Encountering the Virage in The Legend of Dragoon is one of the first times Dart and friends get educated on their world’s ancient lore, and it’s likely the first boss fight that will give you any trouble. The fearsome creature has been half-submerged in the magma of Volcano Villude for more than ten millennia, and according to Rose, is just too angry to die. When two Dragoons cross its path, it pulls itself from the molten rock to crush your party.
Virage – Stats
- HP
Head: 350
Body: 200
Left Arm: 40
- Element
Non-Elemental - Rewards
EXP: 600
Gold: 100
Virage Strategy – What To Look Out For
You’ll notice that the Virage has three body parts available to target: Head, Body, and Arm. Your JRPG experience will tell you to take out any optional parts of the enemy anatomy, but in this battle, you’d be wrong. The Virage’s arm allows it to use a physical strike that deals relatively low damage. Destroying the arm takes this attack out of its rotation of moves, limiting it to tactics you’d rather not be on the receiving end of. Leave that arm alone!
Two abilities you’ll want to be aware of are a laser beam from its head that deals high damage to a single party member, and a wave of status ailments that hits all of your characters. Your party will only be inflicted with one status effect each, and none of them will ruin your day unless you’ve let your health fall below safe levels. You can use Mind Purifier or Body Purifier items to fix any of these if you don’t want to wait them out. Dart or Rose can transform into Dragoons to clear any afflictions they may have.
Virage Strategy – What To Do
The best characters to take into your boss battle with the Virage are Dart, Rose, and Lavitz. Dart and Rose’s Dragoon forms can heal status ailments and amplify their damage, and Lavitz is a better striker than Shana. Focus all of your party’s attacks on the Virage’s head, make sure you’re nailing your Additions, and don’t let up except to defend/heal before any character’s HP gets low enough that they’re at risk of death from another hit. Defending is best used if a character is close to death; have that character defend and another party member use a Healing Potion on them. You’ve got this! Upon defeating the creature, you’ll be rewarded with a trophy for your efforts.
After The Battle
While I wouldn’t normally think anyone needed hints for what to do after a boss fight, I’d be remiss if I didn’t leave you with one additional tip. Heal your party after this battle and save before you continue on! Despite playing through The Legend of Dragoon several times, I always forget how close the Virage fight is to your next difficult battle. Replenishing your characters’ health is essential to surviving your next challenge.
What about The Legend of Dragoon PS4/PS5 bugs?
Since the Virage has no elemental weakness and you don’t want to use attacks that hit multiple targets (you want that arms alive), this battle isn’t any more difficult when accounting for the bugs introduced in the PS Plus release of The Legend of Dragoon. You won’t want to use Dragoon magic, so you’ll make it through this fight with no issues. Don’t be afraid to transform though: you can still use your Dragoons’ physical attacks/Additions with no risk of a soft lock.
The Legend of Dragoon is available now for $9.99 on the PlayStation Store for PS4 and PS5. Users who purchased the game on PS3 or PSP can download the new version for free. It’s also in the Classics Catalog for PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers.