AKA: How to be a level-20-craft flying Lunus Dragon

I'm doing a little experiment at the moment with an alt of my partner's, to find out what the absolute minimum requirement is in order to do *just* the crafting part of the Lunus Rite of Passage.

The base requirement to get the Historian to give you the ROP quest is 30ADV / 20CRA. Now, those are unrealistically low numbers if a hatchling is to do the quest all alone, in a vacuum; we all know that ideally a hatchling would be around level 50ADV and 30+ CRA in order to progress and do many of the ROP quests solo or with minimal help... but some folks don't like crafting, and a higher crafting requirement might well drive 'em off. Other folks (like me) find adventuring to be the uncomfortable grind, and wish there was an ROP for pure crafters!

Of course, there's no easy ticket - it's a trade-off. If you want minimal ADV levels, you need higher CRA levels; if you want the minimum of CRA levels, you've GOT to have higher ADV level.

My experiment premise is simple:

If a dragon character has crafted up to level 20 - and does not want to craft any more - what level ADV does he or she have to be in order to meet the 300-Transmutation required to make the Obsidian Mirror for the Lunus ROP? Now, for the purposes of the experiment, we're assuming that the character in question is willing to buy all materials required, and pay higher-level crafters to make techniqued scales.

So far, our experimental character is level 40ADV and 20CRA.
Without techniqued scales and various buffs he hasn't got a chance.
Unscaled and unbuffed, his base Transmutation is 160 points, and his Current is 199 (he's allocated 112 TP to Power, which has added 45 points to his base power - as power is the primary stat affecting Trans, this will have some effect on his skill).

Having a good scale set is critical.
At level 40 he can wear Granite Power scales (each of which adds +30 to his power stat). These scales can be teched with Focus III (which has a lesser effect on Transmutation than Power) and Transmutation III, which adds 12 points to the skill.

With a full set of five, this ramps his Transmutation skill up to 267. That's only 33 points away from our required 300.

So... now, what can we do with a few Dragon buffs?
Primal Roar II increases power, and pops him up to 272.
Promote Intellect II adds 42 to power and to focus, popping him up to 277 - undoubtedly Promote Intellect III would be even better.

What about biped buffs?
A Gift of Power II scroll adds 26 power - and an extra point of Transmutation, bringing us to 278.
A Gift of Focus II scroll adds 26 focus - and another point of Transmutation, bringing us to 279... just 21 points to go!
Of course, having a friendly biped cast Gift of Power III and Gift of Focus III would be preferable.
Chew up an Enhance Focus II scroll for another point of Transmutation, bringing us to 280. Presumably an Enhance Power II scroll would do the same, and having a friendly biped cast the T3 versions would be better yet.

Lastly, gulp down a Bolster Power III (+3 Trans) and a Bolster Focus III (+2 Trans) potion... bringing us up to 285 Transmutation. Just 15 points to go, at level 40/20.

Next post will be in a few levels' time, when we work out how to eke out those last 15 Transmutation points. I don't THINK it'll be a case of waiting until level 50 and the teched Hindleg scale we've got waiting....