style="color: rgb(154, 185, 124);">Playing Your Strong Points

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style="font-family: tahoma;"> size="+1">Guide to Using 3.3 Enhancements

Enhancements for
Dungeons and Dragons Online are designed to allow you to have the
maximum amount of choice in development of your character.  You
can specialize in certain areas, or chose to have a broad variety of
abilities with less specialization in any particular area. 
However, assuring you have the enhancements you want is difficult, and
it takes careful planning to arrange your use of action points to be
the best advantage.



Authors Note:  Make sure
to click on an image to enlarge it for
better ability to read it.

How the System
Works

The enhancement
system allows you to use action points gained at each level to purchase
permanent enhancements for your character.  These enhancements can
make your href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=209">spells
cause less aggression from your enemies when you
damage them, make you better at various skills, allow you to gain a
greater benefit from healing spells, make your class abilities more
effective, and other benefits.



Enhancements build upon each
other.  For example, you can chose at a lower level to cause more
damage with fire and cold spells, then later spend more action points
to increase this same type of damage more, and later in levels,
increase this damage further still.
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Terms

Listed below is are
terms used for this guide:



Progression: 
This is a requirement for choosing many enhancements; it is the number
of action points you must already have spent, regardless of your level,
to take the enhancement with this progression requirement.
style="font-family: tahoma;">


size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;"> href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album41&id=examplepic&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Example of New Enhancement Screen"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album41/examplepic.sized.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 250px; height: 173px;" align="left"> size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">Class Level:  This is a
requirement for choosing many enhancements; it is the level in a
particular class you must have to take an enhancement with this class
level requirement.



size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-family: tahoma;">Cost: 
This is the cost in action points you must pay for a particular
enhancement.



size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-family: tahoma;">Benefit: 
This is the benefit you get from taking a particular enhancement.
style="font-family: tahoma;">


Requirement(s): 
These are the required href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=45">feats,
class levels, enhancements and
progression you must have before taking a particular enhancement.



Point of Advancement: 
This is the point where you have gained enough experience points to
gain another action point.

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Choosing Your
Enhancements:

When you decide to
make a character, you should plan your character carefully.  Since
the opportunity to respec your character is rare, choices you make can
ruin your character's development. style="font-family: tahoma;">  While the enhancement system has a
respec system, it has a time limit, and is expensive.  Planning size="-1"> href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album41&id=Importance_list&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Click To Enlarge: List of Enhancements in Order of Important"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album41/Importance_list.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 250px; height: 188px;" align="right"> size="-1">how your going to
purchase enhancements is an important part of planning your character.
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When you chose your enhancements,
first look over the enhancements available for your chosen character
class and race, and style="font-family: tahoma;"> style="font-family: tahoma;">decide how you wish them to
interact.  If no list is available, simply make a first level
character of the same class and level and as soon as you are in the
game, click on the style="font-family: tahoma;"> style="font-family: tahoma;"> enhancement page of your character, and
check the  “show all” box.   This will show all the
enhancements available for your class and race.  Then look over
the enhancements you wish to have.  There is a tool tip for each
enhancement showing details in requirements and so on for the
particular enhancement.


style="font-family: tahoma;">
For example, you
might chose to have a rogue who is particularly good with skills
involved with disarming and detecting traps, a size="-1"> size="-1"> href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=80">barbarian
who has very
high hit points, a sorcerer who specializes in force spells, or
similar.  Choose the enhancements which you wish for your
character as you develop style="font-family: tahoma;"> style="font-family: tahoma;">(including the ones you wish to have at
highest levels), and then list them in importance.
style="font-family: tahoma;">


After you have chosen what
enhancements you wish to have, look cost in action points for the
enhancements you wish to have.  Add up the cost, if it is higher
than the maximum level in the game x 4, then you won't be able to
afford the enhancements.  Reduce the number of enhancements you
wish to have until then number is below maximum level x 4.  size="-1"> It is advisable to
assume you will have to spend points you don't intend, so you might
consider deducting some action points “off the top” of the max level X
4 number.

href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album41&id=example_3&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Cllick to Enlarge - List of Enhancments with Requirements"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album41/example_3.sized.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 250px; height: 180px;" align="left">

style="font-family: tahoma;">

size="-1">Planning Your
Enhancements:

size="-1">Now that you have your
enhancements picked out, you have to plan the order that you will take
them.  List our your enhancements, style="font-family: tahoma;"> style="font-family: tahoma;">dividing them by level and progression
requirements, lower class level and lower progression requirements
first. At this point, your
list should have your least expensive, lowest class level, and lowest
progression requirement at the top of your list, with your highest at
the bottom.



The next step in the enhancement
planning process is to figure out if you can afford them.



Charting your Enhancements Cost:



Now that you have a list of your enhancements and what requirements you
need to get them, in the order they are available, you should make a
list showing if you can style="font-family: tahoma;"> href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album41&id=Failed_Charting&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Click to Enlarge - Charting my Enhancments"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album41/Failed_Charting.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 250px; height: 239px;" align="right"> size="-1"> afford them. 
Simply write on a sheet of paper a numerical list (vertically), writing
each number 4 times (see image).  These numbers represent action
points as you receive them.  To the right of the numbers write the
point of advancement in your gaining action points that you will take a
particular action point, plus your current progression (action points
you have spent so far) and what the enhancement costs.  Whenever
you have a point of advancement where you do not need to spend an
action point, instead of an enhancement name, type "save" and simply
keep your progression for that point of advancement the same, with
nothing in the cost column.



At this point, you will notice that there are periods where you must
spend action points to advance your progression, and you have nothing
on your list of enhancements you what which you can get.  For now,
type "unknown" in the enhancement name column, assume a progression of
one for this unknown enhancement, and list the cost as one.  Later
in the process of figuring out your enhancements, you can come back and
figure out what goes here.



Also, you will note that about two-thirds of the way through this
process, you will find you no longer have to worry about progression,
because you will always qualify for the progression requirement for the
enhancements you wish.  This is the most tricky part of choosing
enhancements.  Make sure that you always take your most desired
enhancement chain from your list whenever possible, otherwise, you will
find you may not be able to afford it later.  In the image given
of this list, note the boldfaced portionin the lower right where I make
an error in the order I pick my enhancements.

Getting Down to
Details:

size="-1"> size="-1">Now that you have a
(semi) concrete view of when you will take enhancements, you need to
get the details and adjustments made in your list size="-1"> href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album41&id=Charting_Successful&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Click to Enlarge - Successfull Charting"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album41/Charting_Successful.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 250px; height: 229px;" align="left"> size="-1">.  First, make any
changes you need to make sure you can afford your most desired
enhancements, and meet their requirements.  Then go back to the
"unknown" enhancements.  Refer to the list online of enhancements
you haven't considered and fill these in now.



size="-1">In the example given,
since this particular wizard is organized to be specialized in the
energy series of enhancements, plus have maximum intelligence and spell
points, I decide to take some things which will advance those goals..
namely improved heightening and improved maximizing, and some
enhancements to make my repair and force spells better.  Note that
since these enhancements require I have to HAVE those feats to take
them, I will need to make sure I have those feats when I get to the
appropriate level.  I also move an intelligence enhancement lower
down my list, making sure it fulfills requirements for progression and
cost, etc, when I do so.  Now my list looks something like this.



Some things to note with this image, first, I tallied the total amount
of action points I have available, so as to make sure I have earned
enough to take an enhancement at the point I wish to.  I also have
moved my more important feats higher up in this scale to assure they
are taken, after checking that I have enough progression and meet level
requirements.



Finishing Information:
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Now that you have planned out your enhancements, put your notes aside
for
when you train.  Remember that the level cap will be rising, and
you will need to save your action points for higher enhancements that
will undoubtedly cost more, and be more powerful.  Finally,
remember that while the enhancement system can be confusing, it is more
versatile, allowing a variety of builds.  Finally, worse comes to
worse, you can always respec if you have to.





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