A Lunus seeks Guidence to equip a young Helian-to-be

[Soraii]

For the past 5 months or so I have working on my little hatchling alt. I had an original goal of getting him to 100 dragon crafting then doing adventure after making a set of scales for him and starting on his merry way. As times have changed so did goals, over time I added lairshaping to the goal, and very recently maxing hoard.

Well with each goal the time got set back further, but as he passes the 0/90/82 mark I realise it will be time to make scales for him soon...

And I run into my issue... I am planning on making him a Spellcasting oriented dragon... But since I have started playing (and even before I knew of this game I played in this style) in what is known here as a "Lunus" (yeah I know devs.. faction not a class ) style so trying to decide the scales design is not at all clear to me. I have a basic all around Scale set on Soraii I am happy with, but as it's all str/tnc/armor I dont feel it would enhance a dragon in the style I am looking with Alaysar.

For the time being untill I get him in the 70+ish range I dont think lacking armor will be a problem with level 100 hoard armor boost and even the +armor from non "armor" t5 scales will be more then Soraii ever had growing up so I was looking at other scale types. I am thinking Power scales would be the way to go, but other then speed (dont need velocity for now, I am not going to rop untill 100 adv) I am in the dark as what to add

So, I guess it comes down to this, Seeking wisdom from the more experianced players on what they reccomend as a t5 scaleset for maximising casting potential.

By the way, for the time being chest and forelegs will not be socketed as the armor crystals go on adventure level.. later on I will make much easier socketed items for those spots but for now they will just get t5 teched

Thank you for any insight, guidance, and wisdom you can offer!

Soraii

[Zexoin]

What you want really depends on what attacks you want to use. Spellcasters don't have the firepower Lunus have (gold rage ftw...) ; as stated in another thread, we can hit hard, but we need the right equipment to do so.
As a Helian I use Power scales, teched with Primal, Focus and Armor.
Power increase the damage done, Focus increase the accuracy of your spells, and primal does both. And armor... Well, I think you know that already.
I'd also suggest to put as much training points in Power and Primal as you can. Also socket your scales when possible and try to find good crystals. T3 power and focus crystals are better than a T5 tech anyway. Don't forget to tech your spells too.
With that configuration you'd do maximum damage with your spells, but you'll be lacking armor and health and thus will be vulnerable to attacks. I guess you can find a compromise by putting more TPs in health ; best way to know is to try.
Hope that helps a bit.

[Firebrand]

Spellcasters also need teched spells to be efficient, espcially on Bolts (your main weapons). The most important technique is the extra damage one: Gale, Pierce, Romp... choose the one you want, even the best is to have 3 different bolts to adapt the damage to the mobs regarding their weaknesses. These techniques will significantly boost your damages.
Second most important one is Primal Damage that will enhance the core bolt.
And as third choice for your Tier V will be Accuracy, or Primal Flash if you plan to hunt other spellcasters... if you can find someone who can craft you a bolt with it.

It's also a good thing to have a bolt with Primal Range to pull. Don't use this tech on your main bolt as it adds +10 recycle on it and thus it's not repetable anymore.

[Soraii]

I thank you for your replys, has given me a bit to think about, Zexoin, I am going to make some sets of scales on Blight and try them with my adult clone, once IO find what seems to work ok then I'll make them on Chaos. I'm thinking along the line that 2 sets of scales might be in order, one for maximum casting and one I can hotkey for melee when I have to, but I will need to play around with them.. I am thinking of throwing breathV ortncV on them instead of armor though, by the time I get high enough that I will need the extra armor I will only need to remake the tail back and hindlegs. But I do think for the early levels the armor on the scales and from max level 100 bonus will suffice along with armor crystals once I switch to socketed things at t3... Thoughts?

On the Spell side I am pretty familiar with the spells, it has been one thing I have dabbled in a bit, never tried tailoring Soraii to do them better, but I am familiar with all the techs and able to make them with everything but primal flash... I do however know someone who can make spells with primal flash when time comes... all my current bolts and winds are teched with it hehe

Soraii 100adv/100craft/100shaping
Alaysar 0adv(yes 0)/92craft/83shaping

[Guaran]

Headscale: armor with 3 jewelry sockets, with primal crystal, power crystal, health or resistance crystal
Forlegs: armor teched with primal + 2 armor sockets, with power crystal, health or resistance crystal
Wings, you will need 2 sets, one for speed/traveleing, one for combat:
Speed wings: armor teched with speed, velocity, primal [Use a hotkey to equip mack n forth the 2 sets of wings)
Combat wings, back, tail, hindlegs: armor teched with primal, power (third tech - see notes below)
Chest scale, you will want several variations:
Chest: armor teched with Primal Vengeance (can proc from barrage and gust), Eminence, Vital Defiance
Armor teched with Primal + 2 armor sockets, with power crystal, health or resistance crystal
Armor teched with Primal, Primal Vengeance, Eminence
Armor teched with Primal, Primal Vengeance, Vital Defiance

One thing to remember as a caster, is that you can cycle thru the bombs and be left with a timeframe where the spells are all recycling. In this period of waiting, using melee to get the special chest techs to land on your target is a good battle strategy. So do not dismiss using them even if you are a caster dragon.

Claw: Primal + 2 weapon sockets with the primal rage crystal, power or health

Third Tech on scales: Here is where there are alot of options
General scaleset: Focus
Against ogres, pygmies, gem golems, metal golems, stone golems, kwellen, sog: Crush Resistance
Against treants, knocs (WA sword users), hounds: Slash Resistance

You can see where that is going. Basically use the third tech slot for a resist against your favorite baddies. Focus set will be a safe bet for the very first set of scales (yes you will likely make multiple sets). Focus helps avoid incoming magic attacks ( a little bit), improve healing done (a little bit), and makes your spells land better (a little bit). This set will be the best damaging set you can make based on armor scales since focus should lower the number of misses.

imho crush resistance would be a good first set after the focus set since alot of mobs dragons commonly face use crush damage. For example all the golems you will come into contact with when crafting do crush damage (gem, stone, metal). Umyarr, Brecah, Verdios, Mhedon, Granduus all do crush damage (AROP).

Spells: Primal Damage + Primal Flash + Romp is pretty good. Primal Flash is a 10 second stun when the mobs try to use anything ranged, if the -20 puts you out of range of the spell or ranged melee they are trying to use.

For your bolt you will want the three versions someone else already suggested, teched with Primal Damage + romp, gale, pierce, so that you can use the most effective damage type against your target. accuracy or primal flash are both good third tech choices. Accuracy is supposed to help the spells land better (but by how much I do not really know) and is one of the best bets for use over time.

Puller bolt: Primal Range, Primal Flash, Accuracy ( you want accuracy for better landing chance therefore better chance of flash landing)

Grazin Winds, Unrelenting Winds: Primal Flash + Primal Range

Romp/Gale/Pierce/Withered Bane will not stack with each other. Withered banes' only useful because of the sometimes higher % chance of landing compared to romp/gale/pierce, and even then it only works against undead. In general the romp/gale/pierce techs seem to do more. But if you want to tech Withered Bane on a spell, be sure to both leave an empty tech slot as well as leaving romp/gale/pierce off (barrage and gust for example will never have more than 2 techs applied since accuracy and primal flash are not available to use on them, and the remainder of the choices besides Primal Damage will not stack with each other)

Max out TP's in primal obviously, with rest split between power and evasion.

Keep a biped friend handy since Alacrity is an absolute must if you plan to spellcast. enhances armor, health, power also help quite a bit.