Difficulty


 * This article is about quest difficulty. For the difficulty of skill checks and saving throws, see Difficulty Class.

Difficulty
There are five different quest difficulty settings in DDO. Starting from easiest, these are Solo, Normal, Hard, Elite, and Epic. Higher settings are more challenging but more rewarding in terms of Experience, Favor, and loot from within the quest. Not all quests are available at all difficulties.

Initially, only Solo and Normal difficulty are available to Free-to-Play and Premium players who have never completed that quest before. VIP subscribers also have access to Hard. Completing a quest on any difficulty unlocks all difficulties up to and including one setting higher.

For parties, the first player to enter a quest can set it to any difficulty that he or she has unlocked. The rest of the party joins him at that setting even if they haven't unlocked it themselves.

Solo

 * Favor is 1/2 of Normal, dropping fractions.
 * Main quest XP is 0.8 × Normal.
 * Enemies and traps are lowered in level.
 * There may be fewer and/or smaller encounters.
 * The quest's level may be reduced for purposes of generating chest loot. Rewards from the quest's giver are unaffected.
 * Difficulty Scaling does not apply — the dungeon is already easier due to other factors.
 * Enemy misses become Grazing Hits on raw die rolls of 19.
 * Rest Shrines can be used every 5 minutes.
 * In some dungeons, there is an additional pair of Shrines somewhere.
 * There is no XP penalty for re-entering the dungeon, though the 10% "no re-entry" bonus is still lost.
 * You must solo. You cannot have teammates or hirelings.

Normal

 * Difficulty Scaling is in full effect for smaller teams.
 * Enemy misses become Grazing Hits on raw die rolls of 17-19.
 * Rest Shrines can be used every 15 minutes.

Hard

 * Favor is 2 × Normal.
 * Main XP is 1.08 × Normal.
 * There may be more and/or larger encounters than Normal.
 * The quest's level is increased by 1 for purposes of generating chest loot and comparing against the party's level for XP adjustment. Rewards from the quest's giver are unaffected.
 * Enemies, traps, and hidden doors are increased in difficulty by 2 or more levels. The increase is larger at higher quest levels.
 * Difficulty Scaling is in partial effect for smaller teams.
 * Enemy misses become Grazing Hits on raw die rolls of 15-19.
 * Rest Shrines can only be used once.

Elite

 * Favor is 3 × Normal.
 * Main XP is 1.16 × Normal.
 * There may be more and/or larger encounters than Hard.
 * The quest's level is increased by 2 for purposes of generating chest loot and comparing against the party's level for XP adjustment. Rewards from the quest's giver are unaffected.
 * Enemies, traps, and hidden doors are increased in difficulty by 5 or more levels. The increase is larger at higher quest levels.
 * Difficulty Scaling does not occur.
 * Enemy misses become Grazing Hits on raw die rolls of 13-19.
 * Rest Shrines can only be used once.

Epic
(work in progress)
 * Only level 20 characters may enter.
 * Favor is 3 × Normal (same as Elite).
 * Quest is worth no XP due to maximum character levels.