Destard

Destard is the dragon dungeon — and one of the most iconic locations in Britannia's geography. Sitting on the southwestern side of the Dragonhame Mountains, west of Trinsic, the entrance leads down into three levels of cavernous lairs, each more dragon-saturated than the last. The dungeon is one of the original eight from Ultima IV and serves as the Anti-Valor dungeon in Britannian virtue lore — the corruption of the warrior's courage, where reckless adventurers seek glory in dragonslaying and most simply die.

For decades Destard has been the canonical late-game Provocation training ground, the place every new Bard goes once their skill clears 90, and a working party-PvE dungeon for any group with a competent Tamer or two warriors with full elemental resistances.

Layout

Destard is three levels deep with stairs and natural passages between each. There is no Trammel revamp — both facets share the same monster-cavern structure. The differences between Trammel and Felucca come down to:

• PvP rules (Felucca only)
• Champion Spawn (Felucca only — Rikktor on Felucca's Level 3)
• Loot intensity (Felucca's PvP-zone bonus increases item quality)

Level 1 — the great cavern

The first level opens immediately into a large cavern. Most of it is open ground crawling with dragons, drakes, and wyverns. Water elementals spawn near the small bodies of water on the east end and again to the north near a second pool. Giant serpents mass to the west side of the level, near the entrance to Level 2.

At the back of the cavern lies a small shrine — the dungeon's resurrect point, reachable only by crossing a field of cleverly-concealed poison gas vents. Adventurers who die deeper in the dungeon must run their ghost back through the gas to reach the shrine; the gas does not damage ghosts but the live trip back through is itself a hazard.

Inhabitants:

• Dragons
• Drakes
• Giant Serpents
• Water Elementals
• Wyverns

Level 2 — Shadow Wyrm and the maze

The second level is small but dangerous. The headline tenant is the Shadow Wyrm — a creature that "seems to be made of the shadows themselves," a near-Ancient-class dragon with high physical resistance and poison-magery casting. The level also hosts Daemons, Drakes, Evil Mage Lords, and Wyverns in heavy concentration.

The entrance to Level 3 is visible immediately upon arrival from Level 1, so movement between the three levels is fluid — a kited dragon on Level 3 can be pulled back to Level 1, or vice versa.

Inhabitants:

• Daemons
• Drakes
• Evil Mage Lords
• Shadow Wyrm
• Wyverns

Level 3 — the Ancient Wyrm

Level 3 is the smallest but houses the dungeon's marquee: the Ancient Wyrm, the most feared creature of dragonkind, spawning to the east in a smaller chamber. The chamber is otherwise occupied by Wyverns; the Wyrm itself is the only Ancient-tier dragon in any of the original-eight dungeons. A successful Ancient Wyrm kill rewards substantial gold, scales, and rare drops including the occasional dragon scale and chance-of-Power-Scroll variants.

A quest-line creature — the Obsidian Wyvern — also appears on Level 3 during specific quest activations.

Inhabitants:

• Ancient Wyrm
• Wyverns
• (Quest only) Obsidian Wyvern

Felucca — Rikktor's Champion Spawn

The Felucca facet's Level 3 hosts one of the eight original Champion Spawns: Rikktor, the Dragon. The spawn ladder builds through a reptile theme:

• Snakes
• Lizardmen
• Ophidians
• Drakes
• Dragons
• Rikktor (champion)

Rikktor is the canonical "easy intermediate" champ — harder than Barracoon (Despise's Vermin Horde), easier than Mephitis (the Kil/Spider). His drops include combat-and-lore Power Scrolls, sometimes the rare Hat of Magi counterpart, and on Felucca the standard Champion-Spawn loot table.

Tamer-Bard parties with Greater Dragons and 120 Discordance can solo Rikktor reliably. Mages with a strong Provoking partner do nearly as well — Provoking the spawn's Wyverns onto each other is the standard wave-clear technique.

Strategy notes

Provocation training

Destard's Felucca facet is the single best Provocation training ground above 90 skill. The dragon-on-dragon cycle is the post-90 grind. The rhythm:

1. Provoke a Drake onto a Wyvern.
2. While they fight, provoke a second Wyvern onto whichever survives.
3. Kill the survivor; collect its scales.
4. Repeat.

A 90-skill Bard reaches 110 in a long weekend at Destard Felucca; a 110-skill Bard reaches 120 in another long weekend on Dragons. The dungeon's relative isolation (no nearby town, no high-traffic player presence) makes it ideal for AFK-grade grinding sessions.

Solo dragon farming

Dragon scales are a Tailoring resource and a steady gold source. A Tamer-Bard or a competent Necromage can solo individual dragons on Levels 1 and 2 indefinitely. Bring:

• High Cold Resistance (dragons hit Cold heavily on the breath weapon)
• High Fire Resistance (the secondary breath component)
• A Slayer Repond weapon for dragon-class bonus damage
• Greater Heal potions in pack

Avoid Level 2's Shadow Wyrm on a solo run — its poison and physical output exceed most solo template ceilings.

Group runs

A standard Destard group is 3–5 players: a Tamer with Greater Dragon, a Bard with Provocation, a Healer-Mage, and one or two warriors with Slayer weapons. The group rotates Tamer-pulls into Provoked dragon brawls, with the warriors finishing off survivors.

Death management

The Level-1 shrine through the gas-vent field is the only resurrect point. Plan for the gas vents — they are not visually obvious, and a fresh-rezzed adventurer can easily die again on the run back to the corpse. Carrying a recall rune to Trinsic and a return rune to Destard's entrance is the standard escape.

Geography note

Destard sits in the Dragonhame Mountains on the southwestern reach. The closest town is Trinsic (east); the second-closest is Skara Brae (west across the water). Most adventurers reach the dungeon by recall from Trinsic or by Magery's Mark/Recall on a rune dropped at the entrance.

See also

Britannia, Trinsic, Skara Brae, Anti-Virtue Dungeons, Felucca, Trammel, Champion Spawn, Rikktor, Provocation, Animal Taming, Tailoring, Magery, Power Scrolls, Slayer, Dragon, Drake, Wyvern, Ancient Wyrm, Shadow Wyrm, Daemon, Evil Mage Lord, Giant Serpent, Water Elemental, Lizardman, Ophidian, Obsidian Wyvern, Greater Heal Potion, Mark, Recall.