Conquering Dragon's Tomb - Clearing Mobs & MiniBoss Solos (Mage)

Doing the Dragon's Tomb instance dungeon is still one of my favorite activities in Fiesta.  I've now gone through DT with all four original classes, Trickster coming soon.  By far, my favorite class to take through DT is the Mage.  While I oftentimes leave pacing up to the Tank as I don't want to overburden him, it's quite evident that for the most part, a Tank isn't really necessary, at least not until the end.  However, getting from start to finish (just before Cornelius) is oftentimes a good measure of the worth of the Tank in your party.  Same can be said for your Cleric.



(Sorry about the audio, looks like the music I selected has been blocked.  Will have to re-work this at a later time... though I think if you go to my YouTube channel and select the video, the audio is still there.  Still, I don't want to use a workaround and get myself in trouble, so new audio is on the way!)



As is often the case, Dragon's Tomb requires a lot of waiting.  You end up waiting for party members to join, party members to return from handing in quests, restoning, etc... with all that downtime, I get antsy.  Like seriously.  My scrolls are burning and I need to be doing something.  So oftentimes I just end up soloing all the paths leading up to Cornelius.  Sometimes my party members will join me, more often they won't.  They're perfectly happy sitting idly by in front of a locked door waiting on a party member to return.  Me, I go off wandering and obliterate the mobs in the way.

Now by no means is my gear epic.  It is quite pedestrian by today's standards.  I do not own/use any set gear on my Mage, she is completely old school green.  Because Dragon's Tomb is a Go-When-I'm-Bored activity, she also has no SparkCash items active.  The only SC items she has are an Iron Case, a permanent Blue Menian (which she looks smashing in btw!), permanent Husky Mount, and 10k Cold Hearted Staff Skin.  That's it.  No sense activating anything for maybe only a run or two right?  So anyway, below is a breakdown of my gear and stuff:

This is not a solo video of the entire Dragon's Tomb run. It is a solo of three minibosses: BigMudman, Magmaton, Weasel, and the clearing of all mobs on the way to Cornelius. I did not get the kill on Titan, he killed me. =(

Level 88 Mage - Dharalyn (FatalLace Alt)
Bijou Server
UrbanDecay Guild

Sparkcash Items Used:
None, aside from permanent Blue Menian, no bonuses.

Gear:
+10 BK Staff - 42end, 23dex 33int, Completed BB License +5% crit.
+9 Level 86 Hat - 31end 43dex
+9 Level 80 Shirt - 40end 39dex
+9 Level 88 Pants - 38end 32dex 23int
+7 Level 84 Boots - 24end (Q.Q!)
+0 Heavenly Necklace of Elderine - NO STATS, old school ^. ~
+9 MD Earring 2/2/2 - 9str 2end 7dex (+49 m.def)
+3 GOC Ring - 13str, 22end, 32dex, 1int, 5 spr (+6 m.def)
+3 GOC Ring - 10str, 18end, 29dex, 2int, 6spr (+6 m.def)
Santa Pet - +2 to all stats

Full T4 Scrolls, T3 Speed

Build:
3 DEX
85 INT
15 SPR

Stats:
M.Dmg: 2123-2298
Aim: 810
M.Def: 1080
Def: 1442
Eva: 948

HP: 5900 (Level 100 HK Endure w/Safe Set)
SP: 5923 (Level 100 HK Endure w/Safe Set)

Guild Buff

Stat Screen can be viewed at 4:16

Anyway, the video is pretty straight-forward, you can see me clearing mobs pretty handily just using the circle-AOE technique.  Nerpas are particularly troublesome as they are ranged attackers, have decent HP (or maybe just good M.DEF), and will spam that Slow Arrow to death at you.  This is where that T3 Speed really comes in handy.  Being able to outrun those Slow Arrows is key to taking the two of them down.  Sure you can just kite them in a straight line the whole way, but you get ZERO points for style going that route!  Running circles while having those Slow Arrows following you is just epic.  One slip up and at about 700-900 dmg per arrow, you'll pretty much get hammered, so it's important to have that speed scroll and also pay attention to spacing.

If you notice my empowerments for this Mage, Frost Nova is a bit weird.  I do have the standard CD, DMG empowerments, but I also added 5 points into duration.  Being that this Mage is almost strictly PvE and for kicks, the extra duration on Nova's slow effect really helps.  Would I advise other people to do it?  Probably not, but it works for me here.  My 105 Warlock does not have this empowerment.  Also, you'll notice that I do not have Stifle empowered, nor have I empowered duration on Drain Mind (Fear).  Staying true to PvE, both empowerments aren't really all that necessary I feel.  Fear is used in this instance as a defensive skill used to break up groups of multiple mobs, not as something to be chained while I batter a single target into oblivion.  So you'll see me use Fear when getting attacked by multiple targets, especially ranged ones like Flame Spirits.

It is somewhat rare for me to also use Inferno in Dragon's Tomb when soloing.  I find it's just not necessary in most cases and I prefer the slow effect of Nova to the boost in damage you get from Inferno.  It's quite possible to accomplish this same run without the use of Inferno, but the same can't be said without the use of Nova.  Inferno works fine on stationary, ranged targets like those same Flame Spirits mentioned above.

So what's to come in the future?  I dunno, maybe I'll reshoot a video once I hit 90 to see if I can in fact solo the whole thing once I have a TBK +10 equipped and maybe either a 85+9 or 90+9 shirt.  The Titan is particularly difficult also...anyone have tips on soloing him?  I'm all ears.