Fans of Sony's PlayStation 1 cult following RPG, The Legend of Dragoon finally had something to celebrate recently. On February 21st, the classic turn-based RPG was ported to both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 as a digital download under the classic games menu. Unfortunately, the game has a very unstable port that needs a lot of work. It crashes quite often and combat voice lines don't always play out (though fixes are on the way). The good news is that The Legend of Dragoon is garnering an audience of new players, and old fans are simply excited to see the PS1 epic finally getting some recognition.
For players new to the JRPG, some of the mechanics can be a little intimidating. The game sports a seven-character party, and each character has their own unique weapons. With Dragoon magic involved, the weapon with the most physical damage isn't always the best option. Players should be careful to read all the effects of their weapons when choosing the best weapon in The Legend of Dragoon.
9 Lance
Near the beginning of The Legend of Dragoon's story, the main protagonist Dart unites with a knight who's become a prisoner of war inside the infamous Hellena Prison. While Dart prefers two-handed broadswords, the knight, Sir Lavitz, is proficient with spears. The Lance can be found in the Marshlands or in Lohan and is the best spear that Lavitz can wield before he leaves the party permanently. The Lance gives a nice boost to physical damage, which is where Lavitz excels. His magical damage and magical defense stats are pretty low, so it is best to use Lavitz as a physical slugger.
Lavitz is replaced by King Albert in the story once he is removed from the party. Though the two share identical stats and use the same weapons, Albert is much faster in his Addition animations. Players shouldn't get too used to Lavitz's stiff spear inputs as Albert will speed up nearly every button press, making some Additions harder to master.
8 Claymore
Like many of the best weapons in The Legend of Dragoon, the Claymore is found on the Moon near the ending stages of the entire game. For players who want to play it safe, this is Dart's highest-damage sword. Dart can also obtain the Soul Eater, which deals significantly more damage than the Claymore, but it comes with the cost of eating 10% of Dart's HP every turn.
For players not looking to need healing all the time, the Claymore is the best physical damage sword for Dart. Unfortunately, it doesn't come with any special effects like SP boosts or magic damage. Dart is the main character of the game, and as such, he has the most balanced stats. The developers made him a true all-around character, so players can choose how they want really want to use Dart. He can be a heavy physical damage dealer, or players can build him for magic damage.
7 Dragon Buster
At first glance, players might think that the Dragon Buster is simply the best weapon in The Legend of Dragoon based on its raw stats. This sword can only be wielded by Rose, the shadowy assassin character of the party. Though the story of the Legend of Dragoon sets up Rose to be one of the most powerful characters in the world, her actual in-game stats, unfortunately, say otherwise.
Rose starts Dragoon far ahead of both Dart and Lavitz when it comes to speed, attack power, and magic attack. As more party members join and the game goes on, Rose slows down a lot, and she actually becomes one of the weakest choices for battle. That said, only she can wield the Dragon Buster, which has the best raw attack of any weapon in the game. Unfortunately, players get this weapon so late in the campaign that it can actually hardly be used for much except the final boss fights.
6 Heavy Mace
This giant hammer is used by the speedy dancer character, Meru, after she joins Dart and his friends on their journey. Meru sports one of the highest speed stats in the game, and her Additions all require rhythmic button presses as if the player were part of her dance routine. Though Meru has some of the lowest HP and physical attack damage in the game, she has the second-best magic attack and defense, and she builds SP quite quickly. SP allows characters to transform into their Dragoon forms, and Meru is much more powerful when in Dragoon form.
The Heavy Mace isn't Meru's strongest weapon, but it has quite a nice effect tied to it. It grants the chance to stun foes in combat, which can be invaluable when facing multiple dangerous enemies. The Heavy Mace can be found in multiple places across the game, including the Glacier, Vellweb, and as a drop from Minotaur enemies.
5 Indora's Axe
The second-strongest weapon in The Legend of Dragoon, Indora's Axe is only obtainable on the Moon. It is the best weapon for Kongol, the final member to join Dart's party and by far the strongest character physically. Kongol possesses the best physical damage and defense of any party member at the cost of having weak magic attack and defense. His speed is also quite low but can be boosted through armor types and accessories.
Boosting Kongol's speed is a great option that becomes even stronger when he is equipped with Indora's Axe. Not only does the axe just do high base damage, but it also has a small chance to instantly kill foes. With boosted speed, Kongol will have more and more chances to instantly wipe a foe from combat in one turn!
4 Halberd
The Halberd is the best spear-type weapon that can be used by Albert. Though his speed is low, it isn't as low as Kongol's, so Albert will benefit even more from speed-boosting items. Combined with the Halberd's great physical damage, Albert can become a high-damage dealing tank.
This combination is especially useful for the final boss and is one of the reasons why Albert is considered "meta" to bring to the end of the game. Players should practice Albert's Additions before tackling any major boss, as some of his moves are quite hard to pull off thanks to the speed of his strikes and his overall flashiness in combat.
3 Destroyer Mace
This knuckle weapon is used by Dart's grandfather, Haschel. Haschel is a martial artist with very high speed and great physical and magical attacks. His HP is lower than other party members along with his defensive stats. He is a pure offensive character, and players using the Destroyer Mace will see his lacking defense and HP as an opportunity, not a detriment.
This weapon's effect is that it does more damage the lower Haschel's health is. This means that in critical conditions, Haschel can be the largest damage dealer in the entire party. This can combo very well with some of the defensive magics in the game or with quick recovery spells from Shana and Miranda should his health drop too low. For players looking to live dangerously as pure offensive machines, the Destroyer Mace is one of the best weapons in the game.
2 Fairy Sword
Though not Dart's strongest sword physically, the Fairy Sword comes with the massive bonus of generating 50% more SP with every attack. SP charges the meter necessary to transform into Dragoon form, where a character's stats are massively buffed. Dart has some of the best offensive magic and Dragoon abilities in the game, so more time spent as a Dragoon is always good.
Players who struggle with the Additions can also make great use of this sword by sticking to some of the easier Additions like Burning Rush while still generating huge amounts of SP per attack.
1 Arrow of Force
Though many might see Shana or Miranda as the weakest characters in the game, the reality is quite different. Miranda is the only archer who gets to use the Arrow of Force, as Shana is missing from the party when it is obtained in Ulara. Like the Fairy Sword, the Arrow of Force grants Miranda a bonus 50% SP gain with each attack. Miranda cannot do Additions because of her role as an archer, which leads to the lowest physical damage in the game.
Don't fret though, because Miranda's magic attack stat is the best in the game. Just using magic items from the inventory is enough to wipe strong foes off the map. If this doesn't work, then Miranda's Dragoon form with boosted magical attack surely will. Miranda's magic is mostly used to keep the party alive with powerful healing spells, but never doubt her ability to completely destroy foes with basic magic attacks.
Legend of Dragoon was released in 2000, and the game is available to play on PS1, PS3, PS Vita, PS4, and PS5.