Samara: Reincarnation

sam·sa·ra

/səmˈsärə/ n.

The cycle of death and rebirth

to which life in the material world is bound.

Important note: Some of this chapter's information is obsolete with the introduction of Update 20, where the reincarnation system received substantial changes and improvements. See the DDO Wiki article for more details while this chapter awaits revision by the busy scribes.

There will come a time in your monastic life where you must end your life before a new one can begin.

In this new life, you gain improved abilities, and may even enable a change in your identity, race, gender, appearance and training.

This is the path of reincarnation.

Reincarnation differs from "rerolling" or "respecifying" (respec) in that:

• Rerolling is an account-level process where a player deletes a character completely from the server, with no chance of recovery of any items, abilities, skills of that character, in favor of generating a completely distinct character.
• A "respec" is an in-game character-level process that involves exchange of one or more feats with "Fred," the illithid NPC in House Jorasco, or of enhancements using a class trainer NPC. In the case of Epic levels and Epic Destinies, the job goes to the Fatespinner NPC. A respec does not alter the overall stats, race, or class of the character.
• Reincarnation is both an account- and character-level process that makes significant changes to a character's stats, skills, with the possibility of changing appearance and race (but not name and gender).

The world of DDO allows several ways to reincarnate.

• Lesser Reincarnation: You are able to complete reallocate all ability statistics, class paths (don't confuse this with a Monk's philosophy path) skills and enhancements. You cannot change your race, class or gender. You keep all house favor, experience, build points, and ability tomes received by that character to-date.
  • This is the ultimate "respec" to use should you find that your Monk has a substantial imbalance in abilities or skills, but may otherwise have decent bound-to-character gear that you shouldn't delete with a reroll.
• Greater Reincarnation: Same benefits as Lesser Reincarnation, but you are able to change a 28-point character (28 points available for ability scores) to a 32-point character IF you have either unlocked 32-point characters using total house favor on that server (Free-to-Play or Premium accounts) OR if you have a VIP account OR if you have purchased the 32-point character package from the DDO Store (which redefines a Free-to-Play account into a Premium account). Greater Reincarnation cannot be used with Drow class.
• True Reincarnation: The ultimate journey from end to new beginning. Available only to a character at training level 20 or higher, True Reincarnation (or "TR") upgrades the character to a new ability tier (28 or 32-point to 34-points in the ) for reallocation, resets all house favor, experience and skills to create you as a new level 1 player, and allows you to reselect your class, race, appearance, and more. You're also a little larger in size after the process.

The DDO Wiki article on Reincarnation gives more detail on this process for all classes.

Here is what you should keep in mind as a Monk that returns to the start of the cycle of life through reincarnation.

1. All items that you have in your inventory and character bank will be moved to a special remove-only bank known as a Reincarnation Cache. For safety, combine like items in inventory bags and unequip every item (leaving it in your inventory) before beginning any reincarnation.
2. All ability tomes that you have used on the character will automatically reapply themselves as your training levels increase to reach the minimum level requirement for the last inherent bonus level. If you have used a +2 Tome, then later a +3 Tome, then each tome's effects will apply at their respective level requirements, overriding a tome of lesser bonus.
3. Drow receive different (read: lower) ability upgrades than other races. (It's one reason why they are the least favorite for the stat-heavy Monk.)
4. Every TR character begins at level 1, regardless of whether you have unlocked Veteran Status I or II, no matter your DDO account type.
5. Mind your race- or alignment-restrictions on your equipment prior to your reincarnation, or you may discover that your saved equipment cannot be used. Monks must always be Lawful-aligned, but can change from Good to Neutral, which affects some named item requirements. Warforged cannot wear outfits or robes, which may be of a shock when you discover that you cannot use them after reincarnation from a non-Warforged player.
6. True Reincarnation gives a Past Life Feat. In the case of Monks, you gain +1 to your damage rolls, stacking up to three total TRs. Optionally, as you train, any character with past levels of Monk can choose the Disciple of the Fist feat, which allows you a brief recollection of your unarmed skill with +2 to Concentration, 1[W] higher Unarmed damage, and a 20-second recollection of your Evasion skill, once per rest. It's not a good one to take if returning as a Monk.
7. Reincarnation requires a Heart of Wood--a token that represents the type of reincarnation you prefer. The True Druidic Heart of Wood is used for a True Reincarnation. You can purchase one from the DDO Store, but it is very expensive (roughly $18 US currency). There is another way to get a True Druidic Heart of Wood...

A Monastic Way to Reincarnate

You can obtain a True Druidic Heart of Wood used for True Reincarnation in three ways:

1. Buy it from the DDO Store for 1495 Turbine Points.
2. Win it by chance using the Lottery system in the MyDDO account blog and other Turbine giveaways.
3. Earn your transformation through gameplay, using 20 Tokens of the Twelve.

Tokens of the Twelve (the former Epic Dungeon Tokens) can be found as a single item, typically as a quest reward from any Eberron quests with Epic Normal, Hard or Elite difficulties.

Update 17 renamed this ingredient to differentiate this Eberron-only ingredient and its availability only from Eberron Epic quests. You won't find Tokens of the Twelve rewards in any of the Menace of the Underdark/Forgotten Realms quests or raids. If you possessed the ingredient under the original names, these are now renamed in your inventory or ingredients bag.

Tokens can be created from the more-commonly-found Fragments of the Token of the Twelve. These fall from Eberron Epic difficulty quests and raids (either in chests or as treasure bags on the ground after vanquishing an enemy).

You need 20 Tokens of the Twelve to exchange for a bound-to-character True Druidic Heart of Wood from the Epic Vendor near the Epic Rituals altar by the Tower of the Twelve.

The Epic Rituals altar there can crunch 100 Fragments into 1 Token of the Twelve.

The Epic Vendor can also exchange a Greater Token of the Twelve (the former Epic Raid Token) for a regular Token of the Twelve.

All Greater and regular Tokens and Fragments are bound-to-account, so you can trade them through a Shared Bank from your other characters. What you can exchange for a set of Tokens is likely bound-to-character.

Here are a few recommended areas to farm for Tokens and Fragments that will not heavily tax the skills of a well-trained and equipped Monk and gain the needed tokens reasonably fast.

• The "Devil Assault" quest on Epic Normal or Hard difficulty.
  • This is one of the special Heroic quests that have a separate tab for Epic Normal, Hard, and Epic Elite difficulties.
  • Teacher Syncletica and most of her students have found it relatively easy to solo this adventure on Epic Normal to farm 1-4 Tokens from the chests there on each run (remember that Ransacking chest rules apply).
  • Devils, orthons, fire elementals, tieflings, a horned devil boss and a pit fiend boss are what to expect there in a series of large waves, in a small area with no shrine except one that appears after each wave (which can only be used once--not that you should need to use it typically as a trained pure Monk).
  • Light Monks with good healing amplification, Stunning gear, Healing Ki and (ideally) Grandmaster of Flowers offensive attacks can dominate this. Dark Monks should be able to pound the foes well but need a significant healing option--even full Vampirism handwraps/weapons with healing amp may not be enough, and there is not sufficient time to use Wholeness of Body in the very short interludes between waves of mobs.
  • Remember that this quest scales in difficulty as you add hirelings or party members--which is why soloing this quest is preferable. PUG this one with care, if you must.
• Most adventures in the Sentinels of Stormreach, The Red Fens, Phiarlan Carnival, Demon Sands, Vault of Night, and Web of Chaos quest chains offer Epic versions of these Heroic quests.

Don't get too cocky when farming beyond Epic Hard. Epic Normal quests spawn enemies near quest level up to CR 28 or so. Epic Hard enemies spawn at CR 28-32 with bosses noticeably higher. Epic Elite quests spawn hordes with CR 48 or greater, with bosses of CR 54--or worse.