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Dragon Riding
Dragon Riding is the named aerial traversal feature in DragonSword: Awakening. It sits on top of the broader Familiars system: dragons are one of the collectible creature types that function as mounts, and Dragon Riding is the specific flight-focused traversal mode Hound13 has built around them.
Design Philosophy
Hound13 has publicly said that the freedom-of-movement design of Dragon Riding is inspired by The Legend of Zelda series. The reference is to how Zelda's recent open-world entries let the player lift off, glide, reposition, and descend without being constrained to a rigid path. DragonSword: Awakening is applying that idea to dragon flight across the Continent of Orbis.
Where It Fits in Traversal
Traversal Tier | How It Works |
|---|---|
On foot | The default way to explore. The entire continent is explorable on foot as the first-tier option. |
Ground Familiars | Plants, beasts, and insect-type Familiars act as ground mounts, growing from a mini follow-along form into full-size mounts when ridden. |
Bird Familiars | Flying Familiars provide aerial traversal without the scale and maneuver set of a dragon. |
Dragon Riding | The top-tier aerial traversal option, purpose-built around dragon-type Familiars and the Zelda-inspired freedom-of-movement design. |
Gated Regions
Hound13 has said that some areas of the open world are only reachable once the player has the right mount. That includes aerial-only regions that specifically need a flying Familiar, and by extension the dragon mount for Dragon Riding is the traversal option that opens up the most of the vertical map.
How You Get a Dragon
Starter mount. Each of the nineteen Heroes begins the game with a mount. Whether any Heroes start with a dragon specifically has not been individually detailed.
Collected through play. Additional Familiars, including dragons, are acquired as the player progresses through the story and explores Orbis.
Store-side cosmetic mounts. Under the Buy-to-Play Model, extra Familiars are one of the two categories sold as optional post-launch cosmetics alongside character costumes. Dragon-type mounts may appear in that cosmetic pool.
Related Systems
Familiars - the broader collectible mount system Dragon Riding sits inside.
Continent of Orbis - the open-world map Dragon Riding navigates.