Yarrow

Training a dragon to level 25... Alone

I'm stupid and I'm doing this.

Rules:
- No outside training.
- All possible battle stones will be purchased because I'm not THAT stupid.
- I may put this off until Drakeharvest.


Level 1-2

No battle stones were purchased because Yarrow was breed changed from a breed that already had scratch and shred. What breed was this? ...I don't remember. Maybe a mirror? Who knows.

I needed to reset for 1-enemy packs in the Training Fields. Even then, some of them were too hard. Crit rate is insane here. The packs with lone moths were definitely the least worst. After defeating 4 enemies, we are finally at level 2.


Level 2-3

I'm following Culex's guide, so 11 STR and 10 QCK is what we're going for here. With the improved stats and bit of extra VIT from leveling up, Yarrow can take on any of the packs, but not necessarily go more than 1 or 2 battles. He hits level 3 easily.

Level 3-4

STR 17 QCK 11

An extra move slot opened up, but I have no use for it currently. The Training Fields is a cinch now, even if the dodge/crit rates are bizarre.


Level 4-5
STR 20 QCK 15

Equipped Sap.

The EXP in the Training Fields is dismal, but the Woodland Path is no joke. I keep trying against Janustraps and Dryads, but they also keep critting. I decided I should bite the bullet and dip into my stash of Sunny D, or rather, health potions. He still can't handle the bigger groups, but it's okay. Luckily he at least resists attacks from the Greenroot Janustraps.

A torturous amount of resets and losses later, level 5 happens.


Level 5-6

STR 27 QCK 15

Equipped Might Fragment. Replaced Sap with Haste.

The additional STR and getting more turns in (for more Sunny D chugging) helps, but only by so much.

The charger/stag group is great because the stags let me heal up.

One Eternity Later...


Level 6-7

STR 30 QCK 20

Added a Natural Might Fragment because I realized I'm stupid.

Careful application of Haste and Sunny D make the Path more doable. Still hard, but doable.


Level 7-8

Natural might fragment applied.

Eliminate applied.

Tincture of Dissolution applied. STR 40, QCK 20.

Now here is where the fun begins.

Culex's guide is good, but it is a little old, and it's certainly not intended for this nonsense. Luckily, I know what I'm doing, so I toss it out.

Sylvandyr has an insanely useful thread here with all kinds of info. What I need to know is how much STR I need to 1-shot with Eliminate. 35 is the minimum for Eliminating everything in the Woodland Path; 39 is the minimum for Scratch/Elim in the Scorched Forest. 40 is the minimum for Rallied Elim in the Scorched Forest.

There is no way Yarrow is fast or sturdy enough to deal with the Scorched Forest right now, so the Path it is.



Level 8-9

I ignore what Culex says and dump everything into QCK.

I replace Haste with Rally. I'll add another Haste later on, it's just not as important right now as getting those 1-Shot eliminates.

When you're using 1 dragon, every turn matters, and Scratch is inefficient for getting up to Eliminate breath. So I replace it with Meditate. The physical cooldown is stalled out with Defend and Rally.

However, I jumped the gun with all that. Without an Ambush, the Scorched Forest is still too hard. I limp back to the Woodland Path.

On the plus side, all the Phytocat Toys I'm picking up make great Baldwin fodder.


Level 9

I add an Ambush and once again dump everything into QCK. It is so tempting to skip the Scorched Forest, but I will give it a shot.

It is still miserable to get started, but once Yarrow's breathed up, the grind is very doable. The rhythm reminds me of Mire Flying before the first turn bug was fixed. There is no Victory Chain, though.

A crateload of Sunny D later and I have had it with the Scorched Forest.


Level 10

All those points in QCK have left me at a bit of an STR deficit, so I need to switch back to Scratch if I'm going to KO some of the beefier enemies in the Sandswept Delta. 44 STR is enough for the vast majority, so I go with that and dump the rest in QCK again, putting me at 44/37. This will be less horrible once the level 11 slot unlocks and I can put Haste back in there.

It's still rough going, but at least the EXP is better.

Yarrow resists Arcane, so the Carmine Serthis are great to set up against.



Level 11

Haste is reapplied. STR is upped to 49.

It's time for the Blooming Grove. I'm not super familiar with this venue, since it was added well after I joined. 49 STR is kind of low, but it's just barely enough to Rally/Eliminate most of the enemies.

I start each battle with haste and am careful about which packs I set up with.

The Pohips are right out though. As are the Pilcos. And the tortoises. And...

Also, I got a Morph. Hooray.



Level 12

53 STR is enough to better handle the Blooming Grove, but it's also enough to handle the Forgotten Cave, although the aardvarks are still too much. The rest is put into QCK.

Both venues are still miserable, but the cave has better exp and is slightly easier to deal with since the mages are so slow.

????

Apparently anticipate was added at some point and also he got to level 23. I have no recollection of buying this dragon or doing any of the above. But it sounds like something I would do. I imagine there was a big jump whenever berserkers were added.

Anyway this guy basically just plays like a anticitank except limited to slightly weaker venues + can only go so many battles in a row.

If Yarrow's STR + level + 5 (effective STR after a rally) is less than the STR it takes to elim bulkiest enemy, then the venue is too hard. At level 23/110 STR he's limited to the level 22 venue Harpy's Roost.

Will take to 25 during Drakeharvest. Go to 116 str and move up to ghostlight ruins. Will retincture at some point though idk to what since I already have a competent ghostlight ruins grinder... Maybe make this my new ruins grinder and move karael to a standard grinder/golem workshop build...?