What to buy after Quest Packs?

[OxfordCalc]

An exchange with C-Dog on another thread got me to wondering, what should a player buy after getting an assortment of quest packs and the first two expansions?
I have the following list (of course, buy only when on sale, if possible):

Classes, especially artificer, warlock and sorceror (all supposedly easy to level?)
Hall of Heroes Passport - getting tedious running back and forth.
Shared Crafting Storage - I don't do much crafting, but hate to throw stuff away. Might need it.
Shared Vault Space (how many?)
Shared Platinum Space (of course you can just mail it)
Character Inventory slot (Four just doesn't seem enough with pots and spell mats)
Character Bank Slot
Classes that look interesting and won't be on sale for a while, eg Tiefling Scoundrel (just came out in summer).
Crafting Success Boosters?
Keep on the Borderlands for mounts and the epic sentient weapon. (probably won't be on sale for a bit.)
Get the higher level or third tier quest packs.

For myself, I'm looking at Hall of Heroes passport, character inventory, tiefling scoundrel (for Psychoblonde's plan of doing Iconic TRs) and shared platinum. Maybe some of the epic quest packs if they go on sale in the next few weeks.

Shared vault space, jeez the more you have the more stuff you keep. Had 20 and now I have 50 and I just keep hoarding more stuff.

Please, plenty of threads exist to discuss which quest packs. Keep those comments on those threads. Pretty please.

[Fauxknight]

Heroic and Epic XP tomes as well as a big supreme attribute tome, the xp tomes are an absolute must, particularly if you plan on TRing a lot. Also maybe some extra character slots so you can make more bank characters.

[darkniteyogi]

An exchange with C-Dog on another thread got me to wondering, what should a player buy after getting an assortment of quest packs and the first two expansions?
I have the following list (of course, buy only when on sale, if possible):

Classes, especially artificer, warlock and sorceror (all supposedly easy to level?)
Hall of Heroes Passport - getting tedious running back and forth.
Shared Crafting Storage - I don't do much crafting, but hate to throw stuff away. Might need it.
Shared Vault Space (how many?)
Shared Platinum Space (of course you can just mail it)
Character Inventory slot (Four just doesn't seem enough with pots and spell mats)
Character Bank Slot
Classes that look interesting and won't be on sale for a while, eg Tiefling Scoundrel (just came out in summer).
Crafting Success Boosters?
Keep on the Borderlands for mounts and the epic sentient weapon. (probably won't be on sale for a bit.)
Get the higher level or third tier quest packs.

For myself, I'm looking at Hall of Heroes passport, character inventory, tiefling scoundrel (for Psychoblonde's plan of doing Iconic TRs) and shared platinum. Maybe some of the epic quest packs if they go on sale in the next few weeks.

Shared vault space, jeez the more you have the more stuff you keep. Had 20 and now I have 50 and I just keep hoarding more stuff.

Please, plenty of threads exist to discuss which quest packs. Keep those comments on those threads. Pretty please.

Things that I would definitely think are unnecessary buys:
-Hall of Heroes Passport
-Keep on Borderlands for mounts

-Shared platinum space (of course you can just mail it)
-Shared crafting storage (This is just for transferring items)
-

[C-Dog]

As a dedicated Premium player, I've weighed all these and more. And here's what I've found...

Most of these are "quality of life" upgrades, things that are not "needed" to get to 20 or 30, but make that journey more enjoyable or just easier/faster. And because they are only that, it is often very personal, depending on your playstyle, your personal preferences and priorities, and your short- and long-term goals - so while others can say what they value, they can't say what you do.

And some of these will/should start showing up long before you have all packs - once you have the "core 3" (or enough to get you to 20 or 30, depending), then it's up to you what comes next, for your wants/needs.


I 100% recommend the Shared Bank first, and as a high priority over anything/everything else you might be looking at, including more packs beyond those 3. Move BtA items around, stash stuff while TR'ing, all good. As of recently, you get 30 slots w/ the basic - that's enough to start (or more - 20 sufficed a long time). Any class/race/trees/extras are cramped if you are stuck w/ useless (but valued) BtA items on your main, or end up w/ some BtA gem on an alt that you want on your main.

Character slots - If you get the Shadowfell Conspiracy expansion (and I recommend you do, a great value, espeically when on Sale), that makes you Premium, so you'll have +1-3 character slots on top of a Premium's 5 slots - that's 6-8, which should be ample, at least to for early on (and compared to a Free Account's 3 slots!). Again, "more" is up to the player (some have 40+ - whatever works for you!).

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Account_comparisons

As for the others...

? Classes, especially artificer, warlock and sorceror (all supposedly easy to level?)

Sorcerer is F2P, and one of the easier ones to level (esp w/ +Tiefling). The others are preference, but Warlock is def "the easy button" - all depends what you like.

Same w/ Trees (altho' I, personally, try to buy the packs and grind the favor for trees whenever I can - Sharn, I'm looking at you!)


? Hall of Heroes Passport - getting tedious running back and forth.

You can get a Key to Eveningstar with favor. Grind that up asap, lasts thru reincarnation. (Also, Iconics get their own Passport included w/ chargen.)


? Shared Crafting Storage - I don't do much crafting, but hate to throw stuff away. Might need it.

Learn to throw stuff away or learn what to sell (Rare ingreds, only useful for UNbound crafting. Usually bring a good price on AH.)


? Shared Platinum Space (of course you can just mail it)

Exactly - or, if you have an alt account (recommended!), you can dual box trade. This is pure QoL, not necessary. Some players never buy this, and rarely if ever miss it.

This is one of the last things in this list that I, myself, bought. Pure QoL imo.


? Character Bank Slot

Once you have your main, sure. But only if they "need" to hold a bunch of BtC stuff - don't confuse this w/ stuff an alt-account mule could hold.


? Classes that look interesting and won't be on sale for a while, eg Tiefling Scoundrel (just came out in summer).

You do a lot of Iconic reincarnation, or plan to?

Myself, I focused on "more adventure packs" first, on the theory that "more packs = more favor = more DP" - and that investment pays for itself. I've been happy with that approach, and now (usually) have 1000's of DP in the bank and can use that to grab whatever random race now comes on Deep Sale if/when I want it. The same would not be true grabbing an Iconic early on and making more DP with that.


? Crafting Success Boosters?

First, you just said you don't craft. But beyond that, with a Shared Bank, you can roll up a new alt and run them thru the Crafting Tutorial and grab 5 boosters for 10 minutes of effort, done.


? Keep on the Borderlands for mounts and the epic sentient weapon.

Almost every Adventure Pack and Expansion Pack has its attractions. What is more/less attractive to you (and whether worth the price, vs. other purchases!) is up to 100% you and you alone.

Please, plenty of threads exist to discuss which quest packs. Keep those comments on those threads. Pretty please.

Have you met the internet?

[OxfordCalc]

As a dedicated Premium player, I've weighed all these and more. And here's what I've found...




I 100% recommend the Shared Bank first, and as a high priority over anything/everything else you might be looking at, including more packs beyond those 3. Move BtA items around, stash stuff while TR'ing, all good. As of recently, you get 30 slots w/ the basic - that's enough to start (or more - 20 sufficed a long time). Any class/race/trees/extras are cramped if you are stuck w/ useless (but valued) BtA items on your main, or end up w/ some BtA gem on an alt that you want on your main.

Character slots - If you get the Shadowfell Conspiracy expansion (and I recommend you do, a great value, espeically when on Sale), that makes you Premium, so you'll have +1-3 character slots on top of a Premium's 5 slots - that's 6-8, which should be ample, at least to for early on (and compared to a Free Account's 3 slots!). Again, "more" is up to the player (some have 40+ - whatever works for you!).

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Account_comparisons

As for the others...




? Shared Crafting Storage - I don't do much crafting, but hate to throw stuff away. Might need it.

Learn to throw stuff away or learn what to sell (Rare ingreds, only useful for UNbound crafting. Usually bring a good price on AH.)


? Shared Platinum Space (of course you can just mail it)


? Character Bank Slot

Once you have your main, sure. But only if they "need" to hold a bunch of BtC stuff - don't confuse this w/ stuff an alt-account mule could hold.


? Classes that look interesting and won't be on sale for a while, eg Tiefling Scoundrel (just came out in summer).

You do a lot of Iconic reincarnation, or plan to?

Myself, I focused on "more adventure packs" first, on the theory that "more packs = more favor = more DP" - and that investment pays for itself. I've been happy with that approach, and now (usually) have 1000's of DP in the bank and can use that to grab whatever random race now comes on Deep Sale if/when I want it. The same would not be true grabbing an Iconic early on and making more DP with that.


? Crafting Success Boosters?

First, you just said you don't craft. But beyond that, with a Shared Bank, you can roll up a new alt and run them thru the Crafting Tutorial and grab 5 boosters for 10 minutes of effort, done.



Have you met the internet?

Thanks for the tips. I don't craft because the first time I did I used up a lot of Cannith Essences. Recently, I saw Gingerspyce's video at using crafting success boosters, which I don't have, so I thought maybe I ought to try it. IF I can get the boosters through alts, I will.

I have three or four mule characters, most have the extra bank slot or bag slot or both. Maybe I have a problem with hoarding.

As for Iconic TR, on another thread I saw Psychoblonde's plan of ITR for two past lives at once and it seems like good idea. My main is almost 23, so supposed to start planning now.

But, I must agree, it's personal preference and what sort of QoL upgrades you want.

I have a plethora of packs, so was going to branch out some away from them.

[RAFAR]

Classes, especially artificer, warlock and sorceror (all supposedly easy to level?) - Sorcerer is a free to play class.
Hall of Heroes Passport - getting tedious running back and forth. - I think it should be low priority, being only a qol stuff.
Shared Crafting Storage - I don't do much crafting, but hate to throw stuff away. Might need it. - It can swallow a lot of stuff (everything thats not BTC from green, red and brown bags), and u get 250? per purchase. I'd buy it over larger btc bags, especially if u play multiple chars. Just don't forget to regularly pour the stuff in. Oh, and should u start crafting later, know that the machines can get the ingredients out of this bank directly, so no need to browse and remove manually - if it's an issue for u against cannith crafting.
Shared Vault Space (how many?) - The more, the merrier!
Shared Platinum Space (of course you can just mail it) - You can only send 10k plats per mail. Can be an issue, but rarely, if ever, I guess.
Character Inventory slot (Four just doesn't seem enough with pots and spell mats) - The more, the merrier II.
Character Bank Slot - As above. :P
Classes that look interesting and won't be on sale for a while, eg Tiefling Scoundrel (just came out in summer). - Indeed, but also check for class trees and past lives for order of importance.
Crafting Success Boosters? - I recommend leveling a cannith crafter on your account, but not sure if you should use up those +35% boosters for it, ymmw (and purse).
Keep on the Borderlands for mounts and the epic sentient weapon. (probably won't be on sale for a bit.) - There are nice lv21 named items, too! (check the boots from kobold quest for example)
Get the higher level or third tier quest packs. - "What to buy after Quest Packs?" More packs = more places to get xp and ddo points from, and more diverse gameplay.

Some other ideas:
- Monster Manuals - xp, astral shards, visible monster hp, (pets)
- XP tomes
- stat/skill tomes (UMD especially)
- beer (not ingame but still worth the money)

Btw, I'd immediately buy some bigby's hands if there were a middle finger pointing upwards version implemented... And place them strategically, of course!

[Kutalp]

All adventure packs.

Veterans.

Monster manuals.

Shared bank, platinum and crafting slots (Account based ones not character)

Challanges.

Any race you are curious about.

Any enhancement trees you are curious about.

[ShifterThePirate]

Shared bank is a must to manage inventory space over all your characters. After this you can just make alt characters and use them as bank space.
Don't waste your money on xp tomes and character slots. You can get them by buying Expansion packs like Menace of the Underdark and Shadowfell Conspiracy etc. Which are must haves anyway.
Once you have a main character get a Supreme Ability Tome when it's on sale.
Get more adventure packs.

[cru121]

My opinions:

Definitely NOT a priority:
- Hall of Heroes password
- Keep on the Borderlands - horses are probably going to be available from other sources eventually. and they are just a convenience anyway

Bank & inventory
- Shared Bank, first 20 slots, is a MUST HAVE. anything above is just extravaganza.
- crafting storage is quite useful
- personal inventory space... not a priority
- personal bank space... definitely not a priority
- platinum vault is not needed. roll a second account if needed. or use a friend.
- buy extra character slots if needed (wait for a discount)

Good value
- crafting success boosters. Yes. a few of these can tremendously help.

Artificer: just wait for discount. Or ideally, buy content that grants Cannith favor and unlock the class for free.

Tiefling Scoundrel: this class does not really have anything spectacular to make it a priority. just wait.

Other purchases:
- big supreme tome for main. there's this bundle for 4k DP
- races and classes and enhancement trees
- monster manuals, why not
- biggest bags for main

[janave]

My order is:

1. Content, why i am here in the first place
2. QoL, Storage, Character Slots as BtA Banking space, well yeah throwing stuff after getting them the hard way is bad... they know it we know it, its for sale at least.
3. Monster Manuals, Cosmetics other misc/pseudo content.


... Then the tough part ...

I usually buy for my main* that would take several years farming and still about 1-5% to get one, Tomes mostly. The rarest rewards with almost ~100% uptime in the store for convenience :P.

IMO, if you have Sharn, Cannith Crafting has little value now. But it is a one time grind it, and can fill in for TRs here and there.

[darkniteyogi]

My order is:

1. Content, why i am here in the first place
2. QoL, Storage, Character Slots as BtA Banking space, well yeah throwing stuff after getting them the hard way is bad... they know it we know it, its for sale at least.
3. Monster Manuals, Cosmetics other misc/pseudo content.


... Then the tough part ...

I usually buy for my main* that would take several years farming and still about 1-5% to get one, Tomes mostly. The rarest rewards with almost ~100% uptime in the store for convenience :P.

IMO, if you have Sharn, Cannith Crafting has little value now. But it is a one time grind it, and can fill in for TRs here and there.

If sharn is min. Level 15, cannith crafting is still the good for lvl 1-14.

[C-Dog]

Thanks for the tips. I don't craft because the first time I did I used up a lot of Cannith Essences. Recently, I saw Gingerspyce's video at using crafting success boosters, which I don't have, so I thought maybe I ought to try it. IF I can get the boosters through alts, I will.

You can, but you need that Shared Bank.

And, yeah, you can easily smoke through 10k essences, or several 10k's, depending on your goal for Crafting Level. Me, my first goal was just CL 50, which is pretty easy, for some quick weapons (ML 4, +2d6 force + +2d10 unnatural damage vs undead etc.).

Then CL 150-200 - that lets you make ML 15-20 shards, and 99% of the non-insightful effects, and the core of the basic Insightful.

Next push was tougher, up to 250-275, where the last few effects (invulnerability, Fearsome) and the rest of the Insightful, plus ML 25-28 shards for Epic crafting. I have no real intention of crafting unbound, so I'll just let it park there until/unless I have reason to push to 30 or beyond.

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Cannith_Cra...ilable_effects

I have three or four mule characters, most have the extra bank slot or bag slot or both. Maybe I have a problem with hoarding.

Three of the tricks to NOT hoarding random-gen loot are 1) be realistic about what you will/might use in the near future, 2) get to know what is a good drop and what is not (this takes time, and lots of lurking on the AH), and 3) know what sells on the AH. Selling "good (but not great)" items on the AH can make you a lot of cash, and anything that doesn't sell can either be AH'd again for less, or melted into essences (which solves the above issue).

As for Iconic TR, on another thread I saw Psychoblonde's plan of ITR for two past lives at once and it seems like good idea. My main is almost 23, so supposed to start planning now.

There are 3 reasons to play an iconic - 1) it has a strength to make leveling faster (e.g. Tiefling and Sorcerer), 2) it has a Past Life effect that you want (see link below), or 3) you simply like the race (100% ymmv).

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Iconic_Past...ast_Life_Feats

Note that, for PL's, once you have 3 from a specific race, there are no further advantages to be gained from PL's with that Iconic.

I have a plethora of packs, so was going to branch out some away from them.

Eventually(!), you may want all of them. But once you have what you feel you "need", then you have the luxury to wait for good sales to pick up the ones that haven't been calling your name very loudly. Just try(!) to keep a buffer of several/many hundred DP, so you can pick them up when the opportunity presents!

[droid327]

In terms of absolute value (ie not subjective value to you), I'd say the priority is

1. All quest packs (and expansions). ALL of them. Even if you dont really want the loot or the quests, they're still favor and first-time XP for every life. They're the only purchase that will end up paying for itself, so they should always be top priority. The first two expansions will also cover a lot of other goodies that are included in the bundle, saving you from needing to buy them later a la carte.
2. Shared bank storage, unless you're an absolute no-alter. This includes 1 slot (250 spaces) of Crafting Storage, which should be enough to dump all your collectables, crafting ings, and various green-bag miscellany. Being able to swap BTA items between alts is a huge help for grinding and gearing.
3. Classes, races, and Iconics that are not favor-unlockable. This will open up all your options for PLs, RAP, and eventually Completionist. Iconics probably take the priority since they tend to be easier to grind and provide class as well as iconic PLs.
4. Stat tome for your main, if you havent gotten all your attributes through gameplay. This is the only element of P2W in the game, but +7 or 8 to all stats makes a big difference (especially early on) for prereqs, DCs, saves, and just general efficacy.
5. XP tomes. Once you have all the content, it makes the content go faster.
6. Falconry if you want it. Its technically unlockable, but right now its difficult in a practical sense (requiring a lot of quests done on Elite, including some EE-only completions, and a deprecated raid). Until they add more quests from that patron, it could be considered Store only.

I think those are the major ones that have a fundamental impact on your long-term gameplay. After that, its all just QOL stuff, so do what you please - cosmetics, convenience items like the Passport, more bank space, alt slots, etc. As you noted, buying more Shared Bank slots tends to just make you fill them with more junk 30 is really enough if you exercise a little self-control and best practices for muling.

[droid327]

My opinions:

Definitely NOT a priority:
- Keep on the Borderlands - horses are probably going to be available from other sources eventually. and they are just a convenience anyway

Let me just retort this one point...

I think Keep is worthwhile for more than just Mounts. Its got a big chunk of good L21 gear for ETRing, complementing Sharn stuff, especially for DPS casters. And its 8 very short, very accessible quests - that's great for a quick chunk of daily XP, and especially good for farming Heart Seeds when you're ready to TR at 30. A full spin around the Keep takes maybe 30 mins, or less if you learn to zerg, and will give you 16 Seeds a day. And its more quick and dirty favor at the lowest levels, and keeps you above the curve for longer on your HTR lives.

Also, when you're looking at Menechtarun or King's Forest next on your list as you level up...horses are more than "just" a convenience

[darkniteyogi]

Let me just retort this one point...

I think Keep is worthwhile for more than just Mounts. Its got a big chunk of good L21 gear for ETRing, complementing Sharn stuff, especially for DPS casters. And its 8 very short, very accessible quests - that's great for a quick chunk of daily XP, and especially good for farming Heart Seeds when you're ready to TR at 30. A full spin around the Keep takes maybe 30 mins, or less if you learn to zerg, and will give you 16 Seeds a day. And its more quick and dirty favor at the lowest levels, and keeps you above the curve for longer on your HTR lives.

Also, when you're looking at Menechtarun or King's Forest next on your list as you level up...horses are more than "just" a convenience

That would be the quest pack though, and not the extra bundle

[Bozone]

Some people don't think they're worth it, but I like to have a hireling folder on characters that get played a fair amount. If I join a group and someone else has the hireling I was going to use, I have an alternate handy. It holds the cleric perm hire, so I assume it holds the other permanent hirelings. It saves inventory space if you have a few extra hires. It's strictly a QOL purchase and wouldn't be near the top of my list.

The rest of the items I would recommend have already been discussed.

[Letrii]

Some people don't think they're worth it, but I like to have a hireling folder on characters that get played a fair amount. If I join a group and someone else has the hireling I was going to use, I have an alternate handy. It holds the cleric perm hire, so I assume it holds the other permanent hirelings. It saves inventory space if you have a few extra hires. It's strictly a QOL purchase and wouldn't be near the top of my list.

The rest of the items I would recommend have already been discussed.

There are permanent hirelings now?

[darkniteyogi]

There are permanent hirelings now?

yes. actually wish i bought the lowbie cleric one.

[Letrii]

yes. actually wish i bought the lowbie cleric one.

Where are they? Looked in store and all I saw were gold hirelings which are still 1 hour once opened.

[darkniteyogi]

Where are they? Looked in store and all I saw were gold hirelings which are still 1 hour once opened.

Its in the starter pack

https://store.standingstonegames.com...oryID.58516100

cant buy it with ddo points. have to buy it with cash