How to defeat the Phoenix Dragon in Dragon's Dogma 2

The Phoenix Dragon in Dragon's Dogma 2 is easily the most majestic and cool-looking Drake in the entire game, only seconded by the true Dragon that steals the Arisen's heart (literally). Not only does the Phoenix Dragon look as spectacular as it does, but it's also quite powerful and is one of the last few bosses you will need to fight to witness the true ending of the game.

Much like other Lesser Drakes, the Phoenix Dragon in Dragon's Dogma 2 is quite resistant to regular melee attacks, and only takes damage if you hit it in designated weak spots. However, unlike the Lesser Drakes, the Phoenix Dragon is quite good at hiding its weak spots, making it a much more formidable threat compared to other Dragons.

Thankfully, once you do locate its weak spots, you can easily defeat the Phoenix Dragon, the only challenge here is finding the Drake's weaknesses, and timing your attacks right. Here's a comprehensive guide on how to easily defeat the Phoenix Dragon in Dragon's Dogma 2.

Note: This article contains major spoilers for Dragon's Dogma 2.

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Where to find the Phoenix Dragon in Dragon's Dogma 2?

The Phoenix Dragon is one of the last few bosses in Dragon's Dogma 2's secret true ending. The boss fight against the Phoenix Dragon is not skippable and is necessary to get the game's true ending in the Unmoored World. The Phoenix Dragon is found atop the ruined castle at the junction of Harve's Village and the Vernworth Castle.

The Phoenix Dragon in Dragon's Dogma 2 is way more challenging than other Drakes in the game (Image via Capcom)

Being one of the unique Drakes in Dragon's Dogma 2, the Phoenix Dragon doesn't spawn in any other region in the open world and is locked to the Unmoored World ending only.

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How to defeat the Phoenix Dragon in Dragon's Dogma 2?

What sets Phoenix Dragon in Dragon's Dogma 2 apart from its kin are two major differences — its ability to weaponize the Brine, and become virtually invincible against regular attacks. The Brine aspect of the Phoenix Dragon is what makes it a formidable force. I fought the boss with the Warrior vocation equipped and a party of mostly Mage pawns.

Akin to the Chimera the Phoenix Dragon has multiple weak spots (Image via Capcom)

From my testing, I found the Phoenix Dragon in Dragon's Dogma 2 to be not particularly weak against spells either. Fortunately, if you can land your attacks on designated weak spots on the Dragon's body, and stay behind its hindlimbs, you can easily cheese it to its death.

Here are a few tips and tricks to help you take down the Phoenix Dragon in Dragon's Dogma 2:

• The Phoenix Dragon always starts the boss fight with a flaming frenzy where it engulfs half of the boss fight arena in Brine-covered flame. Don't rush the Dragon at the start, and only attack the beast after it's done with its flaming frenzy attack.
• The boss fight against the Phoenix Dragon in Dragons Dogma 2 is divided into three phases, each phase shifting the weak spots.
• In the first phase, the Dragon's weak spots are present on its forelimbs. If you are a caster or Archer, target its forelimbs exclusively to deal damage to the boss. Additionally, Phoenix Dragon takes bonus damage from fire magic.
• For melee vocations, keep your distance from the Drake and only attack its forelimbs using a fully charged skill. For Warriors, I highly recommend sticking with Heavenward Sunder to deal full health bar amounts of damage in a single hit.
• In the second phase, the weak spots are shifted to the Phoenix Dragon's back, which can be a bit tricky to target. For Mages and Sorcerers, having access to High Levin helps here. For melee classes, scale the Dragon and attack its back with charged heavy attacks.
• Make sure you have plenty of healing and stamina regeneration Roborants with you to help in the second phase, especially if you're a melee class.
• The final phase shifts the Phoenix Dragon's weak spot to its horn. With a Mage or Archer vocation hitting the horn is quite easy, as long as you can get a lock on it. However, if you're in a melee class, you might find it harder to hit the horn since the Drake tends to move around a lot.
• I found aerial skills like Heavenward Sunder for the Warrior vocation or simply scaling the Drake and hitting its head to be a reliable way of dealing damage.

Once the Dragon is defeated, proceed to the final part of the Unmoored World ending. The Phoenix Dragon in Dragon's Dogma 2 might not be as challenging as the true Dragon, but it's definitely a significant step up in terms of difficulty compared to other Drakes.

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