Meet EmmDee...
He's my liason to the Lifetakers and Heartbreakers. Obviously a Drow, and in keeping with my previous history, another Cleric.
Mind you, he isn't one of my most played characters, as I've been spending quite a bit of time trying to earn Obsydiian those Seven-Fingered Gloves. But, with some spare time on my hands during the days now, I've been dabbling with what he might become.
While first getting started with him, I found myself running much of the early content solo. Granted, I didn't make any effort to solicit EmmDee's services to the local PUG (Pick-Up Group) market, as I've had my fair share of experiences with PUGs, but I also haven't bothered any of the Lifetakers, either. After all, most of the early quests are just as easy solo as they are with a full group, so long as you've run them... oh... fifty thousand times already.
As I started running the quests, though, I discovered that he had a decent enough build that I could continue to run many of the quests solo, right up to his level. So, in an effort to maximize the eXperience Points he could earn, I ran most Level 1 quests on both the Solo and Normal difficulties.
It didn't take long before EmmDee had earned enough XP to progress to Level 2. But, instead, I decided to finish the list of quests so that all of the quests had been completed "at level." As I recall, EmmDee had earned enough XP that he'd earned the equivalent of two action points into Level 2 by the time I completed the list.
Satisfied with the result to that point, I went ahead and took him through the level progression and then repeated the process of running all of the quests at level. This meant going back and completing all of the Level 1 quest on Hard, as well as completing all of the Level 2 quests on Solo and Normal. By the time EmmDee had completed the majority of the Level 2 quests, he was well past having earned Level 3 XP and was rapidly approaching the 50,000 XP threshold for Level 4.
And, as I've indicated, EmmDee still hadn't completed *all* of the Level 2 quests at level.
Of course, with such a juicy goal at hand, I couldn't resist throwing in some of the Level 1 quests on Elite. It was just too good an opportunity to pass up.
Then it happened...
As EmmDee ran Dalsamira's quest, Recovering the Lost Tome on Hard, he earned the last 400 XP, and then some, to take him over the the 50,000 XP mark, but the game capped him!
Capped!
And he hadn't even completed *all* of the Level 2 quests "at level!"
The game forced me to bring EmmDee up to Level 3 before continuing with his progress.
Wow!
Oh, sure, EmmDee did die a couple of times, but only a couple. Shrewd tactics have kept him alive the vast majority of the time so far. But, he ran *every* quest to this point all by himself.
I'm quite interested to see how far I can take him solo.
Mind you, there have been quite a few blind party invites that have made adventuring with him rather tenuous. Especially when facing a CR: 3 named Ogre in the Waterworks.
To which my standard reply has been "Welcome to DDO. It is generally considered impolite to send an invitation to join your party without first asking. If you will check the Who panel carefully, you will see that I'm already in a quest."
So far, no one has replied with so much as an apology for the interruption. Durned WoW players!
At any rate, running EmmDee has been entertaining, and I look forward to seeing where he goes next. And, in case you're wondering, here's what he'd completed before he was forced to level up...
(click the image to view a larger, readable version)
So, I'm off to see if I can earn EmmDee Level 5 XP while he's still only a Level 3 Cleric!
Keep it fun!!!
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