Melee class

When creating a new character in DDO, there are three classes to choose from, and that is melee, spell casters, and specialists. I reccomend you create a melee class, especially if your new to the game. After you select the melee path, there are three different classes to choose from, you can be a barbarrian, a fighter, or paladin. If your a beginner, i strongly suggest you be just a human or dwarven fighter. The fighter does not have any special powers, and is not the smartest character, but is pretty strong and can do a lot of damage. They can also wear any kind of armor, which means there is more protection, which means less damage is done to you. Usually, if you have good armor, it is very difficult for enemys to do much damage to a fighter. If you were going to create your own stats for your fighter, i would suggest you have a high strength, some constitution(you wont need too much constitution do to a higher armor class), and some dexterity, the rest is not important for a fighter. Also, fighters can use most weapons in the game, but I usually use a sword and shield if there are many enemies, since it boosts your armor class, but two handed weapons work as well. A barbarrian is probably the toughest of the bunch, but the most difficult to play ith unless you choose the correct abilities and race. Although you can train to wear heavy armor, its not until your character gets higher level. Barbarrians are best with two handed weapons and light to medium armor( if the barbarian has a higher dexterity than costitution wear light armor, and vice versa). The best race to be as a barbarrian is a half orc since they get bonuses to strength and constitution. Barbarrians should have a high strength and constitution, and if you do not want a higher constitution, add those extra points to dexterity. Another class to choose from is the paladin, which is the same thing as a fighter, only they give up some strength and constitution for intelligence and wisdom, or charisma for a little spell casting. Your paladin will get spell points at level 4, and can provide healing, not as much as clerics, but better than none at all. The paladin should have relatively balanced stats, which is why they are known as the most balanced characters in the game. Monks are free to V.I.P's, but if your premium or free to play, your going to have to buy the monk class. Monks do not have spell points, but after striking many opponents, they get an energy called ki, in which you can perform special moves which can do extra damage, stun opponents, and give you bonuses to armor class. Monks usually have decent constitution, and a high strength, and a high dexterity, since they use natural armor, and outfits. Instead of using weapons, monks use handwraps which can also get bonuses. They can use shiruken, or throwing stars, but thats about it. Always remember if your character is getting close to medium level, and you think your stats aren't good for your class, remember, you can fix this because you can fix these every 4 levels, and every time you level up your character gets better, and there is equipment that can give you bonuses to certain stats, so do mot delete your character.

Choosing the right race

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When creating a character, there are many different customizations you can make for your character, which is a very enjoyable feature, but did you know that the race you choose influences the way you play the game? For example, the drow elf race has a + 2 dexterity, + 2 intelligence, + 2 charisma, and a - 2 constitution. This means that drow elfs are have a bigger advantage by playing as a rogue, bard, ranger, sorcerer, or wizard. They also have + 2 to enhancement saves, they inherit spell resistance, a + 2 to listen, search, and spot. The dwarf race has a + 2 to constitution, and a - 2 penalty to charisma. They also have racial toughness, spell point enhancements, bonuses to saves against spells and poisons, and bonuses when fighting goblin, or giant creatures. So dwarves would make good fighters and barbarians. Elves have a + 2 bonus to dexterity, and a - 2 penalty to constitution. Some benefits include immune to sleep, as clerics they can bring fallen allies back to life at level six, and + 2 to search, spot, and listen skills. They make for good rogues, clerics, rangers, and wizards. A half elf has no bonuses, but no penalties either. They have access to both elven, and human feats since they are half elf, and half human. Half orcs have a + 2 to strength, but suffer a - 2 to intelligence, and charisma. they make good fighters, barbarians, and paladins. Haflings are the smallest race, and add a + 2 to to their dexterity, but a -2 to their strength. They add a + 1 to armor class + 1 bonus to attack rolls with thrown weapons.They recieve a + 2 to jump listen, and move silently skills, a + 4 to hide, they also get + 1 to all saves, and a + 2 to saves against fear. Their flaw is that they can only carry 75 % of what the other races can carry in their inventory due to size. They make good monks, and excellent rogues. Humans get 1 extra feat at the first level, get 4 additional skill points at creation and 1 additonal skill point per level. They take no penalties, and are the most well rounded race, and can excel at any class. Warforged have a + 2 constitution, a -2 wisdom and charisma. They are immune to poison, sleep affects, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, and exhaustion. Since they're warforged, cure and heal spells from clerics are reduced, if you want a fully effective heal for your warforged character, you must have a player or hireling with a good repair skill. Warforged characters would make good fighters and barbarians with their bonus constitution and immunity to fatigue.

Enhancing stats

Nobody is perfect, including DDO characters! Trying to build a well rounded player is a challenge and it no doubt often leaves the newly created character with some low spots. To help us along, DDO has a variety of stat boosting accessories sure to please even the fusiest of questers. Helmets, rings, bracers, belts, armor and trinkets are one way to give a little boost to weaker attributes or an extra boot to already great stats.
Let's say you really want to be stronger. Since there is no DDO gym to pump you up, your character comes across some +1 Ogre Gloves. Put them on and poof, the character has a +1 addition to their strength. A few quests later your character comes across +1 Ogre Bracers. After equipping them the character still only has a +1 strength bonus. Hmmmm.....
While enhancements give players a boost, the wearable ones don't stack. To further increase attributes past the wearable stuff there are a couple of options. Spells and potions can be a shorterm fix when a player needs (or wants) to increase their power in some shape or form. There are also tomes that can be purchased through the DDO Store. Those will increase the specific attributes according to their label. These are permanent increases bound to your character. And lastly, the enhancements that can be increases through skill points. Check with your classes trainer to see which enchantments are available.

On sale now!

The DDO Store is running a 20% off sale on XP potions and 30% off on the coveted 32 point build. The XP potions are handy, especially if you are impatient with the climb up the "level ladder".  They are available in a variety of strengths and time durations. A three hour XP Potion with a 10% boost is 48 points and they go up from there. The potions automatically pause while in public areas and when you are logged out.
The 32 point build puts any new character at an advantage, giving the character creator eight more points to play with. This one comes with a hefty price tag of  1047 points. You can still build a great character with a 24 point build, but for those power seekers also looking for a good deal now is the time!
Another sale that is going on is the Double Points on the biggest point pack. For $49.99 buyers get the 3100 DDO Points plus a bonus of 3800. That's a lot of DDO Points!