Fighter
A warrior with extra feats, allowing him to specialize in melee. There are a lot of different ways to play a fighter, so you should examine thoroughly what feats you would like to pick before you create one, as you need different stats for different feats. For example, if you specialize in dual weapons you need to have good reflexes (i.e., high Dexterity). But if you are going to specialize in two-handed weapons, Strength is the most important stat. Some tactical feats also require an above average. Because you are a fighter and don't cast any spells you are free to put your stats where you like them, to maximize your choice of feats. Fighters gain Strength enhancements as they level up.
Paladin
A warrior that trades some of his melee power for the ability to cast divine spells. He also has a higher ability to avoid getting hit, better saves against poison, and he can do crowd control as his Charisma rises. The Paladin has the best saving throws of any character, gains immunity to fear and disease, and may greatly heal someone once per rest. They also have passive auras that aid their party members when facing evil creatures. Paladins gain Charisma enhancements as they level up.
Barbarian
A warrior that has special powers when angry and specializes in damage dealing. He wears less armor than a fighter, but has more HP, some damage resistance, and Uncanny Dodge allows the Dexerity AC bonus to apply in all directions. Barbarians gain Constitution enhancements as they level up.
Ranger
An archer and a dual-wielding melee (in exchange for removing animal companions, DDO gives all rangers both combat styles). He also has stealth options and can cast divine spells, and may pick four kinds of monsters to specialize in fighting. He may detect secret doors and traps (but not disable them).
The proverbial jack of all trades. Rangers gain Dexerity enhancements as they level up.
Rogue
Has the most skills in the game. He can find and disarm traps. His ability to disarm traps is a key skill, preventing the party from being hit with nasty traps. Rogues can also open locks and find hidden doors. Rogues gain Dexerity enhancements as they level up. Rogues can be considered an "unstackable class", since one Rogue can be very useful to a party, but a second adds little further benefit.
Bard
Has a lot of skills and is a weak arcane spell caster. The closest you come to a hybrid without multiclassing. He also has the ability to "sing", making his party stronger. His arcane spells focus on crowd control, healing, and buffs. He is also the best class at learning the Use Magic Device skill to operate any kind of magic wand. Bards gain Charisma enhancements as they level up. Bards can be considered an "unstackable class", since adding a second bard to a party is rarely more useful than having just one. Bards have been called the "best sixth man", because using a Bard to fill the final slot in a party means that his powerful musical buffs will be boosting five other players.
Wizard and Sorcerer
Are powerful arcane spell casters.
A Wizard is an adaptive caster. He/she can switch the spells he/she wishes to use at resting points or when in taverns.
A Sorcerer is a focused caster. He/she only knows a small subset of all available Wizard/Sorcerer spells, but he/she casts that subset faster, and has more spell points. Wizards/Sorcerers gain Intelligence/Charisma enhancements as they level up, allowing the casting of more and stronger spells.
In DDO, there are a number of progressive systems in place for additional variety between characters. Feats are special abilities that grant a character additional actions or abilities. Skills can be increased to give better proficiency of talents. Enhancements can be chosen which augment feats and talents.
Feats are divided into regular feats and class feats. Whereas most feats are available to any class(so long as the requirement is met), class feats can be chosen only by specific classes. For instance, Ranger is the only class that is able to choose Favored Enemy, which grants an attack bonus against certain monsters. Every class is granted at least one feat during character creation, as well as one every level of a multiple of three. Other feats include Toughness, which grants additional Hit Points, and Whirlwind Attack, which lets a character perform a special attack where the character spins 360 degrees.
Skills are available to all characters. It is a fixed list of talents such as Jump and Tumble. Upon leveling up, a character adds a certain number of points into those talents based on the Intelligence statistic. For instance, putting more points into Jump will allow a character to jump higher. Also, each skill is augmented by a character's stat. For instance, Tumble is connected to Dexterity. The higher a DEX score, the more able a character is able to roll away from attacks. Finally, Skills are dependent upon classes. Each class has a certain number of skills connected to it. Class skills cost one point to raise one point. A skill not connected to a class costs two points to raise one point.
Enhancements further customize characters. Every level is divided into five tiers. Each tier, reached by accumulating XP, grants one Action Point(AP), for a total of four AP's per level. These can be spent at any time, and are traded into a trainer NPC for an enhancement. These are similar to Feats, but do not provide as significant an alteration to a character's attributes. Each enhancement costs a certain number of AP to attain. An example is Fighter's Critical Accuracy II, which costs 2 AP, and requires Fighter's Critical Accuracy I. That particular ability gives a Fighter a better chance to deliver a critical strike when a hit is delivered, doing more damage than an ordinary hit.
PrE's are Prestige Enhancements similar to Prestige classes. Instead of Prestige classes in the game, some classes are able to purchase enhancement lines that grant much the same abilities. For instance, a Rogue is able to become an Assassin by purchasing Way of the Assassin, thereby doing greater damage when doing a sneak attack. All PrE's require a prerequisite number of other enhancements and/or Feats to attain.
Turbine releases major content updates to the game as "modules", named after the module concept in the pen-and-paper version of D&D. Additional content was released between modules as "updates". Starting with Module 5, the development team made the decision to stop releasing interim updates. Responding to the players' feedback that the interim updates do not provide enough new content, the developers instead focused on creating significantly larger modules. However, prior to the launch of DDO: Eberron Unlimited, there was 10 month content gap.
Module 1: Dragon's Vault
On April 5 2006, Turbine released its first module. It included a new dungeon, a number of fixes to the combat system and minor tweaks to the user interface. Update 1.1: The Harbor, included changes to the low level harbor quests. Update 1.2: Solo Enhancements, made more changes to the harbor area, including the addition of several solo-only quests.
Module 2: Twilight Forge
Released July 12 2006, it added a new player race: the Drow, as well as new enhancements, spells, a patron system, in-game mail, and adventures set in the Restless Isles, a new outdoor area. Update 2.1: Litany of the Dead Part 1: The Necropolis, introduced a new quest series. The update had five full quests, culminating in an encounter with a powerful vampire.Update 2.2: Stormreach Under Siege! introduced the first quests above level 10, other than the Twilight Forge raid.
Module 3: Demon Sands
This module,was released on October 25, 2006. It introduced explorable areas to the game, consensual PvP (Player vs. Player) elements (in the form of "Tavern Brawl" arenas and objective-based quests; Capture the Flag, Indoor and Outdoor Deathmatch), as well as an auction house. It raised the level-cap from ten to twelve. Update 3.1: Evil Resurgent, included a rework of the social panel, many bug fixes, and six high level quests. Update 3.2: Litany of the Dead Part 2, released new monsters, along with five quests for party levels 8-9. These quests continue the storyline of The Necropolis from Litany of the Dead Part 1. Update 3.3: Academy Training, revamped the Action Point enhancement system. Also, in celebration of DDO's one-year anniversary, all treasure chests were at +1 level, and all XP awarded was +50% from February 28 to March 4.
Module 4: Reaver's Bane
Introduced in April 2007, Reaver's Bane brought the level cap up to 14 from 12 and introduced a new terrain mechanic along with many new spells and abilities for characters of all levels. Two new areas (the Cerulean Hills and Gianthold Ruins) use the new mechanic that includes entrances to traditional quests plus three new types of quests: slayer quests (where you get experience for how many monsters you or your party have killed), explorer quests (where you get experience just for visiting a new part of the area for the first time), and rare encounter quests (where you get experience for killing infrequently spawned named monsters). Update 4.1: Mark of the Dragon, implemented Dragonmarks and the addition of a new encounter area: Ataraxia's Haven. Update 4.2: Searing Heights, revamped the Menechtarun desert landscape and the Waterworks adventure area. There was an added landscape for level 4 characters called Searing Heights, new spells, abilities, and enhancements including Holy Sword and Warchanter. Players get three more weapon set configuration slots for a total of seven. Also fixed were several bugs. Many new spells were added for all spellcasting classes. Extra enhancements were also added. One additional level 4 dungeon was added.
Module 5: The Accursed Ascension
Released in September 2007, this module includes parts 3 and 4 of the Litany of the Dead; by doing so, it doubled the amount of quests in the Necropolis area. It ends with a new high level raid. Apart from the addition of new enhancements and some minor corrections, the metamagic system went through a major revision and the item tooltips were vastly improved. Collectable and gem bags were added, made to reduce the cluttering of inventory space.
Module 6: The Thirteenth Eclipse
The January 2008 update, the Thirteenth Eclipse, raised the level cap from 14 to 16, and opened a previously locked area that was partially accessible by players, The Twelve. Also with this area is a new set of quests and a new raid located in an area connected to The Twelve, called the Vale of Twilight. Included is allowance for subscribers to customize the player interface as is available in Turbine's other MMO "Lord of the Rings Online". Also added with the new area was a new feature of the game, crafting. Crafting requires numerous ingredients which, when put in the Eldritch Devices in a specific combination will produce an item or alter an existing item. Update 6.1 introduced a new, ongoing live event, as well as a slice of anniversary cake. The anniversary cake summons a Djinni that will grant a wish (as the Wish spell)
Module 7: Way of the Monk
This update, released on 3 June 2008, introduced the Monk class to all servers. It had previously been in testing for a time on the Risia preview server. Included were various city upgrades, bounty subquests that involve collecting remains of monsters, and UI interface tweaks. Other new things added were two new raid quests, located in a massive raid wilderness area, feats and enhancements, and a memorial to the late Gary Gygax.
Module 8: Prisoners Of Prophecy
This update, released 6 November 2008, introduced a new low level area called Korthos Island. It replaced the starter area in the Harbor, the tutorial area, as well as updating many of the low (level 1 through 3) quests. Four new wilderness areas were added as high level content. DirectX 10 have been integrated into their graphics as well. NPCs known as hirelings have been integrated into the main game, which are controlled by the player while on quests. The number of character slots available for users has been increased to 10. New spells, Enhancements and UI improvements round out the module.
Dungeons & Dragons Online offers a unique and refreshing take when it comes to battle. Known as the Active Combat system, fighting in DDO is unlike anything you’ve ever seen in an MMO. DDO gives you the ability to feel the action at your fingertips as your skill is truly tested! Monsters can see and hear you, adding entirely new elements to an already advanced system -- for no longer is combat relegated to simply pressing your number keys.
Take part in strategic, tactical battles using a combination of collision mechanics and real-time combat. Take on the mantle of a well-armored fighter and protect your weaker companions by blocking incoming arrows or obstructing enemies in a narrow hallway. Use DDO’s Tumble feature to nimbly roll behind an enemy and attack them in the back before they have the opportunity to respond. Dodge incoming arrows and spells by stepping out of the way. Each click of your mouse allows you to swing your weapon, though you’ll need to make sure you’re close enough to the foe to hit it! Raising your shield deflects enemy blows. Hitting your adversary with an arrow requires aiming and precision, rather than just hitting a button and watching your character do all the work for you.