So life 4 begins

During a TR train, you get plenty of time to talk about various things, but one thing always happens toward the end of a TR life, you begin talking and planning for the next life.  So last life on Sinfully as a barb, her saves were not great.  Samius suggested a Bard next life to help with the saves, so Sinfully is now a level 4 Bard. 

So the plan this life is a 12 Bard/6 Fighter/2 Rogue.  She will be doing War Chanter/Kensai using Falchons.  Have to get all the use out of that green steel falchon I built that I can.  She is a Half Elf with the Artificer Dilly.  Mainly, I wanted to see what I could accomplish with the Arty Dilly, with an option to switch to Favored Soul if needed later, but so far, fun playing with scrolls and seeing them extended.

I also spent some time last night running challenges.  I have not done many of these, but decided to work on my favor some as I still do not think buying Arty's should be required for VIPs.  I did some solo runs, sort of learning some of the challenges.  I was able to 2 star a couple and 1 star some others.  I then joined a group and did some Epic level runs and was able to 3 star an elite.  The TR Train group keeps talking about challenges, so some of those may be in the future.

And another EPIC item down.

OK, yesterday was interesting. I learned how to efficiently scroll farm Epic Chronoscope and pulled my first scroll, Charged Gauntlets. A quite nice scroll to pull. So last night, I was running with friends and they wanted to run Epic Chrono. I had not run it with Burradrow since getting her ready, so I said might as well try her out.

She did pretty good with crowd control, so I am still pleased with how her build came along. So we are in the bank after the Razor Arm fight and I pull the Seal for the Charged Gauntlets. I had thought about changing toons at the end to keep Burradrow off timer for farming, but now I have to try to get all three pieces in the same day.

We do the final fight and open the finally chest. No, I did not pull the shard, but I do have a Boots of Corrosion shard in there. Another player has the Charged Gauntlets shard and I offer to trade. She already has 6 shards for the boots, but she does put the shard up for roll. You guessed it, I out rolled 5 others to win the shard. So, I jump over to Pofo after the quest and built him some Epic Charged Gauntlets. Adds that extra kick to using the Epic Antique Great Ax I built him the other day.

Yesterday was a good day.

OK, so the day started out bad, since I got up not feeling well. After notifying work I would not be in, I went back to bed. I always seem to get better with sleep. So later that evening, after feeling somewhat better, I jumped on DDO.

I hooked up with Tobril and Devine and we went and did some favor in Amarath as I needed to get my yugo pots. We did Sins and Genesis elite and I am 3 points short, but Devine has a friend with a Abbot up and I still need a few things out of there, so we go do that.

The changes in Abbot from the patch seem to be that he has many more HP now than before, which doesn't make it harder, just uses up resources that were not needed before. Turbine, not really kewl with this change. Anyway, 6 mana pots later, yes, I said much more resource intensive as I used none before, we complete. The chest is opened, and I get a Litany. OK, I was not as upset about the 6 mana pots anymore.

I went after this and ran Bastian on normal solo and finished off my Amarath favor and now have my yugo pots. Between the Litany and Yugo pots, I can now get my Necro DC to 44 and my Enchantment to 43. Not bad, still could use a bigger boat and +3/4 int tome, but definitely getting strong. I am torn now, I am not sure I want to TR her again.

Burradrow has had a good weekend.

It is funny how one little thing can make it a good weekend in DDO. So, I was running around with Samius Duo'ing Twelve quest to get him flagged for TOD. He had to go eat since his wife does not bring his meals to his computer like mine does. I know, I am spoiled. So he logs off and I check what is on LFM before going to solo farm scrolls or something and wait, there is a TOD up. In the interest of setting the mood, I had joined a pug Abbott earlier and roids failed twice. I still can't understand why people can't do roids since they are so easy. But, I after running with Samius, I was calmed back down. So, I join as the kiter, which I have not done on Burradrow, but have done a few times on my sorc Soulfully. Well, as expected, it was easier on Burradrow than on the sorc as a Pale Master is easier to keep healed. So we do finally fight, interesting with other WF wizard kiting Sully and me healing him. We finish pretty easy and I open the chest to find my Pale Master ring sitting there smiling at me. So that is the happy part. The minor sad part is that moves my spyglasses out of trinket and I have to get the Litany as well as the shroud out of Abbot.

Delightful into the mix

Back when Epic Von 5 traps were actually Epic, I built my rogue Delightful. My whole goal was a mechanic rogue to get those traps. So, she might not do a lot of damage with her repeating crossbow, but she disarms pretty well. So, after the trap nerf, really haven't played her much. That changed today. I saw a group looking for a rogue for Epic party crashers and I switched and jumped in. She did the traps easily, no boosts even. Was the bluff for the names even. So, I even went and ran Snitch and Big Top with her. She might not be my strongest toon, but she does what she was built for well.

I ran a few other epics today on various toons, including my first Epic DQ on Burradrow. Still no torc, but another Epic quest down for her. Then I jumped on late tonight and Tobril got me into the Hard TOD they had going. They kept loosing members, so I jumped in. Was a real smooth run until the last part. We had some deaths healing up Horoth, but 4 pots later for me and many pots for the healers, we beat it anyway. No PM ring yet, but hey, not every toon can get it their first run like Canttouchths.

Canttouchths is a little happier

So today, I ran a few epics on Pofo and did decent, pulled a few seals I needed.  So then Tobril came on and we decided to hit up all the Red Fens again and I jumped on Burradrow.    Burradrow picked up a couple things, but the real kicker was Into the Deep.  Canttouchths has been needing the shard for the Gloves of the Claw for a while now.  The end fight ended up a little messy, but we succeeded and low and behold, the Gloves shard drops.  So, after that, of course Cant had to go make some new gloves to sport around.  +5 stacking intimidate is nice and 30% healing amp don't hurt.  Couple more items I want to get him and he is pretty set.  Seal of the Silver Concord cloak here I come, and I haven't forgot you shard and helm for the Mroranan Helm.  Those should make him pretty solid for that next life as a Half Elf.

Another EPIC item down.

So, logged on tonight and Tobril is on and wants to run some EPIC fens.  Since I need all kinds of EPICS, I am up for it, so I take Burradrow on out to Red Fens.  First, we run Last Stand.  First try went south, as they can occasionally do, but we go back in and complete.  Tobril is on Holybott, his FVS healing the group, minus the PM Burradrow and still gets second most kills.  Burradrow, the Crowd Controller has third most.  Still trying to determine how the sorc was not blasting away everything, but hey, we completed.  So we hit the chest and low and behold, there is my Twisted Talisman seal.  So before I logged off, I got to go epic my Talisman.  Sure, it is not the greatest epic item out there, but it cost me nothing to do and gives me 100 more mana from clickies.  That is two casts of Death Aura to keep Burradrows healing ticking, so I'll take it.  

We ran Claw and Into the Deep as well, but nothing special happened in either of those.  I just got to keep working on getting a bauble and the stuff to epic my spell storing ring to make the extra spell points all there.  And of course that elusive Torc, but she will come.

Burradrow is mostly EPIC good

So, why do I say most Epic good.  Well, she is not really ready for Epic Chrono yet.  The DCs are super high in there and well, I need a few more things to be ready for that.  I need to get my Yugo favor done for yugo pots.  Honestly, I don't usually worry about yugo pots, but they will add +1 to her DCs and can pick up a few more HP.  I need to start grinding TOD to get my Pale Master ring.  Won't change my DCs from what I currently have with Epic spyglasses, but will open that slot for a Litany which can help.  Then there is always store pots.  These I can guarantee I will use sparingly.  I don't have the funds to pump a bunch into the DDO store,

So, with all that said, I ran Epic "Into the Deep" and "Bargain of Blood" runs last night.  Both were smooth and pretty easy.  Picked up a shard for the Boots of the Mire from the Deep.  Not the Glows shard I need, but at least I am starting to get back into running Epics.  If the BYOH channel pursues their goal of growing a group of good dedicated players for Epic running, then I should see all I need in no time.

EPIC Snitch, Burradrow seems to be good

OK, last night, I joined a pug (I know, it is shocking) with Burradrow and did an Epic Snitch.  I started with my ship buffs and all with a 41 DC on my dancing ball/mass holds.  That was working greater.  I died in the fire trap, thank you lag gods, so my dc dropped to 40.  But it did not seem to change much and my spells where still hitting well.  So I am guessing the build I came up with for Burradrow is working.  She is sitting with both Greater Necro and Enchantment focus.  She has almost 2200 sp and 430ish hp in form.  Not bad for a drow that only took one toughness.  I will likely TR her again later just to make her stronger, but she appears to be doing fine now.  A chrono run at some point may tell the difference, but I am happy with her.  I may do a sorc or fvs life just to get her more SP at some point.

Burradrow, my PM is back to cap.

OK, tonight saw Burradrow return to cap.  So, how will my tr'd Pale Master do in epics.  Well, time will tell but a few things I can tell you now.  She has a Necro DC of 42 when holding my greater necro weapon and a Enchantment DC of 41 when holding the correct weapon.  Of course, both of these are in Lich form.  Her intelligence is at 44 in form, and I only have a +2 tome at this point.  So, I should be able to eventually get her to 46.  Epic spirit glasses eventually will allow me to have Greater Necro and Enchantment at the same time.  So, back to the epic grind for now until the TR bug hits me again.

Epic Claw Solo: Still doable

OK, Update 9.1 put a kink in soloing Epic Claw, but Turbine still hasn't won because it is still doable.  Is it harder, yes, but my Water Savant Sorc, Soulful, just did it.  Can Burradrow, my Pale Master do it when she returns to level 20, well, we will see.  I am sure there will be a way, but again, not like there used to be.

Quick Post

Quick post tonight.  I did level to 12 tonight and took my Vampiric form.  I played around in Orchard, picking up the explorers to gain some XP.  Getting the 1 point of negative healing each hit is not a bad thing.  It was also nice to get +2 to Strength and ok to get +2 Char and not lose 2 to Intelligence like zombie form does.  It is also nice to not have the 20% speed reduction in swing speed.  I think it is going to be pretty nice, at least a decent fill in until I can get to Lich.

BYOH, life of the Pale Master

I noticed that a few times lately, someone has hit my blog while searching on google using the terms DDO, Pale Master and Healing, so I figured I would do something I usually leave for Samius over on his blog at http://my.ddo.com/samiusbot.  It also goes along with his recent post http://my.ddo.com/samiusbot/2011/05/06/hjeal-meh-from-massive-amounts-of-damage.

So, why did I title this post "BYOH, life of the Pale Master"?  Well, as soon as you go into undead form, besides all the strong advantages you get to the character, you have pretty much signed up to heal yourself.  Since a divine healer cannot heal you with their normal spells, you cannot count on them having Inflict wounding spells to use on you.  So what do we do to take care of ourselves?

The most important is to make yourself into the arcane version of a radiant servant cleric.  By going into death forms, you can use the lesser death aura and death aura to have a constant healing (wounding) coming to you.  I find that with a PM, I do more melee time than I ever did before PM, so this is very powerful way to keep yourself healed.  Of course, you can also use inflict wounding wands/scrolls on yourself if you have the UMD to accomplish it.  This brings use to another good thing to know.

Behind the inn next to delera's graveyard, there is a NPC named Verisgante.  If you going into undead form and speak to him, he will have an extra option that states "You and I are not so different".  If you take that option, another NPC shows up.  This person allows you to exchange collectables for things that will be very helpful to you, such as wands, scrolls and my favorite to have on me, Inflict Critical wounds potions.  These can be used by a PM just like a Cure Serious healing by a regular toon.  To get the potions, you turn in "Funeral Tokens" and these are very easy to collect up from undead.

So, there you go.  BYOH for Pale Masters.

Joy in Mudville

OK, we all know that the thing Turbine is best at is taking away tactics we come up with to do quests.  Well, the changes in update 9 have had tremendous negative effects to using the life stealing property to solo Epic Claw.  Well, I am not one that likes being defeated, so tonight, I took my new Water Savant spec'd sorc, Soulful in there and solo'd it.  To be honest, in some ways it was easier, others tougher, but in general, probably equaled out and I got my fragments.

While I am sure new videos will hit youtube (assuming they have not, because I didn't look), but I was happy that I figured it out myself and did it.  I am sure that a few more tweaks to Soulful's feats and spells will make her stronger,  but after I get Burradrow (my Pale Master Wizzy) back to cap.  I might TR Soulful into Wizzy and then back to Sorc to get those DCs up and all.  But, the point of this particular post was that stick to it and you will find another way to do what you were doing before.

Burradrow is aging nicely

Hit lvl 7 last night and Firewall is once again my friend.  Ran tangle root with Samius to get to 7, then we started on Delera's before logging for the night.  Samius has already banked lvl 8 and Burradrow is 13k from lvl 8.  Maybe I can be 9 or at least close before logging off tonight.

Is Zombie form worth it?

OK, the TR train made it to level 6 last night for Burradrow and she got to take the new Pale Master form of Zombie.  First issue I have with it is that she now runs around like she has a stick stuck up her A@@.   Second issue is that the 20% swing speed makes it near impossible (in any useful way) to melee.  Lets face it, at lower levels, melee is how to level a wizard as they don't do enough damage with spells, with their mana pool, to try to kill stuff with mana.  Guess it is a good thing I have the Defense Guild guys to level with, as I am pretty sure I would struggle to solo level her and PUGS, well, we know how I feel about PUGS.

I also decided to see how much the changes in Update 9 effected my soloing of Epic Claw.  Well, it seems it totally killed it.  I took Soulful, my sorc in and never got past the first giant before I was out of mana.  As usual, the Turbine nerf bat was too big.

Burradrow is a lowbie again

Yes, TR time.  So Samius, Tobril, Torrance and Burradrow all TR'd yesterday.  So, lvl 1 to lvl 4 the first day.  Plus, always fun to watch Samius die as the Wizzard lives.

Success, it is sweet.

OK, after getting my Pale Master wizard, Burradrow soloing Epic claw, I couldn't stop.  So, I spent last couple days grinding the ingredients to make another petrifying staff for my Sorc Soulful.  Tonight, I got the final ingredient and make her staff.  So tonight, she join her wizard cousin and soloed Epic Claw.  So this means I can make between 1 and 1.5 EPIC tokens each night solo which is easier than pugging sometimes.  Not sure any other of my toons can solo it, but knowing me, I will keep trying to find ways for them to do it too.

Peace and see ya in Storm Reach.

Nice start to the weekend

Just got back from a short vacation to visit family (and yes it sucked to not DDO while there).  So, first thing I did when I got home was to jump on Burradrow and solo Epic Claw.  I have it down pretty good now.  After that and a quick scroll farm of Von 1, the wife and I had our date night.


For those interested, date night was a trip to "Cooking at the Cottage" in Louisville Ky.  This is a place where you and your partner cook a 3 course meal with a chef teaching you what to do.  Last night was Lobster Ruzzoto, Chicken Cordon Blue (well, was a fancy version anyway) and Bourbon Chocolate Pie.  It was an awesome meal.

OK, back home and I jump on Canttouchths and run an Epic Von 6, and finally, I get one of the items I need, a belt of Mroranon.  That got made epic last night. Now I need the helm shard and helm, the seal for the silver concord cloak and shard for the gloves of the claw and Cant is basically done with equipment.

Next, Samius and Tobril had an Abbot going so I jump back on Burradrow, as she really needs to pick up a shroud of the Abbot.  Well, did not get the shroud, but all was not lost, picked up a Wretched Twilight.  Another very good item for a Pale Master.

So, a great start to the weekend.  See ya in Storm Reach this weekend!

Goal: Epic Claw Solo: Check

Ok, so a few days ago, I started trying to solo Epic Claw on Burradrow.  The one scorpion is a challenge, but tonight, I got it done.  No seal which stinks, but proof I can do it.  Keep practicing and I think I can get it down where I can do it on a more consistent basis.  Who says you need Sorcs to solo, Go Wizzy Power.