Here is the explanation to how to capture and raise dragons.
How do you find a dragon? Dragons tend to like wide open spaces at high altitudes. It could take any number of days from 1-3 to find a dragon, and twice that if you're looking for a particular type or sex, and four times as long if you want to search for both type and sex (see below for type).
How do you capture a dragon? Well, if you're a tamer or a Dragon Knight, then you won't have much of a problem with capturing them. Tamers simply have to tame the dragon, and Dragon Knights simply jump up on their backs and away they go!
The other 90% of the players here don't have it so easy. You'll have to beat the dragon down to within 1/4 of its life without killing it (and stay alive in the process). Then you'll have to attempt to climb aboard them and ride them out.
After you've caught the dragon, you can give it a name and take it to the DRAGON ARENA, a subsection of the Chocobo Race Tracks. There you can name it, get it a sattle, and it'll be yours (You'll also get the - Drum, where the name of your dragon replaces the -). You can also buy some grass there to feed it to your dragon to keep it happy.
What else can you do with the dragon? There are two things that you can do with the dragon: Ride him and have him battle against other player's dragons.
Riding a dragon: You go 1 day slower than an airship without speed boosters, which is also as fast as a flying chocobo can go.
Battling other dragons: You can challenge a player to a Dragon Battle anytime, anywhere (This will involve Battle Chats), so long as you are in the same area. If done in the Arena, the winning dragon and master will get a prize (could vary from gil to good items). When the dragons fight, the trainers shout commands to them as far as what moves to use or actions to take. The dragon may not listen though, if it is not very loyal to you.
What about stats and stuff? A dragon will have the following stats for in battle use:
Strength: Determines amount of damage a dragon will give out each round due to normal attacks.
Special: Determines amount of damage a dragon will give out due to special attacks (IE: Fire Breath).
Speed: Determines Reaction Time, and Reflexes in battle to allow the dragon to get out of situations faster.
Intelligence: Determines the speed a dragon can learn a move, as well as how it will perform in battle without its trainer's help.
Loyalty: Determines the loyalty the dragon has toward its trainer. This will determine its obedience to you in and out of battle, as well as help it learn moves faster.
Stamina: Determines amount of Stamina Points (SP) the dragon will have.
Defense: Determines amount of Hit Points (HP) the dragon will have.
What's the difference between males and females (Stat-wise)? Males will usually give out more damage and take more, while females will usually have a higher intelligence and speed. Now what's this about 'types'? Each dragon has an elemental type. There are 6 elements a dragon may have. Each element will allow dragons to learn different types of moves, but mainly the type of breath they have.
Red Dragon: Dragon of the fire type.
Fire Breath: Your standard dragon breath. Cost: 1 SP
Fire Tackle: The dragon combines Fire Breath with a simple tackle to do some extra damage. Cost: 5 SP+Recoil Damage
Fire Spin: The dragon creates an area around its opponent that traps it in fire, causing it to be stuck for a while. Cost: 7 SP
Fire Ball: The dragon unleashes a series of Fire Balls from the sky that do some devastating damage to its opponent. Cost: 15 SP
Blue Dragons: Dragon of the Ice and Water type
Water Blast: Dragon shoots out a strong blast of Water. Cost: 1 SP
Freeze: Dragon shoots an ice beam at the other dragon keeping it contained for a while. Could lead to instant victory. Cost: 5 SP
Ice Wall: Dragon creates a wall of ice to protect itself from an attack of the opponent. Low chance of success. Cost: 12 SP
Hail: Causes a huge Hail Storm to fall from the sky causing a lot of damage to its opponent. Cost: 15 SP
Gray: Dragons of Lightning and Wind.
Wind Breath: A strong gust of wind produced through the dragon's breath that could blow the other dragon away. Higher chance of working than Gust. Cost: 5 SP
Lightning Eyes: Dragon shoots a bunch of Lightning at its opponent that could do a lot of damage. Cost: 7 SP
Electric Attack: Dragon fills its body of electricty and then performs a normal attack to unleash it onto its opponent. Cost: 15 SP
Lightning Storm: A combination of Gust and Lightning Eyes in which the whole arena is filled. This will do serious damage to the dragon if it doesn't blow it away! Cost: 20 SP
White Dragons: Dragons of Life and Holy element.
Recover: Dragon recovers HP. Cost: 2 SP
Holy Breath: An attack that damages a dragon weakly. Cost: 1 SP
Fatigue: Dragon creates a strong inner peace in its opponent that could put it to sleep. Cost: 5 SP
Holy Ball: A powerful Ball that can do a serious amount of damage to the enemy dragon. Cost: 10 SP
Black Dragons: Dragons of the Death and Poison Element.
Poison Breath: Dragon spews a bunch of poison at opponent that causes it to feel sick and drain its HP and SP each round. Cost: 2 SP
Posion Slash: Dragon concentrates poison into a slash attack, causing it to poison a dragon as well as hurt it. Cost: 4 SP
Stare of Doom: Dragon stares at its opponent that may cause it to faint instantly. Cost: 7 SP
Doom Ball: A ball of doom and poison that will cause a dragon to either faint or be poisoned while still doing an incedible amount of damage. Cost: 15 SP
Silver Dragons: Dragons of the Non-Elemental Element.
Blast: Dragon causes an explosove damage through the use of its eyes. Cost: 3 SP
Laser: Dragon shoots a variety of lasers through its claws. Cost: 5 SP
Charge Ram: The dragon charges up with its power and rams into the other dragon for a ton of damage to its opponent, but it also has some recoil. Cost: 10 SP+Recoil Damage
Mega Flare: The dragon charges a powerful beam in its mouth and unleashes it on its opponent for an enormous amount of damage.. Cost: 20 SP
NOTE: Dragons will need to be taught some moves before they can use them. The time it takes for a special move to be learned is dependant on its Stamina, Inteligence, and Loyalty. There are attacks all dragons can learn reguardless of element:
Bite: Dragon bites opponent for some damage. Cost: 1 SP
Slash: Dragon slashes opponent with its claws for some damage. Cost: 1 SP
Tackle: Dragon rams into the other dragon doing some damage to both (more to opponent). Cost: 2 SP+Recoil damage
Tail Whip: Dragon uses its tail as a strong attack. Could do serious damage. Cost: 2 SP
Kick: Dragon kicks its opponent for some damage. Cost: 1 SP
*Tail Grab: Dragon grabs opponents tail to do some sort of move with it (use your imagination). Low chance of success unless used before opponent finishes tail whip. Cost: 1 SP
*Body Slam: Dragon grabs opponent and rams it into the ground doing some serious damage. Cost: 3 SP+Recoil damage.
*Constriction: Dragon grabs opponent and keeps a type squeeze on it causing some serious damage. Could grab with tail or arms or whatever else you think could work. Cost: 4 SP
NOTE: Moves with a * on it are moves you can teach your dragon. you may also suggest other moves to teach your dragon. It will take a certain amount of days for a dragon to learn a move depending on Intelligence and Loyalty.
Skill: A dragon will also have skills it can learn:
Flight: Dragon will be able to fly in the air for aerial assults. Cost: 3 SP/Round
*Awareness: Dragon will be more aware of its surroundings while in battle. A very important tactic to winning battles. Cost: N/A
*Aerial Maneuverability: Dragon is better able to fly around in the air to perform more maneuvers. Cost: +1 SP to any move used in air.
A Tamer will be able to teach a dragon a trick a day or two quicker, and can get its loyalty up a bit. A dragon Knight can teach a dragon a trick in half the time, as well as get its loyalty up pretty quickly.
If you think of any moves or combos that you would like to teach your dragon, then tell me and I'll determine cost, learn rate, and effectiveness. If your move becomes popular, then it'll be added to this page. You can tell your dragon to do a combo of moves in battle, but it might take longer for it to understand and may not use it in the time you need it to. If you teach it the move outside of battle, it'll help the dragon in understanding what you want it to do quicker.
Grasses: Can be bought at the Dragon Arena. Helps keep the dragon happy and loyal to you. If the dragon is hungry when fighting, it won't be nearly as powerful as you'd want it to be.
| Grass | Cost | Effect |
| Gysahl Grass | 100 | Restores Dragon's HP a little |
| Pahsana Grass | 100 | Restores Dragon's SP a little |
| Tantal Grass | 200 | Resores Dragon's HP and SP a little |
| Sully Grass | 400 | Restores Dragon's HP a lot |
| Galun Grass | 400 | Restores Dragon's SP a lot |
| Santra Grass | 800 | Restores Dragon's HP and SP a lot |
| Puipi Grass | 150 | Removes Poison Status from dragon |
| Atomic Grass | 100 | Keeps Dragon Happy and Loyal |
| Crimson Grass | 100 | Keeps Dragon Happy and Loyal |
| Super Grass | 100 | Keeps Dragon Happy and Loyal |
| Mushy Grass | 100 | Keeps Dragon Happy and Loyal |
| Tyranny Grass | 100 | Keeps Dragon Happy and Loyal |
| Green Grass | 100 | Keeps Dragon Happy and Loyal |
| Special Grass | 200 | Keeps Dragon Happy and Loyal |
| Grass Sack | 1000 | Allows you to carry 100 Grasses in a sack seperate from your items |