General Questions From a Newbie

[Nimloh]

Hey everyone! I just started the trial and I'm really enjoying the game. I just hope I haven't come too late and that the game will be around for awhile. The game seems daunting will all the possibilities but I guess that is good.

I have few questions from the vantage point of a Cleric that just leveled to 2:

1. Some dungeons I can enter "solo" or "normal." I have just soloed right now, and have done the dungeons on solo. Can I do it on "normal" or do you really need a group for normal and beyond? Is there better loot on normal if I try to solo it?

2. Some dungeons can be repeated. Do you get more experience and loot? What is the benefit of repeating the dungeon other then practice?

3. I have some items that I can't seem to sell to any vendors--namely my starting gear. I take it I can't sell that off?

These are pretty general questions but like I said, the game is daunting in terms of the possibilities, so I don't even know enough of the game to ask anying more advanced.

[blakbyrd]

#1: In the starting quests for level 1 mainly, there are quests that can only be done on normal, and some can be done on any difficulty. You do not have to be in a group to do normal or higher. Most level 1-2 quests can be completed on your own on normal just fine if you are careful (higher if you are very careful or the proper build to actually do damage efficiently). The loot does get better as the difficulty level increases, however in the low level quests you may not really see much or any difference, simply because of the lower level of the quest itself. The more you loot a chest in a quest (from repeating the quest), the loot it produces will drop in level as well. After 10 runs of looting a chest in a specific quest within 1 weeks time will consider you ransacked, meaning it will not give loot anymore, until the 1 week timer is over, at which point it resets to normal loot again.

#2: Almost all quests can be repeated. The base XP is based upon normal difficulty. The first time you do a quest on normal you get an xp bonus, just as you will get an xp bonus the first time you do a quest on hard and elite. After that the xp begins to dwindle down for repeating the same quest over and over. At your 4th run through a quest you begin taking a negative percentage to the quest xp. Once you do a quest 10 times you are considered xp capped for repetition, meaning you will get little to no xp from that quest from now on with that character.

#3: Starter gear cannot be sold. It is basically worthless even if it could, but there is a reason for this. It used to be common in such games and even MUDs for people to just create a ton of newbie characters, sell off the free stuff at the beginning and compile those earnings onto one new character who then gets to start out with a bunch of money for nothing. Making starter gear unable to be sold stops this ability. Plat farmers would also take advantage of this and just spend days selling starter gear to collect free money to sell. It is becoming more common for such starter gear to be valueless. Anything else you happen to buy or find in quests outside of the newbie starter zone can be sold though, with the exception of collectibles.

[NameisToad]

I have few questions from the vantage point of a Cleric that just leveled to 2:
I have a few answers from the vantage of a Cleric who just leveled to 12. :)


1. Some dungeons I can enter "solo" or "normal." I have just soloed right now, and have done the dungeons on solo. Can I do it on "normal" or do you really need a group for normal and beyond? Is there better loot on normal if I try to solo it?
Solo and Normal are very similar, in my opinion. The experience is less than half on solo, and the enemies hit points are much lower, but I don't think anything else is changed between solo and normal. As blackbyrd mentioned, most characters can solo the level one missions on normal difficulty with no problems, as long as they take it slow and don't get in over their heads.


2. Some dungeons can be repeated. Do you get more experience and loot? What is the benefit of repeating the dungeon other then practice?
Other than gaining more experience from a mission you know you can beat, the biggest reason to repeat missions is to get them done on higher difficulty levels. The higher the difficulty, the more favor you earn for the mission. You need to run a lot of missions to do so, but favor gets you rewards from certain people around Stormreach. For example, doing missions for the Coin Lords (like the three Goodblades missions at the very beginning) will get you a fourth bag in your inventory. You get three times as much favor from a mission on Elite as you do from the same mission on Normal.


3. I have some items that I can't seem to sell to any vendors--namely my starting gear. I take it I can't sell that off?
Blackbyrd covered this one really well, so I'll leave it alone. You can destroy your starter equipment as soon as you no longer have a use for it. Just click and drag it from your inventory screen to any other part of the screen (except your hotnbars) and it will ask you to confirm you want to destroy it.

I'd recommend keeping your starter light mace, as it makes for a cheap way to beat up oozes after you pick up more expensive weapons... but that's just me.

[Ereshkigal]

Someone got their wish :o



Hey everyone! I just started the trial and I'm really enjoying the game. I just hope I haven't come too late and that the game will be around for awhile. The game seems daunting will all the possibilities but I guess that is good.

I have few questions from the vantage point of a Cleric that just leveled to 2:

1. Some dungeons I can enter "solo" or "normal." I have just soloed right now, and have done the dungeons on solo. Can I do it on "normal" or do you really need a group for normal and beyond? Is there better loot on normal if I try to solo it?

2. Some dungeons can be repeated. Do you get more experience and loot? What is the benefit of repeating the dungeon other then practice?

3. I have some items that I can't seem to sell to any vendors--namely my starting gear. I take it I can't sell that off?

These are pretty general questions but like I said, the game is daunting in terms of the possibilities, so I don't even know enough of the game to ask anying more advanced.

[Scrag]

I too am in the middle of leveling a first life dark apostate (cleric). Until you get your feet around you and some basic gear, normal works well. If you are vip, consider hard with some gear.

If you are on sarlona, i can help you out with newbie gear and plat to buy stuff if you are missing some.

Feywild has _amazing_ stuff for clerics, including "ring of summer", which for a level 5 ring I think is crazy. At 14 I am still trying to find a way to replace it, either with augments or gear... I think as a new low level player, feywild will make a huge difference in your capability. Isle of Dread is another _amazing_ source of gear for clerics, but is more expensive than feywild (you can grab both on sale, the cheapest version, for not too much).

In either case, if you are on sarlona, ping me on forum and I will help you get started!

[cmecu]

Hey everyone! I just started the trial and I'm really enjoying the game. I just hope I haven't come too late and that the game will be around for awhile. The game seems daunting will all the possibilities but I guess that is good.

I have few questions from the vantage point of a Cleric that just leveled to 2:

1. Some dungeons I can enter "solo" or "normal." I have just soloed right now, and have done the dungeons on solo. Can I do it on "normal" or do you really need a group for normal and beyond? Is there better loot on normal if I try to solo it?

2. Some dungeons can be repeated. Do you get more experience and loot? What is the benefit of repeating the dungeon other then practice?

3. I have some items that I can't seem to sell to any vendors--namely my starting gear. I take it I can't sell that off?

These are pretty general questions but like I said, the game is daunting in terms of the possibilities, so I don't even know enough of the game to ask anying more advanced.

When you ask if some dungeons can be solo or not. Its hard to say sometimes because it depends on the class your playing, and also the play style. New players may not know certain mechanics about the game, like hey I know there are traps right here, and I know how to jump around it, or get past it with out a rogue to disable the trap.

Or maybe you stand right in the middle of a hallway where your being shot at by archers and casters from afar, instead of going around behind a wall and letting them come to you, and picking them off one by one. So that would be tactics that can be learned which helps with soloing. In a group, everyone just kinda of zergs like a wild pack of ravenous dogs, spells and arrows are flying every where.. everything is dead in seconds. So there are ways to learn to solo if you cant find groups.

Certain classes do better at soloing than others. Me personally, any advice I would give any new person.. is play a build that allows you to have good survival so you can build up confidence on how game mechanics work. Ill give you an example..

I been playing this game since 2007 and I played a rogue. I was dying all the time. I played for years , dying. Any class I played.. I was dying. I got frustrated with the game.. and quit, and went onto other MMO or back to ones I had already played. I took 2 years off from 2018 to 2020.. when i came back I seen a build and a guy on Twitch named Voodu or Vooduspyce.. His build was a Enlightened Spirit warlock tank https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/466496-Voodu-Warlock-A-Pure-Warlock-Enlightened-Spirit-Tank-Project-companion-thread
Its a confidence builder build. Really even a more dps warlock that uses Cone Shape just melts through monsters.. I always say spray spray spray your way to 20. I played nothing but Warlock for 1 year doing all my racial past lives. Once you get the game mechanics down, then you can make just about anything class wise work.

For question 2.. Any dungeon can be repeated. There are some that cant be done until you do a previous quest, but after that , they can be repeated as much as you want. There is exception say like Against Demon Queen.. there is a prequest you have to do before the raid part of it. On new accounts non VIP, you have to do them on Normal, then Hard, then Elite if I remember correctly, but once you get past lives under your belt, you can open then on Elite after you Reincarnate. But you can always run with people who can open the dungeon on Elite first, but not many people run elite, they run Reaper 1.. which is fine too. Just let people know your a beginning. They will understand if your squishy. Yes you get more XP doing it on Elite first time, and Hard First time, and Normal First time. But you also get bonus exp for doing the quest for the very first time, so people normally do quests on Reaper 1 to get all the bonus xp as possible on the first run.

Question 3.. correct starting gear you cant sell. Like most games you cant sell gear you start with, else people would spam making new characters and selling, deleting making new toon etc.. but in a game thats this old, people wouldnt do that now.

There are many content creators the two biggest I can name off who have like the most videos about anything and everything about the game are Strimtom, and VooduSpyce on Twitch and on You tube.
Voodu
https://www.twitch.tv/vooduspyce
https://www.youtube.com/@vooduspyce

Strimtom
https://www.twitch.tv/strimtom
https://www.youtube.com/@Strimtom

Voodu is more focused on new players, content, how things work, how to do things.. Strimtom does that too, but he really focuses on builds. there are endless strimtom builds. Between these two people, there is infinite and overwhelming information to answer questions and get you through the game.

Voodu is on just about every day and he loves helping new people.

[Arkat]

In either case, if you are on sarlona, ping me on forum and I will help you get started!

Dude, the OP made that post in 2007.

They're either no longer around or they're a triple completionist with 156+ reaper points OR they have around 20 capped alts. :D:D:D

[C-Dog]

Guys - look at the OP - this is a 16 year old Necro. :rolleyes:


Someone got their wish :o
Since it wasn't you, then why? :rolleyes:

[Ereshkigal]

Guys - look at the OP - this is a 16 year old Necro. :rolleyes:


Since it wasn't you, then why? :rolleyes:

Because SSG is about to throw all the old posts into storage when they "revamp" the forums, so I was looking through some old ones while it's still easy to do.

Also, I've never understood why people don't like old posts being raised from the dead. Seems like some weird OCD fetish that hints of control issues to me...

[Melkazar]

It's alive. It's ALIVVVVVEEEEE.

[Arkat]

Also, I've never understood why people don't like old posts being raised from the dead. Seems like some weird OCD fetish that hints of control issues to me...

Because it pushes other, more relevant, threads down.

[Ereshkigal]

Because it pushes other, more relevant, threads down.

well, it does push other threads down, but saying every thread that is new has more relevance than every thread that is older is completely nonsensical.

[Krelar]

well, it does push other threads down, but saying every thread that is new has more relevance than every thread that is older is completely nonsensical.

They also frequently have outdated information that will confuse people who don't notice when the original post date was.

For instance the very first reply to this post contains information on experience that is no longer correct and could confuse a new player that doesn't notice it's an old post.

You will also then get older players going on a rant about the incorrect information when they don't notice the original post date.

Basically it very rarely contributes anything useful to the community. If you see an old post and want to know if the information is still relevant you're better off posting a new thread and quoting the relevant part with the question: "Is this post still accurate or have things changed since then?"


I also find it amusing that you said someone got their wish when that person hasn't logged in since 2008 and likely hasn't cared in a long time.

[Arkat]

but saying every thread that is new has more relevance than every thread that is older is completely nonsensical.

Perfect example of a straw man fallacy.

Keep up the good work!

[Ereshkigal]

They also frequently have outdated information that will confuse people who don't notice when the original post date was.

For instance the very first reply to this post contains information on experience that is no longer correct and could confuse a new player that doesn't notice it's an old post.

You will also then get older players going on a rant about the incorrect information when they don't notice the original post date.

Basically it very rarely contributes anything useful to the community. If you see an old post and want to know if the information is still relevant you're better off posting a new thread and quoting the relevant part with the question: "Is this post still accurate or have things changed since then?"


I also find it amusing that you said someone got their wish when that person hasn't logged in since 2008 and likely hasn't cared in a long time.

lol, yes, it came true, even if they don't know or don't care anymore.

Also that was the single only post they ever made on the forums.

[Ereshkigal]

Perfect example of a straw man fallacy.

Keep up the good work!

I'm not intentionally misrepresenting anything.

I mentioned something about people not liking old posts being resurrected or necroed. The response was regarding certain posts (the ones with less relevance because of their age) - whereas I was referring to all posts in general. Sure some old posts are irrelevant - but so are many, many new posts, so telling me about the relevance doesn't really respond to what I'm saying. If anything the response to my post was a strawman, not my rebuttal. But hey, it doesn't really matter. People are allowed their opinions, and I'm just expressing mine.

I maintain that if someone, for example, locks every necro-ed post then they will at some point lock a thread that is still relevant and isn't outdated.

I'm also saying that I struggle understanding the level of rage some folks express over a necro post - because I believe that it is unwarranted if it is solely based on the age of the original post.

In the future, i'll probably make a new post and link the old in the body of the text --- which will be our only choice soon anyway, as I heard all these old posts will be relegated to an archive with the Forum revamp.

[C-Dog]

well, it does push other threads down, but saying every thread that is new has more relevance than every thread that is older is completely nonsensical.
Arkat is correct, because he never said anything about "every" other thread, he said "other threads" - some.

A "relevant" 16-year old thread would be exceptional, and this ain't that. If any argument is "nonsensical", your position in the context of this thread would be the closest to that term.

[captain1z]

Deadites?

What necromancy is this?

[Ereshkigal]

Also, I've never understood why people don't like old posts being raised from the dead. Seems like some weird OCD fetish that hints of control issues to me...

Note here, the beginning, where I express my lack of understand of why some people don't like old posts. Not why they don't like 'some' old posts.


Because it pushes other, more relevant, threads down.

The above quote talks about how the fact that some old posts aren't relevant as being the reason that I said I couldn't understand.


well, it does push other threads down, but saying every thread that is new has more relevance than every thread that is older is completely nonsensical.

Well, perhaps Arkat has properly described the reason, but it doesn't help me to understand it, because this reason isn't true of all old posts.


Perfect example of a straw man fallacy.

Keep up the good work!

And this is where Arkat delivers some Sophistry with a healthy side of sarcasm. :)



Arkat is correct, because he never said anything about "every" other thread, he said "other threads" - some.

A "relevant" 16-year old thread would be exceptional, and this ain't that. If any argument is "nonsensical", your position in the context of this thread would be the closest to that term.

So here's the thing, I never claimed that this post had relevance. So are you "intentionally misrepresenting my claim because your misrepresentation is easier to defeat?" Just asking. Maybe Arkat could answer that.

I simply stated that I struggle to understand the reasoning for a thing, because I think the only reasoning I've ever been given isn't valid. Nothing here has changed my mind on it, but that's ok with me. I did make an admittedly provocative statement regarding my thought process about a possible cause.

As expected, a couple of folks felt some kind of way about my statement, and replied. But when I didn't embrace their replay, instead of defending their answer they simply resorted to some Sophistry. So, Sophistry is also often provocative, and as a result I replied again, and here we are.

Finally, I just don't believe it's an actual problem if newer posts are shoved down a bit. Clearly this (obviously irrelevant post - other than maybe for nostalgia purposes ) post has provided a platform for people to share and argue differing viewpoints. Frankly, I'm shocked it's still on page 1 -- but it is.

If a the content of a thread truly isn't relevant then it will sink to the bottom on it's own. If it doesn't sink to the bottom on it's own, then I'd argue there's something going on in that thread that is relevant to the people that are posting in it. Or it's being repeatedly "bumped" by the same person(s) - but that's another can of worms entirely.

Cheers

[Cordovan]

Closing thread due to extreme necro.