The Old Warden's fight
More guidesSeven crystals on a dragon's back, seven friends on seven plates, and one heart to calm.
Picture it. Seven friends on the top of the Dragon Tower. Seven crystals on the back of the oldest dragon in the world have gone dark. Seven rune plates glow under seven pairs of feet. Then the Sevenfold Seal closes with a ring of light, the shield round the dragon's heart breaks, and everyone shouts at once: now!
That is the hardest fight in TATAZO, and nobody has ever won it alone.
Who is waiting up there
Aurendrake, the Old Warden (level 130) sleeps on the arena at the top of the Dragon Tower. It is a noble old guardian, not a monster. It chose, long ago, to split its strength into seven wards so that no single hero could ever carry all of it. Each ward lives in one of the seven crystals along its spine, from the red one behind its head to the green one over its tail:
| Crystal ward | Fires | Element | Weak to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ember Ward | fire | Fire | ice |
| Rime Ward | frost | Ice | fire |
| Storm Ward | lightning | Energy | earth |
| Thorn Ward | venom | Earth | energy |
| Night Ward | shadow | Decay | holy |
| Tide Ward | steam | Physical | energy |
| Dawn Ward | light | Holy | decay |
Each crystal glows in its own colour, has its own health bar, and shrugs off its own element. Hit it with its weak spot and it falls much faster.
How the fight works
- Wake it. Step onto the arena and the dragon lifts its head with a roar.
- Bring a crystal down. Point at a crystal and strike it. The high ones by the neck can still be reached from the floor: stand close beside the dragon's side and swing. Bows, spells and thrown things reach every crystal from further out.
- Watch the bolts. A crystal brightens for 1.4 seconds and a glowing cone lights the floor, pointing at someone. Then the crystal fires a bolt of its element about 12 m along that cone. Step out of the cone.
- Seal it. A crystal brought to zero goes dark, and its rune plate on the arena's rim lights up in the same colour. Stand on the plate for 6 seconds and the crystal turns to grey stone. Nobody on it for 20 seconds? It glows again at full strength.
- Keep it. The stone holds only while someone keeps standing on its plate. You may hop off for up to 5 seconds to dodge. Red light flickering through a stone crystal means its plate stands empty: get back on it.
- Break the shield. When all seven crystals are stone and all seven plates are kept at the same moment, the Sevenfold Seal closes. The shield round the heart, under the dragon's belly, shatters for 25 seconds. Everyone strike the heart! Then the crystals light up again and you do it once more.
Seven plates, each needing its own keeper, means six players can never close the seal, however strong they are.
The dragon's own moves
- The tail whirl. A ring of the floor glows round the dragon while it lifts its tail. Then it whirls round once, and its tail sweeps everything up to about 7 m away. Jump as it passes, or step out of the glowing ring.
- The wing buffet. It raises its wings high, then beats them down. Everyone within 16 m is thrown outward. The battlements stop most falls.
What you can do to win
- Bring seven or more. Seven to keep the plates, and anyone extra to strike, heal and cover.
- Split the jobs. Strong hitters stand beside the dragon's side and bring crystals down. Keepers wait by the rim, ready to jump on a plate the moment it lights.
- Bring many kinds of damage. Each crystal is weak to a different element (the table above). A group with fire, ice, energy, earth and holy light is far faster than seven swords.
- Save your best for the heart. It holds the big health pool (100,000), and holy light hurts it a little more.
- It pays as it goes. Everyone on the arena earns XP every time the seal closes, so even a long fight is worth it.
Agree who keeps which plate before you step onto the arena: seven names, seven colours. Keepers call out "Ember kept!" and "Storm kept!" as they go. When the last one is called, the hitters turn to the heart.
When the heart is calm
The old dragon bows its great head, settles down and falls asleep, sealed, with golden runes drifting round it. Every hero gets a legendary roll and a Warden Scale, and the whole world hears their names. It stirs again 2 hours later (real time), waiting for the next seven friends.
Where next
To climb the tower you need the Sevenfold Seal: finish Seraphine's Tales of the Dragon-Keeper in the village (see Quests). The full numbers are on Bosses, and the legend is The Dragon Tower. To get ready, read Combat and elements for the weak spots, Level sync and parties for playing as a group, and The gear ladder for the gear worth bringing.