Make r1 mode as easy as elite

[Oxarhamar]

Hello DDO community!

I'm playing DDO for several years now and I love this game but I have a suggestion for reaper mode that I feel It would change this game for the better.

My suggestion is to lower the difficulty of r1 since its the new standard to match almost match the elite difficulty.

Just leave players dps as in elite, players like their big numbers.

Give minimal self healing penalty in reaper like a 10% penalty to hint that in reaper there is a self healing penalty but dont leave it 60% r1 is the 1st tier of 10 tiers shoudnt be that high i understand why reaper was made, to promote grouping but ddo doesnt have so many players to always have a group available...

In a few words, help new or returning players to get on the hamster wheel that Reaper, Past lives is and ddo population will IMO improve.

I cannot find any cons to this suggestion. Even if someone says that this suggestion breaks the whole concept of reaper I will say again that reaper is a difficulty of 10 tiers...
If you think is necessary make a small 5%-10% increase in rxp at reaper 2 and above since those difficulties will stay untouched...

One thread wasnt enough?

You can make R1 easier by earning a few repear points

I might remind you that when reaper was introduced everyone had no points & it wasnt introduced to promote grouping it was because of complaining the game was too 3asy so if you are finding it difficult its done its job YW

[Agr33n3]

Hello DDO community!

I'm playing DDO for several years now and I love this game but I have a suggestion for reaper mode that I feel It would change this game for the better.

My suggestion is to lower the difficulty of r1 since its the new standard to match almost match the elite difficulty.

Just leave players dps as in elite, players like their big numbers.

Give minimal self healing penalty in reaper like a 10% penalty to hint that in reaper there is a self healing penalty but dont leave it 60% r1 is the 1st tier of 10 tiers shoudnt be that high i understand why reaper was made, to promote grouping but ddo doesnt have so many players to always have a group available...

In a few words, help new or returning players to get on the hamster wheel that Reaper, Past lives is and ddo population will IMO improve.

I cannot find any cons to this suggestion. Even if someone says that this suggestion breaks the whole concept of reaper I will say again that reaper is a difficulty of 10 tiers...
If you think is necessary make a small 5%-10% increase in rxp at reaper 2 and above since those difficulties will stay untouched...

I think making reaper easier is not the point of reaper mode, since 3 levels of gameplay exist below those. Many people run elite through their lives and do just fine.

I do think that reaper should be more accessible to returning or newer players, though Elite will feel much less tiresome than R1 on a 1st life toon with no reaper points.

I think they should keep the reaper stats/debuffs as they are, and add an R0. In R0, there would be one or two differences, compared to Elite or R1:

Supposed R0:

Either no healing penalty or no reaper spawns.
Same player damage debuffs, same monster damage buffs.


Also, they NEED to add a training dungeon/dojo for reaper mode. The only way I have found to learn about reaper mode is through word of mouth or videos put out by DDO streamers, NEVER from SSG devs. I don't care if they don't outline the stats, but I should be able to see and slightly understand the attacks of a Famine reaper, Vengeance reaper, or even a Doom reaper before I see one. Reaper mode is 100% about coming prepared and being meticulous. This is a tough tactic to employ when your only source of knowledge is from players already familiar with reaper mode, or through trial and failure.

Humans are prone to quitting when they fail at something supposed to be fun.

Edit: I love DDO. More people playing DDO is better; more money for devs means more time spent working on DDO and hopefully a better game. However, making endgame content accessible to 1st lifers or newer players is counterintuitive to creating a long-term DDO community. Many people enjoy running mid and high reapers (myself included) and making it easier for everyone means I would do R8 instead of R6. Given we don't have R12 yet, that means more people running an easier R10. R10 IS the true endgame and shouldn't be easy.

[rabidfox]

"Make r1 mode as easy as elite" so make r1 as easy as what elite was back in the day before power bloat resulted in people wanting a harder difficulty beyond elite?

What's the actual underlying issue? Can't get groups? Level too slowly on non-reaper difficulty for your liking? Want to be able to run reaper on any character build in any gear set? If you're soloing it's gonna be hard, but a 1st lifer with zero reaper points, RNG/quest gear, and a good build can do reaper; sure you'll die some, but I'm not sure when dying in the game became a big deal.

[Weemadarthur]

Playing on and off since 2013, mostly off and almost always solo, I still cannot crack the Reaper nut.

Not sure what server your on but if you would like an actual guided tour for want of a better term on how to successfully crack the reaper nut I have had quite a bit of success in introducing and helping new/returning players get to grips with reaper play. Feel free to send me a PM if you would like to give it a go and I'll arrange to meet up on Discord and iron out the details of when it would be convenient for both of us (I work strange days and hours so it may take a while to get something sorted). I'll be happy to spend a bit of time giving a little build advice and recommending/explaining gearing before hand then can spend an hour or two questing and explaining which tactics will help you avoid those bang dead moments (you will still have them occasionally but hopefully a lot less frequently). I promise there will be no rushing/zerging and I will happily go at a speed your comfortable with (unless you want to rush/zerg ofc lol).

[dunklezhan]

Um once you have a few reaper points r1 is easier than elite.... I have a first life warlock who i solo r4 on a regular basis as well, hes got 17r points so far but he is fully tank geared with feywild stuff and some raid loot but not much.

Yes. But first you have to get them.

Provided groups are willing to carry newbies through without getting all sniffy about it, then there's no problem. But it's a very rare newbie who's likely to apply to join a R5 LFM then announce their newbie status and ask to be carried, right? And even rarer the PuG that would respond positively to that. And that newbie - who probably has no business being on Elite yet - is likely to try R1, get slammed and then think 'well that's not for me then'.

Good grief I only started with Reaper last year and only because a static group I was in started playing it on their second life and there had clearly been so much power creep since I first tried Reaper that it was easier than I remembered. So on my main I started running R1 on lower level quests and managed to get a couple of Reaper points that way before I had to stop playing Reaper as the quests levelled up. Next life I got a bit further before I had to drop back to elite. And so on.

My main now has a mighty 7 reaper points. I can run R1 quests in reasonable timeframes up to about L11.

...I haven't joined or put up an LFM since Reaper came out. Because that's all people want to run, and I can tell quite clearly that it's above my pay grade. So I solo and play with static groups. I'm really not interested in arbitrary mechanics with no lore behind them, that's why I never used to play Epic when it was all 'epic wards' this and 'your abilities don't work' that.

[KoobTheProud]

I suggest give elite the same xp u give on reaper.

This is probably the best answer. It would go a long way towards opening up Elite grouping again.

[konstantinos23031990]

My main problem is CLASS BALANCE. But to change things in classes takes time, effort and a lot of thinking.

Easy solution is to make R0 with no penalty to xp, reaper xp or a small penalty -5% compared to r1, no healing penalty or a small one like 10% 20%

As someone said endgame is R10 a change in one of the difficulties will not break the game.

New/returning players/casual players will benefit from it and VETERANS who like to tinker with fun builds to keep the game fresh will also benefit from it.

One question:

How many and which past lives and how many reaper points do you think a pure half orc melee fighter will need assuming top of the tier gear in order to be able to solo r1s from level 1 up to level 30?

[konstantinos23031990]

This is probably the best answer. It would go a long way towards opening up Elite grouping again.

This is something that i haven't thought about... Yeah makes sense.. No xp "penalty" for not playing reaper. Playing reaper only with group if you cannot solo it, the way it was intended to be played. With a group.

[Weemadarthur]

How many and which past lives and how many reaper points do you think a pure half orc melee fighter will need assuming top of the tier gear in order to be able to solo r1s from level 1 up to level 30?

The answer to this one isn't as simple as you would think. 1 person will be able to level a pure horc barb from 1-30 in R4 on a 1st life toon with no initial reaper points while another would still fail R1 with 100 reaper points, BIS gear and an absolute monster build with all past lives. Knowledge is power in this game and knowing how to play your character is far more important than how powerful your character is. If you don't mind waiting a while for me to get my work life sorted out I will extend you the same offer as Annex. Send me a PM and I will arrange a time to meet up on discord and arrange meeting up on a server where i will give you an introduction to reaper play. It will be quite a sedate run initially while you get your feet under you and learn the basics and pick up pace as we go and you become comfortable. I spend most of my time in game helping new/returning players with this exact problem so I would be just as happy to help you as any one else.

[cdbd3rd]

Could you imagine a Casual 1 to 10 scaling?

Casual 1 = Casual
Casual 10 = 10 times more casual than casual is casual!!! Monsters be like...

*Adjusts Cloak of Casualness* What, am I not Casually enough for the Casual Club?

[konstantinos23031990]

The answer to this one isn't as simple as you would think. 1 person will be able to level a pure horc barb from 1-30 in R4 on a 1st life toon with no initial reaper points while another would still fail R1 with 100 reaper points, BIS gear and an absolute monster build with all past lives. Knowledge is power in this game and knowing how to play your character is far more important than how powerful your character is. If you don't mind waiting a while for me to get my work life sorted out I will extend you the same offer as Annex. Send me a PM and I will arrange a time to meet up on discord and arrange meeting up on a server where i will give you an introduction to reaper play. It will be quite a sedate run initially while you get your feet under you and learn the basics and pick up pace as we go and you become comfortable. I spend most of my time in game helping new/returning players with this exact problem so I would be just as happy to help you as any one else.

What you are saying is correct. Game knowledge is everything. But don't assume ppl don't understand this game's mechanics. I understand it well enough and asked a very specific question for a reason.

How many and which past lives and how many reaper points do you think a pure melee FIGHTER not barb will need in order to be able to solo r1 1-30 assuming fully geared in each and every level.

You said the answer already. The answer to my question is "Go play a Barb or a Pally or splash some Bear". That shouldnt be the answer. And instead of changing all the weak depended classes, removing the self healing penalty for R0 is an easy fast solution.

In the current situation you cannot play whatever you want and expect to be able to run R1 efficiently without thinking about meta "solo friendly" classes and builds without past lives.

In the Past, lets say you wanted to play a pure melee FIGHTER. You had no self healing. You planned for it. Started with STR CON and CHARISMA. You had the option to use HEAL SCROLLS potions etc and you were good enough for ELITE which was the standard highest difficulty at that time at least for heroics. Epics were hard for everyone.

Now Reaper with the huge self healing penalty only allows CLASSES who can overheal themselves to be self sufficient sometimes OP or even unkillable while leaving other Classes depended and unplayable in solo R1.

[konstantinos23031990]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t15hi9eTUx8&t=279s

In the above video STRIMTOM is he good enough of a DDO player? Says at some point he felt stressed and didnt want to play anymore with this build.
My solution is easy, fast, not complicated and has little to no negative impact on the game.

The video is a bit old. With the EPIC DESTINY changes and the power creep this problem is slowly going away. I would say levels 1-10 are OK and 30 is OK. the in between levels is where I feel most of the problem exists. Before I wrote this thread I thought about complaining for CLASS BALANCE etc but these kind of solutions are way more complicated.

Another easy solution is maby to give better healing potions, or allow wand and scroll mastery +75% enhancements to stack or something like gear which enhances wand and scroll mastery % healing.

I don't really want R1 to get easier I want all CLASSES to be able to complete it solo just like FVS, WARLOCK, PALEMASTER, WARFORGED CASTER/ARTI ETC.

[konstantinos23031990]

Sorry for writing 3 posts in a row but thought another point.

Why Epic Defensive Fighting was introduced?
Why does the new primal scream heals you and costs 0sp?

They ARE making changes to miminize this problem. But Its still there for some builds mostly through level 10-25.
In levels 1-10 R1 is easy enough.
At 26 you get heal on primal scream and enough healing amplification options.

[Nim123]

Um once you have a few reaper points r1 is easier than elite....

No, after you run R1 and obtain about 15-20 Reaper points it's actually easier than Elite.

Getting 21 reaper points is more then enough to make R1 easier then Elite,

What a load of crock. On R1 we get:

20% more monster damage. Players do only 77%. Red-crown champs. 40% self-heal. 44% crowd control duration. -10% concealment and -5% incorporeality. Something around 30 spell pen for enemies making SR pretty bad. Reapers. And a lockout.

No, 21 points does not make that easier than elite.

[Weemadarthur]

What you are saying is correct. Game knowledge is everything. But don't assume ppl don't understand this game's mechanics. I understand it well enough and asked a very specific question for a reason.

How many and which past lives and how many reaper points do you think a pure melee FIGHTER not barb will need in order to be able to solo r1 1-30 assuming fully geared in each and every level.

You said the answer already. The answer to my question is "Go play a Barb or a Pally or splash some Bear". That shouldnt be the answer. And instead of changing all the weak depended classes, removing the self healing penalty for R0 is an easy fast solution.

In the current situation you cannot play whatever you want and expect to be able to run R1 efficiently without thinking about meta "solo friendly" classes and builds without past lives.

In the Past, lets say you wanted to play a pure melee FIGHTER. You had no self healing. You planned for it. Started with STR CON and CHARISMA. You had the option to use HEAL SCROLLS potions etc and you were good enough for ELITE which was the standard highest difficulty at that time at least for heroics. Epics were hard for everyone.

Now Reaper with the huge self healing penalty only allows CLASSES who can overheal themselves to be self sufficient sometimes OP or even unkillable while leaving other Classes depended and unplayable in solo R1.

Sorry same answer applies. I personally have taken a 2nd life fighter through R1 to cap (had 1 palli PL). It does mean you have to use a combination of an excessive amount of pots or use a hire for healing but it is still very much doable. Any class is playable and/or soloable with a hire in R1. If that is something you are struggling with the offer is still open if you would like to learn how.

Quick edit to add that although it is possible to run a 1st life melee fighter through R1 to cap at the same time it isn't what I would recommend. If you really were dead set on doing a fighter life 1st (I personally always do palli 1st for the heal amp which is imo the best PL feat to have for every toon you will ever make) there are still plenty of options out there. An 8/8/4 fighter/rogue/arty split using G-xb is a monster in Low reaper along with pretty much any inquis build with enough fighter levels to gain the past life. As you said splashing druid is an option along with FVS or Cleric. The issue here is you are stacking the cards against yourself by insisting on making the life as hard as you can. Pure melee fighter is not a class that is designed with solo reaper play in mind. It can be done but will be harder than the alternatives. That doesn't mean fighter is worse than the other options it just means it has different strengths. Fighter can have great dps and defenses but gains these at the cost of self sustainability. It is one of the best splash classes in the game due to the extra feats. If pure it is at it's best in group play where someone can heal it (this is true even in non reaper content). The problem here is that fighter isn't supposed to be a solo build by design. If you made it self sustainable as well as good dps and good defenses it would just become the best option with no trade off. It would also leach into multi class and splash builds which are already some of the most powerful in game and make them truly OP.

Now I don't disagree with your premise of the thread to a huge degree. If you go far enough back through my post history you will actually find a thread I started about replacing N/H/E/R with a skull rating system for difficulty. The result of which would be that 1 skull became normal and all difficulty extended up from there with 4 skull being the equivalent of R1 now. All difficulties would reward reaper XP although at a much lower rate for 1 skull with 3 skull giving about 50% of current R1. This was put forth as a way to help new players to 1) not be put off by the reaper labeling (it would just become a higher difficulty) and 2) enable new players to start gaining a little reaper xp at a difficulty that they are more comfortable with.

[konstantinos23031990]

sorry same answer applies. I personally have taken a 2nd life fighter through r1 to cap (had 1 palli pl). It does mean you have to use a combination of an excessive amount of pots or use a hire for healing but it is still very much doable. Any class is playable and/or soloable with a hire in r1. If that is something you are struggling with the offer is still open if you would like to learn how.

pure fighter?

Pls can you share that build cz I don't believe that's possible. Stats, feats enhancements etc.

[Weemadarthur]

pure fighter?

Pls can you share that build cz I don't believe that's possible. Stats, feats enhancements etc.

Will be headed to work in a few mins but can post the build specifics for you tomorrow. It was nothing spectacular a human fighter that took 4 toughness feats to bolster his hp to counter the lack of healing, 2hf feats, stunning blow and imp trip and all the armor boosting and weapon spec feats. It was good enough but as I said in the edit to my last post (you responded before I had finished the edit) not one I would recommend for a 1st life as other alternatives are better.

[Standal]

pure fighter?

Pls can you share that build cz I don't believe that's possible. Stats, feats enhancements etc.

Pure fighter is actually pretty good. Stats are STR+CON, I like Int for KTA and skill points.

Feats: THF line, IC:Slash, PA, Cleaves, Stunning Blow. All the Weapon Focus and Weap Spec feats required to max Tier 5 Kensei.

Enhancements: Kensei Capstone, 23 points in SD, 11 (?) in Harper for Know the Angles, rest wherever you like.

Playstyle: The key is to be able to survive each encounter with AOE DPS, HP, and PRR/MRR, then call your hire up to heal you. This build used to get very problematic to solo at Epic levels until the recent changes to Reaper difficulty. Now it's very possible to solo this build all the way to level 30. I recently ran a 3rd life Pally with 2 past lives and zero reaper points to start up with no problems. I do know how to solo melees through reaper, so I didn't have to develop a strategy. The pally is a little better IMO at higher levels, but fighter gets a lot more AOE earlier due to additional feats. The thing is that you have to learn to manage incoming damage since you can't self heal. Once you figure that out, you'll be fine.

The key is that you need to develop a new strategy for reaper. In elite, I'd just wade in on this build and cleave away until everything was dead. On reaper, you will need to move a lot more and avoid damage as much as possible. Always focus on reapers first. I don't worry too much about champions because if you move away from them, they don't hit you.

Conclusion: My opinion is that Reaper is always harder than Elite and that anyone who tells you it's not is just wrong. The problem is that when you get a group of quality players familiar with Reaper they will curb stomp R1-R3 at run speed and not really notice the added difficulty over elite.

[Dnarth]

So the whole point of this thread is because you are using a Strimtom build? lol

[Oxarhamar]

So the whole point of this thread is because you are using a Strimtom build? lol

+1