What are the first 2 must have Adventure packs that I should buy?

[nolaureltree000]

gianthold then the vale of twilight. you could also swap out the demon sands for gianthold if you want access to some epic content come cap, although youd probably level to cap more quickly going with gianthold.

with both of those, youll be able to get to level 20 fairly easily and it will give you 3 raids, 3 slayer areas, and access to greensteel crafting. plus the gainthold pre-raid (gianthold tor) is a good money making quest. each of the colored dragon scales sell for ~100k pp each, the whites for less and blues for more.

if you are on a budget, you dont really need to buy any lower level adventure packs as there is more than enough XP in all the f2p content to get you through the lower levels. having lower level adventure packs just speeds up how quickly you can level as you can cherry-pick all the high xp quests to run at each level.

id also direct you to check out this guide: http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=287854

[Brennie]

If you plan on playing entirely free, or with very little money investment, then whatever you do *DO NOT BUY LOW LEVEL CONTENT*

This may be a controversial statement, but like all things in life, its better to plan ahead and gear up for the long haul. While there are some good low-level packs with some good low-level rewards, there is more than enough low level content to run that you will never even notice the absence of a few of the low levels packs. Couple that with the fact that even an undergeared player can make it to the midlevels with ease, and that you would outlevel your shiny awesome low-level pack loot, and you find that the low level packs (while great) are entirely skippable to a frugal player.

So whats the plan then? Glad you asked! Look for High level content! Once your characters get up to 10ish, free content starts thinning. Once they get to 15ish, it dissapears altogether. If you want to keep going upwards and eventually reach level 20, as well as experience some of the best/most popular content with some of the best/most popular items in the game (Items which will serve you well for the rest of your character's career, TRs included) you will NEED to scrimp and save and get some of those awesome high level Packs!

Recommendations? Why yes, i do have some!

• Vale of Twilight - First and foremost. The best pack in the game, hands down. Level 15-20 content. Two explorer zones (Although one of these explorer zones is not exactly someplace you wanna run around in solo), THREE of the most popular raids including THE most popular raid, Namely the Thirteenth Eclipse (aka Shroud), Hound of Xoriat and Vision of Destruction, and some of the best gear in the game INCLUDING Greensteel, the mix-and-match make-your-own weapon/item system that yields some of the best weapons in the game. Get this. Run this. Love this.

• Gianthold - 10-18 Content, 1 popular raid, and some great items. Large explorer zone, and about 10 quests. Its fun, easy to find groups for, and offers a ton of XP, with very little grinding involved.

• Sand of Mecca-lecca-hi-mecca-hidey-ho - 10-17 content, also contains Epics (level 20 content). Huge Explorer zone, some fantastic loot, very varied enemies (Drow and undead and gnolls, oh my!), and a Raid! Best of all, epic content (though not terribly popular, as far as epic content goes). This ties with gianthold.

• Devils of Shaggybreath - 17-20 content. Some of the hardest non-epic quests in the game, and dropping some of the best non-epic loot in the game. Contains an explorer zone, and about 5-6 quests and the Hardest non-epic raid in the game. The XP can fill in after Vale to get you to 20, and the items are well worth it.

• Reavers Refuse - 16-20 (?) Only has 4 quests, but has 4 small "theme" explorer zones, and allows you to make mix-and-match Dragontouched armor, which can be some of the best armor in the game. Lack of content, annoyance factor (Traveling to and from is a pain), and devaluing of Dragontouched put it lower on the list. However, its still a popular grouping spot, and Drgaontouched can do a lot of great/unique things (ESPECIALLY for someone who like guards on their armor!)

• Insipid Quarter/Dreaming Dork - 16-20 (?) Renown for being a source of quick XP and Platinum (Via tons of junk loot), this is an easy way to level from 16 to 20. No explorer zone in either. Having one of these practically necessitates having the other. Has some nice loot, mostly for casters, but nothing I'd call "essential".

• Delaras Tomb - For levels 5-9. Wait, what? Whats this lowbie pack doing in here? I thought you said no lowbie packs! Okay, so i lied. Delaras tomb offers some fantastic loot, including the fabled Voice of the Master (+1 saves and skills and 5% bonus XP while worn). This is a very popular quest chain in its level range, and is easy to find groups for. The Voice of the master alone makes it worth it, as it means less time scrounging up XP in higher level quests (by a whole 5%), as well as giving a large amount of XP in its own right. PLus it has one of the best UMD items in the game (Golden Cartouche) and one of the best lowbie weapons in the game (Carnifex: Useful from 4 to 12). This is a VERY strong pack, but make sure you have a clear leveling path to 20 before indulging in this one!

And finally, a piece of advice - Buy packs and only packs. Race and Classes may be shiny, but they are useless if you find yourself capped at level 13. Account options are nice, but should be saved until after you have plenty of stuff to actually *do* in game. Shared Bank is fantastic, and the only way to transfer account-bound items, but you need to buy the packs taht drop account bound items in the first place! And finally NEVER EVER spend turbine points on something that you could buy with in-game platinum. Tomes, Weapons, Armor, Potions, Wands, etc. By level 20, most characters are rolling in so much platinum that they are giving away items equivalent to the "gear" sold in the DDO store. Its not worth sacrificing future Adventure Packs or Account Options just so your lowbie can get some junky sword that they will outgrow in a a couple hours worth of play anyway.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

[AmatsukaIncarnate]

Vale of Twilight can keep you occupied for months if not years with greensteel crafting which you will, no doubt, want to be doing at endgame.

Before that, I would recommend Gianthold over Sands because Gianthold has more quests to run while Sands offers better loot imo. (Maybe cause anyone with a blue bar can use a Torc)

So I think Gianthold and VoT should be good bets.

Delera's will get you to Gianthold faster so I recommend that too.

[WarDestroyer]

Vale.

[wax_on_wax_off]

This is like a necromancer convention.

[elujin]

Yay random necro!

And the travesty continues.

This is like a necromancer convention.

lol stop necroing this thread wax :P

[wax_on_wax_off]

lol stop necroing this thread wax :P

God, I'm so glad I found you, all these necromancers seemed to have their vision tuned in so that they can only see dead things and are totally ignoring me!

[Antheal]

There are three:

Delera's Graveyard. (This should keep you going from levels 5-10.)
The Runs of Gianthold. (This should keep you going from levels 10-15.)
The Vale of Twilight. (This should keep you going from levels 15-20.)

Pick any two and have fun.

[elujin]

God, I'm so glad I found you, all these necromancers seemed to have their vision tuned in so that they can only see dead things and are totally ignoring me!

There are three:

Delera's Graveyard. (This should keep you going from levels 5-10.)
The Runs of Gianthold. (This should keep you going from levels 10-15.)
The Vale of Twilight. (This should keep you going from levels 15-20.)

Pick any two and have fun.

lol ... i sees dead posts ... beeing posted like regular posts

[Brennie]

This is like a necromancer convention.

Necro'd or not, the info is still relevant (just not to the original poster)>

Also I put a lot of time into my colorful post alright D:?!

[wax_on_wax_off]

Necro'd or not, the info is still relevant (just not to the original poster)>

Also I put a lot of time into my colorful post alright D:?!

Lmao, yeah, i especially liked your post.

Like the necromancer who has to outdo all the other necromancers by making this zombie dance a jig or play the harmonica (/weeze).

Did you get a tshirt?

[Osco]

Well, some of us cash-poor returning noobs appreciate the info in threads like these!

[BOgre]

not to mention the fact that there's a lot of content newer than the OP date... I'd still say Gianthold and Vale, but I'm going to guess that the House C quests are pretty important now. Inspired Quarter is really cool, has great loot, and covers a particularly xp-dry level range...