Epic Epic Destinies - Let me stay in my "main" destiny while leveling

[noneill]

I am have to disagree. When I first capped my S&B Paladin tank in Unyielding Sentinel I thought I was going to hate grinding out ED's for fate points. If you just farm Xp in rusted blades you will be bored. However I found actually questing as a fatesinger or Shiraldi interesting and I actually learned about the abilities and what I want to twist.
Are there some ED's that don't match well with your build? Sure. Do you really need twists ? No
It gives you something to do once you are capped

[RobbinB]

In retrospect, I think the fate points should have been awarded based on additional xp you gained in a capped ed. So your choice would be to keep playing your capped ed to pursue the fate points, or start a "secondary" ed to open up twistables you'll want to spend those fate points on.

With that system, you would never be forced into playing a "useless" ed, as there would be no gain in doing so.

[Torkzed]

/signed

I just maxed my primary destiny, and it was a real let down to have to give up all those goodies to start over in a less useful destiny. I don't know what the answer is, but they need to do something to let us to have fun while playing through the destinies that have bad synergy with your heroic character levels.

[Brennie]

In retrospect, I think the fate points should have been awarded based on additional xp you gained in a capped ed. So your choice would be to keep playing your capped ed to pursue the fate points, or start a "secondary" ed to open up twistables you'll want to spend those fate points on.

With that system, you would never be forced into playing a "useless" ed, as there would be no gain in doing so.

I think this is a neat idea, except i woudl tie fate points to XP earned overall, so that a person could indefinitely stay in one destiny, or level up every single destiny, and still end up with the same number of fate points.

The problem still remains, though, that you'd need 3-4 levels in "intermediate" destinies to eventually get to the one you wanted to "unlock" for twist purposes (If, say, an Exalted Angel wanted some twists out of Magister/Dragconic as a probably pretty common example, you'd still need to power through 4 Unyeilding Sentinal, 3 GMoF, 4 ShadowDancer, 3 Fastesinger, and enough magister/draconic to purchase the abilities you want to twist)

[samthedagger]

I dunno. I think the bragging rights of having capped every destiny should be a challenge of either making something unusual work or at the very least an endurance challenge.

I have actually enjoyed the challenge of trying to make other destinies fit on my cleric. Plus I get to toy around with them and see how they work as I level them. Some are obviously less enjoyable than others, but I can do epic elite with some perseverance regardless of the destiny. Now perhaps melees have more difficulty in that than casters, but losing all those caster levels forces me to play in different ways as well and I have come up with some tactics that I probably would not have thought of if I just stayed in Exalted Angel the whole time.

[RobbinB]

I think this is a neat idea, except i woudl tie fate points to XP earned overall, so that a person could indefinitely stay in one destiny, or level up every single destiny, and still end up with the same number of fate points.

A reasonable variation that I would have no problem with.

The problem still remains, though, that you'd need 3-4 levels in "intermediate" destinies to eventually get to the one you wanted to "unlock" for twist purposes (If, say, an Exalted Angel wanted some twists out of Magister/Dragconic as a probably pretty common example, you'd still need to power through 4 Unyeilding Sentinal, 3 GMoF, 4 ShadowDancer, 3 Fastesinger, and enough magister/draconic to purchase the abilities you want to twist)

I think the problem of the destiny map and intermediate destinies is a separate one. I think the "destiny map" is a cool on a conceptual level (just like the greensteel dual shards tying in to the planes or whatever it was is pretty cool), but it just didn't really work in a practical sense. So, yes, I would support a more practical system with respect to how you move from destiny to destiny when you are only interested in some of them.

[goodoldxelos]

I've argued they need to make ED more inclusive to all the classes not exclusive.

[Bart_D]

/signed

I'd love to be able to stay in my preferred ED while earning "some" xp in another. It would make much more sense that switching back and forth depending on whether you're doing easy or harder quests.

[Feralthyrtiaq]

Not...

At...

All...

I believe a Player should HAVE to go back to square one to learn a new skill. You give up previous powers to learn something new.

It's also the PRICE you pay to unlock FATE POINTS.

There has to be a trade off.

How about just give us FREE FATE POINTS or *POOF* Bazillions of XP to assign however you wish.

Thats like saying to the DM "Please loan me an Epic SOS so I can have fun using it while I grind the parts to make my own"

Sorry but I think you don't want to make the sacrifice to get all the stuff you want (not need).

The Fate Points are options you can choose to take or not.

BTW this is NOT Yu-Gi-Oh....

You DON'T have to get them all...

[fco-karatekid]

/signed

And I really couldn't care less if it's as little as 5-10% - SOMETHING.

I actually don't grind for ED points (well didn't until last night, but that was just because I couldn't think of anything else I wanted to do); but I really would take a hit to overall XP applied to just stay with the ED skills I want while passing thru another. GMOF is coming soon for me - there're maybe 2 features of that ED I will be using while applying epic XP to it. Not looking forward to that.

[Certon]

/signed

This is a great idea.

[Fejj]

Not...

At...

All...

I believe a Player should HAVE to go back to square one to learn a new skill. You give up previous powers to learn something new.

It's also the PRICE you pay to unlock FATE POINTS.

There has to be a trade off.

How about just give us FREE FATE POINTS or *POOF* Bazillions of XP to assign however you wish.

Thats like saying to the DM "Please loan me an Epic SOS so I can have fun using it while I grind the parts to make my own"

Sorry but I think you don't want to make the sacrifice to get all the stuff you want (not need).

The Fate Points are options you can choose to take or not.

BTW this is NOT Yu-Gi-Oh....

You DON'T have to get them all...

Easy there fella, I was not trying to get anyone riled up.

I understand that no one "needs" twists and such. Your example is a bit silly though.

The issue is more about having fun. Quests are not a real challenge with or without Epic Destinies. Being in my "main" destiny is much more fun.

I will accept a penalty, less xp for example. I am not looking for a handout, just more fun.

I no longer play some characters because I feel that my progress is wasted. Its a diffrent feeling from having capped everything and having nothing else to gain. Its like i'm loosing out by playing certain characters. I should get xp ... but can't because I want to play in my main destiny.

[Rawel_San]

I think part of the idea with leveling different destinies to get fate points, is that you actually learn about the
destinies. I know some destinies are really hard to make useful on some builds but I still feel it's a minority.

And it still astounds me when I see lvl 25 wizards entering Abbot in a lvl 5 magister destiny even more so if I
know they have all the destinies done. Even if not, by level 25 you should at the very least
have DI up to 3 and even that's better then going in with lvl 5 magister.

It's a bit as if you had a ranger that enters abbot and insists on ranging him even though he doesn't have the
bow of the silver flame and is not an AA.

I think that leveling through the destinies properly and actually trying them out helps understand how to use
them.

[fco-karatekid]

Easy there fella, I was not trying to get anyone riled up.

I understand that no one "needs" twists and such. Your example is a bit silly though.

The issue is more about having fun. Quests are not a real challenge with or without Epic Destinies. Being in my "main" destiny is much more fun.

I will accept a penalty, less xp for example. I am not looking for a handout, just more fun.

I no longer play some characters because I feel that my progress is wasted. Its a diffrent feeling from having capped everything and having nothing else to gain. Its like i'm loosing out by playing certain characters. I should get xp ... but can't because I want to play in my main destiny.

Right.

I pursued my first two destinies (Magister and Draconic) because I wanted what was in them. I wanted some stuff in the first two Fatesinger for later (after getting some fate points built up to unlock those a bit). I am coming into Shadowdancer now and want none of those for twisting, GMOF same, might use one or two here and there from Dreadnaught.

When I get into those last three, I'd prefer to be in magister with twists from draconic and/or fatesinger vs. using essentially NOTHING from those others while building them.

I run some of the old epics in norm and hard... I took the specific destinies above based upon running some of that old content. Now I can't use them without wasting the epic xp from running them.

No, none of this is required, and noone is saying it is - all we're saying is let us put the unfavorable ED's on cruise control in the background so it's not a total waste of XP.

[RobbinB]

Not...

At...

All...

I believe a Player should HAVE to go back to square one to learn a new skill. You give up previous powers to learn something new.

It's also the PRICE you pay to unlock FATE POINTS.

There has to be a trade off.

How about just give us FREE FATE POINTS or *POOF* Bazillions of XP to assign however you wish.

Thats like saying to the DM "Please loan me an Epic SOS so I can have fun using it while I grind the parts to make my own"

Sorry but I think you don't want to make the sacrifice to get all the stuff you want (not need).

The Fate Points are options you can choose to take or not.

BTW this is NOT Yu-Gi-Oh....

You DON'T have to get them all...

Actually, back in the 80s there was an rpg type of game that I enjoyed. Problem was I found the path to the end fight that bypassed a large number of game levels. So I didn't have the level (due to insufficient xp earned) to survive the final fight. In order to get my character ready I found a room on an earlier level that if u kept leaving and reentering would reinitiate a relatively easy fight. So I did that like 1000 times to get my levels so I could square off against the final fight. "Earning" my levels did not make the game fun. It was like watching paint dry. I never even tried any of the successive games in that series because of being put off by that experience.

How is running "house of rusted blades" 1000 times to "earn" my full eds (and thus my fate points) any different? That is the question I find myself asking.

Requiring repetivite mandatory tasks that are not in any way challenging or fun simply isn't good game design. Period.

There are other suggestions made by other posters that don't "give away" the fate points. They still have to be earned, but not in such a ridiculous way as the current system.

[goodoldxelos]

This seems to be an easy button, there needs to be some downside... How about some more thought on this.

[Cetus]

obviously signed

[Limey]

"Requiring repetivite mandatory tasks"

My view in general (not directed to anyone in particular) is either farm rusted blades and quit whining its boring, or dont and quit whining xp is slow.

But back to the destinies yes I think a % of xp once you have capped should go to another, they did something similiar in EQ and it works fine, they even let you play around with the balance.

[Brennie]

This seems to be an easy button, there needs to be some downside... How about some more thought on this.

How is this an easy button? Cap a destiny that fits your character really well (Say, Exalted Angel for an evoker FvS), and get to stay in that destiny after you've capped it instead of immediately switching out of it as soon as you get its final and most powerful benefits because *every single point of XP you gain from that point forward woudl be a complete and utter waste*. So you get to stay in that destiny, and have the XP you gain begin pooling in other destinies you've unlocked, either divided evenly among them, or into a specific "secondary" destiny that you have selected. Most people in this thread have even suggested a small XP penalty for destinies that are not "Active", anywhere in the 5%-25% range seems appropriate.

TL;DR - Requiring millions more XP to cap all destinies as an alternative to giving up abilities that actually work for your character is not an easy button.

[Torkzed]

I believe a Player should HAVE to go back to square one to learn a new skill. You give up previous powers to learn something new.

After reading this post, I have changed my mind.

I now agree with Feralthy. I think in order to make gains in a new ED, you should be required to TR to the class corresponding to your new desired destiny, discard every item in your bank, delete all alts, quit your guild, delete any other accounts you may have, give all your plat to a random noob in korthos and "go back to square one".

Clearly, that is the only way you will have *earned* the right to learn a new skill.

Nothing less than starting completly over will do. Any thing else is an easy button.

DDO is not meant to be fun, darn it! This is important work and it is meant to teach all you slackers that real gains require real work, even in a virtual fantasy world with pixies and unicorns.