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BREATH OF FIRE
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BREATH OF FIRE
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    Dragon
   Handbook

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That's all the ANSI graphics you get.  Sorry.

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Latest version: July 27, 2000

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This information guide is copyright 2000 DarkStorm, currently raiu (at)
geocities (dot) com.  Do not publish this commercially without my
permission (and I *will* want to be paid for it :). Do not put this FAQ on
your website without contacting me first. Basically, read it all you want,
save it to your hard drive, and enjoy it forever, but don't publish it or
post it to another web page without e-mailing me and asking my permission
(and I can't think of a reason I wouldn't give my permission).  Simple,
neh?

TABLE OF CONTENTS
i. Dragon Forms
        A. Whelp Form
        B. Dragon Form
        C. Warrior Form
        D. Behemoth Form
        E. Hybrid Forms
        F. Pygmy Form
        G. Tiamat Form
        H. Golden Forms (Wildfire, Trygon, Myrmidon, Mammoth)
        I. Kaiser Form
ii. Gene-specific abilities
        A. Flame
        B. Frost
        C. Thunder
        D. Shadow
        E. Radiance
        F. Force
        G. Eldritch
        H. Defender
iii. Miscelleny
        A. Quick-reference Gene List
        B. Dragon hit points
        C. Dragon Breaths Quick-reference List
        D. Dragon Skills
        E. Quick-reference Hybrid List
        F. Unanswered Questions
        G. Tyrant Gene


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I'm writing this because the Dragon Gene System is what sets Breath of Fire
3 apart from most RPGs (sadly, I think the system in BoF4 is going to be
simplified, something more akin to BoF1's list of dragon forms).  I've seen
a few FAQs on where to find the genes and what certain gene combinations
form, but herein I hope to provide a definitive guide to all the dragons
and their uses.   And, make no mistake, there are no 'useless' dragon forms
in this game.

The number in parenthesis is the number of AP needed to use that
ability/spell.  (I'm excluding 'Restore Form' from all these lists, for
brevity's sake).  Breath damage percentages are approximate, and depends on
the opponent's magic defense to some extent. All of them were tested in the
Yrall region, on Goos and Goblins.  Damage is somewhat lower against
enemies in the last area, for example.

Throughout I use "dragon" for any dragon form, and "Dragon" (capital D)
specifically for the forms the game calls Dragon.  Hopefully, this is a
spoiler-free guide, except for minor things (like gene locations).

-------

i. Dragon Forms

These are the powers of the forms, independant of the ability genes spliced
with them, which will be dealt with in a separate section. (So a Whelp
created with the Frost gene will have the general Whelp powers and the
general Frost powers: Blind, Frost Claw, Whelp Breath, Frost Breath)

A. Whelp Form

The most basic and weakest of the dragons. Created by any single gene alone
(exceptions: Force, Miracle, Fusion, Kaiser), or by combinations with only
one 'ability' gene (Flame, Frost, Thunder, Shadow, Radiance, Defender,
Eldritch) and another non-ability gene other than Thorn (Reverse, Mutant,
???, Trance). Reverse + Thorn + an ability gene will also generally form a
Whelp.  Anything but Kaiser spliced with Failure also results in a Whelp,
as does using Fusion with Garr.  Its abilities are slightly higher overall
than Ryuu's (with the exception of Failure and combinations involving
Failure, which provide no boost to hit points at all), but it's much better
than nothing.  Even the weakest of the Whelps has approximately twice
Ryuu's power for normal attacks.

This form comes with the following moves.

Whelp Breath (0 AP; Causes approximately 30% of current HP as non-elemental
damage)
Blind (0 AP; A half-strength attack that has a chance of blinding the target).


B. Dragon Form

Obtained by combining any two ability genes with each other, or any of the
above with Thorn.  Single-elemental dragons (Flame + Thorn, Flame +
Defender, etc) match the color of their element, while mixed-elementals
(Flame + Thunder, Flame + Shadow) are always dark greyish-green in color,
with blue horns, no matter what the elemental mix (except in the cases
where the elements cancel out, leaving the normal-colored green dragon -
Flame + Frost and Shadow + Radiance).

Dragons have the following powers:

DragonBreath (0 AP; Causes approximately 42.5% of current HP as
non-elemental damage)
Snap (0 AP; A half-strength attack that has a chance of lowering the
opponent's defense).


C. Warrior Form

Obtained by using the Force Gene.  Exceptions to this are splicing in
Miracle (forms a Behemoth with Focus), Trance (forms Myrmidon), Failure
(forms a Whelp), Fusion (forms a Hybrid), and Infinity (forms Kaiser).This
form has slightly more hp than a whelp, good power, defense, and great
speed, but no all-enemy-affecting 'breath' attacks (unless an elemental
gene is spliced in.. and since breath-weapons are HP-dependant, you're
better off going with an elemental + Thorn for the HP boost). Splicing in
Reverse actually boosts the Warrior's HP, moreso than adding Gross. His
best ability is Aura, but that 20 AP cost per use means you won't get in
many of them before running out of AP and reverting.  This form is best for
taking on single enemies with lots of HP, especially undead.

A few oddities about this form are that Reverse boosts his hit points,
Thorn *reduces* his hit points, and he doesn't change color to reflect
elemental splicings (e.g., Force + Thunder, Force + Shadow) unless Gross or
Thorn are also spliced in.

Warriors have the following abilities:

Focus (0 AP; Raises attack power by 50% of original.  Two uses brings Ryuu
up to double attack power.  Subsequent uses have no effect)
Aura (20 AP; Holy damage, always critical hits, and raises attack power
like Focus).
Gambit (0 AP; Causes a critical hit, but has a low hit rate)


D. Behemoth Form

Obtained by using the Miracle Gene. Exceptions:  Miracle + ??? forms
Mammoth, Miracle + Failure forms a Whelp, Miracle + Fusion forms a Hybrid,
Miracle + Force + Trance forms Myrmidon, Miracle + Infinity forms Kaiser,
and Miracle + Thorn + Reverse forms Wildfire. Miracle + Reverse forms a
Behemoth with fewer HP than normal.  Miracle + Force forms a Behemoth with
the Warrior's Focus ability.  This form is big, has plenty of hit points
(more than any other form except Mammoth), has good attack and defense
power, and pretty low speed.  It "absorbs" the other party members, leaving
only Behemoth on your side. (This can be an advantage against enemies that
can cause confusion, since a confused character never attacks himself, and
Behemoth has no allies to attack, so the opponent gets the brunt of his
350+ damage normal attack)

The Behemoth comes with the following abilities:

MeteorStrike (0 AP; The closest thing Behemoth has to a Breath attack.
Causes approximately 50% HP damage)
Blitz (0 AP; Makes multiple half-strength attacks against all opponents,
but Behemoth loses half his current HP afterwards)
Charge (0 AP; Does damage based on Behemoth's defense score - and Behemoth
has a good defense)


E. Hybrid Forms

This isn't as straightforward as the previous sections, since there are
*eight* forms called Hybrid: Four normal, four enhanced. I'll just lift the
format directly from my own Super Hybrid FAQ, and go over the movelists for
the normal and enhanced forms of each of the four hybrids, with
explanations following.  The names are mine (hopefully I'm not using
someone else's name for them), as the game calls them all simply "Hybrid".
Moves marked with a * are those added and altered by the new gene. All of
these are formed simply by using the Fusion gene, and (for the super forms)
another gene as specified.

Avian Dragon  + Eldritch Gene  =  Eldritch Avian

Typhoon (7)                       Typhoon (7)
Lightning (7)                     Lightning (7)
Inferno (10)                      Inferno (10)
Blizzard (10)                     Blizzard (10)
Temptation (0)                   *Sirocco (12)
                                 *Myollnir (10)
                                  Temptation (0)

Temptation confuses all enemies and lowers their attack, defense, and
speed, but causes no direct damage.  The other abilities are identical to
Nina's spells of the same name. This form has high speed and magic
abilities, with mediocre attack, and low defense and hp.  It's formed by
pairing Nina with either Garr or Peco

The Eldritch Avian has blue chest feathers and blue wing, head, and (bird)
tail highlights, where the normal Avian has orange.


Knight Dragon  + ??? Gene  =  Golden Knight

Speed (2)                     Speed (2)
Protect (2)                   Protect (2)
Might (4)                     Might (4)
Restore (12)                  Restore (12)
Remedy (12)                   Remedy (12)
Combustion (0)               *Vitalize (20)
                             *Ragnarok (12)
                              Combustion (0)

Combustion drops a bomb on all opponents for major wind/air damage (not
HP-related. I usually get about 600-700 damage average).  The other
abilities are identical to Momo's spells of the same name.  This form has
high attack and defense, average speed and magic abilities, and better hp
than the Avian (but not as much as Dragon form).  This Hybrid can be
created when Momo is paired with Nina or Peco.

As its name suggests, the Golden Knight is gold-colored, instead of the
usual silver.


Winged Tiger + Force Gene = Flame Tiger

Shadowwalk (8)              Shadowwalk (8)
DragonBreath (0)            DragonBreath (0)
Tempest (0)                *Hurricane (0)

Tempest blasts all foes with multiple 'arrows' of wind.  The damage is
about 3/8 (37.5%) of Ryuu's current hp.  Hurricane is identical, but the
'arrows' are golden, and the damage is raised to about 50%.  Shadowwalk
'warps' Ryuu to the selected target, and inflicts insane damage in a single
hit.  This form is the absolute fastest form in the game - you'll be
getting EX attacks against just about everyone - with great attack, okay
defense, and hp identical to the Knight Hybrid.  This Hybid emerges when
Rei is in the party with either Momo or Nina.

The Flame Tiger appears as the Winged Tiger with reddish-orange
fur/skin/scales/whatever and golden wings.


Spiked Onion + Shadow Gene = Shadow Onion

Dream Breath (3)             Dream Breath (3)
Venom Breath (3)             Venom Breath (3)
DragonBreath (0)             DragonBreath (0)
Geo Breath (0)              *Gaea'sBreath (0)

Geo Breath causes damage by having Ryuu plant his tail in the ground and
cause an earthquake (damage is about 3/8 or 37.5%, of Ryuu's hp).
Gaea'sBreath is identical, except the spined growth that rises out of the
ground is golden colored (and damage is 50%). As a bonus, the Shadow Onion
regenerates hp like Peco does (5% of maximum hp per round, starting on the
round of transformation), unlike the regular version.  The other attacks
are the same as Peco's. This form has high attack and defense, lots of hp
(making the breath attacks particularly effective), and low speed.  It's
formed with Peco and either Garr or Rei.

The Shadow Onion is simply a gold version of the normal Onion (but 'Golden
Onion' sounds like a food item).


Be forwarned that combining Garr with either Rei or Momo will result in a
Whelp. (This Whelp is, aside from the gene used to form it, otherwise
normal.  You can add elementals or other effects to it and get the expected
results).


F. Pygmy Form

This is a unique form, created by splicing the ??? and Mutant genes.  Other
genes can be added, but none have any effect (other than Miracle, Fusion,
Failure, and Infinity, which form Mammoth, Hybrid, Whelp, and Kaiser
respectively).  It has incredible speed (second only to the Winged Tiger
Hybrid, I believe) and dodging ability, and low attack, defense, and hit
points (which reduces the effectiveness of its otherwise powerful breath
weapon).  An additional bonus to this form: more squeaking noises than Peco
ever made. Add the adorable "tail-wag" attack animation and this form is
the last word on the adage "cute can be deadly".

This form has only the following abilities:

Magma Breath (0 AP; Fire attack that causes 50% of Pygmy's hp as damage)
Snap (0 AP; A half-strength attack that has a chance of lowering the
opponent's defense - since the Pygmy's attack is so low anyway, this is
useless)
DragonBreath (0 AP; Causes approximately 42.5% of current HP as
non-elemental damage)

G. Tiamat Form

Another unique form, formed with the Shadow and Trance genes.  No other
genes have any effect on this combination, other than the usual Fusion,
Failure, and Infinity (which form a Hybrid, a Whelp, and a berzerk Kaiser).
This form has above-average stats all around, and appears to be immune to
status changes (blindness, poisoning, confusion, instant-death spells, etc)
- at least, I've never seen a status-changing ability work on Tiamat
(Status ailments that were in effect before the transformation are still
there).  This form, like Behemoth/Mammoth, combines the entire party.
Cheap AP cost to transform and maintain (only 13 AP, 7 AP per round). This
is one of my favorite forms. It lacks the 'punch' to take on bosses (though
Tiamat's normal attack hits hard), but it's a great general-purpose enemy
killer.

Doom Breath (0 AP; Causes approximately 50% of current HP as non-elemental
damage. And considering that Tiamat has two and a half times Ryuu's normal
hp, this is usually a significant attack, often dishing out 200-300 damage)

Venom Breath (0 AP; Attempts to poison all targets.  Same as Peco's breath
attack)
ShadowBreath (0 AP; Attempts to simply kill all targets.  Useless on
undead, usually useless on machines)

H. Golden Forms

These are special, enhanced forms of the basic four forms (Whelp, Dragon,
Warrior, Behemoth).  They are golden-colored (yellow-orange with orange
horns) versions of their counterparts.


Wildfire, the Golden Whelp, is Miracle + Thorn + Reverse. This form has a
ludicrously small amount of hp, making breath attacks all but useless, but
above-average everything else, including a nearly 100% Reprisal rate. It
also costs a lot of AP (27, which is a lot when the form is first
available).  Its attacks are:

Whelp Breath (0 AP; Causes approximately 30% of current HP as non-elemental
damage. As just stated, Wildfire's hp is pathetic, so this attack will do
10-15 points of damage at most - assuming you're at level 50 or above and
fighting enemies with no magic resistance whatsoever)
Charge (0 AP; Does damage based on Wildfire's defense score - Wildfire's
defense is higher than one might expect, so this attack does a surprising
amout of damage)


Trygon, the Golden Dragon, is formed by splicing Flame + Frost + Thunder.
This form is above average in all stats and abilities, and appears to be
completely immune to fire, ice, and lightning attacks.  It has nothing but
breath attacks and Snap:

Flame Breath (0 AP; Causes approximately 33.3%, or 1/3, of current HP as
fire damage)
Frost Breath (0 AP; Causes approximately 33.3%, or 1/3, of current HP as
ice damage)
ThundrBreath (0 AP; Causes approximately 33.3%, or 1/3, of current HP as
lightning damage)
DragonBreath (0 AP; Causes approximately 42.5% of current HP as
non-elemental damage)
Snap (0 AP; A half-strength attack that has a chance of lowering the
opponent's defense)


Myrmidon, the Golden Warrior, is the combination of the Force and Trance
genes.  Incredible speed and power, good defense, decent hp (equal to a
normal Dragon), a whole lot of different elemental strikes (making for good
versatility), and it has a 0 AP breath attack to clear the screen quickly.
At 16 AP, it's relatively cheap, too (though all of his Strikes use AP, not
to mention the 20 AP Aura).

Gambit (0 AP; Causes a critical hit, but has a low hit rate)
Aura (20 AP; Holy damage, always critical hits, and raises attack power
like Focus).
Flame Strike (1 AP; Fire and physical damage)
ThundrStrike (4 AP; Electric and physical damage, plus has a chance to
paralyze the target)
Frost Strike (4 AP; Ice and physical damage, plus has a chance to put the
target to sleep)
Wind Strike (1 AP; Wind and physical damage)
Holy Strike (2 AP; Holy and physical damage)
Aura Breath (0 AP; Causes approximately 50% of current HP as holy damage)


Mammoth, the Golden Behemoth, is just that - mammoth.  Splice the Miracle
and ??? genes together. High attack and defense, incredible HP (more than
any other form, making its "breath" attack extremely effective), but it's
still slow.  It actually has fewer attacks than the Behemoth, but is HP
makes the ones it has extremely powerful:

MeteorStrike (0 AP; Causes approximately 50% HP non-elemental damage. When
you take into account the amount of HP that Mammoth has, this attack can
easily do over 1000 damage every time)
Giant Growth (0 AP; Performs a half-strength physical attack on all opponents)

I. Kaiser Form

This is the one you've been waiting for, haven't you?  Kaiser, I find,
isn't all that useful, because of the insane AP cost to transform and
maintain it.  For the 21 (or 27) AP cost per round, you're better off going
with the Warrior and using Aura over and over.  Kaiser is normally berzerk,
and will do nothing but attack random opponents (or party members!) unless
spliced with the Failure Gene or with Trance and Radience. The Infinity +
Failure (41 AP, 21 AP per round) has notably lower stats than the Infinity
+ Trance + Radiance (53 AP, 27 AP per round) combination - especially hit
points, drastically affecting Kaiser Breath.

This form (both Failure and True versions) has the following attacks:

KaiserBreath (0 AP; Causes approximately 100% of current HP as
non-elemental damage. The dragon that appears to deliver the damage is also
clearly Ryuu's G.Drgn from BoF2)
Bonebreak (0 AP; Causes a critical hit)
Howling (0 AP; Causes confusion, but no direct damage, to all opponents)

I have my doubts as to whether Bonebreak is a Kaiser-specific attack (since
it's on Ryuu's normal Attack ability list), but I'm including it anyway.
Ryuu can also still use all of his other spells and Skills in Kaiser form -
press left or right on the Attack menu, as usual.  Note that the list of
spells is labeled 'Attack', as opposed to 'Dragon'.

-------

ii. Gene-specific abilities

These are abilities that can be added to the four basic forms (Whelp,
Dragon, Warrior, and Behemoth), dependant on the added gene. With the
exception of two of the Hybrids, these genes have no effect on any of the
special forms.


A. Flame

Creates a red dragon with dark green horns, with immunity to fire attacks,
but a weakness to ice attacks, taking about 50% more damage from them.
Adding Reverse provides Frost abilities instead. Using Flame and Frost
together cancels out both of them, leaving only Dragon-specific abilities
(exception: using Flame, Frost, and Thunder together produces the Trygon
form).  Adds the following powers:

Flame Claw (0 AP; Normal physical attack with fire properties)
Flame Breath (0 AP; Causes approximately 33.3% of current HP as fire damage)

As a "bonus", using Shadow and Flame together (but not with Frost or
Radiance) provides an extra ability:

Ebonfire (5 AP; Non-elemental attack based on Int)


B. Frost

Creates a pale blue dragon with dark blue horns, with immunity to ice
attacks, but a weakness to fire attacks. Adding Reverse provides Flame
abilities instead. Using Flame and Frost together cancels out both of them,
leaving only Dragon-specific abilities (exception: using Flame, Frost, and
Thunder together produces the Trygon form).  Adds the following powers:

Frost Claw (0 AP; Normal physical attack with ice properties)
Frost Breath (0 AP; Causes approximately 33.3% of current HP as ice damage)


C. Thunder

Creates a blue dragon with pale green horns, with immunity to lightning
attacks. Adding Reverse has no effect. Splice with Frost and Flame to form
Trygon.  Adds the following powers:

Thunder Claw (0 AP; Normal physical attack with electric properties)
ThundrBreath (0 AP; Causes approximately 33.3% of current HP as lightning
damage)


D. Shadow

Creates a purplish dragon with red horns, with immunity to shadow, poison,
and instant-death attacks, but a weakness to holy attacks. Adding Reverse
provides Radiance abilities instead. Using Shadow and Radiance together
cancels out both of them, leaving only Dragon-specific abilities. Adds the
following powers:

Chlorine (0 AP; Normal physical attack with poison properties, and a chance
to poison the target)
ShadowBreath (0 AP; attempts to kill all targets.  Useless on undead,
usually useless on machines)

As a "bonus", using Shadow and Flame together (but not with Frost or
Radiance) provides an extra ability:

Ebonfire (5 AP; Non-elemental attack based on Int)

The Shadow Gene is also used to form Tiamat (splice with Trance), and the
Shadow Onion Hybrid (splice with Fusion with Peco in the party).


E. Radiance

Creates a pinkish dragon with red horns, with immunity to holy attacks. but
a vulnerability to shadow attacks. Adding Reverse provides Shadow abilities
instead. Using Shadow and Radiance together cancels out both of them,
leaving only Dragon-specific abilities.  Adds the following powers:

Shining Claw (0 AP; Normal physical attack with holy properties)
DivineBreath (0 AP; Causes approximately 33.3% of current HP as holy damage)


F. Force

Used alone, and in most combinations, this creates a Warrior class
dragon... but it bears mentioning that it also adds one ability to the
Behemoth form (making this a gene-related ability, rather than a
form-related ability):

Focus (0 AP; raises attack power by 50% of original.  Two uses brings Ryuu
up to double attack power.  Subsequent uses have no effect)

Of course, the Force gene is also used to create Warrior and Myrmidon (with
Trance) dragons, and upgrades the Tiger Dragon to the Flame Tiger (with
Fusion).  Oddly, Myrmidon doesn't have Focus.


G. Defender

Generally increases the Defense score of the combination.  The dragons
formed with this gene (and no elemental genes) are normal colored (green,
with blue horns). The gene itself adds one ability:

Counter (0 AP; automatically counter-attacks any physical or
pseudo-physical attack - elemental strikes, for example - directed at the
user)

Note that Counter is useless if Ryuu is slower than the opponent; all the
attacks will hit before Counter goes into effect.


H. Eldritch

This gene has several effects. It gives the dragon-form higher
Intelligence, improving Ryuu's resistance against magical attacks, adds
some spells of its own (all healing spells), and brings out an 'extra'
spell for each of the five elemental genes.  Despite all that, I don't use
this gene much; there are better ways to spend the AP (though Myollnir has
its uses).

Alone, it provides:

Remedy (7 AP; Cures status changes)
Restore (12 AP; Fully heals one party member)
Vitalize (20 AP; Partially heals all party members)

With other genes:

Inferno (10 AP; most powerful fire spell on all opponents; Flame gene)
Blizzard (10 AP; most powerful ice spell on all opponents; Frost gene)
Myollnir (10 AP; most powerful lightning spell on one opponent; Thunder gene)
Death (5 AP; attempts to kill a single opponent, a better chance than
ShadowBreath; Shadow gene)
Resurrect (20 AP; Revives a dead party member back to full hit points;
Radiance gene)

-------

iii. Miscelleny

A. Quick-reference Gene List

There are plenty of FAQs if you want in-depth directions on how to find
these genes, and I covered the use of them above, so this will just list
where to find them and the AP cost to use them. (Note that you receive the
Flame, Defender, Shadow, Fusion, and Infinity genes as part of the story -
you can't 'miss' them - and most of the other genes are in very obvious
locations).

Flame (5 AP): Obtained automatically, just before the Escape From Wyndia
scenario. Your first Gene.
Frost (5 AP): The house under the bridge Meykess Gorge.
Thunder (5 AP): The ? house in north Rhapala Region.
Shadow (5 AP): Obtained automatically, after defeating the Dragon Zombie as
an adult.
Radiance (5 AP): The Container Yard near Caer Xaen (obtainable as soon as
you get Relay Point A working)
Force (8 AP): In the vents of the Underground Plant (this one is easy to
miss if you don't know it's around)
Defender (8 AP): Obtained automatically, after Nina and Ryuu escape across
Mt. Boumore. Your *second* gene.
Eldritch (8 AP): On the roof of the Lighthouse (go up there immediately
upon entering - the boss won't attack you until you actually get the
lighthouse working again)
Miracle (16 AP): In the Volcano, Mt. Zublo.  You can't miss seeing it.
Gross (8 AP):  Along the exit path to the Tidal Caves.  Again, you can't
really miss it.
Thorn (8 AP): At the rocket crash site. Go northeast from the rocket, and
there it is, between the trees
Reverse (3 AP): Immediately after leaving Mt. Boumore with the Defender
gene, head to a ? area south of it
Mutant (3 AP): Steel Beach, in the northeast corner
??? (8 AP): In the house west of Steel Beach.
Trance (8 AP): At the Yggdrasil tree on the Lost Shore
Failure (1 AP):  In the far corner on the left side of the Ruined Colony
Fusion (16 AP): Obtained automatically after the fight with the Dragon
Zombie (I believe that's meant to be the ghost of Ryuu's mother giving him
the gene - note the BoF2 dragon-wings on the human form)
Infinity (40 AP): Obtained automatically after the fight with Jono, the
Dragon Elder, in Dragnier


B. Dragon hit points

Dragon hit points affect all breath weapons (including MeteorStrike), so
you'll probably want to know what you're getting when you transform.  Some
forms' hp can be increased by adding the Gross gene to it, but any of the
unique forms - the "golden" forms, Hybrids, Tiamat, and Pygmy - cannot
(note, of course, that Wildfire and Trygon need three genes to create them
anyway, so no other genes can be added).  The Failure Gene reduces any
combination (except Kaiser) to a 100% hp Whelp, and the Reverse gene
negates the properties of Thorn or Gross.  Percentages are based on Ryuu's
HP in his normal form (e.g., if he has 200 HP normally, after transforming
into a Dragon he'll have 200 x 1.8 = 360 HP, as Trygon he'll have 200 x 2.2
= 440 HP, etc).

Whelp (Failure, Failure + any gene or genes but Infinity): 100%
Whelp (normal): 120%
Whelp (Gross, elemental + Gross): 150%
Whelp (Gross + Thorn): 180%

Wildfire (Miracle + Thorn + Reverse): 10% (that's not a typo!  If Ryuu had
200 HP to start with, he'll only have 20 as a Wildfire)

Dragon (normal): 180%
Dragon (Gross gene added): 240%

Trygon (Flame + Frost + Thunder): 220%

Warrior (Force + Thorn): 100% (this has to be a bug of some kind)
Warrior (Force): 130%
Warrior (Force + Gross, Force + Thorn + Gross): 150%
Warrior (Force + Reverse): 180% (this is also probably a bug)

Myrmidon (Force + Trance): 180%
Myrmidon (Miracle + Force + Trance): 220% (the only exception to the Golden
Forms Cannot Increase Their Hit Points rule)

Behemoth (Miracle + Reverse): 280%
Behemoth (Miracle): 330%
Behemoth (Miracle + Gross): 360%

Mammoth (Miracle + ???): 1000% (again, *not* a typo.  200 HP becomes 2000 HP).

Pygmy (Mutant + ???): 100%

Tiamat (Shadow + Trance): 250%

Avian Hybrid (Fusion or Fusion + Eldritch): 120%
Tiger Hybrid (Fusion or Fusion + Force): 150%
Knight Hybrid (Fusion or Fusion + ???): 150%
Onion Hybrid (Fusion or Fusion + Shadow): 250%

Failure Kaiser (Infinity + Failure): 120%
True Kaiser (Infinity + Trance + Radiance): 300% (quite a difference, huh?)
Berzerk Kaiser (Infinity + anything else): 300% (dangerous because you
can't control him, and he tends to attack the party before the enemy)


C. Dragon Breath Quick-reference List

In case you don't want to dig through the form/gene sections to find out
what a particular breath attack does.  All breath attacks use 0 AP.
Percentages are related to Ryuu's hp in dragon form (e.g., Aura Breath by a
Myrmidon with 200 hp will cause about 80-120 damage to every opponent,
average of 100, minus the targets' magic resistance, if any).

Aura Breath: 50% holy damage; Myrmidion
Divine Breath: 33.3% holy damage; Radiance gene, Shadow + Reverse genes
Doom Breath: 50% neutral damage; Tiamat
DragonBreath: 42.5% neutral damage; Dragon, Trygon, Pygmy, Onion Hybrid,
Tiger Hybrid
Flame Breath: 33.3% fire damage; Flame gene, Frost + Reverse genes, Trygon
Frost Breath: 33.3% ice damage; Frost gene, Flame + Reverse genes, Trygon
Gaea'sBreath: 50% earth damage; Shadow Onion Hybrid
Geo Breath: 37.5% earth damage; Onion Hybrid
Hurricane: 50% wind damage; Flame Tiger Hybrid
KaiserBreath: 100% neutral damage; Kaiser
Magma Breath: 50% fire damage; Pygmy
MeteorStrike: 50% neutral damage; Behemoth, Mammoth
Tempest: 37.5% wind damage; Tiger Hybrid
ThundrBreath: 33.3% lightning damage; Thunder gene, Trygon
Whelp Breath: 30% neutral damage; Whelp, Wildfire

And, for completeness's sake, Peco's breath attacks:

Dream Breath: Attempts to put opponents to sleep.  3 AP
Firebreath: 33.3% fire damage.  4 AP
Icebreath: 33.3% ice damage.  4 AP
Venom Breath: Attempts to poison all opponents. 3 AP (Tiamat also uses this
attack)


D. Dragon Skills

A good number of the dragon-form abilities, aside from the breath attacks,
can be learned from either Masters or Examining enemies. (sadly, you can't
Examine your own party members, or this would be a great way to learn
them). This is a hopefully-complete list of those abilities. For Skills
learned from enemies, I'll just list the ones that appear earliest in the
game (there are more-comprehensive how-to-find-them lists elsewhere). Also
not included here are spells gained with the Eldritch Gene, the Avian and
Eldritch Avian Hybrids, and the Knight and Golden Knight Hybrids.

Aura: From Master Ladon
Blind: From Trickers (Cedar Woods)
Blitz: From HyperBot (Momo's tower)
Charge: From Gongheads (Cedar Woods); also from Master Fahl.
Counter: From Master Fahl
Ebonfire: From Codgers (Ruined Colony - keep examining them as they do
their MagicShuffle)
Flame Strike: From Flyman (Underground Plant)
Frost Strike: From Bolt (on the Freighter at Steel Beach)
Gambit: Not a Skill; Attack ability learned by Garr at level 21.  Bunyan's
Risky Blow is very similar, however.
Holy Strike: From Master Ladon
Shadowwalk: From Master Meryleep.
Focus: From Master Bunyan
Snap: From Pooch (MacNeill Manor)
ThundrStrike: From Mist Man (near the end of the game)
Venom Breath: Not a Skill; Assist ability learned by Peco at level 17
Wind Strike: From the Lizard Men (Rhapala area?)


E. Quick-reference Hybrid List

Tiger:  Rei + Momo or Nina (add Force for Flame Tiger)
Onion:  Peco + Garr or Rei (add Shadow for Shadow Onion)
Knight: Momo + Nina or Peco (add ??? for Golden Knight)
Avian:  Nina + Garr or Peco (add Eldritch for Eldritch Avian)
Whelp:  Garr + Momo or Rei (add whatever you like: this is a generic Whelp)


F. Unanswered Questions

Are there other undocumented Super forms?  With the Hybrids accounted for,
the only two left without known golden forms would be Tiamat and Pygmy.
(Whelp has Wildfire, Dragon has Trygon, Warrior has Myrmidon, Behemoth has
Mammoth, Ryuu's normal form has Kaiser, and there's the green Infinity +
Failure KaiserBreath vs. the golden Infinity + Trance + Radiance
KaiserBreath).  Of course, I've tried every possible combination of genes
in conjunction with the ones required to create the Tiamat and Pygmy
dragons, and nothing upgrades them... so if they exist at all (which looks
doubtful at this point - I'm sure someone would have discovered them by
now), it's an entirely different combination of genes altogether...

Given, though, that there are 987 different gene combinations (18 with one
gene, 153 with two, 816 with three), even eliminating the 'known' forms,
that leaves a lot of combinations. (Eliminating Infinity and Failure from
the equation still leaves nearly 700 combinations).


G.  Tyrant Gene!!!

Made you look. Actually, I've been watching these Tyrant Gene rumors pop up
on the GameFAQs message boards, so I'll put my two cents in.  My biggest
argument against it is that it waited until *now* to pop up. If there were
a Tyrant gene, we could have heard about it long before Breath of Fire 4
came out.  I bring up BoF4 because Tyrant is Fou-Lu's most powerful dragon
form, corresponding to Ryuu's Kaiser. (Whether it keeps this name in the
American release is yet to be determined, though I can't imagine why they'd
change it).

That, I believe, is ultimately the source of the Tyrant gene rumor -
someone taking a dragon form from BoF4, and building a BoF3 rumor around
it.  (It's sort of silly.. Tyrant is the name of the *dragon*... There's no
actual Tyrant gene, just as there's no Kaiser gene).

Though, the Dragon Lord you fight near the end of the game sure looks like
my idea of the Tyrant dragon - the Dark Dragon version of Kaiser... except
it looks better than Kaiser. I'll be sure to see if this really *is* the
Tyrant in BoF4.

-------

Special Thanks to:

Capcom, for making this game.  May the Breath of Fire series last as long
as there are consoles to play them on. (Of course, with the number of
centuries between each game in the story, BoF5 or 6 is going to need to be
set in the future aboard the Starship Enterprise) :)

Sony, for making this system.  I've been a Nintendo player since the
mid-eighties, but for this series, for all the RPG series that started on
the NES or SNES but migrated to the PSX, I'll switch. Sorry, Nintendo.
Maybe if the Dolphin has some *real* RPGs, I'll go back. :)

Long-Lost Cousin Wish, for proofreading this mass of text and suggesting a
few things here and there.

http://www.homestead.com/breathoffire/ - this site's otherwise bare-bones
Gene listing mentions in passing that adding the ??? Gene to the
Momo-hybrid provides extra powers (it also erroneously mentions an Onion +
??? combination), thus starting me on my Super-Hybrid quest.

Fritz Fraundorf's (erggibbon@aol.com) incredibly useful BoF3 FAQ, for
jogging my memory to assemble my Dragon Gene Location list (I couldn't
remember where some of them were), and for the term "ability gene".  This
is the FAQ I used mostly to make sure I didn't miss any Genes or Skills
along the way :)  I tried not to use his Hybrid names, I really did.  I
also consulted his list when I couldn't remember a particular dragon form's
abilities (I mean, really, how often do you use Wildfire?), since my
console isn't close enough to the computer to write and check things at the
same time.
