DDO Editorial: How Important Are Collection Quests?

By Battlebeard

Several of my DDO friends recently expressed doubt about the importance of turning in collections. My response to this was one of dismay and concern. How could they say this about something that actually seems so vital to the game's fabric? Ahhh! It reminds of the old tabletop days when hack-and-slashers would argue with the role players about there being too much story and not enough monster killing. The more things change, the more they stay the same! So this has provoked me to conduct an experiment, in real time!  I turned in as many collections as I possibly could, and I list my rewards here for you.

Starting in the Market, moving out of the bank – I passed up Peta Flashpin because  I didn't have anything for her, and nothing for David Turner. I first stopped to visit with Xovun, the Forensic Collector, and dropped off 2 Powered Blood. He actually gave me a Wand of Magic Missile!  Next on the list today was Kipling Vranch, Financial Records Collector. I turned in 4 Wavecrasher Cargo Manifests and received 2 Wands of Cure Moderate Wounds, which is interesting. I just took 1 level of cleric on top of 5 levels of barbarian!

Passing by Loura Jotun, Clarice Noden and Vannik Drumdoom, I made a mental note that I will have to visit with them again when I have some items they may want. Third on the list would be Giles Goodman, Rare Document Collector. Wow! For 2 Research Diaries he gave me a Wand of Owl's Wisdom, which is so important to me because I cannot cast my cleric spells due to the fact my wisdom is too low, even with a ring and Helm of Wisdom. But I can use wands well because I put skill points in Use Magical Device. Now, I am off to the Harbor.

First stop in the Harbor is Wash Pynoptis, Reagent Collector. I gave him 4 amber vials, which got me a Scroll of Bane, Scroll of Doom, and a Wand of Magic Missile. Hmm, not so bad. Second, off to see Gold Scuttle, Religious Icon Collector. He offered me some nice items perfect for my class, race, and level. For 6 Prayer Beads, I received 20 Masterwork Throwing Axes and 20 Masterwork Darts. And for just 2 Small Wooden Idols I was given 20 +1 Throwing Daggers. Now it's off to the bank with my leftover Prayer Beads and Amber Vials, to be saved till I do my next vendor round.

Lastly, it's off to the House of Jorasco to bring some requested items to Virisgante in House Jorasco!!!  If you can't find Virisgante, it is because he is hiding. He will not be out in the open in House Jorasco. He is a vampire!  If you walk around the outside of the building to the back of House Jorasco and look hard enough, you will find him. I had two collections to turn in, both Amulets of the Lost Empire. This time, I got 20 +2 Arrows and 20 +1 Acid Arrows. Maybe I will now decide to start using a bow, or I could just sell the arrows. Some extra gold is always useful.

Now, I can say without a doubt that turning in collections is well worth it. I didn't loose any XP and spent no PP or GP on any of the items I received and, I am now really prepared for adventuring and will be a great asset to any party, with melee, healing and spell casting abilities.

Here are some tips for using collections:

• As you gather up items in your backpack, keep the collection items organized in one area separate from everything else, and make sure you examine them so you know what house or zone the collectors are in and how many of the item you need for a reward..
• Also make sure you know where the bank is in the Market so you can store any extras you may have after visiting a collector.
• Next as you store up collections in the bank, organize them by house zone or collector. I find it easiest by zone; that way I can turn in all the collections I have for that zone in one shot.
• Lastly, keep a list of what reward you receive when you complete a collection quest. This way you can find what collectors best fit your needs since bank and backpack space are limited.
  

There are—as far as I know—around 81 collections in DDO. Imagine what could be out there just waiting for you to discover!

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