Sand Prince


 * This article is about the boss. For the item, see Sand Prince (item).

The Sand Prince (デザートプリンス Desert Prince) is a boss in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, found in the Alchemy Well located in Ayuthay. He is awakened by the Tree Flute and challenges Matthew and co. to a battle. His power reverses the Alchemy Well, while his Mercury counterpart, the Ice Queen, reverses the Alchemy Forge. Being Aligned with Mars, he is weak to Mercury Psynergy and immune to Mars Psynergy.

History and Story
The Sand Prince appears to be a benevolent being that resided in a room behind Ayuthay's Alchemy Well. When a group consisting of Matthew's party as well as Amiti, prince of Ayuthay, come looking for a power that will reverse the flow of the Alchemy Well, the Sand Prince makes the group aware of his existence by telepathically contacting Amiti. When Matthew plays the Tree Flute in his room, the Sand Prince explains that he has been waiting for someone to share his power with. However, Matthew and his party would have to prove themselves by defeating him in battle, which would convert him to a gemstone. Matthew's party is victorious, and they gain access to the Sand Prince's power.

Later on, the Sand Prince contacts Amiti again when the group needs information about the Ice Queen. He reveals that she was a dangerous woman who would only use a fraction of her power to help others.

As a boss
Statisically, the Sand Prince 1239 Hit Points, 100 Psynergy Points, 162 Attack, 47 Defense, 64 Agility and 40 Luck. In terms of resistance, he has a Mars Resistance of 193, Jupiter Resistance of 127, Venus Resistance of 100 and Mercury Resistance of 25. In regards to his abilities, he uses his Mars-aligned abilities with a Mars power of 110 and its Venus-aligned abilities with a Venus power of 100.

In battle, the Sand Prince uses these battle commands:


 * Arid Heat: A Psynergy spell that conjures a small blast of desert heat. It has a Mars base power of 40 and a range of three targets. It consumes 4 of its user's PP.
 * Arid Blast: The second level of the Arid Heat Psynergy which creates a medium-sized blast of troubling heat. It has a Mars base power of 80 and a range of three targets. Consumes 8 of its user's PP.
 * Arid Scorch: The final and strongest stage of the Arid Heat Psynergy which summons a huge simoom-like storm of heat. It has a Mars base power of 120 and a range of three targets. Consumes 15 of its user's PP.
 * Earthquake: A Psynergy spell that causes the earth to tremble multiple times. This deals Venus-aligned damage with a base power of 45 and a range of 5 targets.
 * Eruption: A Psynergy spell which causes a medium-sized volcano to erupt beneath the opposition. This deals Mars-aligned damage with a base power of 90 and a range of three targets. Consumes 14 of its user's PP.
 * Attack: The Sand Prince's standard physical attack. It is treated in-game as a Mars-based physical elemental attack, meaning the Sand Prince's Mars Power and the target's Mars Resistance factor into the damage done.

Defeating this boss gives the player 1540 experience points, 825 coins, and, during a cutscene, the Sand Prince Stone, which when equipped to a Mars Adept, bestows the Arid Heat Psynergy series.

Strategies
While possessing a wide range of offensive abilities, the Sand Prince is not a threatening battle. The Sand Prince's main powers lie in his array of ranged Psynergies. Thus, raising resistance is an excellent tactic to lessen the effect of these Psynergies. The most threatening of these Psynergies is Arid Scorch, which has a high base power of 120.

Being Mars-aligned, the Sand Prince is weak towards Mercury-based attacks. Assuming the player keeps all Adepts in their base-classes, Rief will be the most effective Adept in taking advantage of this weakness, whether through Djinn and Summons or Psynergy. Using Impact or Forge on him will raise Rief's middling Attack, allowing him to do more damage with his unleashed Djinn. By this point, the player should have two Mercury Djinn, allowing the player to summon Nereid for decent damage. Alternatively, if the player has collected all the Venus Djinn available so far, then they can summon Judgment. The Sand Prince's average Venus Resistance combined with the power of Judgment can result in a great deal of damage.

Trivia

 * Interestingly, in the Japanese version, he's called the Desert Prince (written in Katakana to emulate English) in battle and in his entry as a character in the Encyclopedia, but as an item he's called the Sand Prince (written in Kanji as 砂の王子).