A simple guide for F2P

This is more or less a copy paste of my thread on the steam forums here.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2919425

The following is a basic guide to those new to DDO and wish to play it as a pure F2P game. It is possible but requires some grinding. If you like the game and want to just play and enjoy it I recommend purchasing at least some account upgrades such as adventure packs, character slots, bank slots etc. These upgrades are account wide so you will have access to them permanently on every server. Also you will need to purchase Menace of the Underdark to get access to levels 20-25. Purchasing Menace of the Underdark will also give you premium status unlocking 2 additional character slots, auction slots increased to 50 instead of 1 and removing your max gold limit. It is worth it if you plan on playing the game for a while. This guide is mainly for those who wish to play with minimal investment.

As a F2P player you will have limitations such as only 2 character slots per server, no access to some classes/races, limited bank/bag slots and access to fewer quests. You can unlock some premiums through favor which I will explain later. The primary problem with F2P is the lack of quests at higher levels. There are more than enough quests from levels 1 through 5 to give a feel of the game and level up. 5-10 you will notice quests becoming fewer and more red marked quest givers, which means they are premium quests. There are still enough to get to level 10 though if you look around. 10-15 is where quests start becoming sparse. There are a number of level 10-15 quests but after that there are only a half dozen or so to get you any farther. It is for this reason I recommend only spending turbine points you earn in game on purchasing adventure packs for those quest dead zones so you will be able to hit level 20 and beyond.

Turbine points are the DDO store currency used to purchase premium items and account upgrades. You can purchase TP from DDO directly, earn them in game through the favor system or get them when you buy and active Menace of the Underdark or the half orc pack here on Steam. Again if you have the cash and want to play without waiting buying the points is the fastest and easiest way.

Favor is earned by completing quests on different difficulties. Your favor is your reputation with the various factions around the city. You will earn a set number of favor points per level of difficulty you complete. For example; Archer point defense is a level 5 quest. You receive 3 favor points each for doing the quest on normal, hard and elite for a total favor gain of 9. You don’t have to complete it on all 3 settings to get the favor though. It goes by the highest difficulty setting you have finished. So if you go through the quest for the first time on elite you will get all 9 points of favor. After completing a Quest on a particular difficulty level you will no longer gain favor for that difficulty and will have to do it on a harder one to gain more.


Pressing P will open your adventure compendium which lists your quests and your progress. Such as highest difficulty completed and favor earned from them. The patron tab shows your favor with the different factions of the city. At the bottom of the list it shows your total favor earned. For every 100 total favor earned with a character you will be given 25 turbine points to spend in the DDO store.

In addition to the 25 TP per 100 favor gained you can also receive once per server bonus points.

First time reaching 5 favor = 50tp
25 favor = 25tp
50 favor = 25tp
500 favor = 50tp
1000 favor = 100tp
2000 favor = 100tp
3000 favor = 100tp
4000 favor = 100tp

These bonuses can be obtained with any character but will only be awarded once per server.

As you earn favor you will also unlock some premium effects on a per server basis. These unlocks will be available only on the server you opened them on and are not account wide so will not be available on other servers unless you unlock them there.

400 total favor = drow race, you will be able to make a drow character
1000 total favor = veteran status(4), when you make a new character you can have it start at level 4 instead of level 1.
1750 total favor = champion status, unlocks 32 point build. You can start new characters with 32 points to spend on their abilities instead of 28.
2500 total favor = favored soul, unlocks favored soul as a playable class.
3000 total favor = Veteran status(7) When you make a new character you can have it start at level 7 instead of level 1.

There are also a few faction related unlocks of note as well. The first 2 ranks of coin lord favor you earn will give you access to more bag slots for purchase from their patron. The first 2 ranks of kundarak favor will open more bank tabs for purchase from their patron. Favor ranks for other factions will open access to venders who sell items, give item rewards or give you buffs.

The easiest way is to make a new character and join a korthos group doing quests on elite. If you can get into one of these groups when they start you can clear through the quests quickly earning 70 or so favor. A few harbor quests more and you will have 100 favor and 25 turbine points. With a good group you can do this in an hour or 2. Repeat that process as you need to grind TP. I would recommend doing this at least once on each server for the once per server bonuses. Do this on each one and that is 125tp per server for your first time.

As stated above adventure packs are the best investment for the points you earn in game. Each pack you buy gives you more quests. Which allows you to earn more favor. This lets you earn not only more TP but can help you reach those premium favor unlocks.

When buying packs there are a few things you must consider.
Level range of the pack
Cost of the pack
Does it have epic mode

Level range

Getting packs that are useful for those levels with few quests is important to keep your progress from staling. This is mainly the mid to late teens. A good pack to start with is vale of twilight. It’s a level 16+ with 5 quests, 3 raids and 2 wilderness areas. I don’t know if it is still as important as it was when I was playing but back then it was one of those essential packs everyone had and played for the greensteel items. I was able to reach 20 with it and the few free quests available on my first characters. Low level packs 1-8 aren’t all that important to get early on, unless they have epic mode or a particularly good item you want , due to the abundance of free quests for those levels. Something to consider as well is what quests/packs are actually popular and being played on your server. There is no point getting a pack if no one ever wants to do the quests in them. Another option are the challenges pack such as Vaults of the Artificers. The quests in this pack allow you to adjust the level of the quest to what you want it to be from 4-25. It is one of the more expensive packs though.

Cost

The cost of packs will be the main limiter for you as a pure F2P. Some of the better packs can be quite expensive and the cheaper ones can be almost worthless if no one is playing there quests. If you want to get the most out of your points I would wait for quest pack sales. Keep an eye on the game stores current sales as they occasionally have packs on sale for 25% or more. This can save you hundreds of TP depending on the pack.

Epic mode

When a quest has epic mode it mean it has a level 20+ version. Even if an adventure pack is low level ,such as phiarlan carnival which is level 5, you will still be able to benefit from it with the level 20 epic modes. You gain experience, destiny levels and dungeon tokens from epic quests. The tokens are important since they are the only reliable way to purchase true druidic hearts of wood beyond using TP. There is a vender in the twelve who accepts tokens for the hearts of wood as well as epic items.

True druidic hearts of wood are needed for true reincarnation.

Well that is the basic info you need to play this game as a pure F2P. I started playing shortly after it went F2P years ago. Never spent a cent of real money on it until menace of the Underdark. Even then I traded TF2 stuff for it. When I was playing I used the points I earned to buy some high level quest packs and got a few character to level 20 on different servers. I only bought packs when they were on sale as well to stretch my points as far as I could. By the time I stopped playing I had all but a few of the adventure packs unlocked. That is basically what I did when I was playing and had fun doing it. Hope this helps.