New Player FAQs

This is a compilation of questions commonly asked in the /advice channel by new players.

Quest FAQs
Q: Where is the Skeletal Mage in Sacrifices?

It is on a ledge above the water-filled hall where this optional goal first appears, across a series of stone rafters. You need to climb back up the ladder you first descended into that room, then make a series of tricky jumps across the rafters. Getting a Jump skill buff is helpful here, as is taking off any heavy shield or armor.

Q: How do I open the blue door in the ceiling in Redemption?

It can't be opened. That dungeon map was recycled from an earlier quest. Some rooms are permanently closed off because they aren't used in the current quest.

Q: How do I unlock the barred doors to get to the chests in Redemption and Necromancer's Doom?

You need a Rogue with enough Open Locks skill or an Artificer that has Open Locks skill or a character or item with the Knock spell.

Q: Where is the last rare enemy in Korthos Island?

A full map of that area is at the page on Korthos Island. It shows all the spawn points. Also keep in mind that the rare enemies in wilderness adventure areas do not always spawn. (That's what makes them rare!) You will probably need to visit the zone multiple times to find all the rares.

Character-Building FAQs
Q: How do I inscribe spells?

Only Wizards and Artificers do this. Read Inscribe carefully—the process is not self-evident. The components are sold in Stormreach, but not in Korthos Village. You will need a scroll of the spell (only spells of your class work), and "spell inscription components" of the appropriate level. Place the "Inscribe Spell" feat on a hotbar. Then: (a) select the scroll in your inventory, (b) click the "Inscribe Spell" hot key. You'll get a message if anything goes wrong, otherwise you'll know the spell in a few seconds. To actually ready it, you'll need to visit an inn or rest shrine.

Q: How do I multiclass?

The next time you gain a level, talk to the trainer for the new class you want to take instead of your old one.

Warning: Multiclassing is not recommended for inexperienced players. A poorly multiclassed character can be extremely expensive to fix. That being said, there are two ways to "fix" a broken multiclassed character: If you're thinking of multiclassing to cover a hole in your abilities (lack of combat skill in a Sorcerer, for example), consider a hireling or summoned monster instead.
 * 1) Via the in-game Reincarnation process.
 * 2) Reroll

'Q: Can '' use a shield? A certain armor? A certain weapon?'''

In DDO, any class can use any armor, weapon, or shield, but there can be steep penalties that make it a bad idea.

For one, each class and race starts out proficient with only some equipment. Using non-proficient equipment gives you attack roll penalties. You can become proficient with additional gear by multiclassing or by taking certain feats as you level up, but both of these have long-term impacts on your build and should be done with care.

Second, armors and shields may penalize several skills, may limit how much bonus Armor Class you get from your Dexterity, and may interfere with casting Bard, Sorcerer, and Wizard spells.

Q: Can  dual-wield?

Any character can wield two weapons, but he'll have significant attack penalties if he doesn't have the right support feats and equipment. These feats are available to all classes. Rangers get most of them automatically as they gain levels.

The best case requires taking the Two Weapon Fighting feat and making sure the weapon in your off-hand is a small, easily handled light weapon. Even in this situation, you have a -2 penalty to both your hands. If you don't use a light off-hand weapon (and you don't have the Oversized Two Weapon Fighting feat, which removes the light weapon requirement), you suffer an additional -2 to both hands. If you don't have Two Weapon Fighting, you'll have -2 to your main hand attacks and -6 to your off-hand attacks. These penalties are independent and cumulative.

Q: What is the maximum level?

30. Multiclass characters can have 30 levels total, not per class. If someone appears on your friend list with more than 30 levels, this is due to them having used the True Reincarnation ability and started that character over as a 1st level character. They don't have more than 30 levels. The maximum level has changed over the years (see Level cap) and is scheduled to get to 30 in late 2014. The levels above 20 are "special" and show as "epic levels" on displays like the guild list.

Game Mechanics FAQs
Q: How do I recharge a wand?

Most wands cannot be recharged. Eternal wands slowly recharge over time and completely recharge by resting.

Q: Where do I get a rune arm for my Artificer?

There are not a lot of them in the game, and they come generally from quest rewards. One will be offered among the rewards for Redemption on Korthos, it's the only one available in the starter island.

'''Q: How do I use a Healer's Kit? I need to heal myself.'''

Healer's Kits can't heal active characters. Their only use is to try reviving an unconscious (but not dead) teammate. You can't do this on yourself. You also can't do it on Warforged characters — those need Repair Kits instead. See the Heal skill for more details.

'''Q: How do I use a Repair Kit? I need to repair my items.'''

See above. Repair Kits work on unconscious Warforged teammates just like Healer's Kits work on all other races. They aren't used to repair damaged gear. You need to pay a vendor to do that.

Q: How do I get hit points & spell points back?

There are numerous ways, primarily resting at a rest shrine (which restores all SP and varying HP) and using spells and items (which typically only restore HP). More importantly, your health and spell points do not replenish on their own while you're on a quest. This is a fundamental mechanic of DDO that you need to take into account when planning how to approach a dungeon.

Q: How do I resurrect my hireling?

First, if you're far from a resurrection shrine, pick up your hireling's soul stone. Find a res shrine, target it by right-clicking it with the mouse, then press the "interact with targeted object" command on your hireling's control bar (it's in spot 6 and should look like a pair of gears). You may need to use it multiple times, or try making your hireling's ghost walk to several different spots, before he figures out a clear path to the shrine.

Geography FAQs
Q: Where is the  trainer?

In general, check your map for light blue leaf icons. For Korthos Village in particular, some trainers are back in the graveyard where the Heyton's Rest quest is.

Q: Where is the mailbox?

Q: Where is the auction house?

Q: Where is the bank?

None of these exist in Korthos Village. The first two zones of Stormreach — The Harbor and The Marketplace — have all three. It varies by zone after that. Check your map. The mailbox is an orange unfurled scroll icon, the auction house is a red hammer, and the bank is an orange coin bag.

Other FAQs
Q: How do I hide my helmet?

Enter /showhelmet off in the chat window. Enter /showhelmet on to show it again. You can also click on the head part of the character silhouette in the inventory screen to do this without typing. It will show a generic helmet icon when the helm is turned on, and an empty box when the helm is turned off. The armor box in the chest area is to turn armor kits on and off.

Q: How do I show my cape?

You can't.

Update : Since Update 40, you can. Quest reward cloaks/capes from Korthos, and most cloaks in general, are now visible. Some random loot cloaks still aren't, though.

Q: Why can't I cast my spells?

If your hotkey icon is grayed out, you don't have the spell prepared. (This affects Artificers, Clerics, Druids, Rangers, Paladins, and Wizards. For other classes, all spells they know are prepared at all times.) Go inside any Tavern and open your Spells panel. On each of your spell level tabs, drag the spells you want to prepare from your list of known spells into the squares at the bottom, then drag those icons to your hotbar.

If the icon is fully colored but nothing happens when you press it:
 * You may have an illegal target selected.
 * You may be out of the material component it needs. When you mouse-over the spell, the missing component will be highlighted in red text. Visit a component vendor and stock up.
 * Your ability score may be too low. To cast a level X spell, you need a score of at least 10 + X in the primary ability that your class uses for spellcasting.

Q: Why can't I sell this one item to a vendor?

There are a number of possible reasons.


 * The item is a starter item. Those can't be sold at all.
 * It's a collectable. Those can't be sold to NPCs (but they can be sold to other players).
 * You're wearing it. You need to take it off.
 * You locked the item. You need to go to your inventory panel and unlock it.
 * It's damaged. You need to repair it.
 * You're trying to sell it to a broker. Each broker only buys items with a certain base value and type. You need to find the right broker or sell to a general vendor instead.

Being bound does not stop you from selling an item to NPCs.

'''Q: I won something at the Auction House. How do I get it?'''

Go to a mailbox. All items, profits, and bid refunds from the Auction House are mailed to you.

Q: How do I get more inventory space ?

By doing quests in favor of the Coin Lords, you can get the possibility to get more inventory space as a reward.