Dragon Expansion Strategy Guide

[Artaterxes]

Hi everyone. My favourite expansion, The Dragon, is coming up next, so I thought I’d write a little strategy guide for newer players. This guide is written based on my experience with the physical board game, so (not being a beta tester) I can’t say if the Digital Edition will be identical, but I can't see it straying too far.

Anyhow, The Dragon can be confusing and complex, but hidden beneath is a rather surprising layer of strategy. Depending on the Alternative Ending there can be a few ways to play, but what I wrote below is for the standard mode of the game.

THE DRACONIC LORDS
The three Draconic Lords – Varthrax, Grilipus, and Cadorus – are fighting amongst themselves for control of the Crown of Command. All three reside on the Crown of Command space but only one wears the Crown at any time. Throughout the game, the Crown passes back and forth among the Draconic Lords. When a character reaches the Crown of Command, the character fights whichever Draconic Lord is wearing the Crown at that moment – also known as the Dragon King.

THREE POSSIBLE FINAL BOSSES
Each Draconic Lord has different Strength and Craft values. You will only have to defeat one Draconic Lord to win the game, but since the Dragon King keeps changing even as you traverse the Inner Region, you cannot predict your final opponent. You will have to plan your game such that you are prepared for any of the three Draconic Lords. (When a character is locked in battle against the Dragon King, the Draconic Lords stop fighting with each other and the Crown temporarily stops changing heads.)

Dragon Rage: Sometimes, a Draconic Lord (usually the Dragon King) will unleash Dragon Rage: an effect that forces you to sacrifice something – a Follower, Object, or Spell, depending on the Draconic Lord – or lose a life if you cannot. During the final fight, every time you lose a round of combat against the Dragon King, you will suffer Dragon Rage in addition to losing a life.

DRAGON SCALES
Each character draws a token at the start of every turn which usually is a “dragon scale.” A scale is a picture of one of the three Draconic Lords and represents a surge in that creature’s power. The scales are tracked off the board and when three of one kind have accumulated, that Draconic Lord becomes King (if he is not already). Additionally, when the third scale of one kind is drawn, a matching scale is placed on the space of the character who drew it.

As a result, the boards slowly start to accumulate scales, concentrated especially in Regions where characters spend the most turns. Landing on a space with a dragon scale allows the character to challenge that Draconic Lord and draw a card from his deck – this is an optional challenge unless that Draconic Lord happens to be King. In that case, the dragon scale must be challenged.

Remember, challenging a scale will always add a new card to the space, no matter how many cards already exist there. Then, you encounter all cards on the space, including the new one. So if you challenge the scale, draw a powerful Enemy and lose, don’t challenge the scale again when you land there next! Simply encounter the space and the existing cards.

THE DRAGON DECKS
The Dragon decks each reflect the personality and theme of the Draconic Lord. From a strategic standpoint, the decks contain specific Enemy types that a character can use to prepare for the final boss. Also, when an Enemy from a Dragon deck is killed, the character claims the scale on the space. The space is not only cleared of a threat, but each scale adds 1 to the attack scores when fighting creatures from the matching Dragon deck – including the Draconic Lord himself. Dragon scales remain with you even if your character dies. A dragon scale can also be sacrificed to negate Dragon Rage.

Varthrax: The red-colored Draconic Lord Varthrax is aligned with physical power. He kills Followers with Dragon Rage and, as a final boss, is stronger in battle than psychic combat (Strength 14, Craft 10). Importantly, all Enemies from the Varthrax deck fight with Strength.

Grilipus: The green-colored Draconic Lord Grilipus is aligned with magical power. He siphons Spells with Dragon Rage and, as a final boss, is stronger in psychic combat than in battle (Strength 10, Craft 14). Importantly, all Enemies from the Grilipus deck fight with Craft.

Cadorus: The gold-colored Draconic Lord Cadorus is balanced between physical and magical power. Cadorus adores treasure and steals Objects with Dragon Rage. As a final boss, Cadorus is equally strong in battle as in psychic combat (Strength 12, Craft 12). Enemies from the Cadorus deck can fight with either Strength or Craft.

STRATEGIES
Strength-Based Characters: Seek Out Varthrax Scales
A character focusing on Strength will seek out Varthrax dragon scales, fight in battle, and increase Strength. By defeating Enemies from the Varthrax deck, the character will also accumulate Varthrax scales and attack bonuses against Varthrax’s Enemies (and Varthrax himself). Future battles against Enemies from the Varthrax deck will become easier and easier. A Strength-based character would want to fight Grilipus in battle (Strength 10), but should the character be unlucky and encounter Varthrax (Strength 14), the attack bonuses from the Varthrax scales will help compensate for the Dragon King’s higher Strength. In summary, if a Strength-based character focuses on hunting Varthrax scales, the character will be prepared for either Varthrax or Grilipus.

Craft-Based Characters: Seek Out Grilipus Scales
A character focusing on Craft will seek out Grilipus dragon scales, fight in psychic combat, and increase Craft. By defeating Enemies from the Grilipus deck, the character will also accumulate Grilipus scales and attack bonuses against Grilipus’s Enemies (and Grilipus himself). Future battles against Enemies from the Grilipus deck will become easier and easier. A Craft-based character would want to fight Varthrax in battle (Craft 10), but should the character be unlucky and encounter Grilipus (Craft 14), the attack bonuses from the Grilipus scales will help compensate for the Dragon King’s higher Craft. In summary, if a Craft-based character focuses on hunting Grilipus scales, the character will be prepared for either Varthrax or Grilipus.

Using this strategy, characters will usually be prepared to fight Cadorus as well, but characters should also try and challenge the Cadorus deck from time to time, especially for reasons listed below.

THE INNER REGION AND CADORUS
The Inner Region – whether you use the Dragon Realm or the Dragon Tower – requires you to have a lot of Strength and Craft. The Dragon Realm is modelled closely after the classic Inner Region except each pathway requires both Strength and Craft – and a lot of it. For about a 50% chance of success, one pathway requires about 13 Craft (base) and 10 Strength (in battle only), while the other path requires about 13 Strength (base) and 7 Craft (in psychic combat only). In the Dragon Tower you will draw nothing but Dragon Cards from the King’s deck – which keeps changing as you climb.

So you will need both good Strength and Craft. This is where Cadorus comes into your strategy. The Cadorus deck contains enemies with both Strength and Craft. If you defeat one, you will gain a Cadorus scale which will, as usual, add 1 to your attack score against Enemies from that deck. The scales will help you fight Enemies in your weaker mode of combat and claim trophies to improve your weaker stat.

Example: You are a Strength-based character and challenge the Cadorus deck. You draw an Amber Dragon (Strength 7) and kill it. You claim the Cadorus scale. You challenge the Cadorus deck again and draw a Copper Wyvern (Craft 5). You’re forced to fight it in psychic combat, but since you have +1 from your Cadorus scale, your chances are better.

Well let's have some fun when the expansion comes out!

[Simon]

Thanks so much for this because it’s completely new to me.

[Matchan]

Nice of you to take the time to type this for da digital version community

[sgc1994]

When is this going to be released?

[The Rotten]

Nice guide here and also... nice cheating in Dark Souls, Artaterxes.

[Gilga ™ |Yonaguni|]

Originally posted by optiores:

Nice guide here and also... nice cheating in Dark Souls, Artaterxes.

How is this relevant to the topic, anyway i love when people with a private profil are insulting other player, or in your case are calling other people cheater!

[The Rotten]

Originally posted by Gilga™:

Originally posted by optiores:

Nice guide here and also... nice cheating in Dark Souls, Artaterxes.

How is this relevant to the topic, anyway i love when people with a private profil are insulting other player, or in your case are calling other people cheater!

Then maybe you'll explain to me how did the OP get the achievements for beating 4 end game bosses in under two hours?

[Gilga ™ |Yonaguni|]

Originally posted by optiores:

Then maybe you'll explain to me how did the OP get the achievements for beating 4 end game bosses in under two hours?

How is this your buisness?

What do you even care about the achievements from a stranger on Steam, do you have no other issues to worry about?,

Anyway really be carefully who you call a cheater (otherwise you might look like a troll), you have no clue if this Achievements are earned in offline mode or what ever.

[The Rotten]

Originally posted by Gilga™:

Originally posted by optiores:

Then maybe you'll explain to me how did the OP get the achievements for beating 4 end game bosses in under two hours?

How is this your buisness?

What do you even care about the achievements from a stranger on Steam, do you have no other issues to worry about?,

Anyway really be carefully who you call a cheater (otherwise you might look like a troll), you have no clue if this Achievements are earned in offline mode or what ever.

It is my business if somebody shows his stats publicly. Yeah, these are the consequences of showing your stats to others - anybody can see them. And you still haven't answered my question. If you cannot I strongly suggest you stay silent.

[Gilga ™ |Yonaguni|]

Originally posted by optiores:

It is my business if somebody shows his stats publicly. Yeah, these are the consequences of showing your stats to others - anybody can see them. And you still haven't answered my question. If you cannot I strongly suggest you stay silent.

This irony, OP created a great tutorial, he is helping new players and shows a nice altitude, then you jump into this thread and call him a cheater (just because of some achievementsm get a life), to face it that is all you are doing.

You are hiding yourself behind a private profil and all you are doing is to troll the OP, you have no right to show this behavior.

You should read the forum rules, you are not allowed to start a witch hunt, you will collect now reports!

[The Rotten]

Originally posted by Gilga™:

Originally posted by optiores:

It is my business if somebody shows his stats publicly. Yeah, these are the consequences of showing your stats to others - anybody can see them. And you still haven't answered my question. If you cannot I strongly suggest you stay silent.

This irony, OP created a great tutorial, he is helping new players and shows a nice altitude, then you jump into this thread and call him a cheater (just because of some achievementsm get a life), to face it that is all you are doing.

You are hiding yourself behind a private profil and all you are doing is to troll the OP, you have no right to show this behavior.

You should read the forum rules, you are not allowed to start a witch hunt, you will collect now reports!

Boo-hoo. Then please do. It's quite amusing that this comes from a person that's been accussed of trolling multiple times on Talisman:DE forum and was banned from the beta team for some reason.

[Gilga ™ |Yonaguni|]

Originally posted by optiores:

Boo-hoo. Then please do. It's quite amusing that this comes from a person that's been accussed of trolling multiple times on Talisman:DE forum and was banned from the beta team for some reason.

And now you are insulting and trolling me, what a poor soul you are.

[Artaterxes]

I'll answer your question.

I don't cheat in Dark Souls, or in any other game. What I do is play offline to avoid getting invaded. I've beaten Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, Bloodborne, and (almost) Dark Souls III, all without cheating - but also all offline. I've never invaded anyone, and neither do I get invaded, nor summon help.

It could be that when I log into Steam, it doesn't count my offline hours. I don't know.

The reason I don't know is because I never paid attention. I'm not an achievement hunter. I don't care about them. I take what comes my way. If an achievement unlocks while I'm playing the game normally, great. Same as materials, souls, whatever. I don't achievement hunt, and I don't farm materials. It's why I don't have all the achievements for Talisman.

If I truly was a cheater in Dark Souls, I would likely be cheating against other human players as well. And I've never invaded anyone, not even once.

So I would appreciate if you be careful about calling people out for cheating without proof. And thanks for backing me up there, Gilga.

[Gilga ™ |Yonaguni|]

Originally posted by Artaterxes:

It could be that when I log into Steam, it doesn't count my offline hours. I don't know.

Offline hours do not add up to the total playtime on Steam (only exeption is that Valve is collecting this data for refunds)

Like i said many games also give achievements while playing offline, anyway a really nice tutorial, lets hope the beta crew did a good job, and we will finally enjoy this DLC.

[vidal22]

Originally posted by Gilga™:

Originally posted by Artaterxes:

It could be that when I log into Steam, it doesn't count my offline hours. I don't know.

Offline hours do not add up to the total playtime on Steam (only exeption is that Valve is collecting this data for refunds)

Like i said many games also give achievements while playing offline, anyway a really nice tutorial, lets hope the beta crew did a good job, and we will finally enjoy this DLC.

:funnycube:

exactly

[Fomalhaut]

For anyone not familiar with the Dragon expansion this is definitely recommened reading. The Dragon expansion is one of the most complex, difficult and fun expansions. It comes with a ton of brilliant art, two new inner regions, a load of endings and the new characters are some of the best in the game. It will be hard to wrap your head around initially but it is absolutely one of the expansions you will have most fun with.

Thanks for the guide, Artaterxes, and congrats on beating Demonbourne in under two hours.