November 14, 1999
Are you wondering what's going on with all this dragon hunting? Do you wonderwhat it means when a dragon attacks a clantown? Do you want to get in on the action and help out? Do you have no idea what you are doing and need some help? If so then read on Medievians!
First of all, I highly suggest that you read the helpfiles on "dragon lairs" and "dragonhide" These will give you the background to know what it going on. Now you might ask, how does it all work.
Basically, 2 groups of heroes or near heroes (18 people) go into a dragon's lair, get to the dragon, and attack it, either killing it, or forcing it to leave the lair; the latter is more likely. After that, the dragon will attack a clantown and this is probably where YOU want to come into the action (do not even consider attempting a dragon's lair while still on your first class). If you're far enough in the game to know how to portal or fly to clantowns, then you will probably want to take a crack at the dragon yourself. Good spirit! However, there are many guidelines that I highly recommend you follow if you wish to engage the dragon.
There will most likely be two huge forms of heroes walking around the clantown. Do not attempt to follow them, or ask them if you can follow. The forms are already full, and it will really annoy them if you keep attempting to join. If they need a form member they will ask. If you must form, make a form of your own.
Next is the most important part. The dragon is extremely fickle. Sometimes when people attack him he'll stand in the room for a long time or he might flee instantly. There is no way of telling which. For this reason, and I cannot emphase this enough, please do not just walk around the clantown randomly if you're not farsighting or scanning to see where the dragon is. If you do happen to walk into a dragon (especially alone) There is two things that can happen, sometimes both of them.
The first thing that could happen is the dragon kills you instantly (and almost always WILL happen.) Remember, this dragon is able to kill heroes that have over 1000 hp in 1 shot, so if you're wandering around with 400 hp, you are toast. The other thing that could happen, and which really makes people mad, is when the dragon can flee into another room. Although that seems like a good idea to you, it is not for the people who are attempting to kill the dragon. If the dragon flees, he might flee right into the room where the two hero forms are. The people in the forms are almost always unsanced, and spelling up for the fight, or healing from the last fight, so to put it briefly, if a person walks into the room with the dragon, makes him flee into the heroes, ends up killing the heroes, all the dead corpses will not be very pleased with you. So the lesson to be learned from this? Don't walk into the dragon's room, and don't wander around the clantown aimlessly. That's basic safety, and a good way to keep your head where it is.
At this point you make be asking, "Well, what the heck can I do then?"
If you're really small, say a single class who has 300 hp, please stay away - going to try to kill a dragon is suicide. In fact, I would suggest that if you must try to kill the dragon, have at the least 500-700 hp, and you might stand a chance of living. Dragon's breath is a HORRIBLE weapon, and can lead to killing you very easily, not to mention some of them have a few side effects such as poisoning or paralysis. If you're still wanting to kill the dragon, here's a few helpful ideas: When someone says where the dragon is, don't think "ok" and walk into that room. See above for what will happen to you.
Your best bet is to find the hero forms. Don't form with them, don't ask them much, just watch. Eventually they will head into the room where the dragon is, and ONLY then, will you stand a chance of helping to kill the dragon. When the two forms move, move in after them and start pounding on the dragon with your weapons or spells or whatever you have. Listen to the heroes. If the dragon flees, and they say follow, again, wait until they go, then you can go. If they say don't move, don't move. Not listening to people will get you killed and will also get you yelled at. You may think you know what you're doing, but they know better. Trust me.
Also, a note about when you do die. If this were an ideal world, everyone would be happy to ressurect you and we'd all be on our merry way. Unfortunately for you, odds are you will not get a ressurection if you are not in one of the 2 hero forms. Please, don't repeatedly rep or spam "Can I get a res?" if you are dead, because that annoys people and you definitely won't get one then, at least not from them. But don't worry - just corpse! If you're killed by a dragon, you only have a 1 minute death time, not 10 minutes as usual, so it's not that bad. On the good side, though, several heroes do appreciate decent help with killing the dragon, and will possibly ressurect you if are doing a decent job of staying out the of way and pounding the heck out of the dragon in a safe manner. Oh, by the way, if you haven't noticed by now, when an undead corpse (in this case you) enters a room, it might cause a few of the people to flee. The dragon hunters HATE it when corpses walk right into the room with 18 people, and make 4 of them run right into the dragon, dying instantly. When you do corpse, if you know where the heroes are, don't walk into them. And don't walk around the clantown looking for the dragon either. Go straight to the altar, or better yet quaff your vial and go to an altar outside of town, where there is no danger of scaring people.
So in conclusion, here is my suggestion for all of those of you who want to take a look at these big dragons. Go take a look, but be careful. Use a lot of common sense, and don't annoy the 18 people who are the main people trying to kill the dragon. And above all, if you don't know what you're doing, stay out of the way, please. Dragons are tough to kill (being level 99 and all) and help only if you're completely sure of what you're doing.