We'll start with two, at any rate

First thing...the other night, I was up near Bristugo, killing Ruxus for a Quest; I'm new to the game, so I've been keeping an eye on the combat log (or, whatever it's called) to see what most damages the various nasties I'm encountering. I killed yet another Ruxus and achieved DRAG24, so, I stopped slaughtering to see what I'd gained. The 12 Training Points were my major item...I'm going to be asking more about Training Points in a moment, but, for now, I'd been putting *most* of my TP into Strength, with a smaller percentage going to Prime, and the rest alternated between T/C, Dexterity and Health. Not (yet) asking if those choices were "proper," just stating the facts leading to "the incident."

Purely on a whim, I put 6 of my 12 TP into Primal, 4 into Strength, and the remaining 2 into Health, and, went back to killing Ruxus. *Immediately,* I noticed a MAJOR difference in the damage numbers I was inflicting on the Ruxus...they'd more than doubled. As soon as the monster was dead, I scrolled back through the previous kills to make sure I was correct...I was. From one ruxus to the next, all of the damage numbers I was dealing out had more than doubled.

I looked around, to see if someone had buffed me while I wasn't looking, but, no one was around...and, looking at my screen, I could see that the only buffs were ones I'd cast on myself. I'd looted nothing from the previous ruxus to explain this jump. The ONLY thing that had changed was reaching DRAG24 and the 12 TP I'd used.

According to everyone I've talked to, those 12 TP could not have done this. Well, *something* did! Mind you, I am NOT complaining, at all; I'm very happy with the results...just bemused by the cause.

Which leads to the Question(s). My combat style is simple. Usually, I'll use Dragon's Reach to pull a monster, hold it for a moment with Primal Spark (think that's the one), cast Grazing Winds on it, and start the stronger of the healing Breezes, to heal myself while combat goes on. Once that's all done, the monster is usually in melee range, so, a quick Tail Swipe, and then it's a matter of using every combat ability (not AoE) I possess...smacking every hotkey I have, essentially.

And, this, I'm guessing, makes me a melee dragon. So, we come to the question of TP again. Strength sounds like it increases damage dealt during melee, among other things, so, I've been putting the bulk of my TP there. The tool-tip for T/C says something like "...if weapon is unequipped," which I thought meant, if you're not wearing a combat claw, which I always am, so, I pretty much ignored T/C. I was also under the mistaken belief that most of my abilities were Primal in nature, so, that's where I'd been putting the second-most number of TP.

I've been informed that I should, indeed, be putting more TP into T/C, and I've now begun to do that. But, if I may ask the assembled multitude, IF I'm actually a melee dragon, where should I be putting most of my TP? More into this or that...an equal number into two...should I basically ignore most of the other choices??

And, just what the heck happened up on that hill the other night that made ALL of my damage numbers sky-rocket???

Thanks, to all who read and reply!

Toadhailys (or, just Toad)