To be honest, I hadn’t really taken much notice of the announcements for the Hardcore Server in DDO. I had seen Lessah tweet about it and mentioned in the Twitch stream descriptions (Sorry Damsels – I haven’t had a chance to watch any streams recently!) but that was about it.

Then we logged on the night the server was due to open, and Samius mentioned it. Rach suggested it might be fun to give it a try, so we switched from our TR grind on Sarlona to give it a try.

We’re now hooked!

It’s so weird how different the gameplay feels, knowing that if you die that’s it – you lose your character and everything they have accumulated. We quickly started banking on a regular basis. We have taken to deconstructing anything we don’t need in the Cannith Crafting stations (good plat and the ability to make something we might need).

I don’t think I can explain the excitement and stress we have had playing this way, too. Running to the first quest in the Korthos Island explorer area, normally we’d jump off the cliff to get to it. But we have no feather fall item at this point. And we don’t dare risk sliding down the cliff face – so we run around down the slope! When was the last time you did that? ( Unless you are a regular permadeath player and are laughing at me 😀 )

Seeing all the death announcements shows I’m not the only one loving this. But I did lament on Twitter how it would be great to see how these players died… And Mari came up with a great suggestion!

So, if you fancy sharing where you died, or just checking out where other people have admitted to dying, check out the forum thread I started.

What have I learned so far?

• The daily dice rolls are great for platinum – and how strange it is to be needing plat for a character again. Although Rach did roll 98 on her silver and got a siberys cake… 🤨
• Bank regularly!
• Cannith Crafting is great for getting platinum quickly.
• You don’t need to do all the optional parts of the quest – you are a 1st lifer so XP is no problem, you need to get the quest finished for the Favor.
• But collectibles are worth picking up for turn-ins…
• Rach is so much better when she plays a halfling rogue, regardless of which life she is on.
• Champions hit a lot harder when you have no twink gear and past lives.
• So do traps…

Hymmtwo, RIP, lost his life this morning. That leaves Rach with 2 characters and me trying to decide what to do now. I have some thinking to do 😀

If you are a long time player of DDO and haven’t given the hardcore server a try ( and are VIP – sorry it seems it’s not available for other players 😦 ) I’d highly recommend giving it a try. I mean what’s the worst that can happen? 😛

Have fun, see you around!