DDO Orien server catch all - Static Group nights Tuesday and Thursday 8PM EST

I don't see points on sale very often, usually just extra "bonus" points for the bundles. They place sale priority on content, rather.

I don't think you can compare one game's prices to the other, for a couple reasons.

EQ2 went free to play much more recently, so they started with benchmarks they could choose to go above or below. They went with lower prices because I think they were in a more dire situation. At that point DDO and LOTRO are very successful, so being reactive to the new guy in the market would not have been a good business decision.

And at the end of the day none of the pay content is absolutely vital (races especially), unless you want to get really serious about the game (at which point $15 a month is a better investment anyway).

Supposing someone wanted to join in a group here, how would I get in contact with you all. Orien still the server to be on?
I have no characters there, and I'm effectively FtP (though I did buy some extra slots so I guess I'm "premium" or something like that).

Mere milliseconds after my earlier post, Arovin sent me a guild invite, and then I proceeded to hook up with Atras and Wizkid for some awesome newbie dungeoneering. Then they all ditched me and left me to fend for myself to take care of that mean ol' ice dragon. So now I'm sitting around in a nice sunny village, still with a few quests remaining to do.

If anyone needs a noob cleric to help out with any level 2-3 stuff and I'm not already logged in, ping me on Steam.

I got a level 1 rank 3 warrior.

I could try to tag up with some low level as well.

Valmorian wrote:

Supposing someone wanted to join in a group here, how would I get in contact with you all. Orien still the server to be on?
I have no characters there, and I'm effectively FtP (though I did buy some extra slots so I guess I'm "premium" or something like that).

We have 2 set times per week now, Tuesday and Thursday 7PM EST till whenever. That group is around lvl 7, but if you're lower then that it's ok, people are also on during the rest of the week. We are on the Orien sever. So come join us, our group is getting bigger and bigger.

Pretty sure it's 9pm EST, Wiz. Otherwise, I'd never make it.

AnimeJ wrote:

Pretty sure it's 9pm EST, Wiz. Otherwise, I'd never make it.

ops. yeah you're right it's 7pm my time.

Can you search for people by guild name or is it still a hope-you-get-lucky-with-timing find a specific named person sort of thing?

Post your character name and someone will mail an invite, that's the easiest way.

Changed the thread title to encompass all DDO talk for the Orien server and not just the static group.

Whoo just hit level 20 with Shahes and now she is being reincarnated back to level 1 yay!

So, question then: how's reincarnation actually work?

You need a Heart of wood item either looted or store bought. In House J there is an NPC who you give the heart to. He will let you reincarnate. Then you log out and when you next log in there will be a button next to that characters name to reincarnate them. Hit then and start building your new character. You keep the same name but can change races, class etc. All you stuff will be put in a special bank account and you can pull it out as you need to while you level.

I'd be very interested in playing this, especially with a good group of people. Question though, since I'd be a stone cold noob are there other low level people to play with ? I'd hate to get in and find I'm all alone at the low levels.

faide wrote:

I'd be very interested in playing this, especially with a good group of people. Question though, since I'd be a stone cold noob are there other low level people to play with ? I'd hate to get in and find I'm all alone at the low levels.

I think there were about 6 players who went from level 1 to nearly 3 yesterday alone. Spend a few coins to get a hireling and you can probably do the quests in the town three times each (to get up to Hard) and get some XP and Turbine Points.

Also of note when you true reincarnate you get 34pts for your build and then you get 36pts the second time. along with some other bonuses like past-life feats.

Atras wrote:
faide wrote:

I'd be very interested in playing this, especially with a good group of people. Question though, since I'd be a stone cold noob are there other low level people to play with ? I'd hate to get in and find I'm all alone at the low levels.

I think there were about 6 players who went from level 1 to nearly 3 yesterday alone. Spend a few coins to get a hireling and you can probably do the quests in the town three times each (to get up to Hard) and get some XP and Turbine Points.

What's this about getting Turbine Points?

Also, of related note, are there any DDO Store purchases that are strongly recommended by the community?

merphle wrote:
Atras wrote:
faide wrote:

I'd be very interested in playing this, especially with a good group of people. Question though, since I'd be a stone cold noob are there other low level people to play with ? I'd hate to get in and find I'm all alone at the low levels.

I think there were about 6 players who went from level 1 to nearly 3 yesterday alone. Spend a few coins to get a hireling and you can probably do the quests in the town three times each (to get up to Hard) and get some XP and Turbine Points.

What's this about getting Turbine Points?

Also, of related note, are there any DDO Store purchases that are strongly recommended by the community?

For every 100 favor you get 25 turbine pts to use in the store.

Some Quick Questions:

(1) I've been doing Normal/Hard/Elite on quests for loot and the Favor points. Does doing casual also grant Favor points? Or should I simply start with Normal on quests?

(2) Bravery Streak - as far as I can tell this only applies to people who can access quests on Hard/Elite the very first time right? So you essentially have to do a TR to access this right?

(3) Crafting XP - Specifically Cannith Crafting. If you are playing multiple characters, it only makes sense to level crafting on one of them right? Does crafting XP reset on TR?

(4) Does currency explode at the higher levels? Look at the auction house and practically everything is a minimum of 50,000 plat. At level 4 I'm seeing a few hundred gold from a quest chest and if I'm using all the items I find for deconstruction, it doesn't leave much room for plat. Is it just the usual rat race?

PS. Maybe it's my history with Pen & paper D&D but I'm so loving this game right now. Also Veteran Status is SOOOOOooooo awesome. Cos a Lvl 1 Wizard is just sad.

emyln wrote:

Some Quick Questions:

(1) I've been doing Normal/Hard/Elite on quests for loot and the Favor points. Does doing casual also grant Favor points? Or should I simply start with Normal on quests?

(2) Bravery Streak - as far as I can tell this only applies to people who can access quests on Hard/Elite the very first time right? So you essentially have to do a TR to access this right?

(3) Crafting XP - Specifically Cannith Crafting. If you are playing multiple characters, it only makes sense to level crafting on one of them right? Does crafting XP reset on TR?

(4) Does currency explode at the higher levels? Look at the auction house and practically everything is a minimum of 50,000 plat. At level 4 I'm seeing a few hundred gold and if I'm using all the items I find for deconstruction, it doesn't leave much room for plat. Is it just the usual rat race?

1 - You only get favor points for the highest tier you complete. Finishing a quest on elite will always give you the max favor points a quest can give. It does not matter if you do the other difficulties or not.

2 - Yes, the bravery steak on times affect the first time you complete a quest. If you cannot open a quest on hard or elite and you are solo then you cannot get a bravery bonus for it and it will break your streak.

3 - Best to focus on one crafting character. Does not reset on TR.

4 - Plat by end game is easy to come by. You will make much more money selling to level appropriate brokers (not normal vendors) then deconstructing. Helps to have a character with a high haggle skill to do your selling for you.

Basically pick crafting or selling and stick with it. Crafting takes a (TON) of grinding. Helps to have a shared bank for crafting as well.

I caved and bought some turbine point cards at Target. I bought the artificer, half elves and I want to get the druid and the 32 point build. The druid is more urgent than the 32 point build but unfortunately, I think they removed it from the store. I can't search for it (I thought I was able to a few days ago) and when I click the "Buy Now" at character creation, it takes me to a cannot find page error. Bummer since I am liking the artificer so far. I really can't decide whether I want to use the crossbow or melee. Meleeing with an offhand rune arm sounds like a blast but the artificer gets so many crossbow feats it seems hard not to focus on crossbows.

I don't think I have played often enough to see world changing benefits to the half elf race. But I do really like having sneak attack from the from the half elf special rogue cross class feat. And my melee artificer certainly enjoys the hp boost and damage reduction from the half elf special barbarian cross class feat. (its too bad I don't get martial weapons too. I wonder if I reroll and do custom build I can see whether half elf fighter cross class feats will give me)

I also don't know a thing about the half elf cross class feats (dillettant?). The wiki doesn't really expand on them. Do I get to choose a new one every few levels? Is it just the level 1 feat? Do the level 1 feats scale in power as I level? If I select rogue and do get to chose others ever few levels, can I then select barbarian or wizard or do I have to stick with rogue?

If it is just a level one feat then it is totally worth it to me since it removes any desire I have to take 1-2 levels of a class for the feats.

Anyways, it is nice to swing the newb great axe and hit 3 things at once but I may go back to my crossbow artificer. Sneak attack and summoning arrows are so much cooler!

edit: google is your friend. I found another wiki that details half elf dilettante feats for every class. Some of them are very nice. It will be interesting to see if I can switch to bows and take the Ranger's ability to add their strength score to their bow damage. Am I remembering right that at higher levels it gets considerably less like DnD where you can get to 30+ in your primary stats?

fangblackbone wrote:

I caved and bought some turbine point cards at Target. I bought the artificer, half elves and I want to get the druid and the 32 point build. The druid is more urgent than the 32 point build but unfortunately, I think they removed it from the store. I can't search for it (I thought I was able to a few days ago) and when I click the "Buy Now" at character creation, it takes me to a cannot find page error. Bummer since I am liking the artificer so far. I really can't decide whether I want to use the crossbow or melee. Meleeing with an offhand rune arm sounds like a blast but the artificer gets so many crossbow feats it seems hard not to focus on crossbows.

I don't think I have played often enough to see world changing benefits to the half elf race. But I do really like having sneak attack from the from the half elf special rogue cross class feat. And my melee artificer certainly enjoys the hp boost and damage reduction from the half elf special barbarian cross class feat. (its too bad I don't get martial weapons too. I wonder if I reroll and do custom build I can see whether half elf fighter cross class feats will give me)

I also don't know a thing about the half elf cross class feats (dillettant?). The wiki doesn't really expand on them. Do I get to choose a new one every few levels? Is it just the level 1 feat? Do the level 1 feats scale in power as I level? If I select rogue and do get to chose others ever few levels, can I then select barbarian or wizard or do I have to stick with rogue?

If it is just a level one feat then it is totally worth it to me since it removes any desire I have to take 1-2 levels of a class for the feats.

Anyways, it is nice to swing the newb great axe and hit 3 things at once but I may go back to my crossbow artificer. Sneak attack and summoning arrows are so much cooler!

Druid won't be available in the store till August. The 32 point builds are on sale right now so that might be a good place to spend some points.

For Half Elves you get a feat at level one. As you level there will be enhancements you can get related to the feat you took. So if you picked rogue at level 1 all the enhancements will be realated to rogue. Sneak attack will go up to 3d6 and you can get better reflex saves on traps and +1 dex.

Here is the full list.

I'd say that 32pt builds are more worthwhile than the class as well.

As for class ability scores, I don't know about over 30, but it doesn't seem like it'll be difficult to get close to that.

With gear you can hit the 40's. Now with the Epic destines added you could probably hit the mid 50s

Lets take a Drow wizards Int for example:

20 base
5 level ups
3 Wizard Enhancements
7 Item
3 Exceptional items
4 Tome
2 Wizard capstone
1 epic level up
6 epic destiny

That is 46 without ship buffs or potions.

You would sacrifice a lot to get that high and a ton of time raiding, but it is possible.

Hey fangblackbone, I think we were in the same boat.

If you really want the Druid now, you have to buy the Menace Of the Underdark expansion for 49.99 on steam. (assuming you use steam). I did the math last night and caved and bought the expansion.

Assuming you use US$1 = 100 TP (It depends on how much you initially purchase), that puts the expansion at a cost of over $55 without including the Druid class, FR packs or epic destiny.
- Greater Tome of Learning (1595 TP) [This one is 1 on every server!!!]
- Veteran Status (Level 4) (995 TP)
- DDO Classics Adventure Pack Bundle (1900 TP)
- 1,000 Turbine Points (~1000 TP)
- Druid Class (995 TP ?)
- Epic Destinies (?? TP)
- 3 Forgotten Realms Adventure packs (?? TP)
- Eveningstar Challenge Pack (?? TP)

Confession time, DDO came out on Steam 06-27. I got into the game 06-29. That's 8 days and I've racked up 60 hours of play time. Even worse, I've now spent $119.97 on a free game {Half-Orc Pack (9.99), 6300TP (59.99), Menace Of the Underdark (49.99) }

I went through all the usual arguments, Initially got the Half-Orc pack cos it looked like a real deal had 500 TP, and even a stat boosting trinket for all new characters. Then as I got into the game I really wanted TP's for adventure packs etc, did some research and figured if you're gonna buy TP's it makes more sense to buy a lot at one time. You get more TP's per $ that way. Then last night I really wanted the Greater Tome of Learning, more research and I got the expansion!

Here's the main point. I don't regret my decisions at all. Last night when I rolled a new Warforged Wizard, started off at level 4 and then also getting +50%/+20% xp on all quests, I don't regret it at all.

PS. All this weekend, you get an extra 20% xp just for playing. I also think Veteran Status + Greater Tome of Learning are must haves for a new player if you can afford it. It really boosts up your interest in the game.

** Sorry if I sound like I was justifying my actions to myself. Dammit! I just spent $120 on a free game!!! ***

You can also unlock druid by just becoming a VIP for a month and buying the class by itself.

You can also unlock druid by just becoming a VIP for a month and buying the class by itself.

The druid class is only available to VIP members? I know you can play one if you are a VIP but I thought you could buy one piecemeal VIP or not. But it appears that we have to wait until august.

I may just spring for the 32 point build. But honestly if I am just going to play a straight up artificer, I don't know how much that will benefit me.

I won't disagree that having the 32 point build is nice, but that's essentially 4 points to your stats or rather +2 total bonus. And you cannot increase any stat at level 1 beyond 18 (20 if they get racial bonus). So it's not all that helpful IMO unless you are creating a class like a Paladin which needs multiple stats.

Yeah or planning on multiclassing.

I think a lot of stuff in the expansion is not going to be beneficial to me until way later. I am going to play this very casually and I am not in a hurry to jump in levels or gain %50 xp boosts. Don't get me wrong they will be very nice but the only thing from the expansion that is going to be worth it is the druid class and some of the adventure packs. The problem with the adventure packs is most of them are at level 4+.

It may take them 6 months or a year for them to price drop the expansion. It really won't be a problem to wait for that.

I don't remember, but do bows require 2 clicks to fire like crossbows? (one click to reload and one to fire?)

32pt builds are always a benefit. 4 extra stat points isn't small potatoes for a first run through.