Classes

Quick summary of the classes
In DDO you can pick one class or you can multiclass for up to three classes.

Armor
Any class can equip any armor. But if you use an armor that you don't have proficiency with, you will suffer non-proficiency penalties.

There are 3 types of armor: light, medium and heavy armor. All classes can learn to use all types of armor.

To learn them you use feats. Note that some skills/spells will not work as well if you try to use them while wearing any armor that is heavy enough to have an Armor Check Penalty or Arcane Spell Failure chance - the heavier the armor, the higher the penalty.

Shields
Any class can use any shield. But, if you use a shield that you are not proficient with then you will incur penalties when using them.

There are bucklers, light shields, heavy shields and tower shields.

Some skills/spells will not work as well if you try to use them if you are wielding a shield. The bigger the shield, the more protection you gain from it, but the harder it makes to use skills. To learn them, you use your available feats.

Ranged and Melee weapons
All classes can use all ranged weapons and all melee weapons. But if you use a weapon that you don't have proficiency with you incur a severe penalty when using them. There are simple weapons, martial weapons and exotic weapons. To learn them you use your available feats.

Divine spells
Divine spells can be cast even when using heavy armor without reductions in casting effect or chance of failure. Divine spells Difficulty Class are 10 + (the spells level) + wisdom bonus + spell focus bonus(for spells of that school). This Difficulty Class is the number an opponent must save against on a 1d20 + saving throw + relevant bonuses.

Most offensive spells are subject to Spell Resistance by opponents with that defensive ability. If your spell is being resisted by a creature with spell resistance, you must make a caster level check (1d20 + caster level + spell penetration bonuses) at least equal to the creature’s spell resistance for the spell to affect that creature. An enemy will still get a chance to save vs the spell even if it fails to resist it.

Arcane spells
Arcane spells with a Somatic component may fail if you try to cast them when using armor or shields. The only exception is that Bards can cast in light armor without penalty. Resource management is important for a caster. Much like divine spells, arcane spells also have a difficulty class and are subject to spell penetration. Although instead of a wisdom bonus to the difficulty class a wizard will get an int modifier bonus while a sorc will get a charisma modifier bonus.

Skills
Each character gets a specific number of skill points that he can put into different skills. If the skill is a class skill then each skill point spent corresponds to one rank in that skill. If it is a cross-class skill then each skill point spent counts as 0.5 ranks in that skill. The maximum ranks a skill can have is 3+ yourlevel for class skills and half that for cross-class skills.

Healing
All classes in DDO can increase healing. The reason for that is there is a Heal skill that everyone can put skill points into. But the "Long-Term Care" that recovers hit points will not take effect until you reach a Rest Shrine. There you will recover more hit points than normal the higher your heal skill is. Divine spell casters get Heal spells that heal non-warforged races and can heal warforged but with 50% reduced efficiency. Arcane spell casters get Repair spells that heal warforged. Repair spells have no effect on non-warforged.

Rest
In DDO none of the classes benefit from just staying still. You don't recover your hit points etc. But inside many dungeons there are Rest Shrines. When you reach these places you gain rest and recover hit points and spell points and allow you to memorize spells.

The Classes

 * Fighter
 * A warrior with extra feats, allowing him to specialize in combat. There are a lot of different ways to play a fighter, so you should examine thoroughly what feats you would like to pick before you create one, as you need different stats for different feats. For example, if you specialize in dual weapons you need to have good reflexes (i.e., high Dexterity). But if you are going to specialize in two-handed weapons, Strength is the most important stat. Some tactical feats also require an above average [Intelligence]. Because you are a fighter and don't cast any spells you are free to put your stats where you like them, to maximize your choice of feats. Fighters gain Strength enhancements as they level up.


 * Paladin
 * A warrior that trades some of his melee power for the ability to cast divine spells. He also has a higher ability to avoid getting hit and better saves against poison. The Paladin has the best saving throws of any character, gains immunity to fear and disease, and may greatly heal someone once (up to five times with enhancements) per rest. They also have passive auras that aid their party members when facing evil creatures. Paladins gain Charisma enhancements as they level up.


 * Barbarian
 * A warrior that has special powers when angry and specializes in damage dealing. He wears less armor than a fighter, but has more HP, some damage resistance, and Uncanny Dodge allows the Dexerity AC bonus to apply in all directions. Barbarians gain Constitution enhancements as they level up.


 * Ranger
 * An archer and a dual-wielding melee (in exchange for removing animal companions, DDO gives all rangers both combat styles). He also has stealth options and can cast divine spells, and may pick five kinds of monsters to specialize in fighting. He may detect secret doors and traps (but not disable them).
 * The proverbial jack of all trades. Rangers gain Dexerity enhancements as they level up.


 * Monk
 * The Monk class is free for VIP accounts but FTP and premium accounts must purchace the class in the DDO store for 995 Turbine Points.
 * A combatant usually fighting without weapons, without shield and without armor, that performs amazing techniques in battle by using a power source called Ki. Through intense physical training and mental discipline, Monks gain the ability to generate and control ki.
 * In order to use their special abilities, monks must be in a state of physical and mental balance called being centered. To remain centered, a monk must be unencumbered, your overall encumbrance is based on your ability strength and on the total weight of all items in your inventory, cannot use a shield, must be unarmored and must fight unarmed or with special monk weapons: quarterstaffs, handwraps, kamas and shurikens.


 * Favored Soul
 * The Favored Soul class must either be purchased in the DDO store for 895 Turbine Points or unlocked on a per server basis by earning 2500 Total Favor on a single character.
 * A divine caster that follows the path of the Cleric but is able to throw spells with surprising ease. Wielding divine magic to both heal and destroy, Favored Souls have fewer spells than Clerics, but can cast more often, as they get spell points like Sorcerers do. They also get many unique and powerful enhancements, such as 3 energy resistance feats that give them 10 free stacking energy resist, free martial weapon proficiency in the chosen weapon of their god, and 10 Dr at maximum level, making them more like enhanced clerics than just a "Fewer spells, more casting" type deal.


 * Rogue
 * Has the most skills in the game. He can find and disarm traps. His ability to disarm traps is a key skill, preventing the party from being hit with nasty traps. Rogues can also open locks and find hidden doors. Rogues gain Dexerity enhancements as they level up. Rogues also have the ability to sneak attack which has the potential to do amazing damage to enemies who are not immune to critical hits.


 * Bard
 * Has a lot of skills and is a weak arcane spell caster. The closest you come to a hybrid without multiclassing. He also has the ability to "sing", making his party stronger. His arcane spells focus on crowd control, healing, and buffs. He is also the best class at learning the Use Magic Device skill to operate any kind of magic wand. Bards gain Charisma enhancements as they level up. Bards have been called the "best sixth man", because using a Bard to fill the final slot in a party means that his powerful musical buffs will be boosting five other players, and his respectable healing abilities will assist the main healer in keeping the party alive.


 * Wizard and Sorcerer
 * Are powerful arcane spell casters.
 * A Wizard is an adaptive caster. He/she can switch the spells he/she wishes to use at resting points or when in taverns.
 * A Sorcerer is a focused caster. He/she only knows a small subset of all available Wizard/Sorcerer spells, but he/she casts that subset faster, and has more spell points. Wizards/Sorcerers gain Intelligence/Charisma enhancements as they level up, allowing the casting of more and stronger spells.


 * For an introduction see:
 * DDO Class Guide: Wizard/Sorceror.


 * Cleric
 * The Cleric domains are gone in DDO.
 * In DDO there is no evil Cleric so all Clerics will be great Undead killers (no one will be controlling Undead).
 * He is a strong divine spell caster that uses all armor without penalties. The Cleric was the only main healer in DDO, prior to Favored Souls, and as such, most groups will think of clerics before asking in the more broad sense, a healer for their group. Clerics gain Wisdom enhancements as they level up.

Multiclassing
DDO has the option to Multiclass. In DDO there is no experience point penalty (as opposed to 3.5 rules).

When multiclassing, the hit points of the different classes are added. The base attack bonus of the different classes are added. The saving throws of the different classes are added. So you could say that a 5/5 Cleric/Fighter are getting the hit points of level 5 Cleric and a level 5 Fighter. All his stats will be an average of the two classes.

The Pros gained in multiclassing:

Skills
By only taking one level in a class that has proficiency with a skill, you get the possibility to max out that skill. So if you are a Ranger that would like to max out a Rogue-only skill or a Rogue that wants to max out a Ranger-only skill, just take a level in the other class. However, keep in mind when levelling as the Ranger it will cost two skill points to keep the Rogue-only skill at maxiumum.

Feats
If you take a class that has a feat, you gain that feat. For example, if you don't have proficiency with all martial weapons, you can take one level as a Fighter and you will gain them (plus the ordinary level 1 Fighter feat).

Drawbacks of multiclassing
The power of spells does not scale linearly. Spells that a Wizard/Sorcerer/Cleric can use at level 20 are more than four times as powerful as the spell that a Wizard/Sorcerer/Cleric can use at level 5.

Ability scores will be less optimized. A single-class character can have abilities finely tuned for the needs of one class. Dual or tri-class characters will need to make compromises between the ability needs of all classes. The more similar the ability scores used by the classes, the better multiclassing will work. Combinations that fit together nicely are: Additionally, the fact that spell points stack can make it tempting for any spellcaster to take one level of Sorcerer.
 * Fighter/Barbarian (linked by Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity)
 * Rogue/Ranger (linked by Dexterity)
 * Rogue/Wizard (linked by Intelligence) if you value high skills.
 * Bard/Sorcerer (linked by Charisma)
 * Paladin/Sorcerer (linked by Charisma)

Many granted class feats do not stack. A Fighter/Paladin has martial weapon and heavy armor proficiency granted from both classes, but receives no extra benefit from getting them twice. (This would be more of a concern if the level cap was raised, because then it would apply to feats like Improved Uncanny Dodge and Improved Evasion.)

Enhancement slots do not increase. The ones available are determined by both your race plus total levels, and your levels in each class. A multiclass character won't have access to the same high-power enhancements, and yet she also can't take any more enhancements than a single-class.

Consider a halfling who wants a high Dexterity, and might play either a Ranger 4/Rogue 4, or a single-class Ranger 8. The pure class can take Halfling Dexterity II and Ranger Dexterity III, for an increase of +5 DEX. But the Rogue/Ranger is stuck with Halfling Dex II and either Rogue Dex I or Ranger Dex I (you can only get the same type of enhancement line from one class), adding up to only a +3 increase. High-level enhancements are SO powerful (much better than a single feat) that multiclassed characters suffer tremendously without them.

A disadvantage NOT present in DDO is the experience percentile penalty used in PnP. However, with all the other significant drawbacks, gaining more than one or two levels in any secondary class is discouraged, as the gains of the secondary class do not compensate for the potential gains at high levels from the primary class.

Classes and feats
At level 20, every character will have seven regular feats (levels 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, & 18); Human characters will get one extra feat at first level. Additionally, characters will get the following based on their class:


 * Fighter: Eleven Fighter bonus Feats, at 1st and every even level
 * Wizard: Five bonus Metamagic Feats, at 1st level and every multiple of 5
 * Ranger: The main Two Weapon Fighting line (Two Weapon Fighting, Improved Two Weapon Fighting, and Greater Two Weapon Fighting, though not Oversized Two Weapon Fighting) as well as Rapid Shot, Manyshot, Precise Shot, Improved Precise Shot, Bow Strength & Diehard
 * Monk: Three Martial Arts Feats, granted at levels 1, 2 and 6

This is primarily a listing of feats which any character could otherwise pick if they so choose. Most classes also get other class-specific abilities and benefits that are listed in your character's Feats tab but are not available to all classes. Some are completely predetermined, while others offer you a choice from a short, special list, including:


 * Rogue: Four Rogue special abilities, granted at levels 10, 13, 16 and 19
 * Favored Soul: Seven Favored Soul special abilities, granted at levels 1, 3, 5, 10, 12, 15 and 20
 * Ranger: Five Favored Enemies at levels 1, 5, 10, 15 and 20

Classes and skills
Skills gained at each level vary with class and Intelligence. For each level gained each class receives the following skill points. Additionally, the Intelligence modifier is added at each level, though only the intelligence that the character has due to point buy, leveling points at 4/8/12/16/20, and inherent bonuses count towards skill points gained. At first level, after the Intelligence modifier is added, is total multiplied by four.
 * Humans have an additional 4 bonus skill points at 1st level and 1 each level after. Example: A Human Rogue with 18 intelligence will have 52 skill points to spend at 1st level, 13 each level after.
 * Minimum amount of skill points you will gain is always 4 at level 1, and 1 at every gained level

Classes and highest spell level
At level 14 the highest spell level that character will have key ability is in, spell level at class level 20 is in []:
 * Sorcerer (Cha) / Wizard (Int) / Cleric (Wis) level 7 [9]
 * Bard (Cha) level 5 [6]
 * Ranger (Wis) / Paladin (Wis) level 4 [4]

Which class should I choose?
You should plan your Feats/Enhancements/ and Ability Scores before you start leveling. Character generator applications can be found on the web which can help this out tremendously. http://www.rjcyberware.com/DDO/ is an excellent choice.

If you are unsure on what you want, it is suggested to become Melee class. Or you could try a caster if you're bold. If you intend to multiclass, it's best to plan every aspect of your character out before you jump in. Doing this will save you time and many headaches!

For comparing classes look at:
 * I would like to create a Warrior. Should I pick a Paladin, Fighter, Barbarian or Monk?
 * I would like to create an Archer. Should I pick a Ranger or a Fighter?
 * I would like to create a Healer. Should I pick a Paladin or a Cleric?
 * I would like to create a Mage. Should I pick a Wizard or a Sorcerer?
 * I would like to create a ranged damage dealer. Should I pick a Ranger or a Sorcerer?
 * I would like to create a stealthy damage dealer. Should I pick Ranger, Rogue or Bard?

Read more about fighting in groups for how the different classes interact. Read about Powergaming Groups to maximise the effectiveness of your class.