aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 5046
1,227 ₧

Character Build!

Lawful Neutral Halfling <-- (LN alignment is very important. Monks arbitrarily automatically pass UMD checks on handwraps. Being good = no benefits and you take more damage from evil creatures.)

34-Point Build Stats
Strength: 14
Dexterity: 18
Constitution: 14
Intelligence: 8
Wisdom: 15
Charisma: 8

(Additional points you get on level up go into dex and wis. I'd suggest 4 dex and 1 wis if you're using mostly +1 weapons, and 2 dex 3 wis if you're using mostly higher bonuses. If you're not sure what weapons you will have stick with 4 dex 1 wis to play it safe.)

Skills
Balance
Jump
Concentration
Tumble (Only if you use a +2 intelligence tome)

Feats
Level 1: Toughness, Two Weapon Fighting
Level 2: Stunning Fist
Level 3: Weapon Finesse, Fists of Light
Level 6: Power Attack, Luck of Heroes
Level 9: Improved Two Weapon Fighting
Level 12: Past Life: Disciple of the Fist
Level 15: Greater Two Weapon Fighting
Level 18: Dodge (This isn't important. You can get just about anything for this feat and you're not going to ruin your character)

Enhancements
I haven't made a halfling monk before. Your enhancements will be pretty different from mine. Just take Shintao, Wind Stance, Toughness and Wis/Dex enhancements as soon as it lets you.

In between take The Receptive Earth, Restoring the Balance, Difficulty at the Beginning, and Lifting the Veil in no particular order. After you have all four of these you can take Rise of the Phoenix whenever more important things aren't available.

Take Halfling Cunning/Guile/Luck bonuses last, in this order of importance:

Will Saves
Reflex Saves
Cunning
Guile
Fortitude Saves (Monks very rarely need to make fortitude saves, because they're immune to everything naturally.)

At low levels if you're forced to take something that isn't in this list go for concentration/balance/jump/tumble skill enhancements in that order until you can take something better.

I really don't actually know what enhancements are going to be available to you at what level because of the halflingness, but, it's not a big deal as you can reset them every 3 days anyway.

Now you're probably going to ask me about Green Steel and Dragontouched, right?

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 5046
1,227 ₧

Green Steel!

Blur/Displacement Goggles or Stoneskin/+5 Protection/Heavy Fortification Goggles

If you have a good source of Protection and Fortification and you're not itching to put something else in the slots they're coming from then get the Displacement goggles. If you plan on doing epics you'll want both anyway.

Both are hit point specialized. You need as many extra hit points as you can get on a monk, it's the only place you'll be somewhat lacking when getting punched across the room by a pit fiend or squashed flat by a marilith.

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 5046
1,227 ₧

Dragontouched!

Mine:
Eldritch: Resistance +5
Tempest: Exceptional Strength +1
Sovereign: Heightened Awareness (Insight AC Bonus +4)

This isn't really set in stone. I actually specifically wanted Resistance +5 and Insight AC Bonus +4, but the Exceptional stat could work just as well in dex, con or wis.

If you don't have a Mabar Cloak of Night, which probably won't be possible to get again for a very long time, you may want deathblock instead of Resistance +5.

The sovereign rune is not up for debate. Heightened Awareness is by far the best option. The only other source of Heightened Awareness +4 is green steel weapons, and monks aren't allowed to use them.

buq25

2008 Jul 5 • 583
295 ₧

DDO seems like a fetish for MMO-geeks.

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 5046
1,227 ₧

Actually most MMO people hate DDO. The general opinion is that it's too hard and fast paced. I'd say about 1/3 of the population is Action RPG people who have never played other MMO's, 1/3 is people who are only playing because it is D&D, and they don't even know what an MMO is, and the last 1/3 are actual MMO players who got over their grindlust and decided to play a real game.

Down Rodeo
Cap'n Moth of the Firehouse


2007 Oct 19 • 5486
57,583 ₧

DDO seems to go out of its way to be different while still being a game about fantasy stereotypes played by many different people on the same set of servers. MMORPG, essentially.

With the associated shitey, by-the-numbers combat and static world.

I don't know what I'm trying to say any more.

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 5046
1,227 ₧

You don't understand. If you haven't played several MMOs just trust me. You don't understand. MMO is a terrible name for the genre. What MMO really means is grinding with a chat box. That is ALL it means. The grind might have some different art attached to it but in the end there is no real difference between something like Everquest, Asheron's Call, WoW or even EVE. They're all the same thing. All you do is grind. The only fun there is to have is by talking with people.

The reason DDO is different is because people play it single player. I'm usually not playing with other people or even talking to them. The game is fun on it's own without any interaction with other people. No other MMO can come close to making that claim. And I'm not just playing through something to level up or grind an item, I don't get anything out of the quest other than the fun of playing it at least half the time.

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 5046
1,227 ₧

You're talking out your ass. You should stop. I've played a lot of MMOs and this game is nothing like them. The combat is not by the numbers any more than Diablo 2 is. In fact, it's less by the numbers than Diablo 2 by a very wide margin.

molkman
Owner of George Washington's Prototype Mittens





2005 May 2 • 2066
404 ₧

I have no idea what the first two posts mean. And it scares me.

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 5046
1,227 ₧

I was just posting information for Bre in a simple to understand manner because she said she needed a blonde-proof character build to work with.

People can stop freaking out about it any time.

Down Rodeo
Cap'n Moth of the Firehouse


2007 Oct 19 • 5486
57,583 ₧

I think it's wrong to say I don't know what I mean by MMO when that was exactly what I was trying to say - though I clearly didn't put it as succinctly as "grind with a chatbox". Which they are, essentially. Because there was Hellgate: London, and it was basically a single-player game, but that didn't stop it being a bit crap. Fair enough if the game itself is actually fun though, I probably put enough time into Bad Company 2 doing what is almost the same thing over and over to count.

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 5046
1,227 ₧

The only manner with which you've annoyed me is by declaring things about DDO when I'm pretty sure you've never even played it.

Go play the game for a couple of weeks and then I won't be irritated no matter how thoroughly opinionated you are. It's entirely possible I'm just crazy and it's exactly like Everquest... but there's no way you could know that just by looking at a character build.

I came to my conclusion by playing the game and discovering that:

1. You have to manually aim nearly every spell by pointing with the mouse and timing when the spell will reach the target. Like a real game. This also means you can manually dodge most spells and projectiles.

2. For most characters when an enemy is trying to cut your face off with a sword you have to actually get the fuck up out the way instead of relying on a number roll. Very, very few characters actually use Armor Class.

3. You never have to target anything or stop moving to hit it, even with a melee weapon. If you swing a big axe it hits whatever is in its arc. This is probably the biggest difference from standard MMOs, in almost any game you have to stop moving when you attack... even Diablo 2 is plagued with that stupidity. You have no idea how right it feels to be able to run around while fighting in an MMO.

4. The game even steals kickass elements from Diablo 2 like piercing arrows so you run around trying to line up a a multi-shot that will hit like 7 dudes and instantly kill them all.

5. Two people playing the exact same character will have wildly different results based on general video game skills. No matter how good your character is you'll just die horribly if you don't have fast reflexes.

6. As I've mentioned before, the game actually punishes you for grinding. It is the only game I know of, MMO or not, that will be mean to you for trying to grind. You can't just stand in one spot and farm respawning monsters, as killing monsters doesn't give you any xp. You can't keep farming the same quest because the xp you get for it drops VERY quickly, and never goes back up again. Loot will stop spawning in a quest as well if you try to farm it. In some cases the game will actually hit you with debuffs or even kill you if you're trying to grind.

7. There is no penalty for dying so there is no reason to sit around trying to level up on boring easy quests. You can always dive into the hardest challenge available. And... everyone does... it's pretty hilarious. Quest failure is VASTLY more common than success.

buq25

2008 Jul 5 • 583
295 ₧

AJ, I now have a wet spot in my pants.

Now I wonder, since it's free, what's the catch? Spend real money and suddently you're the highest level/get the best armor?

Some De-buff if you don't pay once or twice? (It has actually happened )

Other question, what is the highest level? How long time does it take to level. What I remember from the DD the boardgame is that it takes days of gameplay to level up once.

Boop: apparently you pay for VIP which gives you alot of stuff. I also suppose that these are all bought with real money?

Down Rodeo
Cap'n Moth of the Firehouse


2007 Oct 19 • 5486
57,583 ₧

OK, so that's more cool. I did briefly have a look at the site when it went the F2P route.

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 5046
1,227 ₧

Everything can be obtained without paying for it because you get turbine points by playing the game. Some things can be obtained somewhat faster by paying. NO good items can be bought with real money. The only things you really need to purchase with points are adventure packs, and you only need a couple of them.

There is no penalty for being F2P. You just don't have access to as many things right off the bat. You don't have access to everything right away as VIP either. They didn't split the VIP and F2P quests in any meaningful way. Which quests are good/worth a lot/fun is totally random and with no real connection to whether or not it's free. The really big thing here is that if you have even one friend that is VIP they can use a guest pass that lets you into a quest you haven't purchased... so if you're good at making friends you can go everywhere anyway.

There is no real max level any more. It used to be 20, but now you can reincarnate. When you reincarnate you go back to level 1, can change anything about your character other than your name, start with higher base stats (cumulatively every time you reincarnate) and keep all your items. (this is especially meaningful because the vast majority of items are obtained when you're well above the level requirement to use them) It takes 1.6 times longer to level each time you reincarnate, which thankfully only stacks to a total of 2.2.

People level at extremely variable rates, and it really depends on your character build. If you make a healbot cleric you will only level as fast as the best party you can find. If you make a monk you can go from level 1-12 even on a reincarnated character in 48 hours by soloing everything. This, of course, is only possible if you're an unstoppable badass like me. Leveling gets much, MUCH slower as you get higher level, though. It's possible to hit level 20 with your first character in less than a week, but most people will take a few months.

If you're willing to spend ANY money at all I'd suggest you buy the monk class (only after you've unlocked 32-point builds), because it's fun and relatively easy to get passably good at playing, and the Vale of Twilight adventure pack, because it alone can get you to level 20 easily. Vale is still the first thing you should unlock even if you're doing it the free way.

If you don't want to pay any money you should make a healbot cleric (NOT A MELEE CLERIC THEY ARE TERRIBLE AND EVERYONE WILL HATE YOU IF YOU MAKE ONE) because everyone will always want you in their group, or a wizard because they get unreasonably powerful when they hit level 7. They kinda suck before that... but good god. Fire wall is a retardedly powerful spell. If you're terrible at games you should make a fighter or barbarian because they're by far the easiest to play. They only have a small number of special abilities though, so don't expect them to be particularly exciting to play. They only thing you really, REALLY shouldn't start the game as is a rogue. It takes a huge amount of skill to play a rogue effectively, and even though they are unbelievably powerful in the right hands, trust me when I say you'll just die constantly without doing anything if you try to play one right off the bat. They have the lowest hp in the game, draw aggro like a giant shining beacon, have god awful resistance to spells and most of their stats are devoted to non-combat abilites.

Down Rodeo
Cap'n Moth of the Firehouse


2007 Oct 19 • 5486
57,583 ₧

Stop making me want to play!

I don't have any problem with people paying for content btw, you have to fund the game *somehow*...

buq25

2008 Jul 5 • 583
295 ₧

That's why I don't really trust complete F2P games. Riot Games (League of Legends) got it since it's easier to pay than to play but it's still no actual difference.

There's been made a word. If a "F2P" game forces you to pay, the company's done a GPotato, from the company GPotato.

GPotato has "Free" games, which are almost unbearable to play without paying since you either get some sort of de-buff (Seriously, 75% damage less) or that you're able to defeat somebody in the highest level when you're the lowest just because you've spent some real money. In a game that requires no actual skill.

Had I seen a big "DONATE" button on DDO's front page or "SPONSORED BY..." I'd have no real distrust. Now, because of AaronJer, I'm kinda split.

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 5046
1,227 ₧

You can grind to unlock everything in the game and you'll literally be in the same boat as the VIP people except you're not paying. People have done this. It takes a LONG time and a lot of VERY BORING grinding. At least a couple weeks straight of beating the very first few quests to gain some favor, get a few turbine points, delete the character and repeat.

I really do mean it when I say you can unlock absolutely everything by favor grinding. You can also just unlock everything once by paying for points and not pay a monthly fee at all. It costs 200 dollars or so, but you'd have everything unlocked forever and never have to pay again. People do it that way if they believe they'll be playing the game for more than a year anyway.

I pay monthly because I WANT to pay Turbine. They're awesome and made an awesome game. They deserve my monthly payment. I already have virtually everything unlocked anyway. I could stop paying, spend like 20 bucks, and be right back where I was anyway.

They don't need to force people to pay like that potato you mentioned because the game is actually good. People just want to pay for it because they think it's a good game or because they don't want to grind for points. Not because their character has crippling polio and the only cure is cash.

buq25

2008 Jul 5 • 583
295 ₧

I suppose you mean 2 different kind of grinding. Meh.

So, there's pay per month if you want, you can buy everything at once or you could avoid paying at all? That's sweet. I'm quite sure I would be playing without paying unless I was bored of that grinding since I don't have my own credit card. I probably still won't start playing it but it seems really nice actually.

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 5046
1,227 ₧

If you pay there is no grinding at all. You can grind instead of paying. You CAN grind in practically any game in existence... there's just no real need or benefit in DDO. In other MMOs the grinding is the game. In DDO it's what you do to make approximately 1 dollar an hour worth of turbine points until you've unlocked everything.

Personally, I never have, nor would I ever grind in DDO. The game is fun for me because I'm not grinding. If I had to grind for points it wouldn't be worth playing. But, for some reason, lots of people like grinding... so I guess it works for them!

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 5046
1,227 ₧

That's what the deleting your character part is for. You'd get diminishing or no returns for repeating the same quest... but the game can't possibly punish you for repeating something as a brand new character. It's kind of a meta-grind! Neat! Only not!

Jake?!

2008 Sep 3 • 198
34 ₧

I fail for having a girlfriend and an addiction to Magic, I miss you AJ < 3

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 5046
1,227 ₧

Just use Magic to transform her into a cool girlfriend that plays DDO and all your problems are solved.