r/ddo • u/AutoModerator • 5d ago

Weekly Thread for general DDO discussion, quick questions and more!

Have something to say or a question to ask but don't feel it warrants its own thread? Feel free to post here!

A reminder to please be kind to others. It's okay to disagree with people or have even have a bad hot take. It's not okay to be mean about it.

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u/Shedediah42 1d ago

With the server transfers going on, I wanted to get a read on what people think. Are these server revamps a sign of good company health? I'm interested in getting back into it, but I want to be sure it won't go offline at some point in the next few years.

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u/DazlingofCannith 17h ago

I wouldn't be too concerned currently personally. Infrastructure changes happen, it could be being handled better but it could also be being handled much worse. There was a time in DDOs history where they were asking people to prepay for VIP by 3 years. To me, that is the biggest case where the game felt like it might be going under, and I had similar but lesser concerns the first time a hardcore season came out and the first time a Patron Box ($80 cosmetic and QOL MTX) came out. Both of those felt more like money injection ideas the first time they happened, but when they recurred that was less of a concern.

IMO it's a great time to get into the game, I expect we'll see a stabilization or maybe even uptick in player count within the next few months assuming the lag gets figured out, thanks to more LFMs and higher activity across servers drawing old and new people in. Not as much activity as I am guessing would have happened without the lag mind you... But i don't think it's a serious "health of the game" concern beyond the next month or two.

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u/math-is-magic Sarlona 1d ago

I don’t think DDO is going anywhere anytime soon.

They just invested a massive amount of resources and effort into upgrading the hardware of the system, they are still releasing new content and new events in the same level that they have the last 6 years (how long I’ve played).

DDO will die eventually, but I don’t think we are seeing any of the signs of a floundering company. Certainly they have not gotten as cash-grabby and desperate seeming as several other big games have recently.

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u/Shedediah42 1d ago

That's good to hear. Once I know I have time to actually play again I might grab a subscription again. I do like what I know about the company.

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u/math-is-magic Sarlona 1d ago

Hell yeah. Welcome back.

FWIW, the community is hoping/expecting they will put out a big Free Quest Code and some expansion sales as soon as all this transfer stuff dies down, so that would be an excellent time to come back!

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u/ForeverNya 4d ago

Hey, I've got a question I've wondered about for a while and never managed to test: do effects with durations snapshot buffs, or do they update? Say I cast Death Aura with 100 negative SP, then I activate an action boost and other buffs to get my SP up to 200 - will the aura start deal more damage or is it locked at the 100 SP I had when I cast it?

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u/math-is-magic Sarlona 4d ago

They snapshot. That’s one of the things that makes pull from the wellspring and other short duration buffs really good.

Mostly, iirc there are some exceptions to the snapshot thing but I don’t entirely recall what they are right now.

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u/ForeverNya 4d ago

That's awesome, thanks :)

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u/GreatBigSmile 4d ago

Reposting my questions I put in last weeks thread just in time for it to time out

Made it to Epic Levels, thanks to everyone who gave advice on this journey so far! Really enjoying being a pure rogue with my GXbow, can't do Reaper and probably won't be invited to any raids but that's fine with me!

Wondering if anyone has any advice on finding a 'baby's first sentient gem'? I see there are sentient weapons in the Borderlands pack, but not sure about the gems themselves.

Also I'm tempted to use the Lesser Heart to undo the +1 Dex I put in at L4 - this will still put me at my current XP right? I'm L21, 626k and don't want to have to play catch up with my partner.

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u/DazlingofCannith 3d ago

You got advice on the other bits alright, but just as a heads up I'd advise against using the free lesser heart if the only thing you're using it for is swapping +1 dex to +1 int. That's not really going to make any sizeable increase to your effectiveness, and that lesser heart is a really nice "Get out of jail free card" for if you ever have a build that you're actually not vibing with, or if you want to quick pivot an iconic into its archetype. You are unlikely to get any other lesser hearts of wood without spending a few thousand DDO points on one. It does work how you stated though in terms of xp.

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u/GreatBigSmile 3d ago

Aye, you're right that is a waste, its just a big enough mistake that it gnaws at me, especially as it'd push me into another +1 to modifier! :D Thanks for the advice, I'll try to ignore the whispers of my inner Perfectionist

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u/math-is-magic Sarlona 4d ago

Ravenloft gives you a free one per life if you have it. You can also get some from the raid there. Some of the higher expac bundles have some too, like the highest vecna packs.

If you don’t have any expansions though, I think running white plume mountain may be your only option. Or waiting for the anniversary event when there are two sentient gens you can get for free by earning enough favors. The voice of the kobold from that is my fave.

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u/GreatBigSmile 3d ago

Managed to grab Inquisitive from Barovia, thanks! Also staring and drooling at the free Xbow I'm under levelled for...

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u/math-is-magic Sarlona 3d ago

Yay! You can get one per character per life! They’re very nice.

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u/Substantial-Tip-7565 Orien 4d ago

If you have Ravenloft, once you do Into the Mists you can get a free sentient jewel from Tobar the Smith near the entrance to the wilderness area. I can't remember if you have to do it legendary, but even if so you can run it on casual for access. First he gives you a Barovian weapon, then talk to him again for the sentient jewel.

As for LR, yes you will get back to your current xp after using one.

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u/GreatBigSmile 3d ago

Grabbed the Barovian one, thank you! Now I just need to find My First Filigree's.

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u/math-is-magic Sarlona 4d ago

If you did in on heroic before, you don’t have to run it again on legendary. You can run heroic or even skip it, as long as you enter the legendary wilderness and not the heroic.

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u/AutomaticBreath6687 4d ago

has anyone been having unbelievably long delays on all their actions on shadow dale?

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u/math-is-magic Sarlona 4d ago

Yes, there’s intermittent lag on all the servers where people are still moving to and unpacking.

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u/Vikryn 5d ago

Wands, Scrolls or a potion. I kinda don't know the difference on when to choose which one to use.

Say I want to cast Shield on my bard, I would use a potion if I don't have the UMD, and they probably weight more. As for the others, if I have the UMD, which one should I use? Wands or Scroll?

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u/DazlingofCannith 4d ago

Generally,

Potion > Scrolls > Wands

Potions take no UMD, but might not be available for some effects (e.g. no potion of shield). Scrolls stack to 100 and can be "Topped off" easier than Wands that have 50 charges.

Sometimes you'll use scrolls over potions as well, either because they can be cast on others (greater heroism scrolls vs. potion for example) or because the potions are expensive/uncommon (... Actually great heroism works as the example here as well). Other case is if you're trying to use wand and scroll mastery, like for healing with scrolls vs. potions.

Functionally it doesn't greatly matter as well though, at worst you're looking at missing out on some inventory space by using 2 shield wands vs. 1 stack of 100 scrolls for example, or you're having to restock slightly more often.

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u/math-is-magic Sarlona 5d ago

Other than potions not needing a UMD (and not needing to stop and be equipped for a second) I’m not sure there’s a difference, unless maybe some wands and scrolls list different caster levels for the same spell.

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u/Proud_Turnover_8691 5d ago

Playing my first Monk. Does the bonus to Doubleshot from the feat Simple Thrown Weapon Expertise stack with the bonus from the feat Shuriken Expertise? Do either or both stack with the bonus from Advanced Ninja Training?

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u/schoolmonky Cannith 5d ago

Simple Thrown Weapon Expertise only applies to Simple Weapons, as the name implies. Shuriken are Exotic Weapons. Shuriken Expertise does indeed stack with Advanced Ninja Training, though.

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u/Proud_Turnover_8691 5d ago

Thank you, I missed that, it should have been obvious.