DoD vs LoTR New Character Leveling Speed

I started both of these in the last couple of days (returning after more than a decade actually, but might as well be brand new). I have a few hours on new toons on both games, and I noticed in LoTR the character is leveling up really fast as a new character, such as is the case with most MMORPG's these days. Otoh, the DoD character is still lvl 1 after the same amount of time. Not a bad thing, I'm in no hurry, but seems very different, wondering if this is the typical experience.
 

vryxnr

Well-known member
Yes.

Once a player gets more experience with the game, they start leveling up faster. Another recent thread is showing some who average 18-20 hours to get from 1 to 20.

A big thing to note here though, is maximum level. LotRO iirc has a max level of 140. DDO's max level at the moment is 32. So instead of a 1 to one comparison, perhaps think of it as a percentage of the way to max level.

Also, each level in DDO is divided into 5 ranks. So one could view each level in DDO as 5 levels (where the first 4 ranks/levels are minor buffs via one enhancement point each, with a big level at rank 5 giving hp, skills, sometimes spells and sometimes feats)

Most other MMOs focus a lot on the end game, where every new release invalidates old content, so the point is to get past it asap to get to the new max level content. That is not the case with DDO. In DDO, in part due to the reincarnation system, low level content and old content is still valuable, as you'll be running it many times.
 

Nebless

Well-known member
I started both of these in the last couple of days (returning after more than a decade actually, but might as well be brand new). I have a few hours on new toons on both games, and I noticed in LoTR the character is leveling up really fast as a new character, such as is the case with most MMORPG's these days. Otoh, the DDO character is still lvl 1 after the same amount of time. Not a bad thing, I'm in no hurry, but seems very different, wondering if this is the typical experience.

It's very typical and just reflects how the games were designed. LotRO goes the standard MMO route where players see quick progess and they keep playing to keep progressing. PnP D&D was originally set up where you leveled slower and you see that in DDO.

Something to think on is that LotRO sells a item in the store to stop gaining XP and the Treebeard server with it's reduced XP was very popular so alot of people think you level up to fast.

For DDO, if you think of each rank within the DDO's levels as level, your level 1 with 4 ranks would be a level 4 character.
 

RangerOne

Well-known member
LOTRO levels go to what...100 or more so it's a level compression sort of thing. And each level of LOTRO gives you less achievement than DDO. (My opinion, your mileage may vary.)
 

Dragavon

Well-known member
I started both of these in the last couple of days (returning after more than a decade actually, but might as well be brand new). I have a few hours on new toons on both games, and I noticed in LoTR the character is leveling up really fast as a new character, such as is the case with most MMORPG's these days. Otoh, the DoD character is still lvl 1 after the same amount of time. Not a bad thing, I'm in no hurry, but seems very different, wondering if this is the typical experience.
The two games does not compare.

Level cap is 32 in DDO, 140 in Lotro.
 
The two games does not compare.

Level cap is 32 in DDO, 140 in Lotro.
This is an excellent point, I did not realize there was such a big difference in level cap.

About the paying to slow your XP gain, I feel this kinda goes against my very core mentality, lol. I guess if I as I get on in the game I feel I am really missing out on content, I'll do it though. I mean if you can't just play through quests once you level past them, which I guess is the case? I forget which game I saw the message now - something like "this quest is available for level 1 - 4" in so many words. Probably that is LoTR.
 

Nebless

Well-known member
I mean if you can't just play through quests once you level past them, which I guess is the case?

It's not the case, you can always do underleveled quests. You might not see any xp from the mobs you kill, but the end xp reward will always be there. Heck, just from doing normal questing you'll out level the zones as you do them, so they couldn't cut you out of doing low level quests.

What won't be there is the Quest Markers above their heads when you're over leveled, but there's a toggle in the options 'show trival quests' or something like that, that will display the low level quests on your mini map so you can find them.
 
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