[Blacksmithing] Swamp Dragon Barding changes (updated 18 June)

[Basara]

Swamp Dragon Barding Armor

* Modified swamp dragon armor so that it reflects the effects of player armor.
* It now gives the dragon bonuses as if it were 5 pieces of plate armor (in other words, these numbers ADD TO the Dragons's existing resists).
* If it is crafted exceptionally, then +5 is added to all resists
* If it is crafted with special materials, then the appropriate resists are added.
* The amount of armor points available now show in the mouse over tool tip.
* This change will not update exsisting armor on your dragon, but old deeds will be updated.
(* Riding an armored swamp dragon now blocks active meditation.)This Change was reverted within several days. You can use active meditation on Swamp Dragons now, as long as your own armor allows it.
* When the armor is removed, resists go back to what they would be without armor.


To calculate the bonuses for a piece of swamp dragon armor:

1. Take the base 5/3/2/3/2 bonus for plate armor
2. Add 1/1/1/1/1 if the barding is exceptional
3. Add in the material bonuses for the chosen metal
4. Take the result, and multiply all these pieces by 5.

Here are the bonuses that Swamp Dragon Barding gives for each metal. Note that these changes actually increase the value of non-exceptional pieces, so that they will still probably sell.

Metal Type               Normal Barding              Exceptional Barding
Iron                     25/15/10/15/10              30/20/15/20/15
 
Dull Copper              55/15/10/15/10              60/20/15/20/15
 
Shadow Iron              35/20/10/15/35              40/25/15/20/40
 
Copper                   30/20/10/40/20              35/25/15/45/25
 
Bronze                   40/15/35/20/15              45/20/40/25/20
 
Gold                     30/20/20/15/20              35/25/25/20/25
 
Agapite                  35/30/20/25/20              40/35/25/30/25
 
Verite                   40/30/20/30/15              45/35/25/35/20
 
Valorite                 45/15/25/30/25              50/20/30/35/30

Updates:

18 June:
Note that the armor appears to be encoded to not take a resist over 90%. It's still good for training the swampy up, but not so good as to allow a person to replace a golem & poison weapon for weapons training with a swampy and a normal sword.

The amount of damage the armor takes when the dragon is fighting without a rider (as opposed to the damage it absorbs for its rider) is a direct 1/1 correlation to damage taken, after resists. So, a DC Dragon Barding that raises the pet's physical resist to 90% will last significantly longer vs. purely physical damage attackers than, say, a Copper or Gold Barding that only raises the pet's physical resist to 65%.

If you're going to go out training Magic Resistance skill, Agapite would probably be your best bet, having the best increases to fire, poison and energy resist, on average (tied for best fire resist, and has just 5 less in the other two than Valorite). Copper would be next best overall, and best versus things that go overboard casting poison, but not so much the direct damage spells.

 

[Old Man of UO]

Re: Swamp Dragon Barding changes

Swamp Dragon Barding Armor...

This should prove interesting, as the numbers above would give my Swamp dragon 99% physical resist when wearing Exceptional Dull Copper Barding, for purposes of taking him out training.

AWESOME Basara! Just training up two new swampies and your timing is perfect. For general purposes, it looks like Agapite might be the best way to go?

 

[Basara]

Re: Swamp Dragon Barding changes

A lot of the general use choices may depend on what resists are high and low for your individual swampy, as the numbers above add to the base resists, so make your choices based on the damage what you attack does, and what gives the best resist that way.

 

[Petra Fyde]

Re: Swamp Dragon Barding changes

These figures have been copied to a general page on dragon barding under the 'miscellaneous' heading on http://uo.stratics.com
http://uo.stratics.com/php-bin/show_content.php?content=31512
Some notes on durability also included.

 

[A Rev]

Re: Swamp Dragon Barding changes

My only problem is i looked damn cool on a gold armoured swampy and now i have to consider changing it for resists

 

[Picus at the office]

Re: Swamp Dragon Barding changes

It's been a while since I used a swampie but wow does this stuff ever get burnt through fast. A deed seems to last 1-2 solo imps spawns but it helps to have the damage reduced and the beast lives a bit longer. Time to buff my new buddy up.

 

[[JD]]

does anyone know if the barding still protects the rider with 20% damage reduction?

 

[Basara]

Yes, it still does - the only change was to make it to where it protects the dragon when you're dismounted (which was always a big logic hole before).

Note, however, that the following seems to be the case:

Rider hit when mounted: Base damage (before resists) is the basis for points taken off the armor points of the barding
Dragon hit while you're dismounted: MODIFIED damage (the damage taken after resists are applied) taken off the armor points of the barding.

In other words, the armor lasts many times longer for a dragon without a rider, than if the rider was the one taking the hits and part of the damage being passed to the mount - even if the attackers are identical otherwise.