Tips for grinding?

[Sturmbb]

What @Buddha5440 said. If you've played before, then starting a new character as an Iconic is fine. But if you've never played before, then you won't be familiar with quests and your capabilities at a much higher level of play, and you may get frustrated with the difficulty of higher level quests that you're not familiar with.

Thank you for the response. I understand now what he was referring to and i completely agree. I wasnt sure if there was an additional disadvantage to starting your TR train with an Iconic.

Thank you for clearin that up

 

[Sturmbb]

I'd say, don't start your (as the player, not the character) first life as an Iconic because you miss the opportunity to see how things develop as you level. If it's just your first life on that character and not your first life in the game, I see no real reason to avoid going with an Iconic.

Beyond that, I agree with many above that it's most important to find a playstyle you like and adjust it to fit many builds. I have a bow user that has never used a melee weapon in her lives and simply do a Rng 6/Rog 2/X 12 for past lives and another that is only SnB with a Pally base.

Thank you for the response. I understand now what he was referring to and i completely agree. I wasnt sure if there was an additional disadvantage to starting your TR train with an Iconic.

Thank you for clearin that up

 

[Buddha5440]

Thank you for the response. I understand now what he was referring to and i completely agree. I wasnt sure if there was an additional disadvantage to starting your TR train with an Iconic.

Thank you for clearin that up

Glad to have helped.

The thing about doing an Iconic as a first toon is that you basically jump into the game mid-stream instead of just wading into the stream and getting a chance to feel the current before you're in over your head.

 

[Drachmor]

I went from doing 3 dozen past lives over the course of years, to a dozen in a couple months. Here are some specific things that changed:

-started using the xp elixirs I’d been saving
-took advantage of the Halloween event to get very fast xp in epic levels for a few of these lives
-I have a bunch of AC from epic past lives, reaper points, and a bunch of damage-based past lives, so my character is generally strong
-I play builds that I enjoy and have been carefully planned on DDOBuilder (it’s a fun tool, check it out)
-and the biggest, biggest change: I don’t delay when it comes time to click the “reincarnate” button. You want to reincarnate? Don’t wait several weeks: take the leap! Oh, and the real answer:
-inventory organization. No literally. No seriously.

Some incorrect things from this thread:
-“fighter past lives give you attack and damage.” They actually give attack and +tactics DCs. (Monk lives and Dragonlord lives will give you damage- just check the Wikipedia to make sure)
-iconic lives will give you a heroic and an epic life feat. Nope. They’ll give you a heroic and an iconic life feat.
-getting +2 intelligence from certain racial PLs will give you additional skill points going forward. Unfortunately, not true
-you should farm 3x Druid lives, so your hirelings are stronger. This is the worst advice I’ve ever seen to give to a new player jk but. Wow, no don’t worry about grinding 3 Druid PLs so your cleric hireling lasts a few more seconds standing in a pool of acid (unless you love Druid). Focus on builds you enjoy and past lives that help *you* succeed

Some correct stuff from this thread:
-don’t burnout. play what you like while working towards long-term goals
-check the Wikipedia for all the past life benefits, and pick the ones that matter most for what you are trying to do
-epic PLs are very impactful

Not mentioned:
-xp tomes. There’s one for heroic and one for epic. Normally not necessary on a first life (or first few lives, now that it takes a while for the increased xp requirement to kick in). But it’s worth looking up so you’re aware of these, as the xp bonus is gigantic and ultimately a must-have.
-xp elixirs. I used to save these “for later,” but no, just drink them (feel free to put a LITTLE thought into it). You don’t want to finish 10 past lives and realize it could have happened with dozens of hours less grind just by using your resources

And finally, some clarification just in case things are confusing:

You can get a heroic past life OR racial past life feat by reincarnating at level 20 or above. One or the other- you choose when you reincarnate.

You can reincarnate at level 20, or randomly do it at level 24 (you’d have wasted some time grinding epic experience).

You can even do it at level 30, but if you make it that far, just remember to do an EPIC REINCARNATION FIRST. This will grant you an epic past life feat and bring you back to level 20, at which point you can reincarnate back to level 1.

If you play as an Iconic, you have to go to level 30 before you can reincarnate. You will receive both an iconic past life feat and a heroic past life feat. You will not have the opportunity to get a racial or epic past life that life.

 

[Wormfood]

Hi There, may i ask why you shouldnt start your first life as an iconic?

Others have replied, but I didn't see this reason: Heroic "Experience needed increases after your 4th and 7th TR" (LINK) so you might as well benefit as much as possible from the lower amounts of experience needed on those first lives by playing them from level 1.

However, this is just about efficiency. The main advice is to have fun

 

[norriskwondo]

voice of the master, xp elixirs, tome of learning. Do all the sagas and take the reward for xp, guild buffs if you have them. If you want to spend money, you can pic a class/race that you excel in using to quickly get through quests. Use it everytime, then use wish for memories for racial reincarnation, or +5hearts to change to the class you want past live on. Theres 3day wait on using +hearts and you'd have to make sure you have 11 levels of the class you want Or if when they're available use otto boxes with xp elixir and voice of master to max the xp from them

 

[Kimbere]

I'd say, don't start your (as the player, not the character) first life as an Iconic because you miss the opportunity to see how things develop as you level. If it's just your first life on that character and not your first life in the game, I see no real reason to avoid going with an Iconic.

Beyond that, I agree with many above that it's most important to find a playstyle you like and adjust it to fit many builds. I have a bow user that has never used a melee weapon in her lives and simply do a Rng 6/Rog 2/X 12 for past lives and another that is only SnB with a Pally base.

Agreed.

As a new player, starting from level 1 provides a lot of learning opportunities in the lower levels that will be missed if you start as an Iconic.

Secondly, one of DDO's strong points is the massive class and build diversity possibilities. It offers many different playstyles, each with their own pros and cons.

Leveling different builds and taking the time to learn their differences as you level them instead of just zerging/grinding to cap as fast as possible can be a lot of fun and very educational.

To some extent, DDO has two different "endgames". Staying at cap and raiding is one. The other is TRing to different builds and trying something new each time you level. Both can be fun.

 

[PurpleTimb]

-xp elixirs. I used to save these “for later,” but no, just drink them

I'll +1 this advice. I used to save so much stuff on so many alts to use "when I need it." But that mythical day when I "needed it" never seems to announce itself and so those XP elixirs and +10 MRR potions would just gather electronic dust while cluttering up my storage space.

You might want to skip using XP elixirs your first four lives while the XP demand is much lower to get to 20, but after life four it starts to go up and it's always the same for epic XP. Just drink the elixirs. If you drink more than one their duration will be extended; if you take different level elixirs it will pause the lower value one until the higher value elixir expires and then it will resume. Additionally, XP elixirs persist through TRs so you don't need to worry about using them up in your current life.

 

[The Narc2]

Agreed.

As a new player, starting from level 1 provides a lot of learning opportunities in the lower levels that will be missed

To some extent, DDO has two different "endgames". Staying at cap and raiding is one. The other is TRing to different builds and trying something new each time you level. Both can be fun.

Yes to some extent!

Then there is the third, that is start game directly into end game with no grind to get there at all, to the OP this is to join a Permadeath guild like EXTREME MV Permadeath. You will get all the challenge if the game you need and not waist a minute if your life grinding or chasing the jones that have 30+ past lives. You will be running in a guild with everyone starting out on first life toons, playing whatever builds nit some meta cookie cutter and you will find lots of friendly people interested in grouping.

So to sum it up, my tip for grinding is, dont do it all play the game in a fun environment, dont waste years of your like chasing small incremental bonuses that will only be countered in new raids by designed power adjustments. Adjust your own power for the same effect and play entirely for fun.

P.S. that grind your ask about involves you trying to grind up to where whales gave spent thousands of dollars acquiring lives and gear.

 

[Qrvar]

Embrace the gimp. Realize that trying to catch up to all-completionists in DDO in 2025 (and just in general) is a fool's errand and your time and effort are better spent elsewhere. Make progress (or don't) at your own pace and on your own terms. And, of course, pike your way to the top.

If you do decide to trade your happiness and very sanity for character power, at least do yourself a favor and get a Greater Learning Tome. The heroic train starts getting pretty unbearable once XP per life starts to increase.

 

[TrinityTurtle]

FIrst, don't think of it as grind. This may seem facetious, but I'm serious. This is a game, not a job. Look for the *fun* in playing. Use teh class plast lives as a chance to explore new options and see what other roles are out there. For racials a strategy is playing a class you love and enjoy and are good wtih gear you built up if you want to do them quickly.
My personal strategy for a newer toon (I started a few now that my compltion toon is done on her long meandering path)
Use iconics for class, it's fast and fun, and the four classes that don't have iconics can be done neatly using a 6 rogue/6 arty/8 class of choice you want to get when you iconic tr as an inquisitive trapper for example.
Then I pair epic reincarnation with racial reincarnations to keep the total amount of lives required as low as possible. Some people will do it similarly, others will scream I'm completely wrong and have a different plan.

Figure out your goals and wants, and enjoy the ride. : )
PS: Don't skip the older epic content, that is where the tokens are for the heroic hearts to tr. They are slower than getting in tht 20-34 groups oding legendary content that are willing to carry smaller epic toons, but you'll end up grinding them anyway later for the tokesn. I have an insame amount of purple tokens in my crafting storage just by doing the, nad crunching the shards into tokens fromt he quests that don't give wohle tokens.

 

[Drunken.dx]

but getting both the INT (+2 Drow and Gnome)

wait does int from racial PL counts for skill points?

 

[Drachmor]

wait does int from racial PL counts for skill points?

no

 

[Fhrek]

wait does int from racial PL counts for skill points?

No. Just for skill checks, Reflex saves if using insightul reflex and other INT related stuff.

 

[Drunken.dx]

No. Just for skill checks, Reflex saves if using insightul reflex and other INT related stuff.

figured.

you got me hoping I missed something about it.

 

[Thumbed_Servant]

wait does int from racial PL counts for skill points?

As Drachmor said, no (as in, you will not get another skill point per level to spend on skills). To be clear, it will give an additional +1 Intelligence modifier point that will increase Intelligence based spell DC's and give an additional +1 to Intelligence based skills (Search, Disable Device, Spellcraft and Repair). And should you be using Intelligence for To Hit and/or To Damage those will also be increased by +1. That's the pedantic answer.

I found this out the hard way. I had read the DDO.wiki page on on Racial Reincarnation and missed the text: All accrued bonuses are applied at Level 1 (i.e. immediately after character creation). Bonuses to attributes change the final, but not "base" value; i.e. they do not count for Feat prerequisites, bonus Intelligence does not count toward Skill Points, etc. So once I had the Intelligence bonus from past lives and was leveling up a character I noticed a "missing" skill point. The past life bonuses did not count, my bad for not reading more carefully

Shout out to those who keep DDO.wiki running!!!

 

[Fhrek]

you got me hoping I missed something about it.

Hehehe sorry the way I phrased it was a bit mislead (was not the intention).

As I play a caster, I found it pretty useful and was my go to while grinding Racial Past Lifes (Int > Con > Cha > Wis > Dex (has soooo many of them ugh) > Str).

Just because Int is used in so many skills and DCs checks.

 

[norriskwondo]

hehehehe it is confused at first, but with time you will get the hang of it. So, you are into melee gameplay, focus on increase your damage and survival, getting gear and past lifes that will augment your damage output (Fighter, Monk, Ranger) and defensive bulk (Paladin, Barbarian).

@Vox is right, going one of each life to get heroic completionist is good because it gives you +2 to all stats and skills kicking at Lv 3. But, it demands you to be Vip or have all classes.


Yes, but depends on builds, some Ranged builds (Inquisitive) can jump right into the frai at first life... others needs some preparation to going upping the difficult as you get more past lifes under your belt. Having a heroic base can smooth your epic journey. Again, going solo will always be harder than in a group.


Would not recommend Iconics for first lifes. You would be without baseline gear, quest knowledge and what you can or can't withstand.

Again, @Vox is absolutely right

All iconics start with gear good enough to get them to level 20. And depending your strategy to level 30, they can get you to level 30. But since there's a literal void of gear until you get to level 29 and thats only if you have the extension packs. the level 15 iconic gear is probably better than you'll get with rondom drops. And if you do have access to some of the extension packs you can use your iconic to grind some that gear you're missing. If you grind through for heroic completionis, do bard and rogue last.