Reincarnation guide for first timers

[RumpleHorril]

Reincarnation for 6 INT Trolls (Lesser and Greater)
From GraeveDigger of Argonessen
"By the Casual DDO'er, for the Casual DDO'er..."


Tried it for the first time the other day, and wanted to share the experience...


Read a lot of the forums from folks not sure of when they took a specific level and ultimately wasting their +1 or +3 Heart of wood. So, I went and bought some DDO points during the last bonus weekend, and gave it a whack. Here was my experience:



Pre-amble:
Assess what it is you actually want your character to accomplish in game. Do you want a rogue who does traps, has high UMD, and excels at DPS? Does your Dwarven Ranger want to specialize in the shuriken and multi-class as a Sorcerer, or maybe your light crossbow spec'ed fighter idea will really flourish in the next Mod... Whatever it is... make sure you plan ahead.

Advice: Assess the Stats, Feats, and Skills that you want your newly reincarnated character to possess before you start borking your way through the leveling process. All options are open, but remember... Less than stellar choices may be what got you here in the first place ...

Important Note: There is no "Undo" button at the end. "You break it, you buy it" is in full effect here.


I highly recommend that you take the time to plan this out using the Character planner from RJCyberware. Excellent tool.

Link here: www.rjcyberware.com/DDO/



Part 1... Getting Ready
Starting the process: Hearts of wood can be found on the AH, the DDO Store, and I've heard rumors of them dropping in Quests. If you go the route of buying one either on the AH or the DDO store take note: They ain't cheap. It's in your best interests to plan ahead.


Let's start with some questions first to identify what you are going to need...


1. Do you want to swap feats, classes, skills, appearance, and Stat points?

No ;-> Why are you reading this then??
Yes;-> You're in the right place... keep reading


2. Do you want to change your race?

No ;-> good.
Yes;-> You're out of luck. Level your character to 20, and True Reincarnate him.



3. Do you need a lesser or greater Heart of Wood?

Answer: If you are a 28 point build and would like to be a 32 point build, then the answer is that you need a Greater Heart of Wood.
Answer: If you are a Drow or are already a 32 point build, then you need the Lesser Heart of Wood. Other than that, there are no differences between the two.


4. Would you like to change your name or Alignment?

Yes;-> Reroll.
No;-> Good. Keep reading.



5. Does your Heart of wood need to be a +1, +3, or standard to accomplish your plan?

## Are you happy with your Class Distribution?
i.e. you're a lvl15 Fighter12/Rogue2/Monk1 and you don't want that to change?

a) Yes, I want to keep my classes intact, and I do not want to change the order in which I took them.
You Need= Standard Greater/Lesser Heart of Wood (No +'s necessary)

b) Yes, I like my Class distribution, but I would like to swap my first fighter level with Rogue so I can bump up the skill points:
You need= a Heart of wood +3 (+2 to be specific, but since those don't exist, you need a +3... Change 1=Level 1 swap from Ftr to Rog, Change 2= Change the former Rog lvl to Ftr to offset the lvl 1 change)

c) No, Screw Evasion and Wis AC bonuses, I want to go pure fighter for the capstone!
You need= Heart of wood +3 (+3 to swap the Rog2 & Mnk1 to Fighter)




So by this point, you should have been able to identify what it is you need to begin. Greater and Lesser reincarnation will grant you the ability to:

### Change your character appearance
"Blue Drow looked SOOOOO cool 2 years ago!"

### Change your Skill Point distribution
"I'm a fighter... I only get 1 skill point per level... Totally need to "Repair" my weapons and armor"

### Change your Feat Selection
"Weapon Focus pierce, Weapon Spec pierce & IC:Pierce don't count for arrows??!! SON OF A..."

### Change your Class/level Selection
"SWEET!!! Sorcs get double SP from SP items!! I'll just sprinkle a little Sorc on my Wizard here... and... $$^%#??!!"

### Change your Stat point distribution
"8 Con on my Sorceror should be fine... I really need the points in Dex to beef up that AC"

REPEAT
With the Lesser or Greater Reincarnation you CANNOT: Change your Name, Race, or Alignment.


That's it for Part 1... At this point, that should have answered most of the FAQ I've seen in the forums regarding the "Where do I start" phase. Part 2 will go a little further into what's next.

[RumpleHorril]

Part 2... Talk to Kruz the Orc


Find and talk to the Orc, Kruz, in House Jorasco. He's close to the Entrance above the large tree that hangs out over the lake in the entrance area. You'll need to take the floating rock bridge up to him.

Once you're there, he'll give you a pretty quick explanation of what he can do for you. When you convince him that you are in fact serious, you give him your Heart of Wood, and you'll have to log out and start the process of the Character Generation Screen.


For those of us who need these types of things in numbered steps:

It goes something like this:

1) Find, then talk to Kruz. Make sure you have enough room in your inventory to hold the things you're wearing... you'll be wearing your fudgies when you wake up on the ship to begin the leveling process and I'm pretty sure you'd lose anything on your person that won't fit in your backpack. If you don't have the room in your inventory, go sell some of the **** you've been toting around, then come back.

2) Speak with Kruz after you've climbed the rock bridge, and he'll start a conversation based on the types of reincarnation services he provides. Eventually he'll talk you to a "Reincarnation" window based on the type of Reincarnation that you are interested in. This window will display the official rules of engagement for a good 'ol fashioned Re-Inarnatun. Give Kruz the Heart... Log Out.

3) On the Character selection screen, you can either log in normally with your character (If you forgot to eat a tome that you need for instance) or you can seal the deal and log in to your Character by selecting the "REINCARNATE" button next to his/her name.

4) On to the Character creation screen... Let the games begin...

Note... I've got screenshots if anybody wants them. Let me know if it would help, and I'll chop 'em up and glue 'em in.

[RumpleHorril]

Part 3... The new you.

The infamous "I don't remember what level I took such and such class!!"" (Usually framed with a teary-eyed dissertation on how the process is completely borked)



Some important things to remember if you are using a +1 or +3 Heart of Wood...

IF you are going to be swapping classes or rearranging the order in which you took them, pay special attention to Two Things:

Thing #1: If you take a class that is not in the order that you took it originally, it counts against your change counter.

Thing #2: Even if you aren't "changing" classes, you are just "Rearranging" them...see Thing #1.




Here it goes...

Step 1.
You take your first Reincarnation level in the Character creation screen... much the same as if you were creating a new character... but remember, you can't change your race, name, or alignment. You select your beginning Class, Stats, Skills, and appearance. Finish 'er up, then you make your way to the "Veteran Boat".

***Important note: If long-term memory is just "Not your thing", or you were sippin the woodblossom nectar when you first created your character, and in your inebriated haze, completely forgot what you took as your first level... then there may be a good chance that you just used one of the allowed changes from your Heart of Wood. 1st Level counts too, so make sure that if you are changing your first level to something else, you have enough change's left to finish what you were planning on doing.

NOTE: IT WILL DEFAULT YOUR SELECTIONS TO WHAT YOU CHOSE WHEN YOU ORIGINALLY CREATED YOUR CHARACTER... so choose accordingly


Step 2.
You are now on a boat in your fudgies. (Hope you remembered to clear enough space in your inventory to hold your armor, jewelry, and weapons!)

Talk to the girl sitting on the box in the bow (That's the front for you soldiers out there) of the ship. If you've done the Veteran status, you should recognize the interface options.

It will go something like this:

-"Character" Talks to Box Girl. You discuss the weather or some other equally invigorating subject, and she asks you how you got here.

-If you have a +1 or +3 Heart of Wood, The next window will have some Red Text that says "You have X number of class changes remaining"

Continue

She'll ask you something to the order of: "So what did you do next on your travels?"

-You are presented with 4 options... (These will be referred to henceforth as options 1-4)

Option #1: "I sniffed hedgehogs and wiped my a$$ with ferns following the path of %Something as a %Class" (Not verbatim... but you'll understand when you see it)

Followed by:

"Actually, no, I turned to the way of the:
Option #2: *something Melee something something*
Option #3: *something Specialist something something*
Option #4: *something Caster something something*


If you select option #1, then you are selecting the level as you did in your original build. If you select options 2,3, or 4, then you will use one of your +1 or +3 changes.

-Pick one of the options

you come to the level options selection interface that you see every time you level a character. Feats, skills, spells, and the final confirmation.

-Confirm, and repeat through all of your levels until you are done.



My opinion:

Wasn't as bad as I thought from reading the snuffles and whimpering from the forums... could have been a little clearer, but was not completely obscure if you go slowly and read the options.

I wholeheartedly agree that for the cost of a +3 Greater Heart, an undo option at the end is absolutely necessary. At the very least, it would ease up on the pucker factor every time I hit the "Confirm" Option.

[Cratecrusher]

****! You beat me to it!

(I wanted to make one also).

Well, you have my support And please add your screens, it's always helpful

I'll think about a FAQ to complete your topic, if you will

PS : you should maybe clarify things about GR, TR, LR... (what they do and don't)?


*BIG EDIT*

As I said, it's not that I'm not satisfied with the existing Reincarnation tutorial, but well, I made my own, two's better than one, isn't it ?

If you have any complaints/suggestions/praises, please tell me ^^


================================================== =====================
I - What is reincarnation ?
================================================== =====================

The idea is a 'change of body' to modify things on your character.

There are 3 types of Reincarnation, depending on what you want to modify.

- Lesser Reincarnation (LR) : It allows you to change your character's look (but not gender), his/her abilities (Str, Int...), his/her skills, feats, and enhancements. It doesn't allow you to change his/her alignment, race, or number of build points.

- Greater Reincarnation (GR) : Same as LR, except that it allows you to turn a 28-pts build into a 32-pts build (unless the character is a Drow, who stay at 28 pts), and only if you have access to 32-pts builds on this server (by favor gain or DDOstore purchase).

Both LR and GR exist in '+1' or '+3' (and even '+5', but the item is not available all the time). This means that your character can swap one of his/her levels for a level of another class (once with a +1, up to 3 times with a +3, up to 5 times with a +5).

WARNING ! Though you can do the swap with your very first character level, this is not about reordering your levels ! For instance, with a LR +1, a W/F/F/F cannot become a F/F/F/W. (S)he may become, though, a W/W/F/F or a W/F/F/W, or a W/F/Rog/F, or...

Both LR and GR allow you to keep "everything" on your character (equipment, mail, auctions, favor, raid flags...). And if your character ever ate tomes, their bonuses will be re-applied at minimum possible level during his/her LR or GR.
Example : If your character ate a +3 INT tome, (s)he will get a +1 at lvl 3, an additional +1 at lvl 7, and the last one at lvl 11 (which in this cas will give him/her more skill points ^^).

- True Reincarnation (TR) : the character starts over at lvl 1, with the race, class and alignment of your choice (but still cannot change gender). If (s)he had a 28- or 32-pts build, it turns to a 34-pts (except Drows, who go to 30 pts instead of 28. His/Her name does not change (Somewhere on Argo, there's a Warforged named 'Legolas Theelf' ) but now has a pair of pretty little 'wings' around it ; (s)he's now a little taller than an ordinary character of the same race, and is surrounded by an aura everytime (s)he enters a public area. A character who TRs more than once gains another +2 build points on the second TR (but no more for the other ones ; the max is then 36 pts, 32 for a Drow.

WARNING : A character who TRs starts back at lvl 1 (even when the player has access to Veteran status), and cannot choose one of the paths which allowed his skills etc... to be auto-chosen by the computer (he has to choose a custom build). And (s)he needs more XP to lvl up.


If you want to do more than one Reincarnation on the same character, you need to wait a week in between.

================================================== =====================
II - How do I do it ?
================================================== =====================

II-1 - TR
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Somewhere, TR is easier than LR or GR

The details are in the official guide to TR but this is my 'short' version :

To TR, you need to be lvl 20 and get your character a True Druidic Heart of Wood, then go see Kruz the druid in House Jorasco. He'll ask you to confirm an awful lot of things (including writing your character's name). Once you get a message saying you're ready to TR, log out (back to the character choice screen). You'll see a big 'Reincarnate' button next to your character's name. Click it (unless you're having second thoughts, in which case you still can reconnect your character 'as is', the button will juste stay there).


When you click on 'Reincarnate', you'll go to the same screens as for a new character creation. Be careful, once you chose 'Create' in the end, there's no going back !


As the character starts back from the very beginning ((s)he wakes up on the beach in Korthos with Jeets and all), (s)he has then lost every flag, list of quest completed, individual favor...


(S)he also looses any tome-induced bonus, special haircut or hair color, and additional inventory or bank slots.
But thank Gods, everything (s)he owned has been transfered into a Reincarnation Cache, accessible via any banker, and big enough to contain everything (there's a possibility that you won't see everything if you really, really have a lot of things, but in this case said overflowing content will re-appear as soon as you free some space in the Cache.
WARNING ! The Reincarnation Cache is withdrawal-only, so once you take something out of it, you cannot put it back. And if you want to do another TR, you cannot as long as there's something left in your Cache.


You still keep : mail, auctions in progress, and any server- or account-based bonus (such as Drow unlock).

A TR character has then access to some 'Past Life' feats : when you 're-create' him/her through TR, (s)he gains a free feat linked to the dominant class of his previous life (the one whose icon he used to have). At lvl 3 he then has access to other Past Life feats (but those take a feat slot).


II-2 - LR et GR
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The process is the same in both cases.

You start with going to Kruz the orc druid in House J, give him the Lesser/Greater Heart of Wood, confirm an awful lot of things, log out, see the 'Reincarnate' button, same as TR, click on it, go back to a character creation screen... except that some of the options (race...) are not available, and here is the change ^^

You'll notice that appearance is randomly re-applied which compells/allows you to redo your character's look.


II-2-a - LR/GR +X
.................................................. .................................................. ...........................


That's the more complcated case, and that's why I'll start there ^^

When you LR/GR '+X', you're allowed to swap up to X class levels with levels from another class (and, as I wrote earlier, not about re-ordering class levels).

This is where I remind you you can access your complete character's log at an adress like :
http://my.ddo.com/character/serverna...actername/log/
(Unless your character is too old)

If you click on 'Filter by : Classes', you'll have the list of all your lvl ups, and in the right order ! (Be warned that you very first level is not included).

There's also a few things to know when you want to swap class levels :

- You cannot have, even temporarily, more than 3 classes at once. To turn a F2/W2/Rog2 into a F2/W2/Rgr2 implies (as you swap one level after the other), to be temporarily a F2/W2/Rog1/Rgr1, which is impossible. The solution is to 'reduce' your character to 2 classes (for example, here, by becoming a F2/W4), wait a week, and do another LR +X to turn the F2/W4 into a F2/W2/Rgr2.

- You cannot take a level in a class which needs a specific alignment you don't have. If you wish to change your Bbn3 (therefore non-Lawful) into a Mnk3 (Lawful only), you'll need to 'erase' your Bbn levels (for example by turning him into a F3), then drink an Alignment Change Potion (Lawful Good or Lawful Neutral), then wait a week and turn your F3 into a Mnk3.

When you 'redo' your character with a LR/GR +X, the class change option is available since the beginning of the 're-creation', and you then have a message like 'Be aware that this choice will use one of your class changes' if you choose a class that's not what you originally chose at lvl 1.

When you're done with lvl 1, you'll then arrive on a flying boat (those of you who have Vet status will feel familiar), and that's where trouble begins...

Because sadly, the LR/GR procedure is done roleplay-style, by discussing with a NPC, and it's oh so easy to make mistakes

Said NPC is in fact asking you about your life and provides you with a set of answers like :
- I was a <class chosen at that level before LR/TR>
- No, I was a Caster (which gives you then a choice of caster classes and will swap your old class level for said caster class level).
- No, I was a Melee type (idem)
- No, I was a Specialist (idem).

The thing is, the wording... could have been better, and there's NEVER any warning at this point to tell you you're using one of your allowed changes

Whenever you've used all your allowed changes, the 'No, I was a...' options disappear and you then have to take your remaining levels in the same order as you used to at first creation.

WARNING ! The process is like doing several lvl ups in a row, but you can NEVER go back. So, take your time and read everything before you validate any choice !

Once all af your levels have been taken, you can talk some more with the NPC to choose your enhancements, or leave the boat and talk with a trainer in Stormreach to spend your APs.


II-2-b - Standard LR/GR
.................................................. .................................................. ...........................

That's far easier, as the hard part of '+X' is to make no mistake between the levels you want to keep and the levels you want to swap

=> The process is the same as in II-2-a

You don't have any class choice at re-creation, or when talking to the NPC. You only have to choose where to put your Abilities, then your skill points and feats, and do the 're-level-ups'.


================================================== =====================
III - Useful links
================================================== =====================

Official guide to TR

DDO compendium on TR

List of Past Life feats

The Reincarnation section of the forums
(Read before LR/GR/TR, that's where you'll be aware of the last known bugs )

A topic of LR +X victims
Another
(Read first, to avoid to be trapped by the RP wording).

A pre-TR checklist

TR Path... 34 Point First TR

Diaries of a True Reincarnate (Arcane)

An XP/Levelling guide for TRs



Thanx to Balagr for the screens !
(still need more ^^)

[RumpleHorril]

Been busy at work... but I'll work in a better description between the three types.

Thanks for the input

[Thorin2001]

It would be nice to see at least the screenshot of the dialogue-box when talking to the girl sitting on the box.
If you have one of those (with all the options and the red text "You have... left") it would be nice if you could upload it.
Thx in advance!

[RumpleHorril]

I seem to have misplaced the screenshots somewhere...

But no worries... my buddy is going to be greater reincarnating his barbarian soon'ish, so we'll get some better screenshots there.

Regardless, it you have any questions on the process as a whole, post em up for the benefit of all, or if you're shy, feel free to PM me, and I'll try to answer as best I can.

Again, if you read through the options slowly and remember the topmost option is what you chose on your original build, then the process is fairly straight forward.

[Fedora]

Excellent info. Thanks for posting.

[Thorin2001]

Your post was very helpful, RumpleHorril!
Thank you very much!

I did the screenshots of the dialogue-options myself and can upload them if you like. Maybe it can help first-time-reincarnators a bit and preview what to expect...

[RumpleHorril]

Thorin,

That would be great to get some screenshots. Not sure when my buddy is ever gonna get the time to Greater-Reincarnate his Range specced Barbarian... so if you have the shots, the guide could sure use them.

Thanks

[Orratti]

I got a question. Just made lvl 20 on my main and have 3 classes. If I were to want to switch rogue lvls for monk lvls is that possible or do you have to true reicarnate? Suppose I wanted to go from a ftr/rog/rgr to a ftr/mnk/brb. Is that possible with lesser or do you need TR?

[Cratecrusher]

I wanted to go from a ftr/rog/rgr to a ftr/mnk/brb. Is that possible with lesser or do you need TR?

Yes you can, but you may need to do it several times, as you cannot at any time have 4 classes, even if it's temporary.

It depends on how many levels you have in each class :

Examples :
- You're a F18/Ro1/Ra1 : as you have only one level of Ro and Ra, you can swap them easily with a LR.

- You're a F17/Ro2/Ra1 : You have to first swap your Ra lvl, then change your Ro lvls (otherwise you'd have 4 classes at the same time). If your Ra was taken after both Ro lvls, it means you have to LR twice (and wait a week in between).

There are also other possible solutions, but it depends on how many non-Fighter classes you have and what lvl you took them at

[WannaBeDonator]

Hey, guys. Could u plz help me.
Rog10/Ftr4. I wanna be a pure rogue. Should i use LR +3 and then LR +1 to change 4 ftr levels, or it's impossible to change more than 3 levels at all?
Thx.

[aGorilla]

Good stuff, but I still have some newb questions...

Why/When do you do this?
Do you do this because you're capped, and you want to keep the character around, and feel like running them through the game again?
Do you do this because your lvl 7 cleric wasn't built right for radiant servant?
Other examples appreciated.

I hear things about "past life", what does that mean? I'm under the impression that it lets the 'new' build have some of the skills of the previous build (eg: if you had rogue levels before, and you swap them out for fighter, you still have some rogue skills), is that correct? I'd like more info on this topic.

What does it cost? I could easily find out in the store, but it wouldn't hurt to include that here.

Thanks again, this is the best info I've seen on the topic so far. +1

[RumpleHorril]

Question:

Rog10/Ftr4. I wanna be a pure rogue. Should i use LR +3 and then LR +1 to change 4 ftr levels, or it's impossible to change more than 3 levels at all?

Answer: You can change as many levels as you have TP to spend on LHW (lesser heart of wood), but you can only do up to 3 changes at a time.
Example-- If you want to change 1 for 1 with your 4 Ftr levels to Rog, then you would need a +3 LHW, wait 1 week, and then use a +1 LHW.

Question:

Why/When do you do this? Do you do this because you're capped, and you want to keep the character around, and feel like running them through the game again?

Answer: You do this if you aren't level 20, or if you are lvl 20, but are not interested in True reincarnation. Lesser or Greater reincarnation allows you to keep your character's XP progression, whereas True Reincarnation grants you the ability to completely re-level your character with a few additional past life abilities and extra build points.

Question:

Do you do this because your lvl 7 cleric wasn't built right for radiant servant?

Answer: Precisely. You do a lesser or greater reincarnation to tweak or unscrew something you may have done wrong during your initial level progression. If you have a bard, and didn't realize that power attack was a pre-requisite for the Warchanter PrE, and you later realize that you have an 8 STR... great reason to lesser or greater reincarnate.

[aGorilla]

Thanks much, that answered everything for me.

ps: I envy you for your location

[WannaBeDonator]

Thanks a lot, RumpleHorril.
Real good answer.
*went buying heart*

[Cratecrusher]

If you have a bard, and didn't realize that power attack was a pre-requisite for the Warchanter PrE, and you later realize that you have an 8 STR... great reason to lesser or greater reincarnate.

Reminds me of someone...

Oh dear... it was me

[BigShowWilson]

If I bought a +2 greater tome (the one thats +2 across the board) do I loose it doing a Lesser/Greater reincarnation? Or does it auto add when I hit lvl7?

Thanks

[Cratecrusher]

I don't know what a greater tome is so I don't know what's the minimum level to use it.

What I can tell is : you won't loose it if you LR or GR and it will be applied at minimum level possible.