Dragons: The "How To" manual

[Raeshlavik]

Howdy,

I played Horizons for a while when the Atari box hit the shelves, which I will refer to as "The Before Times", and put the game aside when all the layoffs and restructuring happened. I then came back again in 2005 for a few weeks after introducing a friend of mine to the game just as the rumors of Tulga's demise began to circulate - and the game was again put aside. I then returned again in 2006 for a few weeks right as "EI" happened, and again put the game aside. Each time I didn't get very far due to game issues or whoever-owns-Horizons-this-week issues...

Well, I'm back to try it again.

When I logged into HZ again in 2005 everything was a blank slate - no characters. But, as I never really made it very far it was no big deal to begin anew. Here in 2007 I decided to delete everything and start fresh again - and get a chance to see the new starter content.

Well, here I am some weeks later and 14 levels into being one with my inner Dragon, without so much as a small clue on how one should go about being the best Dragon one can be.

The first Dragon I created lived a short, painful life. He was on a path that would make him a Primal Master and a force in the Helian circles - unfortunately that path is full of nasty beasties with mouths full of sharp pointy teeth that don't have the slightest notion of standing a ways off and being blasted into bite-size chunks. So he died, a lot, and in various grusome ways before giving up and deciding to be a hatchling hermit for the rest of his days.

That brings us to little Kaeliss...

Kaeliss Opalscale is a great big Ancient Lunus Dragon in an itty-bitty hatchling body. He has such great plans for the things he wants to do and see, but unfortunately he's stuck with me and I'm clueless.

So, my question to you all is; How does one ensure that a little hatching has the best schooling and training needed to not fail miserably in the wide, and often cruel, world outside New Trismus?

Currently Kaeliss has all of his skill points in Tooth and Claw, Strength, and Hitpoints - in that order. He has a blighted chest scale and a wing scale, but nothing special, mostly because there just isn't anything special available on the consigner. He also has a level 12 claw that he did find on the consigner, but hasn't noticed that it helps much versus using his own claws.

The problem Kaeliss is running into is that anything he tries to rough up for whatever quest he's on, if it is even one level better than him, it'll usually kill him. At level 14 he has to stick with level 8-10 beasties if he wants to avoid waking up at the nearest shrine.

So, any hints, tricks, tips, chartered hunting expeditions, or other information available? If so, please post your thoughts here for posterity and possibly the use of the next wide-eyed and confused hatchling.

Thanks!

[Kerech]

In case you are not aware, there are quests every 10 crafting levels and every 10 adventure levels. Each of these quests gives you not only experience, but also increases skills. For instance, a gem quest gives you a boost to the gemworking mastery skill.

The adventuring quests give you valuable skills like spiked scales, dragon reach, gold rage, etc. Tools you will need for later in life.

I believe at level 10 these quests are started by talking to the dragon sitting on top of the vault in Kion. He will send you to all the various trainers you need to see. Keep track of them, as you will be re-visiting them every 10 levels for new quests.

Besides being good xp and getting good skills, they also direct you to where you can hunt at your level, so they are good for that too

Hope that helps.

[Shian]

What is your craft level? It is important to keep up both adventure and crafting as both add to your raw stats.

[Raeshlavik]

What is your craft level? It is important to keep up both adventure and crafting as both add to your raw stats.

I'm trying too keep my crafting up, but I don't have a lot of time to play each day and the thought of lugging dirt and rocks around for an hour isn't highly appealing on a short time scale.

Right now my crafting is about half my adventure level. I can dedicate a week or so and take it from 7 to 14 if it is really reccommended.

[Kerech]

If your crafting level is higher than your adventure level, you can wear better scales when you are out hunting.

I usually tried to keep my craft level about 10 levels above my adventure level, since it opened up another scale slot and I could wear better scales. I die enough as it is, why make it any harder on myself?

[Raeshlavik]

If your crafting level is higher than your adventure level, you can wear better scales when you are out hunting.

I usually tried to keep my craft level about 10 levels above my adventure level, since it opened up another scale slot and I could wear better scales. I die enough as it is, why make it any harder on myself?

Excellent point. I guess I should put aside my plans of striking fatal blows against the Withered Aegis and spend a week digging up rocks.

... Now, where'd I leave my cargo disk?

[Goriax]

If your crafting level is higher than your adventure level, you can wear better scales when you are out hunting.

If your adventure level is higher then your adventure level you won't be bothered so much by those pesky monsters who like to frequent resource fields.

[Steelclaw]

Use TP! Many new players forget the all important TP (that's training points). Some people don't use the other kind of TP, but that has nothing to do with this discussion.

Where do you spend them? Well, that's kind of up to you. For new players, I suggest putting enough tp into Primal so that your base primal is 10 times your adventure level. That ensures you can use an unteched spell as soon as you meet the level requirement. Besides that, it's up to you. Primal, Tooth and Claw, power and strength are pretty good places to start.

Ah, but... what if you wan to change those allocations? Sucks to be you! Just kidding. You get a number of buyback points every day (few hours?) up to a maximum. You use the buyback points to take training points out of a skill/ability, which you can re-spend somewhere else.

*rubs head*

There's quite a bit else to go over, which would probably constitute a large portion of a guide, most of which is best conveyed as experience. What shard do you play on?

[Raeshlavik]

Use TP! Many new players forget the all important TP (that's training points). Some people don't use the other kind of TP, but that has nothing to do with this discussion.

Where do you spend them? Well, that's kind of up to you. For new players, I suggest putting enough tp into Primal so that your base primal is 10 times your adventure level. That ensures you can use an unteched spell as soon as you meet the level requirement. Besides that, it's up to you. Primal, Tooth and Claw, power and strength are pretty good places to start.

Ah, but... what if you wan to change those allocations? Sucks to be you! Just kidding. You get a number of buyback points every day (few hours?) up to a maximum. You use the buyback points to take training points out of a skill/ability, which you can re-spend somewhere else.

*rubs head*

There's quite a bit else to go over, which would probably constitute a large portion of a guide, most of which is best conveyed as experience. What shard do you play on?

Thanks for the info on Skill Points. It'd be really handy to have some form of tool tip for each stat to give new folks an idea of what each does and what it effects.

I guessed that strength impacts melee damage as well as tooth & claw, and hitpoints is pretty self explanitory. Does dexterity impact anything but dodge percentages? I thought it might factor in on one's chance to hit but I don't have any evidence to this.

Anyways, I'll be sure to try and find out what the stats do, then post my findings here somewhere... I might even start a new player's guide to try and alleviate some of the confusion I've experienced trying to figure out Horizons.

The latest thing is: "Do the new player crafting quests!" The trainers give you the stuff to be able to create beginner items (metal bars, stone bricks, etc) which cannot be purchased anywhere at any price. So if you skip this little bit of 'Orientation Island', which I did because I had a handle on basic crafting from my previous attempts at Horizons and was short on time, you're screwed.

Fortunately the portal to get back to Orientation Island can be unlocked by speaking with the dragon craft trainer on New Trismus, and you can go back and get the basic forms from the crafting trainer there...

Oh, and I'm on Chaos.