Haphilia's Guide to the Glass-cannon Caster Build ( is outdated )
Hi there viewer! This website is considered outdated as of February 3rd, 2024. This scaleset contains obsolete techniques and an unbalanced build style due to Combat Overhaul that took place. I will do my best to educate myself and further develop a viable scale set for a caster looking to do the most damage they can. Thank you for your patience all!
All my love,Haphilia Grace
If you'd like to proceed to be able to view what was originally on this website, click here!
Haphilia's Guide to the Glass-cannon Caster Build
Hello there! This is a guide to the glass-cannon caster build (for dragons specifically) in Istaria. I've gotten tons of questions about how I deal so much damage when dps plays back, so I decided to create a guide to help others understand how to do the same!Navigation should be quite simple, click on each category displayed below to reveal its contents!
Art above by: xplicitics !
Last Edited: March 22, 2023
Introduction
In Istaria, there are countless ways to build your character. Everything ranges on your personal preference of viability and the appeal of certain attributes onto your character. When first getting into understanding how the builds and mechanics work together, it can get quite messy and confusing.To narrow it down, there are 7 standard build types.
These are:Glass-cannon caster
Glass-cannon melee
Glass-cannon hybridTank caster
Tank melee
Tank hybridAnd healing builds that center around the primal and focus attributes.There is no limit to how you wish to build your character nor is there a required build amongst anybody! This guide is specific for those who wish to deal a lot of damage to their foes (glass-cannon caster). If that piques your interest, feel free to stick around and read!
Scales & Claws
For the type of scales, you will want to stick solely with power scales or Priceless Primalist's Scales for T6 characters.
There is one main tech for both of these scale sets that is vital for assisting with damage and hit accuracy. That tech is Primal (Tier I/II/III/IV/V)With the ambiguity of the training points benefits and how specific attributes work, we are quite unsure of how many of these skills benefit us clearly. However with testing, Primal is an essential tech and skill point for caster builds.For training points, glass-cannon casters want to max out their Power & Primal slots entirely for max damage. Don't worry about health or anything of the sort! I will elaborate on that in the spells category.Note: Focus V will appear as an optional tech in the Power Scales set, it helps with Accuracy and Healing. This tech is no longer necessary when upgrading to T6 Priceless Primalist's Scales.
Power Scales (T5 Reference)Format : [Scale: Tech]Head Scale:
οΉTriple socket ;; Power, Primal and Focus Jewelry Crystals of T5 or T6Chest Scale:
οΉTriple Socket ;; Power and Focus Armor Crystals of T5 or T6 OR Power Armor Crystal & Legacy of AmbirannisWing Scales:
οΉPrimal V Tech (optional: Focus V, Speed/Velocity V Techs)Back Scale:
οΉPrimal V Tech (optional: Additional Focus V, Dragon's Breath V & Family Heirloom)Foreleg Scales:
οΉDouble Socket ;; Power & Focus Armor Crystals of T5 or T6 & Myloc Hierophant RuneHindleg Scales:
οΉPrimal V Tech (optional: Additional Focus V, Ancient Barasavian Charm, I recommend saving the Charm for the T6 set)Tail Scale:
οΉPrimal V Tech (optional: Additional Focus V) & Scale of the Grand Magus
Priceless Primalist's ScalesFormat : [Scale: Tech]Head Scale:
οΉDouble socket ;; Power and Primal Jewelry Crystals of T6Chest Scale: Ceremonial Chest Scale
οΉDouble Socket ;; Power Armor Crystal of T6 & Legacy of AmbirannisWing Scales:
οΉPrimal V Tech & Crest of the Blackhammer ClanBack Scale:
οΉDragon's Breath V Tech & Family HeirloomForeleg Scales:
οΉSingle Socket ;; Power Armor Crystal of T6 & Myloc Hierophant RuneHindleg Scales:
οΉPrimal V Tech & Ancient Barasavian CharmTail Scale:
οΉPrimal V Tech & Scale of the Grand Magus
Claws
For your standard gem-tipped claw, I would recommend the tech kit Deadly (Tier I/II/III/IV/V), additionally socketed or teched with a Primal tech of the appropriate tier.For Endgame claws, Primalist's Claw has been proven to be most viable on the battlefield. With its (+25) damage increase, protection and cast delay reducer, it is well-fit for battle and works great with buffs and baubles.Void Claw used to be extremely viable, however it got a tad nerfed with the bauble update modification that was officialized in 2021. I no longer recommend this claw to glass-cannon casters since it does not give the ideal damage amount. However, it is still useful in its own ways and can be manipulated to one's preference if they had decided on this claw being better fit for their play style!
Spells & Techniques
Ideally speaking, one would want to tech every one of their spells so that they are fully prepared for whichever circumstance. I've personally done this for my own preferences, but the good news is that you don't have to spend time tech'ing every single spell you have.Let me break down the most important ones to technique as these are the spells you should be using on a regular basis.
Drain Bolt
Drain Bolt (DB) is a powerful repeating spell that works as a caster's version of 'slapping' in reference to melee. This repeating spell has no cooldown and can be casted as quickly as 0.4 seconds with the proper buffs.
This spell is mainly offered from Khemarius, however, the first Drain Bolt quest is available to players as early as level 10 from Gerix in Kion.Within the Scales & Claws category, I mentioned the lack of needing health skill points applied anywhere as a glass-cannon caster. To elaborate, Drain Bolt is a spell that casters are encouraged to use as their repeating spell, not only does it do significant damage but it heals you with the damage done. Casters are much stronger glass-cannons with this privilege.Specifically discussing the Drain Bolt X, which is available to be crafted by players once they reach the last tier of the questline. Here's a breakdown of the techs necessary for a powerful Drain Bolt X:
οΉEpic Technique: Mental Bane
οΉRelic of Mellohndar*
οΉPrimal Damage V* OR Accuracy V
Primal Burst
Primal Burst is a caster's most powerful spell. It is a projectile spell that deals fast and quick damage in extremely high amount.
I will list two techniques in the same line, it's an either/or scenario! One is a Epic Technique, while the other is a common, loot-able one.
οΉEpic Technique: Mental Bane OR Romp V
οΉPrimal Damage V
οΉ Accuracy V
As of right now, Primal Combust cannot be teched with anything, but it is an awesome spell to save up epic items for as a caster! It is an AoE spell projectile that does ongoing damage for a period of time, known as 'Total Combustion'. This is awesome for dps and overall damage too!
Regarding all other damage spells:
Including but not limited to: Primal Strike, Tempest, Primal Lightning Blast, Gust, Barrage, Etc.
Optionally, these spells will all be teched with:
Romp V, Primal Damage V, and Accuracy V
Regarding Boon and Buff spells:
Including but not limited to: Ignore Mysticism, Countercheck Primal, Arcane Refusal, Promote Vitality, Promote Intellect, Etc.
These spells will all be teched with:
Cleanse V & Fortify VAdditionally, it's important to have a few cleanse spells on hand and easy to cast since mobs do debuff us!
Regarding Healing spells:
Including but not limited to: Primal Health, Rejuvenating Breeze, Breeze, Quickening Breeze, Etc.
Breeze spells (general context), will all be teched with:
Cleanse V, Potency V / Heal Recycle III, Heal Increase VPrimal Health specifically:
Potency V, Cleanse V, Heal Recycle III
Quests & Passive Titles
With the recent update, titles with benefits became passive abilities. Here's a list of titles that give some beneficial attributes that are way more important than we might think! Every little thing counts.Included but not limited to the following, I've yet to discover more! This list may be subject to edits.
Helian's Protector
+50 Primal, +50 Tooth and ClawThe Gifted
+10 Power, +10 StrengthCompletion of any Fifth-greater Epic Title Quest
+15 damage, +15% chance to hit, +100 attack skillDrulkar's Flame: Grand Warlord Rank
+100 Primal, +100 Tooth and Claw
Fighting Style Tips
Like everything, learning Istaria and the mechanics of it all when it comes to fighting takes so much experience! Luckily, I'm able to provide some tips for fighting and making sure you're putting out your best during those wild Epic Hunts.
Baubles
Everyone's best friend and worst enemy (in regards to how much you have to pay for them haha), Baubles are awesome when they're being put to good use! The five i always pick up is:οΉAlyssa's Blessing VI
οΉAlyssa's Energized State VI
οΉAlyssa's Touch VI
οΉHoly Armament of Istara VI
οΉMystical Ward of Istara VI
Violet Crystals
These are crystals that come from a dragon's Crystalshaping School. They have several different categories such as: resistance, damage conversion, capacity and speed boosts.These crystals specifically come in handy with resistances and damage conversion. Especially since some enemies are weaker to a specific damage type and therefore you will do more damage to them due to that!
Resistance as well since that increases your chance of survival against an enemy.
Bolster Potions
Bolster Potions are super useful as well! While they give only a little amount of bonus, it helps a lot in the long run when dealing damage. You can find Bolster Potions for a lot of things, including but not limited to: Power, Strength, Armor, Health, Etc. They are only able to be crafted by biped schools, but players are willing to help you acquire them if asked!
Gift, Enhance, Etc. Scrolls
These are also crafted by biped schools, however, they're very essential to a high damage output! They increase your offense and defense statistics, such as: Power, Strength, Health, Armor, Focus, Dexterity, Etc. Not only that, but they can also deal damage, such as Shield of Flame, which deals 330-337 damage to enemies that attack you. These certainly aren't the only scrolls available to you! There's more information about them in the link within the title.
Fighting Strategies
Epic hunts and the way you're fighting is always situational. Whether you need to pull the enemy, keep everyone's health up, Boon for Reklar, etc. etc. However, the main thing to keep in mind as caster is to continue using your Drain Bolt until Primal Burst or Primal Combust refreshes. At first it will feel quite weird since we're all used to smashing every hotkey that becomes available to us, but our dps weighs heavily on our consistent rate of which we push out damage. Drain Bolt harbors that consistency and when you take a look at your Combat window, you'll see all the damage you're doing!I always use Spiked Scales throughout the fight to increase my dps, as well as a Light Highly Radioactive Skala equipped. These two things help a lot with my dps considering the delay reduction that the Skala offers.