Menace of the Underdark FAQ

[Silvias]

uh..... why would they retain the epic XP lol! that is the single dumbest idea I have heard or seen lol. you guys just want everything to be easy and handed to you....if you don't want the grind then dont do it...make a guy, make him epic..keep him epic.....not a hard concept to grasp.

[rfachini]

Betty wouldn't have been intimidating enough, now whoever did the voice for Mom (Futurama, head of Mom's Robot Factory) she woud have been a good choice you don't want to cross that old battle axe.

Someone in my guild suggested Alice Krige (the borg queen). A voice like that could pull it off very well. Commanding but also enticing, which would be appropriate for a goddess.


Also along those lines, Cate Blanchett in full-on Dark Queen mode would totally rock as Lolth:

[Chai]

uh..... why would they retain the epic XP lol! that is the single dumbest idea I have heard or seen lol. you guys just want everything to be easy and handed to you....if you don't want the grind then dont do it...make a guy, make him epic..keep him epic.....not a hard concept to grasp.

But but ...but.....He could hit for 1 more damage per hit if I just TRed it once more!!!

[kingfisher]

uh..... why would they retain the epic XP lol! that is the single dumbest idea I have heard or seen lol. you guys just want everything to be easy and handed to you....if you don't want the grind then dont do it...make a guy, make him epic..keep him epic.....not a hard concept to grasp.

cause tr's cost money. turbine created this revenue stream out of thin air and they are not gonna f it up now. you dont put a roadblock in front of the drive-thru line at fatburger.

[FranOhmsford]

She could definitely give the proper gravitas to the role.

How you only have 1 greenie I will never know.

Superb.

[spyyder976]

Expansion FAQ

When can I get the expansion, and how?
We will announce the details about the sale of Menace of the Underdark as we get closer to launch.

How much will it cost?
We will be announcing pricing details very soon!

When is beta?
We will be hosting a Beta program to get your feedback on all the exciting new content and will announce the timing of it in the coming months.

Does this mean Eberron is “over”?
Not at all! While we will be focusing on Forgotten Realms in the near future, we do plan to add more Eberron content to DDO in the future as well.

Is the expansion a separate game than the Eberron game?
No! Menace of the Underdark is an expansion to the existing DDO service. Players will be able to continue to enjoy the Eberron content and the new Forgotten Realms content without having to install a new game client or abandon their existing friends and servers.

Will we be allowed to bring our Warforged & Artificers to Forgotten Realms?
Yes! Be sure to check out Update 13, our next update where you’ll learn more about how Eberron characters come to find themselves in Forgotten Realms!

How did you link the Eberron and Forgotten Realms setting in the game, isn’t that against the D&D rules?
We’ve worked closely with Wizards of the Coast, as well as setting creator Ed Greenwood, to carefully craft a story that leads to the linking of the two game worlds. The threat of Lolth is something that touches multiple parts of the D&D universe, and we’re excited to let DDO players take part in a story that will span both D&D settings to try and stop her!

Once we go to Forgotten Realms can our characters ever go back to Eberron?
Yes! Your characters will be able to go back and forth between Eberron and Forgotten Realms.

How will “epic” levels work? Are they different than normal character levels?
Normal character levels are now called “Heroic” levels (1-20). After the release of Menace of the Underdark, characters who’ve reached level 20 will be able to start earning experience towards their Epic Levels. Epic levels allow players to continue to advance and customize their characters in all new ways. We’ll post more previews and dev diaries for the community regarding these exciting new features.

What happens to existing “True Reincarnation” characters?
No major changes are planned. TR characters will keep their benefits and you will be able to True Reincarnate your character from level 20 and up.

Are the abilities based on reaching “level cap to 20” going to change to 25? (e.g. True Reincarnations Capstones, Completionist feat, Prestige Enhancements)
Capstones, True Reincarnations, Prestige Enhancements, and Completionist feat are all still going to be based on reaching level 20 of what is now called “Heroic” levels (Heroic levels are the levels from 1-20 prior to epic).

You've created more questions than you answered, though thanks for trying at least. Are we going to have levels 21-25 and eventually through 40 or not? Or are we just going to stay at 20 with an Alternate Advancement system? If we start earning xp/powers/abilities/enhancements/etc., with epics, what happens to our gains earned in epic levels if we then TR. Can I be a level 1 TR toon with an ability I earned in epic level advancement or is all epic advancement lost if/when I TR? This makes no sense either way.

I suggested to you years ago to get the licensing to create Forgotten Realms content, as many others did, but I also told you a SPECIFIC way that you could do this in the existing game, like I do with my own pnp game, through the use of magical portals that allow PC's to travel between game systems/settings/worlds similar to stargates. I even had conversations about this with devs who liked the idea, and now here it comes into the game. While I know I said to feel free to use all my ideas (I've given you a ton of them, and you've already used some of them!) and such since I can't possibly make a game myself since I'm not a millionaire, I would at least like you to start sending me my royalty checks for all my wonderful amazing ideas at some point in the near future since you are about to make a ton MORE money off of my imagination!

Keep this up and I will stop giving you all my ideas and send them to Atari...no wait, I already did that back when I got mad at you for halting content releases and not speaking to us though we didn't know you were in a lawsuit with them and couldn't talk about it...and the ideas I sent them, and also discussed with them, just HAPPEN to be coming out this fall in Neverwinter Online and have also already come out in Heroes of Neverwinter on Facebook, and Sony also created my ideas I sent to them in a Facebook dungeon making app-Dungeon Overlords or something, though they screwed it up and it's not as good as what I had planned, go figure-it's SOE. When am I going to be at least acknowledged for being the MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE when it comes to creating the most amazing online games that EVER WERE?!?

[grgurius]

So far i only have one trivial question, and i apologize if this was already answered. But where in the FR time line will we end up 3.5 or 4.0?

And i sincerely hope that certain famous characters will be absent, as in not mentioned even in passing.

[Failedlegend]

Sorry guys couldn't help it

[Truga]

My only questions are:

Why FR? Not that I hate it, but it's way overused already, and eberron also has underdark, last I checked. We've even been there before, in this very game!

and

Truthful one, when? I want my Dreaming Dark arc continuation, please.

[thatguy]

I have been waiting for this. Nice to see it was finally announced.

[EllisDee37]

The challenge rewards have bonuses and penalties based on relative level of the challenge compared to the player. Will epic levels be used for this comparison in epic challenges? As in, running a level 24 challenge on a toon who is maxed at 5 epic levels would have the (fairly severe) -1 level reward penalty?

I assume this will be the case, but just thought I'd ask.

[Entelech]

My only questions are:

Why FR? Not that I hate it, but it's way overused already, and eberron also has underdark, last I checked. We've even been there before, in this very game!

and

Truthful one, when? I want my Dreaming Dark arc continuation, please.

Actually, the deep underground areas of the Eberron setting are called "The Depths of Khyber" or just "Khyber". It has to do with the creation myth for the setting, where three cosmic dragons battled to the death, and the world was formed from their remains.

Khyber first slew Siberys, and tore her body into flinders. Then Eberron wrapped Khyber in her mighty coils and crushed the life from him, before she succumbed to the wounds and poison he inflicted on her in his death throes.

Thus, the underground depths are made of the body of Khyber, the surface world is from the body of Eberron, and the twinkling lights in the heavens are the dust of poor Siberys...


The Underdark was originally a thing referred to by both the Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms settings, but over time it became more tied to the Forgotten Realms, partly due to the popularity of the Salvatore novels.

[Failedlegend]

Actually, the deep underground areas of the Eberron setting are called "The Depths of Khyber" or just "Khyber". It has to do with the creation myth for the setting, where three cosmic dragons battled to the death, and the world was formed from their remains.

Khyber first slew Siberys, and tore her body into flinders. Then Eberron wrapped Khyber in her mighty coils and crushed the life from him, before she succumbed to the wounds and poison he inflicted on her in his death throes.

Thus, the underground depths are made of the body of Khyber, the surface world is from the body of Eberron, and the twinkling lights in the heavens are the dust of poor Siberys...


The Underdark was originally a thing referred to by both the Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms settings, but over time it became more tied to the Forgotten Realms, partly due to the popularity of the Salvatore novels.

[Handi_Smith]

From Thatguy:

(I have been waiting for this. Nice to see it was finally announced.)

[dkyle]

uh..... why would they retain the epic XP lol! that is the single dumbest idea I have heard or seen lol. you guys just want everything to be easy and handed to you....if you don't want the grind then dont do it...make a guy, make him epic..keep him epic.....not a hard concept to grasp.

Because the cost of a TR is already high enough and there's no need to increase it.

Because TR is sometimes the only way to do a real respec, and with a game that changes as much as this one, knowing when you're "done" TRing is basically impossible.

Because it's just plain unfun to lock yourself out of gameplay options. Why does it make the game better if we have to TR first, until we're "done", then pursue Epic advancement? What's wrong with being able to intersperse them as our mood strikes us? Why should doing so be punished?

It's not about adding an easy button. Or removing grind. In fact, keeping Epic XP on TR in no way makes the game easier or less grindy than the current game. It's about not adding frustrating, pointless, punitive mechanics to the game.

[rfachini]

What I'd particularly like to know are details of how the epic levels are going to work, particularly with multi-class characters. Are levels 21-25 "generic" epic levels, or can you use them help multi-class builds?
For example, I have a monk19/cleric1. Can level 21 be taken as a monk level, so I'm now monk20/cleric1 and can now buy the monk capstone enhancement?

[Avidus]

What I'd particularly like to know are details of how the epic levels are going to work, particularly with multi-class characters. Are levels 21-25 "generic" epic levels, or can you use them help multi-class builds?
For example, I have a monk19/cleric1. Can level 21 be taken as a monk level, so I'm now monk20/cleric1 and can now buy the monk capstone enhancement?

Somewhere is a dev post about how you won't take class levels for levels 21~25.

I am fairly certain they are talking about generic levels. Something along the lines of Characters at 20 earn epic xp while in epic quests/raids only.

Every XXX amount of xp they earn, they 'level' up by talking to an epic trainer that allows them to choose from a list of rewards.

Examples being +2 to a stat, a feat, +3 skill points, or 3 AP. All of which would stack with TR pastlife feats, extra build points, tomes, exceptional boni and completionist.

Anyway that's the impression I have gleaned from the very sparse info so far...

[somenewnoob]

LMAO!!

I wish I could +1 that more than once. Pure win!

[EllisDee37]

Because the cost of a TR is already high enough and there's no need to increase it.

Because TR is sometimes the only way to do a real respec, and with a game that changes as much as this one, knowing when you're "done" TRing is basically impossible.

Because it's just plain unfun to lock yourself out of gameplay options. Why does it make the game better if we have to TR first, until we're "done", then pursue Epic advancement? What's wrong with being able to intersperse them as our mood strikes us? Why should doing so be punished?

It's not about adding an easy button. Or removing grind. In fact, keeping Epic XP on TR in no way makes the game easier or less grindy than the current game. It's about not adding frustrating, pointless, punitive mechanics to the game.

I can't figure out how to say this in a nice way, but this post sounds very whiny and entitled. U13 greatly reduces the cost of a TR; seems like resetting epic xp would be a wash when you factor in the cost of not losing tomes anymore. Also, many people assume epic xp scales from TR like heroic xp does but I see no reason why it would. Don't complain about hypotheticals.

What else is there to do at 20 but run epics? Your seven millionth shroud? I think I'd rather see epic xp reset on TR if for no other reason that once I start running epics again upon hitting 20 I'll be making progress toward something. It annoys me all that wasted xp once I hit cap and keep running shroud.

EDIT: Unless it ends up being the equivalent of 100 full-token runs to get 1 epic level, of course, in which case I would agree it's punitive to reset on tr. But that's a baseless hypothetical, which is pointless to complain about. If it turns out epic xp gets reset but you only need the equivalent of 5 full-token runs for each level regardless of how many past lives you have, won't you feel silly having argued about how punitive it is?

EDIT2: Hey I just had a thought. How about epic xp resets on tr but scales in reverse? First life takes the longest, second around 75%, and third or more life takes only half the normal epic xp to level? That'd be a neat mechanic.

[CrankVulcan]

Expansion FAQ


How will “epic” levels work? Are they different than normal character levels?
Normal character levels are now called “Heroic” levels (1-20). After the release of Menace of the Underdark, characters who’ve reached level 20 will be able to start earning experience towards their Epic Levels. Epic levels allow players to continue to advance and customize their characters in all new ways. We’ll post more previews and dev diaries for the community regarding these exciting new features.

Does this mean characters can take epic levels in a different class? Will it be possible to have 18/6/1 or 12/12/1 builds? I would imagine it isn't going to work that way but I wish I knew a little but more so I could start working on a build for my main's next life.

Either way...will we get another stat increase at lvl 24? A feat at 21st/24th?



If these questions have been answered earlier in the thread I apologize.