I need your help to let my dream come true. Class, controls and soloing questions.

[Nefros]

Hi folks,
i have a little problem and hope you can help me with some tipps. I loved the Pen&Paper-Game but avoided DDO cause i was afraid that i can't handle it(one try some years ago ended in a desaster). I suffer from a little physical handicap and it is hard for me to smash buttons quickly and manage Hotkeys+Movement+Mouse simultaneous. So i mainly played more simple games for the last years, that could be controlled only with the mouse. But now i want to give it a new try and hope to find some way to manage it. Here are my questions.

Is there a way to configure the controls in a way that i can use the keyboard only for movement, the mouse only for my bars so that i don't have to use Hotkeys? I tried it with a Monk the last 3 days, cause I love to fight with 2 Weapons or unarmed but the managing of the powers through the hotkeys was undoable for me.

I think i will have problems in teams, cause i will slow them down too much. I'm afraid that the fast action in teams overcharges me. So I would preferr to start a solo-char first to learn more about the game and find ways to compensate my limitations. Is there a Class or Class-Combination that is easy to play (not too many Powers that have to be acivated in fast order) and is capable of soloing many of the quests? I preferr Humans for RP-reasons and very, very durable Chars that are more forgiving. They don’t have to be DPS-monsters, it doesn’t matter for me if I need 2min to take down an enemy, but they have to be very survivable. I have access to 32 points and Monks.

I know that there are already many threads and guides here in the forum. I think I’ve read dozens of them the last days and I’m totally confused now. I’m not able to make out whereupon I have to pay attention and which of the guides suits my prerequisites.



P.S. Sy about my english. Even if i don't have found the right words I hope i still could make you understand what my problem is. :-)

[thegreatneil]

Personally i play with my Xbox 360 controller, as i hate hunching over my keyboard.
Due to the layout i setup on it, i can hot-key 32 buttons,jump, interact, shield block,attack, even activate voice chat via different button combinations.

[Ugumagre]

Nefros, sorry if I am a bit short or do not understand something.

A friend of mine had a broken arm for some time, so he had to play only with one hand. He could manage it very well. He configured the keys very well, so he did not really need the mouse. Please tell me if I am seeing it totally wrong.
Anyway, dont be shy in joining groups. It can be very fun. Put an LFM with "slow run for fun" or something like that. It wont fill very fast, but you can get one or two in some time and have some fun.

[gwenniez]

seems to me you want to roll a barbarian only 3 buttons needed and just wade
into a huge pack of monsters while yelling at the healer to heal you.

[phillymiket]

You could get a multiple button mouse.

Like the Razor Naga with 17 buttons.

http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.169418900

http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/8527/indexnp.jpg

Admittedly, they are kind of pricey at 80$ or so but you maybe could find other brands of gaming mouse cheaper.

You could arrange the buttons in such a way as to be able to hit everything you need for any class with the mouse and move only with the keyboard.
I don't know if your physical condition would permit this as the buttons are pretty small.

Otherwise as others said barbarian (or fighter or rogue even) have less buttons to hit then monk or a arcane/divine.

Glad you are playing and good luck. :)

[Tumarek]

1. You can toggle mouselook with "T" i think. except the jumpy levels it really works great. oh and the num pad has all the camera options.

2. Choose a char that doesnt need to do much buttonsmashing. Spellsinger bard eg.... Buff, Heal a little, Fascinate (with invisibility) and charm / hold mobs from a distance. I always pike shrouds with mine and still everybody loves her :)

3. Find groups that dont need to zerg ahead like maniaks. Tell people what they can expect from you and put lfm with with comments like heavy flowersniffing :D

I have seen many handicapped people play ddo and it never was a problem.

[JPDefault]

You could get a multiple button mouse.

Like the Razor Naga with 17 buttons.

http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.169418900

http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/8527/indexnp.jpg

Admittedly, they are kind of pricey at 80$ or so but you maybe could find other brands of gaming mouse cheaper.

You could arrange the buttons in such a way as to be able to hit everything you need for any class with the mouse and move only with the keyboard.
I don't know if your physical condition would permit this as the buttons are pretty small.

Otherwise as others said barbarian (or fighter or rogue even) have less buttons to hit then monk or a arcane/divine.

Glad you are playing and good luck. :)
Or, for the same amount of money, you can have this:
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/keyboards/keyboard/devices/5123

http://www.logitech.com/assets/17680/17680.png

[Nefros]

Thx for the advice. Great community such alot of answers in such a short time. I think the Mouse should work cause it has many buttons which i can use with my thumb. I will take a look on my local store for it, thx.




P.S. Broken arm. Actually i don't wanted to describe my handicap more exact, cause it shouldn't sound like a whine. But i see that it's better to get usefull answers.
In cause of amyopathy in my childhood I can only use the Ringfinger and the thumb of my right hand and the left hand is complete paralyzed except the thumb. I have a special keyboard with hugh keys so i can still use the middlefinger of the left hand to press keys, it works but it is slower and not so accurat. My left Arm is partly paralyzed too, so i can move him only very slowly and inaccurate. The right arm is paralyzed too, but only very slight. (the left part of my Body was affected much more from the sickness than the right part).

[Fixitosis]

Nefros,

A product like "Dragon NaturallySpeaking Home" by Nuance might be able to help you with DDO and other games/ pc programs.

I knew a player who used this voice recognition software for DDO and it helped him alot.
I still chuckle when I remember him leaving his mic open and saying, "Fireball!" while in the middle of a battle. He was quite a good sorc, a class where speed direction and timing are very important.

Here's a link: http://www.nuance.com/for-individuals/by-product/dragon-for-pc/home-version/index.htm

I hope it helps you.

[Nefros]

Amazing what tools and programs there are available today. Never new about this and looked for such things. Thx, thx alot. That might make many of my gamingtime much easier in the future. I hope it works for me.

Some Class-Questions. Thought the Barbararian isn't such a good Soloer later on, cause he lacks heals? In most of the other Threads was written that Heal is very important and cause that Clerics/favored Souls make very good soloers?

What i need especcially to soloas many Quests as possible in DDO? Open Locks? Disarm traps? Sneak? Heal or only enough AC and Saves? Can you all please enlighten me? I try to understand what are the Keystones of a good Soloer in DDO.

[Jiirix]

Nefros,

A product like "Dragon NaturallySpeaking Home" by Nuance might be able to help you with DDO and other games/ pc programs.

I knew a player who used this voice recognition software for DDO and it helped him alot.
I still chuckle when I remember him leaving his mic open and saying, "Fireball!" while in the middle of a battle. He was quite a good sorc, a class where speed direction and timing are very important.

Here's a link: http://www.nuance.com/for-individuals/by-product/dragon-for-pc/home-version/index.htm

I hope it helps you.

I used Dragon Naturally and it works great after a short time of training for both User and PC. Used it for windows commands mostly but I am sure it can be configurated for games as well.

[Namarbez]

The exploiter is a great solo build solid dps, evasion, trap/Lock skills and very good self buff/heal ability

[Fixitosis]

When "soloing", remember "hirelings".
It makes playing any class you wish a viable option for soloing if you go slow and learn how to use them. :)

[Ungood]

It also depends on your build and how complex you want to make the game.

I will say, I use a PS3 controller & Pinnacle Software (Started with a Logitech, before they started to suck), because I have issues with my hands as well. Not really sure what kind of set up to provide you, but perhaps even something like a Wii Nunchuck Controller or Milti-button mouse might help you with limited hand movement ability. Can any hard core computer gamer validate if this can be done?

(added: It seems that Wii can use Bluetooth. so if the computer has Blue Tooth, so maybe you can use something like this http://www.amazon.com/Wii-Nunchuk-Controller-White-nintendo/dp/B000IMYKQ0 to make moving in the game a little easier, something to consider)

[katz]

at the later levels, they become a real button smasher, but at the lower levels, not much beats a well built paladin for survivability. fear/disease immunity and lay hands? and after 6th unyielding sovereignty (http://compendium.ddo.com/wiki/Enhancement:Unyielding_Sovereignty)? NICE. my husband's first character was a paladin... and he built it based on what he knew from D&D. he built a very tanky pallie with well rounded stats. everyone told him he was gimp and he should reroll and blah blah blah. 9 times out of 10, he was the one slowly and resolutely beating a path to the shrine holding the other 5 stones of the people who called him gimp. he earned the nickname in our guild of Mr. Inde-frign-structible.

he was a sword and board dwarven paladin (yay glancing blow damage from the dwarf axe!) with high charisma (high saves and big lay hands for the win), high enough wis to cast all his spells without needing to equip a + wisdom item (one of the reason people told him he was gimp), and a pretty good con. he dumped int and dex, but later went back and ate +2 tomes to make them both an even 10 to "eliminate weakness". (his words, not mine)

part of the reason i suggest this build to you, despite a paladin being a potential button masher, is because my husband, on his very first life thru the game, wasn't much of a button masher himself. he took the metamagic feat extend, buffed before a fight, and the only buttons that existed to him mid-fight were lay hands and unyielding sovereignty. (that's another reason people told him he was gimped. he didn't use smites or things of that nature his first life either.)

he was NOT a fast character. but with the dwarf axe he did decent damage. he just kinda tromped his way thru a dungeon from one end to the other, killing everything from point A to point B. his only downside was healers. unless he managed a vorpal on them, it was very hard for him to kill one fast enough. conversely, it was very hard to take HIM out, with 4 lay hands, unyielding sovereignty every 10 minutes, and heal spells. pretty much the only time he got killed was a big heavy hitting/ heavy casting boss, and sometimes not even then,


all that being said, and your description of your problem, i think that Razer mouse is, while expensive, a good choice to really help you and open things up.

[GuntherBovine]

My thoughts on classes for soloing:
* Monk requires the most hotkey usage with their constant ki attacks and finishing moves. I would say a poor choice for you
* Here are some solo-friendly builds that require little clicking in combat: The Amazon (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=195636), Axesinger (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=195289), Tempest Trapmonkey (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=277496)
* I prefer my toons to be self-healing. Other people are quite happy having a cleric hireling healing them between fights. With the cleric hireling, you command them to stand when they are at entrance. You move forward and clear out mobs. You then click on the footsteps button to summon the cleric to you. The cleric will heal you. Again, command them to stand and move on into the quest

[Nefros]

I think i will rob my piggybank and will look for a Razor or a similar mouse and order the Voice-program, too. I hope that this combination will give me the freedom to take the 'best' class for me, wether it has more Powers to activate or not. Maybe when i unlearned a bit of my shyness i can get a 'teamplayer'. My restrictions was the reason to stay away from MMOs up to now, but if they aren't an issue any longer...this offers me many new possibilities. Thx again for these usefull tipps. I regret that i haven't asked earlier in a forum.

Anyway for my first attempt I think i will feel safer with a slower but unbreakable as possible Charakter. Paladin you say? I will take a look in the Melee-Forum to learn more about. I'm still overwhelmed by the lot of Classes, Class-Combinations and Powers. By my feeling i would like a Human in Plate Armor and with Shield and Sword or two Weapons most i think, so Paladin or Cleric maybe a good Choice. I hope to find the right combination with your help. Think i will have a lot of questions later on, if it doesn't annoy you :-)

[Ugumagre]

There are also headmouses (VERY expensive) and foot mouses (link only for the foot mouse):


http://www.bilila.com/foot_mouse_slipper_mouse

Actually, I am thinking about a foot mouse, as I have something like carpal tunnel syndrome (is something different, no so bad, but a bit more complicated)

[Geonis]

I suggest trying a controller if DDO is a bit overwhelming.

See here-

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=153100

[Ungood]

I think i will rob my piggybank and will look for a Razor or a similar mouse and order the Voice-program, too. I hope that this combination will give me the freedom to take the 'best' class for me, wether it has more Powers to activate or not. Maybe when i unlearned a bit of my shyness i can get a 'teamplayer'. My restrictions was the reason to stay away from MMOs up to now, but if they aren't an issue any longer...this offers me many new possibilities. Thx again for these usefull tipps. I regret that i haven't asked earlier in a forum.

Anyway for my first attempt I think i will feel safer with a slower but unbreakable as possible Charakter. Paladin you say? I will take a look in the Melee-Forum to learn more about. I'm still overwhelmed by the lot of Classes, Class-Combinations and Powers. By my feeling i would like a Human in Plate Armor and with Shield and Sword or two Weapons most i think, so Paladin or Cleric maybe a good Choice. I hope to find the right combination with your help. Think i will have a lot of questions later on, if it doesn't annoy you :-)

The dwarven axe shield paladin build, allows you to not need to take the "weapon fighting" line, and thus free up some feats that might make the game more fun. For example, Brutal Throw (for ranged, get a Dwarven Thrower, and a Returning Throwing Hammer for this skeletons) taking Extend and Mental Toughness (so you have enough sp to heal yourself) Etc, etc. You can have some fun with it, and it is a very hardy low to mid level build.

While, make no mistake, it will be a challenge, but, rest assured, you won't be the only one with a handicap, playing this game.

Welcome to DDO! I hope you enjoy your time here.

[Missing_Minds]

It also depends on your build and how complex you want to make the game.

I will say, I use a PS3 controller & Pinnacle Software (Started with a Logitech, before they started to suck), because I have issues with my hands as well. Not really sure what kind of set up to provide you, but perhaps even something like a Wii Nunchuck Controller or Milti-button mouse might help you with limited hand movement ability. Can any hard core computer gamer validate if this can be done?

(added: It seems that Wii can use Bluetooth. so if the computer has Blue Tooth, so maybe you can use something like this http://www.amazon.com/Wii-Nunchuk-Controller-White-nintendo/dp/B000IMYKQ0 to make moving in the game a little easier, something to consider)

Razer is now making a motion controller for the PC similar to the Wiimote. And looks like they are doing a tone of SW MMO product stuff. I'm going to go look at that keyboard I just saw there.

[nat_1]

I have the Naga Razer ($80) and have been very happy with it. I normally tell people that the Naga Razer Epic is $50 more and only gets you the wireless option and some ergonomic options, but those ergonomic options might be worth it to you. The side plate (where the 12 thumb buttons are) swap out to accommodate hand sizes, so you might find that it's worth your money.

[Nefros]

Thx for all the advices.

After reading some off the Solo-Guides and Threads i decided to start a Human Cleric tomorrow, when i have my new Razer. I don't know if i should better ask the following questions here or in the classforum.

I see that many take 2 Monk and 1 Rogue or Fighterlevel. Ok, Monk for the AC-Bonus and the Stances. Rogue or Fighter for? Which of these Combinations would be most survivable? I would preferr a kind of Battle Cleric. Mostly Melee and situational Use of Spells and strong selfheals. Which of the combinations would be the best for it and with which class should i start at lvl1? Or is it better to play a pure Cleric as first char?

Next question is about the attributes. Wisdom is clear, high as possible. I see some of the builds have high Dex, low Con/Str. Some have high STR/Con and low STr, others start with high Charisma and some only with 8. That confuses me a bit. If i want a Cleric with high survivability, Melee but also capable of casting those nice spells like Blade Barrier and enough selfheal with which should i start? Do i need Charisma, is 10 Int enough? Focus on Str+Con or on Dex? What is the difference in Playstyle, Survivability, Damage and so on....?

[Missing_Minds]

I have the Naga Razer ($80) and have been very happy with it. I normally tell people that the Naga Razer Epic is $50 more and only gets you the wireless option and some ergonomic options, but those ergonomic options might be worth it to you. The side plate (where the 12 thumb buttons are) swap out to accommodate hand sizes, so you might find that it's worth your money.

But to charge it you go into a wired mode. So you can play wireless or wired.

The side plate is not where the 12 buttons are.

http://www.amazon.com/Razer-Naga-Epic-Gaming-Mouse/dp/B004AM5RAM

But I am curious about this mouse now.

[barryman5000]

Multi-classing can make things very difficult. If you want to make a battle cleric people will expect you to heal them if you ever party with a random group. Its great for solo play though.

If you decide to do a battle cleric, I would go straight cleric with no multiclassing. A dwarf does great for this as its a free race and they usually are pretty sturdy. The stats would look something like this for a normal 28-pt character:

str 16
dex 8
con 14
int 8
wis 16
cha 10

Your feats would go like so:
Level 1 -- Weapon Proficiency: Great Axe
Level 3 -- Toughness
Level 6 -- Empower Healing
Level 9 -- Heighten
Level 12 -- Maximize
Level 15 -- Empower
Level 18 -- Power Attack, mental toughness, spell focus: evocation or spell penetration (depending on what you like).

Put all your level ups into wisdom. You will be able to slap a great axe around at the start of the game and have fairly decent melee (enough to kill stuff). You get a few nice spells as a cleric and be sure to pick up blade barrier at level 12. You may not melee anymore when you get it! Also be sure to pick up the radiant servant prestige b/c its great for battle clerics.

Its not for the faint of heart but it will be fun to play!

[Mercureal]

Thx for all the advices.

After reading some off the Solo-Guides and Threads i decided to start a Human Cleric tomorrow, when i have my new Razer. I don't know if i should better ask the following questions here or in the classforum.

I see that many take 2 Monk and 1 Rogue or Fighterlevel. Ok, Monk for the AC-Bonus and the Stances. Rogue or Fighter for? Which of these Combinations would be most survivable? I would preferr a kind of Battle Cleric. Mostly Melee and situational Use of Spells and strong selfheals. Which of the combinations would be the best for it and with which class should i start at lvl1? Or is it better to play a pure Cleric as first char?

Next question is about the attributes. Wisdom is clear, high as possible. I see some of the builds have high Dex, low Con/Str. Some have high STR/Con and low STr, others start with high Charisma and some only with 8. That confuses me a bit. If i want a Cleric with high survivability, Melee but also capable of casting those nice spells like Blade Barrier and enough selfheal with which should i start? Do i need Charisma, is 10 Int enough? Focus on Str+Con or on Dex? What is the difference in Playstyle, Survivability, Damage and so on....?

People choose to mix Monk with cleric to boost their defence; Monk allows you to add your Wisdom bonus to AC, and with 2 Monk levels you get evasion. Those would most likely be the ones with high Dex as well. A level of Rogue gives you the ability to take maximum levels in Rogue abilities (traps, locks and UMD); however, if you're taking most of your levels in cleric you probably won't have enough skill points to get maximum levels in many skills - generally, people would add a level of rogue to a cleric to max out just 1 skill, UMD. Fighter adds to combat ability; it gives proficiencies in martial weapons and the ability to boost HP and Strength with enhancements.

In general, you'll find that the choices you make don't matter a huge amount at lower levels (1-10 or so), as you can get by most quests by yourself without having a really optimized build. I was able to do the Sorrowdusk quest chain ( a long series where the final quest is level 10 or 11) solo on my level 9 cleric, using melee for much of it, even though I have fairly low Strength and Dex. But that will start becoming much more difficult for the quests past level 10. At that point a cleric's ability to do damage is very focused on their spells, which means you need to make sure your spell-casting is strong. I think you can do well soloing with a pure cleric, and adding a few other classes is really just about making small adjustments in a few areas. It's also much easier to do for experienced players who have already played for a while and know the game's mechanics pretty well.

[Ungood]

Thx for all the advices.

After reading some off the Solo-Guides and Threads i decided to start a Human Cleric tomorrow, when i have my new Razer. I don't know if i should better ask the following questions here or in the classforum.

I see that many take 2 Monk and 1 Rogue or Fighterlevel. Ok, Monk for the AC-Bonus and the Stances. Rogue or Fighter for? Which of these Combinations would be most survivable? I would preferr a kind of Battle Cleric. Mostly Melee and situational Use of Spells and strong selfheals. Which of the combinations would be the best for it and with which class should i start at lvl1? Or is it better to play a pure Cleric as first char?

Rogue gives Evasion without needing to Lawful.
Fighter Gives Tower Shield, and All Martial Weapons
Monk Gives Evasion and Wisdom based AC (but you need to be lawful)


Next question is about the attributes. Wisdom is clear, high as possible. I see some of the builds have high Dex, low Con/Str. Some have high STR/Con and low STr, others start with high Charisma and some only with 8. That confuses me a bit. If i want a Cleric with high survivability, Melee but also capable of casting those nice spells like Blade Barrier and enough selfheal with which should i start? Do i need Charisma, is 10 Int enough? Focus on Str+Con or on Dex? What is the difference in Playstyle, Survivability, Damage and so on....?

Play style and what they are min/maxing for.

However, in your case, a solid Con and Str is a must, along with a good Wisdom.

[Nefros]

Got the Razer this morning and tested it with my Monk. I can't use all buttons but enough to make it much easier for me. Now it's possible for me to use the keyboard only for Moving. Great Feeling. Much more fun.

Thx for the other Tipps. I will start with my Cleric this evening. I have access to Monks+32points, so maybe i will put in the 2 Monklevels(for higher Survivabilty) and a Roguelevel(i want all the treasures:-))) later on when i know more about the game. I will start as pure Cleric, first i thougth starting with Rogue and changing to Cleric at lvl2 would be a nice idea to get the many skillpoints and lockpicking abilities, but at the moment i don't know much enough about the drawbacks this will cause. Attributes will be a high Wisdom, STR and Con. 8 Dex and Char and 10 Int for some more Skillpoints.

One last Question, are shields a good choice for soloing or should i better focus on 2 Weapons or 2 handed Weapons? Shield would be stylish but i don't want to loose too much effectiveness.

[Lyzern]

If you're in Khyber and ever get around my level (atm 11) you're welcome to join my parties, no zergs and enjoying the game mostly. And about that mouse. I WANT IT FOR XMAS PL0X.

[Nefros]

So here he is: Nefros.

Lawfull good, human Cleric

Took these Attributs, hope it is ok so:
STR-16
DEX-10
CON-14
INT-10
WIS-16
CHA-10

At lvl2 i plan to take 1 Fighterlevel for 2h Weapons+Power Attack and a bit more damage, rest will be pure Cleric.

[katz]

looks good to me. good luck and have fun! :D

[Ungood]

So here he is: Nefros.

Lawfull good, human Cleric

Took these Attributs, hope it is ok so:
STR-16
DEX-10
CON-14
INT-10
WIS-16
CHA-10

At lvl2 i plan to take 1 Fighterlevel for 2h Weapons+Power Attack and a bit more damage, rest will be pure Cleric.

I suggest that your first feat be Toughness, otherwise, this looks good. Solid build. Hope you have fun with it!

[Nefros]

Yes. I took toughness at lvl 1. Reached lvl2 now and up to now it's much fun. Easier than the Monk for me to handle and the Razer does the rest. Works fine. Thank you all very much, even if i'm only lvl2 now i love this toon and the game already. Dungeons i'm coming...

[dondaley]

Multi-classing can make things very difficult. If you want to make a battle cleric people will expect you to heal them if you ever party with a random group. Its great for solo play though.

If you decide to do a battle cleric, I would go straight cleric with no multiclassing. A dwarf does great for this as its a free race and they usually are pretty sturdy. The stats would look something like this for a normal 28-pt character:

str 16
dex 8
con 14
int 8
wis 16
cha 10

Your feats would go like so:
Level 1 -- Weapon Proficiency: Great Axe
Level 3 -- Toughness
Level 6 -- Empower Healing
Level 9 -- Heighten
Level 12 -- Maximize
Level 15 -- Empower
Level 18 -- Power Attack, mental toughness, spell focus: evocation or spell penetration (depending on what you like).

Put all your level ups into wisdom. You will be able to slap a great axe around at the start of the game and have fairly decent melee (enough to kill stuff). You get a few nice spells as a cleric and be sure to pick up blade barrier at level 12. You may not melee anymore when you get it! Also be sure to pick up the radiant servant prestige b/c its great for battle clerics.

Its not for the faint of heart but it will be fun to play!

You could also save Weapon Proficiency: Great Axe till later, take toughness at 1 for more low level hp and run with a dwarven axe and a shield for AC while AC still matters, then pick up the Weapon Proficiency: Great Axe later when AC stops mattering (high teens)

Or, it wont matter since I now see you took a human cleric setup. Welcome back and happy adventuring.

[Failedlegend]

Another thing you could do to make things easier along with the voice commands and the uber mouse is to set up a static group (IOW people you play with on a regular basis) as opposed to just playing with random people that way they know the questing is going to be a bit slower and you won't have to deal with zerg types whining about you being slow (They don't like me either :P) plus it feels more like PnP this way.