So i'm introducing a friend to DDO. We'll be playing as a static pair on 2 freshly created accounts i've made and taken advantage of the FREEDDO2024 code and run the first quickest 400 DDO points to get the 99pt packs as well. I have a second PC set up next to mine and we'll be playing sitting next to each other so i can answer questions and actually show her things. We'll have access to my guild on my main account and the crafting services of my main.
She's not really a gamer and as far as i'm aware her only experience was years ago when she asked her then boyfriend who was playing WoW if she could join. He just made her an account and basically said there you go, crack on. Really not helpful.
So my plan is to play for the story and take the flower sniffing route. MainIy casual/normal, maybe hard sometimes. I also want to try and recapture the feeling from when the cap was 10 and lowbie quests on hard at level were a real challenge and you had a real sense of achievement if you completed them. Taking time and actually planning for dungeons. Definitly looking for the journey rather than the destination. As such i'm looking for advice on the pair of builds i've come up with.
My friend said she probably wants to play as a healer so i was thinking I was thinking of drow 18/2 bard/rogue with the emphasis on buffs and CC. It should have more than enough healing for the 2 of us and i wanted something that makes her feel she makes a decent contribution. She's also not very inclined towards trying to hit things with pointy bits of metal. One of the first things i'll be teaching her is how to run away effectively when she gets targeted. (I also need to learn how to play as part of a team. Solo'd my way to cap.) I'd also ideally like to keep hide/move silently high enough to be useful so she can get the satisfaction of manouvering into place then hitting mobs with CC or just being able to sidestep fights entirely. Trapping will be taken care of by me. I doubt that even if she gets right into DDO it'll be taken all the way to cap. I wanted something that could deal with normal/hard at level, is fun but also has enough flexibility in the base stats that she can respec almost totally if she wants without having to LR. We probably won't be doing much farming but my main is crafting level 370ish so can easily craft anything we need to fill holes.
I was thinking of going drow, either 17/3 or 15/5 wizard/rogue for me. Depends how much i need the skill points to keep hide/move silently and disable device maxed. I'm looking at mainly going EK so i can deal with all the melee stuff but also would like to get some CC and debuffs. I've only ever played melee before (Solo rogue dagger user) so a caster of any sort that does more than UMD heal/tensers/GH will be new and fresh. Really i just want a rough idea of what sort of DCs and stats we need to hit at like level 4,7 etc. and also which/when on the feats for both of us.
Some more questions i have on casters generally, never having played one.
1. Spell resistance/penetration and difficulty checks. Are they 2 completely seperate throws to resist? Or do they stack somehow? I know the wiki says that even tho you may bypass spell resistance it can still be saved against but does this mean if you don't bypass it then the difficulty check won't even happen?
2. Is there any other way to raise my DCs other than ability modifier and enhancements/gear that explictly says + to DC?
3. When using wands/scrolls of spells that are in my class list are they affected by the relevant spellpower/DC boosts i have or is the 25/50/75% mastery enhancement all there is to boost damage/effectivness?
4. Universal spellpower and specific ones. Is it just a straight stacking? ie 100 USP and 150 acid spellpower is 250 effectively? And do they both stack with potency?
5. Does focussing in a particular school make any difference for buffs? Or things like remove curse/poison/fear etc.
I'm sure there's many more questions but i can't think of them atm.
Thanks
She's not really a gamer and as far as i'm aware her only experience was years ago when she asked her then boyfriend who was playing WoW if she could join. He just made her an account and basically said there you go, crack on. Really not helpful.
So my plan is to play for the story and take the flower sniffing route. MainIy casual/normal, maybe hard sometimes. I also want to try and recapture the feeling from when the cap was 10 and lowbie quests on hard at level were a real challenge and you had a real sense of achievement if you completed them. Taking time and actually planning for dungeons. Definitly looking for the journey rather than the destination. As such i'm looking for advice on the pair of builds i've come up with.
My friend said she probably wants to play as a healer so i was thinking I was thinking of drow 18/2 bard/rogue with the emphasis on buffs and CC. It should have more than enough healing for the 2 of us and i wanted something that makes her feel she makes a decent contribution. She's also not very inclined towards trying to hit things with pointy bits of metal. One of the first things i'll be teaching her is how to run away effectively when she gets targeted. (I also need to learn how to play as part of a team. Solo'd my way to cap.) I'd also ideally like to keep hide/move silently high enough to be useful so she can get the satisfaction of manouvering into place then hitting mobs with CC or just being able to sidestep fights entirely. Trapping will be taken care of by me. I doubt that even if she gets right into DDO it'll be taken all the way to cap. I wanted something that could deal with normal/hard at level, is fun but also has enough flexibility in the base stats that she can respec almost totally if she wants without having to LR. We probably won't be doing much farming but my main is crafting level 370ish so can easily craft anything we need to fill holes.
I was thinking of going drow, either 17/3 or 15/5 wizard/rogue for me. Depends how much i need the skill points to keep hide/move silently and disable device maxed. I'm looking at mainly going EK so i can deal with all the melee stuff but also would like to get some CC and debuffs. I've only ever played melee before (Solo rogue dagger user) so a caster of any sort that does more than UMD heal/tensers/GH will be new and fresh. Really i just want a rough idea of what sort of DCs and stats we need to hit at like level 4,7 etc. and also which/when on the feats for both of us.
Some more questions i have on casters generally, never having played one.
1. Spell resistance/penetration and difficulty checks. Are they 2 completely seperate throws to resist? Or do they stack somehow? I know the wiki says that even tho you may bypass spell resistance it can still be saved against but does this mean if you don't bypass it then the difficulty check won't even happen?
2. Is there any other way to raise my DCs other than ability modifier and enhancements/gear that explictly says + to DC?
3. When using wands/scrolls of spells that are in my class list are they affected by the relevant spellpower/DC boosts i have or is the 25/50/75% mastery enhancement all there is to boost damage/effectivness?
4. Universal spellpower and specific ones. Is it just a straight stacking? ie 100 USP and 150 acid spellpower is 250 effectively? And do they both stack with potency?
5. Does focussing in a particular school make any difference for buffs? Or things like remove curse/poison/fear etc.
I'm sure there's many more questions but i can't think of them atm.
Thanks