Talk:More Noob Questions

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I keep coming up with questions that I can't find answers to in all the otherwise fine resources referenced on this site. So I thought I would start a new topic and post my questions as they come to me.

To start off with: Is there any reason not to start by doing a quest on Casual? A related question: If I do a quest Casual, then go back and do it Normal, do I get more Favor? Can I accumulate Favor by doing the same quest over and over at the same level?

It doesn't look like it to me, but I have noticed that sometimes there is a serious delay (like 1 day +) before my Favor totals update.

Here's another question: Does anyone how I keep accidentally finding myself running in circles? Someone in-game said it was a bug, but most people that chimed in said they had never heard of it. I think I am doing some weird accidental multi-click thing with my mouse. Sometimes if I sit down and then stand up, it corrects itself, but sometimes when I sit down my view just spins instead of my character. I tried toggling mouse view mode, that didn't help.

Thanks in advance, gang!

Rpw1066 17:03, March 1, 2010 (EST)

hope this helps:

• reason not doing quests on casual - casual setting offers really poor loot, especially this is important: key flagging items that are supposed in chest are not always there on casual. thus people usually ignore it, or just do it once for first time xp bonus
• you dont get more favor by doing casual then normal, favor is based on the highest difficulty you have beaten on said quest.
• favor sheet lag - its a bug related with database performance, ddo is now frigging FtP game - FtP games generally offers poor server performance than subscription-based games... we all have to live with it... most of the time logging out and logging back in a few times gets rid of it though.
• running in circles - no idea about this one, sounds like you need to clean up your mouse or get a new one...

yoko5000 21:03, March 1, 2010 (EST)

Round Two

Thank you for the input! I did eventually find the Favor answer on the DDO forums, would have figured it out for myself quickly if not for the delay in the granting of it. I appreciate your taking the time for a response in any case.

On the mouse, I have a 5-button scroll mouse that doesn't give me trouble in any other app. In Windows, I have the extra buttons unassigned, but it appears that they are auto-assigned in DDO. In particular, I see that button 4 is auto-run. I'm sure that is part of it, sitting turns that off, and now I see that R should toggle that off as well. Now if I can just figure out this "auto-run in circles" command is, I'll be set.

More questions...

I have seen several references to vendors (e.g. wand vendor) in the Rusty Nail. I have been there many times now and only see the 2 barkeeps, and their fare appears to be the usual. Is this information out of date? Do the vendors hide well?

Next, I cannot find any data on the "Invasion Tokens" quest bestowed by Phinnian Barkbow in the Harbor. I'm likely way over my head on this one as a solo 4th lvl ranger, but I can't even figure out where to go to start this one.

And here's one on hirelings. I haven't tried a hireling yet, but I think I understand how they work. I only see casters and tanks available. Sometimes I just need a rogue to pick a lock or find a secret door, but I can't find any rogue hirelings. Do they not exist?

Rpw1066

Casual

Another thing to keep in mind for Casual... when you start repeat a quest, you start getting an XP penalty of -10% for every time past the third (or second, I can never remember) - except for the first time on a difficulty. So you don't want to waste one of those "free" times on Casual if you can help it! Especially a quest which you might do often, such as Durk's Got a Secret (if you're farming Muckbane, which I highly recommend) or Defend Haverdasher (quick and easy quest with two chests, what's not to love?).

Running issue

I've had the running in circles problem before... I've found if I switch windows and then back (I play in windowed mode anyway, but it should work to alt-tab out and back) it fixes itself. Usually happens in the most inopportune places, like near a cliff, or near a large group you don't want to run into *quite* yet.

Rusty Nail

It's out of date - a lot of stuff has been moved around, and apparently not everything has been updated yet. Are you seeing these references here or on other sites? I know that if you do Google searches for about half of the Harbor quests, you'll see references to getting them at the Leaky Dinghy. I *believe* they've all been updated on DDOWiki...

Invasion Tokens

I believe those come from Invaders! which is a 12th-level quest. The chalice starts glowing gold at 9th (maybe 10th) level but you can't actually get in until 12th unless somebody higher up invites you along. And yay for solo rangers! That's what I mostly play (well, with a splash of rogue, for those pesky locks and traps!)

Rogue hirelings

From what I've heard, no. I guess Turbine figures that PC casters and fighters will always be in demand (usually more intelligent than the AI) while if a trapmonkey hireling showed up, PC rogues might suddenly be out of a job. Dunno that that's true, but it's their game!

LrdSlvrhnd 22:21, March 2, 2010 (EST)

i edited and fixed some of related articles. thank you for great feedback for the site, feel free to keep posting your questions.

• The Marketplace Bazaar
• Invaders!
• Invasion Tokens

yoko5000 23:30, March 2, 2010 (EST)

Great help! I read about and have been grinding for Muckbane, have only seen Muck twice out of 10-12 runs, still no glass club! I know it's probably chance, but how many times might I expect to do this quest before I get the treasured Muckbane? Do you have to do it at Hard or Elite to even have a chance at Muck?

Also, I am glad you brought up Defending Haverdasher, because I had seen other references to that but could not find it in game. The in-game name for that quest is just "Haverdasher".

How about Haggle? Is it something you do automatically? I have a +3 Haggle necklace and I seem to get somewhat better prices when I put it on before approaching a vendor. Is that all there is to it?

My main so far is a 4th level Ranger who is close to leveling. If I am going to keep flying solo, what quests should I be working at this point?

Well, I did Durk's probably 20 times before I got Muckbane on one server, and I don't believe it matters what difficulty - I eventually pulled it on solo (which is now casual), and another server I got it within 4-5 runs on solo. I dunno if it appears on casual, but I would assume it does. Once you get to the point where you're not getting any XP or good loot from ransacking, there's no real reason to *not* do it on a lower difficulty, where you can rush through it more quickly. I've also noticed that opening the door by Muck helps with spawning him - I've opened the other door, run up to Muck's alcove, and had no Muck... then opened that one, and just running around looking for something else, had Muck spawn. Or it might be a chance for each door, so it doesn't hurt to check. You can also haunt the Auction House, sometimes people actually post them at a reasonable price, and you just might get lucky. I've gotten 3-4 that way - just get into the habit of checking every time you sign on, and every time you run near it.

And yeah, it's just Haverdasher in the game... but in order to link to it, I needed to use the Wiki's title. There's a note in the Talk page for it about that, but I've no idea how to just change the page name. Like I said, quick little quest with decent amounts of loot, at least for that level. Nothing worth writing home about later, but if you ever feel a need to just kill stuff... *g* I also use it when I fail a quest and want to restore all my clickies and suchnot; more fun than hanging around inside a tavern!

Haggle is indeed a passive skill, you get/save a tiny little bit extra with each point. It also doesn't matter whether you up it before talking, or during the negotiation. You'll also get a little boost if you up your charisma (I use a pair of Goggles of Eagle's Splendor) and use Ranger Skill Boost. It's not a lot of extra coin in your pocket, but every little bit helps!

As for questing... make sure you've done all the quests on Elite that you can (especially the 1st-level Korthos quests, if you haven't done those on Elite) and after that, check the Houses. The Depths series in House D are good 4th and 5th-level quests which I, personally, enjoy; House P and J have a few... Oh, make sure you've done all the Cerulean Hills rares and slayer before you level up, as you'll start getting an XP penalty. If you're VIP, I find Sharn Syndicate to be fun and good XP (I levelled my HaggleBard from just-4th to halfway-to-5 just on doing the first three in the chain a few times each... of course, this was also during this weekend's 20% bonus thingie) Honestly, though, if you're gonna continue to solo, I *highly* recommend adding a level of rogue. I even more recommend starting over *as* a rogue, since you're not too far into the game yet. Traps can get pretty brutal.

LrdSlvrhnd 21:38, March 3, 2010 (EST)

the only place to get a rogue hireling that i know of is from the DDO store and you can get one at lvl 4 for 30 turbine points

Leave the path?

Yoko seemed to be pretty handy with the editing skills, I threw that Haverdasher correction out there thinking Yoko might have the knowledge and the permissions necessary to do corrections at the page name level.

I'm glad to hear that Muck is available at Solo. I have been doing it at Hard all the time because I didn't see Muck at the lower levels, and those shamans are much more capable at Hard!

I will likely start a rogue. If I add a level of rogue to my ranger, is that "leaving the path"? I don't even remember which path I picked. Clearly not Arcane Archer, as I ended up with an INT of 8! How big of a deal are the paths? During char creation they made it sound like there's a lot of bennies to picking a path and staying on it, but in the forums it seems to be all about customization and multi-classing.

You guys are great! I really appreciate the quick and detailed responses I have been getting.

And quite clearly he does, as it has indeed been moved (Thanks, Yoko!) And yeah, kobold shamans are *nasty* at higher levels. Once you get Hold Person tossed at you while you're surrounded by half a dozen other kobolds... a quick and un-fun way to die. And with their jumping-up-the-wall routine, they're even MORE annoying!

Yes, adding a level of another class will, indeed, be "leaving the path." And it may be Arcane Archer, since INT isn't all that important for a ranger - their casting ability is WIS, and I'm not sure an AA even needs *that*. Far as I know, the "Arcane Archer" bit comes from conjuring special arrows, not casting arcane magicks. Me, I'm a fan of Tempest. Wade right in and whack-a-mole! As far as I know, the only real benefit to going by a path is not having to worry about screwing up at level-up and not being able to take a Prestige Enhancement because you didn't have the right feat/ability/enhancement/what-have-you. You can recreate a path exactly using customization. If you know what you're doing, custom is the way to go - a path might give, say, a rogue 18 DEX, when the player would be happy with 16 DEX and put those extra 6 ability points into pumping up his CHA for a better UMD, or maybe a couple extra points into STR for a bit more damage, etc. And if you're going to multiclass, custom is *definitely* the way to go, because chances are a path for one class is gonna screw you for another - that 8 INT, for instance. Gonna be tough even STARTING with Disable Device (not to mention Open Door, but that's far less critical), let alone throwing a couple points in every so often as a ranger). My Ranger/Rogue has an INT of 12, which allows me to put points in all the sneaky/searchy skills, as well as Heal (a must for soloers, gotta get the max out of shrines possible!), and two in DD every level. A human could do that with 10 INT, though. However, if you *don't* know what you're doing, it's real easy to screw things up... And it's usually recommended to *start* with your Rogue class because of the x4 skillpoint boost at first level. You may want to find a DDO Character Generator (A quick search of the forums should come across it) to help keep yourself on track. I tend to go a little more on-the-fly, once I figured out what I need for Tempest.

Bear in mind, however, that I only started playing a few months ago, and my highest-level character is level 10, and I more or less abandoned him - not because he was becoming unplayable, but because Turbine had a sale going for 32-point builds, and I wanted it. So any advice from me isn't exactly "professional."

LrdSlvrhnd 16:13, March 4, 2010 (EST)

Quick note from Shaozu if you want to give your old lv10 character the benefits of a 32pt build there is a reincarnation item that will make your old character a 32pt build and allow you to redo your character without losing any levels or equipment.

Splitting Favor

I finally got Muckbane! What a pain in the watusi! I must have run through there at least 25 times. I was just starting to think that tying up several inventory slots with disposable clubs wasn't so bad. With them selling for 75-100gp at the AH, I'd like to get 2 or 3 of them, but I was starting to get sick of the game running the same dungeon for no XP over and over. I'm not a farmer at heart.

Anyway, I'm level 5 and I still have not grouped at all. I tried going back to Korthos and doing some of the low-level quests on elite, and I am finding that I still can't do some of them. For example, Redemption. I can keep from getting killed myself, but I can't keep Lars from getting killed on Elite or even consistently at Hard. This is supposed to be a Level 1 quest, and I can't do it solo Elite at Level 5. What level do you need to be to reasonably expect success? If I group to do it, does everyone get the same level of Favor?

I've done it at 4 or so with my rogue/ranger and my gimped Hagglebard; however, it's not easy! It usually takes me a few tries before I manage to get the timing down. My advice is to get a bunch of Bracers of Assistance from the Cannith Crystal and keep an eye on Heyton, and cast them when you see his HP slipping (as an added bonus, it helps his attack, to boot!) You can also run Redemption a few times at a lower level for the healing cloak, to bump his HP back up. I like running around with 3-4 of each anyway for soloing. You can also buy a healing wand, but that can get pricey. If you really wade in, you should have a second or two between waves to buff him back up. Make sure not to use the first Bracer on him until the fight's actually started, however - it won't take. As far as I know, everybody in a group gets the full XP and Favor upon completion. Have fun soloing Misery's Peak on Elite... the invisible spiders throw spitballs at you!

. As for farming... no, I'm not a fan, either. I'll generally "farm" a quest maybe half a dozen times and then go do something else for a while, and try again later, or the next day. I was trying to get a Ring of Feathers from the end-chest in the third Shan-To-Kor quest last month, and I probably did it close to 20 times in the span of a week, and that's a LONG quest full of traps... finally, I gave up and went to do another quest... 5 minutes later, I had a feather-falling ring from the end reward. The only difference being it's bound to account, but since I wasn't going to sell it ANYWAY... I was yelling muchly lol

 LrdSlvrhnd 20:40, March 7, 2010 (EST)

Hotkeys and Macros

I'm back with more questions! I used to play Evercrack several years back, and in that game you could automate just about anything and assign it to a hotkey. I cannot figure out how to do that or find anyone talking about it anywhere ("anywhere" being on this site and the DDO.com site).

For example, when I was the meat shield, my druid buddy had a hotkey that would target me by name and cast a heal. Once he had that set up, all he had to do was hit "3" or whatever and I was healed. he didn't have to try to target me while I was in the middle of a fight. I want to do exactly that. I want to do Redemption on Elite with my 4th level cleric, and I think I could pull it off if I could consistently target Lars, but I found this very dicey at Hard, lost count of how many heals I wasted before I got a successful heal on lars, but it was at least 5. That won't cut it on Elite based on previous experience with another character.

The weaponset hotkey setup is slick. Surely more can be done with the hotkeys in DDO. Where is the documentation?

ADD: I just found this: [1] According to this post, you can create all sorts of "aliases" that you can then type in the chat window, but you can't map them to the hotkeys. :-(

Tell me it ain't so!

Exactly what you hope to do with setting up a one keystroke macro isn't possible without a programmable keyboard. However, you can accomplish your end goal of being able to target and heal your friend on a consistent basis using "F-targeting" and your' current hotbar set up.. First, let's break down what "F-targeting" is.. Each member of your party is by default linked to a hot-key.. The first person in your party (Always you) is F1, next person is F2, straight through to the last person whom is F6. This pattern continues in a raid group with the top person in the second column being F7 and the bottom being F12. Using this, you should be able to select your friend Lars by counting down from you in your party list and knowing he is say 3rd.... If you have heal as Slot 7 on Hotbar 1 for example, you could then hit [F3], [Ctrl]-[1], [7] and heal "Lars". You could always make sure that Hotbar 1 is your active bar, then you only have to hit [F3] then [7] (which is what I do on my healer) -- ShoeMaker 21:06, June 8, 2011 (EDT)

I misunderstood Lars as being a party member... Now I see he is a NPC in the quest.. You can target him by pressing [Q] while looking in his direction. There are only two possible targets in there facing away from the shrine, If you don't get him the first shot, [Q] again should do the trick.. -- ShoeMaker 21:09, June 8, 2011 (EDT)