Kesqui's Guide to Lunus ROP for Dragons who HATE Crafting

[Kesqui]

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....

[Kesqui]

Well, we decided last night - at level 42/20 - to start the ROP quest.

And I am very impressed with the new quest text - Vladtmordt, Valkoth and Semeneth are all trying to talk us into waiting, with Semeneth specifically saying he recommends waiting to adventure level 50.

[Guaran]

Well, we decided last night - at level 42/20 - to start the ROP quest.

And I am very impressed with the new quest text - Vladtmordt, Valkoth and Semeneth are all trying to talk us into waiting, with Semeneth specifically saying he recommends waiting to adventure level 50.

I know if you get adv to level 80, and use t5 triple teched crafting scales, you can do either ROP as level 20 crafter.

[Kesqui]

Atrinoch_Unity ascended last week at level 48 ADV, level 22 craft (levels above 20 attained exclusively by doing the actual ROP quest).

Ingredients required:

One level 40+ ADV (recommend 45+) / 20+ DCRA hatchling who wants to be a Lunus when he/she grows up
A quarter of the available training points plugged into Power (I plugged the rest into T&C / Evasion)
A couple of helpful ancients who were willing to help smack the tar out of Esh, Kaa, Lem and the Shadow Dragon (thank you, Shins and Razerfang).
One set of five Granite Strength scales, teched with Stoneworking (for the Statue Of Your Adult Self - requires 300 Stoneworking)
One Citrine weapon claw, teched with Stoneworking III.
One set of five Granite Power scales, double teched with Transmutation and Focus (for the Obsidian Mirror - requires 300 Transmutation but at a stoneworking pedestal).
One Citrine weapon claw, teched with Transmutation III and Power III
Bolster Power III, Bolster Strength III and Bolster Focus III potions
Gift of Power II and Gift of Focus II scrolls
Primal Roar
Promote Intellect III
Promote Vitality III
True Grit III
30 Granite Bricks (purchased)
10 Obsidian Bricks (purchased)

... and entirely too much time running around like a maniac.

So the real beginning and end of it is:

If you hate crafting, you need a considerably higher-than-minimum ADV level to complete the Rite properly.
There's no way of getting around the fact that you're going to need around 65 total levels (combined craft and adventure) in order to meet the minimum necessary requirements for the crafting, and even then you'll need to buy or ask for a great deal of outside help.

[Zanon]

well if the hatchling is around 40 or so and loves to rip things apart n not craft, well, send em to new trismus where the undead are, they tend to be very very reasonable with all sorts of crystals, even crafting which can be used to gain experience on said craft.