Free to Play DDO Point walkthrough

What exactly do I need to do to earn the most free DDO Points (DP)? In what order should I go about it? And now that I have DP, what should I do with it? These are the primary questions every Free To Play (F2P) wants to know the answers to. The simple guide below has been provided to help you unlock the most from your game in the shortest amount of time, in order to receive the greatest benefits. However, any areas discussing the DDO Store and current prices can vary, new things may be added and old items and adventures removed.

In the end, it is really up to you, as the F2P player, to decide how to spend both your actual time and DP (DDO Points - a Dungeons and Dragons Online store currency).

Servers
Choose from the list of 8 servers:
 * Recently (HCL season 3, June-Sep 2020), the Hardcore League server has been opened to all accounts. When running, this would make a 9th server.

To gain maximum DP for the DDO Store, you'll need to visit every one of these servers.
 * Tip: Each time you create a character, you may want to write down the name of the server, the name of the character, and what class/level that character is. If you don't, you may find yourself spending a lot of time hunting down that character and which server(s) you wanted to use.

Character creation
You're looking to earn DP as quickly as possible, so the character doesn't matter much at this point. Later, you can get down to the nitty-gritty of character creation to your heart's content, but for now, let's go over your F2P options, since most of the creation items will be locked for only VIP/Premium use, and cost DP or a special in-game reward to unlock them.
 * 1) Section I - Style:
 * 2) * Choose from Melee, Spell, or Specialist. This is the type of class that you will choose from next.
 * 3) * Choose a gender.
 * 4) Section II - Class:
 * 5) * (Melee) Choose from Fighter, Barbarian, or Paladin.
 * 6) * (Spell) Choose from Sorcerer, Cleric, or Wizard.
 * 7) * (Specialist) Choose from Ranger, Rogue, or Bard.
 * 8) Section III - Path:
 * 9) * For each class, you'll be given paths to choose from.You can choose custom to not use a predefined character path.
 * 10) Section IV - Race:
 * 11) * There are four F2P races: Human, Elf, Halfling, and Dwarf. Choose one.
 * 12) Section V - Look:
 * 13) * This is your limited vanity section.
 * 14) * Choose a first name that has never been used before on the server. Surnames do not distinguish characters, only first names; it is only for display or flavor.

This will send you back to the character list page for the server. Select your new character and enter the game. You will start in the first first quest, The Grotto, which is DDO's basic tutorial for how to the game functions.


 * see also: Example DP Runner

Getting started
Run The Grotto and Korthos Village quests. Get help and aim for Elite completions on each of the quests. Once you've done this, go to the Main Menu (found by clicking the DDO icon in the lower left of the screen). Since we're switching servers, click Exit—this will close the game. Each time you want to change servers, you'll have to exit the game and reopen the game launcher again, since it doesn't select the server within the game itself. Repeat all of the above until you have completed the process with all servers. If you want, you can always come back to these characters and continue to play using them.

You now have a character on each server. Only one character per server can earn each of the bonus DP rewards. Some Favor rewards are character specific, so you can gain those once for each character, such as the Bank Bag expansion for the character, not the account.

Now:
 * Select a server and create a new character.
 * When you log into the server with the new character, you should be given the option to 'Skip the Korthos Island quests and jump straight to the Stormreach Harbor quests'. You can always come back to Korthos later.
 * Once in the Harbor, you only need to run a couple of low-level quests before you hit 100 Favor.
 * Again, aim for Elite mode on each of the quests, unless they are solo quests, to gain the maximum Favor for that quest. You don't gain any more Favor than the maximum and each time you gain Favor on that Quest replaces the Favor point total for that quest you had earlier. There are plenty of players willing to help out. If you can't find a group, press 'P' button and see who else may be running the same quest.
 * Hitting 100 Favor with this character will give you the base Favor reward of 25 DP (every 100 Favor pts).
 * Check your mail in-game to see your DP reward. DP rewards go to the total account and are not dependent on keeping that character. Once you reach the 100 Favor with the 2nd or even 3rd free character on that server, you can then delete those temporary characters. If you don't like any of those you currently have, go back to the character creation screen and create one you're willing to play for a long period of time. Play this character out to level 4.
 * You can now delete all the characters on that server, except this one. Use this character to continue to increase your maximum individual character Favor level. You'll eventually expect to reach or exceed level 20+ with this character.
 * However, keep creating new characters. Raising them up to 100 Favor each, and gaining 25 DP each time. Then deleting that character, and repeating. You can only get the bonus Favor awards with your primary character, but these temporary characters provide you with a quick way to earn DP endlessly.

Quests To Earn 100 Favor
This is a list of low level quests for efficient earning of quick favor. Some quests are better for this purpose than others, but for characters that will continue on to high levels and not stop at 100 favor, any/all quests should be considered.

Korthos - Introductory Quests
All these quests are Level 1 with the exception of Misery's Peak, which is a long Level 2 quest. While the end reward makes it worthwhile for low-level characters, it is not popular for quick favor runs.

Korthos Village
30 Favor max:
 * The Cannith Crystal* (6 favor)
 * The Storehouse's Secret* (6 favor)
 * Heyton's Rest* (6 favor)
 * The Collaborator (12 favor)
 * * These three quests must be completed first (at any difficulty and in any order) to be flagged for the final quest, The Collaborator. You must complete The Collaborator (on any difficulty) to get out the gate to access any of the Korthos Wilderness quests, listed below.

Korthos Island
The Collaborator (see above) must be completed (at any difficulty level) before a character can pass through the gate to access the Korthos Island quests (and also to the Korthos Island Wilderness Area, which provides no favor itself).

45 Favor max:
 * Stopping the Sahuagin (9 favor)
 * Redemption (9 favor)
 * Necromancer's Doom (6 favor)
 * Sacrifices (9 favor)
 * Misery's Peak (12 favor, level 2)

The Harbor - Level 2 Quests
At the foot of Korthos Village by the water is a small pier. Talking to Valeria Sinderwind will provide passage to The Harbor and on to Stormreach in general. This can be done at any time, and characters can return to Korthos to finish questing or exploring, but will move all future Korthos interaction from Snowy Korthos to Sunny.

Solo quests (easy/fast)
Solo quests can only be run at the base difficulty ("Solo"), and so offer only the base amount of favor. Still, they can be relatively easy.

8 Favor max:
 * Home Sweet Sewer (2 favor)
 * The Miller's Debt (2 favor)
 * Arachnophobia (2 favor)
 * An Explosive Situation (2 favor)

Shorter and/or "easier" quests
36 Favor max:
 * Bringing the Light (6 favor)
 * The Kobolds' New Ringleader (12 favor)
 * Haverdasher (6 favor)
 * Information is Key (12 favor)

Longer and/or "harder" quests
These quests generally take longer for the same amount of favor than many of the above, and/or present specific challenges to some characters. However, doing one or more on Normal or Hard difficulty may be necessary, or, depending on you, simply preferable to one of the above on Elite.


 * Durk's Got A Secret (12 favor)
 * Recovering the Lost Tome (9 favor)
 * Garrison's Missing Pack (12 favor)
 * Stealthy Repossession (9 favor)
 * A unique quest with unique challenges to complete it, so difficulty varies from character to character, but it's rarely "fast" for any at-level character.
 * The Smuggler's Warehouse (9 favor)
 * Walk the Butcher's Path (12 favor)
 * The three-quest chain called A Man Named Baudry Cartamon. While not particularly difficult, the first two are timed (5 & 10 minutes) and the last is fairly long.
 * Protect Baudry's Interests (6 favor)
 * Retrieve the Stolen Goods (9 favor)
 * Stop Hazadill's Shipment (6 favor)

Other quests
These are higher-level, longer or generally more difficult quests accessed from The Harbor, and are included for completeness. They are not recommended as a "fast" or efficient way to 100 Favor (even at lower difficulty levels), but should definitely be considered for any character seeking further development.


 * Kobold Assault (9 favor)
 * Irestone Inlet (12 favor)
 * The four-quest chain known as The Lost Seekers and often referred to as the Waterworks, the "wilderness" area where they are found:
 * The Kobold's Den: Clan Gnashtooth (12 favor)
 * The Kobold's Den: Rescuing Arlos (12 favor)
 * Venn's Trail: Clan Tunnelworm (12 favor)
 * Venn's Trail: Venn's Fate (9 favor)
 * Two quests found in the Wilderness area The Cerulean Hills:
 * The Captives (9 favor)
 * Where There's Smoke... (9 favor)

Example for a 100 Favor Run
100 favor can be gained any number of ways, and "the best" way is up to personal preference. This is a relatively quick, easy series for 100 Favor only, the idea being to grab 100 favor and 25 DDO points, delete the character, and repeat as you need. Depending on your character build and/or player experience, other mixes of quest/difficulty may prove faster. Ymmv, experiment, enjoy!


 * See also Example DP Runner

Note that this suggested mix skips Misery's Peak. Misery's is a good quest, and is recommended for any "long term" character (for the final reward loot), but is not appropriate for what we're dong here - grabbing 100 Favor nice and quick. The mix below is listed in a simple order; after Korthos Village and then Korthos Island, you follow a roughly clockwise path from the base of the pier around The Harbor. However, Ringleader may be the toughest of the quests - if you have trouble with it, skip it at first and come back to it once your runner is more experienced.

If this goes too quickly and/or you want more, finishing Elite on most of the Level 2 quests in The Harbor and The Marketplace, and the Level 2-3 Solo quests there, should get you 200 Favor and another 25 DDO Points (and Character Level 4 or more).

Free sources of DDO Points

 * The Monster Manuals are a good source. Unfortunately, this is one of the things you need DP to unlock before you can use any of them, other than the basic manual that you start with. So hold on to your DP for now.
 * Favor Rewards - Primary Character per server: this is the character with the most Favor on that server. As mentioned, once the character with the highest favor point total reaches the next reward level, none of the other characters on that server can gain those Bonus awards a second time.
 * Favor Rewards - Favor Running: Requires the continues creation of a new character, reaching minimum Favor Point level of 100+, deleting that character (after you've claimed your rewards - if necessary), and repeating this process.
 * Rare Event Awards - Occasionally DDO gives out rewards during special events.
 * DDO Chronicle - Opens a weekly chat forum on a certain topic each week. At the end of the week, a random user who posted in the forums wins 500DP.

Spending options
The DDO Store has a great number of things you can spend your DP on. There are things you should consider — whether something is just for an individual character, for a server, or your account. Always keep an eye out for discounts, since these can reduce the total cost of an item by 25% or more. From time to time pricing and some offerings change in the DDO store.

Once you open the store, you will be able to see your total DP amount, displayed to the top left of the window.

Main items you should save DP for:
 * Adventure Packs
 * Epic Destinies
 * Classes
 * Races
 * Bank
 * Shared Bank: Platinum Vault
 * Shared Bank: Item Storage
 * Monster Manuals