Dustflier
Template:Enemy 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.
The Dustflier's English name and its Japanese name, "Debrisflow", both seem to reference the dust and debris caused by meteors, which is, in turn, a reference to the Heartless's "Meteor Breath".
Strategy
It is strongly recommended that the player have abilities equipped for aerial mobility, especially High Jump, Air Slide, and Glide. Equip a weapon with high Strength, Critical Rate, and/or Critical Bonus to boost damage, and equip a Ring Panel that boosts fire resistance, such as the Tears of Flame, or boosts Defense and/or HP, such as the Princess's Crown. Offensive magic is highly ineffective, so equip only Cure magic. Since the Dustflier can inflict status effects with every attack, bringing Panaceas and Elixirs is also recommended.
The Dustflier appears at the Station Plaza after the basic requirements for the mission have been cleared, by defeating the other six Heartless bosses. With its immensely high defense, the battle with the Dustflier is largely one of survival, and the player must watch out for the cues preceding the Dustflier's attacks.
Its most common attack is a large, non-elemental shockwave that has a 100% of inflicting a random status effect. The Dustflier will leap a short distance and then land, releasing the shockwave on the ground. To avoid this, jump over the shockwave and air slide or glide until the until it dissipates. The Dustflier will then execute one of three followup attacks: a flip in the air that will halve the player character's HP, a flying charge that will air-toss the character, or a volley of fireballs that have an 80% chance of igniting the character. The flip and charge can be avoided by keeping one's distance or quickly moving to the side when the Heartless takes to the air. The fireball attack, which is signaled by the Dustflier spreading its wings and raising its head to the sky, can be avoided with continuous sidewards movements, or by moving behind one of the brick walls beside the train station steps. It is also possible to block the three followup attacks, especially if Round Block is equipped.
It is possible to avoid the shockwave by standing at the top of the steps.
The best opportunity to deal damage to the Dustflier is after a followup attack, especially the flip and charge attacks. The player may be able to execute one or two attack combos before the Dustflier leaps up for the next shockwave. The key to defeating it is patience, as non-critical attacks will deal very little damage, and getting hit by any of its attacks can be devastating to the player's HP.
