Dustflier

The Dustflier is an Emblem Heartless that is found in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. It can be found at the Station Plaza in Twilight Town during Mission 89, after the basic requirements of the mission have been cleared. Defeating the Dustflier is the last requirement to completing the mission.

Design
A Dustflier is a large, draconian creature with predominantly brown skin, save for its belly, which is tan, and its shoulders, feet, and the tip of its tail, all of which are black. Its body is rather thin, while its three-toed feet are quite large, each sporting orange talons. Its wings seem rather short and bulky when compared to its feet and tail, and its light orange wingtips are vaguely reminiscent of the Nobody symbol. The Dustflier's tail ends in a large, misshapen club with three conical, orange spikes on it, and its head is V-shaped and flat. It has beady yellow eyes on either side of its head, and its Heartless emblem is on its chest.

Strategy
The Dustflier appears at the Station Plaza after the basic requirements for the mission have been cleared, by defeating the other six Heartless bosses. It is vital that the player have Glide or Float equipped, preferably Glide, and the strongest Keyblade they can equip, which should be one of the strongest Keyblades in the game. The Keyblade should then be filled with either Ability Units or Sight Units. The Dustflier's most accurate attack is Fire-elemental and has an 80% chance of inflicting the Ignite status, so it would be wise to equip a Ring that defends against Fire damage or Ignite status, such as the Tears of Flame. One Gear setup that is helpful is the Ultimate Gear+ with three Ability Units, one Power Unit, and one Sight Unit. This allows you to deal a fair amount of damage per hit and get a critical hit more often. Attack magic and their inflicted status effects are very ineffective against the Dustflier; therefore, it is suggested that most or all attack magic panels are replaced with restoratives for this battle.

The best way to defeat the Dustflier is to memorize its pre-attack cues. The Dustflier's most basic and common attack is non-elemental, and has a 100% of inflicting you with a random status effect. In this attack, the Dustflier will move a short distance and then land, creating a powerful shockwave that will cover almost the entire field, as well as the ground itself. To avoid this, jump over the shockwave and continue gliding until the field fades from the ground.

After the Dustflier has first used its shockwave attack, the Heartless will begin a follow-up attack. The Dustflier will either flip, dash forward, or shoot a bevy of homing fireballs. If you are hit by any of these three attacks, it is extremely likely that you be inflicted with much damage and a status effect. The Earth-elemental flip has a 100% of halving your HP, the Aero-elemental dash has a 100% of inflicting the Air-Toss status, and the Fire-elemental Meteor breath has an 80% chance of inflicting the Ignite status. The first two attacks can be evaded by keeping your distance from the Dustflier while it moves across the field, while the fireballs can be avoided by continuing to glide away from them. However, the simplest way to avoid the fireballs is to, as soon as you see Dustflier preparing to launch them, glide behind one of the pillars in front of the Train Station as quickly as possible. If you do so correctly, the fireballs will almost always miss. As soon as you escape these attacks, go for the Dustflier and land at least one combo on it; sometimes you can land up to three. This is the only safe opening to attack the Dustflier; more dangerously, you could also try to attack the Dustflier just before it launches its Meteor breath attack, though this leaves you open to the barrage of fireballs that will instantly drain your HP. If you choose to do this, glide or dodge roll away immediately.

You could also try another risky tactic with the fireballs: when you see that Dustflier is firing them, air slide quickly to the Dustflier and block all its fireballs. Then, you will be free to land a combo before its moves, dashes, or flips; however, this tactic will not work without Round Block equipped. As soon as the Dustflier flies back into the air, glide away from it and repeat this process. If you do get hit by the Dustflier's attacks, you'll lose a great amount of health, and will almost always suffer a status effect. Alternatively, you could fight the Dustflier only at the top of the steps because its most powerful attack, the shockwave, doesn't register damage here and you are surrounded on three sides by walls. He is kept in place for the most part and can be attacked for much longer and easier. However, several attacks force you to move off of the stairs in order to dodge them.

The battle against the Dustflier is a long and difficult battle, and is easily the most difficult Heartless in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Memorize its pre-attack cues and avoid being hit by attacks, and the mighty Dustflier will go down in time. Bring many Panaceas and Elixirs to heal from often status effects and to restore HP if hit by the Dustflier. Lastly, prepare for a long fight; the Dustflier will leave you with few openings to attack it, so you will be dodging attacks for most of the battle. The most important thing to remember when fighting the Dustflier is that, despite its high amount of HP, it is much more important to dodge its attacks than to slowly chip away at its HP dangerously.