Returning player a few words and a few questions.

[Rivyr_Darkleaf]

I've played off and on since launch in 2006 I stopped before it went free and i've come and gone a few times till say 2013 ish. Either way its been almost 10 years and alots changed in the game and feeling a little overwhelmed atm hah. So I'll just show you what i've got going for me and maybe yall can help me make a decision. I was a compulsive hoarder and an altoholic so I'll need a spreadsheet to figure out all the **** i've got.

Last time I played was idk 6th birthday(i've got a few pieces of 6 year old cake lul) or risia or 3 barrel cove or something cause I farmed the hell out of the risia event and i've still got a few thousand potions/scrolls (haste/jump/fire res/chill shield/featherfall/ supreme ice power pots or something /and alot of those ice elemental gem things. it looks like I did the crystal cove thing alot and got lv 20 gear set up for futures alts/lives.

OK i'll stop rambling sorry - right my highest is my main class I played a 1st life lv 20 elf arcane archer ranger 32 point but its mismash of gear some green steel bows(holy shocking burst, and acid/acid burst/blast/earth grab bows) from shroud and some lv 20 gear from the crystal cove event along with like some vorpal/disrupting/paralyzing, wounding of puncturing and other assorted random greater bane stuff i've found along the way.

Should I just rebirth and start over Dark Hunter looks fun from the videos i've watched, or should I tough it out and favor grind unlock stuff and try to hit 30+ before TR'ing so i get epic and heroic TR?

Also hows the population been, and are we seeing any new players or just more boomerangs like me? Thanx for your time and input ~ Riv

[spifflove]

You should have some +20 lesser hearts of wood but a normal heart can turn a ranger to a dark hunter. If not you can grind for some tokens of the 12 and reincarnate.

All your gear is junk and even a free Barovian weapon from the caravan is better.

There is no wrong answer you can roll a new toon or reincarnate. I personally have 30 first life toons with raiders reward box weapons and one main multi life and a bank crafting bard haggle bot. I keep a space open for hcl.

Easy gear to be had in Feywild. Welcome back!

[Rivyr_Darkleaf]

Thanx, I do like my toons name and I did buy alot of bank and bag space already so ill probably just keep going. I didn't think about that +20 heart hmm do DHs have better survivability and dmg than rangers? Also I managed to get dungeon crawl and those 4 99 point modules any suggestions on what to get besides that or just grab em all? And yeah I figured all my gear was trash guess I need to level a haggle bard and sell all that junk I've got clogging banks.

[spifflove]

Grab ‘‘em all Barovian>>Sharon>demo web>rest.

Dark hunter eclipses ranger makes it obsolete.
https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showth...of-old-and-new

It will take you several months to get your old legs back but don’t worry people are much nicer now. Pay attention to trapping gear (read the link).

Good luck!

[Rivyr_Darkleaf]

slept a few hours, been reading through posts a few hours. Ugh.. should I just go back and reread from the start say update 0 patch 1 and just slog through all that or do can someone give me a cliff notes on whats changed in 10 years?

What are sentience items? I mean I know what they are in a TTRPG D&D sense, what I mean is how do they work mechanically in game?
Cannith crafting?
Is haggling still a thing? People used to have haggle bot characters to try to sell **** to vendors and buy things cheaper is this still done, or what do we do with useless loot now?
Old enchantment types? - vorpal, disruption, wounding, puncturing (WOP), stunning, destruction, maladroit etc are these still used or do people go after specific Named or set weapons now?
Greensteel stuff? - I'm assuming its all junk now, but is it still useful in mid levels say 10-20?
Epic Destinies?
Reaper?

[C-Dog]

First, welcome back (again)!

... can someone give me a cliff notes on whats changed in 10 years?

Tall order - If you want, scan the Wiki re Updates, but even that would take a while (and some things have been updated more than once...)

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


Bullet Points... hmmm... I'll ignore detailing new Races/Classes, but check those out at some point, lots of fun there.

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Races (& see overview of Iconic Races below)
o https://ddowiki.com/page/Classes (some classes now have "Archetypes" - a subtle twist; diff playstyle and PL bonus, same "class" for Completionist*)

(* Oh, btw - Completionist is now "auto-granted" - no need to fit it into a Feat slot, it just shows up. Yw. )

K, off the top of my head...

• Enhancements: About 10 years ago, U19 changed the Enhancement system, a different approach to enhancement Trees. You earn 4 Action Pts/level, standard 80 max (but there are ways to buy/earn some extra).
  
  It's now both level-gated and point-gated - you have to be Level 3 (in class) to take Tier 3 Enhancements, and you ALSO need to have invested (for Tr 3). The "Core" Enhancements are strong, and are gated by Class Level, so modern multiclass builds often will have 3, 6, 12, or 18 of one class, aligning with those targets in mind.
  
  There are also "Universal" trees, which can be applied to any class mix, and can be earned via Favor or bought in the Store. These are how many modern builds get "to-Hit/Damage" based on Intel, Wisdom, or Charisma.
  
  o https://ddowiki.com/page/Enhancements

• Iconic Races: At the same time "Iconic" races showed up. These start at Level 15 and can only reincarnate at Level 30(+). They have their own Racial Enhancement trees, which often give some superior abilities to the standard "Heroic" version of the race in question. They give their own PL bonuses. By default, they each start (level 1) with 1 level of a specific, fixed class - this can be changed with a +1(+) Lesser Heart of Wood.
  
  o https://ddowiki.com/page/Iconic_Heroes

• Racial Reincarnation: Now, at 20(+), you have a choice between the traditional Heroic Reincarnation (which you may know as "TR"), or Racial Reincarnation. Both are, in fact, "True Reincarnations"; both reset you to 1 (or 15 for Iconic next life, your choice), but RR's use a "Heart of Blood" (same cost) and give a diff PL bonus.
  
  And there is now a "Racial Completionist", which gives same bonuses as standard Class Completionist (+2 all etc.), is harder to get (3x each race), fully stacks, and is also auto-granted.
  
  o https://ddowiki.com/page/Racial_Reincarnation

• Experience: Long story short, MUCH easier to get now, so Leveling is MUCH faster. (and see next)
  
  
  (btw - re your question of "What to do?" - don't be shy about a TR, you'll be back before you know it, really. But whether by TR (back to 1) or LR (simple rebuild), get on the train. Multiple Reincarnations are now where the Power is found.)

• Reaper Difficulty: In theory* tougher than Elite, gives about 2x the xp for 1st-time runs. Requires "ghost touch" ability/weapons (now more common) or Casters to deal w/ the Reapers themselves. 10 sub-levels, from 1-skull to 10-skulls (which used to be simply insane, but power creep has now made merely impressive.)
  
  As you run Reaper, you get Reaper XP, which is applied to Reaper Trees (like Enhancements) which only trigger while you're in Reaper difficulty. It's a self-reinforcing system; the more RXP you have, the stronger you are in Reaper so the easier it gets to get more. Most vets/pros run (at least) R1 as they level as that doubles the regular XP earned (1st time only), and many park at 30-32 and then farm RXP (where it's the highest return).
  
  (* It has some quirks that allow casters a significant edge in replenishing Spell Points as they go - but the enemies are def tougher either way)
  
  o https://ddowiki.com/page/Reaper_difficulty

• Named items/sets/gear: As expected, LOTS of power creep; very few of your leet items will still be cutting edge. Check out (in level order) the Saltmarsh, Feywild, Isle of Dread, Ravenloft and Masterminds of Sharn expansions, as notable among some others.
  
  o https://ddowiki.com/page/Adventure_Pack
  o Recent discussion https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showth...=1#post6580204

• Destinies: Epic Destinies are just Epic Enhancements, work more or less the same, and are in addition to the regular Enhancements. Used to be more complex, now you just visit any Fatespinner (an "Epic Trainer"), go in and then visit each of the 12 Destinies to open those, and you're set.
  
  o https://ddowiki.com/page/Epic_Destinies

• Mounts: I'm sure you've noticed, folk are riding now. MUCH faster, high QoL improvement. Only in public or in Wilds, not in Quests or Raids (or Taverns). You can get a (basic) mount by farming 15 Feather Tokens in the Keep on the Borderlands wilderness, rare encounter chests only. Faster mounts can be found as rare drops or bought in the Store, or come as part of higher-tier Expansion packages.
  
  o https://ddowiki.com/page/Mount
  o map for fast rare/mount farming https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...=1#post6265388

What are sentience items? I mean I know what they are in a TTRPG D&D sense, what I mean is how do they work mechanically in game?

They work just fine, thanks for asking.

Basically, you find/earn a Sentient Gem, and apply it to any Level 20+ NAMED weapon. Has to be main hand or 2-hand, "off-hand" or shields don't accept. Then you sacrifice other Named items into it, and it grows, and gains "slots". These slots accept "Filigrees", which drop in some of the (relatively) newer chains/content. Bottom line, it is a slight but nice customization and boost to your favorite Epic weapon. (Gems can be moved to a diff weapon, but only w/ special tool kits - Store-bought or rare drops.)

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


Cannith crafting?

CC is still the "bar" by which item bonuses are measured. Few items have bonuses higher than CC items, however, most all new ones have exactly those values, and many have insightful/profane/artifact/etc/etc bonuses that stack on top. CC is still valuable to fill in the gaps in any "gear tetris" puzzle, to fit in between awkward named sets.

Also note that droploot now occasionally shows with colored slots, and (rarely) TWO slots! Also, the old "Guild Augment" system is entirely gone.

Is haggling still a thing?[/B] People used to have haggle bot characters to try to sell **** to vendors and buy things cheaper is this still done, or what do we do with useless loot now?

The platinum market has collapsed to a large extent; most on the TR train will complain that there is "nothing" to spend platinum on, however anyone still chasing the perfect gear still finds a lot of value in the AH. Droploot gets melted for Cannith Crafting or sold (or, by some, ignored), Named items get fed to Sentient gems.

But "the best gear" is usually found on the ASE - "shards" are still a solid currency.

Old enchantment types? - vorpal, disruption, wounding, puncturing (WOP), stunning, destruction, maladroit etc are these still used or do people go after specific Named or set weapons now?

Some controversy on "weapons as part of sets", but modern Named items are STRONG now. Vorpal still has use in lower level Heroics*, but is often surpassed in upper, and certainly in Epic play.

(* AND Vorpal no longer drops below about ML 8, so any lower-ML Vorpals are rare and valuable.)

The others... I'm thinking that it would take a special build (or specifically designed Raid party?) to take advantage of those. :/

Greensteel stuff? - I'm assuming its all junk now, but is it still useful in mid levels say 10-20?

I'm not a pro on GS, but it's still used, mainly for casters (for special Procs). As melee/ranged weapons, there are often better choices.