Epic Destinies

Beta

Epic Levels and Epic Destinies
With Menace of the Underdark, the game will be separated into "Heroic" levels (as now, up to level 20) and "Epic" levels, which will enocurge players to run epic content to earn XP to spend on these special enhancements.

Epic Destines are major part of an advancement system that players can use for their level 20+ character. They will be unlocked at level 20, but unlike regular "Heroic" advancement, you can progress your Epic Destinies indefinitely - even after you hit the new level cap of 25.

Notes:
 * Epic Destinies are included with the expansion, and will later be available for separate purchase in the DDO Store in Update 15 (planned for August 2012) for 995 Turbine Points.
 * Advancement on Epic Destinies will not begin until you gain access to the system, but your character can still advance until level 25 gaining Epic Level advancement benefits (feats, stats, etc.).

Epic Levels (21-25)
Epic levels and Epic Destinies are two different things. With Menace of the Underdark the game is making a clear distinction between Heroic and Epic levels. From Epic levels 21 to 25 there are no Heroic class levels or Enhancements; it's all focused on Epic levels and additional customization through swappable Epic Destinies.

Characters earn "Epic experience" from any experience gain, but Epic dungeons will usually give you more experience than Heroic dungeons. A character that reaches Heroic level 20 will automatically begin to accumulate Epic XP, progressing through Epic levels 21 through 25. XP required to level is identical for all characters, regardless of number of TR's.


 * Characters that are level 21 or higher may select Epic or Heroic feats as their level 21 and 24 feat selections.
 * Epic levels currently grant 2+(Int Mod) skill points, with all skills available as class skills.
 * There's no spell point progress nor caster level progress, however some of the Destinies will have such benefits.

Level penalties on grouping is getting changed on 20+ levels. There won't be any penalties for level 20's playing with level 25's.

Epic Destinies
Epic Destinies aren't like single classes; they're more like powerful extra roles. A character with 20 Druid Heroic levels can in fact pick the "Grandmaster of Flowers" to get a set of Monk-like abilities.

At level 20 you pick an Epic Destiny on the map UI. Your dominant class will determine which of the four spheres you start in. The four spheres are as follows;
 * Arcane (Artificer, Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard) [on the bottom of the image]
 * Divine (Cleric, Favored Soul, Paladin) [on the left]
 * Martial (Fighter, Monk, Rogue) [on the top]
 * Primal (Barbarian, Druid, Ranger) [on the right]

The map UI shows how each Epic Destiny connects, and each Destiny also has five levels and its own tree. Epic Destiny levels are divided into ranks, for each rank you also gain one Epic Destiny point for that specific tree. After spending enough points you unlock the second tier, then eventually the third. This progression continues until you hit Epic Destiny level 5 and max it out.

Characters can gain access to multiple Epic Destinies. When you reach level 3 in an Epic Destiny, adjacent Destinies within the same sphere become available to the character. When you reach level 4 in certain "bridge" Epic Destinies, adjacent Destinies in other spheres become available.

Choosing a path through any given Epic Destiny tree is a big part of the player's decision making process. Reach "Magister" level 5 and you'll have 24 points to spend in every tier of the tree, however, those points won't get you all "Magister" abilities–-you'll have to pick and choose.

Your currently activated Epic Destiny always advances at the same rate as your character level. Epic Destinies have their own experience bar and level up independently from your actual Epic levels. The two bars will advance in parallel.

List of Epic Destinies
Ten Epic Destinies will be available in Menace of the Underdark, but will be added more over time.
 * Shadowdancer (Martial)
 * Draconic Incarnation (Arcane)
 * Exalted Angel (Divine)
 * Fatesinger (Arcane)
 * Fury of the Wild (Primal)
 * Grandmaster of Flowers (Martial)
 * Legendary Dreadnought (Martial)
 * Magister (Arcane)
 * Shiradi Champion (Primal)
 * Unyielding Sentinel (Divine)

Epic Moments
Each Epic Destiny has its own set of abilities and one big Epic Moment. Epic Moments only activate by clicking a button. Players have to "build up" to Epic Moments because they're extremely powerful.

The Epic Moment itself is an ability chosen from the Epic Destiny tree. Players must reach the tree's top tier before they pick up an Epic Moment.

Swapping Epic Destinies
Players are allowed to swap and level Epic Destinies independently of one another. Players can change an Epic Destiny by locating a Fatespinner in public areas. Doing so will suppress their currently active Destiny and switch to another that they have access to. Any advancement in their old Destiny is not lost, but they gain no benefits from their old Epic Destiny.

Epic Destiny points are permanently associated with the Epic Destiny used when earning them. So if you switch to another Epic Destiny, the game automatically shelves points and abilities earned for whatever other Epic Destiny you've chosen, but you can always switch back and retain all progress, across all Epic Destinies.

Twist of Fate
The basic rule regarding Epic Destiny abilities can be bent a little with Twists of Fate. Twists of Fate allow you to use an ability from a non-active tree. To unlock a Twist of Fate slot you must acquire "Fate points". A Fate point is rewarded whenever an Epic Destiny reaches level 3 (also the same level required to connect any one Epic Destiny to another adjacent one.) You'll have to spend your first-ever Fate point on unlocking a Twist of Fate, however, after earning two or three Fate points players get to choose between upgrading a Twist of Fate so you can use higher tier Epic Destiny abilities, or unlocking additional Twists of fate.

When a Twist of Fate slot is first unlocked, it cannot accommodate higher-tier abilities from an available Epic Destiny tree. Once a slot has been upgraded, however, it can hold abilities of a higher tier. Currently three Twists of Fate slots are planned to be available.

Twists of Fate can also be "reset".

Changes to existing Epic quests
In the live game today, 'Epic' refers to an extreme difficulty level - something beyond Elite. Once the MotU goes live, Epic will simply refer to content that is level 20 and up - and that it has a minimum level of 20. Quest timers for current epic quests will be changed also.

The existing quests that support Epic will be given difficulty choices. In fact, even existing epic content will now offer Casual, Normal, Hard & Elite, where the epic difficulty in the game today is somewhere between Hard and Elite.

True Reincarnation and Epic Destinies
If a character undergo a True Reincarnation and his Heroic level drops below 20, Epic advancement and all benefits related to it are suppressed. They also have to level from 20-25 again but save existing Epic Destiny progress. Also, some abilities will have level pre-reqs (meaning some abilities may not be usable until you hit level 21, 22, 23 etc).

Players will still be able to TR at level 20.