DDOCast Episode #307 - New Player Tips

[pjstechie]

Patrick is joined by Geoff and new guest Chris for a host of new player tips and Update 19 Patch 3. Visit www.ddocast.com for audio, swag, updates and more!

Technical Note: The video version remains unedited however the audio version has been edited to remove most of Geoff's vocal lag. Show times are for the unedited video version.

Show Times
Introducing Chris - 1:22
News - 2:34
New Player Tips - 20:37
WWBD - 1:02:14
Lightning Post - 1:05:14
Closing - 1:06:52

Join the DDOCast Kobold Union
DDO Chronicle 64
Update 19 Patch 3 Release Notes
Deadlock's Sagas Simplified
Shamgar's Skill Blog
DDOGamer - Collectibles PVP - Stacking - Favor -
A Gathering of Links
Thanksgiving Give Away
Monarch's New Mentoring Program

Closing Note: Change of plans, no cast this coming week.

[Livmo]

If you're new to the game this is a great episode to watch. I've been playing for 10 months and figured allot of this stuff out the hard way. I learned tons of new info from this episode as well.

Geoff listed his #1 tip is to have fun. I couldn't agree more! Don't let other people's poor behavior affect you.

Its a game after all. Also when you PUG (Pick Up Group), if you don't have any expectations, then you won't be disappointed!

[FranOhmsford]

Tangleroot Lily Petals still hand in for Cure Pots BUT The Remove Blindness and Curse Pots no longer exist!

These have been replaced by Panacea Pots.


In some ways this is a good change as Panacea removes a number of different ailments.


Also:

You used my tip however you missed out the biggest thing for a newbie - Press O for Social Panel - They need to know how to find it in the first place!


Oh and finally:

Telling people their first character {and subsequent characters too} is/are gonna be trash is in my opinion TERRIBLE Advice!

My First character in DDO is now on his 2nd Life - No he wasn't perfect on his first life {Many of my characters made long afterwards aren't perfect either} HOWEVER The First Character someone makes is likely to mean more to that person than subsequent characters.

No matter how badly you "Gimp" your first, second, 66th toon you DO NOT have to Delete him/her/it!

Anyone who tells you to do that is Trolling plain and simple!

Feat Swaps are available Free if you do an easy Q/A Quest in the Marketplace {Speak to Lockania!}.
Lesser Reincarnations are now given out free {one per character} to everyone!

Every one of my first 5 characters is now on at least life #2 {TRd} - Only my Battle Cleric {the Second Character I made} was capable at end-game on her 1st life - My WF Spellsinger Pure Bard {Supposedly a Terrible Build} was amazingly good at Lvl 20 But was TRd Instantly regardless.

I've deleted subsequently made characters but I've never seriously considered deleting any of those 5!

Larystessian Caravardian {1st Life Wiz/Rog 18/2 Pale Master - 2nd Life Mutt Druid for Past Life}
Jelina Athenis {1st Life Cleric/Ftr 17/3 Lvl 25 Exalted Angel - 2nd Life Pure Cleric currently Lvl 12}
EnochPagett - Unfortunately Enoch was already taken on Cannith {1st Life Uber-Awful 16/4 FvS/Ftr that I persevered with - 2nd Life Paladin/Ftr 18/2 - 3rd Life Pure Paladin currently Lvl 7}
Sylveria Levalle {1st Life Trapper 15/3/2 Rogue Mech/Arti/Ftr
Molineux {1st Life Spellsinger 20, 2nd Life Sorc 20, 3rd Life FvS 6 - Going Completionist!}


You DO NOT have to be Epic Elite Capable the Moment you hit Lvl 20!
You DO NOT have to be Epic Elite Capable even at Lvl 25!

Accept that you'll miss out on the top tier of Certain Favour Rewards on your 1st Life.
Accept that DDO utilizes Multiple Lives and now plans for these when creating New Epic Content.

That 1st Life Paladin you're considering deleting btw is a superb choice of Early Past Life that will help with every single subsequent Life of that character!

[Postumus]

I really enjoyed Sig and Anne, and I miss them, but Shamgar has really stepped up to the plate so far taking this over.

The last several pod casts have he's a great job focusing on how things work in DDO, what stacks with what, how to read a character sheet, how AC and PRR work (without getting into the formula).


Great stuff for new players. Well explained and entertaining. The character sheet walk through alone was really valuable information for anyone not familiar with it. (was that DDOCAST 303?)

[Postumus]

Oh and finally:

Telling people their first character {and subsequent characters too} is/are gonna be trash is in my opinion TERRIBLE Advice!

"Trash" is a bit strong. But I think it is sound advice to tell new players not to worry about getting really invested (gear-wise or emotionally) with making that first character work. Especially if they are coming from a PnP background with little or no MMO experience.


Odds are that first character (or two, or three) can be improved on quite a bit to make the game a bit more fun to play. I remembered gutting it out with my 35 HP wizard and getting so sick of dying on normal that I came to the forums to find anything I could to help me figure out what I was doing wrong.


Once players get the mechanics down, understand the feats and enhancements, then they can build pretty much anything and do well enough with it.

[FranOhmsford]

"Trash" is a bit strong. But I think it is sound advice to tell new players not to worry about getting really invested (gear-wise or emotionally) with making that first character work. Especially if they are coming from a PnP background with little or no MMO experience.


Odds are that first character (or two, or three) can be improved on quite a bit to make the game a bit more fun to play. I remembered gutting it out with my 35 HP wizard and getting so sick of dying on normal that I came to the forums to find anything I could to help me figure out what I was doing wrong.


Once players get the mechanics down, understand the feats and enhancements, then they can build pretty much anything and do well enough with it.

35 hp on a Lvl 1 Wizard would have been amazing back then! {Now not so much}.

I specified that none of those characters I was talking about were perfect - At least one {the FvS/Ftr} was so badly gimped that from 8-19 was just a Nightmare to play! Surprisingly rather like my WF Spellsinger he came into his own upon getting that 16th FvS Lvl at Lvl 20 and I found myself considering whether to stick for a while or use the Heart I'd already bought!
I chose to use the Heart and have had far more fun with him as a Paladin!

He came the closest of those 5 characters to being deleted - I even went so far as to pass leadership of the guild I'd made on that character to Lary {who has held lead ever since}.
I clearly Never did delete Enoch and am incredibly glad of that fact {especially as he is named after my Grandfather!}.


Later characters I did delete were:
My 1st Sorc {With 2 Rogue Levels at Lvl 8 she was just unplayable!}.
A Dwarf Cleric/Rogue who made it to Lvl 8 before also becoming unplayable.
Multiple versions of an Elf Bard/Rogue - Never could get that to work.

Reasons for deleting:
Sorc - Even now after taking Molineux through his Sorc Life I STILL Loathe the Playstyle of Sorcs!
Dwarf Clogue - Ran out of character slots {Pre VIP but had alreayd bought 4 Slots} and chose to delete him to make space {+ already had multiple healers & trappers}
Multiple Bard/Rogues - Made on different servers - Didn't make Transfer Status.

[pjstechie]

The intention of telling new players that their first character would not be great was in part to help set reasonable expectations. It is very rare that a new player is going to create an amazing character and is much more realistic that a new player will learn many things about how the game works.

It was intentional (or at least intended - I don't remember the exact discussion) on the show that we did not talk about deleting such a character. We in fact did talk about playing the first character with the intention of learning about the game and character building, though this could have admittedly been said more explicitly.

The main idea there was dont lose heart and leave the game because your first character is terrible. There are indeed many ways to improve such a character and no one on the show was saying such a character is a total loss.

[stoerm]

I think it's good to prepare new players to the fact they'll want to reroll, but there are two sides to this. As I learned more about the game I kept rerolling and wasn't getting very far in levelling. It took me over a year (close to 2?) to cap my first alt. There's a balance to be made between sticking to a painfully gimped alt and getting stuck in a reroll cycle.

This is my biggest case for using a decent template build, whether it's one from the character selection screen or a newbie-friendly build from the forums. I'd strongly suggest capping one of those first, unless you're an experienced gamer and are able to learn quickly from ddowiki and the forums.

Thanks Shamgar for another awesome episode!