Eladiun wrote on Sep 14
th, 2012 at 10:10am:
I've read this a lot when people speak of the upsides of DDO and in many ways I agree with them. However, in reality even though DDO has many options only about 20 of those combinations are viable. If there was so much customization why is everyone a clonk, an exploiter, a monster, a blitz... etc etc. This selling point of DDO is way oversold.
Eh. I disagree.
I've played a Ranger 18/rogue 1/fighter 1 that was all right (archer, so...you know). He's now a 12 monk/6 ranger/2 artificer, has respectable ranged DPS, ranged CC, self-healing via scrolls, other UMD-ables, and trap skills.
I have a paladin that has been a 14 paladin/6 fighter, a 20 fighter, an 18 paladin/2 fighter, is now a 20 paladin, and may end up as an 18/2 again down the road. I have a pure wizard, and an 18 wizard/2 rogue that focused on Ghoste's stealthy wizard schtick that I was enjoying for a while, and I've enjoyed following along with the Zombie wizard thread over on the DDO forums. I have an 18 barbarian/2 fighter that I like, had a rogue with a /1 fighter splash that I enjoyed until the capstone came out, and have tried a few different combinations of classes on my monk.
All of the above involved a deal of careful consideration and planning, which I enjoy, and largely turned out pretty well. Epic destinies overlaid add even more to the mix, as one character can feel quite different moving from one destiny to the next. Honestly, this is one of my favorite aspects of DDO, and of D&D (and of Magic the Gathering): I like building characters (and decks) and am often pushing pieces around in my head as I make my way through the day. Some people may fail horribly at character building, or may be overwhelmed by it, and many cleave to a less complex path by single-classing and using prescribed paths (and I admit that I do as well to some degree on some characters), but there is certainly a
TON of room for creativity and variety. The build forums are constantly abuzz with new ideas and combinations. Some work very well, some are designed for only a certain niche of player, and some fail, but that's enjoyable, both to experience and to read.