Guides

This is a guide specifically for grinding the coliseum for money or leveling dragons to exalt. This is [i]not[/i] a PVP coliseum guide. If you're unsure about anything in this guide, feel free to ping me (by typing @Kiena) and ask any questions! [b][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/937136/1#1061006]To go straight to the Exalting portion of the guide, click here.[/url][/b] Please note that the team I'm suggesting here is entirely useless for fighting other players - you'll get steamrolled if you try to use them against a balanced team. ----- [b]1 Leveling a Grinding Dragon[/b] [b]1.1 Summary[/b] [i]This is a very long guide! Can't you just sum up?[/i] Sure! Use high strength dragons to kill things in one hit, using either Scratch or Eliminate. You want to kill as fast as dragonly possible, because the time you spend really adds up. Sell most of the items straight from your hoard to make a lot of treasure! I suggest a 4 Str/2 Quick/1 Vit stat distribution as you're leveling, with [b]Scratch, Eliminate, Rally, and Sap as your main battle stones, 3 Berserker as your Augment stones, and two Ambush as your Accessory stones[/b]. Final stat distribution should be [b]111 Strength/49 Quickness/11 Vitality[/b] at level 25 (not counting augment stones) if you're willing to spend money on a Tincture of Dissolution for each dragon. If you don't have the money for a Tincture, or want a little bit more vitality, [b]110 Strength/49 Quickness/13 Vitality[/b] (not counting augment stones) is an alternative build. If you're having problems leveling, I suggest having one magical dragon with 4 Int/2 Quick/1 Vit and Aid as part of your leveling party, but do not farm with them! [b]Table of Contents[/b] [b]1 Leveling a Grinding Dragon[/b] [indent]1.1 Summary 1.2 Introduction [indent]1.2.1 Why Grind the Coliseum? 1.2.2 How Much Can I Make? 1.2.3 Downsides 1.3 Training a Dragon 1.3.1 Stat Distribution [indent]1.3.1[b][/b].1 Build 1 - Best multipurpose build [indent]1.3.1[b][/b].1.1 Stat Chart per Level[/indent] 1.3.1[b][/b].2 Build 2 - Build with no Tinctures 1.3.1[b][/b].3 Build 3 - Farming-only build[/indent] 1.3.2 Battle Stones [indent]1.3.[b][/b]2.1 Suggested Stones 1.3.[b][/b]2.2 Ambush, and What to Do if You Can't Afford It 1.3.[b][/b]2.3 Eliminate, and What to Do if You Can't Afford It[/indent][/indent] 1.4 Grinding [indent]1.4.1 How to Grind 1.4.2 Where to Grind[/indent] 1.5 Golem Workshop [indent]1.5[b][/b].1 Breakdown for Individual Monsters[/indent] 1.6 Leveling Tips 1.7 Mage/Healing Dragon 1.8 Skill Rotations 1.9 Misc Info 1.10 Bugs[/indent] [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/937136/1#1061006][b]2 Exalting for a Profit[/b][/url] [indent]2.1 Introduction [indent]2.1.1 Summary 2.1.2 How Much Can I Make?[/indent] 2.2 Leveling with 2 25 Dragons (Best Way) [indent]2.2.1 Stat Distribution [indent]2.2.[b][/b]1.2 Build Comparison[/indent] 2.2.2 Battle Stones 2.2.3 Elements 2.2.4 How to Level Exalt Fodder [indent]2.2[b][/b].4.1 Skill Rotations[/indent] 2.2.5 Non-level 25 Dragons[/indent] 2.3 Leveling with 3 Level 1 Dragons (Worse Way) 2.4 Advanced Exalting [indent]2.4.1 Leveling two Exalt at once in the Mire [indent]2.4.1[b][/b].1 Stat Distribution 2.4.1[b][/b].2 Battle Stones 2.4.1[b][/b].3 Elements 2.4.1[b][/b].4 How to do this 2.4.1[b][/b].5 Alternate Two Exalt Locations [indent]2.4.1[b][/b].5.1 Ghostlight Ruins 2.4.1[b][/b].5.2 Harpy's Roost[/indent][/indent][/indent] 2.5 Misc Info and Tips 2.6 Thanks[/indent] [b][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/937136#post_1063091]3 Build Comparisons[/url][/b] [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/937136#post_1065690][b]4 Useful Information[/b] [indent]4.1 Experience Chart per Level 4.2 Elemental Chart 4.3 Highest-health Monster per Area 4.4 Average Exalt Payout Per Level[/indent] ----- [b]1.2 Introduction[/b] [b]1.2.1 Why Grind the Coliseum?[/b] First, because there is no cap. The Fairgrounds only allow you to make 75,000 treasure a day. Selling dragons depends on breeding cooldowns. Playing the auction house market requires you to watch prices and have some starting funds, plus you're always limited by other people and whether or not they'll buy your goods or sell what you're looking to buy. The coliseum, however, has no limit. You can sell most of the items you get directly from your hoard, meaning you don't have to wait for people to buy them from the auction house. It's also a fantastic way to get food, meaning you can spend your gathering turns entirely in digging or scavenging. [b]1.2.2 How Much Can I Make?[/b] I've timed it several times, and I average about 50,000 treasure in one hour, assuming I auto-sell everything from my hoard. When I actually take the time to list things on the auction house, it jumps to about 60,000 treasure on average. This isn't taking into account the rare drops like eggs or festival skins, which are both rare and expensive and skew the results, so I didn't calculate them in. Again, note that if you lag really badly, or can't kill a monster in one Eliminate attack, you won't average as much money. Note that all this testing was done before June 2014 - things have changed since then, almost uniformly for the better. [b]1.2.3 Downsides[/b] [i]What's the downside?[/i] There are some caveats, however. It takes several hours to set up and level a team that's best for farming. If it's laggy, your treasure per hour plummets. For some people, Shock Switch or Runestones are faster on average. And it can be very, very boring. ----- [b]1.3 Training a Dragon[/b] [i]Still sounds great - how do I start?[/i] To start, you need three dragons, all level 1. They can be any breed, but if you choose fae, tundra, pearlcatchers, skydancers, coatls, or snappers, you'll have to buy a few cheap battlestones. Any of the other breeds start with the correct ones. Element doesn't matter, though it can be very useful to have a variety of elements so they aren't all vulnerable to the same monsters. You won't be doing any elemental attacks, though. See [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/1045521]this guide[/url] by Riff for a list of what elements a dragon is vulnerable to. If you want to plan ahead, I suggest an Arcane dragon or a Water dragon. It'll be some time before you get to the point where element matters, though! [item=Scratch][Item=Shred] You want each of your three dragons equipped with Scratch and possibly with Shred. If you choose one of the breeds listed above, you can buy Scratch and Shred from the Marketplace or the Auction House. Just replace whichever skills they currently have and you're ready to go! (Snappers only have to buy Scratch - they already have Shred.) If you can't find Shred or don't want to spend money on it, you don't have to - it's a useful skill to have up 'til level 7, but Scratch is the important one. Now comes the time-consuming build up. Level all three of your dragons, slowly working your way higher in levels. Look further down for leveling tips, including a suggestion to make one of your three dragons into a magic-based fighter that can heal you. [b]1.3.1 Stat Distribution[/b] This is not the only way to build a grinding dragon. Lots of people have preferred ways of going about this, and you might find something you like better. However, when I first started, all I wanted was for someone to tell me their preferred distribution - so here's mine. [b]4 Strength/2 Quickness/1 Vitality[/b] Every level up, I spend the points on this ratio. If I stop partway through the ratio, I write myself a little note and start there the next time they level. (But it works out almost perfectly that every level you can give them these stats.) [b]Please remember that if your flight is currently first in Dominance, you will appear to have +1 added to every stat. Keep this in mind when assigning your points.[/b] There are two builds, slightly different, that I suggest. [b]1.3.1[b][/b].1 Build 1[/b] - Best multipurpose build [b]Build 1[/b] is the best for farming the Kelp Beds or [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/937136/1#1061006]leveling exalt fodder[/url] there. However, it requires a Tincture of Dissolution for each dragon. [item=Tincture of Dissolution] Your final build, not counting Berserker stones, should be[b] 111 Strength/49 Quickness/11 Vitality[/b]. With 3 Berserker stones, it should be 126 Str/58 Qck/11 Vit. Remember that you can hover over your stats on your dragon's page to see what their base stats (not counting augment stones) is. [url=http://i.imgur.com/88JLgyi.png]For a picture of a level 25 dragon with this stat distribution, click here.[/url] Once I reach 49 Quickness and 11 Vitality as I'm leveling, I put everything else into Strength, which gives me 111 Strength at level 25. (It may take a little while to find the best cutoff point for you, but this is my preferred setup.) With this stat build, at Strength 126 (including Berserker stones), you can kill anything with a Rallied Eliminate at level 25 except the the Depin, Kelp Tender and Mammertee (Kelp Beds), all bosses, and everything in the Golem Workshop. You can also kill anything with a Scratch + regular Eliminate except all bosses and most monsters in the Golem Workshop. 58 Quickness (including Berserker stones) makes you faster than anything but the Abyss Striker and Relic Eel (Kelp Beds). You should still get one turn before they go, but they'll get to go twice when they do. However, there are some weird things with Quickness thresholds - you might go faster than the monster at first, and then the monster gets an extra turn, or you might just flat-out go faster than the monster as you adjust your Quickness up. The formula hasn't been discovered yet. 11 Vitality gives you 120 extra health points, for a total of 970 health at level 25. This is not a large help at high levels, but makes a difference as you level up. It also means that if your dragon faints and then recovers the next round, they won't be killed in one hit by a Mammertee or Kelp Tender. And if your element takes double damage from one of the bosses in the Kelp Beds, they will survive a single hit from them. The following is a chart for approximate stat values at each level. This chart only matches if you've used a Tincture. If you haven't, your stats are going to be very slightly different. Always try to have all three of your dragons with the same Quickness, unless you're specifically trying for a difference. [b]This does NOT include augment stones.[/b] So if you have any augment stones equipped (such as Berserker), make sure to subtract that amount from the green numbers when you increase your stats. [b]1.3.1.[b][/b]1.1 Stat Chart per Level[/b] [code] *Str w/3 *Qck w/3 *Level* *Str* *Qck* *Vit* Berserker* Berserker* 1 11 7 6 2 15 9 7 3 19 11 8 4 22 13 9 5 26 15 10 6 30 17 11 7 34 19 11 8 38 21 11 9 42 23 11 10 46 25 11 11 50 27 11 12 55 29 11 13 59 31 11 14 63 33 11 15 67 35 11 16 71 37 11 17 75 39 11 90 48 18 79 41 11 94 50 19 83 43 11 98 52 20 87 45 11 102 54 21 91 47 11 106 56 22 96 49 11 111 58 23 101 49 11 116 58 24 106 49 11 121 58 25 111 49 11 126 58 [/code] [b]1.3.[b][/b]1.2 Build 2[/b] - Build with no Tinctures [b]Build 2[/b] is an alternative for when you can't afford (or don't want to spend) money on a Tincture. Instead of 111 Strength/49 Quickness/11 Vitality, you aim for [b]110 Strength/49 Quickness/11+ Vitality[/b] without Berserker stones, or 125 Str/58 Qck/11+ Vit with Berseker stones. I do not currently have a picture of a dragon with this build. Feel free to message me/ping me if you do! The one point less in Strength means you can't Scratch + Eliminate Mammertees in the Kelp Beds - however, you can use [i]Sap or Shred[/i] and then Eliminate. If you don't use Sap or Shred, you either need to do two Scratches or you need to use Rally on either the Scratch [i]or [/i]the Eliminate. Put any additional points into Vitality to give you a tiny bit of a health boost. This isn't a huge change from the usual build, but doesn't require a Tincture for any breed. Both stat distributions are heavy on physical damage and making sure your dragons go first in a battle. They have a little bit of health, however, to be able to take some hits. I don't put any points into Agility because, while it does contribute to damage, it isn't a [i]consistent[/i] amount of added damage. When grinding, you want consistency, to know that every single hit will kill a monster, to keep your average amount of treasure up and your average amount of time down. Mind and Defense are [i]almost [/i]completely worthless. (For reasons, see [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/sug/968309/1]this thread by Sylvandyr[/url].) In general, those points are better spent elsewhere, except for very specific builds. Intelligence is worthless for Strength fighters. If you decide to try something different or adjust these suggest builds, I [i]highly [/i]suggest first using the [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/962059]Coliseum Stat Preview Tool[/url] by Sylvandyr. It will show you the tradeoffs for any stat combos, and may save you from making a mistake that would need a Tincture of Dissolution to fix. Never put any points into Mind or Defense - if you want to be able to take more hits, put the points into Vitality instead. It's statistically better, by far. [b]1.3.[b][/b]1.3 Build 3[/b] - Farming build This build is only appropriate for farming. You should not try to level exalt fodder with it. It also requires at [i]least [/i]one Ambush stone per dragon, preferably two, even while leveling. [b]114 Str/41 Qck/6+ Vit[/b] without Berserker stones, or 129 Str/50 Qck/6+ Vit including Berserker stones. [url=http://i.imgur.com/GQtECFF.png]For a picture of a level 25 dragon with this stat distribution, click here.[/url] Place any additional points in Vit. While leveling, place the points in a 4 Str/2 Qck ratio until you hit 50 Qck. This build does not need a Tincture on any breed, so you can avoid that cost. It's a little rough to start out with, and doesn't really get easy to level until you reach 9 and can equip an Ambush stone on each dragon. I don't recommend trying to level high without those stones - the low health and Qck makes this a painful build without them. However, with this build, you can one-shot Eliminate everything up through the Boreal Woods except the bosses. You can Scratch + Eliminate or Rally Eliminate everything in Harpy's Roost, the Mire, and the Kelp Beds except the bosses. A few monsters will go faster than you in the last few zones, and the Kelp Beds will be a little tough if you don't have two Ambush stones per dragon, but this is a great farming build. This is [i]not[/i] a good leveling exalt build, however. This build doesn't do well in the Kelp Beds without all three dragons. Note this is the exact same build Culex recommends in their [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/1040710]guide[/url]. [b]Does this count as a "glass cannon" build?[/b] A glass cannon build is an MMO term where a build sacrifices health and defense in order to do more damage. My old suggested build wasn't technically a glass cannon build, because I recommended more points in Vitality. All my above builds would count as glass cannon, however. But don't get too caught up on terminology, what matters is what works! For comparisons between multiple popular builds, [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/937136#post_1063091]please see section 3 Popular Build Comparisons[/url]. ----- [b]1.3.2 Battle Stones[/b] [b]1.3[b][/b].2.1 Suggested Stones[/b] [i]Skill Stones[/i] [item=Scratch][item=Shred] You start off with two battle stone slots unlocked, which should have Scratch and Shred. Shred's not required, but it's nice to have until you reach level 7. At that point, feel free to replace Shred with another stone - it's fairly useless after this point. Sap is a good choice. At level 3, you get a third skill slot unlocked. However, don't slot anything yet. Instead, wait until level 7, and slot Eliminate. [item=Eliminate] [b]Eliminate is the most important stone for grinding.[/b] This physical attack does 3 times the damage of Scratch, costs 35 breath, and most importantly, if it kills a monster, you get the breath returned. There are several bugs with this stone at this time (June 2014), such as if you kill a monster with Eliminate and have more than 85 breath, you start the next round with only 85 breath. But overall, this is an amazing skill. [b]Buy it as soon as you can use it at level 7.[/b] Yes, even if you have to go play Fairground games until you have enough to purchase it - it'll make the money back in very, very short order. It's only available on the Auction House, not the Marketplace. [i]This stone is not optional.[/i] You are crippling your leveling time if you don't buy this stone. If you can't afford 3 Eliminates (as they've risen in price recently), buy just one and put it on the dragon that goes last in turn order. (Or second, if you can Scratch + Eliminate everything in an area.) Use that dragon to kill the majority of the monsters until you can afford a second and third Eliminate. But again - at least one Eliminate is [i]required[/i]. Update April 2017: Unfortunately, Eliminate stones have risen in price enough that they are incredibly prohibitive for new players to purchase. See section [b]1.3.[b][/b]2.3 Eliminate, and What to Do if You Can't Afford It[/b] for more information if you can't afford one. It's still the best way to level, but there [i]are [/i]some options if you can't afford it yet. [item=Rally] At level 11 you unlock another skill stone. I [i]highly [/i]suggest you put in Rally, which will allow you to do more damage with your Eliminate. [i]Remember that Rally's extra Strength is based on the caster's level + 5[/i]. This means if your dragons aren't quite the same level, you have to adjust for that when using the [url=https://fir-fr-coli-skills.firebaseapp.com/]Coliseum damage calculator tool[/url]. Rally takes a long time to cast, so you should use it all the time. But if there's a choice between Rallying once or Scratching two to three times, Rally is a better idea. At level 17 you get another stone unlocked. This stone can be anything useful - Sap is an excellent choice, as it heals back a little bit of damage, and can be handy when farming. It does the same amount of damage (actually, a few points more) as Scratch, so you can use it in place of Scratch when you have enough breath. If you prefer a different stone/want to replace Shred (which I suggest - once you get Eliminate, Shred is useless), Haste can help you out as you build up breath, or Reflect is very useful against the bosses in the Kelp Beds.. But most of the time, you'll be using Scratch and Eliminate. [i]Augment Stones [/i] [item=Berserker][item=Scholar] Augment stones are the third line of stones on your skill menu. They give you additional stats. As of August 23rd, 2014, they now work! For a Strength fighter, you'll want to equip Berserker stones as soon as you can at level 17. Before level 17, if you have any Might Fragments of the appropriate element, you may want to equip those, then replace them with Berserker stones later. It's up to you if you want to spend that money, but it [i]will [/i]help you kill faster in a lot of cases. It is assumed that you will buy and equip the Berserker stones by the time you're level 25. The build(s) suggested in this guide rely on these stones. They drop frequently and aren't very expensive on the Auction House. If you decide to create a mage as a healer (see further down), use Scholar stones at level 17, and possibly Acuity stones before then. [i]Accessory Stones[/i] There are currently only three accessory stones. Field Manual, which allows you to see the opponents' breath bars, Discipline, which gives dragons that use Meditate a chance for extra breath, and Ambush, which gives the dragon an extra turn at the start of the battle. [item=Ambush] Ambush is the second most important stone to equip on your dragon! According to [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=mb&board=bug&id=44595&page=12]this post here[/url], well tested by AdeleneDawner, the first dragon to go is always skipped. That means that if you have Ambush on only one of your dragons, they will be skipped until they'd naturally go. If you have Ambush on all three of your dragons, the one that would go first (the topmost position) will be skipped and the dragon in the middle will go first. If you equip with [i]two [/i]Ambush stones, the dragon's first turn is skipped, then they go first because of the [i]second [/i]stone, then they would go in the natural order. This means if you have two Ambush stones on each of your three dragons, you will get [b]an extra five turns[/b] at the start of the battle. If you have an Int-based healing dragon, you can use two Discipline stones instead - but Ambush is likely still a better choice. You can always use those two extra turns to gather breath. You can equip Field Manual on a single one of your dragons, if you wish, but I don't recommend it. Seeing the breath bars of the monsters doesn't help a lot, and the spot would be better taken up by Ambush. [item=Field Manual][item=Discipline] So with all slots unlocked, my grinding dragons would have the following stones: [item=Scratch] [item=Shred]* [item=Eliminate] [item=Rally] [item=Sap] [item=Berserker][item=Berserker][item=Berserker] [Item=Ambush][Item=Ambush]** *I encourage you to replace Shred with Haste or Reflect. **Or Field Manual on [i]one [/i]of your dragons if you can't afford another Ambush. [b]1.3.[b][/b]2.2 Ambush, and What to Do if You Can't Afford It[/b] Unfortunately, Ambush only drops from the Coliseum or is a rare find in Pinkerton's Pile. It appears to drop in any of the Coliseum areas, but the drop rate is very low. That means the only place to reliably get it is the Auction House. Now that everyone knows what a good stone it is, the price there keeps going up. If you can't afford Ambush, you can either keep leveling without it, or you can farm the lower level areas, sell the loot, and buy it on the Auction House. If you want to grind for the money, keep following the guide and simply farm in the first two or three areas, using Eliminate. If you decide to keep leveling without Ambush, not much changes. Use your turns wisely, Rallying the dragon(s) that will use Eliminate, and be proactive in healing, either with a mage, Sap, or Health Potions. Be ready to reload the Coliseum page as necessary, to avoid losing any energy if all three of your dragons faint. If you can only afford a few Ambush stones, give them to your physical fighters first (if you have a mage, put Discipline on them instead), and if you have three or fewer, don't put one on each dragon - put one on one dragon and then wait until level 15 and put a second on the same dragon. That dragon will be more useful later when farming or leveling dragons to exalt. [i]I do not recommend leveling exalt bait with 2 level 25s without Ambush stones.[/i] You'll be dragging a useless third dragon along with you, and the loss of those turns makes things very difficult if you don't have the extra 3 turns at the start of the battle - especially if you're leveling them in the Kelp Beds. [b]1.3.[b][/b]2.3 Eliminate, and What to Do if You Can't Afford It[/b] When I first wrote this guide, and even through subsequent updates, Eliminate was expensive, but not nearly impossible for a new player to get. Now, at the time of writing this, it's over 250,000 treasure for one Eliminate! Like Ambush, everyone realized how wonderful a stone it is. You can level your dragons without Eliminate, but it's a lot harder and slower, unfortunately. Eliminate is simply that good of an attack! My advice, if you can't afford it right away, is to do one of two things - either try to make the money to purchase it from the Auction House, or level with two fighter dragons and one mage dragon instead, hoping for an Eliminate drop. To make enough money to purchase an Eliminate stone, you can do a few different things. One option is to focus on the [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/play/fairgrounds]Fairgrounds [/url]and try to reach your maximum each day. With a max of 75,000 treasure, if you can reach the max every day, it should only take about 4 days to get enough to purchase an Eliminate (as of April 2017). [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=faire&game=shockswitch]Shock Switch[/url] is a popular choice for making money at the Fairgrounds - [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/1553670]here's a guide[/url] about how to chain in the game, which is the best way to make money while playing it. The only two other games that are quick to make money at the Fairgrounds are [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=faire&game=runestones]Runestones of the Arcanist[/url] (quit after level 5 or 6 and restart) and [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=artifracture]Artifracture[/url]. A second option is to level your dragons to about level 9, and then grind in Woodland Path. At level 9, your dragons' Strength should be at about 40, which allows you to kill everything in the Woodland Path in 3 Scratches. If you happen to have any Ambush battlestones, they can be added to the dragons at level 9, as well, giving you more attacks before having to heal by returning to the menu. After you've farmed for a while, open any money chests in the Other section of your Hoard (such as a Leafy Pack) and sell any food on the Auction House. You might even get lucky enough to get an Eliminate stone in a drop! Before selling any item from your hoard, see [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/1091175#post_4190453]this guide for items[/url] that drop in Woodland Path that are used in Swipp trades or Baldwin recipes, and sell them on the Auction House. If they're not on this list, feel free to sell any materials or trinkets from your hoard. Especially note the Blushing Pink Rose and Sakura Owl familiar - they are used in a semi-popular Swipp trade and sometimes sell for a decent amount. If you don't want to spend time making money, you can still level your dragons in the Coliseum without Eliminate. I suggest following the stat build in section 1.3.[b][/b]1.1 Build 1 - Best multipurpose build or 1.3.[b][/b]1.2 Build 2 - Build with no Tinctures for two of your dragons, and then creating a mage dragon following 1.7 Mage/Healing Dragon for your third dragon. Your mage can Rally your fighting dragons and heal them when needed. Make sure your mage has the same or greater Quickness as your melee dragons and is the dragon at the top of the screen so that they will be the one that loses their first turn at the start of a battle (see section 1.10 Bugs - the first dragon to go in a battle will lose their turn). Your two melee dragons should be Rallied and use Scratch and Shred as their primary attacks. You may want to try using their elemental slash attack against enemies weak to their element, but in general, you want to use Scratch and Shred. Your eventual goal should be to get enough money (or get lucky in a drop) to buy at least one Eliminate. Once you have Eliminate on one of your dragons, things will move much more quickly. ----- [b]1.4 Grinding[/b] [b]1.4.1 How to Grind[/b] [i]Okay, got the stones, got the stats - but [u]how[/u] do I grind?[/i] The most important thing about grinding is [i]reducing the time it takes to kill one enemy[/i]. You want to kill an enemy in a single attack. Killing in two hits takes up several seconds - and that adds up to quite a bit over the course of an hour. To do this, you need either your Scratch skill or your Eliminate skill to be able to kill in one shot. This is dependent on your strength and the health of the monster. You can kill all of the monsters in the very first area, the Training Grounds, in one shot with Scratch once you reach Strength 58. This is around level 13 if you follow the recommended stat distribution above. But remember, your Eliminate does 3 times as much damage as Scratch. This means if you spend the time to build up the breath and get lucky enough to have very few dodges (which makes you lose that 35 breath), you can one shot the enemies in the first area much earlier - pretty much as soon as you can equip Eliminate at level 7. If you can't one-shot with Scratch, you build up your breath until 35 and use Eliminate constantly. Make sure you're always going on to the next fight instead of returning to the menu - that will let you keep your breath between rounds. If an enemy dodges your Eliminate, build it right back up with Scratch once more. [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/967048]This damage calculator[/url] by Sylvandyr will show you how much Strength you need for each type of monster in an area. With this information, you can know what areas you can grind in. Some people use only two dragons (or even just one) to grind. This often ties into how they level them (see leveling tips, below). This can work very well - it allows you to build up breath faster, because you're not splitting the attacks between three dragons. Try different setups and see what you like best. [b]You should [i]not [/i]be using Rally to grind![/b] I've gotten a couple people commenting that it slows them way down - yes, that is why you shouldn't use Rally while farming. Rally's animation is [i]very [/i]long, and it's not worth it for grinding. Only use Rally while leveling your team or leveling exalt fodder. If you can't kill with one Eliminate, use Scratch first instead of Rally. [b]1.4.2 Where to Grind[/b] Every area has some good stuff that drops. But here are a few areas that are particularly popular. The Training Grounds is the very first area. It's easy to get high enough Strength to one-shot with Scratch here, and the monsters do very little damage. If you only have one dragon high enough level to grind, this is the place to do it! Food, especially insects and meat, drop often here. Additionally, Leafy Packs drop frequently - they have 100 gold and some plant food worth 75 treasure inside. You can start grinding here as early as level 7, with Eliminate. Note, however, that this is the [i]least [/i]profitable areas, overall. The big attraction is that it's fast to get high enough to farm here. The Woodland Path is the second area. Monsters come in larger groups and do more damage than in the Training Grounds. You get the Leafy Packs here, too. You can start grinding with Eliminate as early as level 8. Again, this area is slightly better than the Training Grounds, but it's only for low level dragons. Either of these areas are best if you can't one-shot monsters in the Delta yet. The Sandswept Delta, the fourth area, is another popular place to farm. The monsters here are easy to one-shot with Eliminate, and they drop a lot of high-value junk, like bones worth 70 treasure per. Fishscale Baskets drop frequently here, which have 200 treasure and some fish food worth 30 treasure inside. You can start grinding here as early as level 13, with Eliminate. Bamboo Falls, the sixth area, has some rare familiars and a few Swipp Swap items that sell well in the Auction House. You can one-shot Eliminate everything at Strength 85, around level 20. The Arena is the highest area you can one-shot every monster without using a Scratch or Rally in a typical build. There are a lot of high-value junk items that drop here, and they drop frequently. There are also a few Swipp Swap items that drop very frequently, and which sell on the Auction House for more than their hoard sell value. You can Eliminate every monster but the Sprangryroo, Chimera, and Charcoal Sprangryroo in the Arena at Strength 100 (around level 23 or 24), and you can one-shot Eliminate the Charcoal Sprangryroo at Strength 110, at level 25. The Crystal Pools is the best area for pure money per minute. It has bosses, and some monsters require a Scratch + Eliminate, but it's still pretty easy to fight there, and it gives good drops, including more Swipp Swap items. It also has a very high drop rate for various food types! Rainsong Jungle is easier and also has a high profit - it also has bosses, but everything else can be Eliminated with no need for a Scratch or Rally. The Kelp Beds isn't the best for farming, but it [i]is [/i]the best for [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/937136/1#1061006]leveling up dragons to exalt[/url] (if you're not using a specialized build). So a lot of people spend a lot of time here. However, every monster here needs at least a Rallied Eliminate or Scratch + Eliminate. You simply can't kill fast enough if you're going for pure profit from drops. I don't recommend it unless you're leveling exalt dragons or looking for something specific. If you're specifically farming for food, the best place to farm for insects is the Crystal Pools or Rainsong Jungle, the best place for seafood is the Kelp Beds or the Crystal Pools, the best place for meat is Harpy's Roost or Ghostlight Ruins, and the best place for plants is the Mire or Ghostlight Ruins. I prefer and recommend the Crystal Pools. There are a lot of high value junk drops and the Swipp items are both frequent and sell well. But try out the different areas and see what you prefer! And remember, the best place to farm is almost always the location that you can kill all (or most) of the monsters in one hit. As before, [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/967048]check out this calculator[/url] to determine those locations! For more detailed drop and money-making info, there's a [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/1769204]great guide by Roenok[/url] that lays out how much money they got by farming for an hour per area. You can use it to pick the best location for treasure or for a specific food type. It looks like currently (03/2016), the best locations for treasure are Rainsong Jungle and Crystal Pools. ----- [b]1.5 Golem Workshop[/b] Since the Golem Workshop is the newest and toughest area, here are some recommendations. First, if you have a mage, you can pretty much endlessly grind. A mage helps a ton, healing and supporting. Especially if the mage has two Ambush stones - put them in the top slot, use Rally on their one turn at the start, and you can kill at least two of the monsters before they get to go. They are also invaluable for boss fights. Contuse can stand in for Scratch (and actually does a little more damage, if Int and Str are the same) and is wonderful on a boss or just to reduce damage. However, a mage does slow you down. Meditate and the inability to Eliminate are time wasters. If you only have three dragons, there's a good chance they're all physical fighters. You [i]can[/i] farm with three glass cannons. Sap is required - you want to use it regularly to keep your health up. Boss fights are going to be tough. My personal recommendation is to farm with a mage if you have one already statted and stoned. Once you're used to the Workshop, perhaps try 3 glass cannons. If you don't have a mage, farm with your glass cannons - the farming build instead of the leveling build, if you have both types of dragons. [b]1.5.1 Breakdown for Individual Monsters[/b] [u][b]For 126 Str/58 (or 59) Qck[/b][/u] [b]1 Rallied Eliminate (or Scratch + Eliminate)[/b] Mistral Minion Spellbound Golem [b]1 Scratch + 1 Eliminate[/b] Swift Lumen Swift Volt [b]1 Rallied Scratch + 1 Eliminate or 1 Scratch + 1 Rallied Eliminate[/b] Coppercoil Creeper Black Iron Creeper Sentinel Mith Construction Mith Steelhound Scrapmetal Tracker [b]2 Scratches + 7 Eliminates (aproximately) or 6 Rallied Eliminates[/b] Frost Delver Stone Borer [u][b]For 129 Str/50 Qck[/b][/u] [b]1 Rallied Eliminate (or Scratch + Eliminate)[/b] Mistral Minion Spellbound Golem [b]1 Scratch + 1 Eliminate[/b] Sfit Lumen Swift Volt Coppercoil Creeper Black Iron Creeper Sentinel Mith [b]1 Sap (or Contuse) + 1 Eliminate[/b] Construction Mith (If you have 129 Str and do a Scratch + Eliminate on the Construction Mith, it will die, but you won't get your breath back, due to a bug. Sap and Contuse do a few more points of damage, so you avoid that bug.) [b]1 Rallied Scratch + 1 Eliminate or 1 Scratch + 1 Rallied Eliminate[/b] Steelhound Scrapmetal Tracker [b]2 Scratches + 7 Eliminates (aproximately) or 6 Rallied Eliminates[/b] Frost Delver Stone Borer ----- [b]1.6 Leveling Tips[/b] [b]Okay, but leveling up with this team is difficult! Any tips?[/b] If you want all three dragons to be the same level, and have the same stats, perfect for grinding, leveling up might be a bit of a chore. The dragons don't have any strong healing skills, and it takes a while to get enough breath to reliably Eliminate the monsters. Here are some tips for sticking with these three grinding dragons. [LIST=1] [*] Make certain you are using Eliminate and have Berserker (or other augment stones) stones equipped. They are an [i]incredible [/i]help in leveling. You will quickly make the money back that you spent on them, once you've finished leveling. They are [i]required [/i]for this guide. [*] Use Ambush stones. They are an amazing benefit to both leveling and farming. They are expensive, yes, but they will speed up your leveling tremendously and make farming simple and easy. You will eventually make back the money you spent on them. [*] [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/1040710]Culex has a leveling guide here[/url]. There are several things I do differently, but it's a great guide to check out if you're having problems or just want another opinion. [*] Know how much damage you do, and how much health the monsters have. Again, use [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/967048]this damage calculator[/url]. Learn which monsters need one hit with Scratch + one Eliminate, and which need two hits, or Rally to be put on the dragon using Eliminate. In relation to that... [*] Use Rally. This increases the damage you do with one Eliminate [i]a lot[/i]. Figure out which of your dragon most often goes first (it is dependent on their position, if everyone has the same Quickness/Ambush stones), and make sure they Rally the dragon using Eliminate. Remember that you don't want to use Rally while farming, however - [i]just [/i]while leveling. [*] Keep going, even if your dragons are hurt. Once you have enough breath to use Eliminate, fights get a [i]lot [/i]easier. If you go back to the menu to heal up, though, you'll lose that breath. So go ahead and take some risks. If a dragon has fainted, they'll come back with 1/4 of their health the next battle. Use that to your advantage. If you're badly hurt and [i]know[/i] you can't survive this fight, you can refresh the page or click on the Coliseum link on the sidebar to go back to the menu without losing energy. [*] You don't have to level to 25 in order to grind! Depending on the area you want to grind in, you only have to get up to 7 or 13. Higher areas are not necessarily better to grind. [*] Likewise, you don't have to level in the highest area possible! You can level for a while in the area just below your dragon's level - you won't get a Victory Chain bonus, but you can probably one-shot a lot of the monsters with Eliminate, so you'll kill faster than you would in an on-level area. [*] If all else fails, you might want to try adding a bit more Vitality points to your dragons, or giving them more Vitality at lower levels (and then not giving them as much at higher levels). This will affect what level you have to be in order to grind certain areas - you might have to be a level or two higher. Do [b]not [/b]bother with adding Mind or Defense - you get more benefit from adding directly to Vitality. I don't recommend this step until you've tried out others, because you'll likely want to use a Tincture of Dissolution at level 25 if you do this. [/LIST] ----- [b]1.7 Mage/Healing Dragon[/b] [i]It's still pretty hard! Isn't there a safer way to level?[/i] There is! Instead of having all three dragons on your team set up for grinding, consider having only two dragons that follow this guide, and the third dragon be a magical dragon that both does damage and has Aid. [item=Aid] If you're new to the Coliseum, or you can't afford Ambush stones, this is a good way to level your team. This dragon will help your dragons stay alive, and do some extra damage as well. Once they reach level 12, they can get an element-specific skill that does something in addition to damage. I personally like Ice dragons for this - their element-specific skill is Congeal, which has the chance to freeze the monster in place so they can't do anything. Consider looking at [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/1344211]this guide[/url] by Maki for a list of battle stones and seeing which elemental magic dragon sounds good to you. [item=Congeal][item=Drown][item=Shock] For stats, follow the same numbers as the grinders, but put the points into Intelligence instead of Strength: 4 Intelligence/2 Quickness/1 Vitality, capping Quickness at 49 and Vitality at 11. Just replace Strength with Intelligence in the stat chart above. Some people prefer giving their healers more Quickness and less Intelligence than this ratio. Feel free to play around with the numbers a bit. One ratio several people have liked is 3 Int/3 Qck/1 Vit. This does mean they'll do less damage if you use them to attack. [item=Regeneration][item=Aid] For the healing spell, I [i]really [/i]recommend Aid instead of Regeneration. While Regeneration heals more health over time (a total of five turns), if you have two grinders in your party, you're going to kill fast enough that it won't have enough rounds to heal you. Instead, Aid heals in one burst. [item=Tincture of Dissolution] After your grinders are leveled, you can either use a Tincture of Dissolution on the magic user dragon and turn them into a grinder as well, or simply grind with only two dragons. This is the safest way to level. Make sure to put a Rally battle stone on the magical dragon, and if possible, two Ambush stones. You might also consider putting two Discipline stones instead of Ambush. Two Discipline stones gives a dragon a 75% chance to gain 60 breath instead of a 50% chance. If you can't afford Ambush, this is the way to go! Discipline is quite cheap in the Auction in comparison. [item=Discipline][item=Ambush] So with all slots unlocked, my magical dragon would have the following stones: [item=Meditate] [item=Congeal]* [item=Aid] [item=Rally][item=Haste]** [item=Scholar][item=Scholar][item=Scholar] [item=Ambush][item=Ambush]*** *Obviously replace Congeal with the correct level 12 elemental stone for your dragon, or with Contuse or the level 5 Elemental Bolt. [i]Never [/i]use an Elemental Slash, that's a physical skill. **Haste can be replaced by any other skill. I like having the option of using it, but it is completely personal preference. ***You might want to experiment with one or two Discipline stones instead of Ambush. [url=http://i.imgur.com/iEFiRys.png]For a picture of a level 25 mage with this stat distribution and stones, click here.[/url] ----- [b]1.8 Skill Rotations[/b] Here are some suggested skill rotations. If you don't have 35+ breath on your second or third dragon, use Scratch to kill monsters until you build that breath. The following rotation assumes that you have no Ambushes equipped (so your fastest dragon's first turn is skipped, or the top dragon if all three dragons have the same Quickness), that you're in an on-level area (so you're getting victory chain bonuses when you win), that you can kill most monsters with either a Scratch + Eliminate or a Rallied Eliminate, and that you've built up enough breath to use Eliminate on your second and third dragons. Dragons are lettered from top to bottom. To see which monsters you can't kill with with a Scratch + Eliminate or a Rallied Eliminate, see [url=https://fir-fr-coli-skills.firebaseapp.com/]Sylvandyr's Calculator Tool[/url]. If a dragon has been rallied, it will be marked with a (r). [LIST=1] [*] Dragon B - Cast Rally on Dragon C [*] Dragon C (r) - Eliminate Monster 1 [*] Monster 1 - Dead [*] Monster 2 - Attack/gain breath [*] Monster 3 - Attack/gain breath [*] Dragon A - Scratch Monster 2 [*] Dragon B - Eliminate Monster 2 [*] Dragon C (r) - Eliminate Monster 3 [/LIST] If you have to use Scratch twice (or Scratch + Rallied Eliminate), I suggest the following rotation instead: [LIST=1] [*] Dragon B - Cast Rally on Dragon C [*] Dragon C (r) - Scratch Monster 1 [*] Monster 1 - Attack/gain breath [*] Monster 2 - Attack/gain breath [*] Monster 3 - Attack/gain breath [*] Dragon A - Scratch Monster 2 [*] Dragon B - Scratch Monster 2 [*] Dragon C (r) - Eliminate Monster 1 [*] Monster 2 - Attack/gain breath [*] Monster 3 - Attack/gain breath [*] Dragon A - Scratch Monster 3 [*] Dragon B - Eliminate Monster 2 [*] Dragon C (r) - Eliminate Monster 3 [/LIST] Obviously, if you have the breath, you can switch Dragon A and Dragon B in the last round. Use minor health potions if you need to - they drop very frequently. If you have a magical dragon as one of your three, replace Dragon A with the magical dragon. When the rotation says 'Scratch', instead use Contuse/Elemental attack or Meditate for breath. Use Aid as necessary. If you have Ambush equipped, you'll be gaining additional turns. Follow the general idea of the rotation, but you'll be able to take less damage and toss in more healing (either from a magical dragon or from potions). You can see how just one added turn can make a large difference in the amount of damage you take. Ambush is, as always, highly recommended. Always remember you can reload the Coliseum if you're in danger of all three dragons fainting. The following rotation is for when you're grinding a low level area for drops, but can't kill with one Scratch. [LIST=1] [*] Use Scratch over and over until you have 35 breath. [*] Use Eliminate. [*] Repeat step 2 forever. [/LIST] [LIST=1] If you already have 35 breath going in: [*] If you're up against magic-using monsters, use Scratch on the first round, until you get up to 85 breath. If you're up against physical monsters, skip to step 2. [*] Use Eliminate. [*] Repeat step 2 forever. [/LIST] ----- [b]1.9 Misc Info[/b] [i]Phew! That's a lot of info. Anything else to add?[/i] Just a few last things! After you've spent some time grinding, you'll be used to playing in the coliseum. To alleviate boredom, try watching some tv in another window or listening to a podcast as you grind. I've even successfully read a book while grinding! Take frequent breaks! I cannot stress this enough. Repetitive stress injuries are no fun. Try a few stretches like the ones from [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUyMNyrOHJQ]this video[/url] or [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1pypluO1rQ]this one[/url], or look for your own favorites. Also, be sure to get up and walk around, and refocus your eyes, at least every 30 minutes to an hour. You can try to zoom your window out so that you don't have to move your mouse as far to do each action. This can save you some time! There are several items that are better to sell on the auction house than sell from your hoard. I won't list everything (I don't [i]know[/i] everything!) but consider listing food, familiars, apparel, any [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=wiki&article=24]Swipp[/url] or Baldwin item, and certain battle stones on the auction house. I don't suggest trying to sell the basic junk materials - they're not useful for very much, so they're very, very hard to sell. If you enjoy trading with Crim, keep 2-3 of each item in your hoard, including the cheaper battle stones. Also, you can look at the [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=wiki&article=24]Swipp encyclopedia[/url] entry to see what items are useful to save in order to trade to Swipp. If you plan on leveling dragons to exalt, I [i]highly [/i]suggest having two level 25 dragons, both with two Ambush and 3 Berserker stones equipped and the 111 Strength/49 Quickness/11 Vitality build. These two dragons can easily level lower level dragons in the Kelp Beds. Look to the next post to see some more details about this! Curious about how experience points work? Check out [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/1046488]this guide[/url] by Sylvandyr, they explain it all. I highly suggest figuring out how you want to arrange your battle stones, and then never deviate from this set-up. I have Eliminate in my first slot, Rally in my second, and Sap in my third. My fourth slot is used for whatever other stones I want, such as Haste or Reflect. All my dragons follow this pattern, which makes it a [i]lot [/i]easier to switch between them. And Eliminate in the first slot means I can click the Abilities menu and then click once more on Eliminate without having to move my mouse. ------ [b]1.10 Bugs[/b] This is a section to note any bugs I currently know are affecting the coliseum. This may or may not be out of date - I'll keep it as current as I can. [LIST] [*]First, [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/bug/20942]check this list[/url] of acknowledged bugs, and those further down, that are being tracked. I'll just list some of the more important ones here. [*]The first dragon to go in battle is always skipped. This can make Ambush stones appear not to work. [*]Augment stones Quickness bonus don't appear to be applied until after the first turn. The Strength bonus works immediately, however. [*]Enamor (level 12 Light battle stone) does not apply the debuff. [*]Many problems with Eliminate, such as the maximum breath after using Eliminate being 85, or occasionally breath not being returned even on a kill. [*]If you get a monster down to exactly 0 health with an Eliminate, your breath is not returned, even though the monster dies. [*]Killing a monster with Shred's bleed may freeze the Coliseum and require you to refresh the page. [/LIST] That's everything I can think of! Thanks for sticking with my long-winded guide, I hope it helps. Leave any questions here, and if I can't answer them, maybe someone else can. [b]Edit[/b]: Added a section on what to do if you can't afford Eliminate. It's gotten so expensive, ouch!

[b]Leveling to Exalt for Profit[/b] Besides farming for drops, there's another excellent way to make money from the Coliseum, and that is by leveling cheap adult dragons and exalting them. 2 Exalting for a Profit [indent]2.1 Introduction [indent]2.1.1 Summary 2.1.2 How Much Can I Make?[/indent] 2.2 Leveling with 2 25 Dragons (Best Way) [indent]2.2.1 Stat Distribution [indent]2.2.[b][/b]1.2 Build Comparison[/indent] 2.2.2 Battle Stones 2.2.3 Elements 2.2.4 How to Level Exalt Fodder [indent]2.2.[b][/b]4.1 Skill Rotations[/indent] 2.2.5 Non-level 25 Dragons[/indent] 2.3 Leveling with 3 Level 1 Dragons (Worse Way) 2.4 Advanced Exalting [indent]2.4.1 Leveling two Exalt at once in the Mire [indent]2.4.1[b][/b].1 Stat Distribution 2.4.1[b][/b].2 Battle Stones 2.4.1[b][/b].3 Elements 2.4.1[b][/b].4 How to do this 2.4.1[b][/b].5 Alternate Two Exalt Locations [indent]2.4.1[b][/b].5.1 Ghostlight Ruins 2.4.1[b][/b].5.2 Harpy's Roost[/indent][/indent][/indent] 2.5 Misc Info and Tips 2.6 Thanks[/indent] ----- [b]2.1.1 Summary[/b] [i]How does it work?[/i] Buy or breed adult dragons, name them, and then level them up in the Coliseum. After they've reached the level you want, exalt them for a profit! [b]2.1.2 How Much Can I Make?[/b] A level one dragon gives about 2,500 treasure on average. Each additional level gives another 1,500 on average. That means if you level a dragon to level 7 (easily accomplished in just a few minutes if you have two level 25 dragons), you will get 11,500 treasure (again, on average). (Isozyme has a [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=mb&board=gde&id=746775]payout chart here.[/url]) You get even more if the dragon matches one or more of the bonuses of the day. Don't forget that leveled dragons count more towards Dominance, too! Please remember that progenitors (the two dragons you got for free when you started playing) do not give any money if you exalt them, no matter their level. ------ [b]So how do I do this?[/b] There are two ways to level dragons you're going to exalt (a.k.a., exalt bait/fodder). The first way is fastest, but requires you to have high level dragons. The second way anyone can do, but it's a [i]lot [/i]slower. [b]2.2 Leveling with 2 25 Dragons (Best Way)[/b] [i]The Fast (Best) Way[/i] The best way to level exalt fodder is to take two level 25 Strength-based dragons and your level 1 exalt fodder to the Kelp Beds. The two level 25 dragons, if statted and stoned correctly, should be able to finish a fight in less than a minute. It only takes one fight to level a dragon to level 3, and only a few more fights to get them to 6. I usually level my exalt fodder to level 8, and it usually takes me less than 8 minutes per dragon. [b]2.2.1 Stat Distribution[/b] [i]So what should my stats and stones be?[/i] After a lot of testing, my personal recommendation is to have both dragons with [b]111 Strength/49 Quickness/11 Vitality[/b] (not counting augment stones) With 3 Berserker stones, your total stats should be 126 Str/58 Qck/11 Vit This is the main build I recommend above. It requires a Tincture of Dissolution to reach these stats. [b]Why those stats?[/b] At 126 Strength, you can Scratch + Eliminate anything in the Kelp Beds except the bosses, and can Rally Eliminate anything but the Kelp Tender, Mammertee and the bosses. The 58 Quickness will let you go before any monster in the Kelp Beds, though Abyss Strikers and Relic Eels will get to go twice when they finally go. [url=http://i.imgur.com/88JLgyi.png]For a picture of a dragon with these stats and stones, click here.[/url] [b]2.2.[b][/b]1.2 Build Comparison[/b] [i]What about other suggested builds?[/i] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?board=gde&id=1040710&p=mb]Culex suggests[/url] nearly the same build - 111 Str/50 Qck/6 Vit, for a total of 126 Str/59 Qck/6 Vit with three Berserker stones. This build has slightly less health, but the Maren Ambusher and Golden Porpoise don't go twice in a row on the second round. The down side is that if a dragon faints and comes back the next round with 1/4 health, a Mammertee or Kelp Tender can kill them in one hit, versus the 11 Vit build. Either this build or my build work great, it just depends if you want a little more health to absorb damage or for those two monsters to not get an extra turn. I haven't tested any other builds since augment stones started working. ----- [b]2.2.2 Battle Stones[/b] [i]Okay, stats down. What about battle stones?[/i] Battle stones are the same as the above guide. [i]However, it is incredibly important to have Ambush stones.[/i] If you don't have Ambush stones while leveling or farming, it's not a big deal. Lacking Ambush stones while leveling exalt bait makes the entire thing much slower and much more tedious. I simply can't recommend it. Farm for money if you have to, but get four Ambush stones, two on each dragon! [item=Scratch] [item=Shred]* [item=Eliminate] [item=Rally] [item=Sap] [item=Berserker][item=Berserker][item=Berserker] [Item=Ambush][Item=Ambush] *Replace Shred with whatever you wish. You're probably never going to use it. Eliminate is also essential, as will become clear in the skill rotation section. Rally is required to avoid damage from the Relic Eel/Abyss Striker and 4-monster packs. Sap is [i]highly [/i]suggested if you're leveling the exalt bait past level 6 or so - you'll slowly be losing health from packs you can't kill fast enough, and Sap will replace that health. It does the same amount of damage as Scratch, so use it in place of Scratch whenever you have 85+ breath. [url=http://i.imgur.com/88JLgyi.png]For a picture of a dragon with these stats and stones, click here.[/url] ------ [b]2.2.3 Elements[/b] With the addition of the bosses to the Kelp Beds, there is now no element that is resistant to all the mages in the Kelp Beds. Nature, one of the best elements previously, takes double damage from both bosses. Water is the same way. Plague, my personal favorite, takes double damage from the Ice boss. With that in mind, Lightning is probably the best element now. They take double damage from both Wind mages (the Cloud Chasers) and Arcane mages (the Jeweled Octoflyers), but both of those are usually fairly easy to kill before they go. I'm still going to continue to recommend Plague, as well. The Ice boss does come up fairly often, unfortunately, but it is possible to survive it. You might want to replace Haste with Reflect for your battle stones, and use it when the Ice boss shows up. If you're going to be leveling in the Mire instead, Arcane and Earth are the best, while Shadow is the worst. [i]Only bother with this if you're specifically leveling a pair of dragons to 25 for this purpose. [/i] All the elements are fine to use, you'll kill most monsters before they have a chance to touch you. Just be careful if you're weak to one of the bosses. ----- [b]2.2.4 How to Level Exalt Fodder[/b] [i]So how do I do this?[/i] Take your three dragons (two of whom are level 25 and have two Ambush each) to the Kelp Beds. You should have 5 turns before any monsters have a chance to go. Build up breath until you can Eliminate, then use your first dragon to Scratch and your second dragon to Eliminate. Assuming you have 126 Strength total (and the Coliseum isn't lagging currently, so augment stones are working), you will be able to Scratch + Eliminate all monsters. [b]2.2.[b][/b]4.1 Skill Rotations[/b] [i]More details, please? What about rotations?[/i] Most fights will have the following turn order: [LIST=1] [*]Dragon A [*]Dragon B [*]Dragon B [*]Dragon A [*]Dragon B [*]Monster 1 [*]Monster 2 [*]Monster 3 [*]Dragon A [*]Dragon B [/LIST] You want to do the following: [LIST=1] [*]Dragon A - Scratch Monster 1 [*]Dragon B - Eliminate Monster 1 [*]Dragon B - Scratch Monster 2 [*]Dragon A - Eliminate Monster 2 [*]Dragon B - Scratch Monster 3 [*]Monster 1 - Dead [*]Monster 2 - Dead [*]Monster 3 - Attacks/builds breath [*]Dragon A - Eliminate Monster 3 [/LIST] For the 3-packs of Abyss Strikers and Relic Eels, the pack of Abyss Striker-Kelp Tender-Relic Eel, or any of the 4-packs, use dragon A to Rally dragon B, then have dragon B do a Rallied Eliminate on three of the monsters (do [i]not [/i]try to Rally Eliminate the Kelp Tender or Mammertee - use Scratch + Eliminate on them). The Strikers and Eels are just a little bit too fast for the 58 Qck build - one of them will get to go twice on their turn, letting them get in one hit if you only Scratch + Eliminate, and the 4-packs will have one monster get to go before you finish them if you use Scratch + Eliminate. Otherwise, avoid using Rally - the animation takes a while, and generally, Scratch + Eliminate is faster. [i]If you are nearing the level you want your exalt bait, or you have a lot of health, don't bother with Rally and simply accept the damage - it's faster.[/i] This is also why I prefer to use Shadow or Plague dragons for leveling exalt fodder - they take half damage from the Abyss Strikers, who are the most frequent mages to go if you don't use Rally. Plague dragons also have no mages that do double damage to them in the Kelp Beds! Only a few packs of monsters can harm you, again assuming the Coliseum isn't lagging and augment stones are working. The 3-packs of Kelp Tenders and Mammertees will get one hit in and the 4-packs may have a chance to build breath and attack if you don't use Rally. Use Sap instead of Scratch to rebuild your health if it starts dipping low before you reach the level you want with the exalt fodder. [b]2.2.5 Non-level 25 Dragons[/b] [i]Can I do this with non-level 25 dragons?[/i] Technically, yes. But it's going to suck. The Coliseum is based on the assumption you have 3 dragons of the correct level for the area. Because you're leveling exalt fodder, you only have 2 dragons of the correct level for the area. This is going to cost you a bit, even with the Ambush stones. If you fight in lower level areas, you're [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?board=gde&id=1046488&p=mb]going to get less experience[/url]. It's fastest and safest to have 2 level 25 dragons. I highly suggest focusing on leveling your dragons to 25 before seriously getting into leveling exalt fodder. ----- [b]2.3 Leveling with 3 Level 1 Dragons (Worse Way)[/b] [i]Okay, but I just don't have time for leveling 25s right now! I have a time limit! Is there any other way?[/i] Yes, there is! It is not as good as leveling in the Kelp Beds, but there is another way to level exalt fodder. [b]The Worse Way[/b] Newer players probably don't know this, but for several months, we didn't have the Mire or the Kelp Beds - the highest level area was Harpy's Roost. That means if we wanted to level exalt fodder with a pair of level 25s, we were taking a large hit to our experience (because we were very overleveled for the area). Back then, the fastest thing to do was to take 3 level 1 dragons and level them all up at once before exalting. The best dragons for this are ones that start out with Scratch and Shred. These are guardians, mirrors, ridgebacks, spirals, imperials, and wildclaws. Ones that start out with Meditate and Contuse are fine, but will slow you down a little bit. If you only have Snappers, I suggest spending 250 treasure and picking up Scratch at the Marketplace. Anticipate is a horrible skill and will really, really slow you down. (Scratch may be hard to find due to resellers. In that case, suffer through using Anticipate or just sell the Snapper and replace it with an easier-to-level dragon.) Now, level your dragons as though you were starting out a new group. Stat-wise, [b]get your Quickness up to 7 and put everything else into Strength.[/b] (If you have Meditate/Contuse dragons, put everything else into Intelligence, instead.) I don't suggest trying to level these three dragons higher than level 6. The amount of time per level really increases at this point, and it will be a slow slog for not much payoff. Again, kill physical monsters before magical ones - magical monsters do a lot of breath building in the Training Grounds and the Woodland Path. The only exception is if you're leveling these dragons to 25 and are willing to spend money on Ambush and Eliminate stones. In that case, leveling three dragons at once is faster than doing them one at a time once they hit level 9 and can equip Ambush. ----- [b]2.4 Advanced Exalting 2.4.1 Leveling two Exalt at once in the Mire (Absolute Best Way)[/b] There's another way to level exalt fodder, one that's faster than either the Kelp Beds or the Mire. But it's pretty difficult and I don't suggest it for new users. If you're already experienced at the Coliseum, however, read on! The way you do this is to take a single level 25 dragon, statted exactly as follows, and go with two exalt fodder in to the Mire. This is fairly tough - you're going to have to reload regularly, especially if you get a boss. Additionally, only dragons of certain elements should try this. You're going to get hit by magic skills, especially when building breath. However, once you get in the practice, it's faster per dragon than leveling in the Kelp Beds. It takes me on average 4 minutes and 50 seconds(4:50) to level a dragon to 7 in the Kelp Beds. Leveling 2 dragons to 7 in the Mire takes me 7 minutes and 14 seconds (7:14) - or 3 minutes and 37 seconds (3:37) per dragon. That's over a minute saved per dragon - which adds up [i]fast [/i]if you're leveling a lot of dragons for a dominance push or even just profit. Some call this build (or versions of this build) the Mire Flyer (or Mireflyer) build. [i]Note that if you are one of the people who have the Coliseum slow down very badly if there's a magic attack, this is not going to work for you.[/i] A lot of magical attacks go off, it's unavoidable. I'm very sorry - the only thing I've heard of ever helping with this is switching browsers, and I don't believe that always works. ----- [b]2.4.1[b][/b].1 Stat Distribution[/b] I highly recommend the following stats, and not messing with them at all. The total, with Berserker stones, is: [b]117 Str/72 Qck/20 Vit[/b] (102 Str/63 Qck/20 Vit with no Berserker stones equipped.) [url=http://i.imgur.com/F7fllcv.png]For a picture of a dragon with these stats and stones, click here.[/url] [i]Why these stats?[/i] You need 117 Strength to kill Brilliant Psyrums and Mossy Cerdae with 4 Scratches. You need 72 Qck in order to get two turns against the Venomous Toridae in the second round. The rest of your points go into Vit, to make you last longer. I've tested this build quite a bit, and this is my recommendation. It does require a Tincture of Dissolution, but a few breeds can reach the Str/Qck numbers with a bit less Vit. I would still recommend investing in a Tincture, but if you're just trying this build out, you might be able to get away without one for a while. There are still three monsters that you will not get two turns against in the second round - the Psywurm, the Salve Kamaitachi, and the Scythe Kamaitachi. ----- [b]2.4.1[b][/b].2 Battle Stones[/b] Your battle stones are going to be the exact same as above, but you are required to have Scratch, Eliminate, Rally, and Sap. You're going to be using Rally a lot. [item=Scratch] [item=Eliminate] [item=Rally] [item=Sap][item=Haste] [item=Berserker][item=Berserker][item=Berserker] [Item=Ambush][Item=Ambush] *Haste isn't required, but it can help you out a lot. See below. [url=http://i.imgur.com/F7fllcv.png]For a picture of a dragon with these stats and stones, click here.[/url] ----- [b]2.4.1[b][/b].3 Elements[/b] [i]I highly, highly suggest using only an [b]Arcane[/b] dragon for this[/i]. Arcane dragons are resistant to two of the mages in the Mire (the Psywurm and the Common Podid) and are not weak to any mage there. Earth works as a second choice - they aren't resistant to any mages there, but they're not weak to any, either. All of the other elements have at least one weakness to a mage. This can easily kill you while doing this. I usually say you can handle leveling exalt fodder with any element - [i]not while you only have one dragon.[/i] Update: Some people are saying they had no trouble with other elements. So if you're on the fence about this build because you don't want to level an Arcane dragon, you can try any element that doesn't have a weakness to Arcane (which means avoid Lightning, Shadow, and Light), as you'll get hit by regular Psywurms frequently, because they're so fast. I would still suggest an Arcane dragon if you plan to do this regularly - I think it will save you time in the long run - but it might be a good way to test the build or use if you don't frequently level exalt fodder. ----- [b]2.4.1[b][/b].4 How to do this[/b] So now you have a level 25 Arcane dragon with the right stats and right stones. How do you survive this? The answer is in several parts. [LIST=1] [*] [i]Choose your starting pack wisely.[/i] It is incredibly important that you pick an easy pack to build breath against. Refresh until you get a 2-pack of any sort or a 3-pack of mages. As you get more used to the build, you can try taking on tougher 3-packs and find your own preferred starting packs. [*][i]Use Haste to get a little bit of extra breath.[/i] For your starting fight, if there are no Venomous Toridae, Psywurms, or Scythe or Salve Kamaitachi, use Haste on your very first turn. This will give you one extra turn right away - the same as if you hadn't used Haste. However, you now have 5 extra breath, and an extra turn in your third round - allowing you to Eliminate the second monster before it gets to go a third time. You can use this Haste trick any time you're low on breath or want a little bit more breath to use Sap. [*][i]If you had a bad first fight (misses, unlucky crits against you), reload[/i] Your first fight is the most critical, and you'll waste a lot of time trying to recover from it. Just refresh. [*][i]If you have a 2-pack, use Scratch + Eliminate on each monster[/i] This allows you to build your breath up, and means you don't have to sit through Rally's long animation. [*][i]If you have a 2-pack, low health, and at least 50 breath (or any missing health and 85 breath), use Sap instead of Scratch[/i] Use Sap any time you have either low health and at least 50 breath or you have 85 breath. This will heal you up about 100 points - and still does the same amount of damage as Scratch. [*][i]If you're going to use Sap on a 2-pack, Rally first[/i] If you Rally, you can one-shot Eliminate one of the monsters (assuming it's not a Brilliant Psywurm) and then Sap + Eliminate the other, in the same amount of turns it would take to Scratch + Eliminate them both. But with this, you get a Rallied Sap off instead - giving you an extra 30 health (approximately, depending on the monster you use Sap on). [*][i]If you have a 3-pack or a 4-pack, Rally your dragon and then Eliminate them all - except Brilliant Psywurms and Mossy Cerdae[/i] For most 3-packs, this will let you take damage at most from two monsters in the very first round. You should have two attacks to start - one to Rally and one to Eliminate, then the monsters go, then you should get two rounds again. [i]Remember that Brilliant Psywurms and Mossy Cerdae take a Scratch + Eliminate instead![/i] If you're Rallied and have to Scratch a Brilliant Psywurm or Mossy Cerdae, consider using Sap instead - you'll gain more health! [*][i]Pay attention to the turn order[/i] For some of the packs, one or two of the monsters will go faster than the others. Kill these first, if you can. The only exception to this is the Psywurm - Brilliant Psywurm - Psywurm pack. Psywurms do half damage to Arcane dragons, so kill one Psywurm on the first turn, then kill the Brilliant Psywurm before going after the second Psywurm. [*][i]If you're low on health, refresh![/i] Just what it sounds like - refresh (or go back to the menu) as often as you need to. Yes, it sucks to have to build breath up again - but it sucks more to have to spend food to feed your dragons! [*][i]If you go back to the menu while leveling, give your exalt fodder more Vit[/i] Obviously only do this if you're only leveling to exalt, not to keep. But if you're going to just exalt them anyway, and are already at the menu, try putting all their available points into Vit, so they can absorb a few more blows. This step isn't required, it's just a nice thing to do if you have the time. (Actually, I got a few people complaining about this step - they say it just adds time that you could be spending fighting, for very little gain. I say test it for yourself and see which you prefer!) [/LIST] At about level 10, the difference between the Mire and the Kelp Beds is pretty small. However, it increases again (in favor of the Mire) shortly after that, saving almost an hour by the time you hit level 25. So it's worthwhile to stay in the Mire unless you only have one dragon to level or unless you really want some of the Kelp Bed drops. That's it! All my advice. You'll probably wipe a few times at first - I did, several times - but eventually, you know just how far you can push without having to reload, and only unlucky crits or misses will actually make you wipe. [b]Still a bit confused?[/b] Perhaps this can help - mindcrank made a terrific video showing how she uses the old build in the Mire. [url=http://youtu.be/b2udBGpXsZc]See it here![/url] [b]2.4.1[b][/b].5 Alternate Two Exalt Locations[/b] There are a few other places you can level two exalt fodder at once - and it may be faster than the Mire! You still get a little bit of experience in the Crystal Pools and Boreal Wood, but it's not a lot. Feel free to farm there if you're looking for specific familiars and drops, though! Just use your Mire leveler or a general farming dragon - you don't need a specific setup. However, both the Ghostlight Ruins and Harpy's Roost can be farmed at a pretty fast pace with only a single dragon and two fodder! [b]2.4.1[b][/b].5.1 Ghostlight Ruins[/b] It's possible to do the exact same thing as above in the Ghostlight Ruins, though it's a little slower than the Mire, thanks to how much Qck the monsters have. For the Ruins, the best build is a [b]Water [/b]dragon (Nature is the second best element) with [b]115 STR / 76 QCK / 17 VIT[/b]. Otherwise, follow the directions above! For a great guide about this build - called the Ghostbuster build - see [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?board=gde&id=1764638&p=mb]this guide[/url] by JusticeTurtle. [b]2.4.1[b][/b].5.2 Harpy's Roost[/b] You can also level two fodder in Harpy's Roost! The best build is [b] a Wind dragon with 108 STR / 75 QCK / 38 VIT / 15 DEF[/b]. Yes, this build actually uses Def! It reduces the damage just enough to be worthwhile. And the best thing about this build is that you can kill bosses with the right setup. For more information, including suggestions on how to fight the bosses, [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/937136/103#post_21655514]see this post/mini-guide by Sylvandyr[/url]. ----- [b]2.5 Misc Info and Tips[/b] Remember to name your dragon before trying to level it! Only named dragons can fight in the Coliseum. If you're looking to buy an adult off the Auction House, check to make sure it's fed to at least 20 energy before buying it. Sometimes people sell starving dragons, and those dragons can't fight in the Coliseum. On a related note, you can try avoiding feeding any exalt fodder by leveling it soon after you buy it. It may be tempting to try and hold on to exalt fodder until you would get a daily bonus for it, but the cost in food and lair space is rarely worth it. Dragons eat 3 food points a day, and that quickly adds up! And lair space is priceless for most people. It'd be better, profit-wise, to find a cheap hatchling that will turn into an adult the next day and buy that for the lair spot instead. Find the best cutoff point for you. Some people prefer to level only to 5, others 6, others even higher. Try timing yourself and comparing the treasure-to-time ratio. See [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?board=gde&id=1172743&p=mb]this great guide[/url] by Sylvandyr for advice (and a spreadsheet!) on how to do this! If you need to know how much you'll get on average for exalting a certain level, see [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/937136#post_1065690]section 4.4 Average Exalt Payout Per Level[/url]. Don't try to level exalt fodder in the Golem Workshop. You get the same experience as in the Kelp Beds (except on bosses) and it's much tougher. You can try to level a lower level dragon you intend to keep, however, especially if they're mage. I leave that for you to experiment with. ----- [b]2.6 Thanks[/b] Thanks to Sylvandyr, Solar, and Maki for their tests with builds, especially right after the Kelp Beds came out, Sylvandyr, Zhombi, and Ankokou for help when the Golem Workshop came out, Talonr and Rhea for their discovery and tests of leveling two exalt fodder at once in the Mire, mindcrank for the terrific video showing the Mire build, PorkWithBones for helping me out with a screenshot example, Aganna for deleting a reply so I could add another post to this guide, and Murn for the Haste trick when leveling two exalt fodder in the Mire! And to everyone who has commented, recced my guide, corrected me on a mistake - I couldn't do this without your feedback. [b]Update[/b]: Updated info about the Harpy's Roost fodder build!

Popular Build Comparisons

3. Popular Build Comparisons
This section looks at some different popular builds and tries to lay out the pros and cons of each one.

Please note - almost all these builds are made with the assumption you'll be using 3 Berserker stones at level 25. These stones drop frequently and are on the auction house for fairly cheap - do yourself a favor and spend the money on them.

3.1 Multi-purpose Builds

3.1.1 Kelp Beds and Farming (with Tincture)

126 Str/58 Qck/11 Vit or 111 Str/49 Qck/11 Vit with no Berserker stones
For a picture of a level 25 dragon with this stat distribution, click here.
My recommended build as long as you have money to spend on Tinctures of Dissolution. This build allows you to exalt fodder in the Kelp Beds and farm anywhere.

Pros:

• High enough Str to kill everything with a Rallied Eliminate except Depin, Kelp Tender, Mammertee, all bosses, and most monsters in the Golem Workshop.
• High enough Str to kill everything with a Scratch + Eliminate except all bosses and most monsters in the Golem Workshop.
• If a dragon faints, when they come back to life the next battle with 1/4 health, they will not faint in one hit from a Mammertee or Kelp Tender.
• If weak to Plague or Ice, a dragon can take one attack from a Mantarune or Wave Sweeper and stay alive.
• Only 2 monsters in the Kelp Beds or lower are faster when 3 Berserker stones are equipped.
• Does not require Ambush stones to be safe or effective.
• (With no Berserker stones) High enough Str to kill everything with Eliminate or Rallied Eliminate except for the Venomous Toridae, Brilliant Psywurm, all bosses, and most monsters in the Kelp Beds and Golem Workshop.
• (With no Berserker stones) High enough Str to kill everything with an Eliminate or Scratch + Eliminate except for the Brilliant Psywurm, all bosses, and all monsters in the Kelp Beds and Golem Workshop.

Cons:

• Requires a Tincture to reach these numbers.
• Lower Vitality means it's harder to use this build to level if you don't have Ambush equipped.
• Ambush stones are expensive and highly recommended for this build. (Required for leveling exalt fodder.)
• Can't Eliminate many monsters in Harpy's Roost without a Scratch/Rally first.
• (With no Berserker stones) Slower than several monsters in Harpy's Roost, the Mire, the Kelp Beds, or the Golem Workshop.
• (With no Berserker stones) Needs a Scratch or Rally to Eliminate the Blueridge Greatshell in the Waterway, Snowfall Elk in the Boreal Woods, or the Stonewatch Harpy in Harpy's Roost.

3.1.2 Kelp Beds and Farming (no Tincture)

125 Str/58 Qck/11+ Vit or 110 Str/49 Qck/11+ Vit with no Berserker stones
My basic build, recommended for newer players of the Coliseum and those who don't have a lot of money to spend on Tinctures. This build allows you to exalt fodder in the Kelp Beds and farm anywhere.

Pros:

• High enough Str to kill everything with a Rallied Eliminate except the Depin, Kelp Tender, Mammertee, all bosses, and most monsters in the Golem Workshop.
• High enough Str to kill everything with a Scratch + Eliminate except the Depin, Mammertee, all bosses, and most monsters in the Golem Workshop.
• In the Kelp Beds, can Scratch + Eliminate all monsters except the Depin, Mammertee, Mantarune and Wave Sweeper.
• High enough Str to kill the Depin and Mammertee with a Shred + Eliminate.
• Does not require Ambush stones to be safe or effective.
• Does not require Tincture of Dissolution on any breed in order to reach this build.
• Only 2 monsters are faster when 3 Berserker stones are equipped.
• (With no Berserker stones) High enough Str to kill everything with Eliminate or Rallied Eliminate except for the Venomous Toridae, Brilliant Psywurm, all bosses, and all monsters in the Kelp Beds.
• (With no Berserker stones) High enough Str to kill everything with an Eliminate or Scratch + Eliminate except for the Brilliant Psywurm, all bosses, and all monsters in the Kelp Beds.

Cons:

• Can't Scratch + Eliminate the Depin or Mammertee in the Kelp Beds.
• Can't Eliminate many monsters in Harpy's Roost or Ghostlight Ruins without a Scratch/Rally first.
• (With no Berserker stones) Slower than several monsters in Harpy's Roost or the Mire and all monsters in the Kelp Beds or Golem Workshop without 3 Berserker stones.
• (With no Berserker stones) Can't Scratch + Eliminate any monsters in the Kelp Beds, unlike every other build here.
• (With no Berserker stones) Needs a Scratch or Rally to Eliminate the Blueridge Greatshell in the Waterway, Venerable Shalebuck or Snowfall Elk in the Boreal Woods, or the Stonewatch Harpy in Harpy's Roost.
• (With no Berserker stones) Can't Rally Eliminate the Venomous Toridae in the Mire.

3.1.3 Kelp Beds and Farming (with Tincture, Culex's Build)

126 Str/59 Qck/6 Vit or 111 Str/50 Qck/6 Vit with no Berserker stones
Culex's recommended build for leveling exalt fodder in the Kelp Beds. Note this is very close to my recommended build (126 Str/58 Qck/11 Vit). The biggest difference is that the Maren Ambushers and the Golden Porpoises don't get a second turn in the second round, and you have less health.

Pros:

• High enough Str to kill everything with a Rallied Eliminate except the Depin, Kelp Tender, Mammertee, all bosses, and most monsters in the Golem Workshop.
• High enough Str to kill everything with a Scratch + Eliminate except the all bosses and most monsters in the Golem Workshop.
• In the Kelp Beds, can Scratch + Eliminate all monsters except the Mantarune and Wave Sweeper.
• Only 2 monsters are faster in the Kelp Beds.
• Does not require Ambush stones to be safe or effective.
• (With no Berserker stones) High enough Str to kill everything with Eliminate or Rallied Eliminate except for the Venomous Toridae, Brilliant Psywurm, all bosses, and most monsters in the Kelp Beds and Golem Workshop.
• (With no Berserker stones) High enough Str to kill everything with an Eliminate or Scratch + Eliminate except for the Brilliant Psywurm, all bosses, and all monsters in the Kelp Beds and Golem Workshop.

Cons:

• If a dragon faints and comes back the next round, the Kelp Tender and Mammertee can kill them in one hit.
• Cannot take one magical attack from the Mantarune or Wave Sweeper if weak to that element.
• Requires a Tincture to reach these numbers.
• Lower Vitality means it's harder to use this build to level if you don't have Ambush equipped.
• Ambush stones are expensive and highly recommended for this build. (Required for leveling exalt fodder.)
• (With no Berserker stones) Slower than several monsters in Harpy's Roost, the Mire, or the Kelp Beds.
• (With no Berserker stones) Needs a Scratch or Rally to Eliminate the Blueridge Greatshell in the Waterway, Snowfall Elk in the Boreal Woods, or the Stonewatch Harpy in Harpy's Roost.

3.2 1-fodder Builds

3.2.1 Golem Workshop (with Mage) (Workshop Workers)
105 Str/60 Qck/52 Def/33 Vit and 122 Int/60 Qck/Agi 21/Vit 16
This build allows you to level one fodder in the Golem Workshop, including allowing you to take on the bosses there.

Pros:

• Allows you to Rally Scratch + Rally Eliminate everything in the Golem Workshop except for bosses.
• Able to kill bosses fairly easily.
• Mage keeps the health of both dragons up.
• Able to continue without refreshing for a long time.
• High Int on the mage allows passive healing of the melee fighter with Rally - 122 health healed with every Rally (will not display until next fight).
• Will go before almost all monsters in the Golem Workshop.
• If using a Wind Mage and Disorienting the enemies, any mage monsters that are weak to the Wind element can be killed by the melee fighter with one Rallied Scratch.

Cons:

• The extra Agi on the mage may or may not contribute to crits - it's impossible to determine at this time.
• The mage should be a Wind mage, as they have the best element for this area. While the other elements will work, they are simply not as good.
• Slower leveling than any 2-fodder build, and likely slower leveling than the Kelp Beds, especially if only leveling to level 7 or lower.
• The melee fighter cannot kill the Monkey Wrench, Scrapmetal Tracker, Sentry Squawker, and Steelhound with two Unrallied Scratches + Unrallied Eliminate, unlike my build below.

3.2.2 Golem Workshop (with Mage) (My Build)
109 Str/60 Qck/51 Def/24 Vit and 122 Int/60 Qck/Vit 26
This is my own take on the Workshop Warriors build.

Pros:

• The melee fighter can kill the Monkey Wrench, Scrapmetal Tracker, Sentry Squawker, and Steelhound with two Unrallied Scratches + Unrallied Eliminate - useful if the mage is defeated and low on breath.
• Allows you to Rally Scratch + Rally Eliminate everything in the Golem Workshop except for bosses.
• Able to kill bosses fairly easily.
• Mage keeps the health of both dragons up.
• Able to continue without refreshing for a long time.
• High Int on the mage allows passive healing of the melee fighter with Rally - 122 health healed with every Rally (will not display until next fight).
• Will go before almost all monsters in the Golem Workshop.
• If using a Wind Mage and Disorienting the enemies, any mage monsters that are weak to the Wind element can be killed by the melee fighter with one Rallied Scratch.

Cons:

• The lack of Agi on the mage may cause fewer crits than the above build.
• The mage should be a Wind mage, as they have the best element for this area. While the other elements will work, they are simply not as good.
• Slower leveling than any 2-fodder build, and likely slower leveling than the Kelp Beds, especially if only leveling to level 7 or lower.

3.3 Farming Builds

3.3.1 General Farming Build

129 Str/50 Qck/13 Vit or 114 Str/41 Qck/13 Vit with no Berserker stones
For a picture of a level 25 dragon with this stat distribution, click here.
Both my and Culex's recommended build for farming.

Pros:

• High enough Str to kill everything with a Rallied Eliminate except the Depin, Kelp Tender, Mammertee, all bosses, and most monsters in the Golem Workshop.
• High enough Str to kill everything with a Scratch + Eliminate except all bosses and most monsters in the Golem Workshop.
• Can one-shot Eliminate everything up through Boreal Woods except for all bosses.
• When combined with Ambush stones, very fast leveling build.
• Does not require Tincture of Dissolution on any breed in order to reach the Strength/Quickness portion of this build.

Cons:

• Not a good build for leveling fodder.
• Even with 3 Berserker stones, slower than some monsters in the Kelp Beds and Golem Workshop.
• Only safe and effective if Ambush stones are used, due to low Qck and low Vit.
• Can only reach that Vit number if a Tincture of Dissolution is used.
• Ambush stones are expensive and required for this build.
• (With no Berserker stones) Slower than several monsters in Boreal Woods, Harpy's Roost, the Mire, the Kelp Beds, and Golem Workshop.

3.4 2-fodder Builds

Here is a comparison of some of the builds that allow you to level two fodder at once. There are frequently new builds being created - I try to only add them here when I've tested them myself.

117 Str/72 Qck/20 Vit
For a picture of a level 25 dragon with this stat distribution, click here.
This is my very specialized build for leveling two exalt fodder at once in the Mire. Some call this build (and others like it) the Mire Flyer.

Pros:

• Can kill anything in the Mire except bosses with a Scratch + Eliminate and all but the Mossy Cerdae and Brilliant Psywurm with a Rallied Eliminate
• Surprisingly durable when taking hits in the Mire.
• Super fast leveling in the Mire with two exalt fodder at once.
• You only need one dragon statted like this - a good choice if you need/want to restat a mage.

Cons:

• This build is almost useless for anything else.
• Requires two Ambush to do anything.
• Requires a Tincture for pretty much any breed
• Pretty bad build as you're leveling.
• Seriously, only make this build if you know what you're doing and plan to use it for leveling exalt fodder.

Older builds that are not recommended by their creators any more

• 115 Str/72 Qck/27 Vit - My old Two Fodder in the Mire build. Once they changed some packs and upped the level of some of the monsters, 117 Str was needed, and the Vit took a hit.
• 110 Str/46 Qck/20 Vit - My old basic build. Not the best build once augment stones were fixed.
• 112 Str/46 Quick/13 Vit - My old exalting build. Not the best build once augment stones were fixed.
• 106 Str/52ish Qck/25ish Vit - Most breeds would end up around this build when following my original 4 Str/2 Qck/1 Vit ratio. It had too much Qck and Vit and not enough Str, and was built before we knew the Str needed to kill most monsters. Also, was before the community started really focusing on max level builds versus leveling ratios. Sorry to everyone who has/had to use a Tincture to fix this one!
• 111 Str/50 Qck/6 Vit or 6 Agi - Culex's old exalt build, changed when augment stones started working.
• 115 Str/40 Qck/? Vit/Agi - Culex's original farming build, this build isn't recommended any more, being replaced by the 114/41 build.
• 110 Str/50 Qck/15 Vit/Agi - Culex's original exalt build, replaced by the 111 Str/50 Qck/6 Vit one once the Kelp Beds were added.
• 108 Str/35 Qck/35 Agi - does anyone else remember this build? It was popular very briefly back towards the beginning of the game. It's a pretty bad build for farming, since Agi relies on chance so much. Again, we didn't know the Str needed at the time to kill most monsters.

My personal recommendations is the 110 Str/49 Qck/13+ Vit build if you don't have money to spend on Tinctures and either the 111 Str/49 Qck/11 Vit or 111 Str/50 Qck/6 Vit build otherwise.

Choose between the two Tincture builds based on whether you want a little more Vit to absorb some damage and more easily recover after fainting or you want to avoid two monsters in the Kelp Beds getting an extra turn - either works great, and they are my overall recommendation.

If you prefer a bit more health or are having problems with bosses, check out Mindcrank's 110 Str/49 Qck/17 Vit build - it can take at least one more hit than any of the other builds here.

Culex's (and my recommended) farming build will work fine anywhere as well, but requires Ambush stones to go before the monsters in the Kelp Beds, which is fine as long as you use all three dragons to farm there. For pure farming with three dragons, this is the best build. It is not a good build to level exalt fodder, and neither Culex nor I recommend it for that. If you have two teams, it would be worthwhile to have one team for farming and one for leveling exalt fodder, in which case, stat the farming team like this. If you only have one team, I really suggest one of the four above builds instead, so that you can easily level exalt fodder in the Kelp Beds.

Only build the leveling two exalts at once in the Mire dragon if you know what you're doing and have some experience. I'm including it in the list because it's part of the guide, but it should never be a build you use for your first team (or pretty much any team, really).

You can use any of these builds (except the special Mire one) in other locations/for other reasons - you only really need one good team to do anything. But if you're aiming for something specific, these are my recommendations.

Note that I don't address magical dragons here. That's because magical dragons are really best used for leveling (especially when you don't have money to spend on Eliminate or Ambush), not for farming or leveling exalt fodder, with the exception of the Golem Workshop.

This section last updated on ???. (Needs to be updated.)

[b]4 Useful Information[/b] [indent]4.1 Experience Chart per Level 4.2 Elemental Chart 4.3 Highest-health Monster per Area 4.4 Average Exalt Payout Per Level[/indent] ----- [b]4.1 Experience Chart per Level[/b] [code] Exp to reach this Level Total Exp level from previous level 2 245 245 3 886 641 4 2,287 1,401 5 6,314 4,027 6 11,859 5,545 7 20,239 8,380 8 32,120 11,881 9 48,129 16,009 10 69,655 21,526 11 97,331 27,676 12 131,595 34,264 13 170,551 38,956 14 216,227 45,676 15 270,388 54,161 16 331,269 60,881 17 403,235 71,966 18 484,854 81,619 19 577,289 92,435 20 681,852 104,563 21 793,539 111,687 22 921,048 127,509 23 1,057,258 136,210 24 1,204,710 147,452 25 1,363,652 158,942[/code] ----- [b]4.2 Elemental Chart[/b] [img]http://i.imgur.com/NVf7WGn.png[/img] [b]4.3 Highest-health Monster per Area[/b] This list has the monster with the most health in each area, [i]not counting bosses[/i]. If you can't do this much damage in one Eliminate (or one Scratch), you should probably increase your Strength before grinding here. In the last column is the minimum Strength you need in order to one-shot the monster with Eliminate. For specific monsters, see [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?board=gde&id=967048&p=mb]Sylvandyr's damage calculator[/url]. This terrific tool shows the minimum Strength needed for every monster in an area. [code] *Area* *Name* *HP* *Min Str* Training Grounds Leafy Moth 240 16 Woodland Path Clwn Chrgr/Crl Bslsk 440 35 Scorched Forest Centaurs* 620 52 Sandswept Delta Greatshell 820 69 Forgotten Cave Blue Dragon Snail 880 76 Bamboo Falls Bird Warriors** 1020 87 Redrock Cove† Sandshore Snipper 1130 98 Waterway Blueridge Greatshell 1320 113 Arena† Charcoal Sprangryroo 1270 110 Volcanic Vents† Ultraram 1360 117 Rainsong Jungle† King Parda 1370 122 Boreal Wood† Elk 1420 126 Crystal Pools† Amber Gulper 1530 135 Harpy's Roost† Bl Mn/Rngd Aviar 1560 138*** The Mire† Brllnt Psywrm/Mssy Crd 1680 149*** Kelp Beds† Mammertee 1850 163*** Golem Workshop† Steelhound 1950 173**** [/code] †All these areas have bosses with much higher stats - none of the bosses can be one-shot. The next highest-health monster has been listed instead. *The Centaur Archer, Wintermane Bowman, and Wintermane Spearman all have 620 health and require 52 Strength to Eliminate them in one hit. The Painted Centaur has 600 health and requires 50 Strength to Eliminate in one hit. **Both the Blacktalon Striker and the Raptorik Warrior have 1020 health and require 87 Strength to Eliminate in one hit. ***These all require Berserker stones, near-max Strength, and Rally to kill in one-shot, but it is possible. ****Even at max Strength, it is impossible to get 173 Strength. A [i]huge [/i]thank you to [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=view&id=5817&tab=userpage]lemondrop [/url]for their monster stat guide, and to [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=view&id=12049&tab=userpage]Sylvandyr [/url]for figuring out the minimum Strength needed, testing the hp and defense of monsters not included in the original stat guide, and creating the fantastic [url=https://fir-fr-coli-skills.firebaseapp.com/]damage calculator[/url]. [b]4.4 Average Exalt Payout Per Level[/b] [code]*Level* *Payout* 1 2500 2 3750 3 5250 4 6750 5 8250 6 9750 7 11250 8 12750 9 14250 10 15750 11 17250 12 18750 13 20250 14 21750 15 23250 16 24750 17 26250 18 27750 19 29250 20 30750 21 32250 22 33750 23 35250 24 36750 25 38250[/code] This is the average amount of treasure you will get when exalting a dragon of the specified level. This obviously does not include any daily bonuses. The actual amount you get for a dragon can vary between approximately 1500 treasure less than average to approximately 1500 treasure more than average. You can also rarely receive 1-3 gems from exalting a dragon of any level. Remember that your progenitors will not give you any money or contribute towards dominance if you exalt them.

@Kafka & @imperialhare

Thanks! Glad it could help. :) Let me know if you run into any problems!

@Pepperdragon Thanks! I hope it helped out. :)

@rhsolyn Whoops on the spiral - I've never actually used one in the coliseum, I'll go switch them to the other list. I only checked their stats and int was higher than str on a level 1, so figured they followed the pattern of the plentiful breeds. Thanks for correcting me! Anyone else reading this that can double check starting skills on a snapper, ridgeback, wildclaw, or imperial?

And I didn't want to link to any sources outside the forum (because you never know how long they stay around), but that is a very interesting chart! On the other hand, because you don't use elemental attacks, I'm not sure it's useful specifically for how I set up the guide - you actually want your weaknesses spread out, so that you (hopefully) only have one of your three dragons vulnerable to a specific element, and your elemental strengths don't matter.

And let me know if any of the methods here don't work for you! Always open to tweaking the guide a bit as needed. :)