More on Crafting - Bound or unbound?

While deconstructing will get you crafting experience, creating shards and crafting weapons will give you more experience. Bound shards are easier to make, giving the crafter a broader selection of recipes to create. The down side is, like anything bound, its yours. No auction, no trading, it will be with you forever and ever.
Unbound shards allow the crafter to make weapon enhancements that can be sold or traded. The downside to the unbound is the selection is less because the crafting difficulty is higher.
What I have found helpful is to create some bound weapons for yourself first - if you hate them you can always break them back down again. Once your crafting level increases, try your hand at the unbound weapons. DO NOT equip an unbound weapon to check it out - it becomes bound to the person who equips it.

On sale at the DDO Store

In yesterday's post I talked about hirelings. Available now through July 14th save 20% on hireling purchases at the DDO Store. Enter the coupon codeHIRELINGS20 and the 20% savings will be applied.
Other sales at the DDO Store include 20% off the Monk kit and 20% alignment changes. No coupon code is necessary for those two items.
Lastly, the DDO Store is discounting weapons purchased by 35%! After selecting the weapon you want, enter the coupon code WEAPONS35. 35% will be reduced from the original price! Shop till you drop, just remember to use your coupon!

Using the right weapon in battle

A variety of weapons appear in chests and are given as rewards. This allows players to carry multiple kinds of weapons and equipment for different kinds of battles. For example, when fighting sahuagin, a Humanoid Bane weapon will inflict additional bonus damage to the monsters, making it easier to beat them down. Fire weapons and cold weapons will also do additional damage to many creatures, but the bane weapons are more "monster specific" and will usually inflict the greatest damage.
Cold monsters, like an ice memphit, will take extra damage from a weapon with fire. And just the opposite, a fire monster will take extra damage when hit by a cold weapon.
There are lots of different types of bane weapons and some types are self explanatory, like elf bane works well against elves. Evil outsider bane works well against hell hounds, however so does cold or ice.
Bane weapons aren't always easy to come by, so a back up like a fire, cold, electric or acid weapons are always nice to have.