STAGE · Finding your feet
The progression map
Draft — Draft: checked against the game source, not yet read through end to endAvailable from the startHow character level, Renown, Firmament stars, gear, professions and companions depend on each other.
This page is further along your path. Read ahead if you’re curious; you can return when you reach this stage.
The six tracks
DFO Online does not have one experience bar. Six tracks advance in parallel, and each pays into the others.
| Track | What raises it | What it gives | Gate or limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Character level | Uses of your class skills; the game checks about every six game hours | Health and attribute points; opens questlines | Questline steps open at set levels |
| Renown | Kills, quests, parties, raids, gates, writs and other witnessed acts | Health and spell points, Firmament stars, and system unlocks | 50 levels; 15000 XP per account-hour |
| Firmament | Renown pays Stars; profession ranks pay Craft points | Passive bonuses along one path, capped by channel | Refunds; whole-sky respec |
| Gear | Loot, crafting, quest reward cards and reforging | Damage, armour, techniques and affixes | Loot rarity; tier and material rules |
| Professions | Gathering and crafting work | Materials, goods, writ pay, Craft points | Two crafts above rank 50 |
| Companions | Spare a defeated revenant, then loyalty and levels | A second fighter with its own sky | Revenants begin at Renown 10 |
The level-up numbers behind each row are explained on Levelling online and Renown.
How the tracks feed each other
Character level → questlines. Every introduction line opens at a character level (2, 3, 4, 5, and so on), so the fastest way to meet a system is to level normally. See The questline ladder.
Renown → stars and unlocks. Each Renown level after the first pays 2 Stars. Renown 5 opens your own-world elites, Renown 10 opens revenants and companions, and Renown 10 is also the founding requirement for a player guild. See Renown and Elites and champions later.
Professions → stars. Craft points come from the sum of your profession ranks: one Craft point per eight ranks, capped per track. Craft points buy life-ring stars only; they never buy combat stars. See The Firmament.
Renown and level → threat. Foes gain health and damage from character level 11 upward, then from Renown 16 upward, compounding. That is why a fast level on weak gear makes the game harder, not easier. See The hero's threat.
Companions → Renown. Companions are a Renown 10 system; their own sky and loyalty are separate from yours. See Companions later.
What to do first
The order that wastes the least is:
Keep your class skills in use. Character level is the key to the introduction lines, and each level gives a fixed attribute pool online (see Levelling online).
Pick one or two crafts you will actually use. A combat character usually wants a repair craft and a supply craft; a caster or hybrid may want Enchanting. Do not spread ranks across three crafts you intend to pass 50 — two is the permanent limit.
Earn Renown through capped activities. Events and quests pay Renown at a rate; quests also open the systems. The hourly cap is per account, so short sessions and long sessions converge.
Spend stars on the offence you already use. A damage channel is capped, so a tree that feeds one weapon family, one spell school or fists goes further than a scattered one. Fill the offence then the defence budgets.
Replace gear instead of protecting it. The threat grows; a found or quested piece at your tier is worth more than a repaired old one.
At Renown 10, start the companion track only after you have a reliable fight and a bank buffer.
The permanent decisions
Some choices are cheap to change and some are not.
Firmament: refunds are free below Renown 10; after that they cost 10 Marks a star, and the whole-sky respec costs 10000 gold.
Crafts: only 2 crafts may rise above Journeyman (rank 50). A third is held at rank 50.
Masteries: chosen when a skill reaches 100, and a mastery can never be undone. You have two primary, two major and one minor slot.
Creation: race, class, biography and a custom class's restrictions have no general undo; race and class are not editable later. See Choices that are hard to undo.
Common mistakes
Rushing level on weak gear. Threat grows with level, so the character who levels fastest without gear or stars meets the hardest version of every fight.
Treating Renown as a second experience bar. It is a separate ladder with its own cap and its own rewards; character level does not raise it directly.
Spending craft ranks on three crafts. The service holds the third at rank 50; the earlier two are the pair you keep.
Choosing a mastery before planning the slots. Masteries are permanent, and a build that needs two primary masteries should not spend a primary slot elsewhere.
Ignoring the Firmament's group caps. A second star in a full channel adds nothing; check the shared cap before buying deeper.
Next
Sources & checked facts
src/net/renown.js:RENOWN_MAX,RENOWN_XP_HOUR_MAX,RENOWN_PARTY_BONUS_PCTsrc/net/firmament/firmamentLaw.js:STARS_PER_RENOWN,starsFor,CRAFT_RANKS_PER_POINT,REFUND_FREE_BELOW_RENOWN,REFUND_SILVER_PER_STAR,FIRM_RESPEC_GOLDsrc/net/professionLaw.js:PROF_RANK_MAX,xpForRank,CRAFTS_ABOVE_JOURNEYMAN,JOURNEYMAN_RANKsrc/systems/heroThreat.js:HERO_THREAT,stepsOf,heroThreatOfsrc/systems/eliteFoes.js:ELITE_FOE_MIN_LEVEL,ELITE_FOE_MIN_RENOWN;src/systems/revenant/revenant.js:REVENANT_MIN_RENOWNsrc/systems/levelEven.js:ONLINE_BONUS_POOL,evenHpFloorsrc/systems/masterSkills.js: mastery slots and permanence;src/net/guild/guildLaw.js:GUILD_FOUND_RENOWNsrc/systems/questlines/qlLines.js: introduction level gatesDesign records:
docs/23-playing-online.md"How power works online";docs/29-build-systems.mdResearch:
handbook/research/P2.md,handbook/research/C3.md
Facts used on this page
- Maximum Renown: 50 Renown
src/net/renown.js·RENOWN_MAX - Stars per Renown after the first: 2 stars
src/net/firmament/firmamentLaw.js·STARS_PER_RENOWN - Revenants begin at Renown: 10 Renown
src/systems/revenant/revenant.js·REVENANT_MIN_RENOWN - Renown XP per real hour: 15000 XP
src/net/renown.js·RENOWN_XP_HOUR_MAX - Refunds free below Renown: 10 Renown
src/net/firmament/firmamentLaw.js·REFUND_FREE_BELOW_RENOWN - Refund cost per star: 10 Marks
src/net/firmament/firmamentLaw.js·REFUND_SILVER_PER_STAR - Firmament respec: 10000 gold
src/net/firmament/firmamentLaw.js·FIRM_RESPEC_GOLD - Crafts allowed above Journeyman: 2 crafts
src/net/professionLaw.js·CRAFTS_ABOVE_JOURNEYMAN - Journeyman rank: 50 rank
src/net/professionLaw.js·JOURNEYMAN_RANK