DDO Update 5: Guilds, and Skills, and Bards, and Bugs, Oh My!

[BlueBard]

Dungeons & Dragons Online Update 5 JUST released this past week.  Update 5 brings with it a revamped Guild system.  Which they promptly had to disable temporarily due to bugs.  (Not sure if they fixed it yet.) 

The Guild Renown idea is something like experience levels for Guilds, based on rewards gained through the adventuring of guild members.  But above a certain point, Renown can degrade if guild members are just standing idle.  There are guild perks associated with Renown, but obviously the best perks and bragging rights go to the best, brightest, and most active guilds.  Not being a member of any guild, I couldn't really tell you a whole lot about how it's supposed to work.

The skills have been altered somewhat, but I am still not entirely sure what's been affected and what's new.  I DO know that Search is no longer a class skill for Wizards and I am mightily perplexed and annoyed with that.  Wizards basically get Concentration and Repair, and that's it.  That seems silly for a high-Intelligence class to be so skill-limited.  I really need to give the release notes a close read.

The Hirelings have also been boosted, or so I hear.  Haven't had time to experiment with it myself, but hirelings are supposed to be smarter and more capable.  They have also added Bards as a hireling class.  (I'm still waiting for Rogue hirelings, which is what I really need.  Gotta have someone to deal with traps and locks when you solo as often as I do.)

And the Bugs.  Opening day was pretty bad, bug wise.  Aside from the Guild issues, Auctions were apparently bugged, the UI occasionally got hung up, and there was some sort of delay in displaying NPC's and even my characters' gear.  (I was quite embarrassed when my Drow Wizard appeared in Stormreach wearing nothing but her unmentionables.  Fortunately, the prankster's Hide Clothing spell wore off quickly and her robes reappeared in due time.)  However, they do seem to be improving and ironing out.  Some of the delay issues might have been local to my PC, not really sure, but it didn't act like that before.

Of note is the fact that the DDO store had some discounts, including the Veteran Status option that lets you start off at level 4.  I still had some DDO points so I snapped that one up and spent a little time getting used to it.  It's nice to be able to start at a higher level, but you definitely get more gear if you go the Korthos route.

[electro]

Going to try this game out - I need to take a break from Superhero MMO's - These patch notes don't really mean anything to me at this point but i'm glad there still updating the game

[BlueBard]

Going to try this game out - I need to take a break from Superhero MMO's - These patch notes don't really mean anything to me at this point but i'm glad there still updating the game

That's why I've been playing, Electro... to play something else.  I have bought DDO points, so it hasn't been totally "free"... but I like paying only when I want to, for what I want to pay for.  I'm supporting the game on my own terms.  Hopefully there will be enough support to keep DDO afloat for awhile, and putting out updates is a good sign they intend to stick around.

Still haven't lost interest in Star Trek Online, so it looks like I'll be staying away from CoH for at least awhile longer.  I won't pay for two subs.  That's why DDO is a nice change for me... a halfway decent game with no subs to pay for.

[electro]

After spending a couple hours with the game I think it's really fun - Maybe not the best MMO in the world but, it's definetly cool - I like how you can change weapon sets on the fly - I'm ussing an xbox 360 controller with first person shooter controls & just key binded the map, weapon swaps, jump , interact etc.. to the buttons I wanted - It was a fairly painless process - I might have to break down & buy that monk class - I like the idea of taking down monsters with my bare hands

[BlueBard]

Word of advice... if you do buy the Monk class, resist the impulse to multiclass.  Aside from limiting your progression as a monk, there are more practical consequences you need to be aware of.

A 1st level monk has, at a minimum, 9 extra "powers" that need to be on a power bar or otherwise hotkeyed so they can be activated at a moment's notice.  4 elemental stances, 4 elemental ki attacks, and one finishing moves combo button.

If you combine a monk with another class that needs a lot of activation powers at their fingertips... say, a wizard... you'll quickly find yourself in a position where you simply can't fit all the powers you need onto a reasonable number of power bars.

Another issue is that monks need to have decent Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Wisdom.  If you multiclass a class that depends on Intelligence or Charisma, you will gimp yourself in some way.  You might not care about gimping yourself if you're an RP'er, but if you're a gamer you may not like it.

That said, if you plan out limited multiclassing you might benefit.  The only way to get the Open Locks and Disable Device skills is to take at least one level as a rogue, for example.

[BlueBard]

Oh, one more thing I learned.

If you spend DDO points, you automatically get upgraded to Premium status which allows you to have 2 extra character slots per server.

If you don't spend points and don't sub, you will eventually get downgraded and lose access to the extra characters.

If you spend more DDO points, you get those slots back.  Not sure if there's a minimum.

Thus there is some incentive to participating in those micropayments and keeping you on the hook.

Had I but realized that, I wouldn't have deleted a couple of characters I wound up deleting to make room.