Dracolizard

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Dracolizard

Dracolizard or Slyzard (Polish: Oszluzg), is a large, grey-colored, flying reptile, sometimes as big as a dragon, for which dracolizards are sometimes mistaken. It is said that Crinfrid Reavers made sure that all members of this species were killed in Redania.

Geralt also stated once that nothing in the world is able to parry the blow given by a dracolizard's tail.

Bestiary Entry

Some peasants once offered me a king's ransom to slay a slyzard. A damned hefty purse, chock full o' gold... But I turned 'em down. Coin's no good if you're dead. And a slyzard, that's no fuckin' forktail.
– Zator, one of the Crinfrid Reavers

Slyzards are often mistaken for wyverns or forktails. Yet make no mistake: slyzards are nasty, terribly dangerous beasts, and confusing them for wyverns will end very badly for the confuser. While a wyvern can tear apart and devour an untrained man in seconds, only a slyzard can first bake him to a crisp with a waft of fiery breath.

Slyzards are keenly aggressive and attack from both ground and air. Their goal during a fight is to get close enough to their foe to injure it with a breath of fire or knock it down with a sonic blast. Like wyverns, slyzards also attack with venom-spiked tails.

Slyzards like to disengage mid-fight to fly into the air and plummet down at high speed while spewing out balls of fire.

Right before these igneous missiles emerge, you can observe a fiery ball forming in the monster's maw. While airborne, a slyzard can also attack with its claws and teeth.

It is worthwhile to employ the Aard and Igni Signs to force slyzards to the ground. They are not, however, vulnerable to burning. Before tackling one of them, be sure to coat your blade in draconid oil.

Combat Tactics

Slyzards are unique draconids as they aren't affected by stunlock after dodging and punishing one of their attacks. To adapt to this, alternate between dodging and landing a single hit. Evade to the side, strike once, then prepare for the counterattack, and repeat the cycle. Getting behind or beside the slyzard doesn't guarantee your safety, as the slyzard can strike behind it with a lash of its tail. Sometimes the slyzard will attack by breathing fire, which locks it into an animation for a time, which can allow two or even three retaliatory strikes. It's easily dodged with a dash if you're in close, but can catch you off guard at a distance, so if you haven't gotten in melee range, watch carefully for its fire attack.

Prevent its attempts to escape to the skies with a quick auto-aimed shot from the crossbow. The slyzard will fly straight backwards as it takes off, so you can rely on Geralt's aim alone to bring it crashing back down. If it does manage to fly, you can wait for it to dive at you and shoot it with an auto-aimed bolt, or you can manually aim in order to hit it while it flies sideways. The most important thing to watch out for is its aerial fireball attack. Watch the mouth closely, and if you see flame gathering there, prepare to roll. You'll want to roll early, as the area of effect created by the fireball may ignore your roll invincibility, so rolling early should carry you out of the explosive range without any need for invincibility frames.

Associated Quests

• Contract: Bovine Blues
• Wine Wars: Belgaard

Notes

• According to the Wiedźmin: Gra Wyobraźni PnP RPG, oszluzgs look like the prehistoric pterosaurs.
• In The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, which appeared before Sword of Destiny was officially translated to English, the term used is "Slyzard", which is described as a huge dragon-like creature with deadly, poisonous stings on the end of its tail that attacked Letho of Gulet near the forests of Angren.

Gallery

Geralt helping Letho against Slyzard

Dracolizard in {{WGW}} by Jarosław Musiał

Gwent card art

External Links

• Gwent: The Witcher Card Game