Fortune Favors the Bold

A Guide to Drow Favor

By Ralsu

Unlocking the drow provides some meaning to the 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. 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)

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 "A Matter of Protection" on elite.
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, 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 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!

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