How to be a better player?

[haku-ba]

Dear fellow DDO adventurers,

I have been playing the game now for a solid four months and felt that it was time I attempted to improve my play by asking for advice on the forums. A little background so you can see if you have any advice I might benefit from ....

I play 5 toons, a rogue assassin, standard cleric, bard, WF sorceror and modified version of Impaqt's Egomaniac build fighter/barb/ranger, with the highest being lvl 15 so far. I usually run with small guild groups, often with just one other guildy to duo quests. We try to duo quests at or slightly above our level on Normal (Hard where possible). I have run in plenty PuGs, with many good and some bad times had. I have been lucky enough to run with veteran players who have shown me around quests and really helped me in terms of tactics, strategy and thinking outside the standard ways of 'beating' a quest. On the whole, I make a conscious effort to learn from other players, learn from my mistakes and try out new things to broaden my experience as much as possible.

Recently we have been trying to improve our play by duoing quests such as Invaders at lvl 11, full Delara's chain at lvl 5/6, Relic of a Sovereign Past with the aim being trying out different tactics and approaches all the time. I have learned a lot and really enjoyed playing the whole time, even when things have gone bad and I have had to re-enter after a wipe, I still try to learn for the next time we do that particular quest.

So, what I am hoping to find out from you all is suggestions, tips or advice that will help me to continue to improve my play, and allow me to pass on knowledge to other new players who are looking to better themselves as well. Perhaps you know a good tactic for a particular quest, perhaps you trained your strategies on certain mobs, used spells in interesting combinations or just learned something whilst playing. Feel free to post anything that comes to mind. There are many threads that offer advice on the boards, and I try to read them as much as possible however, I am hopeful that you will be able to oblige me with some wisdom that will help me to become a better 'player' of the game, if that is even possible to achieve in a forum post without being able to show someone in game.

Apologies for the wall of text.....

[Cylinwolf]

#1 priority: Keep asking that question. Check your class's subforums to see if there's any big developments going down (wizard and sorcerer forums are common places to see posts about bugs that make spells useless or not WAI).

If you have the time when you're about to start a quest, The Lost Quest Guide (clicky) (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=122192) is a massive boon to knowing a little bit about the quest as to prepare yourself without "ruining the fun" that a video might give. If you can be a step ahead of the random person coming in who's never done it before, you're successful.

Use the Wiki (http://ddowiki.com/page/Home). Despite the bad name that a lot of Wiki's get for proper information, our DDOWiki is a very helpful and informative tool. A lot of the information you might want to know can come from the Wiki, and if not it's always helpful if, once you figure it out, you find the time to get that info up to the Wiki so that everyone can figure it out.

As far as in-game goes, be self-sufficient as much as possible. On your first character you won't need gear up the wazoo, and you won't really need things like distruptors, smiters, greater elemental bane, etc until you get to the point that you can afford them. Not feeling that you "have to have" those items frees up a lot of money that can be spent on potions, wands, scrolls. If we went into an undead-heavy quest, I would bring someone who might not kill as fast but is going to keep themselves alive over someone who I'm going to have to babysit, even if he's TWF'ing disruptors.

Tons of this game is just learn by doing, and opening your ears. Listen to the vets, especially if you're not sure what you're doing. If you get into something like, say, a Titan raid, be sure to voice if you're not completely sure what your role is; people shouldn't get immediately testy with you and it's better to stop and explain it than lose too many pillars and have to wipe the raid.

[Paragon]

I will attempt to give what advice I can give in a mere forum post. I won't really try to go into specifics about individual quests or special tactics, but I do have a fair bit of general advice on the careful arts of playing DDO as well as possible.

To me, being a good player is a manifold thing. It includes the ability to build characters well, to level them up, to equip them properly, and to employ good game tactics. I will attempt to touch on each of these issues and tell as much as possible without going so far as suggesting the best builds, items, leveling sequences, etc. If you want these specifics, you can ask me or many other players to help you out, but I suggest trying to figure things out for yourself. It sounds like that is what you enjoy doing, and I personally believe that figuring things out for oneself makes for the best players of all, as you will be more capable of adapting and changing with the times.

First off, character building is a careful process that takes great attention to detail and often much calculation and variation. I would look for Ron's character planner (http://www.rjcyberware.com/DDO/) or a similar utility with which to dabble in character design. To be good at building characters takes a few things. You need to have a good feel for the game, the way it works, the best strategies and most important aspects of it, and so on. You need to know a lot about the classes, their strengths and weaknesses, the best levels of each and the ways to combine them. For example, levels 2, 6, 12, and 18 are often important due to things like evasion, paladin saves bonuses, monk ac bonuses, and the all-important prestige enhancements. Keep tabs on the way quests are run and know the roles that need to be filled in game. Don't build a character that fulfills none of those roles, and try to fulfill as many as possible. Building for self-sufficiency is often a good strategy, and I would highly reccommend it if you enjoy duoing. Think about how your character can do without others to buff or heal you, as well as thinking about how you do with buffs and heals. Think about what you contribute to a party, and also what you take away from it. Does your build require excessive attention from healers? Then it had better provide killer dps. Never underestimate dps or healing capabilities, they are the cornerstones of any character and any party. Experiment in a character planner with different setups, calculate some of their stats, and settle on the ones that are best.

If you would like more advice on character building, just ask away and I will try to answer whatever questions I can about the best things to build for, the state of the game and what is expected of characters, etc.

Hand in hand with being capable of building characters effectively comes being able to equip them properly. Use the Definitive Static Rewards (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=121279) thread or the DDO Wiki items page (http://ddowiki.com/page/Items) often! Peruse them for powerful-looking items that deal out high damage, provide large defensive bonuses, or give other unique benefits. Pay attention to where the items drop from and try to run those quests and areas frequently. It often takes many, many runs to get what you want--don't get discouraged, keep at it. Keep an eye out for items that give multiple different bonuses, such as the Electric Haze, which gives both Greater False Life and Heavy Fortification, or the Minos Legens, which provides Heavy Fortification along with a unique and stacking +20 hp bonus. Any item that provides multiple different bonuses can save you equipment slots for other things. For example, getting the Belt of Brute Strength puts both Greater False Life and +6 Str on a single slot, vs using a GFL Belt and a pair of +6 Str gloves. You can then use something else in the gloves slot, such as dex, 7-Fingered Gloves, or a Greensteel item. Finally, keep an eye out for named items that allow you to put abilities in unusual slots. For example, strength bonuses do not normally come on helmets, but the White Dragon Helmet might be useful if you cannot fit a str bonus in any other slot.

If you have any questions about specifics of equipping characters, what some of the best loot is for specific classes, and where to get it, please ask.

Leveling characters properly is one of the easier tasks in DDO, and it usually requires little more than persistence and decent groups to run with. However, the task is significantly expedited by learning the quests that work best for leveling characters quickly. This can vary greatly from player to player, but there are some agreed upon runs that are good experience for the time it takes. Remember always that the cost of experience is time, and try to get a feel for what makes quests quick, how to run them quickly, and what good experience is for your time. Don't shy away from raids and raid flagging quests, as they can often be excellent experience if run with fast and experienced groups. For example, the Twilight Forge gives nearly 30k xp the first run on each difficulty. Don't shy away from higher difficulty levels either. You run hard, this is good. If you can get a quest down on hard, try elite. It is tougher, but if you can manage it the xp bonus is well worth your efforts and resources.

You should also run favor quests. Even if they are somewhat below your level and not giving good xp, there are other great rewards for racking up favor points. The best, however, is what you learn by running a vast majority of all the quests in the game on high difficulty levels. Learn what as many quests as possible are like and how to do them. Even if you do them first above level, it may later help you understand what is going on when you come back with a new character at lower level. If you know what spells casters throw on each difficulty and what types of casters are found where, you will be better able to determine the proper party makeups, buffs and tactics for different quests and different difficulty levels. While you're leveling up characters, favor shouldn't necessarily be a big deal. But if you need a change of pace from gathering xp or something quick and easy to do, find a lower level quest you've never done and run it normal/hard/elite.

Finally, a word or two about tactics. Especially in raids, learn everything you can about the tactics. Groups have established the fastest and most efficient ways to run these raids. Learn what they know. Don't let yourself be satisfied that someone else is covering a role and leave it at that. Ask what they are doing and how they do it. Since you enjoy duoing, I would also recommend learning how to short-man raids. Most raids can be run with 2 or 3 good players with well-built and well-equipped characters at level. Find out how this is done for those raids so you and your friends can run them yourselves without having to wait for a group. Don't get too worried about lower drop rates for smaller groups, your best friend will be the 20th raid completion reward whether you run in small groups or large ones.

In almost any quest or raid, movement is key to good tactics. Stay behind monsters, especially bosses, while you melee them. Jump around, move back and forth, and you will avoid a lot of damage. On casters or healers, don't stop moving unless you're safe from attacks and aggro. Keep going back and forth and/or jumping up and down and you will avoid a great many attacks and save yourself a lot of unnecessary damage.

That is the best advice that I can give on tactics. If you want to know more about specific quests or raids, the proper use of a certain spell or item, or something like that, just ask.

[Kriogen]

Read quest objective
Example: that Kobold Assault quest that many have problem with.
Quest objective is 'Slay 200 Kobolds' not 'Protect door'. Objective is get 200 kobolds, but not where.

Buffs are 1000 times better then heal
Buff more. No, you don't have enough buffs, get more. Buff enough and heal is not needed.

Super hero is never outnumbered
Don't aggro more then you can handle.

Adapt or die
Just because you are a barbarian doesn't mean you should be in melee only. Just because you are a Legolas doesn't mean you should use bow only.

Group must adapt based on monsters, not based on what's in group. Fight monsters, not party primadonas.

[Danmor]

Buffs are 1000 times better then heal
Buff more. No, you don't have enough buffs, get more. Buff enough and heal is not needed.

While in general true, nobody needs cold resistance in shroud pt 5.
Lesson: don't ask for/cast unnecessary buffs.

[FuzzyDuck81]

a newbie who's having fun, willing to learn and doing it politely.. a rare gem! +1 rep to you sir

[haku-ba]

Thanks very much for the information all. I can certainly see where you are coming from for a lot of it. I know I have not been paying enough attention to builds yet, which is why I decided to try out the Egomaniac build. Just running that through the character generator taught me a lot of things, especially as I tried out various changes. I definitely need to study up some more on classes and builds, but am hoping a lot will come as I get more experience playing. I also need to pay more attention to the class forums, which I hadn't been careful enough about.

Gear I completely understand. Having just a few pieces of good gear makes the difference between breezing through Invaders and getting eyeballed to death. Last night we ran the rares in the Desert to try to get a bloodstone and some of the other drops. Got plenty of chests but no stone unfortunately. Will have to hang in there as was suggested.

Short-maning raids is something I want to be able to do, and since we finished flagging for VoN last night I will have to start running the raid so I can start to learn how we could short-man it. I imagine I will try to do it first on Tempest's Spine, as we know that well. Do you think three-man raids are possible?

I do have a couple of questions, do the rare chests in the slayer areas get ransack? If they do, do we need to wait the normal week after opening them the first time once they are ransacked? Oh and if we short-man the spine raid, does anyone know any good strategy for not getting blown off apart from staying near the wall and away from the edge? Is there anything gear that can help?

[Paragon]

Three or even two manning raids is definitely possible. For the dragon, unfortunately, it is not, due to lever shennanigans in VoN 5. But many other raids are fairly easy to shortman with 2-3. I cannot speak directly to TS as it exists now, since I have not run it since long, long ago.

[Zaodan]

Three or even two manning raids is definitely possible. For the dragon, unfortunately, it is not, due to lever shennanigans in VoN 5. But many other raids are fairly easy to shortman with 2-3. I cannot speak directly to TS as it exists now, since I have not run it since long, long ago.

FYI, VoN 5 can be two-manned, since a character with a high WIS + STR (*cough*Monk*cough*) and a ranged weapon equipped can hit all 3 levers at the same time. And said characters have ways to pass the subsequent energy doors without hitting the levers on the platforms - nuff said.

[Gnorbert]

And remember... always wear sunscreen.

[phalaeo]

Thanks very much for the information all. I can certainly see where you are coming from for a lot of it. I know I have not been paying enough attention to builds yet, which is why I decided to try out the Egomaniac build. Just running that through the character generator taught me a lot of things, especially as I tried out various changes. I definitely need to study up some more on classes and builds, but am hoping a lot will come as I get more experience playing. I also need to pay more attention to the class forums, which I hadn't been careful enough about.

Gear I completely understand. Having just a few pieces of good gear makes the difference between breezing through Invaders and getting eyeballed to death. Last night we ran the rares in the Desert to try to get a bloodstone and some of the other drops. Got plenty of chests but no stone unfortunately. Will have to hang in there as was suggested.

Short-maning raids is something I want to be able to do, and since we finished flagging for VoN last night I will have to start running the raid so I can start to learn how we could short-man it. I imagine I will try to do it first on Tempest's Spine, as we know that well. Do you think three-man raids are possible?

I do have a couple of questions, do the rare chests in the slayer areas get ransack? If they do, do we need to wait the normal week after opening them the first time once they are ransacked? Oh and if we short-man the spine raid, does anyone know any good strategy for not getting blown off apart from staying near the wall and away from the edge? Is there anything gear that can help?

I'm new myself, but I can try to answer some of these questions.

Yes, slayer area chests get ransacked. Especially if you are trying for a Bloodstone. :)
I capped my Cleric and still ransacked that silly chest looking for one (for a guildie). Got me plenty of slayers and vendor trash, though. Keep trying- after I TR'ed, we went in the Desert, and I got one within my first six runs.

Yes, the ransacked chests work like other ransacks and you can alternate ransacks- i.e. go farm Tapestries in the Orchard while waiting for it to reset.

Three man raids are totally possible, but I would recommend reading up on the quest requirements to see if you need a certain stat to pull a lever or activate a rune. Some will not be possible with certain three man makeups, but a lot will be.

Re: Tempest's Spine- We usually run this with FF items off. Can someone in your group cast Freedom of Movement?

[Lorz]

FYI, VoN 5 can be two-manned, since a character with a high WIS + STR (*cough*Monk*cough*) and a ranged weapon equipped can hit all 3 levers at the same time. And said characters have ways to pass the subsequent energy doors without hitting the levers on the platforms - nuff said.

This was done long before (cough...gimped monks...cough)

[FlyinS]

Potions/Wands/Potions/More Potions.

Clickies for buffs and heal/cure effects are priceless.

A golf bag of weapons can be a pain so don't overdo it, but setting up weapon sets for specific scenarios can help immensely. I try to keep around say 4-5 weapon sets, or maybe a few more if I'm mixing weapons from various sets for a desired effect.

Spell combinations. For many groups of monstes Acid Fog + Wall of Fire is a great combo. Fog slows them down plus provides Concealment. Fire burns em up. Don't waste spell points where they are not needed. For instance it may be fun to PK or finger that rat (or even groups "X" monster, but if a melee can safely wade through them relatively unscathed you can save those SP for a more important situation. Also, don't PK or Finger than monster than the melee has down to 10% already. I have seen a lot of casters do this simply for kill count.

Rest at "Use or Lose" shrines every time, even if you have a lot of SP or health left. I can't tell you the amount of times I ended a tough battle with 1 sp or 1 hp. It CAN make the difference.

Crowd Control Crowd Control Crowd Control. Did the caster just Hypnotize a whole group of Kobolds? Well kill them one at a time don't just wade in recklessly. You waste the point of the Hypnotize that way. One at a time you'll take them down safely and easily.

Held/Stoned monsters are free crits. Enjoy. Same with monsters that are con or STR damaged into nothing. Beholders are a tough enemy but have very little STR. Ray of Enfeebling, a Weakening weapon, Waves of Fatigue, etc. and you can get them to 0 STR pretty quickly. Once they are at 0 STR they are sitting ducks with free crits on them.

Kill the casters first. Always.

Eh, that's off the top of my head.

[Mithran]

Three or even two manning raids is definitely possible. For the dragon, unfortunately, it is not, due to lever shennanigans in VoN 5. But many other raids are fairly easy to shortman with 2-3. I cannot speak directly to TS as it exists now, since I have not run it since long, long ago.

I think TS can still be done solo. I was making the attempt earlier when Zool, Harriet and *spetz pulled me for short-manning Epic VoN2.

[Paragon]

FYI, VoN 5 can be two-manned, since a character with a high WIS + STR (*cough*Monk*cough*) and a ranged weapon equipped can hit all 3 levers at the same time. And said characters have ways to pass the subsequent energy doors without hitting the levers on the platforms - nuff said.

Not the levers I was talking about. You still, to my knowledge, need to pull the four levers at the bottom of the end shaft and have one person up on the top that gets shot up, right at the start. May be able to do that with three by having two each pull two levers, but I have never seen it done. And I have also not seen any other way to bypass this mechanism since the ladder was moved up.

[RobbinB]

OK, so you are prepared for the quest. You have your remove curse/fear pots, neutralize poison, restore, heals, etc....

But are you twitch-prepared? If you see your fellow party member get cursed/poisoned/paralyzed/incapped/crying feebleminded/stat 0, what are you gonna do? Too slow...they are dead.

Make sure you have everything you need hot-keyed and test yourself so you can respond fast to almost every situation that comes along.

(Don't leave it up to the cleric to handle all such things...they might just be focused on standard healing).

[Clay]

You can also hook up with a mentor who will show you better how to approach quests/battle situations.

You will have an opportunity to talk about builds, gear, spells, one-to-one.

Check out the Mentor Program (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=230838)!