A new adventure was added, The Path to Inspiration, for characters in the level 17-19 range. Some lower-level adventures will have an “Epic” difficulty setting for characters level 20, starting with Demon Sands. There are numerous other little tweaks and fixes.

But the big news is that now you can purchase 32-point character builds in the DDO store, not only that but the option is account-wide and used for every character created thereafter.

The price to enable the 32-pt build option is currently 1495 Turbine Points, which puts the value of this unlock somewhere in the $18(US) range. Expensive, yes, and about the same cost as buying a shared bank account.

So, is it worth it to buy this? Is the 32-pt build a necessity to create a viable character? The answer as you might have guessed is NO.

It really depends on the sort of characters you want to play. If you would like to play a simple fighter or wizard with no fancy monk or paladin splashes, then you absolutely do not need a 32-pt build. A server-wide (not account-wide) 32-pt build option is enabled free upon reaching the 1750 favor mark, so just play your vanilla character until then and don’t worry about spending the cash.

If you are simply dieing from impatience and cannot wait to play your Bardbarian or Intimitank then yes, you should consider laying out the money for 32-pt builds right off the bat. For more complex class combinations and perhaps even for not-so-complex monk builds having the 32-pt build option open is almost a requirement.

That said, I also plan on changing the format somewhat. On my other guides/sites such as LOTRO Guides and The Best WoW Leveling Guide I use a blog format though I do not approach them as blogs strictly speaking. Each post is it’s own mini-guide on a particular topic and that is also the format I had planned to use with DDO Guides.

However, as you may notice, merely writing strategies and helpful tips has not been quite enough to keep me posting regularly. So from now on with DDO Guides I plan on simply writing about topics that not only will help you play DDO more effectively but also important news from Turbine and my own personal playing experiences as well. Also look out in the coming month for a graphic redesign of the site.

And if you are interested in being a DDO “journalist” for this site which receives thousands of page-views a week,  please contact me with some examples (i.e. forum posts, blog entries, character builds, etc.).

Character Planner

Have you ever had an idea for a great Dungeons and Dragons Online character build but you’re not sure how to go about testing it without sinking hours into the actual game? While splashing one level of monk into your level 16 fighter may seem like a good idea, it may ruin it and then you would either have to be forever content with having that one useless level in monk or delete the fighter and start again!

Ron over at R&J Cyberware created a special application that allows you to plan out all the stats, feats and whatnot of your DDO character before you even hit the create button in the game. He calls it simply the Dungeons and Dragons Online Character Planner and has made it available as freeware.

This is Windows software, but I imagine if you are playing DDO on Linux or a Mac you will already have the knowledge to run a simple EXE on your computer. This piece of software has also become legendary amongst seasoned DDO vets, as it provides a way to fully plan and optimize your character without going through the painful process where one misstep can destroy hours of time invested in your character.

Currently I am using it to help me fine-tune my Drow Exploiter Ranger. I’ll be writing more about this particular build in coming posts, as it is what I am playing right now.