Classes

=Introduction to DDO classes=

In DDO you can pick one class or you can mix 2-3 classes. The names of the classes are: Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, and Wizard. Later Monk and Druid (and some more) most likely will be added.

Armor
Any class can use any armor. But if you use an armor that you don't have proficiency with you will incur penalties when using them. There are 3 types of armor: light, medium and heavy armor. All classes can learn to use all types of armor. To learn them you use feats (you have a limit of available feats). But some skills/spells will not work as well if you try to use them while wearing armor.

Shield
Any class can use any shield. But if you use a shield that you don't have proficiency with you will incur penalties when using them. There are bucklers, light shields, heavy shields and tower shields. To learn them, you use your available feats. Some skills/spells will not work as well if you try to use them if you have armor on.

Ranged and Melee weapons
All classes can use all ranged weapons and all melee weapons. But if you use a weapon that you don't have proficiency with you incur a severe penalty when using them. There are Simple weapons, Martial weapons and Exotic weapons. To learn them you use your available feats.

Divine spells
Divine spells can be cast even when using heavy armor without reductions in casting effect or chance of failure.

Arcane spell
Arcane spells with a Somantic component will incur a penalty (chance to fail) if you try to cast them when using armor or shields (only exception is that Bards can cast in light armor without penalty). Resource management is important for a caster.

Skills
Each character gets a specific number of skill points that he can put into different skills. If the skill is a class skill then each skill point spent corresponds to one rank in that skill. If it is a cross-class skill then each skill point spent counts as 0.5 ranks in that skill. The maximum ranks a skill can have is 3+ your character level for class skills and half that for cross-class skills.

Healing
All classes in DDO can increase healing. The reason for that is there is a Heal skill that everyone can put skill points into. But the "Long-Term Care" that recovers hit points will not take effect until you reach a Rest Shrine. There you will recover more hit points than normal. Divine spell casters get heal-spells that heal non-warforged races and can heal warforged but with 50% reduced efficiency. Arcane spell casters get repair-spells that heal warforged. Repair spells have no effect on non-warforged.

Rest
In DDO none of the classes benefit from just staying still. You don't recover your hit points etc. But inside many dungeons there are rest-places. When you reach these places you gain "rest" that recovers hit points and spell points and allow you to memorize spells.

=The Classes=
 * Fighter
 * A warrior with extra feats - allowing him to specialize in melee. There are a lot of different ways to bend the fighter. So you should examine thoroughly what feats you would like to pick before you create a fighter, as you need different stats for different feats. For example if you specialize in dual weapons you need to have good reflexes (= high dexterity). But if you are going to specialize in 2-hand weapon, strength is the most important stat. Some tactical feats also require an above average [Intelligence]. Because you are a fighter and don't cast any spells you are free to put your stats where you like them, to maximize your choice of feats.


 * Paladin
 * A warrior that trades some of his melee power for the ability to cast divine spells. He also has a higher ability to avoid getting hit, better saves against poison and he can do crowd control as his charisma rises.


 * Barbarian
 * A warrior that has special powers when angry and specializes in damage dealing.


 * Ranger
 * Has the possibility to become an archer or a dual-wielding melee. He also has stealth options and can cast divine spells.
 * The proverbial jack of all trades.


 * Rogue
 * Has the most skills in the game. He can find and disarm traps. His ability to disarm trap is a key skill, preventing the party from being hit with nasty traps. Rogues can also open locks and find hidden doors.


 * Bard
 * Has a lot of skills and is a weak arcane spell caster. The closest you come to a hybrid without multiclassing. He also has the ability to "sing", making his party stronger. His arcane spells focus on crowd control, healing, and buffs.


 * Wizard and Sorcerer
 * Are powerful arcane spell casters.
 * A Wizard is an adaptive caster. He/She can switch the spells he/she wishes to use at resting points or in taverns.
 * A Sorcerer is a focused caster. He/She only knows a small subset of all available Wizard/Sorcerer spells. But he/she casts that subset faster, and has more spell points.


 * For an introduction see:
 * DDO Class Guide: Wizard/Sorceror.


 * Cleric
 * The Cleric domains are gone in DDO.
 * In DDO there is no evil Cleric so all Cleric will be great Undead killers (no one will be controlling Undeads).
 * He is a strong divine spell caster that uses all armor without penalties.

Multiclassing
One of the really fun things in DDO is the option to Multiclass. In DDO is there no experience point penalty (as opposite to 3.5 rules).

When multiclassing the hit points of the different classes are added. The base attack bonus of the different classes are added. The saving throws of the different classes are added. So you could say that a 5/5 Cleric/Fighter are getting the hit points of 5 level Cleric and a 5 level Fighter. All his stats will be an average of the 2 classes

What's the biggest gain of multiclassing (except that is fun)? :

Skills
By only taking 1 level in a class that has proficiency with a skill you get the possibility to max out that skill. So if you are a Ranger that would like to max out a Rogue-only skill or a Rogue that want to max out a Ranger-only skill just take a level in the other class. However, keep in mind when levelling as the Ranger it will cost 2 skill points to keep the Rogue-only skill at maxiumum.

Feats
If you take a class that has a feat you gain that feat. For example, if you don't have proficiency with all martial weapons you can take one level as a fighter and you will gain them (+ the ordinary level 1 fighter feat).

Drawbacks of multiclassing
The power of spells does not scale linearly. What is meant by that is, that the spell a Wizard/Sorcerer /Cleric can use at level 20 is more than 4 times a powerful a the spell that a Wizard/Sorcerer /Cleric can use at level 5.

= Classes and feats. =

At level 10 this is how many feats a non-human of a class will have: Fighter 10 feats. Wizard 6 feats. Ranger 6 feats Rogue 5 feats (or 4 feats and 1 special ability) Paladin/Barbarian/Cleric/Sorcerer/Bard 4 feats

= Classes and skills. = This is how many skill points they will gain per level + bonus spell if high intelligence (non-human). Rogue 8 skill points Ranger/Bard 6 skill points Barbarian 4 skill points Fighter/Paladin/Cleric/Sorcerer/Wizard 2 skill points

= Classes and highest spell level = At level 10 this is the highest spell level that character will have key ability in, spell level at class level 20 in []:
 * Sorcerer (Cha) / Wizard (Int) / Cleric (Wis) level 5 [9]
 * Bard (Cha) level 3 [6]
 * Ranger (Wis) / Paladin (Wis) level 2 [4]

=Which class should I choose?= For comparing classes look at:
 * I would like to create a Warrior. Should I pick a Paladin or a Fighter?
 * I would like to create an Archer. Should I pick a Ranger or a Fighter?
 * I would like to create a Healer. Should I pick a Paladin or a Cleric?
 * I would like to create a Mage. Should I pick a Wizard or a Sorcerer?
 * I would like to create a ranged damage dealer. Should I pick a Ranger or a Sorcerer?

Read more about Group roles for the diffrent classes.