DDO Item Generation v0.1

[GuntherBovine]

I just wanted a +1 Acid/Frost/Shock/Flaming Longsword. I was playing a level 7 Elf Ranger and I was only equiping items I had found. I was running around with a Nicked Scimitar as my main weapon because I couldn't get a decent longsword to drop. +2 weapons had started dropping at level 6. That got me started down a path of researching drops and here are my results so far

[GuntherBovine]

When you smash a crate, open a chest or finish a quest, DDO has to generate an item to drop or offer you. Sometimes if you open the right chest or finish the right quest, you will get a object with a name and features picked by a DDO developer ("Named Items"). Most of the time, you will get an item based upon some rules and a random number. This is my guess at what those rules are.

When an item is generated, there is a rule for the maximum drop level for the item based upon the source, quest level and quest difficulty. DDO then apparently decides the actual drop level for the item, which is typically less than the maximum drop level but on occasion can be higher. It picks the type of item around the same time. DDO then decides what prefix and/or suffix to give the item to bring the value of the item up to its designated drop level.

The sources of items this guide discusses are Smashables, Chests and Quest Rewards. There are other sources of items, but these three are the sources that I have gathered data on.

Smashables
Smashables are crates, barrels, vases, etc. that may drop something when you smash them open. Smashables drop money, gems, khyber or siberys dragonshard fragments, potions and ammunition. Smashables on Sorrowdusk Island may drop armor but I don't have any data on those. The Maximum Drop Level for Smashables is the quest level.

Chests
Chests can contain most anything. The Maximum Drop Level for Chests is the quest level plus a difficulty adjustment (1 for Normal, 2 for Hard and 3 for Elite).

Quest Rewards
I am not going to discuss quest rewards that are for a chain of quests and the bonus quest reward such as from the "Repossession" quest. Quest rewards are armor, clothing, guild renown, jewelry, potions and weapons. The Maximum Drop Level for Quest Rewards is the quest level quest level plus two.

[GuntherBovine]

Kinerd wrote a post Loot Tables and Difficulty which had some interesting stuff on drops. Kinerd used a trued-up BPM for his drop analysis. His post inspired me to start recording all of my chest and quest reward finds for my current toon, Stunanera. Stunera was level 6 on the way to a 13 Monk / 6 Ranger / 1 Rogue build when I started keeping track. After a while, I decided that I wasn't going to figure out the DDO item generations mechanics with a character starting in the middle so to speak. Consequently, I created a new toon, Guntheb, who will be a 18 Barb / 2 Rogue build. With Guntheb, I kept track of every move into and out of inventory (which is very time consuming). With both toons, I play only solo, I play each quest once on each difficulty level and I play all the quests I have access to. As I write this, Stunanera is level 8 and Guntheb is level 3. Ideally, I would run like 5 different toons from level 1 to level 20 with different classes and races before writing this, but I am hoping that I have enough data for at least an interesting discussion. Consequently, the item drop levels will be discussing item drop levels of 9 or less.

[GuntherBovine]

DDO drops many, many types of items. I will discuss later the item drop level of various types of items. I have tried to devise rules that give items as high a drop level as is consistent with the data. However, there is always an occasional drop that is better then I expected. For example, I recorded the drops from Smashables from X level 1 and level 2 quests and only once (Sacrifices on Normal) did a stat buff potion drop (Bull's Strength). When I started doing level 3 quests, stat buff potions regularly dropped from Smashables. To reflect what happens the vast majority of the time, I gave stat buff potions an item drop level of 3. I discuss all the exceptionally good drops later.

For many items, the item drop level is the sum of a base value plus the item drop level of the prefix and the item drop level of the suffix. For example, a Lesser Fire Guard Robe of Lesser Fire Resistance has a item drop level of 5 - a base value of 1 plus 2 for Lesser Fire Guard and 2 for Lesser Fire Resistance. A Fire Guard Robe also has an item drop level of 5 - a base value of 1 plus 4 for Fire Guard. How does DDO determine if an item has both a prefix and a suffix versus just a (better) prefix or a (better) suffix? It looks to me that ~5% of items get just a prefix or a suffix and ~95% of items get both a prefix and a suffix.

Bound To Account (BtA) items are given +2 to their drop level. For example, if the maximum drop level should be 6, then a BtA item can have a drop level of 8. BtA items typically appear as quest chain rewards and their generation is out of the scope of this journal. The "Sharn Syndicate" quests are the only quests that I know of that has BtA as a quest reward.

Race-restricted items receive the same +2 to their drop level as BtA items. I started seeing Race-restricted items on quests of level 7.

[GuntherBovine]

This is the category probably of most interest. Unfortunately, I have not quested high enough to talk about really interesting weapons. I break these weapons into three categories:
Plain Weapons
Masterwork Arcane Weapons
All other weapons

Plain Weapons
These are weapons without a prefix or a suffix. They are the most common weapon dropped early on

BONUS - ITEM DROP LEVEL
Plain Weapons - 1
Masterwork Weapons - 2
+1 Weapons (no prefix or suffix) - 3
+2 Weapons (no prefix or suffix) - 6
+3 Weapons (no prefix or suffix) - 8
+4 Weapons (no prefix or suffix) - TBD
+5 Weapons (no prefix or suffix) - TBD

Masterwork Arcane Weapons
These are weapons that have a prefix and/or a suffix that effect spell casting and are Masterwork weapons even though "Masterwork" doesn't appear in the weapon name. It does appear in the text for the weapon. There are hordes of prefixes and suffixes for these weapons and I have no idea of how to separate the drop level of "Minor Ice Lore", "Improved Spark III", "Power I" and "Spell Penetration I". For now, I am using base value to guess item drop level

Drop Level 3
Masterwork Arcane Weapons with a prefix or suffix and a base value of ~230

Drop Level 4
Masterwork Arcane Weapons with both a prefix and suffix and a base value of ~230

Drop Level 6
Masterwork Arcane Weapons with a base value of ~830

All Other Non-Throwing Weapons
For these weapons, the item drop level is the sum of the base drop level for the bonus of the weapon (+1, +2, etc) plus the item drop level for the prefix (if any) and the item drop level of the suffix (if any)

Base Drop Level of a +1 Weapon = 6
Base Drop Level of a +2 Weapon = TBD
Base Drop Level of a +3 Weapon = TBD
Base Drop Level of a +4 Weapon = TBD
Base Drop Level of a +5 Weapon = TBD

Drop Level of Weapon Prefixes/Suffixes
1 - Crippling
1 - of Deception
1 - of Lesser (Monster) Bane
1 - of Shatter +2
1 - of Tendon Slice 2%
1 - of Power I
1 - Thundering
2 - Evocation
2 - Necromancy
2 - of (Monster) Bane
2 - of Shatter +4
3 - Acid
3 - Flaming
3 - Frost
3 - Shock

[GuntherBovine]

Armor and Shields seem to have similar drop rules. Like Weapons, I break Armor and Shields into three categories:
Plain Armor and Shields
Robes and Outfits (discussed later)
All other Armor and Shields

Plain Armor and Shields
These are armor and shields without a prefix or a suffix. They are the most common armor and shields dropped early on

BONUS - ITEM DROP LEVEL
Plain Armor and Shields - 1
Masterwork Armor and Shields - 2
Plain Tower Shields - 2
Masterwork Tower Shields - 3
+1 Armor and Shields (no prefix or suffix) - 4
+1 Tower Shields (no prefix or suffix) - 5
+2 Armor and Shields (no prefix or suffix) - 6
+2 Tower Shields (no prefix or suffix) - TBD
+3 Armor and Shields (no prefix or suffix) - TBD
+3 Tower Shields (no prefix or suffix) - TBD

All Other Armor and Shields
For these, it appears that the item drop level is the sum of the base drop level for the bonus of the armor/shield (+1, +2, etc) plus the item drop level for the prefix (if any) and the item drop level of the suffix (if any)

Base Drop Level of a +1 Armor/Shield = 6
Base Drop Level of a +2 Armor/Shield = TBD
Base Drop Level of a +3 Armor/Shield = TBD
Base Drop Level of a +4 Armor/Shield = TBD
Base Drop Level of a +5 Armor/Shield = TBD

Drop Level of Armor/Shield Prefixes/Suffixes
2 - Lesser (Energy) Guard
2 - of Lesser (Energy) Resistance
2 - Protection +1

[GuntherBovine]

The item drop level for robes and outfits correlates with the base value:
BASE VALUE - ITEM DROP LEVEL
~10 - 1
~100 - 3
~400 - 5
~900 - 8
~1600 - TBD

[GuntherBovine]

For these, the item drop level is base drop level of the minimum level of the item plus the item drop level for the prefix (if any) and the item drop level of the suffix (if any)

Minimum Level - Base Drop Level
1 - 1
5 - 2
7 - 2

Drop Level of Clothing/Jewelry Prefixes/Suffixes
1 - Skill+1 (doesn't combine with any prefix)
1 - Specific Resistance+1 (doesn't combine with any prefix)
2 - Armored AC+1
2 - CL1 Spell, 3/rest
2 - CL3 Spell, 1/rest
2 - Disease Immunity
2 - Light Fortification
2 - Resistance+1
2 - Sacred
2 - Skill+3
2 - Stat (e.g. Wisdom) +1
2 - Striding (5%)
4 - Armored AC+2
4 - CL1 Spell, 5/rest
4 - Skill+5
6 - Armored AC+3
6 - CL3 Spell, 3/rest
6 - Skill+7
6 - Stat (e.g. Wisdom) +2

[GuntherBovine]

Plain arrows and bolts - 1
Masterwork Arrows and Bolts - 1
+1 Arrows and Bolts (no prefix or suffix) - 2
+2 Arrows and Bolts (no prefix or suffix) - 4
+1 Acid/Frost/Shock/Flaming arrows and bolts - 5
+1 Metallic Arrows and Bolts - 5
+3 Arrows and Bolts (no prefix or suffix) - 6
+4 Arrows and Bolts (no prefix or suffix) - 8
+5 Arrows and Bolts (no prefix or suffix) - 10

[GuntherBovine]

Item Drop Level 1
Oil of Light Repair
Potions of Cure Light Wounds
Potions of Protection from Evil
Potions of Resist (Energy)
Starter Potions of Cure Light Wounds (only drop in Korthos)

Item Drop Level 2
Potions of Aid, Jumping, Mage Armor, Shield of Faith and Tumbling

Item Drop Level 3
Potions of Cure Moderate Wounds
Potions that boost a Stat +4 (e.g. Bull's Strength)

Item Drop Level 6
Potions of Haste

Item Drop Level 8
Elixirs of Lesser Mnemonic Enhancement
Potions of Protection from (Energy)

[GuntherBovine]

Darts, Shurikens, Throwing Axes, Throwing Daggers and Throwng Hammers, but not Returning Darts, Returning Shurikens, Returning Throwing Axes, Returning Throwing Daggers and Returning Throwing Hammers

Plain thrown weapons - 1
Masterwork thrown weapons - 2
+1 thrown weapons (no prefix or suffix) - 3
+2 thrown weapons (no prefix or suffix) - 6

[GuntherBovine]

Returning Darts, Returning Shurikens, Returning Throwing Axes, Returning Throwing Daggers and Returning Throwing Hammers

+1 Byeshk Returning - 7
+1 Flametouched Iron Returning - 7

[GuntherBovine]

Item Drop Level 1
Gems worth 10 or 50 plat

Item Drop Level 2
Khyber and Siberys Dragaonshard Fragments
Scrolls with a Caster Level of 1
Spell Ingredients for first level spells
Plain Tools

Item Drop Level 3
Gems worth 100 plat
Heroic Deeds
Masterwork Tools

Item Drop Level 4
Scrolls with a Caster Level of 3
Wands that cast CL 1 spells

Item Drop Level 5
Tales of Valor
Level 1 Spell Inscription Materials
Spell Ingredients for second level spells
Wands that cast CL 3 spells

Item Drop Level 6
Scrolls with a Caster Level of 5

Item Drop Level 7
Flawed Siberys Dragonshard
Spell Ingredients for third level spells

Item Drop Level 8
Gems worth 500 plat
Impressive Trophy
Scrolls with a Caster Level of 7
+2 Tools

[GuntherBovine]

Ignoring money drops, I have recorded 765 drops from Smashables, Chests and Quest Rewards. 5 items I have yet to determine an item drop level. 5 items have item drop levels greater than what I would expect from my rules. Those 5 items are:
* The final chest in "Redemption" dropped a +1 Dagger on Normal
* A smashable in "Stopping the Sahuagin" dropped on Normal a Potion of Bull's Strength
* Wazul's chest in "Stealthy Repossession" dropped on Elite dropped a +2 Full Plate
* Gnashtooth Bloodletter's left chest in "The Kobold's Den: Rescuing Arlos" dropped on Hard 20 +1 Cold Iron Throwing Daggers
* A chest in the locked room with spikes surrounding it in "The Grey Moon's Den: Extermination" dropped on Normal a +1 Light Steel Shield of Protection +1

[GuntherBovine]

I don't see a lot of rhyme or reason

|-----|------------|-----|------|-----|-----|
|Quest|            |Drop |      |     |     |
|Level|Source      |Level|Normal|Hard |Elite|
|-----|------------|-----|------|-----|-----|
|  1  |Chest       |  1  |   8  | 12  |  8  |
|  1  |Chest       |  2  |  15  | 10  |  3  |
|  1  |Chest       |  3  |   1  |  2  |  1  |
|  1  |Smashables  |  1  |  13  | 11  |  3  |
|  1  |Smashables  |  3  |   1  |  0  |  0  |
|  2  |Chest       |  1  |  28  | 11  |  1  |
|  2  |Chest       |  2  |  12  |  8  |  6  |
|  2  |Chest       |  3  |  13  | 12  |  9  |
|  2  |Chest       |  4  |   0  |  0  |  2  |
|  2  |Chest       |  5  |   0  |  0  |  3  |
|  2  |Chest       |  6  |   0  |  0  |  1  |
|  2  |Quest Reward|  1  |  11  |  7  |  4  |
|  2  |Quest Reward|  2  |  11  |  1  |  7  |
|  2  |Quest Reward|  3  |   9  | 18  |  6  |
|  2  |Quest Reward|  4  |   2  |  0  |  0  |
|  2  |Smashables  |  1  |  31  |  0  |  1  |
|  2  |Smashables  |  2  |   8  |  0  |  1  |
|  3  |Chest       |  1  |   6  | 17  |  0  |
|  3  |Chest       |  2  |   0  | 17  |  0  |
|  3  |Chest       |  3  |   3  | 29  |  0  |
|  3  |Chest       |  4  |   1  | 12  |  0  |
|  3  |Chest       |  5  |   0  |  6  |  0  |
|  3  |Chest       |  6  |   0  |  1  |  0  |
|  3  |Quest Reward|  1  |   1  |  0  |  0  |
|  3  |Quest Reward|  2  |   1  |  0  |  0  |
|  3  |Quest Reward|  3  |   6  |  0  |  0  |
|  3  |Quest Reward|  4  |   1  |  0  |  0  |
|  3  |Quest Reward|  5  |   1  |  0  |  0  |
|  3  |Smashables  |  1  |   9  |  2  |  0  |
|  3  |Smashables  |  2  |   6  |  0  |  0  |
|  3  |Smashables  |  3  |   4  |  0  |  0  |
|  4  |Chest       |  1  |   0  |  5  |  0  |
|  4  |Chest       |  2  |   0  |  5  |  0  |
|  4  |Chest       |  3  |   0  | 22  |  0  |
|  4  |Chest       |  4  |   0  |  9  |  0  |
|  4  |Chest       |  5  |   0  |  3  |  0  |
|  4  |Chest       |  6  |   0  |  4  |  0  |
|  4  |Quest Reward|  0  |   0  |  1  |  0  |
|  4  |Quest Reward|  1  |   0  |  1  |  0  |
|  4  |Quest Reward|  2  |   0  |  3  |  0  |
|  4  |Quest Reward|  3  |   0  |  6  |  0  |
|  4  |Quest Reward|  4  |   0  |  7  |  0  |
|  4  |Quest Reward|  5  |   0  |  2  |  0  |
|  4  |Quest Reward|  6  |   0  |  5  |  0  |
|  4  |Quest Reward|  8  |   0  |  1  |  0  |
|  5  |Chest       |  3  |   2  |  5  |  0  |
|  5  |Chest       |  4  |   1  |  0  |  0  |
|  5  |Chest       |  5  |   1  |  0  |  0  |
|  5  |Chest       |  6  |   1  |  0  |  0  |
|  5  |Chest       |  7  |   0  |  1  |  0  |
|  5  |Quest Reward|  3  |   3  |  0  |  0  |
|  5  |Quest Reward|  5  |   1  |  0  |  0  |
|  5  |Quest Reward|  6  |   1  |  0  |  0  |
|  6  |Chest       |  1  |   5  |  0  |  0  |
|  6  |Chest       |  2  |   9  |  0  |  0  |
|  6  |Chest       |  3  |  27  |  0  |  0  |
|  6  |Chest       |  4  |   8  |  0  |  0  |
|  6  |Chest       |  5  |   5  |  0  |  0  |
|  6  |Chest       |  6  |   8  |  0  |  0  |
|  6  |Chest       |  7  |   5  |  0  |  0  |
|  6  |Quest Reward|  3  |   5  |  0  |  0  |
|  6  |Quest Reward|  5  |   5  |  0  |  0  |
|  6  |Quest Reward|  6  |   8  |  0  |  0  |
|  6  |Quest Reward|  8  |   5  |  0  |  0  |
|  7  |Chest       |  1  |   2  |  0  |  0  |
|  7  |Chest       |  2  |  13  |  0  |  0  |
|  7  |Chest       |  3  |  33  |  0  |  0  |
|  7  |Chest       |  4  |   5  |  0  |  0  |
|  7  |Chest       |  5  |   5  |  0  |  0  |
|  7  |Chest       |  6  |  18  |  0  |  0  |
|  7  |Chest       |  7  |   2  |  0  |  0  |
|  7  |Chest       |  8  |  18  |  0  |  0  |
|  7  |Chest       |  9  |   1  |  0  |  0  |
|  7  |Quest Reward| TBD |   2  |  0  |  0  |
|  7  |Quest Reward|  3  |   8  |  0  |  0  |
|  7  |Quest Reward|  5  |   7  |  0  |  0  |
|  7  |Quest Reward|  6  |  13  |  0  |  0  |
|  7  |Quest Reward|  8  |  19  |  0  |  0  |
|  7  |Smashables  | TBD |   2  |  0  |  0  |
|  7  |Smashables  |  1  |   1  |  0  |  0  |
|  7  |Smashables  |  6  |   1  |  0  |  0  |
|  7  |Smashables  |  7  |   1  |  0  |  0  |
|-----|------------|-----|------|-----|-----|

[kittikatgurl]

The "Sharn Syndicate" quests are the only quests that I know of that has BtA as a quest reward.
.

The lordsmarc stuff also has BtA items as the chain reward

[GuntherBovine]

|Currency            |25.41%|
|Weapon              |13.37%|
|Guild Renown        |11.14%|
|Armor               | 7.88%|
|Potion              | 7.73%|
|Gem                 | 6.09%|
|Ammunition          | 5.20%|
|Scroll              | 4.75%|
|Clothing            | 3.12%|
|Jewelry             | 2.82%|
|Throwing Weapon     | 2.67%|
|Shield              | 2.23%|
|Tool                | 2.08%|
|Miscellaneous       | 1.78%|
|Spell Component     | 1.34%|
|Wand                | 1.19%|
|Armor               | 1.04%|
|Inscription Material| 0.15%|

[GuntherBovine]

The toon doesn't impact chest and smashable drops
I am assuming that if a level 20 toon runs a level 1 quest, it should get the same chest and smashable drops as a level 1 toon. I am also assuming that the class of the toon has no impact on the chest and smashable drops.

The toon doesn't impact the drop levels of quest rewards
There is an option for class specific quest rewards and it is set to "Yes" when your toon is created. If this is set, some of your quest rewards will be class specific. For a monk, most of the quest rewards are handwraps, kamas, quarterstaffs, robe and outfits. So the class of a toon will impact the quest rewards, but I am assuming that it doesn't impact the drop level of the quest rewards

The number of players in a party doesn't effect drops
All of this is based upon solo play. If 6 player parties had radically different drops, then I have wasted my time

The drop levels for smashables, chest and quest rewards are the same
For example, Guntheb found 4 Potions of Jumping in chests in level 1 quests but he didn't find any in smashables until level 2 quests. Does that mean that Potions of Jumping have a different drop level dependent on whether the source is a chest or a smashable? With as little data as I have, I have to assume that the drop levels are the same over all sources.

If lots of items from a class drop, they drop randomly and at the same drop level
For example, I am assuming that Repeating Heavy Crossbows have the same drop frequency and drop level as any other plain weapon. I would have to have LOTS more data to not assume this

Quest chain rewards follow a different logic
I have left out quest chain rewards for this discussion. They typically have many named items and when a named item doesn't appear, DDO apparently randomly picks a replacing item. I just don't have enough data to say anything about quest chain rewards

[GuntherBovine]

Gather more data
I just don't have enough data to say more.

Items that need drop levels
* Arrows/Bolts of (Monster) Bane
* Clothing/Jewelry items with arcane prefixes like "Resonance II"

[GuntherBovine]

Ask if you would like drop data slice and diced a certain way and I will put it here