A Tour of DDO

[Nickademus]

Greetings DDO Community. I need your help on my reincarnation journey through DDO. I wish to experience every aspect this game has to offer (instead of the usual TR treadmill that most people seem to utilize). This means I want to try every playstyle and learn every feature. I need your advice on builds to fit the many, many lives I will be undertaking.

**** The Rules ****
These are the rules that I'm choosing to follow for this project, and I would ask that they apply to any advice given in this thread.

1. Each of the three lives for each class will take abilites on the top row of a different class enhancement tree (and thus the build could be thought of as being a build for that enhancement). Exception: Sorcerer will take Eldritch Knight and two Savants.
2. At least one of the lives for each archetype will take abilites on the top row of their unique enhancement tree.
3. The first life of each class will start at 1st level (non-iconic) to allow me to get used to playing the class.
4. At least one of the lives for each iconic will be for the class past life feat of the class the iconic starts as. (The other two iconic lives can have as little as one level of the class.)
5. At least one of the lives for each race will take abilities on the top row of its racial enhancement tree.
6. At least one life per tree will take abilites on the top row of Arcane Archer and each of the universal enhancement trees. (I believe this restricts them to race lives.)
7. Out of the 105 class and race lives, 18 will be iconic and at least 54 will continue past level 20 to epic reincarnate at level 30+. (I will always TR or RR after an ER.) This leaves up to 33 lives that do not need to play past level 20 (unless I want to).
8. At least one life for each epic destiny will take abilities on the top row of that destiny.

*** The Assumptions ***

1. Assume I have access to all expansions, adventure packs, classes, races, iconics, enhancement trees, and epic destinies.
2. Assume I will never buy a stone of experience and will farm tokens/heart seeds for reincarnation materials.
3. Assume I can craft any bound shard with Cannith Crafting. (Currently only level 170 or so but will increase as I go.)
4. Assume I have mule characters to store BtA and unbound items.
5. Assume I intent to run Reaper 1+ solo while leveling if the build can handle it.

** The Lives **

Spoiler: Build List

Alchemist
Apothecary: ???
Bombardier: ???
Vile Chemist: ???

Artificer
Arcanotechnician: ???
Battle Engineer: ???
Renegade Mastermaker: ???

Barbarian (Razorclaw Shifter)
Frenzied Berserker: ???
Occult Slayer: ???
Ravager: ???

Bard (Tiefling Scoundrel)
Spellsinger: ???
Warchanter: ???
Swashbuckler: ???

Stormsinger
Stormsinger: ???
(Spellsinger): ???
(Warchanter): ???

Cleric (Sun Elf)
Divine Disciple: ???
Radiant Servant: ???
Warpriest: ???

Dark Apostate
Dark Apostate: ???
(Divine Disciple): ???
(Warpriest): ???

Druid
Season's Herald: ???
Nature's Warrior: ???
Nature's Protector: ???

Blight Caster
Blight Caster: Human Blight Caster 19/Artificer 1 - Draconic Incarnation
(Season's Herald): ???
(Nature's Warrior): ???

Favored Soul
Angel of Vengeance: ???
Beacon of Hope: ???
War Soul: ???

Fighter (Purple Dragon Knight)
Kensei: ???
Stalwart Defender: ???
Vanguard: ???

Monk (Tabaxi Trailblazer)
Henshin Mystic: ???
Ninja Spy: ???
Shintao Monk: ???

Paladin (Bladeforged)
Sacred Defender: ???
Knight of the Chalice: ???
Vanguard: ???

Sacred Fist
Sacred Fist: ???
Radiant Servant: ???
(Sacred Defender): ???

Ranger (Aasimar Scourge)
Arcane Archer: ???
Deepwood Stalker: ???
Tempest: ???

Dark Hunter
Dark Hunter: ???
(Deepwood Stalker): ???
(Tempest): ???

Rogue (Shadar-Kai)
Assassin: ???
Mechanic: ???
Thief-Acrobat: ???

Sorcerer
Water Savant: ???
Earth Savant: ???
Eldritch Knight: ???

Warlock
Enlighted Spirit: ???
Soul Eater: ???
Tainted Scholar: ???

Acolyte of the Skin
Acolyte of the Skin: ???
(Soul Eater): ???
(Tainted Scholar): ???

Wizard (Deep Gnome)
Archmage: Deep Gnome Archmage (Illusion) 20 - Magus of the Eclipse
Pale Master: ???
Eldritch Knight: ???

Aasimar
1st Life: ???
2nd Life: ???
3rd Life: ???

Dragonborn
1st Life: ???
2nd Life: ???
3rd Life: ???

Drow
1st Life: ???
2nd Life: ???
3rd Life: ???

Dwarf
1st Life: ???
2nd Life: ???
3rd Life: ???

Elf/Wood Elf
1st Life: ???
2nd Life: ???
3rd Life: ???

Gnome
1st Life: ???
2nd Life: ???
3rd Life: ???

Halfling
1st Life: ???
2nd Life: ???
3rd Life: ???

Half-elf
1st Life: ???
2nd Life: ???
3rd Life: ???

Half-orc
1st Life: ???
2nd Life: ???
3rd Life: ???

Human
1st Life: crappy first life
2nd Life: ???
3rd Life: ???

Shifter
1st Life: ???
2nd Life: ???
3rd Life: ???

Tabaxi
1st Life: ???
2nd Life: ???
3rd Life: ???

Tiefling
1st Life: ???
2nd Life: ???
3rd Life: ???

Warforged
1st Life: ???
2nd Life: ???
3rd Life: ???

Divine Crusader
Main Life: ???

Draconic Incarnation
Main Life: Human Blight Caster

Exatled Angel
Main Life: ???

Fatesinger
Main Life: ???

Fury of the Wild
Main Life: ???

Grandmaster of Flowers
Main Life: ???

Legendary Dreadnought
Main Life: ???

Magus of the Eclipse
Main Life: ???

Machrotechnic
Main Life: ???

Primal Avatar
Main Life: ???

Shadowdancer
Main Life: ???

Shiradi Champion
Main Life: ???

Unyielding Sentinel
Main Life: ???

I'm not looking for the best builds or the FOTM build. I just want something that will give me a good experience of the class/race/playstyle and that can decently handle at least Reaper 1. I'm an experienced player from back in the day and know a lot of the quests up to the first expansion. I just need some up-to-date builds as things have changed since I was last here. (And I'm curious if there are enough unique builds to fit into the various slots for a full tour of DDO, like a build puzzle.)

 

[Offset]

Blightcaster is one of the best leveling builds -there is a lot of writeups out there; IDK if you know/recall that the class with the most levels in a multiclass build is the class that will reincarnate; If you find a 2 class multi that 4+levels is a good include(easy in melee/ ranged), just have at least 1 more level in the class you want to TR than the others. Though it could be considered a TR train approach, you are not required to go with a set amount in the dip classes. Many toons take 1-2 levels in a trapping class (Rogue/Artificer/Dark Hunter), but if you know where the traps are and have good jump (10 in net skill for jump plus Potion of Jumping +30 takes you to max Jump(hard-coded) if a cloth armor class; heavier armors, sneaking and encumbrance change things)), then you can frequently avoid traps. Also many clothies have access to Knock /Melt Lock (alchemist), to bypass Open Locks. Half Orc also has a racial Open Locks, but it's untested by me, so yeah.

If you like frankenbuilds and not needing to be a melee, to never run out of attacks, try AotS Warlock Archetype. The power of the AotS is that if you take 2 levels, you have access to chain blast; it also hits the two closest mobs to the one you targeted. There is the other thing that taking other classes doesn't lock you out of the dps scaling with level ; like a Monk Stance; you only need to take 1 level to unlock the progression. AotS also has a better progression of base and pact dice than standard Warlock. My 1st life AotS20(core5/t5 Eldritch Wave in Soul Eater and capstone in Tainted Scholar ) at CL 25 can use Epic Destiny Breath weapon and get 6k crits and the Chain Blast with about 25% lootgen gear. If you wanted to you could take just two AotS and 18 rogue, or any other class that is NOT good alignment; no pally (sad face). I realize this wandered into TR Train territory, but I think it's more about knowing what you can do; in this case with Monk or AotS, you can make viable builds multiclassing and not lose output.

Hope this helped.

 

[Nickademus]

I thank you for the advice. I have indeed taken Blightcaster for my second life.

I don't except any of the builds on this list to be a pure 20 levels of the class, though I'm curious if any capstones are actually worth not multiclassing. I am really tempted to splash a level or two of rogue on any build just because I hate to walk by live traps and locked chests. (I assume heroic rogue hirelings are still gold seal.)

Your post did start to wander into TR train territory, and while it is nice to know a few solid builds, the point is that I'm going to play ALL the builds. So it's not a matter of what should I play, but rather, how should I play it? I think it would be best to play some of the better builds as early lives to build up a good amount of gear and knowledge, but I'm not going to shy away from certain classes just because they are not ideal for leveling. I'm going to try to find (or create) a build that makes the best of what each class enhancement tree or race has to offer.

I guess my questions are more about the combinations. What race is good for <insert class enhancement>? What destiny should I go into for my <insert build> life? What class combines best with <insert race enhancement tree>? What builds don't play well in epic and thus should be one of the 33 that I don't level past 20?

A final question that isn't necessarily part of this project but will parallel it along the way is: What builds are solid for endgame and not FotM (likely to be nerfed soon) that I can be slowly building gear and bonuses towards for the end of this journey?

 

[Offset]

I am just learning EDs myself, so not a great resource, except if you are an elemental caster, take Draconic Incarnation and spec hard into the breath enhancements as you can spare points, also take threat reducers when casting in Epics+. The point I admittedly did a poor point of illustrating, is the "Dip" of classes; Casters that are not AotS need class levels for peak output, so rarely is there a reason to dip; for trapping and casting Artificer is the best without losing anything. Melee and Ranged however love multiclassing, but there are some really good capstones in them, except Mechanic: Hip Flask. Also be open to off-theme enhancement trees; my AotS doesn't put 1 point into it's namesake tree.
If you do dip as a caster, if you will be taking shield for trap / burst incoming damage over evasion, take Dark Hunter(1) to enable trapping, and Barb(1) for movement speed, plus both are either 10 or 12 HP per class level, so gives a great pad plus two well worth it abilities. Most capstones are good; look for the ones that give stats and not much else; prime candidates for skipping/ multiclassing; my AotS skips FoD SLA for the other trees' increase in DPS.

 

[Offset]

A fun build for your DG life is AM:Illusion and Feydark Illusionist; my test toon gets 14 DC to illusion with Paramenesial Lenses(ML 13), plus Racial gets Stoneskin SLA(no mats!) and PK SLA to pair with the PK SLA you get from AM, and since the pass to AM; metamagic reducers are just 1 point per rank, and more importantly, the two DPS Arcane SLAs in AM now use your best School of Magic DC; so ALL your DPS and Instakills of SLAs use Illusion DC and you don't cast any spellbook DPS except for Arcane Tempest and Disintegration.

 

[Onyxia2016]

Wow, that is one heck of an undertaking you have step for yourself. All certainly doable although there will be some pain points along the way as some classes as worse than others when leveling and doing so solo is even worst. The three that come to mind are...

• Ranger will be tough when doing the Deepwood Stalker tree. Bow leveling in not in a good place right now.
• Paladin (all 3 lives) will be useless when it comes to traps. You simple do not that the skill points needed to for search and disable. On the plus side since you plan on solo you do not have to focus on the intimidate skill.
• Fighter will lack healing. I assume you will be running with hirelings to help here.
  

As for builds, check out any of the ones created for hardcore, and adapt to fit the tree/class you are going for at the time. These will greatly help in the survivability department.

I wish you luck on your journey. Don't forget to keep us update.

 

[Nickademus]

Thank you both for the feedback. The deep gnome illusionist sounds fun and is slated for a wizard life.

I will be trying to tweak every build I can to include trapping ability if the capstone doesn't seem worth it. Paladin may be difficult but hopefully my tomes and gear will give those lives the bump they need to hit the DCs. That and most of the hardcore builds assume no tomes and 28-point build. I can put the extra points for being a TR into Int.

I was wondering about how bow builds would be. My first life was an artificer using a repeating crossbow. I was able to manage Reaper 1 on a first life with crafted gear due to the high rate-of-fire from the crossbow. I was curious, though, how longbow-users would manage. Sad to hear they don't have anything special to compensate.

Yes, I'll be using healing hirelings on most of my lives. I tend to pop a hireling even if I can heal myself to raise me if something goes wrong with a reaper, just parking them at the entrance until needed. I'm used to the bad logic and management of hirelings.

Then again, for the healing builds, I may just find a reaper PUG or guild TR group to ride along with. I'm not opposed to party-play. I just don't like trying to schedule things or stay a certain level from one day to the next to not fall out of level with the group.

I don't have much to say about my first life, but I will definitely post my thoughts about each life here, both to catalog the experience to the forum and to give others incite on playing that life's build.

 

[Onyxia2016]

Trapping on a Paladin will that very difficult. You can look up vs the wiki some of the higher dungeons to see what the DC is for some of the traps to get and idea what skill level you will need to disable. Even with tomes it will be hard. If you know where the traps are you can have some trapping gear to boost you skills other wise invent is spot. This will help you to at least sense the traps and then you can swap to trap gear.

Bow leveling, well it is not the fastest way to level. Mostly due to the low rate of fire. You will have some great burst damage on single targets. Large groups with be the challenge. If you can get some gear that boosts transmutation DC, the entangle spell will slow them, take the enlarge meta magic feat to cover a larger area.

 

[Kalibano]

Hi Nickademus

Just thought you might find some inspiration in my build repository.
I have several alts, and there seems to be some similarities between the approach I take with mine and what you proposed for your project:
- I don't particularly care about the 'meta', or what some consider 'best builds' or the FOTM builds either
- I love exploring the top rows of different class enhancement trees: e.g. you'll see I have 4 bards, each specialised in a different tree (i.e. swashbuckler, warchanter, spellsinger and stormsinger), and what I look for are the strongest synergies with each main tree
- as I don't follow 'meta', you'll find I use several destinies (rather than only Draconic Incarnation and Fury of the Wild) all the way up to their top rows
- though the builds do not assume past lives, it should be easy enough for someone experienced (and/or willing to explore) to decide where to place the extras that you gain from PLs

I hope it gives some ideas, the intention was simply to help.

Hope your project goes well