Late Heroic Burnout

[Drachmoril]

Just finished the 18-20 slog on a character I haven't reincarnated in months, and it was brutal.

I know my way around this game. I can TR in a few days with some effort, I'm comfortable at mid-high reapers at cap (though I admit I haven't tasted high reapers since they've allegedly gotten easier). Now, I just log on for a few hours here and there, and my heroic lives may last months.

This isn't for lack of questing efficiency; I just get burnt out during late heroics. I can burst through the first 10 levels, pick up the next 5 or 6 easy enough, but I invariably slow down towards the finish line. Anyone else have this experience, or a different one?

And, does anyone else dread their inventory / TR cache situation so much that it makes the thought of TRing... or even playing on their main server, unenjoyable?

[LightBear]

Just finished the 18-20 slog on a character I haven't reincarnated in months, and it was brutal.

I know my way around this game. I can TR in a few days with some effort, I'm comfortable at mid-high reapers at cap (though I admit I haven't tasted high reapers since they've allegedly gotten easier). Now, I just log on for a few hours here and there, and my heroic lives may last months.

This isn't for lack of questing efficiency; I just get burnt out during late heroics. I can burst through the first 10 levels, pick up the next 5 or 6 easy enough, but I invariably slow down towards the finish line. Anyone else have this experience, or a different one?

And, does anyone else dread their inventory / TR cache situation so much that it makes the thought of TRing... or even playing on their main server, unenjoyable?

A lot of players bank xp to make those end levels easier to play through.

Clearing up my tr cache isn't the most enjoyable experience but I could not do without it for sure.
Not only because everybody starts out with 80 less slots space (House K and Coin Lords favor) but mostly because I would not be able to pick up anything from chests along the way.

[Wizard1406]

I like late heroics, typically I run Lords of Dust Chain , run the Sharn Sagas twice , on reaper and elite (the quests are fun and I still need loot and mats from there), run Docks, join any LFM for any other quests too, maybe turn in some other Sagas, hit 20

But I can see it being bad if once you're burned out from Sharn or if someone doesn't like it.

Personally I like mid-heroics least... not enough groups (for lvl 15-17 quests it's easier to get a group in my experience, than 10-14), a lot of the quests are PITA, not good without a group (Sands, Orchard,...) and I don't know how to run a lot of those quests.

[Strider1963]

I rarely ever run a heroic quest over level 16. I bank a whole level then when I hit level 18, I do sharn, wheloon and maybe 1 or LOD and then cap.

[LightBear]

Yeah, I can get that some people make a choice on what quests they wanna skip and thus create some gap for themselves xp wise.
Ramping forward on levels 12 to 16 means you can't do it as much on levels above 16.

You also have to make a choice among quests available in those levels as are some of the first time bonuses are needed/more welcome in epics.

This even more so if a player is questing without boosts to xp like vip and/or elixirs.

What I do against burnout is putting the quests I do on a carousel and step onto a different spot of the roundabout each time.
And if I need some more xp I fill it up with wilderness areas' explorer, rares and slayers of Vale, Highroad, Wheloon and those in Reaver's refuge.
Edit: Orchard is another favorite, a lot of lfms for that one.

[Wizard1406]

You also have to make a choice among quests available in those levels as are some of the first time bonuses are needed/more welcome in epics.




First time difficulty bonuses are seperate heroic / epic.

[Alled78]

Just finished the 18-20 slog on a character I haven't reincarnated in months, and it was brutal.

I know my way around this game. I can TR in a few days with some effort, I'm comfortable at mid-high reapers at cap (though I admit I haven't tasted high reapers since they've allegedly gotten easier). Now, I just log on for a few hours here and there, and my heroic lives may last months.

This isn't for lack of questing efficiency; I just get burnt out during late heroics. I can burst through the first 10 levels, pick up the next 5 or 6 easy enough, but I invariably slow down towards the finish line. Anyone else have this experience, or a different one?

And, does anyone else dread their inventory / TR cache situation so much that it makes the thought of TRing... or even playing on their main server, unenjoyable?

I got sovereign 1 pots and use it at end of last sharn quest at 18
Ravenloft saga 3bvc saga 2 sharn saga gh saga do 1 lvl

[Saekee]

it is psychological. You are nearly at the top of the mountain.

[vryxnr]

I've never experienced this. In fact I feel like I have the opposite happen, and as I get higher things just keep speeding up, and I'm often surprised when I reach cap and even sad because I was in a quest chain and hit cap before finishing it.

[SiliconScout]

I've never experienced this. In fact I feel like I have the opposite happen, and as I get higher things just keep speeding up, and I'm often surprised when I reach cap and even sad because I was in a quest chain and hit cap before finishing it.Try a sword b board build then. it'll slow down for you ... DRAMATICALLY. I just hit 6 and I am DONE!.

Gonna have to see if I still have that +20 heart lying around and just LR into a caster, I build for maximum tankiness and marinated about as good DPS as melee can get outside of twohanded and even R2 solo is a brutal brutal slow. R1 is not really any better and Elite only marginally so (before they whole "try a different difficulty crowd shows up).

And yes I know it is a subomtimal style but in the past I had had fun with it and I was getting sick and tired of playing blasters and ranged but after this nice little kick in the junk it is probably better to be sick and tired and playing than bored, frustrated and logging off.

Now I am soloing and I freely admit maybe, maybe, it would be better if I grouped and let's be honest it would be. Mainly because I would have ranged and blasters mowing almost everything down before i even got to it so while yeah I'd level it's really no fun to basically have your best job be to spot wand and scroll heal as a fighter.

[Annex]

For me, Levels 16 to 20 completely suck because I hate almost all the quests in that range. When one of my characters reaches level 16 or 17 I usually abandon her for weeks or months at a time, playing Epic characters instead.

[Searious]

I have two chars that are currently floundering in 15-18 land so I feel you. One is a raid tank build so you can understand the frustration of levelling that one. Speaking of tanks - @Vryxner - You are alive! Where have you been lol

I started my own guild to eventually use the ship chests as easy access storage (instead of multiple bank toons.) Sure the BTC and BTA stuff won't fit in there, but a lot of other junk and crafting items etc should clear out.

[droid327]

it is psychological. You are nearly at the top of the mountain.

I gotta imagine its this, or you're making some kind of mistake that's artificially limiting yourself, or something

Late heroic offers by far the MOST variety of questing options. If you bank 18, you basically have everything from 14-20 on the table. That includes several Sagas, notably Cogs, which you can blast through in like under an hour, and several good "daily" style quests.

Dont feel obliged to constrain yourself to first-time quests only, either. And, as others pointed out, you dont need to "save" quests for Epic anymore since they separated Heroic FTBs from Epic FTBs. The only thing that matters is getting to 20...at that point you wipe the slate clean, so dont burn yourself out, just do what you want to.

[vryxnr]

I have two chars that are currently floundering in 15-18 land so I feel you. One is a raid tank build so you can understand the frustration of levelling that one. Speaking of tanks - @Vryxner - You are alive! Where have you been lol

I started my own guild to eventually use the ship chests as easy access storage (instead of multiple bank toons.) Sure the BTC and BTA stuff won't fit in there, but a lot of other junk and crafting items etc should clear out.

Hooray for personal guild as extra storage! lol. Sent you a private message.

And yeah, tank leveling, especially solo and if you build as a tank for all levels instead of swapping later on, is a pita, but it's a pita at all levels imo.

[SiliconScout]

Hooray for personal guild as extra storage! lol. Sent you a private message.

And yeah, tank leveling, especially solo and if you build as a tank for all levels instead of swapping later on, is a pita, but it's a pita at all levels imo.Yes on both fronts there.

I swapped over to a warlock burster, I only had a +5 heart so I am stuck with one level of fighter but already it's going so much faster. 5-6 minutes in a quest as the burster and it's done. At least x2 that for the tank if not x3-4.

*sigh* It's too bad game design takes a playstyle (one I normally gravitate to) and makes it completely irrelevant. Heck my warlock burster is in melee and living longer in his medium armor and Korthos scimitar than I was fully geared in heavy with a tower shield and bastard sword. It's kind of frightening just how useless they have all but made armor when after armor up it was an effective fun playstyle. Sure it was slower to slog through and tank it but you could. Now it's very nearly irrelevant.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

Meanwhile I LOVE the lower to mid heroics ( I usually never play REaper, because I'm far more interested in Favour), my playing heavily slows down in the upper regions as well.

But for me, there is a completly different reason why it is so :

Quests are far too long.

In the upper regions, quests are usually so long that I need to carefully plan ahead to solo them. Especially for me, as a "flower sniffer".

To explan what I mean, I will say you that I was playing THe Church And The Cult yesterday. 40 minutes ! I was taking care of every trap, of every enemy, and especially the "relewmental evil" rooms were very tricky for my character.

For an Invitation For Dinner i used up 4 HOURS ! for the very first run-though - alone, not with guild friends.

I totally miss the short quests from the low to mid regions ! I just cannot rush through everything in the upper levels anymore, because all the quests have become far too long ! Especially since the dangers in these level regions are far more dangerous than in the lower regions ( deathward is too often a must-have ! ).

So, of the upper level regions, I only play 1 quest within a week ( I have only little free time as well ), the rest of my playing is done via my lower level alts.

High level is to me a bit like ... a wine which is tasted only once per week, because otherwise it would be too much.

[Oliphant]

When you get closer to 20 cap, mentally just throw out the rule that you surf two levels above and start picking off high xp and favor quests (ones without epic counterparts) in the 18-19 range. If you need to just relax and get some mindless progress, don't forget to run around the slayer areas with easy to remember explorers and do a loop in each one. Something about forgetting xp and just doing IQ and island quests as ends in themselves helps stay in the moment and enjoy the game while you hit 20 without even realizing it. I like doing Schemes of the Enemy (Cannith) for the nice xp boost.

[Dnarth]

I don't have this problem myself. lvl 17 Sharn C1, cogs 15's, litney cap, lvl 18 Sharn c2 pot a 30 or sov and hit sagas. Usually capped. It would be rare to have to do any cogs 16's for me. I am pretty rigid in my leveling game. So there is no surprises in late heroics.

[Isolani]

I used to hate 15-20 on TRs a few years ago, when Vale was a main source of xp, but it's pretty easy with Sharn now. Compared to when I used to do a mix of Vale, Shavarath, Reaver's Reach, and Dreaming Dark quests to get to L20 on TRs, it feels not too bad nowadays. I don't think I ever do any L17+ quests anymore on a TR. Maybe Sane Asylum once in a while, but I like that quest.

[Weemadarthur]

For an Invitation For Dinner i used up 4 HOURS ! for the very first run-though - alone, not with guild friends.

O.K. Normally this is where I would say if your spending 4 hours in a quest your doing it wrong. The catch is I honestly think if you are going to spend that long in any quest that is the one to do it in lol.

Castle Ravenloft I genuinely feel is a real work of art and the one thing I always ask when guiding a group through is if they have run it before. Now I know the quest very very well and can zerg it at ludicrous speed when I just want the xp, but even I am happy to spend over an hour in that quest with a 1st timer giving the full guided tour. The place is huge with so much to find and do and has a good variation in random encounters so I honestly don't feel you need to justify spending that long in there for a 1st run.

As a side note though I will add that if you aren't specifically looking for optionals and just follow the main story it can actually be a very fast quest. One of the main things I enjoy about Castle Ravenloft is the fact that it caters to every playstyle. If you want a fast run it can be a sub 10 min quest. If you want to explore and sniff the flowers it has very little wasted space with almost every room having something to see or do. The look, atmosphere and audio combine to what is IMHO probably the best experience in DDO and something I feel is wasted 1st time if you rush it.

[Blerk]

That late heroic levels burn-out the OP mentioned is something I really suffer from too. Really badly.

I think not pushing too hard earlier on, not trying to get it done before you go to bed, and having a quest list prepared that you can follow if you are tired so you don't have to make decisions reduces the problem. The number of times I've limped to 20 on elite or hard repeats and even doing slayers and explorers is far too pathetic to admit here.

I don't have the same problem in epics at all. If anything, I tend to get more determined and speed up rather than slow down. But I wouldn't say in either case there's a lack of stuff to do, it's very much my problem rather than one with the game.

[elvesunited]

For an Invitation For Dinner i used up 4 HOURS ! for the very first run-though - alone, not with guild friends.


I always first time do a quest alone. Generally on an alt ( if I can my trapper so he can find all the secret doors ) that does it at Elite or Reaper 1.
That way I can take my time. Explore. Do all the opts. Follow the story.

Invitation to Dinner is the perfect example.

You do this in a group and they'll get the exact cards they want, dimension door out of the dinner scene, stick to one staircase, hit the three locations, skip the death card opt, and done.
For a first timer the quest won't even make sense if done in a group.

[Simard]

I had that problem for a while, but I think it was a mental block/old habit I put to pasture where I felt I had to run quests when I was no more than 2 levels over. There were big swathes of quests I would skip just because I’d ‘leveled past them’. That was even at the expense of favor and places with useful loot. But it’s sort of false logic - even if you’re 4 levels over you still get good XP and don’t get into that later quest ‘gotta run Sharn twice, max some explorers, or go hit eveningstar, ugh’ bind. If you hit Ravenloft well into level 13, or gianthold when you’re already well into 16, who cares? There’s so much front-loaded XP in quests that are fast, give good favor, good XP, and offer good loot that there don’t seem to be many compelling reasons to hold yourself to some of the older leveling thought processes. Might be a bit harder to find groups in some cases (I mostly solo or dualbox so that’s not a problem for me) but with reaper XP still available up to 4 levels over base it might not be impossible.