Dragon Force -- beginner tips

[Le Roi]

Can anyone give me a few tips for starting out with Dragon Force?

I've read a full guide/FAQ and played for an hour, so I think I understand a few basics:
- Deploy generals to castles to take them over
- Recruit by sending generals to castles with men
- Use a different troop class depending on the type of enemy e.g. mages, soldiers etc.
- Different formations should be used e.g. split up soldiers vs a mage

However, in each of my fights my troops have been decimated, forcing me to go to a duel.

I've started out as Junon. Any pointers for winning battles without huge losses of soldiers?

[linkt101]

Dragon Force is one of those hard to learn, but easy to master games. One of the most important tips I can give you is to pause the game in the overworld. So you can see and do everything at the same time. 90% of the skill in this game comes not from strategic decisions made during battle, but knowing when to pick and choose your fights. The game rewards caution over boldness and will punish those who have the "backing down is a sign of weakness" mentality. In terms of fighting strategy. If you're outnumbered stick to a defensive strategy. If you're up against archers/mages or small army. Use a double envelopment strategy.

[caseh]

Best starting character is probably Wein if memory serves me right. Make sure you have the unit +/- sheet to hand, it's at the back of the manual. Part of winning is knowing which units you should be putting into battle.

The sooner you can find dragons the better, I think they are only weak against one other unit. Also buff the shit out of your main general, the final battle is 1vs1 and it will come down to having a strong general.

Have you put the CD into a PC yet? There's a .txt file with a little message for you where you should prepare to lose a month of your life playing the game.

[Le Roi]

Haha cheers guys. I played a few hours today and I'm getting the hang of it.

It seems the kind of game that can take over your life, alright. Really enjoying, will post a review at some point.

Didn't know about the .txt file, but I love the page in the manual where someone was clearly working late and had stopped giving a fuck -- the one that explains "sound can be listened to in stereo (spank me!) or mono (never mind!)."

[bradcap1]

As I recall, samurai absolutely slaughter dragons. Same goes for archers and harpies.

[sych]

If I recall Wein was the most balanced captain. His right hand man, I think his name is Rudger is excellent. Many early battles were won using him to clear out the enemies. Very effective in duel circumstances too. I echo what everyone says about the Dragons, very effective with all types of enemies minus Samurai's. The magicians are quite effective too. With the magicians I usually deploy a very small amount to attack and about 85% on defence so they can just throw their projectiles from afar.

[Le Roi]

Ok so it turns out Dragon Force NTSC-US isn't 100% compatible with a PAL Saturn + Action Replay 4 in 1.

I posted the issue in the hard wired sub forum. Keep getting a black screen of death.

I requested a refund off the seller, but I might actually keep it now. There's nothing wrong with the disc and I paid way less than the going rate. Will probably be able to sell at a profit.

Shame as I fucking love the game!

[linkt101]

Isn't the PAL version of the game much cheaper? As far as I understand, the PAL version wasn't optimized, but will play correctly when you use the 50/60hz switch.

[sych]

That's what I thought. PAL Dragon Force is usually cheaper than the US version. You must have got the US version super cheap then. Its seriously worth considering fitting your Saturn with a 50/60hz switch because this problem will rear it's ugly head again with other NTSC games played on PAL Saturn. There are a few NTSC games that just don't like being played in 50hz.

You don't need to return the game, just get your PAL Saturn modded. It's a worthy investment in the long run, especially if you want to continue to run NTSC games on a PAL Saturn.

[NeoGeoNinja]

Aug 7, 2016 21:12:37 GMT sych said:

You don't need to return the game, just get your PAL Saturn modded. It's a worthy investment in the long run, especially if you want to continue to run NTSC games on a PAL Saturn.

^This.

Just get a "switchless' mod done on your Saturn and:

1) You'll never look back and
2) You'll wonder why you never did it all along

It enables you to switch between 50/60Hz on the fly and a colour changing LED tells you which region your console is set to.

Sort it

[Le Roi]

Ok cheers guys. Saved my weekend.