What are the benefits for waiting on RoP?

[Spooky]

As a dragon nearing the requirments to take the RoP, what are the benefits to waiting until level 50ish? I'd think that being able to move around the land mostly unhindered would be worth any future benefit, but I was just curious.

[Lumineux]

Well, first of all there are a neat set of scales you can only get if you wait tell 50 hatchling. Secondly, you will be able to participate much more directly in your RoP, instead of just being babysat through it while others do the work for you. (you will still need to group up thouhg). And finaly, there is the pride that comes from waiting, the patients and experience will make a stronger adult of you.

[Zaradoom_Unity]

basicly the good feeling of doing your quest.

Some doing it at the minimum lvl will never get that feeling. I tried it at lvl 37, solo tho ;) Well i noticed it was impossible lol. And even if i had my friends with me, i would not be able to do anything to help in MY quest. And that would make me sad in the end ;)

[Cobal]

What Lumineux allready said, The scales.
There is a series of quests that give you a set of rather powerfull scales.
The last one in the set will serve you well untill level 80.
Having the scales is a source of pride for many dragons, it shows you are a patient dragon that doesnt mind waiting for good rewards.
Adult dragons can no longer get it, the quests will only be given to hatchlings.
For the treasure seekers and rare item collectors these are a must have.

Then there is ofcourse the fact that at level 50 you can solo certain parts of your rop.
The Enslavers on Draak, the crystal golem and his adds, at level 50 you can take them on.
Other mobs you must fight in a group you will be able to damage, at level 30 you wont make a dent on them.

[Illi]

Kumu beat me to it. But hit the nail on the head. I did not wait until lvl 50 as I had planned to do, instead I began at 30 and ascended at 39. Not only did I miss out on the last hatchling scale, but I couldn't contribute to hardly any of the fighting on my quests. Others did all the work for me. It kind of tainted the experience a bit.

So, please, don't give in to impatience, wait until lvl 50.

[Antonath]

I waited until just after level 50 - I did the more useful ability quests, got my replica scale, and leveled until I got the next Silver Strike (level 52, I think).

And I'm very glad I did. Being able to solo the RoP bosses made me feel like a truly powerful Dragon, a feeling I never really had before, and have rarely felt since. Beating on a boss, then having a few other mobs come and join in, and being able to think "Yes, and?" really gave me a thrill. (I was also glad I crafted all the way up to 80, so I could wear tier V scales going into my RoP, but few hatchlings bother with that sort of thing.)

Seriously, you'll get a much greater sense of achievement from waiting until 50.

Antonath

[Jayne]

I agree! To actually have quests for your class is great so take advantage of them. Take your time. I know many are tempted and just want to fly, but there is so much more to it. Besides if there is content to your journey, then take advantage of it. I have a dragon in my guild that just now got to 100 as hatchie. Its definetly something that deserves acknowledgement. He has solo'd his way there and is killing Kaa and Lem and such on his own.

Jayne

[Goriax]

I didn't do mine until 65, although that had more to do with the RoP not being available until then.

I believe that scale is a chest scale, in which case you'll eventually be replacing it by a vengeance scale if you're lucky. I don't have the stats in front of me, but even if youcan't get someone to make you a vengeance scale that chest scale will still be pretty obsolete by the time you can wear a triple teched tier V scale.

So, going from (my admittedly faulty) memory, waiting gets you a nice scale from level 50 through level 80 or so. And as others said, it lets you actually participate, which is more subjective and something you'll have to decide for yourself if it's worth it. I don't know if the RoP is any more soloable now that dragons are stronger, but I'd suspect that you shouldn't plan on soloing it all regardless of level.However, there's definately a lot of things you could solo at level 50 you couldn't solo at level 30, and even those you can't solo you might make a really significant contribution as opposed to watching others do your quest for you.

The only major advantage you get from the RoP is the ability to fly. Gold shield isn't used a lot because of it's cost, faction breath weapons to medon't seem a big deal, and the stat bonuses are too small to be a major consideration.

So the decision comes down to ability to fly 20 levels sooner vs getting a nice scale for 30 levels and the satisfaction of not being a spectator in your own RoP.

Ultimately you have to decide for yourself which is better -- or have it decided for you if you can't get anyone to help you of course, but hopefully that wouldn't be the problem.

[Talitha]

Um....I rushed. [:$] Started RoP at 30/26, finished at 34/40.

But then, being disconnected for a month and coming back to find out that, "Gack!My hunting buddy has leveled to 52 and is Adult andI'm sooooo faaaaar behiiiiiind!!!!" has a motivating effect. [:S]

Also I think the Helian path is a little less combat-oriented, so a lot of my quests were either "Go make this," (which required yet another dozen hours' grinding -_-) or "Go fetch that" (which meant running off to some obscure location and bringing some doodad back to the Ancient). It took literally weeks to get my crafting up to acceptable levels to make the items (I had to craft all my own pieces--phylactery and clasp, mirror, statue,etc--which required, among other things,up to Spellcraft 450), ^_^; and even then I kinda "cheated" by borrowing some heavily craft-teched scales. (Thank you, Dyral!)

A wiser dragon than I might have waited. I probably should have. On the good side, though, I have a lot of helpful friends and guildmates who were willing to lend a claw (or hand, or paw, as the case may be [:)]). I rarely felt like a spectator though, since many of the fetches required I loot something (no order-by-mail), and I had to craft almost everything myself (no hand-me-downs). I did need help with some of the few tough "boss" fights, but again I have nice friends. ^_^ And regardless of the level difference I always fought to the best of my ability, never wanting to sit in the backseat.

And I don't like bothering others to help me out with things too much, so I tried to do as much as possible on my own. At one point I was already marching into the Eastern Deadlands all by my little hatchie lonesome to track down a target when a guildmate pretty much volunteered to fly out and help. (^_^ Thank you so much, Amecha!) In retrospect, though, if I had waited to level higher I might have donemore individually, with less bothering-of-friends-for-a-cup-of-sugar. [:$] (But still, thanks millions to all who helped me out!)

It's an individual preference, but....for a sense of accomplishment and independence, as well as the awesome scale--yes, it's a good idea to wait. ^_^; Maybe in another life, I will.....

[Spooky]

Thank you all for the replies. I'm really considering waiting now as that Chest Scale does sound really nice. And that chest scale is from a quest you do as a hatchling? And its no longer available to you as an adult. Hm..

Flying is really appealing. But when I weight both out, I think I'm going to wait. I'd feel better if I contributed, I think. I don't like people doing things for me anyway. And I just noticed I logged on the wrong forum account. :o

<--Kodey of Order.

[Spooky]

I do think that some hatchlings do the RoP completely ignorant of the future benefits. Glad I asked!

[Frost]

Eventually the scale becomes part of a collection, and not something really usefull. Nice to have, but to me being able to take part in your own quest and having respect from the dragon community is part of it. Having patience, etc. That holds more value to me than the scale. When I see lvl 30 adults, I scoff and don't give them a second thought. Any dragon that's handfed isn't worthy of being called a dragon. But, that's just one dragons opinion.

[dorrin]

IMO it's all about contributing to your own rite. i was 50 / 70 when i started my rite (when it was first released) and 51 / 71 when i finished. i did all of my own crafting including the obsidian bricks. at 30.. even close to 40 you're barely contributing anything to the fights in your rite, even as a helian (the only "high level" fight besides kaa, lem and seliena is stormy, to my recollection, a level 60 .. storm disciple?). that _is_ (IMO) worth more than the scales, but for the record..

helian - 35 primal, 35 power, 35 focus
lunus - 35 T&C, 35 str, 35 dex

they also have armor on them, though i don't remember much. i think since the base is obsidian, they're considered t4, so half tier is 20 armor

[Spooky]

Yeah, it does make sense to wait. They should raise the requirements of the quest to at least 'contribution level'. Then you won't miss out on contributing to YOUR OWN quest content. :o
Lots of hatchlings would cry. I know I was looking forward to 30/33+ and 250k hoard until I asked =p

[Goriax]

I'm not sure about respect from the dragon community seeing as how so many do it as fast as they can con someone into to doing it for them. Heh, one hatchling, near as I could figure, hadn't even done most of his dragon quests. He couldn't instant heal for example.

[Frost]

You have more respect from other dragons if you wait, andput forth more effort in your own RoP. I for one, see the dragons who rush into it and in the future will usually ignore requests for help. When things get handed to them, they often continue on that path seeking handouts. However, if it's someone I know has put forth an effort, attempted the problem once or twice on their own or it's a quest I know they can't complete alone, I'd go out of my way to help them.

[HAG]

First, i join in with the others and say: Wait till past lvl 50 and try to really take part in your RoP, not only hopping along with the helpers.

But to add another effect - i found you will learn how to fight, when you try to solo (most) of your RoP-Opponents. Soloing Boss-Mobs really teaches you that fighting is more than just clicking on hotkey-bars. It shows you the worth of having hoard, the necessity to hit your special-attacks at the right time, pulling on a place where you avoid additional enemies - things that make the difference between victory or defeat.

I think my Dragon is one of the few that soloed all of the ARoP-Bossmobs in the first part - i even gave the Bone-Guardian in the Rift a chance. Defeat is not a problem (hey, it's just DPs) - but not even having tried IS ...

[Wyrme Of Light]

Well I think Ecery one has coverd the main one I guuess the biggest one to stress is the feeling of acomplishment in in doing for ones self instead of having things givin to you You be aloot happyer this way also and earn the respect you should have for doing more on your own.

[Kodey]

I just wanted to say that they should raise the level requirements for Adulthood to level 50. Level 30 is way two early for two reasons:

1. You miss out on the hatchling scale that lasts for 30+ levels and some hatchling content.

2. You can't even participate in your own quest. Whats the point in getting a level 50+ content quest at level 30 when you can't get any of the quest done yourself? Sure, you could craft things, if you bothered to level crafting past the requirements, but you're still being handed all of your things otherwise.

Level 50 is mid-level for Dragons, 1 - 100. That should be the appropriate level-requirement for this quest.

GMs could raise the requirements and piss off a lot of hatchlings though, or they could lower the quest difficulty and piss off a lot of Dragons that -did- show patience and contributed to their own content!

Lose / lose situation, but I really think hatchlings should be let known they're missing stuff if they rush ahead to adulthood. Most people won't even bother to ask about what they miss out on.

[Kitimandiri]

I know I don't mind lending a hand helping out hatchlings when I have the time, but last time I helped out it was a low level hatchling. He was nice and everything, but trying to get to kaa was such a nightmare [:S]