Tornado Lizard enemy line

From Golden Sun Universe

The Tornado Lizard, Storm Lizard, and Tempest Lizard are enemies that are battled in Golden Sun. These monsters, resembling very large bipedal lizards, are palette swaps of each other that have differing levels of power and defense and are fought in different locations in the games. All three variants are fought individually in scripted encounters, two of those are actual Boss encounters, and one of those bosses is an optional boss that can be fought repeatedly.

In Golden Sun

Tornado Lizard

Tornado Lizard.png

A Tornado Lizard (たつまきトカゲ Tatsumaki Tokage, lit. Tornado Lizard) is a normal-sized orange level 25 variant with a green underbelly and light blue eyes. In Golden Sun, it is battled throughout Suhalla Desert, but not as a random monster. As hinted in cutscenes both in the desert and in the nearby town of Suhalla, the various whirlwinds that pop up to block off vital paths throughout the desert are caused by these monsters. Stepping into a whirlwind will lift you up into the air, and after a moment you will be flown out of the desert and plopped back onto the overworld in front of the entrance to the desert, forcing you to go through the desert all over again. To pass beyond each whirlwind, you have to defeat the monster, and to initiate a battle with a Tornado Lizard, let yourself get caught up in a whirlwind, open your Psynergy menu, and cast the Douse Psynergy. Once defeated, the Tornado Lizard and its accompanying whirlwind will remain gone from that screen of the desert until you exit Suhalla Desert and reenter it, in which case all defeated Tornado Lizards will respawn.

Obviously the Tornado Lizard's stats and ability to act multiple times in a turn, almost like a boss, are adjusted to provide multiple enemies' worth of challenge in a battle. Its rather powerful abilities and the fact it likely can't be defeated in one turn like many random monsters even though you're focusing all four Adepts on it means it can do a rather hefty amount of damage before going down.

A Tornado Lizard is especially likely to be affected by Attack-lowering effects. Its statistics are as follows:

Name HP PP Attack Defense Agility Luck
Tornado Lizard 530 37 267 74 104 18
Elemental Resistances and Levels Exp Coins Item Dropped Drop Rate
Star jupiter.gif 152 (Lv 4)   Star mercury.gif 100 (Lv 2)   Star mars.gif 100 (Lv 2)   Star venus.gif 48 (Lv 0) 620 477 Weasels Claw.gif Weasel's Claw 1/8

A Tornado Lizard uses the following battle commands with moderate intelligence:

Command Chance
to use
Elem. Stats
used with *
Description
Wing Flutter 53/256
(20.7%)
Star jupiter.gif 110 Power Enemy ability that shoots out small sets of sharp glowing yellow plumage through multiple Adepts. Deals a Jupiter-aligned attack with 70 base damage that is spread out across 3 enemies with low damage distribution.
Attack 52/256
(20.3%)
-- Standard physical attack.
Wind Slash 47/256
(18.4%)
Star jupiter.gif 110 Power Psynergy costing 9 PP that projects wide glowing swaths of energy through the party of Adepts. Deals a Jupiter-aligned attack with 50 base damage that is spread out across 3 enemies with high damage distribution.
Storm Ray 35/256
(13.7%)
Star jupiter.gif 110 Power Psynergy costing 10 PP that strikes the party of Adepts with lightning. Deals a Jupiter-aligned attack with 65 base damage that is spread out across 3 enemies with high damage distribution.
Impact 29/256
(11.3%)
-- Psynergy costing 7 PP that temporarily increases its own Attack statistic by 25%.
Tornado 23/256
(9%)
Star jupiter.gif 110 Power Psynergy costing 14 PP that causes two large, electrically charged tornadoes to cycle through the positions of the party of Adepts. Deals a Jupiter-aligned attack with 80 base damage that is spread out across 5 enemies with high damage distribution.
Ward 17/256
(6.6%)
-- Psynergy costing 3 PP that temporarily increases its own Resistances by 40 each.


Storm Lizard

Storm Lizard.png

The Storm Lizard (フラップリザード Flap Lizard) is a huge, light green level 28 variant with a violet underbelly and violet eyes. In Golden Sun, near the end of Suhalla Desert, you'll find a much larger whirlwind that pursues you until you either get caught up in it like a normal whirlwind or exit the desert (this technically makes this boss fight skippable with fast enough running, but the tornado will remain in its starting location in the desert for if you go back to it, so you can come back for the boss battle later). It operates just like a Tornado Lizard's whirlwind - it will transport you to the beginning of the desert unless you cast Douse while caught up in it, beginning the battle with the boss.

Particularly to a party that has missed a good number of the game's Djinn up to this point (ideally there should be 6 Djinn for each party member at this point), this can be a legitimately difficult boss battle, as the monster is essentially an enhanced Tornado Lizard with several abilities made twice as strong and with a huge amount of HP. The fact its small PP meter allows limited usage of its Psynergy spells hardly detracts from its challenge, because it alternates between its attack and its powerful, multi-target, PP-free monster skill Wing Stroke, and since it acts twice per turn it's entirely possible for it to use Wing Stroke twice per turn. This emphasis on power and repetition makes even a full Summon-rushing tactic - where all Adepts use their most powerful summons on the first turn and try to fell the boss afterwards while in a weakened state - very risky and possibly unsuccessful, as the Storm Lizard would very likely down the whole party before it is defeated, at least if each Adept does not have two extra Djinn Set onto them to increase their classes. Helpful measures would include having Mia use Wish Well, getting the Mars Djinni Flash nearby and using it for important group protection (and possibly using Granite for the same purpose), and having Adepts in general use a Set Djinni on one turn and use a 1-Djinni Summon on the next for a more flexible blend of offensive and defense.

The Storm Lizard is especially likely to be affected by Attack-lowering effects. Its statistics are as follows:

Name HP PP Attack Defense Agility Luck
Storm Lizard 2900 42 291 86 112 22
Elemental Resistances and Levels Exp Coins Item Dropped Drop Rate
Star jupiter.gif 152 (Lv 4)   Star mercury.gif 100 (Lv 2)   Star mars.gif 100 (Lv 2)   Star venus.gif 48 (Lv 0) 1300 6100 Psy Crystal.gif Psy Crystal 1/1

The Storm Lizard uses the following battle commands with moderate intelligence:

Command Chance
to use
Elem. Stats
used with *
Description
Wing Stroke 53/256
(20.7%)
Star jupiter.gif 110 Power Enemy ability that shoots out small sets of sharp glowing yellow plumage through multiple Adepts. Deals a Jupiter-aligned attack with 140 base damage that is spread out across 3 enemies with low damage distribution.
Attack 52/256
(20.3%)
-- Standard physical attack.
Sonic Slash 47/256
(18.4%)
Star jupiter.gif 110 Power Psynergy costing 20 PP that projects huge glowing swaths of energy through the party of Adepts. Deals a Jupiter-aligned attack with 120 base damage that is spread out across 5 enemies with high damage distribution.
Storm Ray 35/256
(13.7%)
Star jupiter.gif 110 Power Psynergy costing 10 PP that strikes the party of Adepts with lightning. Deals a Jupiter-aligned attack with 65 base damage that is spread out across 3 enemies with high damage distribution.
Impact 29/256
(11.3%)
-- Psynergy costing 7 PP that temporarily increases its own Attack statistic by 25%.
Tempest 23/256
(9%)
Star jupiter.gif 110 Power Psynergy costing 27 PP that causes four large, electrically charged tornadoes to cycle through the positions of the party of Adepts. Deals a Jupiter-aligned attack with 160 base damage that is spread out across 5 enemies with high damage distribution.
Ward 17/256
(6.6%)
-- Psynergy costing 3 PP that temporarily increases its own Resistances by 40 each.

Category:Golden Sun bosses


Bosses
Bosses in Golden Sun
Vault BanditsTretSaturosKiller ApeHydros StatueManticoreKrakenAzartSatrageNavampaToadonpaStorm LizardTempest LizardSaturos and MenardiFinal bossDeadbeard
Bosses in Golden Sun: The Lost Age
ChestbeatersKing ScorpionBriggs and Sea FightersAqua HydraSerpentAvimanderPoseidonMoapa and KnightsKarst and AgatioFlame DragonsFinal bossValukarSentinelStar MagicianDullahan
Bosses in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
Tangle BloomDim DragonDim Dragon PlusStealthy ScoutsSand PrinceKu-Tsung and Ku-EmbraIce QueenSludgeMountain RocBlados and ChalisBlados, Chaos Hound, and ChalisFinal bossOgre TitansAncient DevilStar MagicianDullahan


Tempest Lizard

Tempest Lizard.png

The Tempest Lizard (ガストリザード Gust Lizard) is a huge, dark purple level 28 variant with a red underbelly and light green eyes. In Golden Sun, in Suhalla Desert, you'll see a large pink whirlwind visible at the right of the second screen, which is near a cave exit. To reach this somewhat-hidden portion of the screen, use Reveal to get yourself to where you find the Mars Djinni Flash, enter the nearby cave, and follow it until you get to the pink whirlwind. It operates similar to a Tornado Lizard's whirlwind - unless you cast Douse while you're up in midair, which will initiate a boss battle, you will be transported out of the desert.

However, this boss has several very notable characteristics to it in field terms. If you defeat the boss in the desert, its pink whirlwind disappears - but if you leave the desert and reenter it, the boss and its whirlwind reappears the same way normal Tornado Lizards reappear in the desert, making it the first of two repeatedly fightable bosses in the Golden Sun series, the second being the Dim Dragon Plus. What's even more interesting is what happens if you let it carry you off-screen: You are dumped onto the overworld map not around Suhalla, where the other Lizards leave you, but at the secret dungeon Crossbone Isle, with the Tempest Lizard's tornado nearby at the beach portion. This is the "main" way of accessing Crossbone Isle. Here, you may either enter Crossbone Isle by walking into its center portion and explore, or get caught up in the whirlwind and either use Douse to fight the Tempest Lizard here or ride it back to Suhalla. Like in Suhalla Desert, if you defeat the boss here, its whirlwind disappears from the overworld portion of Crossbone Isle, but immediately respawns upon entering and exiting the nearby Crossbone Isle location, and you can fight it and slay it as many times as you like this way.

Since the repeatedly fightable Tempest Lizard is located so close to the location on Crossbone Isle that causes it to reappear after it is defeated, this makes for a very good way to level-grind for EXP, coins, and Potions. If you have all Djinn and are at a high enough level, it becomes easy to repeatedly slay the monster by having everyone use 4-Djinn summons on the first turn to reduce it to near-zero health, then have Isaac down it with a usage of an offensive Venus Djinni like Flint or Bane, so that you get the enhanced EXP and Coin rewards for your kill. Because of its under-40 luck stat, it is very possible to inflict venom on it with Bane, making for an extremely quick battle. After slaying it, heal and walk around the overworld until your Djinn have recovered, put as many Djinn On Standby as needed, battle the Tempest Lizard again with your four summons and one Venus Djinni attack, reap your rewards, and repeat. You can be at a very statistically high level with a lot of free Potions to play around with using this method.

As an actual boss monster, since this boss is a slightly enhanced version of the already powerful and durable Storm Lizard, if you battle it as soon as you are able to (and you can battle it even before the Storm Lizard when you first explore Suhalla Desert), you'll likely have a very difficult time. It is the toughest boss monster outside the game's final boss encounters and the optional battle with Deadbeard at the bottom of Crossbone Isle, but pretty much the same strategies and battling conduct used for the Storm Lizard apply here. Since it can be fought anytime, many players wait until after having been powered up by endgame content (getting more Djinn, equipment like Dragon Scales and Gaia Blade from Venus Lighthouse, etc.) before coming back to Suhalla Desert for the Tempest Lizard to either fight it or let it take them to Crossbone Isle.

The Tempest Lizard is especially likely to be affected by Attack-lowering effects. Its statistics are as follows:

Name HP PP Attack Defense Agility Luck
Tempest Lizard 3000 45 295 94 114 26
Elemental Resistances and Levels Exp Coins Item Dropped Drop Rate
Star jupiter.gif 152 (Lv 4)   Star mercury.gif 100 (Lv 2)   Star mars.gif 100 (Lv 2)   Star venus.gif 48 (Lv 0) 1360 6400 Potion.gif Potion 1/1

The Tempest Lizard uses the following battle commands with moderate intelligence:

Command Chance
to use
Elem. Stats
used with *
Description
Wing Stroke 53/256
(20.7%)
Star jupiter.gif 110 Power Enemy ability that shoots out small sets of sharp glowing yellow plumage through multiple Adepts. Deals a Jupiter-aligned attack with 140 base damage that is spread out across 3 enemies with low damage distribution.
Attack 52/256
(20.3%)
-- Standard physical attack.
Sonic Slash 47/256
(18.4%)
Star jupiter.gif 110 Power Psynergy costing 20 PP that projects huge glowing swaths of energy through the party of Adepts. Deals a Jupiter-aligned attack with 120 base damage that is spread out across 5 enemies with high damage distribution.
Storm Ray 35/256
(13.7%)
Star jupiter.gif 110 Power Psynergy costing 10 PP that strikes the party of Adepts with lightning. Deals a Jupiter-aligned attack with 65 base damage that is spread out across 3 enemies with high damage distribution.
Impact 29/256
(11.3%)
-- Psynergy costing 7 PP that temporarily increases its own Attack statistic by 25%.
Tempest 23/256
(9%)
Star jupiter.gif 110 Power Psynergy costing 27 PP that causes four large, electrically charged tornadoes to cycle through the positions of the party of Adepts. Deals a Jupiter-aligned attack with 160 base damage that is spread out across 5 enemies with high damage distribution.
Ward 17/256
(6.6%)
-- Psynergy costing 3 PP that temporarily increases its own Resistances by 40 each.

Category:Golden Sun bosses


Bosses
Bosses in Golden Sun
Vault BanditsTretSaturosKiller ApeHydros StatueManticoreKrakenAzartSatrageNavampaToadonpaStorm LizardTempest LizardSaturos and MenardiFinal bossDeadbeard
Bosses in Golden Sun: The Lost Age
ChestbeatersKing ScorpionBriggs and Sea FightersAqua HydraSerpentAvimanderPoseidonMoapa and KnightsKarst and AgatioFlame DragonsFinal bossValukarSentinelStar MagicianDullahan
Bosses in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
Tangle BloomDim DragonDim Dragon PlusStealthy ScoutsSand PrinceKu-Tsung and Ku-EmbraIce QueenSludgeMountain RocBlados and ChalisBlados, Chaos Hound, and ChalisFinal bossOgre TitansAncient DevilStar MagicianDullahan
Enemy Lines in Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Aka ManahAmazeAngle WormAnt LionApeAssassinAvimanderBallBatBlue DragonChestbeaterChimeraConch ShellColosso GladiatorCuttleDinoDirgeDoomsayerDread HoundDrone BeeEmuFlame DragonGargoyleGhostGhost ArmyGhoulGnomeGolemGressilGrubGryphonHarpyHobgoblinHydraKoboldLiving ArmorLiving StatueLizard ManManticoreMaulerMermanMini-GoblinMinotaurusMoleMomongaMummyOrcPhoenixPixiePunch AntRatRat SoldierRed DemonRocRuffianSalamanderScorpionSea DragonSeabirdSirenSkeletonSlimeSpiderStone SoldierThiefToadTornado LizardTrollUrchin BeastVerminWild MushroomWild WolfWill HeadWolfkinWood WalkerWyvernWyvern ChickZombie
Recurring single enemies
Jupiter DjinniMad PlantMars DjinniMercury DjinniMimic (Golden Sun)Mimic (The Lost Age)Venus Djinni


Story relevance

Kyle.gif
Spoiler warning: The following section(s) contain plot details that some people may not wish to learn before reaching this point in the game on their own.

This line of monsters has a slight bearing on the plot of Golden Sun. As resident monsters in the Suhalla Desert, these whirlwind-making beasts made the desert blustery to begin with, but were formerly not so violent, which made passage through the desert turbulent but doable. They are viewed by the people of the town of Suhalla as the spirits of the desert which have become angered by the colonization of the northern part of Gondowan by the Angaran city of Tolbi. The eruption of Mt. Aleph rains Psynergy Stones down across the world, driving many beasts in general mad and violent, including these monsters, making the desert impassable to normal folk.

Babi, the lord of Tolbi, had previously held the Laliveran girl Sheba captive in his palace, but eventually he orders his soldiers escort her back to her hometown, which requires a trip across the desert. Most of the soldiers escorting Sheba across the desert perish from attacks by ravenous Tornado Lizards cloaked in their powerful whirlwinds, while Sheba herself becomes lost in the desert, but the few soldiers that survive watch as Saturos' group then crosses through the desert, then appear to use water to make the lizards drop their whirlwinds before slaying the beasts. (This would mean that the Mercury Adept Alex uses water-based Psynergy on a Tornado Lizard to make it reveal itself, then Saturos and Menardi slay it with their own powerful abilities.) The surviving soldiers then gather buckets of water from Suhalla and douse it on a Tornado Lizard's whirlwind in an attempt to get back to Sheba, but are no match for the monster's combat abilities, and end up in Suhalla badly wounded and in bed.

Isaac's party, having been in pursuit of Saturos' group for a long time, stop in Suhalla and hear the wounded soldiers' accounts of their experiences in the desert and what might have happened to Sheba in there. That clues them in as to how, when they try to cross the desert and get caught up in a whirlwind, they are to cast the Douse Psynergy to allow themselves to properly battle the monster within. The foursome of Adepts defeat each Lizard they come across, and make it through the desert. They find later that Sheba was captured by Saturos' group in the desert.

Dora.gif
Spoilers end here.Those who did not want the plot ruined for them may now continue reading as normal.