How far can Free-to-Play go?

[Chaosticket1]

I'm pretty new to this MMO. I've barely touched DDO because I've known I would never be able to unlock everything. Still This has been the furthest I've ever gone in 10 years.
I don't know how how long Ill continue because of that.

Every function requires cash. Just moving things between characters requires cash.

My highest character is just a level 8(9th level banked) Cleric but I've already found I picked a bad Race and Domain combination. I can't use True Reincarnation because that costs Cash.

[Mglaxix]

I'm pretty new to this MMO. I've barely touched DDO because I've known I would never be able to unlock everything. Still This has been the furthest I've ever gone in 10 years.
I don't know how how long Ill continue because of that.

Every function requires cash. Just moving things between characters requires cash.

My highest character is just a level 8(9th level banked) Cleric but I've already found I picked a bad Race and Domain combination. I can't use True Reincarnation because that costs Cash.

you can gain access to most of ddo by grinding points out and watching for sales.

https://ddowiki.com/page/Free_To_Play

https://ddowiki.com/page/Guide_to_Free_to_Play

https://ddowiki.com/page/Account_comparisons

https://ddowiki.com/page/Free_to_Play_DDO_Point_walkthrough

Can's say all these are up to date but should help somewhat

https://ddowiki.com/page/DDO_Store has pricing for store packs items etc.....

My advice would be get an iconic race asap for grinding favor off for points if you intend to stay free to play you can also use the iconic to farm gear for your main or alts as needed

[unbongwah]

Just moving things between characters requires cash.
If it's an unbound item, you can mail it to your other character or use an alt account to make a trading partner. Bound-to-account (BtA) gear requires a shared bank.

My highest character is just a level 8(9th level banked) Cleric but I've already found I picked a bad Race and Domain combination. I can't use True Reincarnation because that costs Cash.
Every character should get one free Heart of Wood at creation for a Lesser Reincarnation (https://ddowiki.com/page/Lesser_Reincarnation) so you can fix any build mistakes. Unfortunately you can't change your race, but no race is so bad at being a cleric as to be unplayable.

BTW you can't True Reincarnate (https://ddowiki.com/page/Heroic_True_Reincarnation) until level 20 anyway. You can farm for Tokens of the Twelve (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Token_of_the_Twelve) if you want to HTR without spending money in the Store.

You can earn about 1,000 Store points via the 100-Favor Dash (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/326657-The-100-Favor-Dash) on every server. The first 80 Favor for 100 Store points takes about two hours, presuming you're soloing and have to start from Normal. Obviously it goes faster if you can join an Elite PUG and just, well, pike it.

There's a lot of F2P quests (https://ddowiki.com/page/Guide_to_Free_to_Play#Quest_list), but they start thinning out after level 8. Nevertheless, it is possible to level to 20 on just F2P quests. It just gets really tedious to farm those mid-to-high-heroic quests.

Yes, everything in DDO is designed to cost you time or money or both. "Free-to-play" is just a marketing catchphrase because it's pithier than "free to try out but then we slow your progress hoping you spend cash because money hats (https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2000/10/23) don't make themselves." Nevertheless, compared to a lot of other F2P games, I find DDO to be much more generous in terms of how much content you can experience before you really need to start spending money in the Store.

[Coffey]

I'm pretty new to this MMO. I've barely touched DDO because I've known I would never be able to unlock everything. Still This has been the furthest I've ever gone in 10 years.
I don't know how how long Ill continue because of that.

Every function requires cash. Just moving things between characters requires cash.

My highest character is just a level 8(9th level banked) Cleric but I've already found I picked a bad Race and Domain combination. I can't use True Reincarnation because that costs Cash.

What race, domain and feats did you choose?

[C-Dog]

I've barely touched DDO because I've known I would never be able to unlock everything...

Every function requires cash. Just moving things between characters requires cash.

...I can't use True Reincarnation because that costs Cash.
Um... no. No, it doesn't.

Don't know who's telling you all this, or where you think you're reading it, but it's simply not the case.


Moving 99.9% of things doesn't require cash, it only requires a Shared Bank, which only requires that you play the game and earn Favor (= DDO Points, = free stuff).

And TR doesn't cost cash - you get to 20, farm up 20 Tokens of the Twelve (easy), done.

(LR - that costs cash after the first free one (free LHoW w/ every new alt), but that's recommended saved for when you make a mistake.)

A ~little~ cash helps (Premium >> true F2P), but that can be less than $5 when stuff is on sale, less then you'd pay for a fast-food lunch or a 2nd-run movie, done.

[C-Dog]

Human race, Luck domain, Mental Toughness feat and Luck of the Heroes feat.

My first mistake was making choices like DDO was Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition.
Okay, first, shake it off.

You're right, but we've all been there - seriously, I'm not just saying that. Very, VERY few players are lucky enough to dodge enough mistakes to see their first character make it anywhere near 20. VERY few. I could tell you about my first alts... oy, light a match. :rolleyes:

(and see "Basics of DDO" in my sig - it's there for a reason)


Now I know Humans are the worst of the Free-To-Play races...
Okay, you really need to slow down - cuz you're wrong again.

Humans are one of the best of the free races - depending exactly what you're building. Starting with an extra feat can be money in a feat-constrained build - and there's more than one of those out there. +2 to a stat is nothing compared to a Feat for some builds. And many builds have no AP to spare for racial trees, so they just don't matter.*

(* FIrst, there's often better stuff out there to spend the AP on, and second, Humans have one of the better trees in the game, at least of the F2P races!)

Sim w/ your analysis of the others - some of the stuff you say is true, but it's outweighed by other factors that you just aren't considering.

Perhaps THE biggest diff between 3.0/3.5 and DDO is Enhancements. And you'd have to learn all the enhancements, top to bottom, and internalize them before you can start to compare racial trees vs. weapon choices vs. saving throws - I sure can't. Only a few players can even present such convincingly.


Holy Sword is a very good ability to improve your Critical chance and Critical Damage.
Here's a great example. You're absolutely correct, HS is a VERY good spell. But you don't get it until Level 14 at the earliest - how is the DPS for that build leveling up until then? :confused: That's (very) approximately 2/3 of the game play if you're only going to 20* - so... worth it???

Not an easy answer, certainly not an intuitive one. Altho' what you say is 100% true, it's only one very small piece in the puzzle that makes up a single 1-20 life of a character.

(* If going to 30, entirely different discussion!)


As far as I can tell, Dungeons and Dragons online is Pay-to-Win.
Mmmm.... depends what you mean by "win". If you mean "Lead the kill count, crush all content effortlessly, be admired and awed by all" - okay, maybe, sure, cash can be a nice shortcut for that.

But if you mean "can't have fun" - just wrong. I'm dedicated F2P w/ only a couple exceptions to become Premium - and I have 99% of everything that a VIP has. And 100% of the fun (and maybe more, cuz my fun is free!) :D


For example the Half-orc in Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition is pretty bad, but in DDO it has excellent Racial Enhancement bonuses that make it an awesome melee warrior...
Um... say it with me... DDO is not 3.5. :cool:

[SilentRunning]

Chaosticket1

Originally Posted by Coffey
What race, domain and feats did you choose?
Human race, Luck domain, Mental Toughness feat and Luck of the Heroes feat.

My first mistake was making choices like DDO was Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition.
=================================================
Now I know Humans are the worst of the Free-To-Play races. Their Racial Enhancements are non-stacking so they have a little bit in different areas which makes them mediocre overall.

Dwarfs have nice bonus against Spells and Poison. Their Racial Enhancements are very good with Axes and can boost their Saving Throws. Their Racial Core abilities are mediocre, just more hit points.

Elves have a Constitution penalty which hurts on a 28point, but they gain several free Martial Weapon proficiencies. Elf Clerics can become followers of the Undying Court, which use Scimitars, the only 18-20 Crit weapon a Cleric can have and overall the best Cleric weapon.

Halflings take a Strength and Carrying penalty, but can have +4 to all Saving Throws just by buying Racial Core enhancements.
=================================================
Domains are tricky. I did more research before picking one at level 2. They dont operate anywhere like Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition. I thought Luck would be a safe domain, because its very good on the Tabletop.

War is one I didnt pick because its bad on in D&D3rd. However is much better in DDO. It gives all Martial and Exotic weapon Proficiencies, raw bonuses to accuracy and damage, special melee attack DCs. Holy Sword is a very good ability to improve your Critical chance and Critical Damage.

Animal Domain Level 2: You gain +1 Spot, +1 Listen, and +1 Reflex saving throws for every 2 Cleric levels.
Level 5: You gain 10 hit points per Cleric level. You also add 10 hit points for each epic level you have gained.
Level 9: You gain +15% fortification bypass.
Level 14: You gain the Feral Charge ability. Your character to briefly morphs into a bear and charges forward through foes, attacking all foes in the charge area. The attack does weapon damage based on your equipped weapon with a +3(W) bonus, and enemies must make a Reflex saving throw with a DC of 19 + Wisdom modifier + Trip Bonuses or be knocked down. Cooldown is 15 seconds. This ability can only be used while holding a melee weapon.
=======================
As far as I can tell, Dungeons and Dragons online is Pay-to-Win. For example the Half-orc in Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition is pretty bad, but in DDO it has excellent Racial Enhancement bonuses that make is an awesome melee warrior especially Barbarian with 32+ point.

First things first, get the PnP vs MMO idea out of your head, the game is not going to be like PnP.


Humans are well rounded, making them one of the easiest races to play.

Dwarves can use their constitution for Damage with Throw your weight around, they have damage and hit with dwarven weapons.

"Best cleric weapon" is the one which allows your cleric to do what it is built for. Animal Domain is in my opinion one of the better ones.

It is definitely NOT pay to win, too many people get that idea when things aren't done the way they want them to be. You don't have to put any money into the game at all. C-Dog and the others have given ways in which you can play for free completely, you just have to know that it's likely to take a bit more time to get the DDO points by doing the favor route.

[GeoffWatson]

Human is really good for a free-to-play race. It has an extra Feat, and access to Healing Amp. The Action Boosts can be nice too. I have played many human characters, even with access to pay-to-play races.

Luck Domain is not bad. Displacement is one of the best defensive spells, and you get +2 to DCs, which is great for casting.

Luck of Heroes is a bad feat. You can get one free Feat change by doing the Hall of the Mark quest then talking to Fred in House Jorasco.

Which Deity did you choose?
If it was Sovereign Host or Onatar you can upgrade your Longsword or Warhammer criticals to better than Scimitar with the Knight's Training feat.

[Chaosticket1]

Thats gotten off topic. the more important part is how unlocking all the Classes is practically impossible. I dont even know why to continue because anything I would work to unlock requires either Cash or years of grinding. I dont even know what Platinum is for now as the game has a Loot-Based Economy. Either I get it from a quest or Its not in my game.

DDO doesnt seem to have any point. Its quickly become a bog of tedious grinding for nothing but the sake of grinding. Its a waste of money because the value of everything in the shop amounts to hundreds of dollars. Brand New games go for $60.

The only things I can unlock are on a Per-Server basis, not account. Thats just the Drow and maybe Level 4 characters. So it looks like a dead end.

[C-Dog]

You sound depressed. You're clearly smart enough to be able to analyze stuff, but you're desperately focusing on and exaggerating the negative. As your doctor and your lawyer, I strongly advise you to shake it off, because while this forum is friendly, it is not always patient. Saddle up, cowboy. :cool:


Elf Clerics with Scimitars can easily stack on Warpriest Favored Weapon bonuses, Elf racial bonuses, and Spells to be extremely damaging.
Only gonna say this one more time - that's all true, but it's only one part of the equation. If it were as important as you make it out, all melee (or melee clerics, or whatever) would be elfs - and they aren't. Not even close.

So there's gotta be something else going on... hmmmm...


I dont even know what Platinum is for now as the game has a Loot-Based Economy. Either I get it from a quest or Its not in the game.
As before, in part you're correct - and the part you're missing is that others are in the same boat. So the Auction House is where you can find decent stuff for platinum. It's not "leet lewt", but it's solid for a 1st-lifer. Got me to 20 np.


I dont even know why to continue because anything I would work to unlock requires either Cash or years of grinding.
All of it? Yep, years. The important parts? A (one) year. One thing? a season, tops.

And I speak from long experience. I started almost exactly 8 years ago, took a couple years off, never played seriously until this last year, and currently own all but one of the newer expansion packs (and just a couple of the older ones that don't speak to me very loudly). All races except Tiefling, all classes, I can earn all trees via favor, and lots of Quality-of-Life bells and whistles thrown in along the way. Divide that by 6 years of casual play, and - sorry, but you can earn the DP to get stuff (on sale) pretty easily.

(Maybe you need to grind smarter?)


Otoh, if you honestly don't know why you're playing... then stop. Go find something you enjoy. There's a lot to enjoy about DDO - but only you can answer that for yourself.
o7

[C-Dog]

(Re-)Start Here:


o Build Repository (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/470423-Build-Repository)
o Kent's Custom Character Builds (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/453843-Kent-s-custom-Character-Builds?p=5504615&viewfull=1#post5504615)
o Request a Build, Get a Build (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/117232-Request-a-Build-Get-a-Build?p=1287726&viewfull=1#post1287726)

[janave]

Thats gotten off topic. the more important part is how unlocking all the Classes is practically impossible. I dont even know why to continue because anything I would work to unlock requires either Cash or years of grinding. I dont even know what Platinum is for now as the game has a Loot-Based Economy. Either I get it from a quest or Its not in my game.

DDO doesnt seem to have any point. Its quickly become a bog of tedious grinding for nothing but the sake of grinding. Its a waste of money because the value of everything in the shop amounts to hundreds of dollars. Brand New games go for $60.

The only things I can unlock are on a Per-Server basis, not account. Thats just the Drow and maybe Level 4 characters. So it looks like a dead end.


Well, by design cash vs time, they understand that most players will favor saving their time, DDO vets on the TR hamsterwheel tend to obtain around 500-700 pts while leveling up (largely dependent on how they play) using a variety of quests (first time bonus plays along this). 100 circuits would probably unlock everything in 5-10 years, again depending on playtime invested, or you could pay about a few days of work money for the same. It is working as intended :).

Platinum is to interact with NPC shops, rarely the standard AH, and mainly character tree resets, the latter is useful at 30 while perfecting gear setup, or just trying different specs.

IMO, DDO's "point" if any was always to try find and construct effective+fun builds, altho these days most would just point you to an tested Inquisitive build that is effective from 1-30 (and up to higher reaper skulls when kitted out with BiS gear) with some highs and lows at certain level ranges.

When I first started, I liked unlocking content, it was an additional goal post or checkpoint to reach, but since then I just decided to buy content, as the additional repetition as you wrote yourself became very boring, there is enough repetition while getting loots and leveling up different layers. EDs, Reaper, Sentience...




At some point the Devs might just bend and decide to provide more Tempest Spine like end raids, jump in, loot a bunch of chests with 12 people, and may even pull something worthwhile :P.

Not much expectations tho, as the `all is well crowd` on the TR wheel is providing input for more the same, possibly the worst grinds: Race TR for example was a player suggestion.... there we go :P



EDIT: removed some variables

[Coffey]

Something like this if you use the lesser heart of wood to rebuild at the Hall of Heroes.

Neutral Human Cleric 20 War Domain
Long Sword & Orb Heavy Armor

Strength 16 + Level Ups
Dexterity 8
Constitution 14
Intelligence 10
Wisdom 12
Charisma 14

Balance
Heal
Jump

1 Single Weapon Fighting 10% Att Speed, +3 Combat Style bonus to Melee Power
1 Power Attack +5 Damage
1 Follower of the Sovereign Host
2 War Domain +1 Hit Damage
3 Quicken
4 War Domain +1 Hit Damage
6 Knights Training Makes a 18-20x3 Crit
8 War Domain +1 Hit Damage
9 Improved Single Weapon Fighting 20% Att Speed, Melee Power is +6, apply 25% more of your appropriate ability score to your damage
12 Improved Critical Slashing 17-20x3
12 War Domain +1 Hit Damage
14 HolySword Spell 16-20x4 Crit
15 Greater Single Weapon Fighting 30% Att Speed, Melee Power is +10, apply 50% more of your appropriate ability score to your damage
16 War Domain +1 Hit Damage
18 Child of the Sovereign +2 Hit Damage, Haste Spell 15% Att Speed
20 War Domain +1 Hit Damage

War Priest 41 AP Divine Might, +7 Hit Damage, 10% Double Strike, Action Boost 30 Melee/Ranged Power 30
Human? 20 to 60 Heal Amp, +2 Strength, Temporary Stength/Charisma, Acrion Boost Human Melee/Ranged Power 20
Radiant Servant? Positive Spell Power, Positive Energy Burst, Turn Undead
Turn Undead and Positive Energy Burst trigger a War Domain Bonus: your party gains a Divine bonus to Melee Power and Ranged Power equal to half your Cleric level for 20 seconds.
Positive Energy Burst can be quickened

Do all the favor quests on elite as you level up to unlock a lot of useful things. If any quests are too difficult at level you can play them 4 levels higher and still get exp for them.
I used to keep the wiki quest list and favor pages open for reference they helped me a lot. F2P parties are a lot of fun when they happen.

Most of all try to play the game at your own pace and ejnoy the content. You will get there in good time.

[lyrecono]

I'm pretty new to this MMO. I've barely touched DDO because I've known I would never be able to unlock everything. Still This has been the furthest I've ever gone in 10 years.
I don't know how how long Ill continue because of that.

Every function requires cash. Just moving things between characters requires cash.

My highest character is just a level 8(9th level banked) Cleric but I've already found I picked a bad Race and Domain combination. I can't use True Reincarnation because that costs Cash.

make sure you check the meta section, talk to people that use your prefered playstyle at cap, the ballance in the game is broken at the moment and the devs pretend they don't hear our complaints because the sale of pots and broken class trees offers them more money and fun (for the few devs that still play, they often play x-bows).
if your style isn't pew pew, go away and never look back, spend the money on family, your health, a good cause, anything better then spending 500 bucks in a game only to find out that it sucks

[Gniewomir]

Thats gotten off topic. the more important part is how unlocking all the Classes is practically impossible. I dont even know why to continue because anything I would work to unlock requires either Cash or years of grinding. I dont even know what Platinum is for now as the game has a Loot-Based Economy. Either I get it from a quest or Its not in my game.

DDO doesnt seem to have any point. Its quickly become a bog of tedious grinding for nothing but the sake of grinding. Its a waste of money because the value of everything in the shop amounts to hundreds of dollars. Brand New games go for $60.

The only things I can unlock are on a Per-Server basis, not account. Thats just the Drow and maybe Level 4 characters. So it looks like a dead end.

Yeah, it's a pain and grind, but possible. I started playing as f2p, few times i bought points, but it was back in days when there were even 65 points available to buy, so i think i never even spend 20 bucks on game. And i managed to unlock literally everything, although i admit it require some patience and farming.

Advice from me: make characters on every server, try to get as much favor as u can. After you buy new packs run them on those other servers. For example for 1k favor on each server u get 100 bonus points. If at some point you'll have nothing to run, make secondary character and again, run as long as u can. You can consider leaving one character spot for favor farming - join random elite parties, run with them until 100 favor, then delete character and create new and wait for next opportunity to make this 100 favor run, usually its harbor elites only. And dont waste pointsz dont buy races, classes etc. The more adevnture packs u got, the higher is your points income, so buying packs is your priority. Look for info which packs are best to buy, dont buy random junk.

Edit: although i agree prices are crazy high. Best bundles of new expansions with like 10 quests for 14 yo mmorpg are as expensive as buying 2-3 AAA games right at premiere...

[Talon_Moonshadow]

You can do a lot as a FtP player.
(Although I am sure you will find the restrictions annoying.... but that is probably the intention.)

That said, I do not think being VIP is expensive at all. Assuming you like this game and play often anyway.
I wouldn't encourage anyone to spend money if they don't play often; but if you play almost everyday like I do, it is way worth the cost IMO, and not all that expensive IMO either.

[SilentRunning]

lyrecono

make sure you check the meta section, talk to people that use your prefered playstyle at cap, the ballance in the game is broken at the moment and the devs pretend they don't hear our complaints because the sale of pots and broken class trees offers them more money and fun (for the few devs that still play, they often play x-bows).
if your style isn't pew pew, go away and never look back, spend the money on family, your health, a good cause, anything better then spending 500 bucks in a game only to find out that it sucks

You're only saying that because you are not getting yourself a god mode strength class. Besides I thought you said you were leaving.

[unbongwah]

Now I know Humans are the worst of the Free-To-Play races.
https://i.imgur.com/wk1OZOx.jpg

Uhhh, no. Whoever told you that was wrong. Humans are not only one of the best F2P races, they're one of the best races, period. [...okay it sounds a little racist when I put it like that, but] Extra feat and skill points, racial action boosts, +1 to your core stat, cheap heal amp - there's few if any builds which don't benefit from some or all of human perks. They're also the only race with access to more than one Dragonmark. They're not the best race for every build, but they are usually in the top 2-3 options for any build.

Most of what you list as perks of the other races either aren't that useful or only benefit certain niche builds. E.g., if you want a CON-based melee, dwarf is the only way to go. Although the answer to "should I make a CON-based melee?" is usually "oh hell no" and I have an entire thread dedicated to them (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/488363-The-Kundarak-Brigade-(TYWA-Builds)).

War is one I didnt pick because its bad on in D&D3rd. However is much better in DDO. It gives all Martial and Exotic weapon Proficiencies, raw bonuses to accuracy and damage, special melee attack DCs. Holy Sword is a very good ability to improve your Critical chance and Critical Damage.
Yes if you want a pure battlecleric and don't have access to one of the Universal trees (i.e., Vistani Knife Fighter or Inquisitive), then War Domain is usually your best option. See my Cleric Domains thread for links to various cleric builds.

As far as I can tell, Dungeons and Dragons online is Pay-to-Win.
Right now the biggest "Pay 2 Win" element is the Inquisitive tree (https://ddowiki.com/page/Inquisitive_enhancements), which is outperforming so many other builds it's not even funny. Otherwise the importance of P2W is usually vastly overstated.

[Nebless]

I'm pretty new to this MMO. I've barely touched DDO because I've known I would never be able to unlock everything. Still This has been the furthest I've ever gone in 10 years.
I don't know how how long Ill continue because of that.

Why do you think you need to unlock everything? Not everything is useful and not everything is fun or even needed to have fun.


Every function requires cash. Just moving things between characters requires cash.

No it doesn't


My highest character is just a level 8(9th level banked) Cleric but I've already found I picked a bad Race and Domain combination. I can't use True Reincarnation because that costs Cash.

True fact; 99.9% of all first rolled characters get deleted. You will make mistakes, everyone makes mistakes and what you do is learn from them and start over.


Thats gotten off topic. the more important part is how unlocking all the Classes is practically impossible.

Again, why do you need to? What is this strange need to play every race and class? I know there's some I don't care about and that includes some of the free ones.


DDO doesnt seem to have any point. Its quickly become a bog of tedious grinding for nothing but the sake of grinding. Its a waste of money because the value of everything in the shop amounts to hundreds of dollars. Brand New games go for $60.

Well then, go play one of those games. So far all I've gotten out of your thread is Oh woe is me!

The point of any game is to have fun. Plan on some grinding if you plan on playing free, as far as it being a bog of tedious grinding - then don't! There's 74 free lvl 1 to 10 dungeons and 25 lvl 11 to 20 dungeons.

I've played Free for the first 5 years I've been here, I've still never had a sub, but I have bought some packs that I wanted. Not ALL the packs or expansions because quite frankly some of them don't appeal to me, but between the free and what I've bought, I can sit down, play and enjoy myself exploring dungeons and killing monsters.

[C-Dog]

Im not experienced with Dragonmarks or Action Boosts...
RIGHT. Stop right there and listen to yourself.

You know tabletop D&D, apparently. If I came to you and said "I'm not experienced with classes or feats or BAB or Hit Points or "role playing", but from the Drzzt novels I know Drow, so let me tell you what's right and wrong with D&D..."... well, then, you'd look at me like we are all looking at you.

You clearly don't know this game. You think you do, but you really do not, and each of your posts only makes that more evident.

And that's fine - it's not a simple game to get to "know". It's not intuitive, and, you're right - it's not well explained in game (so read the Wiki!). After playing for 6 months I believed that I knew more about it than I believe now - because since then I've become better aware of how much I don't know. (If that makes sense. :rolleyes::D)

You need to get on that train, and accept that one failed character does not mean you know what is/not strong in this game. Really.


... because the Respec items are Cash-only...
Dragonmarks start at "Least" and require a Feat, which for their benefits is a waste...
Human's can have several Action Boosts, but I think those all rely in a the same "pool"...
Humans are just mediocre...
Halflings... are quite good for for Stealthy and Spellcaster classes...
Wow, 5 statements that are so far from reality in DDO that I have to wonder what game you are playing. And that's after people who have played for years, some of whom are recognized as build/character Gurus (for one reason or another)(and I'm not referring to myself), are explaining things to you and you are ignoring them. Where does that leave you? :confused:

Okay, now I can see that either I'm wrong (and you're not half as bright as I thought) so "explaining" stuff to you is a waste of time, or you are indeed just trolling for the attention.

Prove me wrong. Until then, GL...

/out

[Coffey]

You should get a free Lesser Heart of Wood in your inventory that you can use at the Hall of Heroes.

The action boosts are separate can use one at a time though.

The Dragon Mark isnt necessary and you can farm up as many 25% movement speed clicky boots you want that you can switch to when you need it.
(Korthos island quest sorry cant remember the name atm.)

The amount gain from a racial tree is only a small amount but i like Elf, Human or Halflings myself. If you stay with human you will like the extra healing amp alone and a 20 melee power boost is great to use after the
other power boosts are used up.

[Chaosticket1]

My most pressing concerns are the following:
#1 getting to level 20.
#2 Getting access to Heroic True Heart of Wood.

Then just grinding one character over and over to get 32point builds, Past Lives feats.

I would hope to unlock better Races and classes but that impractical because the DDO-Favor system is broken. 100 Total Favor on a character is only 25 DDOpoints. Unlock a Druid is about 1500 DDOpoints. In Theory I could do that with about 60 weeks of grinding.

[Goalt]

I'm pretty new to this MMO. I've barely touched DDO because I've known I would never be able to unlock everything. Still This has been the furthest I've ever gone in 10 years.
I don't know how how long Ill continue because of that.

Every function requires cash. Just moving things between characters requires cash.

My highest character is just a level 8(9th level banked) Cleric but I've already found I picked a bad Race and Domain combination. I can't use True Reincarnation because that costs Cash.

Well, I can't give much advice, but I'll tell you one thing. Don't listen to those vets/premium who talk about f2p accounts becoming (or being able to become) great and everything through the legitimate favor system... as I'm pretty sure you already know, its pure bs. Nothing but glorification of the "f2p's journey". This is coming from another f2p, by the way (aka no cash spent).

TR? Well, I can tell you... just don't bother. You probably have few packs unlocked, right? Well, the xp curve is insane after just one TR, and that's not even taking into account the grind that you'll have to go through to get tokens of the twelve w/o cash (plus leveling to 20). You won't make it back to 20 without really wasting your life.

Shared bank - you got that right. All these peps saying how easy it is to transfer stuff between toons... heh, I can relate.

Honestly, you should probably just quit the game. Sounds like you've got a bad case of wanna-play-DDO-but-feel-(extremely)restricted because of the epic paywall. Unfortunately, there's only one easy fix to your problem, and it's one SSG planned out long ago: spend money so that the greedy cash monster is fed. Or grind out your life away and never feel the sun again. You don't sound like you play much (which is good), so it won't be hard. F2Ps are the most restricted type of player in this game... SSG only wants them in the hopes that they may turn premium or, better yet, VIP. That's the truth, and nothing more.

(also the game sucks because the populations are so low)
GL wherever you go.

[Coffey]

First off try not to think youre missing anything by playing F2P and enjoy what you have for now. If playing with other people is important to you then VIP is probably necessary unless youre lucky enough to meet other F2P players. Join or form a static group which you can post in forums under the different servers area.

As far as inventory management goes use the mailing system to send items and plat to mules, which can be on many different free accounts very simple to do. Just keep a list of whats what very simple.

You dont need past lives to enjoy this game either. Some people stay at endgame all the time or run epics 20 - 30.

The best way to play this game is VIP. Its not expensive and it supports SSG. For one month try out most of the content and unlock all the favor rewards that you can by simply playing through all the favor quests and enjoy the game.
Its hella cheap entertainment and SSG really does deserve money for their efforts. But i do understand if you cant afford it atm because i went through a stretch like that too.

[FlameDiablo]

I'm F2P.

- I got pretty all races and classes (missing 1) and packs (missing 4).
- My main toon got over 80 PL, completionist + epic completionist.
- I got shop items like colossal bags.

This is one of the 2 real F2P titles that i found (over more than 1000 that I tried).
But if you choose to save cash you must compensate with time, i farmed a lot of tp, used all discounts possible and choosed wise how to spend TPs.
Is insane to think that F2P can play with the same effort of a Premium or VIP, you have to invest a lot more... obviously.

[Chaosticket1]

Coffey and Goalt's posts are what I was looking for. One truthful and the other idealistic. People need Sour and Sweet to have a balance.

Most MMORPGs have died by now because of their reliance on Subscriptions and Microtransactions.

[Alled78]

Coffey and Goalt's posts are what I was looking for. One truthful and the other idealistic. People need Sour and Sweet to have a balance.

Most MMORPGs have died by now because of their reliance on Subscriptions and Microtransactions.

F2p is really possible in ddo but consider u need to spend time to get points ( consider is good ifea reaching 100 favor in each server as u can find in ddo wiki free to play suggestion..

Then the main razionale is : try the game, arrive around lvl 10.
U like it? Spend a bit of money and go premium. (30 euro or dollars)
Dont waste ddo point in things u can get free ( heroic true heart of wood, classes...)
Take packs on discount.

U dont like it? Change game.

[bonscott87]

I'm not going to rehash what most of said but just to say that F2P is certainly doable and as many, many have suggested, spend any real money, even 2 bucks, upgrades your account to Premium where you get a lot better perks then true F2P. However, this has been suggested to you several times with links to the wiki and you obviously haven't looked at it.


as +5 Saves against Poison and Magic is great.

I'm going to stop you right there as you've noted this type of thing a few times. NO, they are not great. Saves vs. poisons good? Heck even if you had +20 vs poisons...who cares? Get poisons, chug a remove poison potion which you can buy cheaply with plat anywhere, and keep on questing. Same with pretty much any bonus to saves or whatnot given by a race.


Halflings arent great warriors but they are quite good for for Stealthy and Spellcaster classes. Elves are easy to optimize for various weapons, just less hit points than average.

Again, I'm going to stop you there. Dude, any race can do *anything* and be great at it. Race really doesn't matter in this game other then flavor or for some really, really advanced builds. 99% of the game...race doesn't matter. Halflings make great fighters. A halfling can be just as good an assassin or fighter or monk as any other race for example. The racial differences once you get past level 2 just don't matter.

In any case, good luck. If this isn't the game for you...awesome, go find something better and be happy.

[Chaosticket1]

I'm not going to rehash what most of said but just to say that F2P is certainly doable and as many, many have suggested, spend any real money, even 2 bucks, upgrades your account to Premium where you get a lot better perks then true F2P. However, this has been suggested to you several times with links to the wiki and you obviously haven't looked at it.

Again, I'm going to stop you there. Dude, any race can do *anything* and be great at it. Race really doesn't matter in this game other then flavor or for some really, really advanced builds. 99% of the game...race doesn't matter. Halflings make great fighters. A halfling can be just as good an assassin or fighter or monk as any other race for example. The racial differences once you get past level 2 just don't matter.



#1 I am looking, and its still a major grind at the rate of 25 DDO points for 100Favor. Maximum Favor a single character can get using Free methods is about 1500, so 425 DDO Points for a Level 30 character.

So its impossible to unlock anything to account permanently with one character.

#2 the Premium Races have significant advantages, https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BribingYourWayToVictory. There arent even a Free races with bonuses to any bonuses to Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. Pay $15-20 each and you can unlock races that are 20-40% better because they have strong benefits from their racial enhancement trees, like +15% to all saving throws, or +20% to accuracy.

The Half-Orc using its enhancement tree can have +30% accuracy, +50% with two-handed weapons, or even better with low Hit Points.

[Kutalp]

#1 I am looking, and its still a major grind at the rate of 25 DDO points for 100Favor. Maximum Favor a single character can get using Free methods is about 1500, so 425 DDO Points for a Level 30 character.

So its impossible to unlock anything to account permanently with one character.

#2 the Premium Races have significant advantages, https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BribingYourWayToVictory. There arent even a Free races with bonuses to any bonuses to Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. Pay $15-20 each and you can unlock races that are 20-40% better because they have strong benefits from their racial enhancement trees, like +15% to all saving throws, or +20% to accuracy.

The Half-Orc using its enhancement tree can have +30% accuracy, +50% with two-handed weapons, or even better with low Hit Points.








Truth in these words. Anyhow when you re distributing Action points amongst your most favorite class Enhancement trees and multi class combination ,enhancements sets, you will find your self scratching your mind to justify the AP spent at the racial trees.

There re many valuble enhancements (especially passive health, critical roll and resistance based ones) which requires medium to heavy AP investment up the trees. It is not possible to choose all of them whe we spent too much AP at the racial trees.

[Letrii]

#1 I am looking, and its still a major grind at the rate of 25 DDO points for 100Favor. Maximum Favor a single character can get using Free methods is about 1500, so 425 DDO Points for a Level 30 character.

So its impossible to unlock anything to account permanently with one character.

#2 the Premium Races have significant advantages, https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BribingYourWayToVictory. There arent even a Free races with bonuses to any bonuses to Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. Pay $15-20 each and you can unlock races that are 20-40% better because they have strong benefits from their racial enhancement trees, like +15% to all saving throws, or +20% to accuracy.

The Half-Orc using its enhancement tree can have +30% accuracy, +50% with two-handed weapons, or even better with low Hit Points.

You can TR and repeat on same character, so yes you can unlock everything on one character.

[bonscott87]

#2 the Premium Races have significant advantages, https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BribingYourWayToVictory. There arent even a Free races with bonuses to any bonuses to Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. Pay $15-20 each and you can unlock races that are 20-40% better because they have strong benefits from their racial enhancement trees, like +15% to all saving throws, or +20% to accuracy.

The Half-Orc using its enhancement tree can have +30% accuracy, +50% with two-handed weapons, or even better with low Hit Points.

If you're looking at the racial enhancements...most don't ever take them. There is just too much stuff you need in your class enhancement trees. Rarely do I have enough AP left over at level 20 to bother with even a couple points in a racial tree. Not saying you can't have a build that takes advantage of them. But you need to honestly stop thinking that races matter. They don't. Especially as you get to higher levels. That +2 to a stat is worthless and many of the other stuff you'll have better on equipment, again making the enhancement useless to take.

[Kinerd]

free to play can go all the way
#1 I am looking, and its still a major grind at the rate of 25 DDO points for 100Favor. Maximum Favor a single character can get using Free methods is about 1500, so 425 DDO Points for a Level 30 character.

So its impossible to unlock anything to account permanently with one character.

#2 the Premium Races have significant advantages, https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BribingYourWayToVictory. There arent even a Free races with bonuses to any bonuses to Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. Pay $15-20 each and you can unlock races that are 20-40% better because they have strong benefits from their racial enhancement trees, like +15% to all saving throws, or +20% to accuracy.

The Half-Orc using its enhancement tree can have +30% accuracy, +50% with two-handed weapons, or even better with low Hit Points.your denominators are way off in every one of these % calculations. i think this is the source of your misapprehension of race quality.

here's a build i recommend for new f2p:


wizogue
18/2 Wizard/Rogue
True Neutral Human


Level Order

1. Rogue . . . . . 6. Wizard. . . . .11. Wizard. . . . .16. Wizard
2. Wizard . . . . .7. Wizard . . . . 12. Wizard . . . . 17. Wizard
3. Wizard . . . . .8. Wizard . . . . 13. Wizard . . . . 18. Wizard
4. Wizard . . . . .9. Rogue . . . . .14. Wizard. . . . .19. Wizard
5. Wizard . . . . 10. Wizard . . . . 15. Wizard . . . . 20. Wizard


Stats
. . . . . . . .28pt . . 32pt. . .34pt . . 36pt. . .Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ----. . .---- . . ----. . .--------
Strength. . . . 14. . . .14 . . . 15. . . .16 . . . 4: INT
Dexterity . . . .8. . . . 8 . . . .8. . . . 8 . . . 8: INT
Constitution. . 12. . . .14 . . . 14. . . .14 . . .12: INT
Intelligence. . 18. . . .18 . . . 18. . . .18 . . .16: INT
Wisdom. . . . . 10. . . .12 . . . 12. . . .12 . . .20: INT
Charisma. . . . .8. . . . 8 . . . .8. . . . 8 . . .24: INT
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28: INT

Skills
. . . . . R .W .W .W .W .W .W .W .R. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W
. . . . . 1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8 .9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Concent . 2 .2 .2 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 . . 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Disable . 4 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Search. . 4 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 . . 2 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .23
Spot. . . 4 .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .1 .4. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Open Lo . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. 1. 1. 1. 1. ½. 18
Heal. . . 2 . . . .½ .½ .½ .½ .1½. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ½. .6
Listen. . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Bluff . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Balance . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Jump. . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Swim. . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Tumble. . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Haggle. . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .52 .7 .7 .7 .7 .7 .7 .8 14 .8 .8 .8 .8 .8 .8 .9 .9 .9 .9 .9


Feats

.1. . . . : Insightful Reflexes
.1 Human. : Augment Summoning
.2 Wizard : Extend Spell
.3. . . . : Maximize Spell
.6. . . . : Empower Spell
.6 Wizard : Quicken Spell
.9. . . . : Heighten Spell
12. . . . : Spell Penetration
12 Wizard : Spell Focus: Necromancy
15. . . . : Greater Spell Focus: Necromancy
17 Wizard : Mental Toughness
18. . . . : Greater Spell Penetration


Spells

Expeditious Retreat (2), Nightshield (2), Jump (2), <Any>, <Any>
Lesser Death Aura (4), Resist Energy (4), Blur (5), <Any>, <Any>
Heroism (6), Haste (6), Rage (7), Protection from Energy (10), Displacement (13)
Death Aura (8), Wall of Fire (8), Negative Energy Burst (10), Dimension Door (12), Ice Storm (15)
Protection from Elements (11), Eladar's Electric Surge (11), Niac's Biting Cold (12), Teleport (14), <Any>
Greater Heroism (13), Necrotic Ray (13), True Seeing (14), Tenser's Transformation (16), <Any>
Greater Teleport (15), Finger of Death (15), <Any>, <Any>
<Any>, <Any>, <Any>, <Any>
<Any>, <Any>, <Any>

Leveling Guide Hum0 Skills Boost; Mec0 Arbalester; Mec1 Awareness I, II
Mec1 Awareness III; Mec1 Mechanics I, II, III
PM0 Dark Reaping; PM1 Spell Critical
PM1 Skeletal Knight I; PM1 Negative Energy Conduit I; PM0 Shroud of the Wraith; EKw0 Eldritch Strike; EKw1 Improved Mage Armor I
EKw1 Improved Mage Armor II, III; EKw1 Arcane Siphon I; EKw0 Spellsword
PM1 Negative Energy Conduit II, III; PM1 Skeletal Knight II, III
PM0 Undead Shock; EKw1 Arcane Siphon II, III; EKw2 Improved Shield I
EKw2 Improved Shield II; EKw3 Eldritch Accuracy; EKw0 Imbue the Blade
EKw2 Improved Shield III; EKw2 Mystic Wards I, II, III
EKw3 Arcane Barrier; EKw3 Intelligence
EKw4 Armored Arcana; EKw4 Intelligence
EKw4 Orb Saves I, II, III
EKw4 Knight's Transformation; EKw5 Eldritch Tempest I, II, III
EKw0 Subtle Force; EKw5 Improved Knight's Transformation; PM3 Negative Energy Adept I
PM3 Negative Energy Adept II, III; PM2 Spell Critical
PM2 Corpsecrafter I, II, III; PM2 Cloak of Night
PM0 Ghost in the Wind; PM3 Spell Critical; PM3 Eternal Furor I
PM3 Eternal Furor II, III; PM3 Intelligence
PM4 Spell Critical; (Bank 2 AP)
EKw0 Subtle Force II; PM0 Inflict Weariness
Enhancements (76 of 80 AP)

Eldritch Knight (Wizard) (37 AP) Eldritch Strike, Spellsword, Imbue the Blade, Subtle Force, Subtle Force II Improved Mage Armor III, Arcane Siphon III
Improved Shield III, Mystic Wards III
Arcane Barrier, Eldritch Accuracy, Intelligence
Knight's Transformation, Orb Saves III, Armored Arcana, Intelligence
Improved Knight's Transformation, Eldritch Tempest III
Pale Master (31 AP) Dark Reaping, Shroud of the Wraith, Undead Shock, Ghost in the Wind, Inflict Weariness Negative Energy Conduit III, Spell Critical, Skeletal Knight III
Spell Critical, Corpsecrafter III, Cloak of Night
Negative Energy Adept III, Spell Critical, Eternal Furor III
Spell Critical
Mechanic (7 AP) Arbalester Mechanics III, Awareness III
Human (1 AP) Skills Boost

this should have no difficulty finding and disarming traps on normal. on higher difficulties and earlier levels it'll depend on what gear you manage to find, but by later levels that doesn't matter so much.

as f2p you start with 3 character slots, i strongly advise not deleting your cleric yet.

good luck! :D

[Chaosticket1]

Who said anything about deleting? I still have to go as far as I can. Im right on the cusp of unlocking the Drow. Best race option I can get Free-to-Play on many classes.

I just would have liked better Respec options. #1 Im angry that I didnt pick Sovereign Host as my Patron, because the Longsword would be much better than a Warhammer. Ive found many more longswords than Warhammers, and even then the Longsword has twice the crit chance. #2 I think War Domain is better. I want to kill my targets ASAP with strong weapons rather than rely on Tankiness to solve my problems.

[SkyJ89]

I'm pretty new to this MMO. I've barely touched DDO because I've known I would never be able to unlock everything. Still This has been the furthest I've ever gone in 10 years.
I don't know how how long Ill continue because of that.

Every function requires cash. Just moving things between characters requires cash.

My highest character is just a level 8(9th level banked) Cleric but I've already found I picked a bad Race and Domain combination. I can't use True Reincarnation because that costs Cash.

Its natural to feel that way as a new ftp player. I recommend u to buy VIP for the easy access to the game content. If u insist on being a f2p, then I have a few tips.

1) the very first thing u gonna do is to make a new character on every server this game has. The first 25 favor on every server u gain 100dp. That's easy 800dp to gain to buy your first adventure pack. U can go for 100 favor per server too if u have time. That will give u like 200DDO point per server which add up to 1600DDO point.

2) when u get those point, try to get gianthold pack as soon as possible before u reach your 3rd past life. The level from 10 above is when free to play content begin to fade off, hindering u to get to 20. Getting gianthold pack is the best way since u can keep repeating the saga for the exp reward till u are lvl20.

3) Next, get devil assault pack. Its cheap and its where u farm token of the 12 to get u reincarnate.

4) forget about epic level or destiny for the moment. U don't gain much favor at epic level since most of epic quest are repeated heroic quest. Reincarnate when u have enough token of the 12.

5) Focus on getting packs first. Every quest u unlock gonna give u that extra favor on every past life which increase your DDO point gain per past life. I remember my first past life I gain only like 400dp. Now with most of the content unlocked, I gain like 1000dp per past life. That's when I start spending my point on bank, bags, class, race etc.

6) Prioritize your adventure pack based on popularity and favor per ddo point. U can check favor per dp on DDOwiki under adventure packs. Be sure to take in the consideration of quest popularity before u buy. Its a waste of point to buy a pack that no one play. Discount from sales also affect the favor per dp so remember to do your math.

7) Lastly, super important, whenever u see sales on epic destiny, grab it! Without epic destiny, your epic level is gonna be very weak. When u have bought the ED, only then will u consider epic leveling. U can also grab ED whenever u feel u can afford it. When u get like 800DDO point per past life, u can start consider buying stuff other than adventure packs.

Bear in mind, epic level reincarnation is how u get your character to be strong in heroic level. The more u do epic reincarnation, the easier your heroic leveling gonna be. Heroic level are mainly for farming DDO point and racial past life.

[Kutalp]

If you like casual gameplay but also grind you can get some favor but in return that doesnt give massive amount of DDO points.


I advice Buying all adventure packs and buying veteran 7. This way you can play everytihng have fun and make points but also delete/recreate any race and class combo and have fun on the way. If you wish to keep it slow, read or please ask what each adventure pack offers with its setting and story line. Playing your favourite setting is important.


Human is one of the best races. Half Orc and Drow are my other favorites. Warforged is known by its natural immunties to level drain, starting with much better fortification and additional specialities.

Anyhow the player will never have enough Action points both for classand race enhancements. When the Universal trees are added to this equation there is even less room for racial enhancements.


The humble advice given below is not elitist but minimalist and realist ;


Skills and Saves:

I advice allways picking two levels of rogue, both for nice skills bonus aswell as evasion.

Priority to fortitude and reflex saves.

Skills, saves and Equipment:

Light armor (especially leather) with elemental resistances (Fire is the most common followed by acid, cold and electricity. Negative resistance is also important). an extra shield and extra running speed is allways usefull even if you re a dps build to swap at times.


Abilities:

A versatile character is built on at least 14 intel/16 is better (You dont have to be wizard). 14- str and dex is fair enough for the start aswell as 12-14 constitution.

For most of your characters you can keep Dexterity 12-13 for the start. But starting with 14 strength is allways usefull for many reasons. (16 and up for close combat). I do not suggest starting with 6-8 Strength or Dexterity at any build.

Even for Bard 14 starting Charisma is fair enough (16 is better but not a must). Cleric and similar Wisdom based classes it is similar. For most other character these values for these abilites drop to 8-11.


Power, Prr/Mrr, Critical:

Another tip is sticking to power and prr/mrr/Critical. These values improve with your level, items, enhancements and feats and keep scaling with level and higher level items. It doesnt matter what Fighting style, what type of spell school ; arcane or divine spells you use. Those values are universal thus fits anyhwere you like.

Many specialities and feats/enhancement start strong but the class built in specs leave them back at later Power/Prr-Mrr/Critical values allways count.


Multiclassing:

[Rogue/Bard/insert another class or not]... combination is one fo the top fun combinations. Similar for Wizard and Cleric but requires less of the third class.

For warrior type I find Kensei/Stalward with Occult slayer/Ravager enhancements and either Half orc or Human pretty much fun. (Rog/Fight/Barb) You will need to keep an eye for better equipment for extra healing amplification and trapping skills (Search and Disable device the most important ones),


Adventuring tools:

Youll need to stock and carry Cure, Restoration, Removal potions at one tab/column of your inventory/bag. The other one for weapons, armor, bags and thieves tools another one for outfits/jewellery to swap for required skills, resistance items to make a full set for resistances when you face heavy magical skirmishes (sacrificing some of your other less important outfit to swap later on), heal skill when resting, haggle for trade, athletic skill items, trapping skill items.

For Cleric and Spellsinger bard this is not much an issue since you can heal much easier only with extra potions and healing amplification and devotion/heal items. Still carrying some of those regular adventurer items with you and wearing/swapping according to different challanges is a wise choice to save Spell points.


About the fashion and the rumors:

Nowadays (and for 'some' time) ranged character with Displacement spell support and immuntiy to negative levels; supported by CC and aoe effects seems to be the easy go journeyman. Tomorrow other type of character may get more support.


Anyhow,


It is your virtual character:

Neither Human, nor Cleric is a bad choice. You can rebuild a more flexible build with the tips I mentioned without ruining your Cleric dream entirely and still do other things a cleric can not.

My humble opinion is never change your builds just to follow the fashion if you dont want to burn fast, get bored and leave. Harder choice or not, play what you enjoy.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhL8iKN3rVA


https://geekandsundry.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Cleric1-e1495132788149.jpg

He who heals the survivors...


Have a nice time. :D

[Kinerd]

Who said anything about deleting? I still have to go as far as I can. Im right on the cusp of unlocking the Drow. Best race option I can get Free-to-Play on many classes.

I just would have liked better Respec options. #1 Im angry that I didnt pick Sovereign Host as my Patron, because the Longsword would be much better than a Warhammer. Ive found many more longswords than Warhammers, and even then the Longsword has twice the crit chance. #2 I think War Domain is better. I want to kill my targets ASAP with strong weapons rather than rely on Tankiness to solve my problems.more crit chance only makes a better weapon if the multipliers are equal. in this case...

longsword 1 miss 2-18 hit 19-20 2xhit = 0 * 1 + 1 * 17 + 2 * 2 = 21
warhammer 1 miss 2-19 hit 20 3xhit = 0 * 1 + 1 * 18 + 3 * 1 = 21

...the bases are just as good as each other in terms of critical profile.

i hate to keep harping on this but you're just not doing the math right and it's leading you down some really incorrect roads. Drow is not only not the best option, it's not even a good option for many builds.

[ValariusK]

My son has a total Free to Play account. On it, presently he has a 15th level cleric, an 11th level sorcerer, and a 10th level paladin. The level 10 pally was made on the make a 10th level character free weekend bonus. The level 15 cleric was done starting at level 1, adventuring mostly with my 1st alternate. The sorcerer is his current favorite.
By way of favor points, he's gotten Necropolis 1,2, and 3 (awesome sales on those), Vale of Twilight (seriously awesome sale 75% off), devil assault, and path of inspiration (free FTP anniversary gift for everyone). As his dad I was hoping to see a seriously deep discount on Menace of the underdark or the starter pack to get him premium status. Maybe I still will for New Year.

This pack set plus a token for challenges a day is more than sufficient to get him into second life, especially being as I'll pass him tokens. For tokens he has LOD chain (free), devil assault and chrono, and Cannith challenges on epic.

For current FTP players, I recommend waiting for one of those 2 big sales I described---Menace or starter pack. I've seen starter pack as low as $1.50

[droid327]

#1 I am looking, and its still a major grind at the rate of 25 DDO points for 100Favor. Maximum Favor a single character can get using Free methods is about 1500, so 425 DDO Points for a Level 30 character.

So its impossible to unlock anything to account permanently with one character.

#2 the Premium Races have significant advantages, https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BribingYourWayToVictory. There arent even a Free races with bonuses to any bonuses to Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. Pay $15-20 each and you can unlock races that are 20-40% better because they have strong benefits from their racial enhancement trees, like +15% to all saving throws, or +20% to accuracy.

The Half-Orc using its enhancement tree can have +30% accuracy, +50% with two-handed weapons, or even better with low Hit Points.

1. Why is it impossible? You can TR for free at 20 and then earn more Store points. And use it to unlock more packs. Which lets you earn more favor. Which helps you earn more Store points.

If you're looking to be completely F2P forever, then yeah, its going to feel really grindy. There's no MMO out there where that's not true, though. F2P is always going to make you pay with time instead of cash.

DDO, however, rewards you a LOT for spending just a LITTLE money. If you can spring for MOTU Collectors, that gives you Druid, gives you lots of content, Iconics, Epic Destinies, etc. And they're yours forever, permanent account unlocks. If the only thing you ever buy is MOTU and Shadowfell, the rest you can reasonably unlock in game for free just through Favor. You might need to be patient, you might need to wait for sales, but its perfectly doable.

2. No they dont. +2 to one stat is kinda trivial by endgame. You can end up getting 100+ in your mainstat, +/- 2 is not going to be a dealbreaker. I dont know where you're getting 40% better. Most people dont end up spending any points in their Racial trees regardless...they're generally considered inferior to class trees. Dont know where you're getting Horcs get 50% more accuracy, but it seems you're misinterpreting how some of the numbers work or have an incomplete sense of combat systems.

[Chaosticket1]

Im already burning out. Im grinding but my highest character is about Level 9.7. Im really feeling the class flaws as I dont have Wizard spells, Rogue trapping, or Barbarian attacks. Battles are becoming more and more Grindy where I need a Vorpal weapon to trigger just to defeat some enemies. This actually reminds me a lot of my experience with a Paladin back in WoW.

Level 10 is possible, but the end-point isnt much further than that. From the quests Im finding I would have to repeat every quest about 50 times to level up and 95% of what I find or get rewarded with is vendor trash.

I need to Farm Favor to unlock things, and you cant do that by grinding one character even to level 30.

Do a quest, get items to sell, spend the money of Hirelings, repeat. I am wishing for more game automation so I can just cut down on time instead of collecting junk and going back to quest NPCs.

There isnt much to do in this game. Its grinding to unlock things to make grinding less frustating?

#1 1500 points. The Druid is closer to what I actually want to play as because it has Offensive spells, summoning, Animal Companion, and isnt as glassy as a Wizard.
#2 1400 points. After that I also need the Aasamir for Race because I really need higher Wisdom to spells actually succeed. High DCs are key to actually have spells work.
#3 1500 points. Unlock 32 points to have better ability scores.

[Chaosticket1]

more crit chance only makes a better weapon if the multipliers are equal. in this case...

longsword 1 miss 2-18 hit 19-20 2xhit = 0 * 1 + 1 * 17 + 2 * 2 = 21
warhammer 1 miss 2-19 hit 20 3xhit = 0 * 1 + 1 * 18 + 3 * 1 = 21

...the bases are just as good as each other in terms of critical profile.

i hate to keep harping on this but you're just not doing the math right and it's leading you down some really incorrect roads. Drow is not only not the best option, it's not even a good option for many builds.

Warhammer 5% to do 3x damage is 0.15, Longsword 10% to do 2x damage is 0.2. A scimitar/rapier is 15% to do 2x damage is 0.3

Some weapons have special crit effects, like Bloodletter / Heartseeker / Ribcracker +5d6-13d6 on a crit. If you can find a 18+ Crit weapon in combination with that you have a much highest damage ratio, especially once you get Improved Critical.

On Normal difficullty any weapon is okay, but Im going up to Elite where I need to do damage rapidly because the enemies have several times as much damage, hit points, and cast higher tiers of spells. I see a Wizard, I have to nuke it ASAP so it doesnt cast Sleet Storm or something. At higher levels things are going to be using Slay Living or Finger of Death.

[Kutalp]

Warhammer 5% to do 3x damage is 0.15, Longsword 10% to do 2x damage is 0.2. A scimitar/rapier is 15% to do 2x damage is 0.3

Some weapons have special crit effects, like Bloodletter / Heartseeker / Ribcracker +5d6-13d6 on a crit. If you can find a 18+ Crit weapon in combination with that you have a much highest damage ratio, especially once you get Improved Critical.

On Normal difficullty any weapon is okay, but Im going up to Elite where I need to do damage rapidly because the enemies have several times as much damage, hit points, and cast higher tiers of spells. I see a Wizard, I have to nuke it ASAP so it doesnt cast Sleet Storm or something. At higher levels things are going to be using Slay Living or Finger of Death.





Greatsword, Falchion, Scimitar are guaranteed weapons even without chains of feats. (Even Improved critical is good all alone) This way you can focus more at other feats you may need. Whatever class you pick. Whatever fighting style you pick. For warriors melee power feats and dodge line still counts. Although bonuses look tiny they add up and scale with levels and weapon itself.

Vorpal and Critical works anywhere you go. If the metal of the blade is Flametouched and Vorpal Critical slashing then much better. If it has augment slot aswell. It covers allmost anything you will bump in to at your adventures.

[Chaosticket1]

Greatsword, Falchion, Scimitar are guaranteed weapons even without chains of feats. (Even Improved critical is good all alone) This way you can focus more at other feats you may need. Whatever class you pick. Whatever fighting style you pick. For warriors melee power feats and dodge line still counts. Although bonuses look tiny they add up and scale with levels and weapon itself.

Vorpal and Critical works anywhere you go. If the metal of the blade is Flametouched and Vorpal Critical slashing then much better. If it has augment slot aswell. It covers allmost anything you will bump in to at your adventures.


And that leads to the beginning post. I should have picked War Domain so I could actually use those high crit weapons. Ive rarely found any Vorpal weapons and they all seem to be Maces. How does a Vorpal Mace cuts off heads?

I didnt build this Cleric well. Ive put most of my Enhancements in Warpriest. I didnt know when making it that half the Tabletop Cleric spells would be missing and I made A Caster Cleric for Feats.

Ive said it before but Ive only found 3 Warhammers total, which are my Favored Weapons again because I didnt know. Things like this are exactly why I hate weapon focus feats on the Tabletop.

[Kutalp]

And that leads to the beginning post. I should have picked War Domain so I could actually use those high crit weapons. Ive rarely found any Vorpal weapons and they all seem to be Maces. How does a Vorpal Mace cuts off heads?

I didnt build this Cleric well. Ive put most of my Enhancements in Warpriest. I didnt know when making it that half the Tabletop Cleric spells would be missing and I made A Caster Cleric for Feats.

Ive said it before but Ive only found 3 Warhammers total, which are my Favored Weapons again because I didnt know. Things like this are exactly why I hate weapon focus feats on the Tabletop.





Well as you know you can reset your enhancements and find new gear slowly in time. You can also respec feats everyt three days at Fred the illythid at Jorasco.

I would prefer Strength domain or Animal domain. Animal domain is better if you add two levels of rogue at the start. I remember you telling you d go for Divine disciple. It is a good choice with additional radiant servant and some warpriest addition.


I will humbly tell how I play. If I dont enjoy the build or want a new build that server or another one, I simply send him to quality spa , holiday resort for retirement.

I simply delete it after deloading all cash at shared bank vault and items at item shared bank. If you dont have shared banks yet you can sell some items to buy other items you need; simly checking Auction house and Vendors/Brokers. Takes some time but worths it.

I have deleted level 25 toons and more in time. It is the fun we have here afterall. (Some players may choose to spend cash on other items that can not be deleted for their point of view. Its choices afterall) I simply dislike must haves at a virtual reality pixelated realm. We play to have fun afterall.


I enjoy creating, recreating characters at all servers, having fun. Saving items I like that I can share and unlock /buy all adventures and expansions. Even save extra points and favor for each server doing so. Becasue there is much less boredom and stress doing what I enjoy.


About warhammer. It is a viable weapon and even better against certain types of monsters at DDO compared to most other slashing weapons.

Vorpal and flametouched and critical Warhammers do exist. You can use them very well and enjoy alot. :D

If you get Improved critical bludgeoning feat, its ok. You can also get Knights training feat to get extra effect with a warhammer. War domain has good tricks aswell if you wish to stick to it. What I tell is about going more economic but still a solid rolling toon with the weapons I named before. Also that was referred to 2 rogue 2-6 fighter and rest cleric as the build.


I humbly advice not to get stressed over your build. You can create anew one at another server, even gain DDO points doing so and keep playing with both whenever get bored. You can delete the ones you dont enjoy , anytime. Rerun the new adventures and expansions you unlocked through favor runs or through buying points in ddo store with cash slowly in time.

Creating new characters also helps meeting new players and to grow DDO playerbase.

I hope you enjoy your next Cleric builds. These experiences you have got in time allways makes you more certain at your newer builds. :)

[SkyJ89]

Im already burning out. Im grinding but my highest character is about Level 9.7. Im really feeling the class flaws as I dont have Wizard spells, Rogue trapping, or Barbarian attacks. Battles are becoming more and more Grindy where I need a Vorpal weapon to trigger just to defeat some enemies. This actually reminds me a lot of my experience with a Paladin back in WoW.

Level 10 is possible, but the end-point isnt much further than that. From the quests Im finding I would have to repeat every quest about 50 times to level up and 95% of what I find or get rewarded with is vendor trash.

I need to Farm Favor to unlock things, and you cant do that by grinding one character even to level 30.

Do a quest, get items to sell, spend the money of Hirelings, repeat. I am wishing for more game automation so I can just cut down on time instead of collecting junk and going back to quest NPCs.

There isnt much to do in this game. Its grinding to unlock things to make grinding less frustating?

#1 1500 points. The Druid is closer to what I actually want to play as because it has Offensive spells, summoning, Animal Companion, and isnt as glassy as a Wizard.
#2 1400 points. After that I also need the Aasamir for Race because I really need higher Wisdom to spells actually succeed. High DCs are key to actually have spells work.
#3 1500 points. Unlock 32 points to have better ability scores.

That's because u focus too much on getting the point in a short time. Just relax and enjoy what dungeon u have. If u are trying to get that first time 25 favor thing, don't do all in a day. That kind of repetition will burn just anyone out. Its up to the player on how to manage it so they don't get burn out. This kind of grind is what f2p needs to endure in any MMO. Either pay for better experience or u work for it. If u can't handle it, just pay for it.

By the way, if u haven't know, u don't need to make new character to grind for points. Everytime your character reach level 20, u get an option to reincarnate so u are back at level 1 with all your favor reset so u can gain them again. Each time your character reincarnate they gain past life feat which make your existing character stronger in time. Ever wonder why some player are so much stronger than u when they are at the same level at u? Yeah, that because they had a lot of past life.

To know more about reincarnation or anything about DDO, feel free to visit DDOwiki. Its best to know the game first before u jump into any conclusion.

https://ddowiki.com/page/Reincarnation

[Kutalp]

That's because u focus too much on getting the point in a short time. Just relax and enjoy what dungeon u have. If u are trying to get that first time 25 favor thing, don't do all in a day. That kind of repetition will burn just anyone out. Its up to the player on how to manage it so they don't get burn out. This kind of grind is what f2p needs to endure in any MMO. Either pay for better experience or u work for it. If u can't handle it, just pay for it.

By the way, if u haven't know, u don't need to make new character to grind for points. Everytime your character reach level 20, u get an option to reincarnate so u are back at level 1 with all your favor reset so u can gain them again. Each time your character reincarnate they gain past life feat which make your existing character stronger in time. Ever wonder why some player are so much stronger than u when they are at the same level at u? Yeah, that because they had a lot of past life.

To know more about reincarnation or anything about DDO, feel free to visit DDOwiki. Its best to know the game first before u jump into any conclusion.

https://ddowiki.com/page/Reincarnation







Truth in your words about TR. I didnt mention True Reincarnation becasue recreating characters was to let him try new things fast and easy.


Not to disencourage TR runs but; our friend is new. Grinding Hearts is not easy even more of a heavier burden compared to playing with new characters. TR rush is even a faster burner compared to regular level grind. Buying is not cheap if it turns in to a habit.

Even many older players such as myself prefer keeping one or a handful of Mains at one or two worlds and replay at other servers with new toons. Its best bang for the buck mentality.

Well at least this is the reasoning to keep fellow players fresh, alive and kicking in DDO. :)

https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/conan-exiles-1-860x280.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5KYZ74OAak

[unbongwah]

#1 1500 points. The Druid is closer to what I actually want to play as because it has Offensive spells, summoning, Animal Companion, and isnt as glassy as a Wizard.
FYI druid is bundled with the first expansion on the DDO Market (MotU SE (https://store.standingstonegames.com/store/ssg/en_US/pd/ThemeID.4823088000/productID.246618200/categoryID.58516100)), along with four adventure packs, Epic Destinies, Veteran Status, and a few other goodies. Historically it's been the first purchase I recommend to newer players, even though MotU is epic-only and isn't PUGed as often as it used to be. Unfortunately you missed the Black Friday sales several weeks ago, but it seems to go on a sale at least a couple times a year.

#2 1400 points. After that I also need the Aasamir for Race because I really need higher Wisdom to spells actually succeed. High DCs are key to actually have spells work.
Yes and no: yes, you need high DCs for spells to land, but you're overrating the importance of Aasimar's WIS bonus. Much more of the power creep in DDO comes from gear, past lives, stat tomes, etc.

#3 1500 points. Unlock 32 points to have better ability scores.
Note that you will also unlock 32-pt builds when you hit 1,750 Favor (https://ddowiki.com/page/Favor#Total_Favor). Also if and when you True Reincarnate a 28-pt build, you become a 34-pt build in your next life, even if you don't have 32-pt builds unlocked yet.

TBH it sounds like part of the issue is you've convinced yourself you need to unlock these things before you can get to the so-called "good stuff" so you're focused on farming Favor for free Store points, as opposed to just playing to have fun. The other issue is the same one every D&D player has: discovering that DDO's implementation is very different from tabletop rules so there's a long adjustment period / learning curve as you recalibrate your builds based on how DDO actually works as opposed to what you expect from PnP.

[Kinerd]

Warhammer 5% to do 3x damage is 0.15, Longsword 10% to do 2x damage is 0.2. A scimitar/rapier is 15% to do 2x damage is 0.3and warhammer is 90% to do 1x damage so .15 + .9 = 1.05, longsword is 85% to do 1x damage so .2 + .85 = 1.05. scimitar is better but you have to be elf instead of human to have it as a favored weapon, which is a downgrade for a melee cleric.

bloodletter does favor weapons with more range but it's also not a good weapon enhancement for you - on an improved critical longsword you're getting 4 * 7d6 = 28d6, if you instead had an enhancement that did 2d6 on hit you'd have 19 * 2d6 = 38d6. yes a bloodletter longsword would do better than a bloodletter warhammer, but a holy warhammer would do better than both.
Level 10 is possible, but the end-point isnt much further than that. From the quests Im finding I would have to repeat every quest about 50 times to level up and 95% of what I find or get rewarded with is vendor trash.if you ran only f2p quests only on normal (no wilderness, no challenges) you'd have to repeat each quest six times to get to 20, not fifty, and that's an extremely liberal estimate since you can run wildnernesses, challenges, on hard, in groups, get optionals, use daily dice, participate in limited time events like Crystal Cove or Mabar, etc.

i really think if you correct the math you will have a much better feeling towards the game.

[droid327]

Im already burning out. Im grinding but my highest character is about Level 9.7. Im really feeling the class flaws as I dont have Wizard spells, Rogue trapping, or Barbarian attacks. Battles are becoming more and more Grindy where I need a Vorpal weapon to trigger just to defeat some enemies. This actually reminds me a lot of my experience with a Paladin back in WoW.

Level 10 is possible, but the end-point isnt much further than that. From the quests Im finding I would have to repeat every quest about 50 times to level up and 95% of what I find or get rewarded with is vendor trash.

I need to Farm Favor to unlock things, and you cant do that by grinding one character even to level 30.

Do a quest, get items to sell, spend the money of Hirelings, repeat. I am wishing for more game automation so I can just cut down on time instead of collecting junk and going back to quest NPCs.

There isnt much to do in this game. Its grinding to unlock things to make grinding less frustating?

#1 1500 points. The Druid is closer to what I actually want to play as because it has Offensive spells, summoning, Animal Companion, and isnt as glassy as a Wizard.
#2 1400 points. After that I also need the Aasamir for Race because I really need higher Wisdom to spells actually succeed. High DCs are key to actually have spells work.
#3 1500 points. Unlock 32 points to have better ability scores.


FYI druid is bundled with the first expansion on the DDO Market (MotU SE (https://store.standingstonegames.com/store/ssg/en_US/pd/ThemeID.4823088000/productID.246618200/categoryID.58516100)), along with four adventure packs, Epic Destinies, Veteran Status, and a few other goodies. Historically it's been the first purchase I recommend to newer players, even though MotU is epic-only and isn't PUGed as often as it used to be. Unfortunately you missed the Black Friday sales several weeks ago, but it seems to go on a sale at least a couple times a year.

Yes and no: yes, you need high DCs for spells to land, but you're overrating the importance of Aasimar's WIS bonus. Much more of the power creep in DDO comes from gear, past lives, stat tomes, etc.

Note that you will also unlock 32-pt builds when you hit 1,750 Favor (https://ddowiki.com/page/Favor#Total_Favor). Also if and when you True Reincarnate a 28-pt build, you become a 34-pt build in your next life, even if you don't have 32-pt builds unlocked yet.

TBH it sounds like part of the issue is you've convinced yourself you need to unlock these things before you can get to the so-called "good stuff" so you're focused on farming Favor for free Store points, as opposed to just playing to have fun. The other issue is the same one every D&D player has: discovering that DDO's implementation is very different from tabletop rules so there's a long adjustment period / learning curve as you recalibrate your builds based on how DDO actually works as opposed to what you expect from PnP.

I was going to post much the same thing. OP is looking at an extremely inefficient way to acquire what he wants...and, honestly, what he wants is probably not going to be much different than what he's playing now, so I think he has expectations cranked way too high. Caster-melee hybrid Aasi druid isnt going to be some catharsis of awesomeness with unstoppable WIS. And looking for a summoner playstyle too...oof, that's not going to end well after spending over 2000 points to get it (PS: summoners are not playable in DDO). A boilerplate Bard could probably achieve a more effective caster-melee self-healing playstyle, honestly, and that's F2P.

OP seems like he's upset about things mostly because he doesnt realize why there's no need to be upset about them :)

[Chaosticket1]

I was going to post much the same thing. OP is looking at an extremely inefficient way to acquire what he wants...and, honestly, what he wants is probably not going to be much different than what he's playing now, so I think he has expectations cranked way too high. Caster-melee hybrid Aasi druid isnt going to be some catharsis of awesomeness with unstoppable WIS. And looking for a summoner playstyle too...oof, that's not going to end well after spending over 2000 points to get it (PS: summoners are not playable in DDO). A boilerplate Bard could probably achieve a more effective caster-melee self-healing playstyle, honestly, and that's F2P.

OP seems like he's upset about things mostly because he doesnt realize why there's no need to be upset about them :)

No Catharsis. You mean there is no fun in this game?

Based on my experiences the issue I was worried about "How far can Free-to-Play go?" is less important than how far before its just quitting because of the Game Flaws.

Unlocking things is both a Goal and a means to further goals. Without the ability to do so its hopeless. Is this game Hopeless? Seems so as there arent any account unlocks possible for free to play. Ive unlocked the Drow, which is the best Server-only unlockable.

Its no fun to actually play. The character classes are too flawed, and I have to solo-grind everything in a game where characters were made to solo. Druid is perhaps the least flawed class.

[SkyJ89]

Unlocking things is both a Goal and a means to further goals. Without the ability to do so its hopeless. .

What do u mean by that? Getting those adventure pack with your points is the way to unlock more stuff. Forget about druid or warlock. They don't gives u favor. Favor is your DDO point. U don't unlock stuff without DDO point. Getting those adventure pack unlocked is the first step to get other stuff unlocked.

Get gianthold first. Its a huge pack that could make your life from level 13 to 20 a lot easier. Next get vale of twilight.

I really hope u got necro and vault of night pack with your points last week because these sales wont be coming back anytime soon. 75% off necro deal is a must buy. 50% off vault of night is a very good offer since most weekly sales falls around 20 to 25%. Only summer and year end sale will u see such a bargain. Getting adventure pack during sales saves u a lot of favor grind.

Anyway, u don't need to make multiple character to grind out favor if u haven't know. Your favor will reset each time u do heroic reincarnation. U can just play one character and still gain favor/DDO point by getting to level 20 and reincarnate back to level 1. Your favor will be reset to 0 once u are reincarnate to level 1. U can start gaining favor again and subsequently more DDO point. Rinse and repeat. For more info on reincarnation, check this out.

https://ddowiki.com/page/Reincarnation

For more information on getting Heart of wood with token of the 12,

https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Heroic_True_Heart_of_Wood
https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Token_of_the_Twelve

So how far can free to play go in this game? Very Far if u know how.

Good luck.

[droid327]

No Catharsis. You mean there is no fun in this game?

Based on my experiences the issue I was worried about "How far can Free-to-Play go?" is less important than how far before its just quitting because of the Game Flaws.

Unlocking things is both a Goal and a means to further goals. Without the ability to do so its hopeless. Is this game Hopeless? Seems so as there arent any account unlocks possible for free to play. Ive unlocked the Drow, which is the best Server-only unlockable.

Its no fun to actually play. The character classes are too flawed, and I have to solo-grind everything in a game where characters were made to solo. Druid is perhaps the least flawed class.

The game is lots of fun, and F2P can go all the way. The game has flaws, sure, but they're not really related to the things you're asking about here - there isnt an eventual paywall that F2P will hit and progress no further.

The only time you dont have fun is when your expectations arent aligned with the game itself, and that seems to be the case here. You're valuing some things way too much - Drow, Druid - when they arent as much of a difference maker as you seem to think. Once you get them, you'll discover that and be disappointed and frustrated and THAT is what might make you quit. I'm trying to correct those expectations before you get to that point, so you spend your time unlocking things that will actually improve your fun.

If you arent having fun playing the quests right now, though...well, that's the game. That never changes - you're always going to be completing quests. And yes, you're going to have to be soloing whenever you cant find a group, that's also the game, unless you bring your own friends to party with every time. But you can definitely build a strong first-life F2P character for soloing, that's possible - though not every build is going to be good for that. What about Druid and Drow has you so enamored, and what about your current build is lacking?

And yes, there's only a few direct unlocks like Drow, FvS, Arti...but that's not the right way to look at it - you can earn an unlimited amount of free Store points, so EVERYTHING is unlockable on an account-wide basis. That's how you unlock adventure packs, classes, and races. Like I said before, it takes time and patience to wait for sales, but that's always going to be the tradeoff for F2P, time for money.

[ArekDorun]

So...How far can you go as Free to Play? C-Dog has answered this already: As far as you want. Does that mean it'll be easy? Not necessarily, and it definitely won't be if you focus on unlocking classes/races (or other things that aren't adventure packs).

First things first: Races are mostly for flavor these days. Very few builds will be broken by +/- 2 Ability Points, and even fewer still use or require Racial enhancments (and those that do are pretty obvious and relatively easy to avoid). Modern builds are more likely to require Harper (for Know the Angles) or Inquisitive (because it's the new shiny) than anything else, so just ignore builds that require those, or classes you don't have (like Warlock and Druid). This is because your focus should be on buying Adventure Packs first, not on buying any kind of races, classes, or trees.

As for which adventure packs to buy first: Gianthold is probably the most important xp-wise, followed very closely by the Vault of Night and Vale of Twilight packs. Next up in importance comes Devil Assault, for Tokens of the Twelve you can trade for Heroic hearts of wood/blood, although if you've been grabbing challenge tokens every day, running epic-level challenges for tokens is also a good option (especially once you get good at the challenges). After getting those, I recommend keeping an eye out on what outside of Ravenloft and/or Sharn comes up on your server's LFMs a lot and buying that. Not that Ravenloft and Sharn aren't good buys, but they're rather expensive and will take quite a lot of time to grind the DDO points for if you don't just break down and buy the expansions (preferably when they go on sale).

Speaking of expansions, if you catch them on sale, both Menace of the Underdark (get Standard edition for the druid class and the DDO Points) and Shadowfell Conspiracy (both standard and collectors are great...get both versions of Shadowfell if/when you can afford them as many of the benefits stack) are great buys. Even when they're not on sale, they have good value. Not only that, but the adventures in those expansions are still run sometimes...and can't be obtained any other way atm.

Finally, for perks: The only perk I would consider getting short term is the shared bank. Even that, however, can wait until you have at least Gianthold and Devil Assault (and probably until after VoN and Vale unless you're desperate to move things off of your main). Remember: If you're not specifically doing the 100-favor dash for point-grinding, the shared bank is going to cost you multiple lives' worth of DDO points, where most adventure packs can be ground up on a single life (maybe a bit into a second one for the most expensive single packs) once you have enough content.

All that said, tho: Are you finding that the game is actually fun for you at this point (given that you're approaching L10 on your main)? If not....maybe it's time to look for another game. Something to think about. I'd love to see you stay, but if you decide to leave...I hope you find something to your liking out there. :)

--ArekDorun

[Chaosticket1]

#1 quests are fewer at higher levels. There are only 4 free quests between level 19 and 30. So 20 is the End.

#2 I've found the greatest problem is the Cleric's Enhancement trees being flawed.
I looked up Universal Trees. The Falconry tree is quite good and its possible to become Single Attribute Dependent using Wisdom

#3 Aasamir is optimized for Cleric with +2-4 Wisdom, +60 Healing Amplification, +30 Positive Spell Power. That Racial Tree is better than the Sacred Servant Cleric tree.

Warforged isn't optimized but has numerous immunities and some powerful abilities. The drawbacks can be mostly mitigated.

[DYWYPI]

I believe there are only two Free-to-Play (none raid) standard quests between quests levels: 20-32 and F2P quests dry-up by Level 10 onwards. However, there are also another ten quests, which also have Epic versions and thus totalling twelve Epic quests. Also there are the 'House Cannith Challenges' and 'Eveningstar Challenges' you can enter with your 'Daily Challenge Tokens'.

Without 'Epic Destinies' or having a greater choice of Epic quest content; you personally wouldn't benefit much from levelling your main Character to 30 at this stage. Plus you'll probably tire of rerunning the 'Web of Chaos' repeatedly at Epic.

I was Free-to-play for several years and ground Epic Destines via Favour... The only items I have ever purchased with real money were the first three Expansions. Albeit prior to getting any of the Expansions; I had a total of thirty Adventure Packs already ground via earning DDO Points with Favour alone. :-)

Currently I'm only missing Adventure content from around Sharn onwards, i.e. the Sharn Expansion, White Plume Mountain, The Soul Splitter and The Keep on the Borderlands.

I'm only a Casual Player so it probably takes me close to 6-12 months to go from Level 1 to 20. I would agree Gianthold is a priority pack, it has a Saga and Epic version, wilderness and added Raids plus several other useful benefits and is at a level where you won't have much playable content.

The following: Vault of the Night (popular for both the Raid and with PUGs), Catacombs (great Favour ratio per DP cost), Sentinels of Stormreach and Three Barrel Cove (Saga if combined) and Devil Assault (tokens) are also good solid high priority purchases for a pure F2P. I personally don't care for the Vale of Twilight that much.

What will likely hinder your Favour grind the most; is not being able to open heroic quests on higher than 'Normal' setting. :-/

If you have the funds and ability to purchase both 'Menace of the Underdark (Standard Edition)' and 'Shadowfell Conspiracy (Collectors Edition)' with real money when on sale it will be a huge boost and likely a "game changer". I would recommend getting those two Expansions if you plan on staying around more than twelve months.

Being pure F2P you won't really have the luxury to buy new Classes or Races on sale until you've prioritised getting a good handful or two of useful Adventure Packs - so its less painful progressing and gaining Favour via grind.

[Kinerd]

#1 quests are fewer at higher levels. There are only 4 free quests between level 19 and 30. So 20 is the End.

#2 I've found the greatest problem is the Cleric's Enhancement trees being flawed.
I looked up Universal Trees. The Falconry tree is quite good and its possible to become Single Attribute Dependent using Wisdom

#3 Aasamir is optimized for Cleric with +2-4 Wisdom, +60 Healing Amplification, +30 Positive Spell Power. That Racial Tree is better than the Sacred Servant Cleric tree.

Warforged isn't optimized but has numerous immunities and some powerful abilities. The drawbacks can be mostly mitigated.

Falconry isn't going to make your character good at melee

Radiant Servant can give +4 Wisdom and 178 Positive Spell Power, and Human has +60 Healing Amplification and another +1 Wisdom

if you're looking for immunities, i will recommend the Pale Master build i posted earlier that much stronger

[Chaosticket1]

Falconry isn't going to make your character good at melee

Radiant Servant can give +4 Wisdom and 178 Positive Spell Power, and Human has +60 Healing Amplification and another +1 Wisdom

if you're looking for immunities, i will recommend the Pale Master build i posted earlier that much stronger

How can you say that?
Reading from the abilities the Falconry universal enhancement tree is well suited for Wisdom based character like the Cleric. The attacks do high weapon damage regardless, but also have Wisdom-based DC checks for additional effects, Blind, Trip, Save-or-Die and Self-Healing (whopping 15% max HP). It has multiple attack options, and they dont cost Spell Points. Diving Attack, Strike for the Eyes, Coordinated Strike, Death From Above, Thrill of the Hunt, Mark the Prey.

Killer Instinct 1 and 2 make Weapon Attacks based on Wisdom for Accuracy and Damage. This syngergizes a character to maximize Wisdom.

This suits my solo character very well. I need to increase my damage ability without compromising my spellcasting any more than necessary.
======================================Cleric problems
Warpriest tree is dependent on having an incredibly specific Favored Weapon. I havent found my Favored Weapon in about a month. So its useless to me aside from a few points for damage reduction and other defense boosts. This means my attacks are limited to the default press-and-hold mouse controls.

Radiant Servant tree is about 2 things, Healing and Turn Undead. If Im playing right than I should be avoiding damage through high saves, resistances, and armor class rather than trying to out-heal the damage. Turn Undead requires a very specific build and it only useful against Undead.

All 3 Cleric enhancement trees have big flaws. Favored Weapon dependency, Healing/Anti-Undead overspecialization, and/or uselessness against the Undead.
================================
The key to having fun and leveling are the same thing, having good options to play. Painfully grinding DDOpoints and then converting those points into a handful of quests with high difficulty doesnt make things easier.

Its important to make the actual gameplay more interesting.
Step 1 is probably to unlock Universal Enhancement trees. The drawback being that the Universal trees are not suited for every character class. Thats partially mitigated because each tree only costs 495 DDOpoints and being allowed by any character.

Step 2 is the race. These are a lot more expensive and suited for different classes. Warforged is probably the best for general use because they are resilient, which every character benefits from.

Step 3 is the Unlock different classes. Only ones I want are the Artificier and Druid because they are designed to be solo characters. An Artificier Warforged would be able to self-heal.

[Kinerd]

How can you say that?

because you don't have the feats gear or player knowledge for it, and because your fetish for paid options repeatedly leads you down blind alleys that undermine your character

[C-Dog]

The key to having fun and leveling are the same thing, having good options to play...

Its important to make the actual gameplay more interesting.

Step 1 is probably to unlock Universal Enhancement trees...

Step 2 is the race...

Step 3 is the Unlock different classes...
Eventually, yes.

But you have "good options" with F2P. if you can't make a character work (at some level!) with the F2P options, then 99% you won't have any better success with the Premium ones.

Yes, the Premium ~can~ be stronger, but stronger than "complete fail" is not going to help. And, by your own statements, and multiple times, ALL your builds have been "complete fail".


So... try, just TRY one of the builds that have been proven. STOP trying to reinvent the wheel and argue why "This engineering is inferior" when you don't even understand (yet) the rules of physics for the new world you are in.

Just try one. Play something that "everyone" agrees works fine, THEN come back from a position of (some) experience and we can talk.

(Re-)Start Here:


o Build Repository (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/470423-Build-Repository)
o Kent's Custom Character Builds (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/453843-Kent-s-custom-Character-Builds?p=5504615&viewfull=1#post5504615)
o Request a Build, Get a Build (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/117232-Request-a-Build-Get-a-Build?p=1287726&viewfull=1#post1287726)
(or anything in Ungbongwah's sig, posted above)

(I suggest (in purely alphabetical order) the Rogue/Mechanic, basic Sorcerer or Pale Master/Trapper (either), or maybe one of the Ranger/Trapmonkeys (one ranged, one 2-weapon version). These seem to be the strongest/most successful for new players.)

[Nebless]

F2P quests dry-up by Level 10 onwards.

To expand; There are 74 F2p quests between lvl 1 to 10 and 25 F2p quests from lvl 11 to 20.

[ArekDorun]

(snip)
Step 1 is probably to unlock Universal Enhancement trees. The drawback being that the Universal trees are not suited for every character class. Thats partially mitigated because each tree only costs 495 DDOpoints and being allowed by any character.

Step 2 is the race. These are a lot more expensive and suited for different classes. Warforged is probably the best for general use because they are resilient, which every character benefits from.

Step 3 is the Unlock different classes. Only ones I want are the Artificier and Druid because they are designed to be solo characters. An Artificier Warforged would be able to self-heal.

The above is completely wrong, and tells me that you haven't been listening to a word we're saying. I will say this: If you're not having fun with your cleric, stop playing it ant try creating a new character. If you've unlocked Drow, have a look at a mechanic or tempest build, depending on whether you want Melee or Ranged. Or look into making a sorcerer if you like casting. :)

As for why you're wrong, there are a couple of reasons:

First, Right now, from your position of having few or no unlocked non-F2P quests, you have fewer ways to generate extra Favor, which means fewer ways to generate more DDO Points. I have access to every quest, and tend to average 700 DP per past life (less if I repeat a lot of stuff or are running a first-life alt, more otherwise). You, with the limited quests you have, will have to repeat a lot more stuff than I do, so your average DP income is going to end up being lower, requiring you to actually grind more to get stuff you want. Getting more quests, especially the popular ones, will alleviate that.

Second, from what I've been reading about why you want these trees, it seems you don't have enough game knowledge to take advantage of them. Is 1-2 Wisdom nice to have on a Cleric? Yes, for CC and to make Blade Barrier do more damage (because mobs save less). Is it necessary? Not a bit. In fact, as someone else pointed out, endgame builds have over 100 wisdom these days - and get that easily. 1-2 wisdom is next to nothing once you get to that point. For 1-20 content it's not needed, either - if you're gearing up properly (and with Cannith Crafting, who isn't these days), you'll have enough wisdom to do what you need to do at any level.

Speaking of Cannith Crafting - Crafted gear isn't quite as good as gear from quests, but it's close enough that having access to it is probably more important to your character's ability to contribute than any class, tree, or non-quest, non-F2P item. For that reason, I highly recommend leveling up your crafting as high as you can. Once you have enough plat for repairs, start taking that gear to a crafting station and turning it into cannith essences instead, and then using those to make (at first) the highest-level "Minimun Level" shard you have a chance to make. You can get free success boosters easily, so do that and transfer them to your crafter to help with this. If you can get to around level 300 in crafting, you'll be able to craft almost anything you have the materials for (getting the mats may be another story in some cases, tho).

And again, remember, games are supposed to be fun....so have fun - don't sweat it that your first character isn't the top-dps ubertoon you wanted it to be. Learn from your mistakes in building it, and maybe start a new character with that knowledge. Additionally, I highly recommend finding a build you like elsewhere on these forums rather than taking the DIY approach. Here's a thread with a LOT of good builds (many designed specifically for new characters or already adapted for such use): Build Repository (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/470423-Build-Repository) - don't let the fact that the thread's a few years old fool ya, it's been being kept current since its inception. If you really want to use Drow for your new character (I'd certainly consider it), look for a Rogue (mechanics are great, melees are good too), a Sorcerer, a Ranger (Tempest is really good), or a Paladin (more survivability than the other options, but slightly lower DPS).

--ArekDorun

[Dulcimerist]

How far can a free to play go?

Remember that there are extra first-time favor bonuses on each server for DDO Points! Getting your first character to 100 total favor on each server nets 125 DDO Points for each server. There are 8 servers, for 900 free DDO Points without much effort. Favor farming groups are fairly easy to find.

I'd still recommend buying a small points package next time they run triple bonus points; or the nifty Catacombs starter pack which gives you the Catacombs pack, 500 DDO Points, and a permanent level 3 cleric hireling. Any purchase will upgrade you to Premium status; which grants you 2 more free character slots, eliminates the platinum cap, and gives you Monster Manual 1 (which also grants DDO Point rewards).

Last July I bought my daughter the DDO points package that's just under $20 during the triple points bonus. I also created a level 10 character for her on each server during the free Veteran 3 week, and lazily only got her 5 favor on all servers for 50 DDO Points from each server. With that small investment she got the shared bank at 50% off, Trials of the Archons at 75% off, Path of Inspiration for free, Vale of Twilight at 75% off, Delera's Tomb at 50% off, Vault of Night at 50% off, and Necropolis I-IV at 75% off, and there are still leftover DDO Points. For a character, she thoroughly enjoys Strimtom's Acid Arrow (elf ranger) build, and also has fun with the paladin version of Strimtom's Vanguard (human paladin) and Unbongwah's Kundarak Berzerker (dwarf barbarian).

Definitely use your free Lesser Heart of Wood to respec your cleric to one of the builds the build gurus posted - some of the absolute best DDO character builders have already replied to this thread. Don't worry about other races and classes. They really don't matter, and I've only bought them when they've been run at 75%-90% off on mega sales. I picked up Druid in Menace of the Underdark - I was excited to get it, but ended up personally hating it. Pet enhancements badly need a makeover, and the free-to-play caster types tend to DPS better with spells.

My favorite character to play is a gnome barbarian! I mention this to help make a point - this is how little the +2 or -2 racial bonus/penalty to a stat truly matters in DDO, and it also illustrates how meaningless most of the racial action point trees are in DDO - a barbarian benefits by having all of its points spent in two of the barbarian class trees. My gnome looks so adorable swinging a giant glamered Greatclub of the Scrag around, which is taller than she is; and she pounds her mauls into the shins of her enemies! Although not 100% min/max optimal, she's very fun to play, and is also very effective to quest with!

[DYWYPI]

OP, do you basically want to play a specific class or race because you believe they are "powerful" or have an advantage, e.g. "easy button" build wise in DDO. Rather than wanting to play a specific fantasy Character role archetype or challenge yourself in quests?

If you are going down a pure F2P route you'll not likely be able to easily get any +4 Tomes (or higher) without spending DDO Points. You cannot earn 5000 Favour and get a free +5 Tome reward without Adventure Packs. You won't have access to the Astral Shard Auction House either.

The Lamannia Server will likely be open in the next week or two for possibly for a short three day slot. If you monitor: https://www.ddo.com/en/forums/post_tracker.php?tracker=lamanniatracker daily that will have a thread from Cocomajobo a day before its next schedule.

You could always then download the Lamannia client and purchase all the Adventure Packs, Races and anything available in the DDO Store; for "unlimited" DDO Points you get by talking to a NPC in the Test Dojo. Then see if you still have the same opinion on the Adventures, Races, etc. You can also level your Character: 1 to 30 in about 5-minutes over there by talking to a special NPC in the Dojo.