Originally released way back in December 1999, Legend of Dragoon was a success for Japan Studio. While it didn't quite leave as big of an impact as Square Enix's JRPG catalog, Sony's first crack at the genre was a hit among fans.
Now, Legend of Dragoon has been ported to PS4 and PS5 and is available on PS Premium, making it accessible to a brand-new generation of gamers. While the public desire for a full-blown remake remains strong, releasing a port for modern consoles is still a step in the right direction.
For all those players new to the game, it's a Final Fantasy-esque turn-based RPG where players build a party of three characters and explore the world of Endiness, visiting towns and engaging in battles. Dart, the game's protagonist, is a mandatory party member, but there are plenty of potent combinations that make for a formidable trio of heroes.
8 Dart, Meru, & Kongol
Meru is the game's best magic user, and she'll be showing up a ton in this discussion because she tends to make every Legend of Dragoon team better regardless of who else is on it. In this case, the third team member is Kongol, a character who desperately needs a teammate like Meru to provide support, and would probably see the biggest overhaul in a remake.
That's because Kongol, for all his prowess with physical damage, is painfully slow. That means he'll take longer for his turn to come around, so all that physical damage is offset by being unable to attack as frequently. Meru has spells that will help keep Kongol alive by healing him since he essentially becomes the team tank when he is in the party.
7 Dart, Rose, & Albert
This is a slightly more balanced version of the previous party. While a physical damage character like Kongol, Albert is slightly faster, enough to make a significant difference in combat. He still hits hard and has solid physical defense, although he is weak against magic.
Rose is the support in this situation, but she's less reliant on being a healer and can deal solid physical and magic damage. She's also the fastest character in this party, allowing her to attack more frequently, which means she can sometimes heal a character and then get off an attack before having to face an attack herself. Her backstory is also the most tragic in Legend of Dragoon's long story.
6 Dart, Shana/Miranda, & Rose
With this setup, Dart becomes the party's primary physical damage character, at least until players upgrade Rose a few times. He is flanked by a pair of potent magic users that can either heal him or dish out a variety of elemental attacks to enhance Dart's actions.
Once again, Rose would be the healer of this group, and either Shana or Miranda (depending on what part of the game players are at) would purely focus on dealing magic damage. Shana's Dragoon can heal as well if needed, but it does so much damage it almost seems wasteful to use it for support duties in this case.
5 Dart, Haschel, & Albert
All gas and no breaks is as valid of a way to play Legend of Dragoon as any other, and that's how this party is set up. No dedicated healer, no real magic damage, just speed and physical attacks until the enemy is beaten to a pulp.
This party's one glaring weakness is on defense. Haschel has low defense across the board, and Albert is weak to magic damage, but this can be offset by equipping items that boost both physical and magic defense. The trade-off is the ability to dish out ridiculous amounts of damage from all three characters, to the point that many bosses will simply melt under the onslaught.
4 Dart, Rose, & Meru
The inverse of the last setup, Dart becomes the only physical damage-focused character, with Rose and Meru dealing loads of magic damage at every opportunity; and with Meru's speed, there will be many opportunities.
Rose's defense, much like Haschel's, can be lacking, especially when she first joins the party. However, items can offset this, and Meru's healing spells do a decent job of keeping the party's health up even if they take a lot of damage from attacks. Thanks to Meru's speed, she can replenish her SP through her weaker physical attacks without having to wait for a full round before her next turn, which makes her extremely versatile as a "do it all" party member.
3 Dart, Shana, & Kongol
The ultimate "all-rounder" party, this is a pretty classic setup for a three-character turn-based combat game. Dart is the assault character, Kongol is the tank, and Shana is the support. It isn't perfect, but the group's weaknesses can be offset by items to be virtually nonexistent.
In this case, Shana's "support" role is really just being the character that deals magic damage, which is Shana's forte. With this party, using her Dragoon to heal her teammates would be the ideal course of action, and it isn't as significant of a downside to sacrifice its damage output when Kongol can more than equal it once his turn (finally) comes around.
2 Dart, Haschel, & Meru
As far as the official meta for Legend of Dragoon, this party combo is the best setup in the game. It has the highest speed of any party combo (which can be increased further with items), high physical and magic damage, and both a powerful heal and an ailment cure through Meru's Dragoon abilities.
For new players, this party might be a bit tricky to get a handle on. Both Haschel and Meru have low defense and HP, so while they can dish out a ton of damage, it is relatively easy to get stuck in a loop of needing to constantly heal those two just to keep them alive. Consequently, players might find themselves unable to use their offensive abilities.
1 Dart, Albert, & Meru
Yes, Albert is a tad slow, even with items equipped to improve that stat; even so, this party is virtually unstoppable. Their physical damage isn't quite as high as it would be if Haschel were there, but that much damage is typically overkill anyway. More importantly, the team's magic damage is just as potent as long as Meru is present.
The combination of Albert's defense buff and Meru's team healing can trivialize most battles in the game. Even boss fights tend to go off without a hitch, simply because the enemy can't deal enough damage to outpace Meru's heals and the improved defense of the entire group. This is a party combo that is both beginner-friendly and extremely responsive to experienced players. There's really no downside here.
Legend of Dragoon was released on December 2nd, 1999 for the PlayStation. It became available on PlayStation Plus Premium on February 21st, 2022.