Well, it is the end of another month of good ol' DDO blogging and I decided to make the video sharing a regular occurence...though I'm not sure how long I can keep it up without reader input and creations because I imagine there are only sooo many videos out there that are worth watching. So here are three more.
1) Trollin'
More fun with Gnarkill as a party stealths their way into a braining by everyone's favorite Troll Butcher.
2) DDO Grease Fun!
A group of adventurers makes their very own slip n' slide.
3) 10 Things to Do in DDO When You're Bored
A trio of adventurers show us how they like to chill in Stormreach when they aren't off questing.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
The Endless Night
Well folks, Halloween is almost upon us, and in Stormreach that means it is time once again for the plane of Mabar to become coterminous once again.
Sadly I don't really have any great tips on how to handle this...well, there is one:
Try to be careful aggroing your enemies, ranged spells and attacks may be more helpful this time around. Mummy lords and vampires are interspersed with those skeletons and ghouls, so if you are low level then try not to get wiped out.
So, sorry about not having a post today, it is a case of the Game taking Priority over the Blog.
But we'll be back on Monday with another round of videos to watch.
Sadly I don't really have any great tips on how to handle this...well, there is one:
Try to be careful aggroing your enemies, ranged spells and attacks may be more helpful this time around. Mummy lords and vampires are interspersed with those skeletons and ghouls, so if you are low level then try not to get wiped out.
So, sorry about not having a post today, it is a case of the Game taking Priority over the Blog.
But we'll be back on Monday with another round of videos to watch.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Neverwinter: Something is a Mask Here
Well, as you may remember from the post on the October Update there are new items and new quests to be played in Heroes of Neverwinter. Problem is, there aren't many days of October left. Hence I suggest you go out and finish these adventures and reap the rewards before they possibly go missing:
Bones, Thugs, and Sorcery
This cool little adventure which takes place in Neverdeath contains has you facing off against the Pretty Faces gang as they steal corpses for Thayan necromancers. The Pretty Faces gang is a rough and tumble group of humans who wear various masks to cover their identity. Each one of these masks can be gotten as a reward for completing the adventure. Each mask gives a +3 to damage against the opponents it represents and they are as follows: Kobold Mask, Ogre Mask, and Zombie Mask.
Trick or Trap
Looking into your one lead from Bones, Thugs, and Sorcery finds you in the Illefarn Woods at the underground lab of the mysterious "Jack". As his voice telepathically welcomes you to his home and gives you insights into each room it doesn't take long to discover this madman is using you to collect data on his creations. Slay him for a chance at the Pumpkin Mask for a +1 to AC and +1 to Max HP.
Monster Mash
Taking the mysterious papers you found in Jack's lab back to Doomguide Volahk to be deciphered earns you the location of The Menagerie, a strange zoo where Thayan wizards are experimenting on various creatures to enhance them with necrotic powers. After clearing it out you can earn the Trick or Treat ring which gives clerics and wizards a +2 to spell damage as long as they are at full health.
Hurry and get these items now just in case they disappear at the end of the month.
Added After Publication: I found out after the fact that there is also a ring in Monster Mash if you are a rogue or fighter called the "Full Moon Ring" which does the same thing as the Trick or Treat ring, but for weapon damage.
Bones, Thugs, and Sorcery
This cool little adventure which takes place in Neverdeath contains has you facing off against the Pretty Faces gang as they steal corpses for Thayan necromancers. The Pretty Faces gang is a rough and tumble group of humans who wear various masks to cover their identity. Each one of these masks can be gotten as a reward for completing the adventure. Each mask gives a +3 to damage against the opponents it represents and they are as follows: Kobold Mask, Ogre Mask, and Zombie Mask.
Trick or Trap
Looking into your one lead from Bones, Thugs, and Sorcery finds you in the Illefarn Woods at the underground lab of the mysterious "Jack". As his voice telepathically welcomes you to his home and gives you insights into each room it doesn't take long to discover this madman is using you to collect data on his creations. Slay him for a chance at the Pumpkin Mask for a +1 to AC and +1 to Max HP.
Monster Mash
Taking the mysterious papers you found in Jack's lab back to Doomguide Volahk to be deciphered earns you the location of The Menagerie, a strange zoo where Thayan wizards are experimenting on various creatures to enhance them with necrotic powers. After clearing it out you can earn the Trick or Treat ring which gives clerics and wizards a +2 to spell damage as long as they are at full health.
Hurry and get these items now just in case they disappear at the end of the month.
Added After Publication: I found out after the fact that there is also a ring in Monster Mash if you are a rogue or fighter called the "Full Moon Ring" which does the same thing as the Trick or Treat ring, but for weapon damage.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Spelling it Out: Low-level Spell Combos for Wizards/Sorcerers
Ask most people what kind of character is the most powerful in 3.5 DnD and they are likely to say "Cleric" or "Wizard". The cleric was even stated to be the most powerful class by Mike Mearls and Jesse Decker. I'm going to be a bit nicer here and just say that by the by, spellcasters in general seem to be the most powerful archetype. Versatility is the key here, not to mention damage output which far exceeds the possibilities of even the most twinked out barbarian or rogue.
Regarding that versatility, there are a lot of spells which just work well together, and we're going to take a quick look at some of the lower level combos for wizards and sorcerers.
The Unbreakable Object
Spells Involved: Shield, Mage Armor, Protection from Evil, False Life.
You're a level 3 wizard out for a stroll in a bad neighborhood, with a d4 for hit points you'd be likely to worry...except that nothing here can hit you anyway. As a wizard you probably have a decent Dex, let's say 14. That's a +2 to AC off the bat for AC 12, add in Shield and Mage Armor and you're up to 20...and if you are up against evil creatures you can use Protection from Evil to bump it up to 22. Even if something gets through that defense (which is equal to +1 Full Plate, a 12 Dex and a Light shield for the fighters out there) it still has to contend with the 13 temp hit points provided by your False Life spell.
The best part about this combo is that Mage Armor can easily be replaced by and item like Black Widow Bracers or liberal use of a Wand of Mage Armor (which has a duration of 4 minutes).
Greasefire
Spells Involved: Grease, Fire Trap
I like to set this one up before I aggro my opponents with hurled spells. While the enemy is still unaware of you drop a Grease in between you and them. Then place a Fire Trap spell in the dead center of the grease. Then feel free to assault your enemies with arcane fury. When they rush you...and they will...that grease will trip them up or not. If it doesn't then the fire trap will at least go off, burning them for some instant damage and then catching the grease on fire for an additional bit of fire damage.
It isn't enough to fell most creatures as an initial attack. Yet if your opponent is already weakened by your assault this little trick will usually finish them off before they can lay a hand on you.
Stay Right There, No Really
Spells Involved: Hypnotism, Electric Loop
Hypnotism is a fun little spell, it stops opponents with weak will saves in their tracks as they stare stupidly at you, remaining slack jawed until you jar them with damage.
So why follow it up with an Electric Loop? Because a side effect of Hypnotism is a -3 penalty to Will saves regardless of whether the opponent made a save against hypnotism or not. As you may know Electric Loop is a damaging spell with the benefit of dazing an opponent on a failed Will save. After your finished with this one two punch you can go ahead and beat the crap out of the opponent, because daze doesn't end after sustaining damage.
Regarding that versatility, there are a lot of spells which just work well together, and we're going to take a quick look at some of the lower level combos for wizards and sorcerers.
The Unbreakable Object
Spells Involved: Shield, Mage Armor, Protection from Evil, False Life.
You're a level 3 wizard out for a stroll in a bad neighborhood, with a d4 for hit points you'd be likely to worry...except that nothing here can hit you anyway. As a wizard you probably have a decent Dex, let's say 14. That's a +2 to AC off the bat for AC 12, add in Shield and Mage Armor and you're up to 20...and if you are up against evil creatures you can use Protection from Evil to bump it up to 22. Even if something gets through that defense (which is equal to +1 Full Plate, a 12 Dex and a Light shield for the fighters out there) it still has to contend with the 13 temp hit points provided by your False Life spell.
The best part about this combo is that Mage Armor can easily be replaced by and item like Black Widow Bracers or liberal use of a Wand of Mage Armor (which has a duration of 4 minutes).
Greasefire
Spells Involved: Grease, Fire Trap
I like to set this one up before I aggro my opponents with hurled spells. While the enemy is still unaware of you drop a Grease in between you and them. Then place a Fire Trap spell in the dead center of the grease. Then feel free to assault your enemies with arcane fury. When they rush you...and they will...that grease will trip them up or not. If it doesn't then the fire trap will at least go off, burning them for some instant damage and then catching the grease on fire for an additional bit of fire damage.
It isn't enough to fell most creatures as an initial attack. Yet if your opponent is already weakened by your assault this little trick will usually finish them off before they can lay a hand on you.
Stay Right There, No Really
Spells Involved: Hypnotism, Electric Loop
Hypnotism is a fun little spell, it stops opponents with weak will saves in their tracks as they stare stupidly at you, remaining slack jawed until you jar them with damage.
So why follow it up with an Electric Loop? Because a side effect of Hypnotism is a -3 penalty to Will saves regardless of whether the opponent made a save against hypnotism or not. As you may know Electric Loop is a damaging spell with the benefit of dazing an opponent on a failed Will save. After your finished with this one two punch you can go ahead and beat the crap out of the opponent, because daze doesn't end after sustaining damage.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Things I Hate About Update 11 Patch 1
(Thank you to a reader who let me know this didn't go out like it was supposed too, sorry for the lateness of the post people)
So, you may remember me talking about the things I liked about the new patch for Update 11, however, there were some things I disliked as well.
Artificers and their Iron Defenders
"What? But you liked this Francis!" Well, not everything. I don't know if you've played an artificer both before and after the patch, but my little dog Rusty has gone full on retard since the patch went live. Sometimes he just sits their letting the enemy wail on him and not attacking back...and yes, he is in attack mode. Thank god the little guy has an insane armor class (I can't remember exactly...think it is in the low thirties at level 6...before buffing) otherwise he'd just be dead weight. Also, I suppose it could be worse, Rusty still uses Intimidate, so at least he's taking aggro off of me. Still, I hope this gets fixed soon because I'm sick of having to "jumpstart" my Iron Defender by clicking the "Follow" button. That will wake him up for all of about thirty seconds before he goes full on retard again.
Monsters
I know I know, this is silly of me, but they made it harder for monsters to get stuck in non-attacking mode. Why does this matter to me? Because sometimes I was able to sneak up on those suckers and take pictures of them before they grew lethal. It was really nice watching a wolf take a bath at the lake in Cerulean Hills for instance...wait, no that sounds wrong...
Crossbows
What? No more automatic reload if you've been out of combat? Oh come on, sometimes I forget whether my last click of the attack button was a reload or not, so now I run blindly into combat and...click...click, reloading animation time.
Hirelings
Hirelings now follow you closer than ever before. I can hear you people out there already "But Francis, that's a good thing, now they won't get stuck as often." That may be audience, although I doubt it. Give a sweettooth some candy, even if you give it a new wrapper and that sweettooth will still eat it. Likewise AI gets stuck, that's the way it is. So why do I hate this? Well people, because I play casters sometimes too. I like my defendery hirelings to get in between me and the enemies, and now they just don't create enough of a distance between me and my foes. I aggro them, they run past my hireling and right to me. I used to have enough time to finish them off before that, but no more.
Want to see all the changes that were made with the update? Click here to view the release notes.
So, you may remember me talking about the things I liked about the new patch for Update 11, however, there were some things I disliked as well.
Artificers and their Iron Defenders
"What? But you liked this Francis!" Well, not everything. I don't know if you've played an artificer both before and after the patch, but my little dog Rusty has gone full on retard since the patch went live. Sometimes he just sits their letting the enemy wail on him and not attacking back...and yes, he is in attack mode. Thank god the little guy has an insane armor class (I can't remember exactly...think it is in the low thirties at level 6...before buffing) otherwise he'd just be dead weight. Also, I suppose it could be worse, Rusty still uses Intimidate, so at least he's taking aggro off of me. Still, I hope this gets fixed soon because I'm sick of having to "jumpstart" my Iron Defender by clicking the "Follow" button. That will wake him up for all of about thirty seconds before he goes full on retard again.
Monsters
I know I know, this is silly of me, but they made it harder for monsters to get stuck in non-attacking mode. Why does this matter to me? Because sometimes I was able to sneak up on those suckers and take pictures of them before they grew lethal. It was really nice watching a wolf take a bath at the lake in Cerulean Hills for instance...wait, no that sounds wrong...
Crossbows
What? No more automatic reload if you've been out of combat? Oh come on, sometimes I forget whether my last click of the attack button was a reload or not, so now I run blindly into combat and...click...click, reloading animation time.
Hirelings
Hirelings now follow you closer than ever before. I can hear you people out there already "But Francis, that's a good thing, now they won't get stuck as often." That may be audience, although I doubt it. Give a sweettooth some candy, even if you give it a new wrapper and that sweettooth will still eat it. Likewise AI gets stuck, that's the way it is. So why do I hate this? Well people, because I play casters sometimes too. I like my defendery hirelings to get in between me and the enemies, and now they just don't create enough of a distance between me and my foes. I aggro them, they run past my hireling and right to me. I used to have enough time to finish them off before that, but no more.
Want to see all the changes that were made with the update? Click here to view the release notes.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Neverwinter goes free to play!
Well, it is official, Cryptic Studios revealed that Neverwinter will be a free to play MMORPG. Cryptic, which is responsible for another popular tabletop to MMO game by the name of Champions Online, made the announcement to IGN earlier this month. *sighs* I know, I know, I should really stay on top of this stuff, but I still wasn't sure whether I wanted to cover other free to play DnD games on here or not. However, I feel there is plenty of room to do so.
So, how does this affect the blog? Well, right now, not by much. DDO will still get content added every Monday and Friday at 9am as usual...however I'm looking at covering Heroes of Neverwinter on Tuesdays and perhaps Thursdays as well...with news like this being posted in lieu of Thursdays posts when appropriate. At least for now.
When the game comes out I'll shift the schedule around a bit, seeing what works best for everyone.
Cryptic has still yet to reveal what classes will be available in the new game, but I'm sure more will be leaked between now and the release date in late 2012.
I can't wait. What about you?
So, how does this affect the blog? Well, right now, not by much. DDO will still get content added every Monday and Friday at 9am as usual...however I'm looking at covering Heroes of Neverwinter on Tuesdays and perhaps Thursdays as well...with news like this being posted in lieu of Thursdays posts when appropriate. At least for now.
When the game comes out I'll shift the schedule around a bit, seeing what works best for everyone.
Cryptic has still yet to reveal what classes will be available in the new game, but I'm sure more will be leaked between now and the release date in late 2012.
I can't wait. What about you?
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
My Life in Neverwinter: The October Update
DDO isn't the only free DnD game out there--I've been playing a lot of another one lately called Heroes of Neverwinter. Heroes of Neverwinter is a game on Facebook utilizing 4th Edition rules. You adventure in the city of Neverwinter, playing a turn by turn roleplaying game that is a lot more like tabletop DnD than DDO. It is a lot of fun. So, be sure to check it out, after all its free.
In case you haven't guessed I'm going to be posting about it occasionally on here...however, I wouldn't worry if you come here to hear about only DDO. I won't replace a Monday or Friday post with stuff on Heroes of Neverwinter (or possibly when it comes out Neverwinter). Instead I'm planning on just writing more. Right now I'm tentatively planning these for Tuesday posts.
With that out of the way, let's get to the core of today's post: The October Update of the game.
The October Update to the game seems to have added some cool new things to the game.
1) The Initiative Tracker is much easier to read. Using square dock icons and showing not just the health bar but also full HP in clear text underneath each icon.
2) I'm pretty sure the outlines on things are clearer now...or maybe I'm just imagining that.
3) It added a cool little quest arc dealing with Thayan Wizards. I did the first new quest in Neverwinter, and it had a pleasurable little story and tons of chances to get unique helms.
4) Speaking of new helms, there seem to be a whole slew of new items, though I'm not sure if they are permanent or just part of the October event. Be sure to check your Chest of Wonder for a +1 to HP for one character.
5) I'm not sure if this is on purpose or a glitch. But while spectating on someone else's adventure the situation was a lot more dire on my end than his. He was gliding through the adventure just fine, but the game showed me images of his party getting the crap beat out of it. Probably a glitch, but hey, still cool.
6) The most notable change is the look of Neverwinter itself, which is decked out in Halloween decorations and colored with a much darker palette.
In case you haven't guessed I'm going to be posting about it occasionally on here...however, I wouldn't worry if you come here to hear about only DDO. I won't replace a Monday or Friday post with stuff on Heroes of Neverwinter (or possibly when it comes out Neverwinter). Instead I'm planning on just writing more. Right now I'm tentatively planning these for Tuesday posts.
With that out of the way, let's get to the core of today's post: The October Update of the game.
The October Update to the game seems to have added some cool new things to the game.
1) The Initiative Tracker is much easier to read. Using square dock icons and showing not just the health bar but also full HP in clear text underneath each icon.
2) I'm pretty sure the outlines on things are clearer now...or maybe I'm just imagining that.
3) It added a cool little quest arc dealing with Thayan Wizards. I did the first new quest in Neverwinter, and it had a pleasurable little story and tons of chances to get unique helms.
4) Speaking of new helms, there seem to be a whole slew of new items, though I'm not sure if they are permanent or just part of the October event. Be sure to check your Chest of Wonder for a +1 to HP for one character.
5) I'm not sure if this is on purpose or a glitch. But while spectating on someone else's adventure the situation was a lot more dire on my end than his. He was gliding through the adventure just fine, but the game showed me images of his party getting the crap beat out of it. Probably a glitch, but hey, still cool.
6) The most notable change is the look of Neverwinter itself, which is decked out in Halloween decorations and colored with a much darker palette.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Welcome to Stormreach
Known as the "City of Dungeons", Stormreach is a vibrant city nestled amidst the Searing Heights and Cerulean Hills on the shores of Xen'Drik. Stormreach received this nickname after having been built upon an ancient giantish city. The name is even more appropriate given the high amount of ruins, long-lost civilizations and other points of interest which bring so much glorious flavor and commerce to the city.
Stormreach is home to several important institutions, including enclaves for each of the Dragonmarked Houses as well as the Tower of the Twelve, home to a powerful group of wizards. The city is also host to a grand Festivult and the Risia Ice Games which includes the famous Harbor Ski Jump. Other landmarks include the Remembrance Plaza which servers as a memorial for the brave heroes who saved Stormreach from a devil invasion not long ago.
But don't worry, Stormreach is now quite safe. The Twelve, as well as the Dragonmarked Houses have come together under the gracious watch of the Coin Lords to ensure the safety of every citizen within the walled city. Adventurers come everyday by way of boat and airship to this land of opportunity and we are glad to welcome you to our home.
While you are here you may want to check in with our city greeter Mari Mosshand in front of The Leaky Dinghy who will greet you with free gem and collectables bags, and don't forget to meet one with a member of the fabricators, such as Felix D'Cannith at the Harbor entrance to the Marketplace--for a free tiny ingredients bag. If that isn't enough space for you the Twelve are kindly enough to supply all newcomers with a small ingredients bag at no charge, just another example of the grace and generosity our city has to offer.
Welcome to Stormreach, we hope you'll make our home your own.
--Scribe for the Coin Lords
Stormreach is home to several important institutions, including enclaves for each of the Dragonmarked Houses as well as the Tower of the Twelve, home to a powerful group of wizards. The city is also host to a grand Festivult and the Risia Ice Games which includes the famous Harbor Ski Jump. Other landmarks include the Remembrance Plaza which servers as a memorial for the brave heroes who saved Stormreach from a devil invasion not long ago.
But don't worry, Stormreach is now quite safe. The Twelve, as well as the Dragonmarked Houses have come together under the gracious watch of the Coin Lords to ensure the safety of every citizen within the walled city. Adventurers come everyday by way of boat and airship to this land of opportunity and we are glad to welcome you to our home.
While you are here you may want to check in with our city greeter Mari Mosshand in front of The Leaky Dinghy who will greet you with free gem and collectables bags, and don't forget to meet one with a member of the fabricators, such as Felix D'Cannith at the Harbor entrance to the Marketplace--for a free tiny ingredients bag. If that isn't enough space for you the Twelve are kindly enough to supply all newcomers with a small ingredients bag at no charge, just another example of the grace and generosity our city has to offer.
Welcome to Stormreach, we hope you'll make our home your own.
--Scribe for the Coin Lords
Friday, October 14, 2011
What I Like About Update 11 Patch 1
A new patch came out for DDO which made some pretty awesome changes to the way the game is played. Here are a few highlights that I find particularly praiseworthy.
Veteran Status for Artificers
It's a little late to benefit my warforged Piecemeal, but this patch allows players to use Veteran Status with the artificer class. This is an important part of the patch. People were rightfully griping about the inability to use veteran status with the artificer. Many were irritated because you paid for a feature that was essentially nerfed for an unknown duration. Others worked to get their veteran status as an in game reward for time spent only to find it didn't work as advertised. Rewards you earn through gameplay or features you pay for shouldn't be retroactively nerfed or removed unless they are damaging to the enjoyment of the game. This was not the case here and I'm glad to see Turbine made this one of their priorities for this patch.
Artificers and their Iron Defenders
As can be expected for a patch following the release of a new game feature there were a few changes made it to how it worked. Artificers can interact with their Iron Defender Pets in a new way; they fixed a glitch where a dead iron defender in a different instance than you could not be dismissed or revived. I'm not sure about the dismissal part, but you can indeed revive them. Thank you Turbine. That happened to me once and it was a real pain trying to get my pet back.
Crafting
Returning throwing weapons are craftable now! I've been waiting for this one for awhile; I like to equip my fighters and such with returning weapons as their ranged option--because it doesn't require as much effort on my part, no purchasing ammunition and no need for higher level quivers. You can bet I'm going to add extra enchantments to make those throwing weapons even better.
In addition they fixed a lot of the issues with handwraps, including showing the right icon when you turn some into modules and allowing them to qualify as members of the bludgeoning family for enchantments. Impact handwraps anyone?
Damage Indication
Display text has now been added to reveal the damage that summoned monsters are doing. In addition a bulls-eye icon has been added next to your damage text to indicate when you are receiving the benefit of point blank shot.
And There's More
The patch included a ton of other things--such as updates to hirelings and fixed spell point issues for rangers and paladins. You can read the full release notes here.
Veteran Status for Artificers
It's a little late to benefit my warforged Piecemeal, but this patch allows players to use Veteran Status with the artificer class. This is an important part of the patch. People were rightfully griping about the inability to use veteran status with the artificer. Many were irritated because you paid for a feature that was essentially nerfed for an unknown duration. Others worked to get their veteran status as an in game reward for time spent only to find it didn't work as advertised. Rewards you earn through gameplay or features you pay for shouldn't be retroactively nerfed or removed unless they are damaging to the enjoyment of the game. This was not the case here and I'm glad to see Turbine made this one of their priorities for this patch.
Artificers and their Iron Defenders
As can be expected for a patch following the release of a new game feature there were a few changes made it to how it worked. Artificers can interact with their Iron Defender Pets in a new way; they fixed a glitch where a dead iron defender in a different instance than you could not be dismissed or revived. I'm not sure about the dismissal part, but you can indeed revive them. Thank you Turbine. That happened to me once and it was a real pain trying to get my pet back.
Crafting
Returning throwing weapons are craftable now! I've been waiting for this one for awhile; I like to equip my fighters and such with returning weapons as their ranged option--because it doesn't require as much effort on my part, no purchasing ammunition and no need for higher level quivers. You can bet I'm going to add extra enchantments to make those throwing weapons even better.
In addition they fixed a lot of the issues with handwraps, including showing the right icon when you turn some into modules and allowing them to qualify as members of the bludgeoning family for enchantments. Impact handwraps anyone?
Damage Indication
Display text has now been added to reveal the damage that summoned monsters are doing. In addition a bulls-eye icon has been added next to your damage text to indicate when you are receiving the benefit of point blank shot.
And There's More
The patch included a ton of other things--such as updates to hirelings and fixed spell point issues for rangers and paladins. You can read the full release notes here.
Monday, October 10, 2011
That Part About Hirelings
As you may remember from one of the videos I posted earlier, friends don't let friends play solo. However, there are times in an adventurer's life when no one else is willing to join up or he may just want to be left alone.
The problem of course is that DDO was built as an MMO and so classes have certain roles to play in the game. Only rogues and artificers can disable traps, clerics and favored souls are the best at healing, a ranged ranger doesn't do well in melee...and for that matter any wizard caught in a melee should find another, less deadly, vocation.
There is an answer...actually a couple, to this dilemma. Today I want to talk about hirelings, and how they can solve this need for solitary questing. A hireling is a mercenary you can hire in DDO to do your bidding and help you out during an adventure. To purchase one you find a hireling vendor and then purchase a contract for the hireling you want, or alternatively you can purchase gold seal hirelings (we'll get into what that means in a moment) from the DDO Store. A hirelings contract takes up one item space and can be summoned at the start of an adventure, or anywhere within an adventure if you purchased a gold seal hireling.
The other big difference between a regular hireling and a gold seal hireling is that you are only allowed one regular hireling at a time. With a gold seal hireling you could conceivably create your own adventuring party by purchasing more than one in the store (though you are still limited to one of each unique hireling...no multiple Malorens for those of suicidal inclination for example).
Some of you, the anti-social and the arrogant, may be asking yourself why you should bother playing with others at all if their are hirelings available. I won't bore you with tales of the bond of friendship and how it can conquer even a beholder's eyerays...I leave that to Tea Gardner. What I will do is point out that it is expensive (in platinum for regular hirelings and turbine points for gold seal hirelings, ouch), and also that hirelings just can't do everything regular players can do.
You get a single bar to control that hireling with, the options every hireling comes with are "Attack", "Defend", Do Nothing, Go on the Offensive, Go on the Defensive, Use This, Come Here, and Stay. Hirelings can't swim, and so sink like a rock. Their AI is so bad they get stuck sometimes and it takes awhile to get them to come to your position, and they also only get a few of their class's actions to do. For instance, if you pick up a spellcasting hireling, say a cleric, he will only have about three to four spells which you can use. That isn't to say that he doesn't have those other spells, hell, I've seen hireling clerics cast those others spells, only that he may or may not cast them when he may or may not feel like it.
And those three to four spells? Well, there isn't even a guarantee they'll be the good ones. How does Heal, Mass Cure Moderate Wounds, and Raise Dead sound? Probably pretty good, until you realize that means no blade barrier, and no flame strike. In other wounds no offense, you may say that a cleric isn't that good for offense, but I beg to differ, especially when it comes to blade barrier...in fact I may have to have a post about blade barrier in the future.
Some other time.
So, hirelings can be used when you can't get someone else to play, or when you want to play by yourself, or when your party needs something shored up which they can't do...like a healer. A hireling can't compete with the versatility of a regular player, and wouldn't even know how to use that versatility if it did. Hell, some hirelings (I'm looking at you Maloren) are complete dicks who heal themselves BEFORE taking care of you. So think long and hard about whether you want to take one with you before you head out alone.
Some things to consider when getting a hireling are what role you need fulfilled. If you're a nice squishy caster who attacks at range you may need an aggro grabbing fighter to stay between you and your foes, likewise if your a 2-handed, light armored barbarian who loves flying into a rage and running through traps with wild abandon you may want to bring along a cleric.
Also, you should take a look at what those hirelings can do. For instance, some hirelings can summon creatures, that's like having a whole other party member (read decoy/bait/meatshield) join your quest. Make sure their abilities suit you, like having lesser restoration to fix the fatigue after a rage for the above barbarian or intimidate on that fighter. Perhaps you do well with criticals and can bring along a hireling who can cast hold person, or you need you tend to run out of spell points so you grab a cleric with divine vitality. Hirelings work well in a pinch to shore up those little weaknesses you may have.
So go out there and give them a shot...just, don't choose Maloren ok, unless you want to watch him laugh at you while you die.
The problem of course is that DDO was built as an MMO and so classes have certain roles to play in the game. Only rogues and artificers can disable traps, clerics and favored souls are the best at healing, a ranged ranger doesn't do well in melee...and for that matter any wizard caught in a melee should find another, less deadly, vocation.
There is an answer...actually a couple, to this dilemma. Today I want to talk about hirelings, and how they can solve this need for solitary questing. A hireling is a mercenary you can hire in DDO to do your bidding and help you out during an adventure. To purchase one you find a hireling vendor and then purchase a contract for the hireling you want, or alternatively you can purchase gold seal hirelings (we'll get into what that means in a moment) from the DDO Store. A hirelings contract takes up one item space and can be summoned at the start of an adventure, or anywhere within an adventure if you purchased a gold seal hireling.
The other big difference between a regular hireling and a gold seal hireling is that you are only allowed one regular hireling at a time. With a gold seal hireling you could conceivably create your own adventuring party by purchasing more than one in the store (though you are still limited to one of each unique hireling...no multiple Malorens for those of suicidal inclination for example).
Some of you, the anti-social and the arrogant, may be asking yourself why you should bother playing with others at all if their are hirelings available. I won't bore you with tales of the bond of friendship and how it can conquer even a beholder's eyerays...I leave that to Tea Gardner. What I will do is point out that it is expensive (in platinum for regular hirelings and turbine points for gold seal hirelings, ouch), and also that hirelings just can't do everything regular players can do.
You get a single bar to control that hireling with, the options every hireling comes with are "Attack", "Defend", Do Nothing, Go on the Offensive, Go on the Defensive, Use This, Come Here, and Stay. Hirelings can't swim, and so sink like a rock. Their AI is so bad they get stuck sometimes and it takes awhile to get them to come to your position, and they also only get a few of their class's actions to do. For instance, if you pick up a spellcasting hireling, say a cleric, he will only have about three to four spells which you can use. That isn't to say that he doesn't have those other spells, hell, I've seen hireling clerics cast those others spells, only that he may or may not cast them when he may or may not feel like it.
And those three to four spells? Well, there isn't even a guarantee they'll be the good ones. How does Heal, Mass Cure Moderate Wounds, and Raise Dead sound? Probably pretty good, until you realize that means no blade barrier, and no flame strike. In other wounds no offense, you may say that a cleric isn't that good for offense, but I beg to differ, especially when it comes to blade barrier...in fact I may have to have a post about blade barrier in the future.
Some other time.
So, hirelings can be used when you can't get someone else to play, or when you want to play by yourself, or when your party needs something shored up which they can't do...like a healer. A hireling can't compete with the versatility of a regular player, and wouldn't even know how to use that versatility if it did. Hell, some hirelings (I'm looking at you Maloren) are complete dicks who heal themselves BEFORE taking care of you. So think long and hard about whether you want to take one with you before you head out alone.
Some things to consider when getting a hireling are what role you need fulfilled. If you're a nice squishy caster who attacks at range you may need an aggro grabbing fighter to stay between you and your foes, likewise if your a 2-handed, light armored barbarian who loves flying into a rage and running through traps with wild abandon you may want to bring along a cleric.
Also, you should take a look at what those hirelings can do. For instance, some hirelings can summon creatures, that's like having a whole other party member (read decoy/bait/meatshield) join your quest. Make sure their abilities suit you, like having lesser restoration to fix the fatigue after a rage for the above barbarian or intimidate on that fighter. Perhaps you do well with criticals and can bring along a hireling who can cast hold person, or you need you tend to run out of spell points so you grab a cleric with divine vitality. Hirelings work well in a pinch to shore up those little weaknesses you may have.
So go out there and give them a shot...just, don't choose Maloren ok, unless you want to watch him laugh at you while you die.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Building a Better Beast: The Tank
I told you there was more artificer goodness coming. Since my friend is planning on making an artificer soon, I figured I'd kick off a new, but limited, series called Building a Better Beast. The point of the series is to discuss various ways to increase the effectiveness of your pet...in this case the Iron Defender...at different roles. Today we take a look at how to make an Iron Defender into a tank.
Before we even start to talk about how to modify your iron defender we have to talk about a few things your artificer will have to do. First of all you're going to have to take the Augment Summoning feat. This feat will give your Iron Defender a +4 bonus to his ability scores which will result in a +2 to attack rolls, +2 to AC, +2 to saves, +2 hit points per level...etc. You can see why this is a good first step yeah?
Secondly, you're going to want to make sure you can heal and buff your Iron Defender even more. This means that you should take the following spells when they become available, either as part of leveling up, or by picking up the scroll and inscribing them:
1st Level: A few of these spells will be replaced by others at later levels, but they're important for now.
Shield of Faith--More AC for your Iron Defender means he can do what he's good at longer.
Repair Light Wounds--Healing your Iron Defender when it gets hurt is important, so be sure to pick this spell up.
Ablative Armor--This will give your Iron Defender another pool of hit points to detract from before it takes actual damage. It only blocks physical damage though.
Enchant Armor--Although the other three spells are more important this spell will give an additional bonus to your pet's AC.
2nd Level: This will be the level where most of your Pet's buffs come from.
Toughen Construct--Barkskin for constructs, anything that makes your Iron Defender harder to hit is important.
Repair Moderate Wounds--Like repair light only better.
Reinforce Construct--Ahem, this is essentially false life for constructs, and it isn't limited to self so load up your defender and any warforged you might party with.
Protection from Energy--Like Ablative Armor Protection from Energy will negate damage, in this case an elemental damage of your choice. Usually this means loading up on acid, electricity, and fire.
3rd Level: Not much will really help your pet at this point, but we can replace two of the 1st level spells with their betters.
Shield of Faith, Mass--Might as well buff everyone while you're buffing your pet. Pick this up to gain a little more utility.
Stoneskin--Like Ablative Armor, but stronger. However, you may want to keep Ablative Armor and use this one only on rare occasions due to an expensive spell component.
Repair Serious Wounds--Yeah, yeah, another upgrade. You might as well, you get a free slot for having it.
4th Level: This level upgrades an earlier spell and gives your Iron Defender yet another armor boost.
Protection From Elements--Like Protection from Energy except this spell gives protection from all elemental damage.
Armor of Speed--A +15% bonus to attack speed coupled with a +1 to Attack Bonus and a +1 Dodge bonus to AC means takes your Iron Defender to another level.
Repair Critical Wounds--You knew this was coming right?
5th Level: Not much is needed this level, but the spell you do get is a game changer.
Radiant Forcefield--A 25% reduction in damage taken, on top of everything else you do for him means your Iron Defender might not EVER need those repair spells.
6th Level: Never need to worry about your Iron Defender's health again.
Reconstruct--This is heal, but for constructs. Drop this on your puppy when his health drops below half and he'll be back at maximum fighting shape again in no time.
Now, on to enhancements.
Your pet will get 2 Ability Points per level, and unlike you, they get those at the start of their level, so the bonuses you give them can benefit you from the get go.
1st Level:
Get Adamantine Plating. It will give your pet a +8 to Armor Class and damage reduction 2/adamantine.
2nd Level:
Reinforced Armor will give your pet 10 extra hit points, and who couldn't benefit from that?
3rd Level:
Menacing Growl will give your pet the Intimidate skill, and a +4 bonus on it. With this he'll be able to draw even more aggo off of you. To top it all off he will even do it sometimes without you having to ask.
4th Level:
Spend those points upgrading your plating to +10 and DR4/adamatine, the other point should be spent further reinforcing your armor for an additional +10 to hit points, making it +20 total.
5th Level:
Increase your menacing growl by an additional +4 (making it +8) and drop a point in Fearsome Tactics to make your pet 10% better at grabbing aggro.
6th Level:
Your pet will need more strength to deal more damage so go ahead and buy the strength +1 enhancement.
7th Level:
A further boost to your plating for +12 AC and DR6/adamatine, and a further boost to his armor for +30 hit points.
8th Level:
Get his intimidate up to +12 and purchase Fearsome Tactics II to make him even better at grabbing aggro (now 20%).
9th Level:
A +1 to Dex will get help to increase his AC and reflex save so go ahead and purchase it.
10th Level:
Max out your plating at +14 and DR8/adamatine. Max out your armor at +40hp.
11th Level:
Max out Menacing Growl at +16 and increase Fearsome Tactics to 30%
12th Level:
Max out Fearsome Tactics at 40% and snag Danger Avoidance for a +2 to Reflex Saves.
13th Level:
Just save those points for now.
14th Level:
And spend them with these for a +2 bonus to Strength.
15th Level:
Wait for it...
16th Level:
+2 to Dexterity.
17th Level:
Increase Danger Avoidance by 2 steps to a +6 bonus to Reflex saves.
18th Level:
Another increase to Danger Avoidance brings it up to a +8 bonus. Save the other point.
19th Level:
Select one of the combat feats, hopefully Takedown, and level it up to two.
20th Level:
Max out that combat feat and enjoy your pet's destructive capabilities.
Before we even start to talk about how to modify your iron defender we have to talk about a few things your artificer will have to do. First of all you're going to have to take the Augment Summoning feat. This feat will give your Iron Defender a +4 bonus to his ability scores which will result in a +2 to attack rolls, +2 to AC, +2 to saves, +2 hit points per level...etc. You can see why this is a good first step yeah?
Secondly, you're going to want to make sure you can heal and buff your Iron Defender even more. This means that you should take the following spells when they become available, either as part of leveling up, or by picking up the scroll and inscribing them:
1st Level: A few of these spells will be replaced by others at later levels, but they're important for now.
Shield of Faith--More AC for your Iron Defender means he can do what he's good at longer.
Repair Light Wounds--Healing your Iron Defender when it gets hurt is important, so be sure to pick this spell up.
Ablative Armor--This will give your Iron Defender another pool of hit points to detract from before it takes actual damage. It only blocks physical damage though.
Enchant Armor--Although the other three spells are more important this spell will give an additional bonus to your pet's AC.
2nd Level: This will be the level where most of your Pet's buffs come from.
Toughen Construct--Barkskin for constructs, anything that makes your Iron Defender harder to hit is important.
Repair Moderate Wounds--Like repair light only better.
Reinforce Construct--Ahem, this is essentially false life for constructs, and it isn't limited to self so load up your defender and any warforged you might party with.
Protection from Energy--Like Ablative Armor Protection from Energy will negate damage, in this case an elemental damage of your choice. Usually this means loading up on acid, electricity, and fire.
3rd Level: Not much will really help your pet at this point, but we can replace two of the 1st level spells with their betters.
Shield of Faith, Mass--Might as well buff everyone while you're buffing your pet. Pick this up to gain a little more utility.
Stoneskin--Like Ablative Armor, but stronger. However, you may want to keep Ablative Armor and use this one only on rare occasions due to an expensive spell component.
Repair Serious Wounds--Yeah, yeah, another upgrade. You might as well, you get a free slot for having it.
4th Level: This level upgrades an earlier spell and gives your Iron Defender yet another armor boost.
Protection From Elements--Like Protection from Energy except this spell gives protection from all elemental damage.
Armor of Speed--A +15% bonus to attack speed coupled with a +1 to Attack Bonus and a +1 Dodge bonus to AC means takes your Iron Defender to another level.
Repair Critical Wounds--You knew this was coming right?
5th Level: Not much is needed this level, but the spell you do get is a game changer.
Radiant Forcefield--A 25% reduction in damage taken, on top of everything else you do for him means your Iron Defender might not EVER need those repair spells.
6th Level: Never need to worry about your Iron Defender's health again.
Reconstruct--This is heal, but for constructs. Drop this on your puppy when his health drops below half and he'll be back at maximum fighting shape again in no time.
Now, on to enhancements.
Your pet will get 2 Ability Points per level, and unlike you, they get those at the start of their level, so the bonuses you give them can benefit you from the get go.
1st Level:
Get Adamantine Plating. It will give your pet a +8 to Armor Class and damage reduction 2/adamantine.
2nd Level:
Reinforced Armor will give your pet 10 extra hit points, and who couldn't benefit from that?
3rd Level:
Menacing Growl will give your pet the Intimidate skill, and a +4 bonus on it. With this he'll be able to draw even more aggo off of you. To top it all off he will even do it sometimes without you having to ask.
4th Level:
Spend those points upgrading your plating to +10 and DR4/adamatine, the other point should be spent further reinforcing your armor for an additional +10 to hit points, making it +20 total.
5th Level:
Increase your menacing growl by an additional +4 (making it +8) and drop a point in Fearsome Tactics to make your pet 10% better at grabbing aggro.
6th Level:
Your pet will need more strength to deal more damage so go ahead and buy the strength +1 enhancement.
7th Level:
A further boost to your plating for +12 AC and DR6/adamatine, and a further boost to his armor for +30 hit points.
8th Level:
Get his intimidate up to +12 and purchase Fearsome Tactics II to make him even better at grabbing aggro (now 20%).
9th Level:
A +1 to Dex will get help to increase his AC and reflex save so go ahead and purchase it.
10th Level:
Max out your plating at +14 and DR8/adamatine. Max out your armor at +40hp.
11th Level:
Max out Menacing Growl at +16 and increase Fearsome Tactics to 30%
12th Level:
Max out Fearsome Tactics at 40% and snag Danger Avoidance for a +2 to Reflex Saves.
13th Level:
Just save those points for now.
14th Level:
And spend them with these for a +2 bonus to Strength.
15th Level:
Wait for it...
16th Level:
+2 to Dexterity.
17th Level:
Increase Danger Avoidance by 2 steps to a +6 bonus to Reflex saves.
18th Level:
Another increase to Danger Avoidance brings it up to a +8 bonus. Save the other point.
19th Level:
Select one of the combat feats, hopefully Takedown, and level it up to two.
20th Level:
Max out that combat feat and enjoy your pet's destructive capabilities.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Haggle, is it worth it?
Sorry for the late posting, got kind of busy last weekend. I'll be starting a new series today, Skill Focus. Skill Focus articles are going to be all about the skills in DDO, are they worth taking, tips on use, etc. Today we take a look at the haggle skill to determine whether it is actually worth taking.
I have a lot of players in my guild who make combat machines, uber powerful wizards, raging barbarians...and they all look down on one poor lonely drow, my haggle bard. Well, today I'm going to put forward the case for that bard, and all other haggle builds out there by breaking down whether the skill is worth taking.
To do that we are going to take a look at two characters, let's say rogues of tenth level. Both have 14 Cha, but one has taken the time to enhance their haggle a little bit by raising its ranks, picking up an item, etc. They are both going to sell items worth 2000, 4000, 6000, 8000, 10000, and 20000 platinum pieces (pp) each. Author's Note: I'm not exactly sure there are items at all those levels of worth, but for the sake of argument let's let it pass. They are going to sell them to the same vendor, and at the end we will tally up the difference in platinum to see how much of a difference the Haggle skill makes. We'll also see by what amount the haggle build comes out on top in regards to purchasing power.
Our first rogue, the one without haggle, has a simple +2 to the skill because of his charisma.
Our second rogue has a +2 Cha bonus, +13 skill ranks, a +3 item (relatively easy to acquire), a +2 from a casting of Eagle's splendor, a +2 from enhancements, and a +3 from the Skill Focus feat...for a total of 25 to haggle.
According to DDO Wiki, Haggle uses the following formulas:
Selling Profit: [Base Sell Percentage (we're going to use 10%, the same as a normal vendor)+(.0025*Haggle)]*Item Base Value
Purchasing Cost = {[1-(0.005*Haggle)]* Markup (we're going to use 25%, the same as a normal vendor)}*Item Base Value
Let us begin:
The rogue without haggle sells his items to the vendor and receives 210, 420, 630, 840, 1050, and 2100 platinum pieces respectively, for a total of 5250 platinum.
The Haggle build goes in and sells them for 325pp, 650pp, 975pp, 1300pp, 1625pp, and 3250pp for a total of 8125pp platinum.
That's a difference of 2875 platinum.
How about buying power?
The rogue without haggle purchases those items for 2475pp, 4950pp, 7425pp, 9900pp, 12375pp, and 24750pp...a total of 61885 platinum, a pretty hefty sum.
The rogue with haggle buys his items for 2437pp and 5 gp, 4875pp, 7312pp and 5gp, 9750pp, 12187pp and 5gp, and finally 24375pp for a total of 53625pp and 5gp.
The difference here is 8259pp and 5gp.
So at the end of the day the haggle build has 11134pp and 5gp more than the non haggle counterpart. That's being generous by the way, because at that level the haggle rogue could have a better magic item, and used a rogue skill boost among other things to get even more out of the haggle skill...but we'll discuss that at a later time.
In short people, I think haggle is worth it, it saves you money. I showed you the difference after selling only six items, you can find that many or more in a single adventure...think about that. Haggle adds up fast, especially at higher levels.
So, is haggle worth it? Yes, most assuredly.
I have a lot of players in my guild who make combat machines, uber powerful wizards, raging barbarians...and they all look down on one poor lonely drow, my haggle bard. Well, today I'm going to put forward the case for that bard, and all other haggle builds out there by breaking down whether the skill is worth taking.
To do that we are going to take a look at two characters, let's say rogues of tenth level. Both have 14 Cha, but one has taken the time to enhance their haggle a little bit by raising its ranks, picking up an item, etc. They are both going to sell items worth 2000, 4000, 6000, 8000, 10000, and 20000 platinum pieces (pp) each. Author's Note: I'm not exactly sure there are items at all those levels of worth, but for the sake of argument let's let it pass. They are going to sell them to the same vendor, and at the end we will tally up the difference in platinum to see how much of a difference the Haggle skill makes. We'll also see by what amount the haggle build comes out on top in regards to purchasing power.
Our first rogue, the one without haggle, has a simple +2 to the skill because of his charisma.
Our second rogue has a +2 Cha bonus, +13 skill ranks, a +3 item (relatively easy to acquire), a +2 from a casting of Eagle's splendor, a +2 from enhancements, and a +3 from the Skill Focus feat...for a total of 25 to haggle.
According to DDO Wiki, Haggle uses the following formulas:
Selling Profit: [Base Sell Percentage (we're going to use 10%, the same as a normal vendor)+(.0025*Haggle)]*Item Base Value
Purchasing Cost = {[1-(0.005*Haggle)]* Markup (we're going to use 25%, the same as a normal vendor)}*Item Base Value
Let us begin:
The rogue without haggle sells his items to the vendor and receives 210, 420, 630, 840, 1050, and 2100 platinum pieces respectively, for a total of 5250 platinum.
The Haggle build goes in and sells them for 325pp, 650pp, 975pp, 1300pp, 1625pp, and 3250pp for a total of 8125pp platinum.
That's a difference of 2875 platinum.
How about buying power?
The rogue without haggle purchases those items for 2475pp, 4950pp, 7425pp, 9900pp, 12375pp, and 24750pp...a total of 61885 platinum, a pretty hefty sum.
The rogue with haggle buys his items for 2437pp and 5 gp, 4875pp, 7312pp and 5gp, 9750pp, 12187pp and 5gp, and finally 24375pp for a total of 53625pp and 5gp.
The difference here is 8259pp and 5gp.
So at the end of the day the haggle build has 11134pp and 5gp more than the non haggle counterpart. That's being generous by the way, because at that level the haggle rogue could have a better magic item, and used a rogue skill boost among other things to get even more out of the haggle skill...but we'll discuss that at a later time.
In short people, I think haggle is worth it, it saves you money. I showed you the difference after selling only six items, you can find that many or more in a single adventure...think about that. Haggle adds up fast, especially at higher levels.
So, is haggle worth it? Yes, most assuredly.
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