South Dust Hills

South Dust Hills is a location in North America in the DS game first visited in Chapter 3.

Description

South Dust Hills Map

Accessed from Dustberg in the northwest; it links to the Alpha Gang Base to the northwest of center in South Dust Hills (west), then to the Warehouse in the northeast in South Dust Hills (east) after the Great Bird flies the player across Great Bird Lake. Great Bird Lake to the west of center is initially a roadblock restricting the player to South Dust Hills (west), needing to return the Great Bird's Egg before being able to cross it; Alpha Droids are identical in South Dust Hills (east). The stonework pedestal is in the center west, and Lake Jura/Jura Lake (inconsistent) is in the southeast. Halfway Plain, located west of the northeast, is blocked off until the postgame; Alpha Droids are higher levels here.

Story

Chapter 3

Seeking Sheriff Watt, the player hears and realizes the Great Bird sounds like a dinosaur. Passing the stonework pedestal, the player witnesses Detective Dory telling Sheriff Watt about evidence of Holiday's guilt in the Alpha Gang Base; speaking to Watt reveals Holiday was once a Sheriff too and moves a surveyor to open access to the Alpha Gang Base.

Following Ursula (1)'s defeat, the player must present Watt with the Sheriff's Badge and Great Bird's Egg and follow him back to Dustberg before being directed to return the Egg to the stonework pedestal, triggering a battle with a disguised Alpha Droid. Replacing the Egg calls the Great Bird, a Pteranodon, to carry the player across Great Bird Lake and reach the east side of the map, leaving them with the Shell Mirror to allow future rides.

The player must head east for the Warehouse, but exit again after finding the fence. Dinosaur Feces must be obtained by random drilling (orange ping depth only, Special-Order Drill required, Super Deluxe Radar recommended) to trade to the man now outside the Warehouse for the Explosives to remove the fence.

Chapter 4

to be added

Postgame

The surveyor blocking off Halfway Plain has moved.

Battles

See also: DS Game Battles

Main Area

Random Alpha Droids on both west and east sides of Great Bird Lake are identical.

Random

Purple Super Alpha Droids (Tail Smash, Kamikaze Tackle, Dino Swing; repeated Critical) [200 chell]

• Giganotosaurus R (Attack) LV31 (Tail Smash (R)); Suchomimus S (Defense) LV32 (Kamikaze Tackle (S)); Iguanodon S (Blitz) LV35 (Kamikaze Tackle (S))
  • Starts with Critical Move; beats player's last winning move. Beats the previous tying move.
• Chasmosaurus P (Attack) LV33 (Dino Swing (P)); Kentrosaurus R (Defense) LV34 (Tail Smash (R)); Neovenator P (Attack) LV34 (Dino Swing (P))
  • Starts by blocking player's Critical Move; copies player's last winning move. Loses to the previous tying move.
• All may on any turn use their Critical Move. Only Iguanodon and Neovenator use a different move after being hit by a Critical Move.
• "Uh oh… I'm in trouble… This ought to do the trick."—uses Critical Move (trigger difference unclear).
• "Ah ha ha! This ought to do the trick."—uses Critical Move (trigger difference unclear).
• "Now is the time to go all out!"—if 2 options, uses weaker one.
• "I should play it safe here."—if 2 options, uses stronger one.
• "Ah ha ha! It is no time to be timid!"—if 2 options for player, beats their stronger one.

Red Supply Alpha Droids [1680 Exp, 200 chell]

• Fukuisaurus R (Crisis) LV24 (Tail Smash, Kamikaze Tackle, Dino Swing; Dino Swing (P))
• Fukuiraptor P (Blitz) LV23 (Tail Smash, Kamikaze Tackle, Dino Swing; Tail Smash (R))
  • Random every turn; will likely flee following first win even on first turn.
  • "My supplies are precious! Initiating random mode!"—new dino
  • "Uuunh… My supplies are valuable! Initiating random mode!"—after loss (non-Critical)
  • "Unh… My supplies are in danger! R-random…"—after loss (Critical)
  • "My precious supplies! Initiating random mode!"—after tie
  • "(none)"—after win if staying
  • "Initiating emergency escape! Must escape with my supplies!"—flee after win
• This is seemingly the only Supply Droid with a Dinosaur to have a non-Rock Move as its Hidden Move.

Static (optional)

Purple Super Alpha Droid [1400 Exp, 250 chell; very rare Large Dino Drink]

• Edmontonia S (Defense) LV35 (Skydive, Boomerang Horn, Upper Hand; Blaster Rock (R))
• Nodosaurus S (Crisis) LV38 (Life Sap, Late Bloomer, Revenge Frill; Revenge Stone (S))
  • Starts by losing to its Critical Move; copies player's last winning move and beats the player's winning Critical Move. May on any turn use their Critical Move or beat any of player's moves tied for highest MP remaining. Loses to the previous tying move.
  • "Hmm… What a conundrum."—if 2 options for player, ties their stronger one.
  • "I should play it safe here."—if 2 options, uses stronger one.
  • Surprisingly doesn't always respond to a player's empty MP bar.

The Alpha Gang Base must be cleared before progressing to the following battle.

Static (required)

Red Super Alpha Droid [2500 Exp, 250 chell; rare Large Dino Drink]

• Deinonychus P (Crisis) LV40 (Meteor Strike, Crossing Attack, Spinning Attack; Spinning Attack (P))
  • Starts by losing to its Critical Move; may make any move without a consistent strategy, often copying the player's winning move, and matches a player move with the least MP remaining. Loses to previous tying move.
  • "Alpha Droids are the best! The best! The best! The best!"—opening, loses to its Critical Move.
  • "Hmm… This is not good…"—{usually} copies player's last move.
  • "Hmm… You are better than I thought…"—unclear; likely uses its Critical Move.
  • "Heh… I shall win next time!"—loses to previous tying move.
  • "You are low on MP! I see… I see!"—matches any player move tied for lowest MP remaining.
  • "Heh heh heh… Stay the course! Stay the course!"—repeats a win.
  • "Not bad… Time for a Critical Move!"—oddly, only rarely uses a Critical Move.
  • "Hmm… What to do, what to do…"—if 2 options, uses stronger one.

Halfway Plain

This section of South Dust Hills (east) is blocked off by an NPC until the postgame; several tiles' worth of area just north of the entrance plateau instead features regular encounters as above. {poorly documented}

Random

Red Super Alpha Droids (Super Tail/Tackle/Swing; 6MP non-Critical Super?) [240 chell]

• Acrocanthosaurus P (Defense) LV55 (? Fire R); Saltasaurus R (Attack) LV56 (? Water S); Maiasaura R (Tie) LV59 (Big Foot Assault (S))
  • Starts with Critical Move; beats player's last winning move. At least Maiasaura beats the previous tying move.
• Centrosaurus R (Blitz) LV57 (Lightning Spear (P)); Ankylosaurus P (Attack) LV58 (? Earth R); Allosaurus S (Blitz) LV60 (Tornado Toss (P))
  • Starts by blocking player's Critical Move; copies player's last winning move. Centrosaurus and Allosaurus, and Ankylosaurus maybe, lose to the previous tying move.
• At least Acrocanthosaurus, Saltasaurus, Centrosaurus, and Maiasaura may on any turn use their Critical Move. Only Maiasaura and Allosaurus use a different move after being hit by a Critical Move.
• "Ah ha ha! This ought to do the trick!"—uses its Critical Move.

Red Supply Alpha Droids [5310 Exp, 240 chell]

• Fukuisaurus R (Crisis) LV40 (Tail Smash, Kamikaze Tackle, Dino Swing; Spiked Tail Smash (R))
• Fukuiraptor P (Blitz) LV40 (Tail Smash, Kamikaze Tackle, Dino Swing; Spiked Tail Smash (R))
• Gastonia S (Attack) LV40 (Tail Smash, Kamikaze Tackle, Dino Swing; Spiked Tail Smash (R))
  • Random every turn (seemingly prefer Rock); will likely flee following first win.
  • "Must transport supplies! Must deliver! Stay out of my way! Initiating random mode!"—new dino
  • "Uuunh… You can't have my supplies! Initiating random mode!"—after loss (non-Critical)
  • "Unh… My supplies are in danger! R-random…"—after loss (Critical)
  • "Stay out of my way! My precious supplies! Initiating random mode!"—after tie
  • "(none)"—after win if staying
  • "Initiating emergency escape! Must escape with my supplies!"—flee after win

Items

See also: DS Game Items

See also: DS Item Tables

Set Items

The following Key Items are acquired here.

• Shell Mirror (from Great Bird after returning Egg, allows crossing Great Bird Lake in Chapter 3+ and crossing Mount Tyranno in Postgame)
• Fossil Photo (from Mr. Dandy, trade back for Old Note after Minmi identifies it in Chapter 3+)
• Old Note (from Mr. Dandy, directions to set N. American Fossil Tyrannosaurus (Attack Type) in West Dust Hills in Chapter 3+)

The following basic Items can be acquired here.

• Gold Nugget (from northwest kid for Bag Lunch in Chapter 3+)
• Workbook (rescue NPC from optional Droid)
• Large Dino Drink (south of center item case)
• Large Dino Drink (deliver Small Package to Mr. Dandy in late Chapter 3+; repeatable Postgame)
• Manual (center north item case in Postgame)

Drilling Table

Depths marked by a "*" are not known well enough to be confident of their full item list.

Item (South Dust Hills)	White Ping	Yellow Ping	Orange Ping	Red Ping*
Leaf/Sprout/Trefoil/Clover	Very Common	Very Common	Uncommon	(unknown)
N. American Fossil	(not found)	(not found)	Very Common	(not found)
Ancient Bowl	Very Common	(not found)	(not found)	(unknown)
Ancient Urn	Uncommon	(not found)	(not found)	(unknown)
Uncut Diamond	Very Rare	(not found)	(not found)	(unknown)
Gold Nugget	(not found)	Uncommon	(not found)	(unknown)
Five-Colored Bead	(not found)	Rare	Common	(unknown)
Dinosaur Feces	(not found)	(not found)	Very Rare	(unknown)
Rugosa Fossil	(not found)	Uncommon	(not found)	(unknown)
Trilobite Fossil	(not found)	Rare	(not found)	(unknown)
Sycamore Fossil	(not found)	Uncommon	(not found)	(unknown)
Nilssonia Fossil	(not found)	(not found)	Uncommon	(unknown)

Dinosaur Fossils

The following can be drilled up randomly as N. American Fossils.

• Orange Ping (Chapter 3+):
  • Acrocanthosaurus P (Defense, 3 star, Fire) (common)
  • Gorgosaurus P (Tie, 1 star, Fire) (common)
  • Camarasaurus P (Tie, 2 star, Water) (common)
  • Pachyrhinosaurus P (Tie, 5 star, Lightning) (rare)
  • Torosaurus R (Attack, 4 star, Lightning) (rare)
  • Eucentrosaurus R (Defense, 2 star, Lightning) (very common)
  • Einiosaurus S (Attack, 1 star, Lightning) (very common)