or the description is incomplete).
- "You receive" lists the item you get, but not which items are taken away.
- Quest items usually drop at least 1 per 10 mobs (sometimes it takes 30-50); if it takes longer, you will have to restart the quest.
- Travel: teleports are optional - you can walk. SoE is the Scroll of Escape; in C1 you need the SoE Map patch to know your return point, in C2 you can use the /loc command.
Additional notes
From a guide by the player KaziWren (Gustin server) published on l2db.ru; the data refers to C3-C4.
Dragon skills in C4
| Hatchling / Strider | Role | C4 special skills |
|---|---|---|
| Star Hatchling / Star Strider | mage; extra damage for tanking classes | Bright Burst (hits a monster, similar to Aura Flare) and Bright Heal (heals itself) |
| Wind Hatchling / Wind Strider | tank; a little tank for mages | Wild Stun (damage and stun, like Hammer Crush) and Wild Defense (raises P.Def and M.Def, similar to Ultimate Defense) |
| Twilight Hatchling / Dusk Strider | transport, a "scaly taxi" | none |
- In C4 Star dragons lost the Hate skill and a lot of HP. Twilights have no special attacks and low P.Atk and P.Def; their strengths are cheap transport and low food consumption (one portion fills the whole satiety bar).
- Twilights were thought to be the fastest dragons, but all striders seem to have the same speed.
- In C4 all pets can use beast Soulshots, Spiritshots and Blessed Spiritshots, which make their damage and skills stronger.
Pros and cons
- A dragon is a good hunting partner: for example, a healer is better off letting the dragon take the damage. It also lets you control the experience you get - for example, to keep a Scavenger or Bounty Hunter in a good level range for spoiling.
- In C3 a strider could be turned into a wyvern only by owning a castle; in C4 certain clan halls allow it too.
- Prices on the Gustin server: in C3 a Dusk Strider sold for 20-30 million adena, a Twilight flute for 1-1.5 million, Star and Wind flutes for 100-250 thousand. In C4 an unnamed Star Strider was seen for sale at 90 million because of the new skills.
- Raising a dragon is expensive: Star costs the most, Wind a bit less and Twilight very little. You can feed it by hand or put food in its inventory - it eats on its own at 50% satiety.
- Decent dragon weapons and armor cost about 5 million adena, so many go without, but the gear noticeably speeds up leveling.
- Dragons' physical and magic attack power is disappointing. Going from level 35 to 55 takes from a few weeks of hard play to a few months of casual play.
Leveling tips
- A dragon gets experience in proportion to the damage it deals, not by standing aside, so a weapon helps a lot.
- Pick monsters by the dragon's level, not yours (it starts at 35). Green and white monsters are best; to kill faster, switch to ones that are light blue for the dragon. Avoid monsters with AoE attacks or that attack in groups.
- The best classes for raising a dragon are healers and buffers. Others will need healing potions and attack speed, run speed and casting speed potions.
- Always carry a Blessed Pet Resurrection Scroll: normal resurrection scrolls work too, but the blessed one restores 100% of the lost experience. You have 20 minutes to resurrect the dragon.
- The strider quest can be done after level 55 too: a level 65 hatchling becomes a level 65 strider.
- If the strider is 10 or more levels above the player, its speed is halved; below 50% satiety, mounting and dismounting become a problem. If the strider's level equals yours, its stats are improved.