The Dragonair - Holy Caster Guide [1.3]

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"Ice so cold it burns"

The Dragonair - Holy Caster



Introduction - The Dragonair is a versatile fire and cold based caster. It is a superb boss hunter with the utility provided by its caster skill tree.


Core of the Build - This build utilizes the unique mechanics provided by the holy caster tree to make for an excellent uber runner. It is equipped skills that can freeze, nuke and remain stationary which allows you to avoid direct encounter. This is on top of the buffs and passives that naturally empowers the paladin.


Pros
- Can be played untwinked
- Excellent boss hunter
- Can obtain most charms with cheap gear


Cons
- Constant skill switching
- Prone to mana shortage



Showcase







Information




Documentation
Before proceeding into this guide make sure to read Median XL's documentation here for anything you might not understand regarding the game. The topics inside are arranged into categories so you should have no trouble finding what you need.


Terminologies
Several terms and abbreviations are commonly used in here in MXL forums. You can read about them here.


Updates
This guide is updated to MXL2017[1.3].




Skills



Innate Skill


Vindicate
Casts a buff that increases the party's weapon damage and life regeneration. Greatly supports life sustain. Always recast.





Light Influence


Vessel of Retribution
A buff that automatically fires short ranged energy bolts at nearby enemies. It has 1/3 the range as its Shadow Influence counterpart, but it shoots twice as fast and deals about ~50% more damage.


Rapture
A buff that increases all speeds. Duration and overall speed increases with hard points.



Solstice and Equinox
Passive skill that improves Vessel of Retribution. Since we will be using the Holy Tree, this passive provides additional targets to the Vessel.


Sacred Armor
Provides us with a temporary defense, regeneration as well as velocity boost. Hard points in Rapture further increases velocity.


Hoplite
Summons few minions with high avoid and chance to cast retaliate and inner fire on melee attack. Improved life per hard point in Holy Tree and damage per hard point in Unholy Tree. These will be our main minions.





Shadow Influence


Vessel of Justice
A buff that automatically fires moderate ranged energy bolts at nearby enemies. It has 3 times the range as its Light Influence counterpart, but it shoots half as fast and deals about ~50% less damage.


Euphoria
A buff that provides elemental pierce. Duration and pierce increases with hard points.



Life and Death
Passive skill that improves Vessel of Justice. Since we will be using the Holy Tree, this passive provides additional damage to the Vessel.


Demiurge
Short buff that gives us a chance to reanimate slain monsters as Seraph as well as improve all stats by 50 per hard point invested.


Scourge
Summons several minions with low avoid and chance to cast crucify on melee attack. Improved life per hard point in Unholy Tree and damage per hard point in Holy Tree.





Dragon Tree


Solar Flare
Conjures a spinning ring of flame that enables you to use your dragon skills. Always recast every 10 seconds



Drakemaw
Shoots forth burrowed claws that deal magic damage from the ground onto the target. Spreads wider the closer the target is. Requires Solar Flare to use.


Frozen Breath
A blast of burning cold breath that may freeze the targets. Excellent crowd control skill. Requires Solar Flare to use.



Incarnation
Dragon passive that increases spell damage, life steal and attack rating of all dragon skills.



Dragon Wyrms
Summons fiery serpents that shoot fireballs dealing heavy fire damage in a small area. Requires Solar Flare to use.





Honor Tree


Retaliate
Melee attack that releases a shockwave, knocking back nearby enemies. Requires you to get hit or Solar Flare to use.



Divine Judgement
Melee attack calls forth a rain of heavenly bolts that deal heavy physical damage.



Plague
Passive skill that grants poison damage to the weapon attacks of the paladin and his minions.



Dragon Heart
A buff that increases our total character defense and weapon damage. Also adds 25% of base strength into vitality.



Colosseum
Warp strike that slows down the enemy and reduces their physical resistance.





Uberskill


Dragonknight
Morph skill that grants us additional stats, higher attack speed and cast rate breakpoints. The downside is that it severely lowers our character velocity.


Ennead Challenge Reward Skill


Divine Apparition
Teleport skill that freezes nearby monsters. It has 3 second cooldown.



Black Road Challenge Reward Skill


Blessed Life
Passive skill that grants us increased healing rate from eating apples, flat physical damage reduction as well as % damage reduction. Increases % damage reduction with hard points. We will need this maxed out.




Mercenary



While you should be capable of handling everything by yourself, a good mercenary is always nice to have. They can help speed up clearing an area as well as take care of monsters that are immune to your main elemental damage. They're convenient to have while progressing from the earlier difficulties up to the moderate ubers. For this build, we will be employing Act 3 Mercenaries: The Iron Wolves.

Here you have two options:

Bloodmage
A mercenary that uses Fire and Poison based spells. He will also cast Gift of Inner Fire from time to time which heals your entire party. It's recommended to use him from early game until you reach destruction.

Gear
► Show Spoiler



Abjurer
A mercenary that uses Lightning and Physical/Magic damage based spells. Has greater damage output compared to a Bloodmage with its Superbeast morph. It's best to use him from mid-game onward after improving your survivability.

Gear
► Show Spoiler




Alternatively, you can use Act 5 Mercenaries: Barbarians. They're significantly helpful in farming areas like Fauztinville and Kurast 3000 BA.

Barbarian
A weapon-based, melee mercenary that uses Shower of Rock and Thunderslam, great for elemental immunes and crowd control.

Gear
► Show Spoiler




Speed Break Points



Break Points refer to the number of frames it takes for an action to complete with regards to your character's speed values (i.e Attack Speed, Cast Rate, Hit Recovery, etc.). The higher the speed value, the lower the break point and thus the faster your character finishes an action.

Every character has a different set of break points depending on the form they take and the weapons they wield. They cap at different numbers of frames as well. Dragonknight provides moderate break point limits compared to Superbeast. With Rapture providing us with a great amount of skill FHR, we'll only need to focus on our cast rate.

Note: FCR - Faster Cast rate & FHR - Faster Hit Recovery



Cast Rate
10FPA - 8FCR | 9FPA - 20FCR | 8FPA - 40FCR | 7FPA - 75FCR | 6FPA - 152FCR



Hit Recovery

8FPA - 20FHR | 7FPA - 32FHR | 6FPA - 52FHR |5FPA - 86FHR |4FPA - 174FHR |3FPA - 600FHR



► Speed Calculator Screenshot

Find out more about break points using the Speed Calculator.



Early Game



Progressing through early game is no challenge for a holy caster. You can freeze most non-cold immune monsters with frozen breath, then clear everything with Dragon Wyrms. Although until you have access to these skills you will rely on Vessel of Retribution and Drakemaw. We will constantly be upgrading our gear whenever we get the chance in preparation for Level Challenge 1, Ennead Challenge, Level Challenge 2 and Black Road Challenge. Early game covers your progress from level 1 to 120. This includes playing from the start up to Terror Baal.

Stats and Skill Plan
► Show Spoiler


Gear
► Show Spoiler


Gameplay
► Show Spoiler





Terror - Baal Fight
► Show Spoiler





Level Challenge 1

Location - Island of Skartara (Act 2: Halls of the Dead) in Hatred Difficulty

Okay, now that you've reached level 40 it's time to start preparing for Level Challenge 1. Take note that this challenge can only be done with a character is that level 50 or below. The goal of this preparation is to upgrade most of your gear to Tier 4-5(except your shield because it requires DEX) without exceeding the STR requirement for a Tier 4
Queen of Glass
Queen of Glass
Ancient Armor (4)

Defense: (315 - 344) to (630 - 688)
Required Level: 11
Required Strength:
33 to 34
Item Level: 29
15% Cast Speed
-(6 to 8)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(18 to 29)% Enhanced Defense
+(76 to 125) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(21 to 25)%
Cold Resist +(21 to 25)%
Requirements -(11 to 15)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (899 - 969) to (1718 - 1852)
Required Level: 30
Required Strength:
57 to 60
Item Level: 40
25% Cast Speed
-(11 to 13)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(41 to 52)% Enhanced Defense
+(176 to 225) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(31 to 35)%
Cold Resist +(31 to 35)%
Requirements -(21 to 25)%
Socketed (4)
Defense: (2084 - 2224) to (3911 - 4173)
Required Level: 47
Required Strength:
175 to 186
Item Level: 67
35% Cast Speed
-(16 to 18)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(64 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
+(276 to 325) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(41 to 45)%
Cold Resist +(41 to 45)%
Requirements -(31 to 35)%
Socketed (5)
Defense: (3013 - 3202) to (5650 - 6005)
Required Level: 54
Required Strength:
323 to 344
Item Level: 85
40% Cast Speed
-(18 to 20)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(75 to 86)% Enhanced Defense
+(326 to 375) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(46 to 50)%
Cold Resist +(46 to 50)%
Requirements -(36 to 40)%
Socketed (6)
. First thing you have to do is farm some Arcane Crystals. You can do this by farming Mephisto in Act 3. He drops 2 TUs with every run and there's also the chance for monsters in the area to drop some extra TUs. Keep doing this until you get enough Arcane Crystals for your gear. Once you're done, you should be a little less level 50 with enough defense and damage to run through this Uberlevel.

The mechanics of Level Challenge 1 are simple. Near the entrance of Tran Athulua you will find a Pirate of the Twin Seas and killing him will drop an un-upgraded
Elemental Prism
. Pick it up and identify. Next you will need to fight through the Amazons until you find three priestesses of three elements: ice, light and fire. Killing a priestess will give your character a red swirling aura for 30 seconds. Each priestess will drop a Sunstone of her own respective element. You need to cube these Sunstones with the Elemental Prism before the red swirly disappears. Do this with all the priestesses. Once you cube the last Sunstone, your Elemental Prism will be complete and you will have completed the Level Challenge 1.

Below is a map for Tran Athulua
► Show Spoiler

Note: The reward for the 3rd quest in Act 5 is a scroll that can be cubed with the Elemental Prism to increase its resistance bonuses.





Ennead Challenge

Location - Act 3: Torajan Jungles in Hatred Difficulty


Right now you should be a little less than level 80. This challenge can only be done with a character that is level 80 or below. Your gear should mostly be Tier 6, if not all, by now. This means your character should be tougher in general. The challenge is simple - you need to run through Kurast 3000 BA in any difficulty and kill the Ennead Necromancers until you get your class charm: the Eye of Divinity.

So how does Kurast 3000 BA work?

You will find the entrance as soon as you enter the Jungle. As you enter the red portal, you will appear in one of the 4 corners. The place will be full of skeletons. You will find three Ennead Necromancers in the three other corners of the map. Across the field will be a number of Shadowgate totems that grant all enemies a purple invulnerability shield as well as summon additional skeletons overtime. You will need to take down these totems before you can kill the skeletons and proceed to the Necromancers. To do this, you'll walk around the area with your minions and mercenary until you find a totem. cast Dragon Wyrms on top of it and wait for it to go down. If it doesn't, cast Wyrms again. Once the skeletons lose their shields, you can start killing them. If they're still invulnerable, find the next nearest totem. Try not to get surrounded by too many skeletons as their sheer number will quickly overwhelm you. Once you take down the totems and skeletons, you can head for the Necromancers. They should go down easily. If none of the Necromancers drop your class charm, do it again. Once your class charm drops, pick it up, identify, then cube it with any jewel. With that, your Ennead Challenge is done.

For reference, you can check out the video in the Uber Quest section for the K3KBA Uberlevel.





Level Challenge 2

Location - The Proving Grounds - Swampy Pit Level 3 (Act 3: Flayer Jungle) in Terror Difficulty


Now you've hit level 90, you have access to your Ennead Reward Skill and Uberskill - Dragonknight. This challenge can only be done with a character that is level 90 or below. Before you start this challenge, you'll need check your gear. Increase your fire spell damage. Make sure that Dragon Wyrms is maxed to increase the head count.

How do I do this?

Enter the dungeon. Proceed to the northeast corner of the map by going along the long, narrow hall. Once there, open a TP. Walk along the walls to the left until you reach an opening where the Death Projector and the Mechanics are. Once there, continue walking northwest, luring the Mechanics along the way. Make sure not to stop walking because you will get 1-shot by the Death Projector's spinning Mind Flay. Once you have them following you, walk south until you come across a blocked doorway leading back to the entrance. Make sure to lead all Mechanics to that area, leaving only 1 or 2 back at the Death Projector because the DP is invulnerable unless a Mechanic is nearby. Once you've lured them, teleport to the other side using Divine Apparition. Walk back to the Death Projector, cast Dragon Wyrms and walk around it. You need to kite the remaining Mechanics around the DP while doing this because they hit pretty hard even on their own. Make sure not to get hit by DP's beam while doing all of this. It shoots a spinning Mind Flay every few seconds in a clockwise direction starting from the southeast. Once it fires its beam, just follow back the back of the beam until you reach your initial position. Keep doing this until it goes down. Once it does, you will be surrounded by a red swirling aura for 30 seconds. Open a TP and go back to town. Cube your class charm with a perfect gem before the swirly disappears. And with this, you have finished the Level Challenge 2.

For reference, you can check out the video in the Uber Quest section for the Death Projector Dungeon Uber Quest.




Mid Game


Mid game content covers our game play from Terror Baal up to Act 5 Destruction. Before proceeding to Destruction you'll need to upgrade all your gear to t6 and fill it with the necessary MOs and sockets. Max out your resists with gems and improve your defense by MO'ing ED into your gear. Your first order of business will be to obtain the Dark Tome from the Summoner in Arcane Sanctury, Act 2 then proceed to your Black Road Challenge.

Stats and Skill Plan
► Show Spoiler


Gear
► Show Spoiler


Gameplay
► Show Spoiler






Black Road Challenge


The Black Road Challenge unlocks Blessed Life as a reward skill. This skill will be vital for our survival in Destruction. The challenge itself consists of five trials. Completing a trial with allow you to cube your class charm and a note will appear confirming the completion of each trial. Before proceeding to the trials, it is recommended to change your shield to
Sangreal
Sangreal
Paladin Shields

'OhmSol'
Runeword Level: 70
Level 1 Demon Blood Aura
-10% Base Block Chance
25% Attack Speed
40% Hit Recovery
+(10 to 15)% to Summoned Minion Life
+33 Defense
to increase your life and ensure a better chance of survival. Note that
Sangreal
Sangreal
Paladin Shields

'OhmSol'
Runeword Level: 70
Level 1 Demon Blood Aura
-10% Base Block Chance
25% Attack Speed
40% Hit Recovery
+(10 to 15)% to Summoned Minion Life
+33 Defense
will also serve as our shield during early mid-game so it is recommended to make it in a sacred paladin shield.

Note: You can only finish this challenge after obtaining the Dark Portal oskill from The Summoner in Arcane Sanctuary, Destruction difficulty.

Trial of Fear
► Show Spoiler


Trial of Greed
► Show Spoiler


Trial of Contrition
► Show Spoiler


Trial of Knowledge
► Show Spoiler


Trial of Blood
► Show Spoiler






Monster Tokens


You can find Veteran Monsters in certain locations for all Acts in Terror and Destruction difficulty. Each one will drop a corresponding Evil Eye. Cubing all 5 Evil Eyes with your Class Charm will give additional bonuses. They can be found in the following locations:

Act 1 : Clawstorm Terror: starting from The Barracks and till Catacombs Level 3
Act 2 : Fairy Witch: Canyon of the Magi
Act 3 : Glowing Blob: starting from Travincal and till Durance of Hate Level 2
Act 4 : Landmass: City of the Damned, River of Flame
Act 5 : Bane Hunter: Worldstone Keep Level 1-3





Signet of Skill


Signets of Skill can be found throughout Torajan Jungles in Destruction Difficulty. You can use up to 3 signets.




End Game


End game content covers everything after you've finished Destruction difficulty. This includes farming for your end game SUs, Signets and completing all possible ubers.

Stats and Skill Plan
► Show Spoiler


Gear
► Show Spoiler


Gameplay
► Show Spoiler




Tips and Tricks


This section includes a few useful tips while progressing in the game. It will be filled out as i go along

► Show Spoiler
Edited by ScarletEdge 5 years.
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Uberquests



Uberquests or Ubers are divided into three categories which we will further divide into three difficulty levels.

Normal
This level only requires the experience you've gained over the course of early to mid game. It can be done with your with early game gear.

Moderate
This level denotes less straightforward ubers with some mechanics that can prove fatal if you find them unfamiliar. These ubers can be done with improved versions of your mid game gear. You can obtain these by crafting items with better stats and affixes.

Difficult
This level requires an extensive level of player experience. By the time you reach these ubers, you should already be somewhat knowledgeable of the mechanics and strategies often used to complete ubers. At the same time you should also have developed good reflexes in critical situations where you need to dodge and/or teleport out of danger. These ubers can only be done with your end game and/or uber specific gear.

Note: the videos below were taken several times before I finally succeeded in killing a boss or obtaining a charm. The purpose of these videos is to show that the following ubers are possible with this build.




Kehjistan

" Kehjistan, otherwise called the Eastern Empire, is the great empire of the eastern lands of Sanctuary, located along the eastern coast of the Twin Seas, with the emerald jungles surrounding Kurast in the south, and the desolation surrounding Caldeum in the north. "


Kehjistan represents Act III.

Note: Two new areas have been added in Act III starting in MXL2017 1.1. They now house majority of the uberquests that were previously spread across the normal areas. These are: Torajan Jungles and Caldeum.




Torajan Jungles - Map


Torajan Jungles entrance can be found in the southeast corner of Act III town map.



Image
Credits to Marco




Caldeum - Map


Caldeum can be found to the north of Trancival.



Image
Credits to Rishab




Death Projector
► Show Spoiler


Creature of Flame
► Show Spoiler


Kurast 3000 BA
► Show Spoiler


Rathma Square
► Show Spoiler


Akarat
► Show Spoiler


Legacy of Blood
► Show Spoiler


Lord Aldric Jitan
► Show Spoiler


Quov Tsin
► Show Spoiler


Heart of Sin
► Show Spoiler


Astrogha
► Show Spoiler


Teganze
► Show Spoiler


Viz-jun
► Show Spoiler


Kingdom of Shadow
► Show Spoiler


Toraja
► Show Spoiler


The Triune
► Show Spoiler


Yshari Sanctum
► Show Spoiler





WESTERN KINGDOMS

" The Western Kingdoms lie to the west of the Twin Seas and southwards of the Barbarian lands and Mount Arreat. They are envied for their temperate climate and plentiful rainfall which has allowed for the growth of plentiful crops and its population to flourish. "


The Western Kingdoms represent Acts I, II and V.


The Butcher
► Show Spoiler


Infernal Machine
► Show Spoiler


The Binding of Baal
► Show Spoiler


Assault on Mount Arreat
► Show Spoiler


Island of the Sunless Sea
► Show Spoiler


Cathedral of Light
► Show Spoiler


Tran Athulua
► Show Spoiler


Judgement Day
► Show Spoiler


Bull Prince Rodeo
► Show Spoiler


Fauztinville
► Show Spoiler


Ghosts of Old Bremmtown
► Show Spoiler


Xazax
► Show Spoiler


Duncraig
► Show Spoiler


Eve of Destruction
► Show Spoiler



WASTELANDS

" The Wastelands are a murky world located on the edge of Pandemonium. They are constantly in flux, and are without true form. Those who enter the Wastelands can find themelves feeling disorientated and under emotional assault, and can find themselves lost in the realm. "


The Wastelands represent all areas that not in the mortal plane, and might be accessed from any act.


Khalimgrad
► Show Spoiler


Lord of Lies
► Show Spoiler


The Black Road
► Show Spoiler


Spirit World
► Show Spoiler


World Nexus
► Show Spoiler





Credits



I would like to thank everyone in the MXL Team for a job well done. Special thanks to everyone I stole borrowed map images from, to KissOfAries and to everyone over Discord for their input while writing this guide. And thank you for taking the time to read all the way down here. I hope you found this helpful!
Edited by ScarletEdge 6 years.
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kissofaries
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no taha scepter for end game gear? :rage:
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Everyone play this shit pls, it's broken. Ty.
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Goodkidscc
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Excellent guide sir
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ScarletEdge
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Thanks ;)
Typos fixed
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Xenomorphous
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I think i know my next character :wink:
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Nice guide:)
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Another gg guide from the one and only :pogchamp: