... and then *sentence that's mostly acronym* and then you're 27 and then..."
First, grats on 20!
Then - I feel ya. I remember being new, and the jibberish that is the "veteran's shorthand" for this game. Oy. Maybe in Esperanto, pls - I don't speak that, but at least there are on-line translators, unlike DDO-ese.
This may help, a bit -
https://ddowiki.com/page/Glossary (link to "Glossary" in the header at the top of
every DDOWiki page).
...
Slow it down for me please. I don't have the group, past lives, gear trove, or understanding of the game to speedrun my character to cap in a few hours.
Before we start, it's important to emphasize that the type(s) of True Reincarnations available are determined solely by your
current race, never your next/planned race. You Reincarnate
from your actual, current race, not
to a theoritically planned race after this one. TR (True Reincarnation) resets you back to "start" - whether you later choose to start as Heroic Race (which starts at Level 1) or Iconic Race (which starts at Level 15) is a decision that is not important at the time of Reincarnation., so you don't even have to have made that decision when you reincarnate (altho' it's
strongly recommended not to wait on the new build*).
(* There are known bugs possible if your character is left "in limbo" after a Reincarnation and before starting their new life if the Server is Reset! You want to have your new Build Plan handy and get it done asap - see here.)
Now, first, there are 2 basic categories for Reincarnation - True Reincarnation and not. A
True Reincarnation (TR) re-sets the character back to starting - Level 1 if your
next build is a Heroic Races, Level 15 if an Iconic race. TR's include
Heroic True Reincarnation*,
Racial Reincarnation, and
Iconic Reincarnation - that's it. The first 2 TR's (of any type) increase the starting build points for that character - first to 34** (for 2nd life), then to 36* (for 3rd and successive lives); 36 is the max. All True Reincarnations give some sort of Past Life (PL) bonus, and these stack (up to 3 lives each). TR's keep all past bonuses, but reset almost everything else, most significantly your Experience and Favor. 2nd Life is +50% more XP for Heroic to Level 20, 3rd (and successive) lives are +100% more XP, twice the amount vs 1st life. In all 3 of these, you then have to go to 20 (for Heroic/Racial races) or 30 (for Iconic, which start at 15) before you can do any TR again.
(* Note that Heroic Incarnation, for a Class-based Past Life (vs. Racial) was the first and only years, and is often referred to as "TR". Racial Reincarnation is also a form of True Reincarnation and works identically, but they are often distinuished as TR/RR. When someone says "just TR at 20" they (usually) mean either class- or racial- past life. Iconics can only "TR" at 30, via their IR.)
(** Not for Drow; they go 30 then 32)
The 2 sub-types of "not True" are
Lesser Reincarnations (LR) and
Epic Reincarnations (ER).
Lesser Reincarnations are always a "rebuild/change of plan" of character to some extent, but without completely resetting back to starting point. LR's keep all Favor and XP, and then the character continues from where ever they were before the LR, but (hopefully, ahem) improved.
Epic Reincarnation (ER) resets you back from 30 to 20 (regardless of race, Heroic or Iconic), so you can do that run again, or so you can get the ER PL (Epic Reincarnatin Past Life) bonus and then TR (True Reincarnate*). The in-game mechanics of ER involves rebuilding the character, so there's an option to change things while you do that.
(* Note that the math of Iconic Reincarnation prevents an ER to an IR; Iconics must be Level 30 for their Iconic (True) Reincarnation, so for them, when they're 30 it's a choice of one or the other, never ER followed by TR, which only Heroic Races can do.)
So...
TR = HR, RR & IR
not TR = LR and ER
Now, as far as
"Which is best first?", the advantage of a quick Heroic/Racial TR (True Reincarnation) at 20 is "more build points", and (probably) an improved build over your first attempt. I would hazard that the (vast) majority of 1st life characters that make 20 are NOT strong enough to go on to 30 and an Epic Reincarnation; the build itself could be stronger, they could have (much!) better gear, and the player themself could be more experienced with the game itself, how to best play their character. 30 might be a real slog.
Otoh, the advantage of pushing on now to 30 is that you don't have to get back to where you already are currently (and with +50% more XP needed for 2nd life), you can farm more gear for your 2nd lives, and ER (Epic Reincarnation, from 30 back to 20) bonuses tend to be a little stronger than Heroic-... altho' they are all small (to start, before they stack up), so that may be a minor consideration. And you can complete Epic Sagas, which offer (a very small selection of) random free +3 Skill tomes - if you're going to 30, those are nice to chase* before you ER. And if you're chasing Reaper XP (RXP), end-game offers the most/quest. So there's that.
(* wait on collecting the tome until you see what the other Sagas offer; there are a dozen or so possible, so see what duplicates are there in later Sagas you finish, and once you see all offerings you can choose the best out of the hands you're dealt.)
Myself, all things equal I always advise TR at 20 (or see below). Grab the PL bonus, rebuild with 34 points,, enjoy the gear you have and build on that. The only disincentive is the XP, and XP is easy in today's game - you'll be back at 20 before you know it, especially now that you're 1) stronger, by several metrics, and 2) more familiar with the game and quests.
There is a middle ground - play Epic for now, farm a little Epic gear, get enough RXP for Reaper Core enhancements (which work in non-Reaper quests), get a little tougher to solo those higher-Heroic farms, maybe finish a couple of the lower Epic Sagas (maybe twice?), get some experience in Epic and around Eveningstar, and
then TR when you're Level 23 or so. Or look down and realize you're well into Level 27, and 30 isn't that far after all.
Either way, haff fun stomin da cassul!
o7