Hardcore League

Rules and mechanics

 * Basic rule - If you die, you're dead
 * No Raise Dead, no self-raises, no res shrines, no res cakes, no Jibbers, no nothing, thank you for playing, this character is done on the Hardcore League server.
 * Your character is instantly teleported to the Land of Lost Souls and stays there until the end of the season or until you transfer off the server.
 * Dead characters have no way of trading; i.e., all gear on that character and in its bank is unavailable. If you have multiple characters, keep stuff in the shared bank.
 * Deaths from quest-specific mechanics (such as The Shroud part 4 death) and /death command do count.
 * Deaths are announced: World broadcasts are sent to inform people what killed people at which level. (It doesn't announce the death of Level 1 characters.)


 * Starting level
 * All characters start at level 1, even Iconics. Veteran Status will not help you.
 * At level 15, iconic characters get their starting gear, as normal.


 * Lockout
 * You cannot enter a dungeon if your level is more than 2 levels higher than the base challenge rating. ("Base" means the challenge rating on Normal difficulty.)
 * In seasons 1-5 and 7, the lockout was 4 levels, not 2. It is not yet completely clear if 2 is a permanent value now or if the special rules for Season 8, which are currently unknown, justify a harsher lockout in the same way Season 6's Hounds did.
 * Hall of the Mark and Return to Delera's Tomb are exempt from the level lockout.
 * Wildernesses are also exempt from the level lockout.
 * Devil Assault (quest) is affected by this rule, meaning it is pretty much impossible to complete on Heroic Hard or Heroic Elite, since the maximum entry level is 8 and Heroic Hard and Elite are levels 12 and 18 respectively. Try running the dungeon on Epic Elite instead.
 * Epic characters (i.e. character level 20 and higher) cannot enter heroic dungeons. The two level 20 heroic dungeons, Dreaming Dark and the ToD raid are exempt from this rule.
 * Challenges also have a lockout. Starting with season 6, challenges are judged based on your chosen quest level and not the base level. So a level 15 can enter a challenge set to levels 13+. Level 12 would be too low.


 * Transfer
 * You cannot transfer characters to the hardcore server.
 * You can transfer characters from the hardcore server for free at any time.
 * The standard character transfer restrictions apply. Items in a Shared Bank, Mail, and any/all Guild Ship storage are not transferred. Take them on a Character when that character is transferred, or leave them behind.
 * You can transfer during a season or after the season.
 * You can transfer while dead. Some players prefer to wait for the afterparty so that the character can pick up mail and do some banking before transferring.


 * Afterparty
 * After a season is over, leaderboards are made and the server reopens for a few weeks so that players have time to transfer their remaining characters. See wrap up.
 * Once the afterparty close date arrives, the server will be wiped clean, and any remaining characters will be deleted..


 * Misc
 * Hirelings and the DDO Store are allowed. The goal is to be as close to live servers as possible.
 * Festivals and other events (such as Treasure of Crystal Cove) are typically not available on Hardcore (there have been exceptions - Season Seven included the December 2022 rerun of The Night Revels, and Season Four had Mimic Hunt activated permanently with no way to deactivate mimic spawning.) Weekend bonuses, however, are not available.


 * A few basic tips
 * Rule One of Hardcore: Do not run The Shroud. Yes, it will kill you, and no, the devs will not take mercy on you.
 * Get your hands on a way to circumvent instant death conditions as quickly as possible. Deathblock and access to Death Ward are critical to protect against instakill spells and negative levels respectively. Also, check Quests with instakill pits for a list of pages with falls that are guaranteed to kill you - there is no way to prevent this, so be very careful around these areas.
 * Pets and Mounts will not come with you when you leave. Certificates will. Do not use any Pet or Mount certificates obtained on Hardcore unless you don't mind losing them when the server closes. (Getting a common, easily replaceable mount from The Keep on the Borderlands is a good way around this.)
 * Likewise, Astral Shards will be lost when you transfer. Try to spend them before the afterparty, as during the afterparty, the Daily Dice are closed.

Rewards
Players can get exclusive cosmetic rewards for participating / meeting certain goals (favor, reaper XP, level). Note that the character that has unlocked a reward must speak to the Hardcore League NPC to unlock that reward. Only once that is done, then it can be claimed on any character on any server on that account once the season is over.

Rewards NPC: At various places in the game world (for example, Hall of Heroes) you can find a new NPC:
 * In seasons one and five, it's Mortality
 * In season two, it's Arraetrikos
 * In season three, it's Vallakarigin
 * In season four, it's Xix
 * In season six, it's the Master of the Hunt
 * In season seven, it's Zazerbaxk, the Not Yet Terrible

This NPC will grant cosmetic rewards to characters that have passed specific benchmarks. These rewards, once unlocked on a character on the Hardcore League Season server will be available for all characters on that account on all servers.
 * When you reach a milestone, you have to talk to the rewards NPC to claim your reward.

The rewards are account-wide, available on all servers.

Season Eight — TBD
Starts May 17. Ends July 18.

+2 level cap.


 * Glittering Golden Mimic Certificate
 * Golden footprints
 * Glittering Golden Mimic Certificate
 * Golden footprints

Season Seven — Trial by Fire
December 7, 2022 — February 7, 2023

60-day redux of the second season, but with a 20% reaper XP boost.

Special rule: A different set of monster champions.

Goals and rewards (same as season 2, but lower requirements due to shorter season):
 * 1,250 favor: (cosmetic)
 * 3,000 favor: (cosmetic)
 * 10 reaper points: (cosmetic)
 * 20 reaper points: Dretchling War Veteran pet (Dretch)
 * Level 20: (cosmetic)

Season Six — A Dangerous Game
July 27th, 2022 — October 23rd, 2022 (10:00 AM Eastern (-4 GMT) on Monday, October 24th)


 * Special rules this season:
 * Stricter level lockout: Normal + 2 instead of normal + 4
 * Hounds hunt you. These are Red-named Monster Champion Fey Hunt Hounds that come in multiple elemental flavors and inflict Vulnerability to their element. The party will hear a howl about 10 seconds before the hound appears. Like Reapers they teleport. These can appear at the start of the quest or after the quest ends and can appear in adventure areas. Other than the Grotto, expect them to be everywhere, including Challenges. Piking, going AFK, or multiboxing is extremely hazardous.


 * Rewards
 * 1750 Favor: Pup of the Hunt War Veteran Certificate
 * 5000 Favor: Fae Hunter's Wings (cosmetic wings, toggled by a feat, in the same channel as Reaper Wings you may own)
 * 10 Reaper Points: Death Walker's Cloak VI
 * 20 Reaper Points: Mount Certificate: Steed of the Huntmaster
 * Level 20: Death Walker's Sash VI

Season Five
December 1st 2021- February 1st 2022


 * Season rules
 * Shorter, only 2 months
 * Same rules as season 1, except not restricted to VIP and dead characters can be transferred (free) to other server immediately.
 * Some of the season 1 rewards return; some are new
 * Level 20: Death Walker's Sash V
 * 10 Reaper Points: Death Walker's Cloak V
 * 20 Reaper Points: Blood Reaper Creature Companion
 * 1750 Favor: Eyes of Darkness - Death Watches You Cosmetic Feat
 * 5000 Favor: Bloody Footprints - Deaths Follows You Cosmetic Feat



Season Four — Might and Madness
March 31st — June 29th, 2021

This spring brings the first Hardcore League season of 2021 to the game! Our 4th Hardcore Season will feature some new and returning guests in the form of the minions of the Nine Daelkyr Lords. You’ve met the Lord of Eyes and the Lord of Stone, but have you met the rest?


 * Season rules
 * Not restricted to VIP
 * The current plan is to not have extra earnable lives for this season
 * Mimic Hunt is enabled
 * New set of Daelkyr-themed Champions


 * Rewards:
 * Reaching a Total Favor of 1,750 -
 * Reaching a Total Favor of 5,000 -, ([[media:Daelkyr_Steed.jpg|Daelkyr Steed, front facing]])
 * Reaching Level 20 -
 * Gaining 10 Reaper Enhancement Points - Death Walker's Cloak IV
 * Gaining 20 Reaper Enhancement Points - Thaarak Pup War Veteran Certificate



Season Three — Saving Grace
Wednesday, June 24th, 2020 — Tuesday, September 22nd, 2020


 * Changes:
 * Available to all players (not only VIP)
 * One extra life at level 8; one extra life at level 16 (Technically, you get the extra life as soon as you reach enough XP to take level 8/16. You don't have to take 8/16.)
 * When you die with an extra life, you stay dead in the quest and your soul stone appears (same behavior as on normal servers).
 * If you reincarnate, the extra life count resets to zero.


 * Rewards:
 * Reaching a Total Favor of 1,750 -
 * Reaching a Total Favor of 5,000 -
 * Reaching Level 20:
 * Gaining 10 Reaper Enhancement Points -
 * Gaining 20 Reaper Enhancement Points - Lantern Archonling War Veteran


 * Major issue:
 * Dying while disconnected may cause double death. Even if you have 2 lives, you'll lose both in one death - be fully dead eventually. Alt+F4 or bad connection will cause this.
 * Exact behavior: You die while disconnected (first death), then log in with -10 HP (second death).



Downtime Notice: Thursday, October 1st 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM Eastern (-4 GMT) Wed, 30 Sep 2020 20:32:11 +0000
 * Transfers

The DDO game worlds will be unavailable on Thursday, October 1st from 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM Eastern (-4 GMT) for maintenance. There are no release notes. When the game worlds reopen, World Character Transfers will be available from the Hardcore server through November 3rd. Thank you!

Season Two — Trial By Fire
Wednesday, February 19th, 2020 — Tuesday, May 12th, 2020

Special Rule:
 * Different kinds of Champion enemies appear: Monster Champion/Hardcore

Goals and rewards:
 * 1,750 favor: (cosmetic)
 * 5,000 favor: (cosmetic)
 * 10 reaper points: (cosmetic)
 * 20 reaper points: Dretchling War Veteran pet (Dretch)
 * Level 20: (cosmetic)
 * The top 100 winners of the two ladders will be immortalized in the Hall of Heroes.



Season One
Friday, August 16, 2019 — Friday, November 15, 2019

Goals and rewards:
 * Memorial list of characters who survived above Level 5: Hardcore League/survivors/season one
 * 1,750 favor: Eyes of Darkness - Death Watches You cosmetic feat
 * 5,000 favor: Bloody Footprint - Death Follows You cosmetic feat
 * 10 reaper points: (cosmetic)
 * 20 reaper points: Blood Reaper pet (Blood Wraith)
 * Level 20: (cosmetic)

Guilds
On the hardcore server, players can create and join guilds as normal. However, running a guild can be a costly endeavor. Once a season is over, all guilds are deleted. Visit the to find guilds that recruit - or just ask around in game.

Leaderboard

 * Talking to the Mortality NPC also allows you to see top 100 performers in two categories: Total Favor and Reaper XP
 * The top 100 winners of the two ladders will be immortalized in the Hall of Heroes with a plaque featuring the character names.
 * When a character dies, their place on the leader board is lost.
 * If you would like to Reincarnate in a way that would reset your Favor, keep in mind that this reset to 0 Favor will likely push you off of the leaderboard.
 * Any character who reaches at least Level 5 and survives on the server will be recognized in The DDO Chronicle newsletter. (The survivor list was only created for season one; it was dropped for later seasons because it was simply too long. )

Wrap up
After the event, the server shuts down. Leaderboards are prepared and published. After a few days or weeks downtime, the server reopens for a couple of weeks; everyone revives, can access bank and mail, and all characters can be transferred to normal servers for free. The usual limitations of character transfer apply.

See.