I mentioned I was a girl when I first got here. I mention in the Vanguard boards that I was moving from J-Ville to Hollywood. Oh wait, you guys trolls in these forums only. I forget this is the only cave for you. My first post were in the Vanguard board, not here. I got called C-RPG for agree with someone of this statement I consider him/her and some of you guys trolls. You've spent more time being negative than productive.
+5 full plate, +5 towershield, +4 cold iron bastard sword of pure good (main weapon), +4 Str gloves, +4 Con belt, +4 wis necklace, +4 dex ring, +3 charisma/intimitate helm, +2 resistance cloak with lesser cold resist, +70 SP trinket, Chaosguard bracers (constant protection vs evil spell +2 dodge bonus to ac), greater devotion 2 ring, +15% striding boots.
DROW 8th PALADIN with one FIGHTER level STR: 22 DEX: 14 CON:14 INT: 10 WIS: 18 CHR: 22. Hit Points: 139 Spell Points: 188 AC: 39 FORT: +20 REFLEX: +17 WILL: +16. Feats: Weapon focus - slashing, Exotic weapon - Bastard Sword, improved critical - slashing, and toughness. Enchantments: Bulwark of good, paladins charisma, Drow spell resistance, extra lay on hands. go nuts... Your original build was STR – 18 Con – 10 Int – 10 Wisdom – 14 Cha: 16? Protection against evil does not stack with protection against evil, you probably only got +1 AC with dodge and other +1 comes from Dex.
Drow Str – 14 (With same item it’s 18) Dex – 10 (14) Con – 12 (16) Will – 14 (18) Int - 10
Cha – 14 (20 + 3) Skills
Concentration - 12 + 1 = 13
Heal - 12 + 2 = 14
or
Haggle - 7 + 6 = 13
1. Exotic Weapon Bastard Sword
3. Tower Shield
6. Weapon Focus
Everything else is the same.
With the same items, feats (except Toughness), the same enchantments (except Drow Spell Resistance) which should be traded for Resistance of Good (+3), Paladin’s Grace (+2) and pure class, your character will get a Fort save of 21, Reflex of 17 and Will of 22. You’ll get a HP of 152, but your AB and damage is down by 2 points. (That's what Smite evil is for) Drow Resistance is useful for you, but what about the rest of your party members. Bulwark of Good and Resistance of Good can two of your best enchantments. The better your friend save, the less wipe out they’ll have. You still get 39 AC and you’re more of important asset than before. Also you can trade in Paladin Grace, if you can afford it and you can pick up Extra Law on hands or Great Devotion. For your current build at 12th level spell, you should pick up mental toughness or lightning reflex . Maybe if you played on your paladin strengths rather than try to turn him into powerhouse, he do better.
You sure put a LOT OF EFFORT into a game you don't play or like. Why is this? There was a poster who seems to have departed the boards for now but he felt it was his duty/quest/mission to uncover the lies and half truths perpetuated by some about DDO, what are your thoughts on someone like this, on someone who seemed unable to walk away from a game he clearly hated with a passion?
...........Oh really.
Hi there Lastera, well, I would say we have missed you but you've never really been away, so while Lastera can block what I read, you can just log into CaptainRPG and read them anyway, so I have always known you have been getting them
I didn't get back on until tonight 2am and I'm not Lastera. And I'm not even going to defend myself on this because watching you guys for the past 2 weeks accusing of being me was funnny enough. After watching my friend play the trial, I'm actually hoping DDO does well. I have no disdains. I'm hoping DDO takes the WoW and GW fans by storm. Seriously. Imagine what DDO would be like with 7 million of WoW players. I mean they are more and more kids joining by the day. So you guys have fun, I'm out and off these boards.The Cap's correct, there are lots of kids, adults male and female joining by the day and they are all welcome!
You must not leave until you free Arlos and have gathered your party safely in this hallway.
State of play then...As my neighbour got the 10-day trial yesterday I'll wait a day or so for him to catch me up then we'll both have a go at the Waterworks, co-op if you will. It may be tough with just the two of us, I dont know, but it sure will be a bit of fun.
Once that commission is in the bag it's off to the market to seek out those new quests and dungeons. If all goes to plan I may finally get to see a Beholder after all this time. I expect it will kick my sorry arse (ass) though.
More impression of the latest build of D&D Online (The World's First Kobold-Killing Simulator) as and when they happen.
My ol' neighbo(u)r solo-ed all quests with his Warforged Barbarian and caught me up very quickly. After a few runs as a 2-man group we decided to try the old favo(u)rite 'Waterworks' last night in order to get the commendation from guard Kember which would allow us to venture into the marketplace.
So of we toddle...2 x lvl 2 rank 11 barbarians without support, can be that hard can it be?
The 1st part went fairly smoothly, took it easy and thumped all the rascals, got conquest and ransack bonuses to boot. The next part rescuing a named NPC (Arlos) didn't go quite so smoothly. we got wiped 3 times trying to take out the Kobold Bloodletter, even though we didn't need to for the main quest. I noticed another 'improvement' from the launch release at this time. XP penalty. It's almost non-existant and can be re-couped just from the encounters on the way back to Kember and the dungeon proper.
Although we wiped a lot (which is a given without any support) I must admit it was a lot of fun.
We realised it would be better to stick to the main quest on this part and ignore the side quests and finish the main quest in order to get that recommendation.....So we did.
We started part three immediately....After another 4 or 5 wipes we gave up before even activating the grate leading down to the second section. Fear is the mind killer with barbarians that's for sure. We'll be back today for more attempts, may even try and pick up a support class. I'd like a bard as they seem to get short changed in this game and deserve a break.
Today sees the delivery of 5.1 headsets with mics for me and my chum. Should make a difference, at least I can tell the rascal to hold back a bit, not go running off into the distance getting into trouble hehe.
State of play then.....Taverns, which used to be packed with players are now lonely places since the introduction of area regeneration which used to only happen in said taverns, so it's possible there are lots of people playing but just aren't so visible as they no longer need to visit a tavern to recoup HP.....and despite the fact I've played the game before I'm having a lot of fun and so is my neighbo(u)r.
More impressions of the latest build of D&D Online (The World's First Kobold Shaman Bashing Simulator) to follow as and when they happen.
State of play then...As my neighbour got the 10-day trial yesterday I'll wait a day or so for him to catch me up then we'll both have a go at the Waterworks, co-op if you will. It may be tough with just the two of us, I dont know, but it sure will be a bit of fun.
Once that commission is in the bag it's off to the market to seek out those new quests and dungeons. If all goes to plan I may finally get to see a Beholder after all this time. I expect it will kick my sorry arse (ass) though.
More impression of the latest build of D&D Online (The World's First Kobold-Killing Simulator) as and when they happen.
My ol' neighbo(u)r solo-ed all quests with his Warforged Barbarian and caught me up very quickly. After a few runs as a 2-man group we decided to try the old favo(u)rite 'Waterworks' last night in order to get the commendation from guard Kember which would allow us to venture into the marketplace.
So of we toddle...2 x lvl 2 rank 11 barbarians without support, can be that hard can it be?
The 1st part went fairly smoothly, took it easy and thumped all the rascals, got conquest and ransack bonuses to boot. The next part rescuing a named NPC (Arlos) didn't go quite so smoothly. we got wiped 3 times trying to take out the Kobold Bloodletter, even though we didn't need to for the main quest. I noticed another 'improvement' from the launch release at this time. XP penalty. It's almost non-existant and can be re-couped just from the encounters on the way back to Kember and the dungeon proper.
Although we wiped a lot (which is a given without any support) I must admit it was a lot of fun.
We realised it would be better to stick to the main quest on this part and ignore the side quests and finish the main quest in order to get that recommendation.....So we did.
We started part three immediately....After another 4 or 5 wipes we gave up before even activating the grate leading down to the second section. Fear is the mind killer with barbarians that's for sure. We'll be back today for more attempts, may even try and pick up a support class. I'd like a bard as they seem to get short changed in this game and deserve a break.
Today sees the delivery of 5.1 headsets with mics for me and my chum. Should make a difference, at least I can tell the rascal to hold back a bit, not go running off into the distance getting into trouble hehe.
State of play then.....Taverns, which used to be packed with players are now lonely places since the introduction of area regeneration which used to only happen in said taverns, so it's possible there are lots of people playing but just aren't so visible as they no longer need to visit a tavern to recoup HP.....and despite the fact I've played the game before I'm having a lot of fun and so is my neighbo(u)r.
More impressions of the latest build of D&D Online (The World's First Kobold Shaman Bashing Simulator) to follow as and when they happen.
Just to add about your comment on the taverns., the auction house has become extremely popular, I think a lot of people regenerate and browse at the same time!
You must not leave until you free Arlos and have gathered your party safely in this hallway.
Welcome back. WW is fun. I haven't tried to solo my Barb thru it, but at level 3 my Fighter was easily able to solo on Normal, and usually I had little problem on Hard. Fear is the mind killer (love the Dune Quote) as you stated. Just be sure to keep your Fear removal pot buff up and that should help you out a lot.
I have a new level 4 Sorc that I have been thinking of trying to solo WW with on Normal. I haven't tried that with a caster yet but I think it would be fun to solo or at the least duo with another sorc or wiz and try out. I figure if I keep Eagle Splendor and my other buffs up and carry plenty of spare wands and candy canes I should be fine.
At anyrate have fun in WW. It is a blast. As of lately I have been running STK and Tangleroot a good deal. STK is a blast with my fighter. If you decide to solo or duo STK just be careful not to pull the Earth Elemental while still fighting that darn Orge.
-------------------------------- Currently Playing: Guild Wars 2 and Path of Exile
I'm starting to like this block button. You don't have to reblock the person for it to keep working. I'm hoping that list gives people an idea of what's going in the game. However, I need to clear a three things up.
- DDO lacks explorable areas (that can be explored without having to get the quest for it), but does have outside areas. The Kobold island is outside area, which is the only one I can think of. (You have to click on the post to get the mission.) However, everything in DDO is technically a dungeon and can only be access if you get the quest for it. So can't openly explore it.
- Ninja Barreling is true because I had a team disband when doing Redfang because a halfling Rogue kept taking the contents of destroyed barrels before the others could get to them. 5 minutes later, the Rogue was removed and the whole team disband soon after. I had began to un-install the game that very night.
- Yes, DDO has the same quest as other games. I believe WoW has you kill X amount of monsters. DDO has you destroy 51 tombs as one of your first mission after training in Sigmund's tavern. Kobold Isle has you kill 20 kobolds and there is another mission, which has you kill up to 200 kobolds, plus a trog. You fight Giants and Dragon as seen in other games. I believe their is Dragon named Onyxia in WoW and giants as well.
Everything else is a give or take. The game isn't bad, but will never be good either.
For those of you who may be new to these boards, you have to forgive the captain above, he has some serious issues with Turbine/DDO/Life in general.
He has only played on a trial account and believes his opinions are the words of the messiah!
The block function is a good tool for people like him who don't like to hear the truth, I stand by my convictions as do most people on this forum and we are not afraid to receive negative feedback on the game or our personal views, what we do take exception to are lies!
Well, I'm not going to get into the middle of this turf war, but I happen to agree with both of you.
Let me quaity this, I played the Beta and the initial release and I had a great time. The game was limited, it was difficult having to repeart everything I did in Beta all over again, but I tried a new template so it was a little different.
I found the lack of an open areas disappointing, but that is a personal preference. I thought, for what they did, it was done VERY well. The dungeons were very well done, few bugs and in working order. The loot system was good and the quest system was good. It was easy to find people, but did get annoying when people would not work as a team and you ended up always trailing behind as people would be in a contest to see who could get to the end first and fasted, mostly because they had already done the quest before (repeating quests seems to be a requirment to keep busy, which I think really hurts game play). Sort of killed the "discovery" feeling a bit.
The biggest disappointment from me was differentiation, or lack there of. I just do not like any MMO that doesn't allow me the freedom to outfit myself (visually) as I want to or RP reason. Instead, I wear whatever loot I happen to get that has the best stats and you are stuck with however it looks (which for the most part is not good nor is it original). You cannot mix and match different parts of the armor. Again, it is a personal thing, but all elves pretty luck look the same, all fighters pretty much wear the same armor, and so on. Everyone looks pretty close to the same.
The skill variety was pretty good, I liked the ability to mix and match classes and train different skills. I like how certain weapons did better verse certain monsters, very close to D&D. I actually think they did an AWESOME job of sticking to the pen and paper game, including the little die that rolls for hits (Love that thing!).
I liked the game, but did tire of it quickly as it was very repeative. I've played SWG, WoW, EQ, CoH, and Guild Wars and this was by far the most well done game, I just think it had a very narrow scope and offers very little content compared to the other games. SWG and CoH offered the best character uniquness, WoW had the best content differentiation, and Guild Wars was just flat out free (which in all reality DDO should be).
This game seems PERFECT for people that already have a group of buddies that play together (probably even know each other in Real Life). They can all log in together (at the same time) and take on a new dungeon together and then log off and do something else. The gamer that likes to log in and get "lost" in the world will probably not be very happy with the game because there is no where to get lost in.
By the way when you guys are duoing WW with your Barbs are you both going THW or does one of you do Sword and Board?
I usually use a 1H axe and shield. Matey uses a 2H mace generally. W e did WW last night and have now moved on into the marketplace.
Fear removal pot? Pray tell.
Finding your way around MMOs can be daunting at times and it's easy to miss things, such as fear removal pots hehe.
Also last night we got severely slapped down a number of times by a couple of skeleton knights in part 2 of the sanctuary. Rascals were very hard to hit at all.
Onto the state of the game as I see it.
The Auction House feature is, I suppose, necessary for all MMOs these days and Turbine have seen fit to introduce one, however it seems (unfortunately) that the only things on sale are for high level players and extremely expensive to boot. With a mere 2.5K gold in my pouch I'll not be getting any of those +3s for a while.
My 5.1 headset arrived yesterday (Razer Barracuda) and I must say D&D Online's positional sounds are very good indeed. It's no problem to pick out a beastie spawning to the side or behind. Lovely.
Cant get voice-chat to work though as my PC's onboard sound board has a problem picking up anything from the microphone.
Perhaps a few words on my motivation for restarting D&D Online again at this time. Many moons ago a small company called Westwood Studios* produced a Dungeon Master type game for PC, it was called 'Eye of the Beholder' and I must say it really drew me in. I have never played tabletop D&D, but this game although essentially a clone of Dungeon Master added D&D characters and rules. Coupled with exceptional graphics for the time it was a real 'eye' opener for me.
Westwood Studios went on to better that with Eye of the Beholder II, but lost the plot slighty with the 3rd iteration.
The protagonist of that early Westwood game, the beholder, caught my imagination and was it was a real draw for me when I heard there were beholders inhabiting D&D Online. Unfortunatley for me it became apparent that getting anywhere near these magnificent creations required a big bad group of level 8 players or better. Unperturbed I set out in D&D as a cleric, bound to get group invites when you're a healer class no?......Well yes, but only up to a point.
The first few weeks went well and with a combination of solo and PUGs I got myself up to a respectable level 5 (still have that character btw) I even joined a guild and ran a few raid missions into the bargain. Then things got a bit messy. The guild numbers rapidly reduced as players left to go back to WoW or somesuch. Players in groups (PUGs) became Formula 1 drivers each racing each other to the end of the dungeon.
In the end I too gave up on my ambition of meeting the fabled beholders and cancelled my subscription.
Up to now my neighbour and I have resisted PUGs, but it's clear we're going to need them in the future if those high-level dungeons are to be explored to the full.
* Westwood Studios went on to create the much-acclaimed Command and Conquer series of RTS games. Shame they didn't produce the odd D&D game on the side. No I dont count Lands of Lore as one hahaha.
You can pick up a fear removal potion (which also increases your save roll against fear for x minutes). In the marketplace you can pick one up for the potion vendor.
I agree that the Auction House isn't the greatest. I get upset with it because you can't search for particular items or item types. When you want to search for a new set of gloves for example you have to wade through all the gear classified as clothing. And as you mentioned you can't limit your search to gear of a particular level, thus most of the gear ends up being high level stuff.
My biggest pet peeve is people not posting Buyouts, but that is just me. I like the instant gratification of a buyout price.
As far as PUGs. I do have to say that for the most part the PUGs I have been a part of in DDO have been a light year ahead of PUGs in other MMOs. People are very good about handing off loot they can't use, sharing wands, and potions. It just reflects on the general maturity of DDO players.
-------------------------------- Currently Playing: Guild Wars 2 and Path of Exile
Oh just a thought in regards to you going with a shield and 1h when in a duo with another barb. I would suggest that you both go 2hand since you don't have any healers or wand users. The reason for this is since you aren't tanking technically you are going to both want the best DPS to tear thru the mobs as fast as you can. While using a 1h and shield is great when in a group you are being a tank for, in this type of duo group you are both going to want DPS over your general AC concerns. Because you are going to want to kill the mobs before they even have a chance to think about hitting you much. Just my opinion though.
-------------------------------- Currently Playing: Guild Wars 2 and Path of Exile
I host parties (as in lead groups) exclusively, not because I doubt others lead groups, but it's the flexibility this choice grants me. Social skills are very useful, in fact necessary for a good PUG experience. I always state the rules of joining my party, which I don't compromise about, and we have loads of fun doing any quest or raid at the tempo I choose.
IF both are Warforged (WF) I personally would go one or two levels wizard (if you have the intelligence to cast spells) WIth the ability to use repair wands/repair spell and hypnotism spell, you could duo all the way up to Beholder level...
im currently playing a WF fighter/wiz level 5/3 and loving it! and my friend is pure WF fighter. we have duoed all the way, and its fun as hell.
Note: you will learn to hate Enfeeblement spell hehe
Didn't know about the potion vendor...Thanks for that.
As for being social, I hope I am hahahaha. We'll both be looking to group with other players soon, but, as with anything else there's a lot of other stuff going on that needs to be fitted in with our available gametime. Atm we fit in with each other's timeslots.
Go on then pitch in. We'll both be hitting level 4 soon-ish, that's when we can start multi-classing is it not?
Multi-class or not and if so which for the best range of skills.
Actually you can start multiclassing at your second level.
No problem about the potion vendor. Actually there is also one in the Harbor as well. I can't think of the quest names that it is next to, but the shop is the one back in where you find the Kobold that trades arrows and such for prayer beads and other such items.
-------------------------------- Currently Playing: Guild Wars 2 and Path of Exile
Its a good idea if your not familiar with D&D to not multiclass. You need to know why your doing it or you can kind of gimp yourself. Some multiclass combos are very powerful but those are usually very experienced players that know D&D inside and out and have a planned character all the way to lvl 20 mapped out ahead of time.
Welcome to D&D where you play preset adventures, you can't explore, you don't get xp from mobs, very limited solo options, and a very confined world. Everything I always wanted from a D&D game.
Welcome to D&D where you play preset adventures, you can't explore, you don't get xp from mobs, very limited solo options, and a very confined world. Everything I always wanted from a D&D game.
On Saturday I made WW parts 3 and 4 elite courtesy of a PUG. I accepted an invite out of the blue and off we all went. Happy to say there was a Bard in the group, so perhaps the class is becoming more 'acceptable' in the game.
Not much happened Saturday evening as myself and my neighbo(u)r were busy sinking as many beers as we could manage. Which was a lot.
Sunday saw a couple of things I'm sure you guys can help with.
Last week we tried part 2 of the sanctuary quest, which is a level 2 quest. At that time we came across a couple of Skeleton Knights but couldn't even hit the rascals (maces I think) so we gave up intending to return when we'd levelled.
Back to Sunday then....Now level 4 Barbarian and chum level 3 Barbarian. Still not hitting these skeletons? Tactics anyone?
Next up is the 'smoke' type spell those pesky Kobold Shamans will use effectively leaving you running around in the dark. Any tactic to dispel the smoke or make life easier taking out the Kobolds who are hiding in it?
Another PUG, yes with a Bard. We struggled a bit on the Butcher's Path on hard, but made it in the end.
State of the Game.....Community seems much better than before. Not a numpty in sight in those 2 PUGs. Sound problems seem to still exist though as sometimes the sound will lag badly, for instance smash a barrel, run off somewhere and 5 seconds later the sound of the barrel smashing rings in your ears. This can be 'fixed' for a while by swapping the sound effect mode from Stereo to Hardware then back again.
On Saturday I made WW parts 3 and 4 elite courtesy of a PUG. I accepted an invite out of the blue and off we all went. Happy to say there was a Bard in the group, so perhaps the class is becoming more 'acceptable' in the game.
Not much happened Saturday evening as myself and my neighbo(u)r were busy sinking as many beers as we could manage. Which was a lot.
Sunday saw a couple of things I'm sure you guys can help with.
Last week we tried part 2 of the sanctuary quest, which is a level 2 quest. At that time we came across a couple of Skeleton Knights but couldn't even hit the rascals (maces I think) so we gave up intending to return when we'd levelled.
Back to Sunday then....Now level 4 Barbarian and chum level 3 Barbarian. Still not hitting these skeletons? Tactics anyone?
Next up is the 'smoke' type spell those pesky Kobold Shamans will use effectively leaving you running around in the dark. Any tactic to dispel the smoke or make life easier taking out the Kobolds who are hiding in it?
Another PUG, yes with a Bard. We struggled a bit on the Butcher's Path on hard, but made it in the end.
State of the Game.....Community seems much better than before. Not a numpty in sight in those 2 PUGs. Sound problems seem to still exist though as sometimes the sound will lag badly, for instance smash a barrel, run off somewhere and 5 seconds later the sound of the barrel smashing rings in your ears. This can be 'fixed' for a while by swapping the sound effect mode from Stereo to Hardware then back again.
Ask a few groups I had been with what they thought of the Ranger and they said the Ranger has the hardest time getting a group because they contribute nothing. Even fellow went out of his way to say, "A ranger without his pet = useless Ranger." The voice chat agreed overwhelming with the statement. Similar response same came from other groups, but to be fair, one or two people would defend the ranger.
When I ask the same question with the Bard, I got a similar response except they agreed "The Bard had easier time getting a group than a Ranger." Seeing as at time, Bards (and rangers) weren't in many of the groups I was in, it was hard not to disagree with that notion.
I play alot of of the lvl 12 quests on elite and rangers are in groups all the time. That is just stupid if people think rangers have nothing to offer a party. Range combat is awesome and there greater two weap fighting does a ton of dmg plus they have barkskin which is a very nice buff. I really never see any rangers with pets as well so I quess we are playing two totally different games.
The guys I spoke with while doing waterworks at characters around level 10 to 12. Again, seeing how Rangers and Bard rarely got groups, it's not that hard to believe Rangers and Bards have it tough. I never said Rangers in this game had pets. They said, "A ranger without his pet = useless ranger."
Well I am glad I am not on the server you were trial on, because I have ZERO problems finding groups and I'm usually in a group with a ranger most nights. Oh they are pure ranger too btw, one is in the guild I'm in and he has no problems either.
But then again I think your talking out your rear rather than the truth again, but hey you never got past lvl 4.
Well I am glad I am not on the server you were trial on, because I have ZERO problems finding groups and I'm usually in a group with a ranger most nights. Oh they are pure ranger too btw, one is in the guild I'm in and he has no problems either. But then again I think your talking out your rear rather than the truth again, but hey you never got past lvl 4.
It's amazing how you come to conclusion this comes from ass when it comes from mouths of guys level 10 to 12 characters. Denial isn't a river in Egypt, ya know.
Comments
You sure put a LOT OF EFFORT into a game you don't play or like. Why is this? There was a poster who seems to have departed the boards for now but he felt it was his duty/quest/mission to uncover the lies and half truths perpetuated by some about DDO, what are your thoughts on someone like this, on someone who seemed unable to walk away from a game he clearly hated with a passion?
...........Oh really.
Hi there Lastera, well, I would say we have missed you but you've never really been away, so while Lastera can block what I read, you can just log into CaptainRPG and read them anyway, so I have always known you have been getting them
I didn't get back on until tonight 2am and I'm not Lastera. And I'm not even going to defend myself on this because watching you guys for the past 2 weeks accusing of being me was funnny enough. After watching my friend play the trial, I'm actually hoping DDO does well.
You must not leave until you free Arlos and have gathered your party safely in this hallway.
So of we toddle...2 x lvl 2 rank 11 barbarians without support, can be that hard can it be?
The 1st part went fairly smoothly, took it easy and thumped all the rascals, got conquest and ransack bonuses to boot. The next part rescuing a named NPC (Arlos) didn't go quite so smoothly. we got wiped 3 times trying to take out the Kobold Bloodletter, even though we didn't need to for the main quest. I noticed another 'improvement' from the launch release at this time. XP penalty. It's almost non-existant and can be re-couped just from the encounters on the way back to Kember and the dungeon proper.
Although we wiped a lot (which is a given without any support) I must admit it was a lot of fun.
We realised it would be better to stick to the main quest on this part and ignore the side quests and finish the main quest in order to get that recommendation.....So we did.
We started part three immediately....After another 4 or 5 wipes we gave up before even activating the grate leading down to the second section. Fear is the mind killer with barbarians that's for sure. We'll be back today for more attempts, may even try and pick up a support class. I'd like a bard as they seem to get short changed in this game and deserve a break.
Today sees the delivery of 5.1 headsets with mics for me and my chum. Should make a difference, at least I can tell the rascal to hold back a bit, not go running off into the distance getting into trouble hehe.
State of play then.....Taverns, which used to be packed with players are now lonely places since the introduction of area regeneration which used to only happen in said taverns, so it's possible there are lots of people playing but just aren't so visible as they no longer need to visit a tavern to recoup HP.....and despite the fact I've played the game before I'm having a lot of fun and so is my neighbo(u)r.
More impressions of the latest build of D&D Online (The World's First Kobold Shaman Bashing Simulator) to follow as and when they happen.
So of we toddle...2 x lvl 2 rank 11 barbarians without support, can be that hard can it be?
The 1st part went fairly smoothly, took it easy and thumped all the rascals, got conquest and ransack bonuses to boot. The next part rescuing a named NPC (Arlos) didn't go quite so smoothly. we got wiped 3 times trying to take out the Kobold Bloodletter, even though we didn't need to for the main quest. I noticed another 'improvement' from the launch release at this time. XP penalty. It's almost non-existant and can be re-couped just from the encounters on the way back to Kember and the dungeon proper.
Although we wiped a lot (which is a given without any support) I must admit it was a lot of fun.
We realised it would be better to stick to the main quest on this part and ignore the side quests and finish the main quest in order to get that recommendation.....So we did.
We started part three immediately....After another 4 or 5 wipes we gave up before even activating the grate leading down to the second section. Fear is the mind killer with barbarians that's for sure. We'll be back today for more attempts, may even try and pick up a support class. I'd like a bard as they seem to get short changed in this game and deserve a break.
Today sees the delivery of 5.1 headsets with mics for me and my chum. Should make a difference, at least I can tell the rascal to hold back a bit, not go running off into the distance getting into trouble hehe.
State of play then.....Taverns, which used to be packed with players are now lonely places since the introduction of area regeneration which used to only happen in said taverns, so it's possible there are lots of people playing but just aren't so visible as they no longer need to visit a tavern to recoup HP.....and despite the fact I've played the game before I'm having a lot of fun and so is my neighbo(u)r.
More impressions of the latest build of D&D Online (The World's First Kobold Shaman Bashing Simulator) to follow as and when they happen.
Just to add about your comment on the taverns., the auction house has become extremely popular, I think a lot of people regenerate and browse at the same time!
You must not leave until you free Arlos and have gathered your party safely in this hallway.
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Currently Playing: Guild Wars 2 and Path of Exile
Quit: Eden Eternal, Wakfu, DDO, STO, DCUO, Sword 2, Atlantica Online, LOTRO, SWTOR, RIFT, Earthrise, FFXIV, RoM, Allods Online, GA,WAR,CO,V:SoH,POTBS,TR,COH/COV, WOW, DDO,AL, EQ, Eve, L2, AA, Mx0, SWG, SoR, AO, RFO, DAoC, and others.
www.twitter.com/mlwhitt
www.michaelwhitt.com
You must not leave until you free Arlos and have gathered your party safely in this hallway.
Welcome back. WW is fun. I haven't tried to solo my Barb thru it, but at level 3 my Fighter was easily able to solo on Normal, and usually I had little problem on Hard. Fear is the mind killer (love the Dune Quote) as you stated. Just be sure to keep your Fear removal pot buff up and that should help you out a lot.
I have a new level 4 Sorc that I have been thinking of trying to solo WW with on Normal. I haven't tried that with a caster yet but I think it would be fun to solo or at the least duo with another sorc or wiz and try out. I figure if I keep Eagle Splendor and my other buffs up and carry plenty of spare wands and candy canes I should be fine.
At anyrate have fun in WW. It is a blast. As of lately I have been running STK and Tangleroot a good deal. STK is a blast with my fighter. If you decide to solo or duo STK just be careful not to pull the Earth Elemental while still fighting that darn Orge.
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Currently Playing: Guild Wars 2 and Path of Exile
Quit: Eden Eternal, Wakfu, DDO, STO, DCUO, Sword 2, Atlantica Online, LOTRO, SWTOR, RIFT, Earthrise, FFXIV, RoM, Allods Online, GA,WAR,CO,V:SoH,POTBS,TR,COH/COV, WOW, DDO,AL, EQ, Eve, L2, AA, Mx0, SWG, SoR, AO, RFO, DAoC, and others.
www.twitter.com/mlwhitt
www.michaelwhitt.com
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Currently Playing: Guild Wars 2 and Path of Exile
Quit: Eden Eternal, Wakfu, DDO, STO, DCUO, Sword 2, Atlantica Online, LOTRO, SWTOR, RIFT, Earthrise, FFXIV, RoM, Allods Online, GA,WAR,CO,V:SoH,POTBS,TR,COH/COV, WOW, DDO,AL, EQ, Eve, L2, AA, Mx0, SWG, SoR, AO, RFO, DAoC, and others.
www.twitter.com/mlwhitt
www.michaelwhitt.com
For those of you who may be new to these boards, you have to forgive the captain above, he has some serious issues with Turbine/DDO/Life in general.
He has only played on a trial account and believes his opinions are the words of the messiah!
The block function is a good tool for people like him who don't like to hear the truth, I stand by my convictions as do most people on this forum and we are not afraid to receive negative feedback on the game or our personal views, what we do take exception to are lies!
Well, I'm not going to get into the middle of this turf war, but I happen to agree with both of you.
Let me quaity this, I played the Beta and the initial release and I had a great time. The game was limited, it was difficult having to repeart everything I did in Beta all over again, but I tried a new template so it was a little different.
I found the lack of an open areas disappointing, but that is a personal preference. I thought, for what they did, it was done VERY well. The dungeons were very well done, few bugs and in working order. The loot system was good and the quest system was good. It was easy to find people, but did get annoying when people would not work as a team and you ended up always trailing behind as people would be in a contest to see who could get to the end first and fasted, mostly because they had already done the quest before (repeating quests seems to be a requirment to keep busy, which I think really hurts game play). Sort of killed the "discovery" feeling a bit.
The biggest disappointment from me was differentiation, or lack there of. I just do not like any MMO that doesn't allow me the freedom to outfit myself (visually) as I want to or RP reason. Instead, I wear whatever loot I happen to get that has the best stats and you are stuck with however it looks (which for the most part is not good nor is it original). You cannot mix and match different parts of the armor. Again, it is a personal thing, but all elves pretty luck look the same, all fighters pretty much wear the same armor, and so on. Everyone looks pretty close to the same.
The skill variety was pretty good, I liked the ability to mix and match classes and train different skills. I like how certain weapons did better verse certain monsters, very close to D&D. I actually think they did an AWESOME job of sticking to the pen and paper game, including the little die that rolls for hits (Love that thing!).
I liked the game, but did tire of it quickly as it was very repeative. I've played SWG, WoW, EQ, CoH, and Guild Wars and this was by far the most well done game, I just think it had a very narrow scope and offers very little content compared to the other games. SWG and CoH offered the best character uniquness, WoW had the best content differentiation, and Guild Wars was just flat out free (which in all reality DDO should be).
This game seems PERFECT for people that already have a group of buddies that play together (probably even know each other in Real Life). They can all log in together (at the same time) and take on a new dungeon together and then log off and do something else. The gamer that likes to log in and get "lost" in the world will probably not be very happy with the game because there is no where to get lost in.
Those are my thoughts.
Concept for SWG 2
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/90081
Fear removal pot? Pray tell.
Finding your way around MMOs can be daunting at times and it's easy to miss things, such as fear removal pots hehe.
Also last night we got severely slapped down a number of times by a couple of skeleton knights in part 2 of the sanctuary. Rascals were very hard to hit at all.
Onto the state of the game as I see it.
The Auction House feature is, I suppose, necessary for all MMOs these days and Turbine have seen fit to introduce one, however it seems (unfortunately) that the only things on sale are for high level players and extremely expensive to boot. With a mere 2.5K gold in my pouch I'll not be getting any of those +3s for a while.
My 5.1 headset arrived yesterday (Razer Barracuda) and I must say D&D Online's positional sounds are very good indeed. It's no problem to pick out a beastie spawning to the side or behind. Lovely.
Cant get voice-chat to work though as my PC's onboard sound board has a problem picking up anything from the microphone.
Perhaps a few words on my motivation for restarting D&D Online again at this time. Many moons ago a small company called Westwood Studios* produced a Dungeon Master type game for PC, it was called 'Eye of the Beholder' and I must say it really drew me in. I have never played tabletop D&D, but this game although essentially a clone of Dungeon Master added D&D characters and rules. Coupled with exceptional graphics for the time it was a real 'eye' opener for me.
Westwood Studios went on to better that with Eye of the Beholder II, but lost the plot slighty with the 3rd iteration.
The protagonist of that early Westwood game, the beholder, caught my imagination and was it was a real draw for me when I heard there were beholders inhabiting D&D Online. Unfortunatley for me it became apparent that getting anywhere near these magnificent creations required a big bad group of level 8 players or better. Unperturbed I set out in D&D as a cleric, bound to get group invites when you're a healer class no?......Well yes, but only up to a point.
The first few weeks went well and with a combination of solo and PUGs I got myself up to a respectable level 5 (still have that character btw) I even joined a guild and ran a few raid missions into the bargain. Then things got a bit messy. The guild numbers rapidly reduced as players left to go back to WoW or somesuch. Players in groups (PUGs) became Formula 1 drivers each racing each other to the end of the dungeon.
In the end I too gave up on my ambition of meeting the fabled beholders and cancelled my subscription.
Up to now my neighbour and I have resisted PUGs, but it's clear we're going to need them in the future if those high-level dungeons are to be explored to the full.
* Westwood Studios went on to create the much-acclaimed Command and Conquer series of RTS games. Shame they didn't produce the odd D&D game on the side. No I dont count Lands of Lore as one hahaha.
I agree that the Auction House isn't the greatest. I get upset with it because you can't search for particular items or item types. When you want to search for a new set of gloves for example you have to wade through all the gear classified as clothing. And as you mentioned you can't limit your search to gear of a particular level, thus most of the gear ends up being high level stuff.
My biggest pet peeve is people not posting Buyouts, but that is just me. I like the instant gratification of a buyout price.
As far as PUGs. I do have to say that for the most part the PUGs I have been a part of in DDO have been a light year ahead of PUGs in other MMOs. People are very good about handing off loot they can't use, sharing wands, and potions. It just reflects on the general maturity of DDO players.
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Currently Playing: Guild Wars 2 and Path of Exile
Quit: Eden Eternal, Wakfu, DDO, STO, DCUO, Sword 2, Atlantica Online, LOTRO, SWTOR, RIFT, Earthrise, FFXIV, RoM, Allods Online, GA,WAR,CO,V:SoH,POTBS,TR,COH/COV, WOW, DDO,AL, EQ, Eve, L2, AA, Mx0, SWG, SoR, AO, RFO, DAoC, and others.
www.twitter.com/mlwhitt
www.michaelwhitt.com
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Currently Playing: Guild Wars 2 and Path of Exile
Quit: Eden Eternal, Wakfu, DDO, STO, DCUO, Sword 2, Atlantica Online, LOTRO, SWTOR, RIFT, Earthrise, FFXIV, RoM, Allods Online, GA,WAR,CO,V:SoH,POTBS,TR,COH/COV, WOW, DDO,AL, EQ, Eve, L2, AA, Mx0, SWG, SoR, AO, RFO, DAoC, and others.
www.twitter.com/mlwhitt
www.michaelwhitt.com
Darkjinxer...
IF both are Warforged (WF) I personally would go one or two levels wizard (if you have the intelligence to cast spells) WIth the ability to use repair wands/repair spell and hypnotism spell, you could duo all the way up to Beholder level...
im currently playing a WF fighter/wiz level 5/3 and loving it! and my friend is pure WF fighter. we have duoed all the way, and its fun as hell.
Note: you will learn to hate Enfeeblement spell
hehe
happy questing
I'm Human Barbarian and my friend is Warforged.
Didn't know about the potion vendor...Thanks for that.
As for being social, I hope I am hahahaha. We'll both be looking to group with other players soon, but, as with anything else there's a lot of other stuff going on that needs to be fitted in with our available gametime. Atm we fit in with each other's timeslots.
Go on then pitch in. We'll both be hitting level 4 soon-ish, that's when we can start multi-classing is it not?
Multi-class or not and if so which for the best range of skills.
No problem about the potion vendor. Actually there is also one in the Harbor as well. I can't think of the quest names that it is next to, but the shop is the one back in where you find the Kobold that trades arrows and such for prayer beads and other such items.
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Currently Playing: Guild Wars 2 and Path of Exile
Quit: Eden Eternal, Wakfu, DDO, STO, DCUO, Sword 2, Atlantica Online, LOTRO, SWTOR, RIFT, Earthrise, FFXIV, RoM, Allods Online, GA,WAR,CO,V:SoH,POTBS,TR,COH/COV, WOW, DDO,AL, EQ, Eve, L2, AA, Mx0, SWG, SoR, AO, RFO, DAoC, and others.
www.twitter.com/mlwhitt
www.michaelwhitt.com
Sewer rescue
Dont know what the quest givers name is tho
LOL US sarcasm at its best! hehe just kidding
On Saturday I made WW parts 3 and 4 elite courtesy of a PUG. I accepted an invite out of the blue and off we all went. Happy to say there was a Bard in the group, so perhaps the class is becoming more 'acceptable' in the game.
Not much happened Saturday evening as myself and my neighbo(u)r were busy sinking as many beers as we could manage. Which was a lot.
Sunday saw a couple of things I'm sure you guys can help with.
Last week we tried part 2 of the sanctuary quest, which is a level 2 quest. At that time we came across a couple of Skeleton Knights but couldn't even hit the rascals (maces I think) so we gave up intending to return when we'd levelled.
Back to Sunday then....Now level 4 Barbarian and chum level 3 Barbarian. Still not hitting these skeletons? Tactics anyone?
Next up is the 'smoke' type spell those pesky Kobold Shamans will use effectively leaving you running around in the dark. Any tactic to dispel the smoke or make life easier taking out the Kobolds who are hiding in it?
Another PUG, yes with a Bard. We struggled a bit on the Butcher's Path on hard, but made it in the end.
State of the Game.....Community seems much better than before. Not a numpty in sight in those 2 PUGs. Sound problems seem to still exist though as sometimes the sound will lag badly, for instance smash a barrel, run off somewhere and 5 seconds later the sound of the barrel smashing rings in your ears. This can be 'fixed' for a while by swapping the sound effect mode from Stereo to Hardware then back again.
When I ask the same question with the Bard, I got a similar response except they agreed "The Bard had easier time getting a group than a Ranger." Seeing as at time, Bards (and rangers) weren't in many of the groups I was in, it was hard not to disagree with that notion.
Well I am glad I am not on the server you were trial on, because I have ZERO problems finding groups and I'm usually in a group with a ranger most nights. Oh they are pure ranger too btw, one is in the guild I'm in and he has no problems either.
But then again I think your talking out your rear rather than the truth again, but hey you never got past lvl 4.
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Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.