Alignment?

[Salering]

There is nothing about alignment in the DDO manual, and the FAQs - quite confusing.
How is alignment determined? Currently, I don't see it being chosen when creating character. The system assigns it automatically, probably from the class/race combo. If so, then where is the table which shows which combos belong to which alignments?

In short, I want to know what should I do during new character creation to ensure specific alignment, and in general how does alignment work.

[Farayon]

You can choose your alignment during character creation if you don't follow a premade path (which suck anyway, don't follow one of those). Additionally, some classes (barb, monk, paladin) must automatically choose a certain alignment.

If you make a custom character, you can choose freely (apart from class restriction).

Also check out the wiki on the topic at http://ddowiki.com/page/Alignment


While there are many views on the topic of alignment, I was told many times that true neutral is currently the best choice with which one is never wrong. Of course that is not true when you intend to splash some paladin levels at some point.

[HGM-Chi]

Additionally, some classes (barb, monk, paladin) must automatically choose a certain alignment.

Not strictly true... Paladins must be Lawful Good, but the others have some leeway. Barbarians and Bards cannot be lawful (True Neutral, Neutral Good, Chaotic Neutral, or Chaotic Good), Monks must be lawful (Lawful Neutral or Lawful Good).

The ideal alignment is as neutral as possible as this allows you to avoid certain types of damage that damage only specific alignment types. For a starting player a neutral alignment can be more difficult, however as it means at low levels you won't be able to use "Pure Good" weapons which help deal some nice damage and allow you to get through damage reduction on some mobs. Not impossible to get around, (weapons with the "holy" modifier will also get around this).

Your alignment selection comes at the same point as choosing a character name in the creation screen I think, but I'm not 100% sure.

[Salering]

Thanks a lot, the "paths" suggested at the character creation process seem to incorporate alignment, which isn't even noted; you get to see it only after the game begins; however you are right, if one customizes (which the menu doesn't recommend to inexperienced players), then there's additional option to choose alignment.

[DavionFuxa]

You asked how alignment works:

Alignment plays an important role in what character classes you can choose, what alignment specific items you can equip or cast, and what effect alignment specific effects will have on you. As stated, you need to be Lawful Good to play a Paladin, you can't be Lawful if you are a Barbarian or a Bard, and you must be Lawful if you are a Monk.

In terms of equipment, certain items will cause debilitating effects on your character if of the opposite alignment (negative levels) or not be wearable. For example, a Lawful Paladin can't equip a True Chaos Weapon, and an Anarchic Weapon will cause him a negative level while they weapon is equipped, but can equip the Weapon of Purge Good no Problem. The Chaotic Neutral Barbarian can equip the True Chaos Weapon, and won't suffer the Anarchic Weapons negative level, but won't be able to equip the Weapon of Pure Good. The True Neutral Bard won't be able to equip the True Chaos Weapon or Weapon of Pure Good, but can use the Anarchic weapon without any problems, and unlike the others he can make use of Stability Armors.

Quick note though, Use Magical Device can allow you to bypass above restrictions such as the Lawful Paladin not being able to equip that True Chaos weapon (though your still going to suffer neg levels with it and the Anarchic Weapon). This is commonly why True Neutral is cited as being the best, though there is also another reason which I'm now about to get too.

A really important thing to keep in mind is that Alignment can cause you to suffer in certain situations, or not to suffer at all. For example the above three characters cited above in a dumbed down scenario - the Lawful Good Paladin, the Chaotic Neutral Barbarian, and the True Neutral Bard walk into a quest and the three of them have Chaos Hammer cast on them. The Chaotic Neutral Barbarian merely says 'eh' and isn't effected by the spell, the True Neutral Bard says 'ow' and takes 'x' Damage from the spell. The Lawful Good Paladin however will takes 2x Damage and is subsequently slowed by the spell. There are also other things to keep in mind as well, such when alignment specific weaponry is used on you (An Anarchic Arrow being fired on you when you are Lawful perhaps).

Finally, one last important thing to keep in mind is that for clerics, they have alignment specific spells. Note that Chaos Hammer Requires that you be either Neutral or Chaotic for it to have any effect; a Lawful Cleric won't be able to do anything with it. However, a Lawful Cleric will be able to cast Holy Smite where a Chaotic Cleric can not. Keep in mind though, the Neutral Cleric will be able to cast both Chaos Hammer and Holy Smite.

I think that sums up most things about alignment.

[Phoenix818]

This was originally written for my guild's forum, and is a direct copy-paste job. I'm in the process of cleaning it up to add it to guides, but to fully answer your question now, here you go. Also, the warning when it goes from summary to details that it gets LONG is very accurate:


In my personal experience, assuming you're not a class and build where a high enough UMD to ignore alignments is feasible, then the best option for alignment depends on what you want to do with it.

(I'll explain these below, but just giving a quick breakdown now)

If you are a WEAPON oriented character (melee or ranged, but not spell) and want to maximize your offensive capability, Good is best, and anything but neutral is better for the law/chaos axis.

If you are a Divine spellcaster and want to maximize OFFENSIVE spell capability, same as above (although to a lesser extent, since non-aligned spells end up being better anyway; see Implosion and Blade Barrier and Cometfall).

If you are any other class, OR you are a DEFENSIVELY oriented character, True Neutral is best.


---end quick summary, begin detailed explanation---

---seriously, it gets LONG under this line! Only continue if you have a LOT of time to spare!---

EDIT: Felt a third warning was in order after seeing just how FREAKING MASSIVE this post got.

Let me get the spellcaster part out of the way real quick. Clerics and Favored Souls get one or two spells of each alignment that do the best damage to the opposite alignment and require you to be that alignment to cast. So, Good casters get Holy Smite, Lawful casters get Order's Wrath, and Chaotic casters get Chaos Hammer. There's an evil too, but you can't be evil, of course. Each of these do no damage to their own alignment, **** damage to neutral, decent damage but not great to their opposite, and great damage to Outsiders that are their opposite. That means that Good or Chaotic casters can do serious damage to Devils, and Good or Lawful casters can do serious damage to Demons. That's about it.

For offense, there are three weapon enhancements for each alignment besides Neutral. I'm just gonna name them Aligned, Truly Aligned, and Greater Aligned.

Aligned enhancements include Holy, Unholy, Anarchic, and Axiomatic. These can only be wielded by people who are NOT their opposite. (Meaning that a Holy weapon can be wielded by ANY player, since you can't be Evil; Anarchic can be wielded by Chaotic Good/Chaotic Neutral/Neutral Good/True Neutral, but not any Lawful.) They do good bonus damage (2d6) against monsters who are their opposite (Holy does more to evil creatures. Makes sense), but no bonus against neutral monsters.

Aligned enhancements do big damage to a smaller creature set, and can be wielded by more alignments, including true neutral.

Truly Aligned enhancements include Pure Good, Pure Evil, True Law, and True Chaos. These do less damage than Aligned weapons (1d6), but also affect neutrals. To wield them, you must match the alignment exactly (meaning that a Pure Good weapon can only be wielded by someone with Good in their alignment, Lawful Neutral cannot wield them). They do bonus damage to anyone who doesn't match their alignment exactly (I believe you can count the number of Good creatures in the game on your fingers, therefore Pure Good does +1d6 to basically everything in the game).

Truly Aligned enhancements do less damage to a bigger creature set, and can be wielded by a smaller number of players (never including true neutral, barring Use Magic Device).

Greater Aligned enhancements, however, combine both the best and the worst of the other two categories. Greater Aligned enhancements include Greater Good, Greater Evil, Absolute Law, and Absolute Chaos. Greater Aligned weapons can only be wielded by those who match their alignment exactly, and do 2d6 extra damage to any creature who doesn't match their alignment. This means that a Weapon of Greater Good does +2d6 to Lawful Neutral, Lawful Evil, True Neutral, Neutral Evil, Chaotic Neutral, and Chaotic Evil creatures. This is MASSIVE. It can only be wielded by Lawful Good, Neutral Good, or Chaotic Good characters.

Greater Aligned weapons do more damage to more creatures, and can be wielded by a smaller number of players (never including true neutral, barring Use Magic Device).

It should also be pointed out that Greater Aligned weapons cost a lot more, both in base price and the value players put on them, then Aligned weapons.

As far as offense goes, a Good alignment is usually best. Lawful good can do the most damage chaotic creatures (demons will take bonus damage from both Holy and Lawful), while Chaotic good can do the most to lawful creatures (devils will take bonus damage from both Holy and Chaotic). Neutral good can actually try to get their hands on both, and use them both fine, but can't use True Law or True Chaos, or Absolute Law or Absolute Chaos).

Defensive uses of alignment, thankfully, will be much shorter to type. The best defensive alignment is True Neutral. Being True Neutral has two major benefits, and a side benefit I should mention.

First, you're nearly immune to alignment based damage (Except in Player vs. Player, since people might use Truly Aligned weapons against you). Monster attacks that do extra damage to lawful, chaotic, or good characters do not do bonus damage against True Neutral characters.

Second, there is an armor enhancement called Stability. Armors (including robes and outfits, so monks and casters aren't left out!) of Stability can be worn by anyone, but have a special benefit only True Neutral characters can benefit from. (unlike the Aligned and other enhancements, just being Neutral on one side or the other doesn't help, it has to be both. This means that while Holy can be used by 6 different alignments, and Pure Good can be used by 3 different alignments, Stability can only be used by exactly 1.) They give an extra +2 deflection bonus to Armor Class, and +2 resistance bonus to all saving throws. The deflection bonus stacks with most common sources of AC, such as armor, shield, natural armor, Dexterity, and Dodge. It does NOT stack with items of Protection. The resistance bonus doesn't stack with other resistance bonuses, of course.

You might think "That's not a huge benefit... rings of protection aren't TOO hard to come by.... cloaks of resistance either.... and only +2...." First, this armor of Stability is freeing up TWO extra slots for you. It's a protection item AND a resistance item all incorporated into your armor slot, which is hard to find other good enhancements for AND almost never give protection or resistance. Secondly, there are named items late-game that can have Greater or Superior Stability. These increase both bonuses to +4 or +6.

So instead of wearing a Ring of Protection AND a Cloak of Resistance, you can free up two slots by being True Neutral, and not take bonus damage against Unholy, Lawful, or Chaotic attacks.

The side benefit: a few items in the game have an "extra ability" in addition to what they can normally do, simply called "taint of evil". These items give a negative level to all Good characters who equip them. One level per tainted item. You basically count as being one whole level less than your current level. Obviously, these are useless to good characters. They're also pretty rare though, which is why this isn't a major benefit of neutrality.

Personally, I prefer True Neutral for any character whose main purpose is not "hit stuff with a sword and make numbers come off", as stability and fewer "weak points" against aligned creatures are preferable to me. You might prefer extreme alignments instead to maximize damage output at the cost of defense and having certain attacks that will hurt you more, not to mention certain monster types you're not as good at hurting. "Oh, I'm Lawful Good, and we're fighting Devils? Well, my Holy half of my weapon works fine... but my True Law isn't helping! What about my Flaming Mace of Pure Good? Nope, immune to fire... ****... " "CHAOS HAMMER!" "Oh that hurt. Heal please..."

[Salering]

Excellent, great stuff! Shouldn't it be part of the official game manual and help?

Only one thing bothers me, that these alignment options do not affect the character and behavior substantially beyond items and spell usage. This means the words "lawful", "chaotic", "neutral", "good" do not mean much, they are just syntactic identifiers. Could be called A1, B3, R6, T2 with the same effect. I wish the alignment had more real presence in what your character does in the game.

[DavionFuxa]

In Gianthold, Prison of the Planes requires you to be of a certain alignment for one of the cells - though I don't know if there is anything like that in the rest of the game.