Fire drakes and many points at Skuldoon

thoon · Post by **thoon** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 8:54 pm

I set the 'random encounter' to 'more', and stood in the space in the forbidden lands just outside the Skuldoon gate. Among the spawned monsters to appear, there were eventually fire drakes -- including two at the same time (screenshot). Over two long sessions there were five altogether.

I timed a two hour period and accumulated about one million points -- counting one fire drake and a level up. Over the two long sessions, I accumulated about three million points including the five fire drakes. This seems like a good alternative to killing moonbeasts if you want more points, and it's considerably more fun. There are several things for the player to notice and learn. More screenshots in that thread.

My original purpose was to test the hawkeye skill and some nether spells. Hawkeye works and is fun, but is a toy rather than a major weapon. The highest level creature I killed in one shot was a fire gazer in the Naga temple.

Using nether spells is a viable strategy given Kel's tip that if you sell one, you can buy back as many as you like. The troll was a let-down. The soldiers in Ulm castle killed them very quickly.

Summon Rats is an excellent way to deal with irritating snakes -- they kill them immediately, and you can just leave them behind. It may take two or three packs for the pit cobras.

Summon wolves is an outstanding defense against wolf packs, which are more than just irritating. The result is hilarious: Your wolves and the attacking wolves get in a standoff, and hardly move. You can then kill the opponents one at a time.

Poison cloud is good against bees. If you move around, they will fly into the cloud.

thoon

Damn Snakes! · Post by **Damn Snakes!** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 9:31 am

Thanks for the tip!

So... how did you deal with 2 drakes at the same time?

thoon · Post by **thoon** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 11:11 am

I killed one with arrows from where the screenshot was taken. Usually with a fire drake, you can get a place where you can hit them with arrows and they don't respond. Time yourself by the motion of the shield, or just click as fast as you can, and you get off better than one arrow per second. Then it takes about five minutes.

Then I jumped down and killed the other one with melee. The problem there is that other creatures keep appearing, and you have to kill them without getting toasted by the drake.

thoon

Gobatcha · Post by **Gobatcha** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 12:15 pm

Drake death using arrows in 5 minutes??

Thoon, you can take out a fire drake in 5 minutes using arrows? You must have a super-bow of dragon killing or something. I've never had the pleasure of firing endlessly for 5 minutes at a fire drake, but in the encounters I've had it definitely took longer than 5 minutes. When I go drake hunting I'll position a tree between us. Then I'll dash out, fire 2-3 shots and duck back behind the tree. Repeat as necessary. It takes a while, but the drake never gets tired of it. I'd like to get in a spot where the drake holds still, unresponsive, while I plug him with rounds. That'd be sweet. I'll see if I can get that to happen next time. I've done the most damage against drakes with Magic Missiles then followed up with the bow while the magic re-charged. I've never tried melee with one. I think they would toast me too quickly.

PaulTheWall · Post by **PaulTheWall** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 6:04 pm

Another good way to kill drakes is with the winter dwarven axe, or any winter weapon. all you do is jump into the air and hit it once and it comes falling to the ground. just keep swinging and it take about 10 minutes. but you have to time your swings, you have to hit the drake as soon as it unfreezes or your standing right infront of a live drake that will roast you with pleasure.

daveymcman · Post by **daveymcman** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 11:04 pm

Fire Drakes

I have killed many fire drakes but none in hand to hand combat. I simply cannot get close enough, the breath on you and push you so far away that you cannot get close.

But to kill them is easy. Run away until they stop chasing, then creep up to them fireing your bow. At some stage you will start hitting them, even in a clear field, and they will ignore your. I killed all of them at the breeding grounds this way. Only problem is the random mosters tend to distract you and you either walk closer to the drake, not a good move, or forget where you were. Saving often is a good suggestion.

thoon · Post by **thoon** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 1:11 am

Yep, you can do it

Gobatcha: Oh yes, about five minutes. You need a long-range bow -- anything but a short bow. The trick is to get them to stand still while you shoot. I know of three ways:

1. Sneak up on them and get just in bow range. If you are the right distance away, you can hit them, but they don't see you.

2. They are flaming something else closer than you. That's what's happening in the screenshot. They are both flaming the thrall guard, who is behind the pillar. If there is a shack you can go to the opposite side from the drake and summon a troll who gets stuck on the porch. If you attract the drake just right, he will flame the shack from the other side while you stand further away and pump in the arrows. They will also flame some of the NPCs, but I couldn't find a way to do that reliably.

3. You can also find something which will block the fireballs but not arrows. There is a little split orange tree that does this, the tower on the Skuldoon gate does it, and many other things. In this case, you have to adjust your position carefully.

Paul: Ain't it the truth! That must be one of the best weapons in the game. I didn't get it this time, but the Dwarven axe of Venom takes off huge numbers of points. You can also summon a haunt, which will freeze it, but you have to keep the fire drake busy so it doesn't burn the haunt.

davey: You can kill them by hand if you're careful. Scroll your mouse wheel out a little so you get a longer view, and run around until you can duck in just after a flame or in a pause. As long as you keep hitting, he can't flame. I usually get burned after 4-5 hits, but I just run away and heal -- save the game a lot though. You don't have to jump -- you will hit him if he's anywhere near the ground.

So far, I have killed all the drakes in the breeding grounds, the one south of arindale, the one native to the forbidden lands and about ten around the Skuldoon gate. I used arrows, melee, and/or a lot of magic. Believe me, guys, it's no great feat once you get the knack.

That's what I like about this game -- so many things that seem absolutely impossible at first, but turn out to be perfectly doable once you gt the method.

thoon

RainneHail · Post by **RainneHail** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 3:22 pm

Drakes

I dispose of them fairly easy using this method.

1. Summon Troll
2. Cast Fire Protection
3. Summon Blessed Spirit

I am a War Witch, Knight, Adept, Valkarie

Usually the troll can get his attention enought for me to get behind or on the side of the Dragon and I just wack away with my weapon. I recently got a Greatsword that freezes which makes it even easier but even without the frost sword it was still easy.

The blessed spirit keeps me healed , in conjuction with my drain life, and a potion or two.

The celestial fire protection is a definite must and you will need at least 3 crystals.

Rainne

Gobatcha · Post by **Gobatcha** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 4:21 pm

Fire at range while straffing left and right

I've had renewed success killing drakes using the simplest method: straffing him with my bow.
I stand back and start firing away. Stay out of the range of the 'flame thrower' attack. The drake will repeatedly use the flame thrower and follow up with a round of 3 fireballs. Two of the balls will be close together and there will be separation from the third. I simply keep firing and step once to the left or right as necessary. The fire balls harmlessly pass on either side of me and my arrows never stop ending. It helps if your camera is slightly elevated so you can see the deviation between the fireballs early.