The Secret to Success

The Secret to Success

Quest giver

Dominiac

Location

Coerthas Western Highlands (X:16.6, Y:22.6)

Level

51

Required quest

Sounding Out the Amphitheatre

Experience

 11,895

Gil

 524

Next quest

Introductory Dragonslaying

Patch

3.0

“

Dominiac is simmering with impatience.

— In-game description

Steps

• Gather information about the Dravanian Horde.

• Stand watch at the specified locations.

• Speak with the sly scout at the Convictory.

• Report to Dominiac.

Journal

• Dominiac is simmering with impatience.

• Dominiac wants to support Ser Aymeric, but cannot do so without first gaining glory slaying dragons. Unfortunately, he is not having much luck. He simply does not know much about what he is hunting. Lend him a hand by finding out what you can about these mysterious creatures.

• The sly scout says he is happy to share his knowledge of dragons, but for a price. Do his patrol duty for him and he'll tell you what he knows.

• You have completed the patrol duty as requested. Return to the scout at the Convictory and find out what he knows.

• True to his word, the scout shares a useful secret about dragons. For reasons as yet unknown, the bodies of slain dragons seem to attract more powerful dragons. This has obvious tactical and strategic implications, but the scout implores you not to share this information, as it has the potential to be very, very dangerous. Tell Dominiac anyway.

• Dominiac realizes that he can start with a small dragon and, by leaving its corpse, attract larger prey. By repeating this process, he can attract increasingly larger dragons until he gains the glory he seeks. Hopefully he will use this knowledge wisely.

Dialogue

Accepting the Quest

Dominiac: Greetings, miss/sir. Your reputation precedes you. Once you slay a few primals, word gets around. Seeing as you're so strong and powerful, I was wondering if you might be able to help me out with something.
Dominiac: I want nothing more than to support the great Ser Aymeric. But Ishgardian society revolves around the nobility. Those not of noble birth—such as myself—have no power at all.
Dominiac: The only way to gain the power of nobility is through a truly noble display of courage. There's one simple way to do that—slay a monstrous, ancient dragon. There are some feats that cannot be ignored.
Dominiac: So I took up my spear and came to the Convictory. Sadly, things have not gone as well as I had hoped.
Dominiac: I'm still somewhat new to this, you see. I really don't know much about dragons, especially the rarer, larger ones. All the knights here are competing with each other for honor and glory. None of them will share what they know with each other, for fear of losing any edge they may have.
Dominiac: But you're not a Convictor. They're not competing with you. I doubt they'd be nearly as tight-lipped with you as they are with me and the other knights here. You might be able to learn a thing or two for me about how I might find and kill one of the larger dragons.

Optional Dialogue

Dominiac: Try asking some of the knights here what they know about dragons. They're very tight-lipped around each other, but I suspect they might be a little more willing to talk with someone they're not directly competing with.

Gathering information about the Dravanian Horde

Sly Scout: You want to know about dragons, do you? Well, you're speakin' to the right man! I know stuff about them beasts that even the dragoons ain't heard of.
Sly Scout: Ohoho, don't think I'll be tellin' you for free, though. Tell you what: I'm due to go out on patrol any minute now, but it's far too bloody cold for it if you ask me. I'll put me patrol points in your map here, and if you go do my patrol for me, I'll tell you what I know.

Optional Dialogue

Sly Scout: Ain't nothin's free in this realm young woman/man. Go do my patrol for me, and I'll consider that fair payment for tellin' you what I know.

Speaking with the sly scout

Sly Scout: Back already, are you? Well, a deal's a deal—I'll tell you what I know.
Sly Scout: I've no idea why, but the corpses of weaker dragons seem to attract the higher-ranking Dravanians. Once you know this, it makes it pretty easy to lay a trap for some of the bigger, nastier dragons out there.
Sly Scout: Now listen. Don't you go tellin' anyone about this, you hear? Just think what'd happen if everyone knew.
Sly Scout: Things're dangerous enough around here to begin with—especially lately. Imagine some lowborn—some young lad with dreams of nobility and nothin' to lose—some guy who's come out here to find glory at any cost. Imagine he finds out how to bring the biggest, nastiest monsters in the realm out of hidin'.
Sly Scout: Just keep it to yourself is what I'm sayin'. You can never be too careful.

Optional Dialogue

Sly Scout: I don't know why, but the corpses of the weaker dragons seem to attract bigger, tougher ones. Makes it easy to lay a trap for some of the big game. But don't go tellin' just anyone about it.

Report to Dominiac (Cutscene)

Dominiac: Ah, you're back! Were you able to learn anything useful?
Dominiac: Hmmm. I see! So I can use the corpses of weaker dragons to attract bigger ones. It seems like I might be able to bag quite a prestigious catch this way...
Dominiac: I start with a small one, kill that, then wait for a bigger one to come along. Then if I kill that one, an even bigger one should appear! Then I kill that one, and so on.
Dominiac: You have my deepest gratitude. Thanks to you, I now know what I must do. Though, I might ask another favor in future.