5 year absence... I have some questions

[Actus_Purus]

Hello,

First, please pardon the extreme ignorance of my questions. I am coming back to the game after about 5 years off, and clearly things have changed a bit. Now before you tell me to just go read the wiki (yeah right, read every page on every update...boring..ain't nobody got time for dat), I just have a couple questions which can be answered in a couple lines. Paragraphs are not necessary (but I would read them, if you're into that). And please spare the abbreviations since most of them are too arcane for me. I got that TR is true reincarnation, and I understand that I think, and that PL is past life. So, in about 5 sentences or less, what should I do in order to make a solid sorcerer? Pretty vague, I know, I'll try to clarify.

This whole TR thing is new for me. Since my old characters (back when the level cap was 16) are pretty much useless and stripped of their gear, I've been basically starting over. THEREFORE, should I just work on getting a sorcerer/wizard class to 20 so I can just TR him into a new one? Is that what the cool kids are doing? Essentially I'm asking what is the best/most efficient way of making a useful sorcerer. Is it 2 lives, 3 lives, several lives I should work through; sorcerer, wizard, paladin? I hear tell of savant vs. shiradi (whatever those are), I would assume savant would be my path since I'm basically starting from scratch and that sounds pretty simple. I don't know.

Again, thank you in advance for your patience, and for taking the time to read this; and many thanks if you answer.

AP

[thesnoman]

First of all - Welcome back after your 5-year absence.

A LOT has changed, so I'm not sure I can simply sum it up in a few lines, but I'll try my best.

First The new level cap s 28, which is split up into Heroic and Epic Levels

Heroic Levels are 1-20, same as PnP
Epic Levels are 20-28

Heroic levels determine your class, epic levels are generic - everyone gets the same things during their epic levels, no matter their heroic class.

You can Heroic True Reincarnate once you hit Level 20. I recommend doing this at least twice in order to unlock the 36-point build, but it is not necessary.

A Sorcerer does not NEED Past lives, but they do help. Past life feats stack up to 3 times and the most beneficial past life to a Sorcerer is, well, Sorcerer.

Once you are into Epic Levels you open up Epic Destinies. Epic Destinies are where your true power comes from above Level 20. Epic Destinies are broken up into 4 spheres - Arcane, Divine, Martial, and Primal. The Sphere you first unlock is based on your Heroic Class - 6 Levels of any Heroic Class gives you the opportunity to open up it's Sphere. A Sorcerer is generally going to start in the Arcane Sphere and will generally unlock Draconic Incarnation as their first Epic Destiny. As a Savant Sorcerer (Fire, Earth, Air, Water) you will gain much more power out of the Draconic Incarnation Destiny than any other.

As you level through your first Epic Destiny, you will start to unlock Twists of Fate and Adjacent Epic Destinies. Once additional Epic Destinies is Unlocked, you can freely move between them. You will also gain "Karma" in the Spheres - this comes into play when you decide to EPIC TR

Once you hit Level 28 and have gained 6 Million Karma in any Epic Destiny Sphere you can Epic True Reincarnate. This returns you to Level 20 and reduces your Karma in the Selected Sphere to 0. You then grind back up to 6,000,000 Karma in a sphere to Epic True Reincarnate again. (Coincidentally, it takes 6,600,000 XP to get from Level 20 to Level 28). This is the new grind and many people decide to go from 1-28, Epic TR, then Heroic TR. You get to keep your Epic Past Life Feats while you are leveling through Heroic Levels.


Confused yet?

OK

SO while leveling you choose your primary Savant and usually an accompanying secondary (Air/Fire, Fire/Air, and Fire/Acid seem to be the most popular) This is all well and good since you will likely move directly into Draconic Incarnation as your first Epic Destiny. As you work your way around the Epic Destiny SPheres, you'll eventually get to the Primal Sphere.

Enter Shiradi - a Primal Epic Destiny that can completely change the way you think about a Sorcerer. It's about as close to a "Wild Mage" from PnP D&D as there is and it's a blast to play.

Shiradi makes you re-think the Sorcerer class - you will want focus on Low Cost, High Rate of Fire Spells like Magic Missile, Chain Missile, and Scorching Ray. Shiradi augments the damage with random damage types and can seriously increase your damage output. There are plenty of threads in this Forum about Shiradi Builds, including the one in my Signature "Toaster of Vengeance"


I hope I answered some, if not most of your questions - it was a bit long winded, but it has been 5 years.

[Cleanincubus]

Edit: thesnoman beat my slow typing, and probably provided much better info!

For me, I'd get your character(s) to 20, and then do a TR. Actually that's what I did with my completely gimped Cleric, though he was at 17. But I'm not one of the cool kids, so my recommendation might not be valid. ;)

I know you said you don't really want any links, but here is a link to the Past Life Feats. I only post this, because it's really up to you, as to which Passive PL Feat is appealing to you. If you want the most effective character possible, and TRing many times is not an issue, I'd assume 3 lives each of at least Sorcerer and Wizard would put you in a good place. +1 to the DC's of your Evocation spells and gain 20 additional spell points for each Sorcerer PL, and +2 to spell penetration checks and the DC's of Wands you use for each Wizard PL.
http://ddowiki.com/page/Past_Life_Feats

Savant is an Elemental based Enhancement line (formerly a Prestige Class) for Sorcerers. It makes you more efficient at a specific elemental range of spells. So yes, that would be the right direction to go towards.

Shiradi is a part of the new Epic Destiny system. Basically after you've hit level 20, and you have purchased the Epic Destinies from the DDO store or from some kind of Expansion Pack that includes it, you select a Destiny (similar to an Enhancement Tree) and level up in it. It's very similar to Enhancements, essentially because the ED (Epic Destiny) system was created before they created this new Enhancement System. From reading the forums, and having no personal knowledge on EDs, Shiradi Champion and Primal Avatar seem to be the 2 that are quoted as being the most powerful, some even going as far as calling them over powered compared to the others. If you're really playing a gimped character, you should probably just skip the ED, TR, and then do the research for your next life.

Hope this helps.

[Axjl]

Something about your build they didnt mention or i missed - splash 2 pally levels, it will make your life so much easier at epics. If you dont want to waste caster levels and want all your spells early on, take the pally lvls at 19-20, i usually do it after i get fireball, because i like to solo and having almost no-fail saves is real nice. Do tr if you want, the additional play experience is what you really get, you will know how to build for epics. Later on you might consider more complex builds like 14 sorc/4 fvs/ 2 pally as a shiradi caster is prolly the best atm. Good luck! =)

[razmataz_2000]

*snip*Shiradi*snip*

Important note of the Shiradi Epic Destiny the low sp cost, multi target spells cause more chances of the % proc of the "stances"

Slowing Ice thing

Random rainboom thing

and total-stop nerve thing

hence the chain missile / mm shenanigans.

I would make the recommendation of getting the Rejuvenating Cocoon "twisted" in as soon as possible if a fleshie and not a pale master.

You will find it right next door to the Shiradi ED in Primal Avatar.

It makes the self healing an almost non-issue with the temp hp + quick heal over time.

YMMV of course.

p.s. Enjoy!

[Actus_Purus]

First of all - Welcome back after your 5-year absence.

A LOT has changed, so I'm not sure I can simply sum it up in a few lines, but I'll try my best.

First The new level cap s 28, which is split up into Heroic and Epic Levels

Heroic Levels are 1-20, same as PnP
Epic Levels are 20-28

Heroic levels determine your class, epic levels are generic - everyone gets the same things during their epic levels, no matter their heroic class.

You can Heroic True Reincarnate once you hit Level 20. I recommend doing this at least twice in order to unlock the 36-point build, but it is not necessary.

A Sorcerer does not NEED Past lives, but they do help. Past life feats stack up to 3 times and the most beneficial past life to a Sorcerer is, well, Sorcerer.

Once you are into Epic Levels you open up Epic Destinies. Epic Destinies are where your true power comes from above Level 20. Epic Destinies are broken up into 4 spheres - Arcane, Divine, Martial, and Primal. The Sphere you first unlock is based on your Heroic Class - 6 Levels of any Heroic Class gives you the opportunity to open up it's Sphere. A Sorcerer is generally going to start in the Arcane Sphere and will generally unlock Draconic Incarnation as their first Epic Destiny. As a Savant Sorcerer (Fire, Earth, Air, Water) you will gain much more power out of the Draconic Incarnation Destiny than any other.

As you level through your first Epic Destiny, you will start to unlock Twists of Fate and Adjacent Epic Destinies. Once additional Epic Destinies is Unlocked, you can freely move between them. You will also gain "Karma" in the Spheres - this comes into play when you decide to EPIC TR

Once you hit Level 28 and have gained 6 Million Karma in any Epic Destiny Sphere you can Epic True Reincarnate. This returns you to Level 20 and reduces your Karma in the Selected Sphere to 0. You then grind back up to 6,000,000 Karma in a sphere to Epic True Reincarnate again. (Coincidentally, it takes 6,600,000 XP to get from Level 20 to Level 28). This is the new grind and many people decide to go from 1-28, Epic TR, then Heroic TR. You get to keep your Epic Past Life Feats while you are leveling through Heroic Levels.


Confused yet?

OK

SO while leveling you choose your primary Savant and usually an accompanying secondary (Air/Fire, Fire/Air, and Fire/Acid seem to be the most popular) This is all well and good since you will likely move directly into Draconic Incarnation as your first Epic Destiny. As you work your way around the Epic Destiny SPheres, you'll eventually get to the Primal Sphere.

Enter Shiradi - a Primal Epic Destiny that can completely change the way you think about a Sorcerer. It's about as close to a "Wild Mage" from PnP D&D as there is and it's a blast to play.

Shiradi makes you re-think the Sorcerer class - you will want focus on Low Cost, High Rate of Fire Spells like Magic Missile, Chain Missile, and Scorching Ray. Shiradi augments the damage with random damage types and can seriously increase your damage output. There are plenty of threads in this Forum about Shiradi Builds, including the one in my Signature "Toaster of Vengeance"


I hope I answered some, if not most of your questions - it was a bit long winded, but it has been 5 years.

Thank you so much!!! Very informative, I kinda got a hang of most of it. I think it'll become clearer when I work my way up to 20+. I basically just started from scratch, my old 16s are on the shelf, I don't really want to play them, I wanted to start from scratch. I am working on a WF sorcerer right now, looking at your Toaster of Vengeance build. Thanks for the advice!

[die]

The 2 stat rule max charisma and top out your Con bang all done play with the spells and enhancments. Hve fun and welcome back

[Arianka]

what have u been doing for the last 5 yrs? playing sum other game? if yes which one? why did u come back to ddo?

just curious.

[Actus_Purus]

what have u been doing for the last 5 yrs? playing sum other game? if yes which one? why did u come back to ddo?

just curious.

I quit playing my senior year of high school because I just had other things to do. And then I went to college, and only played (console) games when I was on vacation. In grad school now, and started listening to a D&D podcast (Critical Hit) which made me remember this game. I probably will end up just playing while I'm on vacation as well, but this is my first time back since 2008.

[Arianka]

welcome back then!