Boris' DDO blog thread.

Seldomseen wrote:

I dont think it matters if you do the elites first or last, So because of this assumption, For the quickess xp (although it will be slightly less than the max ) I usually recommend N/N/N/H/E ( the six one will give -10% so I usually try to only run 5 times unless it is really good loot, or really good xp).

I think when it is recommended to do elite X3 hard X1 and N x1 for max xp, I dont think it matters which order you do them in. Doing it this way allows you to do the normal at or 1 below your level and suffer no penalties, and hopefully you will be able to level up to do the hard, then the elites.

idk, you get 50% more xp doing it elite X4 then H, then N; which isnt a lot at low levels, but some quests with base 10k xp would mean an extra 5k xp doing it the elite way.

what matters most, is finishing the quests tho. you dont get any xp if you go over your head and fail

Also, the 6th run wont be -10%, because:

Quote :

This penalty (including the 10% cap) is waived if there is a "first time" difficulty bonus, though that completion still counts toward increasing the penalty on later attempts.

damn it sounds like all of you are having too much fun, its been really hard for me to get on lately and when I do no one is around to party up with

Easter, I will be coming back to DDO.

The main reason I have been absent, is of course work, which got very hectic over the Christmas/New Year period, and is continuing borderline manic since.

I have been keeping up with RK because it takes up so little time since I got eradicated, and a lot of good people keep in touch with me that way, but I am heading for a three-month retreat from all games in the summer due to a working visit to some country over on the other side of the British Ocean (Atlantic something or other...I dunno....) which really requires my full concentration. Any tips on how to survive in California are welcome, in this thread.

I might make it to Chicago too, but no promises.

In the meantime, I might offload the ongoing dispute I have with the DDO admins here, but suffice it to say that I still have had no meaningful help from the sods about purchasing premium services, and i am less than enthusiastic about trying to plough my way up levels on a FTP basis.

So, I love you all, and look forward to seeing you IG in a week or three.

Chicago is awesome. LA is eh. We need to buy you a drink if you hit the east coast.

I will need to have my hand held. I find the USA awesome and very scary. To a Brit, it is a little like walking into a TV set, through the looking glass style.

Lol! I might go to the States in September... I have holidays then and I'm not sure what to do with them yet :s US or Italy/Greece are the options atm.

Welcome back Boris - you've been sorely missed!

Greece is way too damn muggy just come visit me lol

welcome back man!

by the way, i have an idea about your sub problem. they sell ddo cards at gamestops by me..

Welcome back mate

Tod

TY Anto. Thats good news. Runescape and Facebook cards are freely available here. With any luck, DDO will be soon too. End of problem. They suggested prepayment debit cards, and I have looked at the market, but I have seen no indication that my address will not be a problem. Is it my fault that I don't live in a county? Still, Easter, I will retaste the joys.

Thanks Tod mate. I never went away, truth be told .

Fine don't come to Canada... not like we're nicer then the USA any how or friendly...

Hey girl, I dreamed about you last night. You're in my head, ain't that enough?

And sure I like the idea of visiting BC. This is a working trip tho. If I visit Canada, I assure you it will be pure pleasure.

and how many other girls got that line of you dreaming about them

glad to see you're around hun and yes if you ever made it up here, I'd take ya out for a drink or two

I think you left a couple of digits out Bella

Three digits.

Well, I'm back, and if you don't mind, I'll resume my blog, or, as I like to think of it, a view from the lower orders. I had plenty of fun and no small success in the land of the pneumatic blonde, but I won't go on about it unless I sense a desire from the rest of you, but suffice it to say I returned listing slightly in my seat, owing to the rather large and satisfying contract in my back pocket.

Gamewise, I am entering a slight free zone. I have no commitments at the BBC until January, and there is no home project on the go. The kids are at school, or nursery, and I have returned to my seasonal post driving red vans for the Royal Mail, which I like to do every year, because driving red vans is FUN. Also, the post gets manic at Christmas, and I like to stay in touch with my old mates at the mail centre, who have no clue what I do for the rest of the year, although my tan this year has invited speculation. I told them it was fake, and that goes down very well in North Bristol. On one occasion, i told the dispatcher, Jack, what I have been REALLY doing over the summer, and he said "Yeah, Right, now get that van out". Gotta love Bristol.

DDO. Thanks, Dee for the chat. I'll be honest, I haven't given any game any thought for months, and when I came around to running my two toons around a bit, I got confused very quickly, so I elected to start all over again. You will have met the two new guys already, and as I write, Manic Scottish Dwarf is level 5, and Menstrual Cleric is level 4.

The big news, though, is that, finally, on friday, I purchased five quids worth of Turbine Points. In the end it was PayPal who came through for me. Took a phone call to their head office, mind, but it worked wonders. I told them Turbine were not accepting my PayPal submission, and they suggested I got my account verified. I told them I had verified it, which I have. "That's strange", they said, "do they say why?" I explained to them that Turbine were blanking me because I would not submit a billing address they could recognise, owing to me not living in a county as such, and they said "Ah, that old thing. Leave it with us". A half hour later, They rang me back, and invited me to try again, while they stayed on the line. Briefly, 650 TPs were added to my account toot sweet, and I was upgraded to premium immediately. "Fantastic", I told PP, "What did you say to them? I tried for four months to get them to do that". "Ah", they retorted, "You are only a customer. WE are PayPal".

I don't know about you guys, but I set a high store by good customer service. It costs nothing, and is the common man's courtesy that makes the world a better place. So far, I score PayPal 11/10, and Turbine a big fat zero.

And what a difference it makes to the game. Can't wait to get back on now, as it happens. I bought Catacombs, and killing a load of Syndicate dudes, and I am running my toons through those, which makes trying to get out of low levels a lot easier. I am experimenting on the other two slots too, and when I decide what I want, I shall be putting them up for the guild as well. ATM it is looking like another Pally, and a Wizard, if I can get her to survive. Any tips on soloing a Wizard?

Arrivaderci chums.

depends. what race? what stats/build?

max intel, always add to intel as a wiz.

there are a few ways to make them, depends a lot on race and stats.

There are a few ways to solo a wizard.

The first is to make a WF wiz, as you will be able to reconstruct yourself, although I'm guessing it may not be an option for you as you haven't bought the class yet.

The second is to struggle through the lower levels and follow the Pale Master route (look here at the prerequisites for this - http://ddowiki.com/page/Wizard_enhancements). This will give you more HP, allow you to summon an undead to help you out. You can also cast the level 2 spell "lesser death aura" and eventually the level 4 spell "death aura" which will enable you to self-heal.

my level 20 wiz is a pale master

they are only viable with 12+ wizard levels and the correct feats, so is good to know. maybe you should play with the builder, Boris.

Okay, after a few false starts, I have a build and a tactic that I hope will see me through to level 3 or 4, then I shall look at things again.

In the meantime, I have chosen RANGER for third character, she is already level 3, and looking good. Please add POLLYSTYRENE to the guild when you have a moment.

Taking your pleas to heart guys, and taking guild renown at all opportunities. Got to show willing, eh?

Gonna play the game now, and stop blogging about it.

Invite sent for POLLYSTYRENE. Future requests for invites more visible in the guild membership thread!

I thought I might update the blog, on the offchance that anyone gives a shit. sometimes i feel that what I do is small beer, but each time I log on I see the guild message, and I know i am contributing to something worthwhile, even though it seems barely useful. I take guild renown unless I can actually use a chest item, and so far I have put around 40k total into the pot in the last couple of weeks. That's a guess, by the way, but it must be something like that.

Mine is a solo game, i guess. Logging on times don't really gel with the rest of you, but I seem to be playing around 3-4 hours a day notwithstanding that.

I stand:

Pollysyrene, Ranger 6, pushing 7. should make it this weekend. Going the way of the tempest, and i am loving the shield of steel feat which I just bought. She solos well with a cleric set on autoheal, and the range weapon is good, but i feel not quite good enough, and i shall be looking for a killer bow to give it a boost. currently I am using "Guidance" from the catacombs reward list, but i am sure i can do better. Any suggestions? Currently my main character, as a cloak of detect secret doors helps no end, but she takes a lot of damage from traps, etc. still, the cleric usually sorts that out.

Rheeta metermaid, wizard 5. I should probably use her more, and will as soon as I have a proper handle on 3 barrel cove, which I just bought. I took a horrible beating with her quite recently, and have lazily been using the ranger, which is a lot easier to play. Still, i used her as a pathfinder on the Shan to kor series, and she did very well, even trashing the final guardian monster on normal level.

Alarnis Borissette, Cleric 5, a bit dormant at the moment, as is...

Slabrog Xorbi, Barbarian 5, who is a little black and white for my taste. I may drop this guy if I succumb to temptation and start a favoured soul character.

Payments to turbine, well, they are now taking 2 of my cards as well as paypal, so that is no longer a problem. I have to say it was an effort, though, but in the end worth it I think. I don't think they get many transatlantic calls, but the have finally altered their drop-down menu to accommodate those of us in the UK who do not actually live in counties ^ ^.

So, heading toward mid-level, slowly. In the weeks to come, i shall split my time Ranger 75%, Wizard 25%, and see where i can get.

Oh, thanks Dee for tolerating grouping with me last week. It was a lot of fun, and I hope to do more group stuff if it comes up in the future.

Hey Boris, congrats on your progress so far.

As far as bows go, there really is not anything easy. Once you hit higher levels you really only have a few options, and one of them is greensteel which is a grind. However I do recommend a lightning strike bow for all rangers, there is nothing quite like it...

A cheap option around level 15 or so is Bow of Sinew. I have one of these but it sits in my bank, I only carry one bow and thats my lightning strike these days.

oh yea, almost forgot:

the silver longbow is the best bow you can get for now. min level 6.

http://ddowiki.com/page/Silver_Longbow

You can get it in the quest Church and the Cult in House P or on the auction house.

Yea Boris I have a Level 9 Archer and he uses the Silver bow and as I dont have perscision yet, another bow with that feat if I am working with others.

Tod

Good work and love the read