I started playing this again a little after reading this thread. It's actually not bad for such an old game. However, I must confess that Raid: Shadow Legends is still taking up most of my time. I can't fully commit to an MMORPG unless it is a true role-playing where my character's choices actually matter. One where my character has the potential to change the game world for good or evil, better or worse. A sandbox with horizontal progression/limited vertical progression. I say limited vertical progression because it wouldn't be realistic otherwise. People can get better at things. It just has to be within reason. A top tier player-character should still start sweating if he gets confronted by a Mob pack of 10-20 or a Noob Zerg of the same number.
DDO is PvE only, and while there are Tavern Brawling Areas, the Developers have flat out said they have no desire or inition to balance the game for any kind of PvP.
No worries. I don't think DDO will ever be my ideal game. But I don't mind playing it a bit for what it does offer. I've been a fan of D&D since I was a kid. Played P&P AD&D a bit here and there. However, I have realized (by reading posts written by others and thinking about it myself), the D&D system isn't really designed for a Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Game.
The irony of this is hilarious, was Gary Gygax, the guy who wrote D&D, first wrote Chainmail, which was a ruleset for larger battles, and D&D was a ruleset for small group play.
So yah.. D&D was designed with small groups and teams in mind... not huge massive MMO's with 100's of people doing something together.
Yes, I've read about the history of D&D. And in original D&D, player-characters could eventually become deities. Something that is probably not desirable for an MMORPG.
The developers of Skyforge apparently thought otherwise.
I started playing this again a little after reading this thread. It's actually not bad for such an old game. However, I must confess that Raid: Shadow Legends is still taking up most of my time. I can't fully commit to an MMORPG unless it is a true role-playing where my character's choices actually matter. One where my character has the potential to change the game world for good or evil, better or worse. A sandbox with horizontal progression/limited vertical progression. I say limited vertical progression because it wouldn't be realistic otherwise. People can get better at things. It just has to be within reason. A top tier player-character should still start sweating if he gets confronted by a Mob pack of 10-20 or a Noob Zerg of the same number.
DDO is PvE only, and while there are Tavern Brawling Areas, the Developers have flat out said they have no desire or inition to balance the game for any kind of PvP.
No worries. I don't think DDO will ever be my ideal game. But I don't mind playing it a bit for what it does offer. I've been a fan of D&D since I was a kid. Played P&P AD&D a bit here and there. However, I have realized (by reading posts written by others and thinking about it myself), the D&D system isn't really designed for a Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Game.
The irony of this is hilarious, was Gary Gygax, the guy who wrote D&D, first wrote Chainmail, which was a ruleset for larger battles, and D&D was a ruleset for small group play.
So yah.. D&D was designed with small groups and teams in mind... not huge massive MMO's with 100's of people doing something together.
Yes, I've read about the history of D&D. And in original D&D, player-characters could eventually become deities. Something that is probably not desirable for an MMORPG.
The developers of Skyforge apparently thought otherwise.
I've never played Skyforge. But aren't all the Player Characters deities in that one?
"If everything was easy, nothing would be hard."
"Show me on the doll where PVP touched you."
(Note: If I type something in a thread that does not exactly pertain to the stated subject of the thread in every, way, shape, and form, please feel free to send me a response in a Private Message.)
I started playing this again a little after reading this thread. It's actually not bad for such an old game. However, I must confess that Raid: Shadow Legends is still taking up most of my time. I can't fully commit to an MMORPG unless it is a true role-playing where my character's choices actually matter. One where my character has the potential to change the game world for good or evil, better or worse. A sandbox with horizontal progression/limited vertical progression. I say limited vertical progression because it wouldn't be realistic otherwise. People can get better at things. It just has to be within reason. A top tier player-character should still start sweating if he gets confronted by a Mob pack of 10-20 or a Noob Zerg of the same number.
DDO is PvE only, and while there are Tavern Brawling Areas, the Developers have flat out said they have no desire or inition to balance the game for any kind of PvP.
No worries. I don't think DDO will ever be my ideal game. But I don't mind playing it a bit for what it does offer. I've been a fan of D&D since I was a kid. Played P&P AD&D a bit here and there. However, I have realized (by reading posts written by others and thinking about it myself), the D&D system isn't really designed for a Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Game.
The irony of this is hilarious, was Gary Gygax, the guy who wrote D&D, first wrote Chainmail, which was a ruleset for larger battles, and D&D was a ruleset for small group play.
So yah.. D&D was designed with small groups and teams in mind... not huge massive MMO's with 100's of people doing something together.
Yes, I've read about the history of D&D. And in original D&D, player-characters could eventually become deities. Something that is probably not desirable for an MMORPG. Not that it absolutely could not work ever, but at that point the player would likely need to be hired as a Game Master. Actually, in the kind of game I'm thinking of, there's the potential for the best players to earn their subscriptions by playing and even getting paid to play.
3 categories: Most skilled players (mechanically speaking), best teachers/guides/mentors, and best role-players. And if a player excelled in two of those categories (or was good at all three) then he or she would earn more. I suppose the paid players would be required to play 40 hours a week, but there wouldn't be any set schedule. And when they weren't online, their characters would be controlled by AI. The player would either design the AI (by selecting options, not programming) or the game would track the player's behavior and choices in order to determine how the AI of their characters acted.
Deities (played/controlled by Game Masters) would function in a similar way. Though the personalities of the deities would be set beforehand, and the GMs would be required to play them that way. Though a deity could potentially switch from good to evil or evil to good if it was approved by the Game Developers for an event.
EDIT: Player Characters wouldn't go adventuring/traveling while the player was offline. However, the player would choose what sort of activity the PC (Player Character) would perform in the meantime. Some of that time could be spent resting (PCs need to sleep in this game), training a skill, crafting an items or items, even holding audience in a throne room if your PC happened to be a king, etc.
The ability to Ascend to Godhood was not introduced till AD&D, Deities and Demigods.
Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.
I started playing this again a little after reading this thread. It's actually not bad for such an old game. However, I must confess that Raid: Shadow Legends is still taking up most of my time. I can't fully commit to an MMORPG unless it is a true role-playing where my character's choices actually matter. One where my character has the potential to change the game world for good or evil, better or worse. A sandbox with horizontal progression/limited vertical progression. I say limited vertical progression because it wouldn't be realistic otherwise. People can get better at things. It just has to be within reason. A top tier player-character should still start sweating if he gets confronted by a Mob pack of 10-20 or a Noob Zerg of the same number.
DDO is PvE only, and while there are Tavern Brawling Areas, the Developers have flat out said they have no desire or inition to balance the game for any kind of PvP.
No worries. I don't think DDO will ever be my ideal game. But I don't mind playing it a bit for what it does offer. I've been a fan of D&D since I was a kid. Played P&P AD&D a bit here and there. However, I have realized (by reading posts written by others and thinking about it myself), the D&D system isn't really designed for a Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Game.
The irony of this is hilarious, was Gary Gygax, the guy who wrote D&D, first wrote Chainmail, which was a ruleset for larger battles, and D&D was a ruleset for small group play.
So yah.. D&D was designed with small groups and teams in mind... not huge massive MMO's with 100's of people doing something together.
Yes, I've read about the history of D&D. And in original D&D, player-characters could eventually become deities. Something that is probably not desirable for an MMORPG. Not that it absolutely could not work ever, but at that point the player would likely need to be hired as a Game Master. Actually, in the kind of game I'm thinking of, there's the potential for the best players to earn their subscriptions by playing and even getting paid to play.
3 categories: Most skilled players (mechanically speaking), best teachers/guides/mentors, and best role-players. And if a player excelled in two of those categories (or was good at all three) then he or she would earn more. I suppose the paid players would be required to play 40 hours a week, but there wouldn't be any set schedule. And when they weren't online, their characters would be controlled by AI. The player would either design the AI (by selecting options, not programming) or the game would track the player's behavior and choices in order to determine how the AI of their characters acted.
Deities (played/controlled by Game Masters) would function in a similar way. Though the personalities of the deities would be set beforehand, and the GMs would be required to play them that way. Though a deity could potentially switch from good to evil or evil to good if it was approved by the Game Developers for an event.
EDIT: Player Characters wouldn't go adventuring/traveling while the player was offline. However, the player would choose what sort of activity the PC (Player Character) would perform in the meantime. Some of that time could be spent resting (PCs need to sleep in this game), training a skill, crafting an items or items, even holding audience in a throne room if your PC happened to be a king, etc.
The ability to Ascend to Godhood was not introduced till AD&D, Deities and Demigods.
My bad. Could you give me a link for that? I started looking it up, but I want to go smoke right now.
"If everything was easy, nothing would be hard."
"Show me on the doll where PVP touched you."
(Note: If I type something in a thread that does not exactly pertain to the stated subject of the thread in every, way, shape, and form, please feel free to send me a response in a Private Message.)
I started playing this again a little after reading this thread. It's actually not bad for such an old game. However, I must confess that Raid: Shadow Legends is still taking up most of my time. I can't fully commit to an MMORPG unless it is a true role-playing where my character's choices actually matter. One where my character has the potential to change the game world for good or evil, better or worse. A sandbox with horizontal progression/limited vertical progression. I say limited vertical progression because it wouldn't be realistic otherwise. People can get better at things. It just has to be within reason. A top tier player-character should still start sweating if he gets confronted by a Mob pack of 10-20 or a Noob Zerg of the same number.
DDO is PvE only, and while there are Tavern Brawling Areas, the Developers have flat out said they have no desire or inition to balance the game for any kind of PvP.
No worries. I don't think DDO will ever be my ideal game. But I don't mind playing it a bit for what it does offer. I've been a fan of D&D since I was a kid. Played P&P AD&D a bit here and there. However, I have realized (by reading posts written by others and thinking about it myself), the D&D system isn't really designed for a Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Game.
The irony of this is hilarious, was Gary Gygax, the guy who wrote D&D, first wrote Chainmail, which was a ruleset for larger battles, and D&D was a ruleset for small group play.
So yah.. D&D was designed with small groups and teams in mind... not huge massive MMO's with 100's of people doing something together.
Yes, I've read about the history of D&D. And in original D&D, player-characters could eventually become deities. Something that is probably not desirable for an MMORPG. Not that it absolutely could not work ever, but at that point the player would likely need to be hired as a Game Master. Actually, in the kind of game I'm thinking of, there's the potential for the best players to earn their subscriptions by playing and even getting paid to play.
3 categories: Most skilled players (mechanically speaking), best teachers/guides/mentors, and best role-players. And if a player excelled in two of those categories (or was good at all three) then he or she would earn more. I suppose the paid players would be required to play 40 hours a week, but there wouldn't be any set schedule. And when they weren't online, their characters would be controlled by AI. The player would either design the AI (by selecting options, not programming) or the game would track the player's behavior and choices in order to determine how the AI of their characters acted.
Deities (played/controlled by Game Masters) would function in a similar way. Though the personalities of the deities would be set beforehand, and the GMs would be required to play them that way. Though a deity could potentially switch from good to evil or evil to good if it was approved by the Game Developers for an event.
EDIT: Player Characters wouldn't go adventuring/traveling while the player was offline. However, the player would choose what sort of activity the PC (Player Character) would perform in the meantime. Some of that time could be spent resting (PCs need to sleep in this game), training a skill, crafting an items or items, even holding audience in a throne room if your PC happened to be a king, etc.
The ability to Ascend to Godhood was not introduced till AD&D, Deities and Demigods.
My bad. Could you give me a link for that? I started looking it up, but I want to go smoke right now.
Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.
I started playing this again a little after reading this thread. It's actually not bad for such an old game. However, I must confess that Raid: Shadow Legends is still taking up most of my time. I can't fully commit to an MMORPG unless it is a true role-playing where my character's choices actually matter. One where my character has the potential to change the game world for good or evil, better or worse. A sandbox with horizontal progression/limited vertical progression. I say limited vertical progression because it wouldn't be realistic otherwise. People can get better at things. It just has to be within reason. A top tier player-character should still start sweating if he gets confronted by a Mob pack of 10-20 or a Noob Zerg of the same number.
DDO is PvE only, and while there are Tavern Brawling Areas, the Developers have flat out said they have no desire or inition to balance the game for any kind of PvP.
No worries. I don't think DDO will ever be my ideal game. But I don't mind playing it a bit for what it does offer. I've been a fan of D&D since I was a kid. Played P&P AD&D a bit here and there. However, I have realized (by reading posts written by others and thinking about it myself), the D&D system isn't really designed for a Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Game.
The irony of this is hilarious, was Gary Gygax, the guy who wrote D&D, first wrote Chainmail, which was a ruleset for larger battles, and D&D was a ruleset for small group play.
So yah.. D&D was designed with small groups and teams in mind... not huge massive MMO's with 100's of people doing something together.
Yes, I've read about the history of D&D. And in original D&D, player-characters could eventually become deities. Something that is probably not desirable for an MMORPG. Not that it absolutely could not work ever, but at that point the player would likely need to be hired as a Game Master. Actually, in the kind of game I'm thinking of, there's the potential for the best players to earn their subscriptions by playing and even getting paid to play.
3 categories: Most skilled players (mechanically speaking), best teachers/guides/mentors, and best role-players. And if a player excelled in two of those categories (or was good at all three) then he or she would earn more. I suppose the paid players would be required to play 40 hours a week, but there wouldn't be any set schedule. And when they weren't online, their characters would be controlled by AI. The player would either design the AI (by selecting options, not programming) or the game would track the player's behavior and choices in order to determine how the AI of their characters acted.
Deities (played/controlled by Game Masters) would function in a similar way. Though the personalities of the deities would be set beforehand, and the GMs would be required to play them that way. Though a deity could potentially switch from good to evil or evil to good if it was approved by the Game Developers for an event.
EDIT: Player Characters wouldn't go adventuring/traveling while the player was offline. However, the player would choose what sort of activity the PC (Player Character) would perform in the meantime. Some of that time could be spent resting (PCs need to sleep in this game), training a skill, crafting an items or items, even holding audience in a throne room if your PC happened to be a king, etc.
The ability to Ascend to Godhood was not introduced till AD&D, Deities and Demigods.
My bad. Could you give me a link for that? I started looking it up, but I want to go smoke right now.
(Note: If I type something in a thread that does not exactly pertain to the stated subject of the thread in every, way, shape, and form, please feel free to send me a response in a Private Message.)
Got VIP and 32 point build and ready to dive in again. I am looking forward to this. Husband might play since he is bored because of the lockdown.
let me know what you think, and if you need any build advice.
Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.
There's one other point that I'd like to make about DDO, since it has a similar business model to ESO and I've made a big fuss about the latter. Here's the official DDO page about VIP:
"All Adventure Packs released in non-expansion Updates are free to DDO VIPs."
That they said "non-expansion" seems to be a clue that they're not actually including everything. Near the bottom of the page, they make it explicit:
"Menace of the Underdark and Shadowfell Conspiracy are expansions and are not included with VIP membership."
So someone who reads through the page has been explicitly told that VIP includes some extra content but not all of the content. From digging around through the wiki, it looks like it includes most of the paywall-gated content. I'd prefer all rather than most, but they at least give you what they promised.
The description of the extra content that is included is that ESO Plus members get:
"Full access to all DLC game packs1"
But wait, there's a reference to fine print. Let's go read it:
"¹Access to DLC game packs available in the Crown Store and character progression bonuses available for the duration of membership. Any progress made using the progression bonuses during the time of membership will remain."
So the fine print says that you get access to all DLC game packs only for the duration of the subscription, but lose it once the subscription expires. Fair enough.
But what's not okay is what they're missing: any mention that ESO has packs of downloadable game content that they designate as "chapters" instead of "DLC game packs", and those aren't necessarily included with ESO Plus. Rather, they're trying to strongly imply that a subscription gives you all of the content.
When I made a fuss about this on the ESO forum on this site, some people insisted that lots of games do that. That is, a lot of games have a subscription that gives you some extra content but not all of the content. While there are some games that do that, including DDO, most games will at least try to give you a clear description of what is included and what isn't. DDO largely does that, and to the extent that there are inaccuracies on the page, it's that VIP also includes some things not listed on the page. ESO tries to convince you that they'll give you stuff that they won't, and then you'll have to pay again to get what you thought you were buying the first time. That's a huge difference.
Of those, only the rogue has been created so far. My basic rule is that I want at least one character of each race. I put artificer, favored soul, and drow at the end, as those are the ones that cost money. There's no sense in buying them now and then potentially deciding that I don't like the game before I actually use them.
I've listed three human characters, but I'm not wedded to that at all. There's a mismatch of 15 classes to 13 races, so there will have to be two extras of something--potentially one extra for each of two races. I'd somewhat prefer that the drow be either the artificer or favored soul because those are the things that cost money. I'd also prefer that the other of those two classes be one of the duplicate races. I might decide to stop at 13 characters, and would still want one of each of the 12 races included with VIP.
Ok, Sorry I missed this in the scroll.
I am going to say, this looks like a solid lineup.
Just a few starting notes.
Keep in mind Rogue only has D6 Hp as a melee class, on the plus side of that, halflings do get a lot of boons to the Rogue utility, but that -2 to Str is going to make hitting things a trick, consider playing a high Dex Build, which gives you more AC, and taking the feat Weapon Finesse which allows you to use your Dex modifier to hit with light weapons as opposed to STR.
But, a Rogue is going to be a very hard climb if you plan to solo, they shine in groups like a Firefly that just chugged a case of Monster™ Energy Drink, but alone, they are.. well they are listed as Challenging.. and they are.
You will want a ranged weapon, that can be anything from a throwing dagger to a short bow, to another halfling (kidding), but, the reality is, you are going to need some kind of ranged weapon. You can buy a quiver from Hammer and Chain, to hold your arrows or throwing daggers, to save on inventory space.
The starting gear you get is NOT BAD, it can least you to 5th pretty easy, but, keep in mind you are still in newbie starting gear, and will want to upgrade every chance you can get going up. Look at what stats your gear has. You might not want to give up that Nimble Hand bonus just because you found a new pair of gloves.
Also note, Hiding is light dependent, and you can't hide when a mob has spotted you, you will see how well you are hidden by a series of "eyes" over your head, and trust me, the second you are spotted, they will let you know, as they will make a beeline for you. Also, plus side, you do NOT need to be hidden to get backstab damage, you just need to flank the mob. This is very important in group play, if someone else gets agro, you move behind the mobs and just stab into them like they stole the last cookie at grandma's house.
As far as starting weapons go, you have 3 types of Weapons. Crushing, Slashing, and Piercing.
Or put another way that your half orc barbarian will understand "Bashy Crushie, Cutty Slashy.. Stabby Stabby.
As far as your starting rogue goes, I would suggest the Rapier as your main hand weapon, and use the starting club they give you for skeletons. But pay attention to it's damage type, notice that Rapiers are mainly Piercing Weapons, not Slashing.. but not all Rapiers are Piercing.. they like to mix things up on you in DDO.
Anyway, Ember Rapier is handy. If you go the direction of weapon finesse, take a higher Dex, and then invest in 2WF, which allows you to use 2 weapons with a better chance to hit and double strike.
Without the 2WF feat, your offhand weapon barely ever gets swung, and you take huge negatives to hit.
I am going to suggest a Drow FvS, as Drow get Chrismia boons to their stats, and FvS's spells work off Christms.
Again going to suggest Warforged for the Arti, for reasons I already mentioned.
and look into Dragonborn for Warlock, I have not played Warlock, but, I have been told that Dragonborn synergize with them really well.
This is going to sound odd, but, also consider Human for the Paladin, as paladins are very stat spread and feat starved, so, that human bonus feat and the no negs to any stats, makes Humans pretty solid well rounded Paladins.
However, first lets see how the Rouge goes. Wishing you good fun and fortune, if you tell me the server you are on, I might make a character and run with you.
Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.
There's one other point that I'd like to make about DDO, since it has a similar business model to ESO and I've made a big fuss about the latter. Here's the official DDO page about VIP:
"All Adventure Packs released in non-expansion Updates are free to DDO VIPs."
That they said "non-expansion" seems to be a clue that they're not actually including everything. Near the bottom of the page, they make it explicit:
"Menace of the Underdark and Shadowfell Conspiracy are expansions and are not included with VIP membership."
So someone who reads through the page has been explicitly told that VIP includes some extra content but not all of the content. From digging around through the wiki, it looks like it includes most of the paywall-gated content. I'd prefer all rather than most, but they at least give you what they promised.
The description of the extra content that is included is that ESO Plus members get:
"Full access to all DLC game packs1"
But wait, there's a reference to fine print. Let's go read it:
"¹Access to DLC game packs available in the Crown Store and character progression bonuses available for the duration of membership. Any progress made using the progression bonuses during the time of membership will remain."
So the fine print says that you get access to all DLC game packs only for the duration of the subscription, but lose it once the subscription expires. Fair enough.
But what's not okay is what they're missing: any mention that ESO has packs of downloadable game content that they designate as "chapters" instead of "DLC game packs", and those aren't necessarily included with ESO Plus. Rather, they're trying to strongly imply that a subscription gives you all of the content.
When I made a fuss about this on the ESO forum on this site, some people insisted that lots of games do that. That is, a lot of games have a subscription that gives you some extra content but not all of the content. While there are some games that do that, including DDO, most games will at least try to give you a clear description of what is included and what isn't. DDO largely does that, and to the extent that there are inaccuracies on the page, it's that VIP also includes some things not listed on the page. ESO tries to convince you that they'll give you stuff that they won't, and then you'll have to pay again to get what you thought you were buying the first time. That's a huge difference.
The thing with Expansions in DDO, is they are not part of the main city world, so you need to own the Expansion to get to the Quest Hub that lets you do the Quests that are linked to the Expansion.
This is a Dungeons and Dragons thing, really, as DDO, is based in Eberron Campaign World.
MoTU is set in Forgotten Realms, and they make a huge deal that you are traveling between Campaign worlds.
It would be kinda of a pisser to say that you can do the FR content, when you can't get to the FR world without the Expansion. Shadowfell is also set in FR.
Their Ravenloft expansion is set in the Ravenloft D&D Campaign World, with far less fanfare to get to it tho.
Then they have Sharn, which is a whole other Nation.
Which is kinda why they did things the way they did them.
Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.
just a couple minor notes in the halfling rogue department... it is true you do not have to be hidden to get sneak attack. literally the only thing that is required is that you not have the agro. you don't even have to be flanking or behind a mob, altho that is always a wise place for a rogue to stand, as it avoids most mobs big cleave-y type attacks. if you went the assassin route, you DO have to be hidden to assassinate. soloing with a rogue is very tricky. doable, but very tricky.
rogue enhancements have been reworked very heavily since Ungood played his rogue life, and while weapon finesse is very very handy, it is no longer an absolute need, depending on your weapons, as the assassin enhancement tree gives you dex to hit AND dex to damage when using daggers and kukhris. if you DO chose to take weapon finesse feat, the enhancement that grants dex to damage extends to all the weapons you are able to finesse (like the aforementioned rapiers). the thief acrobat tree offers dex to hit and damage while using staves. mechanic lets you use int to damage when using crossbows and thrown weapons
halflings get a thrown weapon bonus, just like in pen and paper D&D.
Got VIP and 32 point build and ready to dive in again. I am looking forward to this. Husband might play since he is bored because of the lockdown.
Yeah screw this thread, it got me to subscribe and get a 32 point build and I'm right back in. Damn you guys DAMN YOU!!!!
I agree! After reading this I was filled with the urge to give it another try. Downloaded it and rolled my 1st character last night. My only complaint is I was really looking foward to trying a Druid, but they are still locked behind the paywall and I'm not gonna buy it just try it out and discover I don't like it...
just a couple minor notes in the halfling rogue department... it is true you do not have to be hidden to get sneak attack. literally the only thing that is required is that you not have the agro. you don't even have to be flanking or behind a mob, altho that is always a wise place for a rogue to stand, as it avoids most mobs big cleave-y type attacks. if you went the assassin route, you DO have to be hidden to assassinate. soloing with a rogue is very tricky. doable, but very tricky.
rogue enhancements have been reworked very heavily since Ungood played his rogue life, and while weapon finesse is very very handy, it is no longer an absolute need, depending on your weapons, as the assassin enhancement tree gives you dex to hit AND dex to damage when using daggers and kukhris. if you DO chose to take weapon finesse feat, the enhancement that grants dex to damage extends to all the weapons you are able to finesse (like the aforementioned rapiers). the thief acrobat tree offers dex to hit and damage while using staves. mechanic lets you use int to damage when using crossbows and thrown weapons
halflings get a thrown weapon bonus, just like in pen and paper D&D.
Good to know about the revision to the Assassin Trait line.. and about time if you ask me!
But also.. when I played my rogue life I used a Greataxe... so..............
Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.
Of those, only the rogue has been created so far. My basic rule is that I want at least one character of each race. I put artificer, favored soul, and drow at the end, as those are the ones that cost money. There's no sense in buying them now and then potentially deciding that I don't like the game before I actually use them.
I've listed three human characters, but I'm not wedded to that at all. There's a mismatch of 15 classes to 13 races, so there will have to be two extras of something--potentially one extra for each of two races. I'd somewhat prefer that the drow be either the artificer or favored soul because those are the things that cost money. I'd also prefer that the other of those two classes be one of the duplicate races. I might decide to stop at 13 characters, and would still want one of each of the 12 races included with VIP.
Ok, Sorry I missed this in the scroll.
I am going to say, this looks like a solid lineup.
Just a few starting notes.
Keep in mind Rogue only has D6 Hp as a melee class, on the plus side of that, halflings do get a lot of boons to the Rogue utility, but that -2 to Str is going to make hitting things a trick, consider playing a high Dex Build, which gives you more AC, and taking the feat Weapon Finesse which allows you to use your Dex modifier to hit with light weapons as opposed to STR.
But, a Rogue is going to be a very hard climb if you plan to solo, they shine in groups like a Firefly that just chugged a case of Monster™ Energy Drink, but alone, they are.. well they are listed as Challenging.. and they are.
You will want a ranged weapon, that can be anything from a throwing dagger to a short bow, to another halfling (kidding), but, the reality is, you are going to need some kind of ranged weapon. You can buy a quiver from Hammer and Chain, to hold your arrows or throwing daggers, to save on inventory space.
The starting gear you get is NOT BAD, it can least you to 5th pretty easy, but, keep in mind you are still in newbie starting gear, and will want to upgrade every chance you can get going up. Look at what stats your gear has. You might not want to give up that Nimble Hand bonus just because you found a new pair of gloves.
Also note, Hiding is light dependent, and you can't hide when a mob has spotted you, you will see how well you are hidden by a series of "eyes" over your head, and trust me, the second you are spotted, they will let you know, as they will make a beeline for you. Also, plus side, you do NOT need to be hidden to get backstab damage, you just need to flank the mob. This is very important in group play, if someone else gets agro, you move behind the mobs and just stab into them like they stole the last cookie at grandma's house.
As far as starting weapons go, you have 3 types of Weapons. Crushing, Slashing, and Piercing.
Or put another way that your half orc barbarian will understand "Bashy Crushie, Cutty Slashy.. Stabby Stabby.
As far as your starting rogue goes, I would suggest the Rapier as your main hand weapon, and use the starting club they give you for skeletons. But pay attention to it's damage type, notice that Rapiers are mainly Piercing Weapons, not Slashing.. but not all Rapiers are Piercing.. they like to mix things up on you in DDO.
Anyway, Ember Rapier is handy. If you go the direction of weapon finesse, take a higher Dex, and then invest in 2WF, which allows you to use 2 weapons with a better chance to hit and double strike.
Without the 2WF feat, your offhand weapon barely ever gets swung, and you take huge negatives to hit.
I am going to suggest a Drow FvS, as Drow get Chrismia boons to their stats, and FvS's spells work off Christms.
Again going to suggest Warforged for the Arti, for reasons I already mentioned.
and look into Dragonborn for Warlock, I have not played Warlock, but, I have been told that Dragonborn synergize with them really well.
This is going to sound odd, but, also consider Human for the Paladin, as paladins are very stat spread and feat starved, so, that human bonus feat and the no negs to any stats, makes Humans pretty solid well rounded Paladins.
However, first lets see how the Rouge goes. Wishing you good fun and fortune, if you tell me the server you are on, I might make a character and run with you.
Thank you. I largely went off of stat bonuses in generating my own list. That is, try to make it so that a character gets racial bonuses to stats that are important for the class and maluses to ones that aren't.
Everything I can find seems to say that charisma is important for warlocks. Yet the recommended stats for the class in the character creator put no points into charisma at all. I'm guessing that's just a mistake, but it could lead to a new player making a really crippled character.
As for my rogue, I'm currently dual wielding a rapier and a scythe. I took two weapon fighting as my first feat, and plan on adding finesse wielding at level 3. The latter wasn't available at level 1 because it requires a higher base attack bonus. I maxed dexterity in choosing stats at character creation.
Of those, only the rogue has been created so far. My basic rule is that I want at least one character of each race. I put artificer, favored soul, and drow at the end, as those are the ones that cost money. There's no sense in buying them now and then potentially deciding that I don't like the game before I actually use them.
I've listed three human characters, but I'm not wedded to that at all. There's a mismatch of 15 classes to 13 races, so there will have to be two extras of something--potentially one extra for each of two races. I'd somewhat prefer that the drow be either the artificer or favored soul because those are the things that cost money. I'd also prefer that the other of those two classes be one of the duplicate races. I might decide to stop at 13 characters, and would still want one of each of the 12 races included with VIP.
Ok, Sorry I missed this in the scroll.
I am going to say, this looks like a solid lineup.
Just a few starting notes.
Keep in mind Rogue only has D6 Hp as a melee class, on the plus side of that, halflings do get a lot of boons to the Rogue utility, but that -2 to Str is going to make hitting things a trick, consider playing a high Dex Build, which gives you more AC, and taking the feat Weapon Finesse which allows you to use your Dex modifier to hit with light weapons as opposed to STR.
But, a Rogue is going to be a very hard climb if you plan to solo, they shine in groups like a Firefly that just chugged a case of Monster™ Energy Drink, but alone, they are.. well they are listed as Challenging.. and they are.
You will want a ranged weapon, that can be anything from a throwing dagger to a short bow, to another halfling (kidding), but, the reality is, you are going to need some kind of ranged weapon. You can buy a quiver from Hammer and Chain, to hold your arrows or throwing daggers, to save on inventory space.
The starting gear you get is NOT BAD, it can least you to 5th pretty easy, but, keep in mind you are still in newbie starting gear, and will want to upgrade every chance you can get going up. Look at what stats your gear has. You might not want to give up that Nimble Hand bonus just because you found a new pair of gloves.
Also note, Hiding is light dependent, and you can't hide when a mob has spotted you, you will see how well you are hidden by a series of "eyes" over your head, and trust me, the second you are spotted, they will let you know, as they will make a beeline for you. Also, plus side, you do NOT need to be hidden to get backstab damage, you just need to flank the mob. This is very important in group play, if someone else gets agro, you move behind the mobs and just stab into them like they stole the last cookie at grandma's house.
As far as starting weapons go, you have 3 types of Weapons. Crushing, Slashing, and Piercing.
Or put another way that your half orc barbarian will understand "Bashy Crushie, Cutty Slashy.. Stabby Stabby.
As far as your starting rogue goes, I would suggest the Rapier as your main hand weapon, and use the starting club they give you for skeletons. But pay attention to it's damage type, notice that Rapiers are mainly Piercing Weapons, not Slashing.. but not all Rapiers are Piercing.. they like to mix things up on you in DDO.
Anyway, Ember Rapier is handy. If you go the direction of weapon finesse, take a higher Dex, and then invest in 2WF, which allows you to use 2 weapons with a better chance to hit and double strike.
Without the 2WF feat, your offhand weapon barely ever gets swung, and you take huge negatives to hit.
I am going to suggest a Drow FvS, as Drow get Chrismia boons to their stats, and FvS's spells work off Christms.
Again going to suggest Warforged for the Arti, for reasons I already mentioned.
and look into Dragonborn for Warlock, I have not played Warlock, but, I have been told that Dragonborn synergize with them really well.
This is going to sound odd, but, also consider Human for the Paladin, as paladins are very stat spread and feat starved, so, that human bonus feat and the no negs to any stats, makes Humans pretty solid well rounded Paladins.
However, first lets see how the Rouge goes. Wishing you good fun and fortune, if you tell me the server you are on, I might make a character and run with you.
Thank you. I largely went off of stat bonuses in generating my own list. That is, try to make it so that a character gets racial bonuses to stats that are important for the class and maluses to ones that aren't.
Everything I can find seems to say that charisma is important for warlocks. Yet the recommended stats for the class in the character creator put no points into charisma at all. I'm guessing that's just a mistake, but it could lead to a new player making a really crippled character.
As for my rogue, I'm currently dual wielding a rapier and a scythe. I took two weapon fighting as my first feat, and plan on adding finesse wielding at level 3. The latter wasn't available at level 1 because it requires a higher base attack bonus. I maxed dexterity in choosing stats at character creation.
As for the Warlock thing.. Like I said, never played one, so.. I have no idea what SSG is doing with that one. I gotta know what I don't know on that one. Sorry.
So how you liking the starting area?
Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.
Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.
They have a new class called the alchemist. I have not played this game in a long time so slowly looking at builds. Lot of the builds in repository are old builds like 2017 last updated wondering if they still work.
I had a cleric but I remember the going was a slog. I don't think I will play that now. Was looking at bard.
They have a new class called the alchemist. I have not played this game in a long time so slowly looking at builds. Lot of the builds in repository are old builds like 2017 last updated wondering if they still work.
I had a cleric but I remember the going was a slog. I don't think I will play that now. Was looking at bard.
Yes, the old builds still work.. Kinda.
Chances are you need to reset your trait lines and also have a +20 heart, just in case your class got an overhaul.
Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.
This game in spite of my subscription still has me pay to unlock so many things. The fact that I am subbed unlike other games still makes this pretty expensive. I know one time unlock and all but I guess it is the only game of its kind and they know it and they make it difficult at times when you want something. Small rant sorry. I hate it when I pay a sub and things like an enhancement tree or race or class is still locked.
However with the nerfs to the Ninja Spy tree it is no longer that great to go dex build but I still think that whirlwind attack is good and I need 17 dex for that which I can get from a tome. Following this build with an Aasimar and putting it in Wisdom with one point in dex to get to 17 but my starting stats were 8 strength/16 Dexterity/14 Con/14 Int/18 wisdom/8 Charisma . So my wisdom is higher and dex will need one point for the whirlwind attack. I read the whole thread and came to the conclusion that based on the nerfs to the trees it is better to go wisdom.
One of the posters in the thread suggested this progression for the enhancements. Please give me an input on this path please and my idea to invest this way although all the subsequent levelling points will be in wisdom. This is just a toon to get to 20 so not doing any epic content or particularly hard stuff just a levelling build that is fun I hope.
This suggestion
'Falconry is indeed the way to go for Monks now - especially for a DC build like I am. Unfortunately much of what you need is deep in the tree, forcing heavy investment. Though with the nerf to Henshin, and Ninja Spy not gaining too much advantage beyond a 12 AP dip (especially as No Mercy is overlapped anyways), this can be afforded.
As a pure Monk handwrap user, you want the 41 AP spend in Shintao. To get the DC advantage along with the WIS to attack/damage, you need a minimum of 21 into Falconry. This means 62 AP is locked, with 18 to play with.
This 18 is where decisions get tough:
I find two Ki Strikes to be very important. Knock on the Sky is 10% damage reduction, and Unbalancing Strike gives you Sneak Attack damage when you have aggro. Both are very important if you are the Monk tank as they are components of survival and DPS. Investing 11-12 AP into Ninja Spy will net me that along with dodge cap bonus for more survival and Shadow Veil for 15% more incorporeal (or 25% if you don't have a Ghostly item on). However, beyond survival boosts, Ninja Spy lost its second main reason for investment: we no longer need the DEX to hit/damage. With half the reason gone, I find myself leaning towards dumping Ninja Spy and debating between Unbalancing for SA damage and Knock for 10% damage reduction. If you run Ethereal, Unbalancing is clearly better, but Falconry provides some more reasons to go Astral Plane.
Going even deeper into Falconry provides several advantages. First is that Deadly Instinct (your DC move) is limited use, so you really want that at 2 or 3. No Mercy is a large DPS increase for trash killing, especially on a class that is quite good at CC. The cores, while nothing to write home about, are still great AP spends as they give +3 MP, PRR, and MRR for only 1 AP. Bird attacks are needed for Deadly Instinct maintenance, and have the potential to be additional CC. In short, you can quite easily spend your extra points in it.
There are, of course, still other spends I like:
- Aasimar cores and T5 bond -- 4+ AP depending on amount of racial PLs - Vistani offers a cheap 25% neg resist along with PRR and MRR. Undead Favored Enemy stacks with Animal Favored Enemy for +4 to both. A little more can net you Haste Boost, Deflect Arrows, and Double Strike (including one of the few ways to increase offhand Doublestrike) -- 3-11 AP - Henshin first core for 3 MP and PRR is still a good deal for 1AP, and Animal Stance is also worth the 2 AP -- 1-3 AP
The other debate that I mentioned is Ethereal or Astral Scion. Ethereal is by far the biggest DPS increase, but by going Astral you are not only boosting your Quivering Palm that needs every boost it can get, but your Falconry moves as well as assassination sources are harder to fit and rarer. Two more Helpless CCs is respectable, though albeit currently clunky due to bird attack delay. Really I think this will boil down to personal choice/situation: Is CC generally handled by casters in your party anyways? Ethereal will serve you better. Do you tend to just auto-attack anyways? Ethereal serves you better. You find yourself as the main form of CC in the party? That extra CC as well as more reliable QP can be more important, making Astral more worthwhile.
I currently don't have static parties, and often solo/pug, so I'll probably be taking Astral. Also not needing to invest in Hide is nice, though I'll just be wanting to fit Assassinate in its place if I can. We'll see if that lasts, or if the near double damage advantage of Ethereal over Astral (the math varies hugely depending on gear) calls me too hard. But I do like QP spam a lot, and
Sorry had to make another post because top one was too long.
WIS is not "truly better" than DEX, there are pros and cons vs each. Here is a quick breakdown of your 3 choices as a Handwraps build:
Dexterity Pros: + More flexible AP wise. It only costs 6 AP to get DEX to attack and damage. It also comes in a tree you already want to get another Ki Strike, SA damage, more dodge, a Melee Power AB (at least while leveling), and Shadow Veil. + Highest DPS potential. DEX plays into Ethereal directly, and Ethereal is the Highest DPS Scion for melee TWF types. The SA die from Ninja Spy plus the AP flexibility to snag more MP from Henshin or Harper than you get from Falconry ensures that push comes ahead. + DEX is a stat check against certain trips and traps, so every point of investment is further protection. It is also boosting arguably the most important save of Reflex.
Cons: - More stat heavy to be able to also invest in tactics. Also investing into INT with gear (or gear swaps) and adding more build points is a bit of a tax. You could go for Killer Instincts instead, but that gives up the AP flexibility advantage entirely. - Lower Tactics potential. As long as you're taking a trance like KtA or KI, your tactics values should still be very strong, though look at WIS pros for a better breakdown.
Wisdom Pros: + Highest Tactics potential. With Killer Instinct you are actually double dipping your Tactics boosting (like Int builds do with Know the Angles) at a 1.5x rate. While this may be overkill in most cases, bringing your tactics DCs to no fail for the more extreme targets is still useful. + Quivering Palm. Quivering Palm is an insta-kill on a 6 second timer. That DOES 1-shot mobs. While it doesn't work on all mob types and does nothing for bosses, in a game with Reaper mode that scales your damage down extremely as you raise it, this becomes comparatively more important. + Mass Frog. Mass Frog is a powerful insta-kill that uses WIS for the casting stat. Works on undead and constructs, a point of struggle for monks as you can't stun them and Jades are limited (either by long cd or rng). + EIN. While I do think GMoF is a terrible destiny (further hurt by the fact the new Epic Defenses feat limits the range of GMoF abilities to touch), EIN still has its situational uses. You can crystal shatter part 2 of LShroud if a Warlock Hurler is not available and you can take care of mob spawn mechanics in raids. This is particularly useful in the new raid, Killing Time, as EIN works through Parasite shields. It faces the gimp DC potentials all ED abilities do (something they really need to fix), so it takes extreme WIS investment for it to have any use outside of Normal/Hard. Unfortunately even extreme WIS values still only puts it into the 80s DC, which still limits insta-killing to low Will save targets. Luckily targets still get CCed on a save. + Aasimar. Healing Hands works multiplicatively with Wisdom, so heavier WIS investment boosts this ability. Coupled with good heal amp, and you have a self heal that can be effective even into higher Reapers.
Cons: - DPS loss. You're not getting the DEX + Ethereal (Hide) boost, nor the stat potential of STR.
Strength Pros: + Highest DPS potential outside of Scion of Ethereal. Backed by multiple rage sources (madstone, blood, morale) as well as options for alchemical and psionic, STR has always had the highest stat potential. Splash in a divine level, and you get Divine Might to easily put the value ahead. + STR is a stat check against certain trips and traps, so every point of investment is further protection. + Boost non-Monk tactics. Trip/Improved trip is useful against anything with legs and Stunning Blow would be an additional stun under your belt.
Cons: - MAD! Multiple Attribute Disorder. You now care about STR for DPS, DEX for AC + Reflex, CON for HP + Fort, WIS for AC + DCs + Will, and (if you're not using Killer Instincts) either INT for KtA or CHA for Divine Might. - Utility hit. Spending into STR means you're not diving as hard into DEX or WIS, lowering saves, AC, and possibly Monk tactic abilities.
Personally, I consider Strength to be the weakest option for Monk Handwrap builds, and the Falconry Tree I see as the nail in the coffin as it closed much of the DPS gap that WIS had. That really only leaves WIS vs DEX. I personally favor WIS, especially on an Aasimar. Stronger heals + more reliable CC + instadeath access easily outweighs a small DPS loss IMO. But DPS is the end-all-be-all for some. Up to you.
Comments
I've never played Skyforge. But aren't all the Player Characters deities in that one?
My bad. Could you give me a link for that? I started looking it up, but I want to go smoke right now.
Interesting. Thank you.
Yeah screw this thread, it got me to subscribe and get a 32 point build and I'm right back in. Damn you guys DAMN YOU!!!!
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
/Cheers,
Lahnmir
Kyleran on yours sincerely
'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'
Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...
'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless.
It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.
It is just huge resource waste....'
Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer
https://www.ddo.com/en/become-vip
So which content do you get?
"All Adventure Packs released in non-expansion Updates are free to DDO VIPs. "
That they said "non-expansion" seems to be a clue that they're not actually including everything. Near the bottom of the page, they make it explicit:
"Menace of the Underdark and Shadowfell Conspiracy are expansions and are not included with VIP membership."
So someone who reads through the page has been explicitly told that VIP includes some extra content but not all of the content. From digging around through the wiki, it looks like it includes most of the paywall-gated content. I'd prefer all rather than most, but they at least give you what they promised.
Here's ESO's analogous page:
https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/esoplus
The description of the extra content that is included is that ESO Plus members get:
"Full access to all DLC game packs1"
But wait, there's a reference to fine print. Let's go read it:
"¹Access to DLC game packs available in the Crown Store and character progression bonuses available for the duration of membership. Any progress made using the progression bonuses during the time of membership will remain."
So the fine print says that you get access to all DLC game packs only for the duration of the subscription, but lose it once the subscription expires. Fair enough.
But what's not okay is what they're missing: any mention that ESO has packs of downloadable game content that they designate as "chapters" instead of "DLC game packs", and those aren't necessarily included with ESO Plus. Rather, they're trying to strongly imply that a subscription gives you all of the content.
When I made a fuss about this on the ESO forum on this site, some people insisted that lots of games do that. That is, a lot of games have a subscription that gives you some extra content but not all of the content. While there are some games that do that, including DDO, most games will at least try to give you a clear description of what is included and what isn't. DDO largely does that, and to the extent that there are inaccuracies on the page, it's that VIP also includes some things not listed on the page. ESO tries to convince you that they'll give you stuff that they won't, and then you'll have to pay again to get what you thought you were buying the first time. That's a huge difference.
I am going to say, this looks like a solid lineup.
Just a few starting notes.
Keep in mind Rogue only has D6 Hp as a melee class, on the plus side of that, halflings do get a lot of boons to the Rogue utility, but that -2 to Str is going to make hitting things a trick, consider playing a high Dex Build, which gives you more AC, and taking the feat Weapon Finesse which allows you to use your Dex modifier to hit with light weapons as opposed to STR.
But, a Rogue is going to be a very hard climb if you plan to solo, they shine in groups like a Firefly that just chugged a case of Monster™ Energy Drink, but alone, they are.. well they are listed as Challenging.. and they are.
You will want a ranged weapon, that can be anything from a throwing dagger to a short bow, to another halfling (kidding), but, the reality is, you are going to need some kind of ranged weapon. You can buy a quiver from Hammer and Chain, to hold your arrows or throwing daggers, to save on inventory space.
The starting gear you get is NOT BAD, it can least you to 5th pretty easy, but, keep in mind you are still in newbie starting gear, and will want to upgrade every chance you can get going up. Look at what stats your gear has. You might not want to give up that Nimble Hand bonus just because you found a new pair of gloves.
Also note, Hiding is light dependent, and you can't hide when a mob has spotted you, you will see how well you are hidden by a series of "eyes" over your head, and trust me, the second you are spotted, they will let you know, as they will make a beeline for you. Also, plus side, you do NOT need to be hidden to get backstab damage, you just need to flank the mob. This is very important in group play, if someone else gets agro, you move behind the mobs and just stab into them like they stole the last cookie at grandma's house.
As far as starting weapons go, you have 3 types of Weapons. Crushing, Slashing, and Piercing.
Or put another way that your half orc barbarian will understand "Bashy Crushie, Cutty Slashy.. Stabby Stabby.
As far as your starting rogue goes, I would suggest the Rapier as your main hand weapon, and use the starting club they give you for skeletons. But pay attention to it's damage type, notice that Rapiers are mainly Piercing Weapons, not Slashing.. but not all Rapiers are Piercing.. they like to mix things up on you in DDO.
Anyway, Ember Rapier is handy. If you go the direction of weapon finesse, take a higher Dex, and then invest in 2WF, which allows you to use 2 weapons with a better chance to hit and double strike.
Without the 2WF feat, your offhand weapon barely ever gets swung, and you take huge negatives to hit.
I am going to suggest a Drow FvS, as Drow get Chrismia boons to their stats, and FvS's spells work off Christms.
Again going to suggest Warforged for the Arti, for reasons I already mentioned.
and look into Dragonborn for Warlock, I have not played Warlock, but, I have been told that Dragonborn synergize with them really well.
This is going to sound odd, but, also consider Human for the Paladin, as paladins are very stat spread and feat starved, so, that human bonus feat and the no negs to any stats, makes Humans pretty solid well rounded Paladins.
However, first lets see how the Rouge goes. Wishing you good fun and fortune, if you tell me the server you are on, I might make a character and run with you.
This is a Dungeons and Dragons thing, really, as DDO, is based in Eberron Campaign World.
MoTU is set in Forgotten Realms, and they make a huge deal that you are traveling between Campaign worlds.
It would be kinda of a pisser to say that you can do the FR content, when you can't get to the FR world without the Expansion. Shadowfell is also set in FR.
Their Ravenloft expansion is set in the Ravenloft D&D Campaign World, with far less fanfare to get to it tho.
Then they have Sharn, which is a whole other Nation.
Which is kinda why they did things the way they did them.
rogue enhancements have been reworked very heavily since Ungood played his rogue life, and while weapon finesse is very very handy, it is no longer an absolute need, depending on your weapons, as the assassin enhancement tree gives you dex to hit AND dex to damage when using daggers and kukhris. if you DO chose to take weapon finesse feat, the enhancement that grants dex to damage extends to all the weapons you are able to finesse (like the aforementioned rapiers). the thief acrobat tree offers dex to hit and damage while using staves. mechanic lets you use int to damage when using crossbows and thrown weapons
halflings get a thrown weapon bonus, just like in pen and paper D&D.
My only complaint is I was really looking foward to trying a Druid, but they are still locked behind the paywall and I'm not gonna buy it just try it out and discover I don't like it...
But also.. when I played my rogue life I used a Greataxe... so..............
Everything I can find seems to say that charisma is important for warlocks. Yet the recommended stats for the class in the character creator put no points into charisma at all. I'm guessing that's just a mistake, but it could lead to a new player making a really crippled character.
As for my rogue, I'm currently dual wielding a rapier and a scythe. I took two weapon fighting as my first feat, and plan on adding finesse wielding at level 3. The latter wasn't available at level 1 because it requires a higher base attack bonus. I maxed dexterity in choosing stats at character creation.
As for the Warlock thing.. Like I said, never played one, so.. I have no idea what SSG is doing with that one. I gotta know what I don't know on that one. Sorry.
So how you liking the starting area?
I had a cleric but I remember the going was a slog. I don't think I will play that now. Was looking at bard.
Chances are you need to reset your trait lines and also have a +20 heart, just in case your class got an overhaul.
I need help with my build. Monk with a wisdom but also high dex for reflex and whirlwind attack
I am using this build
https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/494282-20-Monk-Shintao-(reaper-optimized)
However with the nerfs to the Ninja Spy tree it is no longer that great to go dex build but I still think that whirlwind attack is good and I need 17 dex for that which I can get from a tome. Following this build with an Aasimar and putting it in Wisdom with one point in dex to get to 17 but my starting stats were 8 strength/16 Dexterity/14 Con/14 Int/18 wisdom/8 Charisma . So my wisdom is higher and dex will need one point for the whirlwind attack. I read the whole thread and came to the conclusion that based on the nerfs to the trees it is better to go wisdom.
One of the posters in the thread suggested this progression for the enhancements. Please give me an input on this path please and my idea to invest this way although all the subsequent levelling points will be in wisdom. This is just a toon to get to 20 so not doing any epic content or particularly hard stuff just a levelling build that is fun I hope.
This suggestion
'Falconry is indeed the way to go for Monks now - especially for a DC build like I am. Unfortunately much of what you need is deep in the tree, forcing heavy investment. Though with the nerf to Henshin, and Ninja Spy not gaining too much advantage beyond a 12 AP dip (especially as No Mercy is overlapped anyways), this can be afforded.
As a pure Monk handwrap user, you want the 41 AP spend in Shintao. To get the DC advantage along with the WIS to attack/damage, you need a minimum of 21 into Falconry. This means 62 AP is locked, with 18 to play with.
This 18 is where decisions get tough:
I find two Ki Strikes to be very important. Knock on the Sky is 10% damage reduction, and Unbalancing Strike gives you Sneak Attack damage when you have aggro. Both are very important if you are the Monk tank as they are components of survival and DPS. Investing 11-12 AP into Ninja Spy will net me that along with dodge cap bonus for more survival and Shadow Veil for 15% more incorporeal (or 25% if you don't have a Ghostly item on). However, beyond survival boosts, Ninja Spy lost its second main reason for investment: we no longer need the DEX to hit/damage. With half the reason gone, I find myself leaning towards dumping Ninja Spy and debating between Unbalancing for SA damage and Knock for 10% damage reduction. If you run Ethereal, Unbalancing is clearly better, but Falconry provides some more reasons to go Astral Plane.
Going even deeper into Falconry provides several advantages. First is that Deadly Instinct (your DC move) is limited use, so you really want that at 2 or 3. No Mercy is a large DPS increase for trash killing, especially on a class that is quite good at CC. The cores, while nothing to write home about, are still great AP spends as they give +3 MP, PRR, and MRR for only 1 AP. Bird attacks are needed for Deadly Instinct maintenance, and have the potential to be additional CC. In short, you can quite easily spend your extra points in it.
There are, of course, still other spends I like:
- Aasimar cores and T5 bond -- 4+ AP depending on amount of racial PLs
- Vistani offers a cheap 25% neg resist along with PRR and MRR. Undead Favored Enemy stacks with Animal Favored Enemy for +4 to both. A little more can net you Haste Boost, Deflect Arrows, and Double Strike (including one of the few ways to increase offhand Doublestrike) -- 3-11 AP
- Henshin first core for 3 MP and PRR is still a good deal for 1AP, and Animal Stance is also worth the 2 AP -- 1-3 AP
Personally, this is how I plan on spending my AP:
41 Shintao
31 Falconry
4 Aasimar
3 Vistani
1 Henshin
The other debate that I mentioned is Ethereal or Astral Scion. Ethereal is by far the biggest DPS increase, but by going Astral you are not only boosting your Quivering Palm that needs every boost it can get, but your Falconry moves as well as assassination sources are harder to fit and rarer. Two more Helpless CCs is respectable, though albeit currently clunky due to bird attack delay. Really I think this will boil down to personal choice/situation: Is CC generally handled by casters in your party anyways? Ethereal will serve you better. Do you tend to just auto-attack anyways? Ethereal serves you better. You find yourself as the main form of CC in the party? That extra CC as well as more reliable QP can be more important, making Astral more worthwhile.
I currently don't have static parties, and often solo/pug, so I'll probably be taking Astral. Also not needing to invest in Hide is nice, though I'll just be wanting to fit Assassinate in its place if I can. We'll see if that lasts, or if the near double damage advantage of Ethereal over Astral (the math varies hugely depending on gear) calls me too hard. But I do like QP spam a lot, and
Also this was pointed out in another thread https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/500253-Wisdom-vs-Dex-build-shintao
WIS is not "truly better" than DEX, there are pros and cons vs each. Here is a quick breakdown of your 3 choices as a Handwraps build:
Damn cannot add too long
WIS is not "truly better" than DEX, there are pros and cons vs each. Here is a quick breakdown of your 3 choices as a Handwraps build:
Dexterity
Pros:
+ More flexible AP wise. It only costs 6 AP to get DEX to attack and damage. It also comes in a tree you already want to get another Ki Strike, SA damage, more dodge, a Melee Power AB (at least while leveling), and Shadow Veil.
+ Highest DPS potential. DEX plays into Ethereal directly, and Ethereal is the Highest DPS Scion for melee TWF types. The SA die from Ninja Spy plus the AP flexibility to snag more MP from Henshin or Harper than you get from Falconry ensures that push comes ahead.
+ DEX is a stat check against certain trips and traps, so every point of investment is further protection. It is also boosting arguably the most important save of Reflex.
Cons:
- More stat heavy to be able to also invest in tactics. Also investing into INT with gear (or gear swaps) and adding more build points is a bit of a tax. You could go for Killer Instincts instead, but that gives up the AP flexibility advantage entirely.
- Lower Tactics potential. As long as you're taking a trance like KtA or KI, your tactics values should still be very strong, though look at WIS pros for a better breakdown.
Wisdom
Pros:
+ Highest Tactics potential. With Killer Instinct you are actually double dipping your Tactics boosting (like Int builds do with Know the Angles) at a 1.5x rate. While this may be overkill in most cases, bringing your tactics DCs to no fail for the more extreme targets is still useful.
+ Quivering Palm. Quivering Palm is an insta-kill on a 6 second timer. That DOES 1-shot mobs. While it doesn't work on all mob types and does nothing for bosses, in a game with Reaper mode that scales your damage down extremely as you raise it, this becomes comparatively more important.
+ Mass Frog. Mass Frog is a powerful insta-kill that uses WIS for the casting stat. Works on undead and constructs, a point of struggle for monks as you can't stun them and Jades are limited (either by long cd or rng).
+ EIN. While I do think GMoF is a terrible destiny (further hurt by the fact the new Epic Defenses feat limits the range of GMoF abilities to touch), EIN still has its situational uses. You can crystal shatter part 2 of LShroud if a Warlock Hurler is not available and you can take care of mob spawn mechanics in raids. This is particularly useful in the new raid, Killing Time, as EIN works through Parasite shields. It faces the gimp DC potentials all ED abilities do (something they really need to fix), so it takes extreme WIS investment for it to have any use outside of Normal/Hard. Unfortunately even extreme WIS values still only puts it into the 80s DC, which still limits insta-killing to low Will save targets. Luckily targets still get CCed on a save.
+ Aasimar. Healing Hands works multiplicatively with Wisdom, so heavier WIS investment boosts this ability. Coupled with good heal amp, and you have a self heal that can be effective even into higher Reapers.
Cons:
- DPS loss. You're not getting the DEX + Ethereal (Hide) boost, nor the stat potential of STR.
Strength
Pros:
+ Highest DPS potential outside of Scion of Ethereal. Backed by multiple rage sources (madstone, blood, morale) as well as options for alchemical and psionic, STR has always had the highest stat potential. Splash in a divine level, and you get Divine Might to easily put the value ahead.
+ STR is a stat check against certain trips and traps, so every point of investment is further protection.
+ Boost non-Monk tactics. Trip/Improved trip is useful against anything with legs and Stunning Blow would be an additional stun under your belt.
Cons:
- MAD! Multiple Attribute Disorder. You now care about STR for DPS, DEX for AC + Reflex, CON for HP + Fort, WIS for AC + DCs + Will, and (if you're not using Killer Instincts) either INT for KtA or CHA for Divine Might.
- Utility hit. Spending into STR means you're not diving as hard into DEX or WIS, lowering saves, AC, and possibly Monk tactic abilities.
Personally, I consider Strength to be the weakest option for Monk Handwrap builds, and the Falconry Tree I see as the nail in the coffin as it closed much of the DPS gap that WIS had. That really only leaves WIS vs DEX. I personally favor WIS, especially on an Aasimar. Stronger heals + more reliable CC + instadeath access easily outweighs a small DPS loss IMO. But DPS is the end-all-be-all for some. Up to you.