Heavensward: on 2nd major attack, why didn't Dragons fly in?

[Kamatsu]

I know Heavensward is long gone for many players, but I only recently finished it... and there is one thing I'm still puzzling about - why in Nidhogg's 2nd attack did the Dragons still attack along the Steps of Faith?

I know it was initially setup storywise that they could not fly into the city due to the magical barrier's that surrounded the city, with the Steps of Faith being the only real weak point where these barrier's could be broken.

This is exactly what happened when we went to help Ishgard - Thanx to Ysayle's help the dragons were able to breach and break the seals on the Steps of Faith, and it was only due to our intervention that they were not able to invade the city AFTER breaking the last barrier down.

So with the barrier's around the city broken from this fight, and from looking at the cutscene for quest leading up to The Final Steps of Faith they were not repaired / replaced - why were Nidhogg's dragon forces still trying to fight only via the Steps of Faith?

What also supports this fact is that the dragon was able to save the girl who got pushed off the wall/building (I can't remember what quest this was involved in) - had the barrier still been in place then this could never have happened.

So was Nidhogg so blind in his hatred / rage that he didn't realize / know that the barrier was gone and he didn't have to attack purely along the Steps of Faith like he was? Or was this something that was done for "game" reason's to actually give the player a chance of saving the day without the mass loses in the city that would have happened if Nidhogg's forces attacked everywhere in the city they could get to?

Because to be honest, if Nidhogg wanted to crush Ishgard... there's no way there was enough defenders to defend everywhere a dragon could fly to and attack. Had the dragons flown in and attacked everywhere, the casualties would have been staggering.

[Yuriane]

Walk around Ishgard and you'll notice that there's giant harpoon guns literally everywhere. On the tops of buildings, on the wall, probably on those weird walls surrounding the walls to. Plus a lot of the taller buildings have "roosts" which gives dragoons a height advantage making them better able to take down dragons.

While these would still be around the Steps of Faith it wouldn't be wise to overuse them, the Steps of Faith are the only way outside of Ishgard that doesn't require flight or teleportation, and extensive damage to them would make traveling to and from the Coerthas Lowlands and Central Coerthas Highlands much more difficult and even dangerous.

Another explanation could be that this wasn't the bulk of the horde we fought but simply a vanguard escorting the Dragons with limited or even no flight capabilities, but that's a much more boring answer.

[Enkidoh]

A lot of it was also because of Nidhogg's MO - after all, it was stated repeatedly throughout Heavensward that Nidhogg was fully capable of wiping Ishgard completely off the map if he ever wanted to (the fact he didn't was the crucial clue that there was more to the Dragonsong War than met the eye). But he never did, because that was not what he wanted. He did not desire for Ishgard's destruction, no, killing them all was too easy for them, he wanted Ishgard to suffer forever, he wanted his prey to squirm and writhe in agony for eternity the same way his sister did a thousand years before, which meant deliberately holding his forces back somewhat. And yes, that meant giving them a 'fighting chance' by engaging Ishgard's forces on the Steps of Faith instead of just flying in from above and blazing the whole city to ashes.

Also I think Estinien being Nidhogg's meatsuit at that stage probably at least influenced Nidhogg in reverse to attack the front door on the 'ground' where the dragons were more vulnerable (especially to DRGs like him) rather than an aerial attack - Nidhogg's eyes seemed to be something of a two-way door so it's possible that Nidhogg may have been inadvertently influenced by Estinien without even realizing it.

[Anonymoose]

For what it's worth, at least two of the levequests point to some of the arcane wards still functioning. One zaps someone trying to repair it and others are full of difficult-to-detect cracks that need reinforcement. For a dragon as large and powerful as Nidhogg, the Steps may have still been the best path in, especially knowing that Ishgard had consolidated the vast majority of its forces on the Pillars the last time a breach occurred.

Going by his attack on Vidofnir and subsequent delay in acting, he wasn't really in a rush, either, as he was had been whilst trying to get to Thordan before he could use his new powers to upset the status quo. The Steps may have just ticked a box on the way from burning it all bottom to top.

Though I do like the idea that Nidhogg's shade, being part memories of Nidhogg's vengeance and part Estinien struggling to regain control, wasn't entirely sane or sensible and took the obvious, familiar, habitual approach.

[SicariusSeven]

I always wondered that and figured it was those big ol' harpoons. Plus you see a lot of them during the Heavensward opening cinematic. One thing I alway did wonder though, that really huge dragon during first Steps of Faith, were they the only one ever? Cause we never see a really huge dragon like that ever again.

[Anonymoose]

One thing I alway did wonder though, that really huge dragon during first Steps of Faith, were they the only one ever? Cause we never see a really huge dragon like that ever again.

There's a dead one strung up out in the western Highlands. Though the lore book chart on dragon evolution does include his class.

Vishap was a Wyrm class dragon; a newborn dragonet that followed standard development into the dragon stage (think Isgebind and Aiatar) and then forsook agility on foot and wing while developing an affinity for brute strength and size.

[Jonnycbad]

Because Ishgard after fighting dragons for 1000 years became quite adept at slaying flying dragons. Humans use technology, Dragons do not, thus humans become increasingly better at fighting the dragons and adapting. Case and point: Dragonslayer Cannons and Dragoons. Dragonslayers fire massive, adaman-tipped harpoons that pierce the scales of flying dragons and reel them to the ground.Dragoons employ the use of Gae Bolg spears which not only have specialized stabilizer fins that allow Dragoons to dive with increased velocity on top of dragons, the tip pierces the scales with ease. The Dragoon uses the cutting edge of the Gae Bolg's fins to slice through the internal organs of the Dragon once they've pierced through. These 2 things make it quite easy to dispatch lesser flying wyverns and drakes. Wyrms, however are far too powerful, use powerful magic and have incredibly dense and hardened scales such that they're far too dangerous to kill. Luckily, there aren't any Wyrms that directly attack Ishgard except for Nidhogg, which is why he's so feared. The only thing that gives Ishgard an advantage when facing Nidhogg is that they have in their possession one of his eyes. This allows them to not only know when he's coming, but allows the wielder (Azure Dragoon) to be imbued with the power and strength above that of an ordinary mortal dragoon, and also to enfeeble Nidhogg himself.

[LineageRazor]

Addition to what others have said, regardless of the state of of the rest of Ishgard's defenses, the Steps of Faith were the most recently BROKEN. It makes sense that the Steps would take much longer to repair than the other parts of Ishgard. It's as good a place as any to launch another attack, and has better odds of being brittle.

On top of that, a considerable portion of Nidhogg's horde is landbound, and the Steppes are the best way to get these dragons into the city. Even if the areal defenses were softer, a far smaller percentage of Nidhogg's forces could participate.

So, really, it was the right move, I think. Nidhogg takes Vishap's place as the battering ram, and once he's through, the rest of his horde floods in.