Leveling guide WITHOUT any adventure packs.

[McNastySavage]

I'm quite new to the DDO scene, but a huge DDPnP player. I was wondering if there are any guides to leveling WITH NO adventure packs. Yes, I know you get the DDO points for running quests with favor, etc. I prefer just using the base story. Has anyone seen anything like this throughout the forums? No, Shan-to-Kor is not a base storyline before anyone states it.

Any help would be great, thanks. :)

[kamimitsu]

I'm quite new to the DDO scene, but a huge DDPnP player. I was wondering if there are any guides to leveling WITH NO adventure packs. Yes, I know you get the DDO points for running quests with favor, etc. I prefer just using the base story. Has anyone seen anything like this throughout the forums? No, Shan-to-Kor is not a base storyline before anyone states it.

Any help would be great, thanks. :)

By adventure packs, I think you mean "without having to buy anything"... if I'm correct than you want to Google "DDO leveling F2P". The first 3 results are:

https://ddowiki.com/page/Category:Free_to_Play_quests
https://ddowiki.com/page/Guide_to_Free_to_Play
https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/330929-F2P-Leveling-guide


If you mean a thematic "base story line", there really is no such thing. DDO is a mix of lots of interwoven arcs, storylines, modules, and whatnot... there is no central main story. It's ALL sidequests.

[C-Dog]

Just curious - is this a personal challenge, or do you just not want to farm favor?

(If the latter, some will show up without trying, more than enough to buy something in the upper level ranges, which is when you'll need it most.)

Anyway, to your question...


I prefer just using the base story...

Any help would be great, thanks. :)
Without any packs, "the base story" is that you're an adventurer p- there are dungeons, and you're going to loot them, there are random problems in Stormreach, and you're happy to get paid to solve them - that's about it. :/

It's tough to go true F2P to 20, not only to figure out what's available but also to make it work. There are known weak ranges where you simply won't find many free quests for leveling, so you have to go back and repeat lower level quests for less xp.

Follow this:

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Guide_to_Free_to_Play#Quest_list

You'll want to maximize the xp that you can earn - more so than normal, since you'll a supply from new quests that is less than sufficient. Always run on Elite (or R) the first time, and try to stay with quests no lower than 2 below your current character level for Bravery Bonus. Do all the quests at a lower level before moving on to the next higher. Bank character levels when you can, level up only when you're (near) capped - you'll often need every last quest at-level to get where you want to be, or as far as you can before repeating quests.

If/when you do run out, you'll have to run "dailies" to earn your xp - there's a lesser XP bonus for repeating a quest the first time each day, after the larger first-time-ever bonus has come and gone.

Also consider running Reaper 1 the first time you run a quest. Even if you're not chasing Reaper XP, you get a significant normal XP bonus for running first-time on Reaper. (Not daily, just first ever.)


o https://ddowiki.com/page/Experience#Quests


To help fill in gaps, you can also hit the Wilderness areas:

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Wilderness_adventure_area

Obviously, you won't need those if quests are already getting you where you need to go.

And there's Daily Dice, if you're not opposed to using those (and have room to save some for those levels you need some help).


The hardest level ranges may be around 8-10, 13-15, and then 18-20 or so.

And it's almost(?) impossible to make 30 without buying a pack of some sort.

[Enoach]

I find the best way to describe the "Base Story" is using "6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon" as an example. Just about any quest in the series is within 6 degrees of a different quest series, be it the House P carnival with Gianthold, or Necropolis with Vale of Twilight and Amrath.

The main story arc is interwoven and as an adventurer you get to "pick-your-path".


At one point in the game there was enough XP in the Explorer areas to level a first life character from 1 to cap. I'm not positive if that is still true today, but even if it isn't as C-Dog pointed out it can fill the gaps.

Next visit the House C challenge area each day and grab a token, using the tokens will allow you to run one of the challenges once even if you don't have the House C Adventure pack. Gathering them each day can help you get a collection you can use at a later time to run these quests for XP and collectibles that you can turn into gear, tokens of the twelve or XP boosts.


You may find you will need to run quests a few times, but with first time bonus on each difficulty you won't suffer re-run penalty until you run the same difficulty multiple times.

[mrtreats]

I'm quite new to the DDO scene, but a huge DDPnP player. I was wondering if there are any guides to leveling WITH NO adventure packs. Yes, I know you get the DDO points for running quests with favor, etc. I prefer just using the base story. Has anyone seen anything like this throughout the forums? No, Shan-to-Kor is not a base storyline before anyone states it.

Any help would be great, thanks. :)

seeing how you just joind the game you might have to buy it but YES STK is a Base Story line as is CO6 and TR they used to be part of the main game before F2P

[SlowDM]

ddowiki.com is the BEST resource for players BUT be careful with the QUESTS section because there are maps and many spoilers e.g. it will inform you exactly what to do , whats in, puzzles etc. The Quests section is Highly not recommended if you want to just play and discover .

I dislike the smashing/breaking crates and boxes ( you don't have to do this) but at the start it's worth it to get a little money/items/potion/extra xp. Do collect the collectables, mushrooms/etc/treasure bags-dropped by monsters. Some are used in crafting or can be sold on the auction house or traded to npc's for things.

DDO isn't PnP , so the rules, esp building a character are are not quite the same. Don't get attached to your 1st characters because you are guaranteed to make mistakes and find OMG my character is garbage.

https://ddowiki.com/page/DDO_Point#Earning_DDO_Points. Read the 'Special first time rewards paragraph. The 1st time only 1 character per account gets 100 favor on each server you earn bonus DP 'points' you can spend in the ddo store 1000 total.
This is recommended because of 2 things ' free things are good' and it also lets you find a good server for your play time / time zone.

There isn't a overall story line BUT some quest chains are loosely connected ( some quests are just 1 offs). The quest chains/arcs have some great story lines. If like me you like the story, you will love when an old villian or npc appears again.

[Nebless]

There is a massive 'Overall Story Arc' post here on the forums if you wish to read it and that might be what you're looking for.

If not that; You washed up on a beach from a shipwreck and have made it to the mainland and a city that has lot's of problems. Now as a wandering adventurer you go from place to place picking up work where you can.

[Grace_ana]

This is not a game in which the main storyline is free and the paid packs are just extras. "Main" storyline parts (as far as that goes in DDO) are also found in paid packs. So we can't really advise you unless we know what you are actually asking.

If you are asking for a list of free quests, that can be found here: https://ddowiki.com/page/Category:Free_to_Play_quests. You can sort it by level, start at or near the level you are currently at, and work your way up. You will likely need all of them, and even then I don't think you can get to level 20 without buying some packs or going VIP for access. Well, I guess you could come back the next day and run them all again until you level and can hit the next grouping.

If you are asking what the main storyline is, well...there isn't one. Not really. There are things referenced in Korthos that show up later, and those things lead to other things, etc. A lot of the quest stories are intertwined, and some aren't related at all. But it would be tough to actually figure out what that line is.

Basically, this is not like Skyrim or some other games where there is a main line you can follow and then extra quests you can do. It's a large, interrelated world.

[MacRighteous]

Since there is a guy who is leveling to 20 (last I heard he was level 19) on the snowy side of korthos (presumably on dice rolls) then I say yes it can be done... question is: Why?

Sure - side project - challenge - bragging rights - DDO fame - but I'm fairly certain that he also plays other toons the way everyone else does - one dungeon at a time.

As said - you can farm points and buy some packs - but I wouldn't say that it will be fun or easy.

For the price of dinner and a movie for two you can VIP for several months - get a feel for the game and then decide what adventure packs you want to buy when VIP drops...
From there you can buy what you want as you want - it really is a small investment for all the fun you can have if the game continues to be a fit for you.

Myself - Im happy to give SSG my money in return for the entertainment - my cable bill (which I hardly use except news and a few shows) costs me much more money than all the coins I've dropped on DDO - and I own everything on one account and VIP on another (with all expacs).

By now you've read that there is no base story other than you are an adventurer and there are dungeons to explore - so get to exploring.

As far as a guide - here ya go:
1. Roll character
2. Find and enter quest
3. Do something in said quest (that earns completion)
4. Profit
5 Rinse and repeat to cap
6 TR, rinse and repeat to completionist
7. Now do it all 3 more times.

Steps 5, 6, and 7 are optional

Good luck and don't forget to /fun

[C-Dog]

seeing how you just joind the game...
Well, a month or so ago. Maybe not technically a necro - body is still warm, at the very least. :cool:

And it always seems a bad sign to me when an OP never revisits a thread like this, not even just to say "thanks". OP was "last active" 10 days ago, so...:confused:

[PsychoBlonde]

As said - you can farm points and buy some packs - but I wouldn't say that it will be fun or easy.

It's actually not that bad--a lot of the older packs are actually pretty cheap, and if you wait for sales you can get them amazingly quickly. I've been doing it on my f2p account. It's a good idea to make characters on every server for the first-time awards, and also participate in Screenshot of the Week and Chronicle Comment for extra points. I think I've won something like 3000 points or more off those two over the years.

If you're willing to do characters on all servers it's also worthwhile to get the first two Monster Manuals as those give DDO points, but only the first time you get a deed, so for a return you'll need to farm them up on as many servers as possible. But if you do those can get you like 6K ddo points if you're diligent.

By far the most tedious part of the whole business is the first two lives when you can't open Elite difficulty, but once you get past that point it's pretty quick. I've been agitating for them to put the MotU and Shadowfell quest packs on the DDO store for points the way Ravenloft is.

[MichelleOtter]

As far as I know the "Main" story parts are also available in paid packages.

[Just_a_Dude]

As far as I know the "Main" story parts are also available in paid packages.

The person who posted this almost four years ago, hopefully is still around and even more hopefully doesn't still have this question. :D

[cru121]

And heads-up. Xmas sales are about to end. If you have spare $15, you can get DDO Expansion Trove from the DDO Market @75% off, until today. And that would definitely make your life easier.

That said, I'd expect some larger discounts/giveaways in late February (DDO anniversary), and perhaps also late March (D&D movie release date).

[cru121]

Also: https://ddowiki.com/page/Story

[adamkatt]

As far as I know the "Main" story parts are also available in paid packages.


How many mining dwarves did you sacrifice to dig up this post?