Nova Dragon (Final Fantasy IX)

Nova Dragon is a boss in Final Fantasy IX fought when the party is trying to access Memoria from the Iifa Tree, on disc 4. In the Japanese version its name is Shinryu. Since Final Fantasy IX heavily references other titles of the franchise, the fact that the Nova Dragon is fought before entering the final dungeon of the game is likely a allusion to Final Fantasy V, whose version of Shinryu is fought within the final dungeon of the said game.

Battle
The Nova Dragon has several attacks: Twister and Aerial Slash that inflict heavy Wind-elemental damage to the party, Shockwave, which damages the whole party, and Tidal Wave, which inflicts heavy Water elemental damage to the party. Nova Dragon also counterattacks when struck with a physical attack.

Strategy
Equipping Ribbons will make quick work of all four attacks, but if the party lack the Ribbons, Coronet or Robe of Lords can also be used as a substitute to resist the Wind damage, and Glass Armlet or Protect Ring to cut the water damage by 50%. Nova Dragon's Shockwave cannot be nullified. The player can reduce the boss's damage output further through the use of Shell, Mighty Guard, or Auto-Shell.

Nova Dragon is vulnerable to Sleep. If Quina is in the party, the player can equip all characters with the Insomniac ability and use Night. If the player inputs the attack commands and Night before Nova Dragon wakes up again, it will be put back to sleep before it can act. Another way to inflict Sleep would be to use Zidane's Soul Blade while wielding the Ultima Weapon.

Steiner's Shock or Eiko's Holy are powerful attacks that can deplete the boss's HP rapidly. Casting Blizzaga on it can also deal a good amount of damage. If Steiner hasn't yet acquired the Grand Armor, it would be a fair idea to equip the Master Thief and Bandit skills on Zidane, so as not to waste too many of Zidane's attacks stealing, as the Grand Armor is a rare piece of equipment.

Tetra Master

 * Card 054
 * Location: Memoria

Gallery
Kaiserdrache (FFIX)