Deja Vu

So today I want to talk about a game mechanic that you hear a lot about. True Heroic Reincarnation (TR), a chance to start over big and better, to correct errors or for some just a chance to try a completely different build. I want to talk about the benefits of reincarnation in DDO along with making choices to get a kick butt character. However it is not the be all and end all of the game it is just about increasing your fun. "If I had ever been here before on another time around the wheel".

So what do you need to do to be able to TR? First you need to be level 20 (or above) and second you need the appropriate heart of wood. The reincarnation grove in the hall of heroes will then provide a basic step by step to go through the process. Anything in your backpacks or that you are wearing will be put into a cache that you can access in the game after you reincarnate. Also my money has carried over so starting again with 500k or so is no great hardship. Once you have been through the process in the grove next time you log in you will see an option beside the characters name to reincarnate. The images below are a step by step view of what you go through. And when you reincarnate you start at level 1 in Kothos with no equipment and have to work your way off the island to your bank which holds your TR cache. So those first few adventures are probably more challenging than you remember just because you may not have done then as a Level 1 for some time.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

All You need is to be able to type your name

That beard is gone next life

So why would anyone get all the way to level 20 in the game and then take a character back to level 1? Firstly for your first and second reincarnation you get an extra 2 build points when you rebuild your character so if you normally start with 28 points on your 3rd build it will be 32 points or if you start with 32 points you will start with 36 points. You will also notice your character is a little bigger in physical size in game. But the bit that most people use the TR for is the access to the past life feats, each class has a passive and an active feat. The passive is free and they all seem to stack up to 3 times and the active is a paid for feat but depending on you class and race you may be willing to spending that feat slot. For example the wizard past life passive feat read "You were a Wizard in a past life. You occasionally find yourself desiring a good book. Each time you acquire this feat you gain +2 to spell penetration checks and the DC's of Wands you use. This feat can be stacked up to three times.". And for the active feat "You recall more about your past life as a wizard. You have +1 to the DC's of spells you cast and can cast the magic missile spell ten times per rest, creating a missile of magical energy (Magic Missile) that darts forth and unerringly strikes its target inflicting 1d4+1 force damage. For every 2 caster levels beyond first you gain an additional missile, maximum 10 missiles.".

No clothes but also no beard

So you can see there obvious reasons to TR to get access to abilities or improve the abilities of a character. Better build, better functionality, playing a class you haven't played before or a race, in fact the only thing that stays the same is the character name unless you want something to stay the same that is. The screenshots are of Grousemerlin who is on his fifth life, he has 3 previous sorcerer levels and has just started his second Wizard life. The intention is another TR as a wizard and the 3 TRs as a favoured soul which will give the life after that as 120 bonus spell points and +9 spell penetration meaning as a starting point it will be that much more difficult for monsters to stand up to my magic. I am currently playing that 10th life as a sorcerer but depending on the bonuses if Warlock is introduced into the game I may add another 3 lives to merlin.

I have also reincarnated Grouseman 14 times so he has at least one life as each class. The gives the choice of taking the active feat completionist which adds "You've leveled to 20 in every class, and for your effort can take this feat to get a +2 bonus to all skills and ability scores. When more classes are added, this feat will deactivate and you will need to gain those past lives before this benefit reactivates.". So it is a massive bonus to any character depending on what you want out of your character. My 14th has been a lot easier and I am almost level 20 already which when you consider the number of other characters I have running is an achievement (in my mind at least). So every new life adds to your characters power but you have to grind a lot more as the amount of experience, after your first TR, XP needed per rank is increased by 50%. After your second TR, it is increased by 100%. So you will need some commitment to play the extra grind to get to the later stages of the game.

So you have some idea of what is involved in TR and the benefits it can bestow a player. And if I was a free to play rather than VIP it would be a natural choice to play other classes and races rather than delete a character you can just start again.

See you in the next life.

Grousemerlin