Fortune Favors the Bold

A Guide to
Drow Favor

By Ralsu

Unlocking the href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=265">drow
provides some meaning to the href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=451&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0">Patron
System in Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach (DDO). This
guide will help you understand how favor works, reveal the various
rewards that come with maximizing favor with a given patron, and list
some quests that will help you achieve your goals faster. By the time
you're done reading, you should have a feel for which quests you want
to do, what you'll get for your trouble, and how to take the quick path
to unlocking the drow as a playable race in DDO.

Patron System Basics

Any time a player completes a quest in DDO, he earns favor with one of
seven patrons: the Church of the Silver Flame, the Coin Lords, Free
Agents, and the four houses of Stormreach (Deneith, Jorasco, Kundarak,
and Phiarlan). The amount of favor earned from a quest varies in
relation to the difficulty of the quest. Do "Matter of Protection" solo
to gain 1 favor with House Deneith. Get a group together and do it on
elite difficulty to gain 6 favor. When a player earns enough favor with
a patron, he will receive in-game mail from the representative of the
faction.



Players cannot earn more than the maximum favor awarded for a quest,
and that only comes from doing the quest on elite. That is to say that
players cannot repeat "Miller's Debt," which awards 2 favor with the
Coin Lords on the solo setting, to double the favor earned from that
quest. Each time a player finishes a quest on a harder level, the favor
she has earned for the quest is replaced with the highest value
possible. Put simply, do "Durk's Got a Secret" solo to gain 3 favor
with the Free Agents; do it on normal in a group to earn 6 favor. style="font-style: italic;">Note that the favor points do not stack.
Using the "Durk's" example, a person who has completed the quest solo
and on normal difficulty has 6 total favor from the quest--she does not
have 9 (3 solo + 6 normal).



Each of the 7 factions in Stormreach has an initial cap of 75 on the
favor you can earn. For those slow with math, 75 x 7 = 525. The amount
of favor needed to unlock the drow is 400. Thus, players will not have
to max favor with all patrons to unlock the drow. Nevertheless,
achieving 75 favor with a patron can lead to very nice rewards--as I
will discuss later. For now, I want to mention that a player does not
have to complete every quest a faction offers in order to gain 75
favor. For instance, a person can quickly reach 75 favor with House
Jorasco by doing the following quests on elite difficulty: "The Missing
Ward" (6),  "The Graverobber" (15), and "Delera's Tomb" (54 total
for all four parts). That still leaves a bundle of House Jorasco quests
incomplete.



Once players surpass the initial milestone of 75 favor with a patron,
they can proceed toward the ultimate: 150 favor. More rewards open up
at 150 favor, but it's hard to aim for them; they'll mostly open up as
players do all quests on elite in the climb to Level 10. Again, I'll
get to the reward in a moment.



The final notes for Patron System basics actually are not so basic.
When a player has reached 400 total favor from any of the 7 factions on
a single character, he gets a letter notifying him of his achievement.
He can then unlock the drow. Additionally, he can unlock a 6th
character slot. Many players are not aware of this and destroy a
character needlessly to make room for a new drow toon. Finally, the
drow and extra slot only open up for those servers on which a player
has a character with 400 total faction.

Coin Lords

Representative: Montague
Goudreau

Priority: Highest

Easy path to 75 favor: A person
who completes all quests solo into the Harbor proper will have 12 favor
with the Coin Lords ["Taking Stock" (2),  "Thwarting the Threat"
(2), "Search for the Rare Scrolls" (2), "Stealing the Healing Elixir"
(3), and "Quest for the Ancient Daggers" (3)]. Next, people would be
wise take advantage of the newbie quests right inside Aspirant's
Corner, starting with Berrigan Enge and "The Miller's Debt." That
quest, along with "Arachnophobia," "Home Sweet Sewer," and "An
Explosive Situation" give 2 favor apiece solo and are cake walks.
Another easy quest to solo is "Sewer Rescue," which grants 3 favor.



To earn the remaining 52 favor, I recommend the following quests on
elite difficulty:

• "Recovering the Lost Tome" (9)
• "The Kobold's Den" (24 for both parts)
• Venn's Trail (21 for both parts)

I recommend these quests because it will be easy to find folks who want
to do them. That's not to say that they won't be challenging on the
elite difficulty, but you can count on being able to get in on a pickup
group (PUG) if you have to for these quests.

Reward for 75 favor: The Coin
Lords make it worthwhile to earn their favor. 75 favor with the Coin
Lords unlocks an extra inventory tab! I recommend earning favor with
the Coin Lords as soon as possible in a character's journey to level 10.

Reward for 150 favor: A player
who earns 150 favor with the Coin Lords has the option to purchase a
5th inventory tab for 100,000 gold pieces.

House Kundarak

Representative: Karya d'Kundarak

Priority: High

Easy path to 75 favor: Well,
truthfully, the path to 75 favor won't be easy. Kundarak quests are
long and challenging. The payoff is better-suited for a main character
rather than one simply designed to unlock the drow. The following are
some quests you can count on being popular on elite in PUGs.

• "The Lair of Summoning" (9)
• "Ruined Halls" (12)
• "The Forgotten Caverns" (12)
  
• "Tharashk Arena" (15)
• "Stormvauld's Mine" (15)

href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album09&id=Adventure_Compendium&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Adventure Compendium"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album09/Adventure_Compendium.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 227px; height: 200px;" align="left">Since
some of the Kundarak quests are for Levels 8 and 9, this is a patron
players will have to pursue as their characters grow. The quests listed
above only total 63 favor on elite, so more quests will be needed for
the reward at 75 favor. If a player finds herself short 2 favor, she
could solo "Defend the Haverdasher."

Reward for 75 favor: Serve
House Kundarak well to receive access to additional bank space. This
extra bank space helps a great deal.

Reward for 150 favor: A player
who earns 150 favor with House Kundarak is granted even more bank space.

Church of the Silver Flame

Representative: Astra Quinlin

Priority: High

Easy path to 75 favor: Mainly,
my advice is to do all of Archbishop Dryden's quests. Luckily, these
quests are lower level. Here are a list of the quests I recommend on
elite:

• "Bringing the Light" (8)
• "The Friar's Niece" (8)
• "The Sanctuary" (8)
  
• "The Crypt of Gerald Dryden" (12)
• "The Old Archives" (8)
• "Return to the Sanctuary" (9)
• "Archbishop's Daughter" (9)
• "The Patriarch's Crypt" (9)
• "The Lower Cathedral" (9)
  
• "Archbishop's Fate" (12)

Just pick from the above list as parties and time allow. The key is
that most of these quests are Levels 2-4 and skilled parties can handle
them with little effort for a nice payout.

Reward for 75 favor: Once a
player has reached the 75 favor mark, the Silver Flame rewards her by
offering reduced prices on heals, curse and disease removals, and other
similar priestly services from all the Brothers and Sisters scattered
about Stormreach. This reward can come in handy if you find yourself
paying frequently to have curses removed. And, hey, if you're doing a
slew of elite quests to unlock drow, you're bound to end up cursed!

Reward for 150 favor: Unknown
to the author at the time of this writing. I assume a better discount
on Silver Flame services.

House Phiarlan

Representative: Mars d'Phiarlan

Priority: Medium

Easy path to 75 favor: I
recommend the following popular quests, which are lower in level, on
elite for the fast path to 75 favor with House Phiarlan:

• "Information is Key" (12)
• "Assault on Splinterskull" (36 for all four parts)
• "Rest for the Restless" (9)
• "The Deadly Package" (18 for both parts)

Reward for 75 favor: Players
who achieve the first favor milestone with House Phiarlan will unlock
the ability to purchase 30 minute duration buffs. The key aspect--these
buffs will go with players into a new dungeon. Though they are largely
buffs that a wizard or cleric could provide, they are a nice way to
conserve spell points. The 100 gold pieces buffs include Jump, Mage
Armor, and Tumble. The 300 gold pieces buff is Resist Energy (any one
or more of your choice for 300gp per element). The 500 gold pieces buff
is Water Breathing, great for those few quests that force players to do
a lot of swimming.

Reward for 150 favor: A player
who earns 150 favor with House Phiarlan receives a Philarian Pendant of
Time. This items increases movement rate throughout town, giving the
player a sort of permanent Expedition Retreat buff. The effect of the
pendant does not operate in dungeons.

The Free Agents

Representative: Capshaw the
Crier

Priority: Low

Easy path to 75 favor: I
recommend these popular lower-level and mid-level quests on elite:

• "Durk's Got a Secret" (12)
• "Stealthy Repossession" (9)
• "The Swiped Signet" (12)
  
• "The Butcher's Path" (12)
• "The Fire Caves" (18 for both quests)
• "The Troglodytes' Get" (12)

Players can also amass a small amount of favor by completing some of
the easier Harbor quests such as "The Smuggler's Warehouse" and "Stop
Hazadil's Shipment."

Reward for 75 favor: Players
who earn 75 favor with the Free Agents gain access to affordable +2
thieves' tools and Heal and Repair kits. These items cannot be traded
and have limited usefulness depending on a player's build.

Reward for 150 favor: A player
who earns 150 favor with the Free Agents gain access to affordable +4
thieves' tools and Heal
and Repair kits. These items cannot be traded and have limited
usefulness depending on a player's build.

House Deneith

Representative: Oleg d'Deneith

Priority: Low

Easy path to 75 favor: Like
House Kundarak, quests in House Deneith are not quick and easy. Mostly
mid-level, these quests are not the fastest way to unlock drow. Here
are my choices on elite:

• "The Depths--Darkness, Despair, & Doom" (27 for all three
  quests)
• "The Iron Mines" (21 for both quests)
• "Grey Moon Waning" (12)
• "Stormcleave Outpost" (18)
  

Players who find themselves 6 favor short at any time should run " href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=70">A
Matter of Protection" on elite. href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album09&id=Favor_by_Quest&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Favor by quest"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album09/Favor_by_Quest.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 229px; height: 200px;" align="right">

Reward for 75 favor: Unlike
House Kundarak and House Phiarlan, the reward for reaching 75 favor
with House Deneith is not spectacular. Players receive +3 ranged
ammunition and throwing weapons. These rewards are great for purely
ranged fighters, but they are only passable for some builds and
practically useless for others.

Reward for 150 favor: A player
who earns 150 favor with House Deneith gets those same +3 ranged items,
only this time they have the attribute "of Returning," meaning they
return to your quiver or backpack 75% of the time. This makes the
situation reward last longer.

House Jorasco

Representative: Rhialle
"Blossom" d'Jorasco

Priority: Low

Easy path to 75 favor: As with
Houses Kundarak and Deneith, House
Jorasco offers some mid- to upper-level quests that are not a quick and
easy way to unlocking drow. Fortunately, style="font-style: italic;">everyone runs Delera's Tomb, so
players can get much of their favor from that quest series. Here are my
picks for elite quests:

• "The Missing Ward" (6)
  
• "Delera's Tomb" (54 for all four parts)
• "The Graverobber" (15)

Reward for 75 favor: Players
who achieve the first favor milestone with House Jorasco will
unlock the ability to purchase 30 minute duration buffs. The key
aspect--these buffs will go with players into a new dungeon. Though
they are largely buffs that a bard or cleric could provide, they are
a nice way to conserve spell points. 100 gold pieces can buy buffs in
the form of Bless, Remove Fear, or Shield of Faith. These buffs likely
won't make or break an adventure, but they are a nice perk.

Reward for 150 favor: A player
who earns 150 favor with House Jorasco can purchase some very useful 30
minute buffs. Most of these buffs cost 300 gold pieces and include Aid,
Bear's Endurance, Bull's Strength, Eagle's Splendor, Owl's Wisdom, and
Protection from Energy (any one or more of your choice for 300gp per
element). Water Breathing costs 500 gold pieces. By the time a player
has 150 favor with House Jorasco to access these more useful buffs, she
will likely have gear in her extra inventory spaces earned from the
Coin Lords that has the same effect.

The Goal: Total Favor

Representative: Nyx Durandimion

Most rewarding and easiest path to 400
favor: I recommend getting the 400 favor to unlock the drow as
follows:

• Get 75 favor with the Coin Lords. The inventory tab is handy, and
  the quests come quickly and easily.
• Run the quests for 75 favor with House Phiarlan. This opens leads
  to the cheaper priestly services, which is a nice boon.
• Complete about half of the quests for the Silver Flame. This
  should net 40-50 favor.
• Do the Harbor quests for the Free Agents for 45 favor.
• Try "The Depths" and "The Iron Mines" for House Deneith to get 48
  favor.
• Doing "The Missing Ward" and "Delera's" for House Jorasco
  produces 60 favor.

Doing all of these quests results in 347 total favor. Now it's time to
start crawling through some of those other quests out there. It doesn't
matter which patron they fall under, as the goal of unlocking the drow
just requires 400 total favor.

Bonus Goal: 1750 Favor

Representative: Nyx Durandimion

Priority: Last, when you've
done all you can in DDO

Easy path to 1750 Favor: none

By the time you have completed most all of DDO's quests on Normal,
Hard, and Elite settings, you will be getting very close to the
magical href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=325">1750
Favor Reward. This topic has been something of a debate, but it seems
that Turbine has come up with a solution that pleases most people. One
reward is being able to build a new DDO character on the same server
where you earned 1750 favor with 32 build points instead of 28. The
extra 4 build points can balance out weak spots or add maybe one more
point to a maximized Ability score. The other possible reward is a +2
tome for the Ability score of the player's choice for the character
with 1750 favor.



Please note: As of December
2006, it is very possible to miss out on the opportunity to get the +2
tome. When you speak to Nyx and he offers you the tome, you must pick
one. You cannot cancel the dialogue box and come back later to pick. So
know ahead of time which Ability score you want to boost!