How to best help my friends?

[Proton]

I got almost all the packs and classes and races in DDO. I've been playing since it started and admire it. Two of my good friends started up recently, and they have nothing, no quests, no classes, no races, no bank space... One of them is going to make Monk his prime, he always plays Monk/Ninja on PnP. The other will likely make a wolf build, as he prefers playing berzerker barbarian werewolf and that seems the closest fit. So they both need to buy druid and monk.

The future Ninja is currently a level 9 fighter barbarian mix under my guidance. I told them they should get Giant Hold asap.

I don't know how will they make it to level 20 with only free content as is now? Is it possible, is there a thread about it, if so, please direct me. Thanks!

I want them to get the best start possibly, they will spend money, one already did, but to get everything all at once is a bit much, if they go VIP, then I'd probably tell them to save up all TPS if it runs out they can then purchase packs for good. But right now, my Ninja Friend has 875 TPS (we were playing last night), 600 of which he bought yesterday. So I said, get that last 75 and get Gianthold.

What else should they focus on, if not quests for now if they have yet to pick up VIP and are still in a casual state checking the game out and getting used to it? And if quests, is not Gianthold, Vale, and the VoN the first 3 to focus on? Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[cru121]

In general, I would advice to
* buy in bulk
* start with expansions
* wait for discounts

That doesn't really help short-term. Meanwhile, here's the list of free quests. Grind those first before spending points:
http://ddowiki.com/page/Category:Free_to_Play_quests

[vryxnr]

How much are you willing to spend to help them? As you have access to it all, you can get guest passes for them, allowing them to preview stuff they don't have, while simultaneously gaining favor from doing those quests (above what they could gain normally). With more favor comes more ddo-points to buy more stuff permanently. You can also gift them points, but doing so requires purchasing them via the market (with actual money/credit card... you'll get emailed a code to put into the in game store that will unlock the points, which you can give to your friends. one time use only).

GH, Vale, and Von are indeed the big ones most get first. The expansions are also good investments imo. Shadowfell Conspiracy is 10 quests from levels 16-19. Ravenloft is 12 quests (level 10) + 2 raids (level 32). Both also come with epic versions of their quests. MotU is 15 quests + 1 raid + a bunch of other goodies, but it's all epic only.

It is possible to get to 20 with FtP only, but it's a bit of a grind tbh. GH, Von and Vale all help ease the grind. Especially Vale. There is only one level 17 F2P quest, one 18 F2P quest, and no level 10 F2P quests. However, there are a good amount of F2P quests of all other levels. http://ddowiki.com/page/Category:Free_to_Play_quests

Good luck! I hope they enjoy it as much as the rest of us and become long time players! (and if not, no hard feelings). :)

edit: partially ninja'ed by cru

[Andu_Indorin]

It is possible to get to 20 with FtP only, but it's a bit of a grind tbh. GH, Von and Vale all help ease the grind. Especially Vale. There is only one level 17 F2P quest, one 18 F2P quest, and no level 10 F2P quests. However, there are a good amount of F2P quests of all other levels. http://ddowiki.com/page/Category:Free_to_Play_quests


Just to chime in ... I'd say Vale of Twilight is more important than GH in terms of getting players to Lvl.20. The Lords of Dust chain, being free, is also a great boon in reaching level 20, and getting Tokens for a reincarnation.

[Dragavon]

My best advice is to go VIP for a month.

That way they can do any quests they want except for expansions, and try most of the classes to see what they like. Then when that month is over they will have some DDO points in their account, and much better knowledge and understanding of the game.

[Proton]

You have given out too much Reputation in the last 24 hours, try again later.

Ill follow up tomorrow..

Thanks for the great advice everyone! I will tell my friends to get Vale first, good for 16 to 20 I think. GH the obvious follow up, then Von, then the expansions. I think they will likely end up going VIP, but until then, I want to steer them in a direction the will unlock as much of the game as possible so they can quest with me or on their own for more fun and reward. They are on 1st life still, wow they level so fast.. I gotta solo a little to catch up.

I'll let em know and also direct them to this thread so they can easily find useful stuff to help them get ahead faster. Thanks again all, more rep coming up tomorrow ;)

[Silverleafeon]

https://store.standingstonegames.com/store/ssg/en_US/pd/ThemeID.4823088000/productID.246618200/categoryID.58733100/parentCategoryID.58516100

DDO Market (place to buy expansions)

Standard Edition MotU expansion

includes:

Standard Edition Features
3 Forgotten Realms Adventure Packs
Featuring a multitude of epic adventures, unprecedented new wilderness areas with challenging objectives, a host of dungeons and more!
The King's Forest
Explore deep into the King’s Forest and defend the village of Eveningstar from Lolth’s Drow legions!
The Underdark
Venture down into the Underdark and confront Lolth’s elite followers in the Drow city of Sschindlyryn!
The Demonweb
Journey to Lolth’s home plane in this Raid quest, battle demon hordes and confront the spider goddess herself as you attempt to stop her scheme!
Epic Destinies
Attain epic enhancements as you progress through levels 20-25!

Druid Class
Wield nature’s magic, or transform into a powerful animal form, as you play the all new shape-shifting Druid class! Free to VIPs!

Eveningstar Challenge Pack
New challenge quests for levels 15-25! Free to VIPs!

Greater Tome of Learning
(1 free tome per DDO game world)
Permanently increases experience earned by a character up to level 20. Provides +50% bonus to experience for first-time quest completions and +20% boost to other earned experience points. Stacks with other experience boosts and persists through all forms of reincarnation.

1,000 DDO Points

Veteran Status (lvl 4)
Start a new character at level 4!

DDO Classics Adventure Pack bundle
Phiarlan Carnival
Attack on Stormreach
The Path of Inspiration
The Dreaming Dark


Often found at fairly good discount on Cyber Monday (Monday after American Thanksgiving Holiday) likely at least 1/3 to 1/2 price.
Will include a quality Turbine Point Offer (which has promoted some player to purchase & gift expansion while keeping the TP for themselves as its fairly close in cost to simply buying TP from the DDO Store when this sale occurs).

[Razor_Wit]

It's 9.99/month. Jeez tell them to ruffle thru the sofa cushions, check the ashtrays of their cars, sell an old video game on e-bay...whatever. SUBSCRIBE.

[Enoach]

One thing you could suggest is doing the first time favor runs on all the servers. This can earn them DDO points that could help them get access to what they are after to start with.

"For every 100 favor a character gets, 25 DDO Points are added to the account. There are also special one-time rewards for reaching 5, 25, 50, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000 favor for the first time in a server"

This is typically done to 100 favor see https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/326657

If this is something you have not already done it will help you with some Points you could use for Guest Passes that can help your friends earn more favor towards their goal.

[HAL]

It's 9.99/month. Jeez tell them to ruffle thru the sofa cushions, check the ashtrays of their cars, sell an old video game on e-bay...whatever. SUBSCRIBE.

It is only $9.99 a month if you purchase 3 months. As you say, not that expensive but if they ultimately plan on purchasing packs / races and eventually expansions, they may not want to also spend $30 at the same time.

[slarden]

Storm horns comes with some higher level heroic content. That would be the best purchase plus you can get a discount on 11000 tp which is enough to buy just about everything else.

Obviously have them run run on each server to get the first time tp bonuses. July usually brings good sales so watch for xpac sales.

[AlcoArgo]

My 2CP:

If you can only buy one pack then get Vale. The quests are good XP but more important is the Greensteel crafting. Even with all the power creep over the years GS items and weapons are excellent for leveling.


Displacement clickies are a must have for any character that can't cast it as a spell.
While no longer the consensus Best In Game, a triple positive maul is a very good undead beater and as a bonus comes with a raise dead clicky.
While no longer the consensus Best In Game, Mineral 2 weapons are great DR breakers for end bosses.
While no longer the consensus Best In Game, Lit 2 weapons are great for trash mobs.
While no longer the consensus Best In Game, Smoke boots give perma blur + dispacement clicky.
Much more as well depending on playstyle and needs.


See the trend here? Power creep has overtaken GS but it is still very good for leveling. While that is a lot of farming if you have been playing as long as you claim (and I have no doubt you have) then you should have plenty of ingredients lying about. If not, the AH is a good place to get cheap Shroud ingredients.

Cheers!

[Cantor]

Just to chime in ... I'd say Vale of Twilight is more important than GH in terms of getting players to Lvl.20. The Lords of Dust chain, being free, is also a great boon in reaching level 20, and getting Tokens for a reincarnation.

I would advise GH over Vale if you buy expansions. Wheloon covers that level range nicely. I rarely run Vale anymore just because I'm burnt from the days when it took 4M+ 3rd lives and you had to chain vale over and over.

[Kaboom2112]

Tell your friends to stop being so cheap.

[Xanthrawl]

I got almost all the packs and classes and races in DDO. I've been playing since it started and admire it. Two of my good friends started up recently, and they have nothing, no quests, no classes, no races, no bank space... One of them is going to make Monk his prime, he always plays Monk/Ninja on PnP. The other will likely make a wolf build, as he prefers playing berzerker barbarian werewolf and that seems the closest fit. So they both need to buy druid and monk.

The future Ninja is currently a level 9 fighter barbarian mix under my guidance. I told them they should get Giant Hold asap.

I don't know how will they make it to level 20 with only free content as is now? Is it possible, is there a thread about it, if so, please direct me. Thanks!

I want them to get the best start possibly, they will spend money, one already did, but to get everything all at once is a bit much, if they go VIP, then I'd probably tell them to save up all TPS if it runs out they can then purchase packs for good. But right now, my Ninja Friend has 875 TPS (we were playing last night), 600 of which he bought yesterday. So I said, get that last 75 and get Gianthold.

What else should they focus on, if not quests for now if they have yet to pick up VIP and are still in a casual state checking the game out and getting used to it? And if quests, is not Gianthold, Vale, and the VoN the first 3 to focus on? Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

It depends on their level of patience. My advice, personally, would be to hold off on the classes and races for now and focus on content. Buy the popular mid-high level heroic stuff like GH, Vale, etc.

As far as whether it is possible to cap as FtP, it most certainly is. Will your eyes bleed? Probably. With no negative XP in the game, and a first time daily bonus, it's only a matter of time. But the quest selection is VERY slim at the top end (hence my recommendation.)

Play the game, get favor DP, wait for sales. TR when you get to 20 via tokens of the twelve. Or simply roll up another character. Though as F2P, that will be limited as well unless they purchase additional slots.

Don't forget about the first time DP bonuses being once per SERVER. Go roll up toons on other servers and run them to at least 100 favor for quick and easy DP.

[Xanthrawl]

You have given out too much Reputation in the last 24 hours, try again later.

Ill follow up tomorrow..

Thanks for the great advice everyone! I will tell my friends to get Vale first, good for 16 to 20 I think. GH the obvious follow up, then Von, then the expansions. I think they will likely end up going VIP, but until then, I want to steer them in a direction the will unlock as much of the game as possible so they can quest with me or on their own for more fun and reward. They are on 1st life still, wow they level so fast.. I gotta solo a little to catch up.

I'll let em know and also direct them to this thread so they can easily find useful stuff to help them get ahead faster. Thanks again all, more rep coming up tomorrow ;)

If their plan is to ultimately go VIP, I would not advise purchasing content, races, or classes. I would focus on things that do NOT come with a VIP subscription - expansions. And maybe additional character slots, depending on the amount of alts/storage/quest openers they want to have.

Purchasing content that comes with a VIP subscription is time and DP wasted unless they plan to go back to Premium at some point.

[Fivetigers33]

I've been doing iconic lives (15-30) recently so I have a lot of recent experience in the 15-20 level range.

As outlined above, the 2 expansions are you absolute best buys.

MotU because it comes with the E-Star challenges (AWESOME xp for first time 5 star bonus), plus the 2 IQ chains (Lordsmarch isn't bad either).
Shadowfell mostly for Wheloon, but Stormhorns are definitely good too (I just usually skip that chain).
Vale is a near necessity. The heroic xp is amazing and comes with Shroud/Legendary Shroud. You could do without it though if you have the 2 expansion packs above and don't care about the Shroud.
Gianhold, as you mentioned is also pretty much a must have, but I would put it behind MotU and Vale because we are talking about getting to 20 and GH only gets you to 17ish.

[moradread]

I would suggest you focus on getting them interested in the game which means having them enjoy the game. Don't farm anything. You can get to 20 as f2p but it is tough in your second life and worse in the third. Tell them to do level appropriate quests. I've seen several players who got to 17 and then got sick of repeating the quests over and over to try to get to 20. They quit the game usually.

Also your one friend should avoid monk. The monk class is very challenging to play as a 28 pt build. It is probably not going to be fun. At high levels they will find it very difficult to stun and stay alive. The assassin rogue is fun or the swashbuckling bard. I would suggest trying those. Remind them that they should put at least 14 points into Con whatever they do.

Point out that they don't need to get named weapons. Work on the Cannith crafting XP and they can eventually make whatever gear they need. There are a few exceptions but that will mostly do it.

If y'all are playing on Khyber send me a tell and I'll help.

Good luck, have fun.

[Silverleafeon]

quotable combining various expansions into the cart at the same time yields extra goodies:


That is a really good tip. When I see people asking about the expansions, I'll make a point of telling them that :)

https://i.imgur.com/F4J566i.png


Likely you will see these at 33% off (or better) on Cyber Monday / Black Friday, good deals to save up for.

Khyber is an excellent world to game in except for 3am ish Americanous times, although there are several other excellent worlds out there.

[Proton]

Thanks for so much useful advice. Ill direct them to this thread. I am pretty certain they will both end up dead set on Ninja and Wolf. One of them changed his last name legally to Wolf... think about it :D The other makes Ninja characters 9/10 times during PnP campaigns, only recently making a non-ninja.

I think he will do fine with Monk Ninja build. I ran it about 20 times myself, I will be there to tell him what to prepare for, low levels use fist, mid use fist or staff, high levels use star.. I know about 10 awesome power builds :P. As for the Wolf, it is one of the most powerful builds in the game with a lot of possibilities. Aside from those two class purchases, I agree getting expansions if they go VIP, or content if not is priority one. I think those classes will be important factors in their long term style as it suits their personal PnP style.

I almost forgot a third may be joining up too, but his class could be anything, I am not acquainted with his style yet, though he is currently running a Barbarian (that grabbed a portal... that a most vile aberration god was trying to enter through.. which was being held back by the planet itself.. and caused his Type to change from Humanoid to Aberration.. (too be continued) :D) who is likely in a world of poo as little animals now run from him on sight, sensing something is seriously wrong with him... PnP is like that I suppose.. :P

[Niminae]

My best advice is to go VIP for a month.

That way they can do any quests they want except for expansions, and try most of the classes to see what they like. Then when that month is over they will have some DDO points in their account, and much better knowledge and understanding of the game.

This is good advice, however they should take some precautions.

First, play long enough to know the interface well. This might be a good time to do some favor runs on every server to 100 points.
Then pick up the month subscription.
This allows them to open elite/reaper and pick up favor much faster than having to run N/H/E.
If they manage to TR twice within the month, which is completely within reach, then they will have a character who can Elite open, and then they can each use that character to group with alts to give them the same boost. If they play slowly than maybe a 3 month subscription is a better idea.

Be very careful about the classes and races and number of any character(s) created during the VIP month. After the sub expires they will either need to purchase the race and/or class if it isn't FTP, or resubscribe. Also keep in mind that a VIP gets 11 character slots and a premium player gets 5, so any characters created above 5 will mean that they will either have to pay for more character slots (you can pick up some by purchasing the expansions) or leave some characters shelved.

Lastly, only Iconic characters can freely travel between Eberron and Forgotten Realms unless you either purchase the transport ability, have an active VIP sub, run the Web of Chaos chain (Lords of Dust, etc.) in the current life, or earn a Key to the City with that character. If they get a character to 20th within their VIP month the next goal should be to pick up a Key before they TR. It only requires 125 Purple Dragon Knight favor, and they'll pick up some ED XP at the same time.



If their plan is to ultimately go VIP [...]

It really should not be the goal, just from a financial perspective. If there is no concern at all about getting a better price for the goods they purchase, then they can just buy a year subscription, buy the expansions, and let the subscription auto renew when ever it comes due. But if a person has some patience they can get a much better value for their dollars by buying points on sale, buying content and other things on sale, and ignoring the VIP system other than as a short term trial of the game.

[Niminae]

Also your one friend should avoid monk. The monk class is very challenging to play as a 28 pt build.

If you use the Lesser Heart that comes with every new character you can go from a 28 point build to a 32 point build. There isn't a huge amount of difference between a 32 point and a 36 point build.

You lose your 'safety net' if you screw up your build entirely, but with an active player as a mentor they should have access to the various Siberys Dragonshards to respec in that eventuality. Plus they still get the free feat swap per life. Following a 'known good' build can help a lot with that as well.