Abilities

Overview

Dungeons and Dragons Online has the same concept of Abilities as the tabletop version of Dungeons & Dragons.

There are 6 ability scores that are the basic building blocks of your character. These help define the strength of your character? How smart? How quick? These are represented in the game by your ability scores. If your Strength is high, you will have a much easier time breaking down doors and bashing monsters in the head than if your Strength is low—you can still attempt anything you like, but your ability scores will have a lot to say about how successful you are at the attempt.

The 6 abilities include:

• Strength - The measure of your physical power
• Dexterity - The measure of your agility
• Constitution - The measure of your endurance
• Wisdom - The measure of your perception and insight
• Intelligence - The measure of your reasoning and memory
• Charisma - The measure of your force of personality

Is a character muscle-bound and insightful? Brilliant and charming? Nimble and hardy? Ability Scores define these qualities—a creature’s assets as well as weaknesses.

The three main rolls of the game—the ability check, the saving throw, and the Attack roll—rely on the six Ability Scores.

Ability Scores

Each of a characters Abilities has a score, a number that defines the magnitude of that ability. An ability score is not just a measure of innate capabilities, but also encompasses a characters Training and competence in activities related to that ability. To see what your characters abilities scores are, you can press the letter c on the keyboard to bring up the character sheet.

On the character sheet, the abilities scores (highlighted in blue) contain the current values. These can be increased in several ways:

• A single ability score can be increased during the leveling process, at levels 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24 and 28
• Reading a tome (see Ability Tomes), these are available to increase the ability by +1 to +8
  • The ability is increased as your character levels
• Enhancements
• Gear

Information about how your character got the score they have is available by placing your mouse over the ability score you want to see, and hovering there. In the above image (highlighted in green), it is showing how strength became 24:

• Base: 12
  • This is the score from the character creation screen and the level ups that were taken
• Tome: +8 (Inherent)
  • This is the amount the ability was increased by using a tome, this will only show the currently active amount from the tome
• Feats and Enhancements: +2 (Feat)
  • This is the amount that you have increased the ability by using feats and enhancements (This character hasn't done that).
• Items and Effects: +9 (Effect)
  • This gives the amount that the scores is increased by items that you are wearing and effects (i.e. buffs) you currently have running

Ability Modifiers

Each ability has a modifier that is calculated based on the actual score. When you have a score of 10, the modifier is 0. This increases by 1 every 2 ability points above (or decreases by 1 every 2 ability points below). This modifier is the number you apply to the die roll when your character tries to do something related to that ability. You also use the modifier with some numbers that aren’t die rolls. A positive modifier is called a bonus, and a negative modifier is called a penalty.

modifier = (score-10) / 2

You can see the modifiers on the character sheet (shown above highlighted in yellow).

Ability Details

Ability	Description	Use	Items
Charisma	CHARISMA measures your force of personality and magnetism. This stat affects spell access, spell points, and offensive spell power for sorcerers and bards, spell access and spell points for favored souls, and turning ability for clerics and paladins.	If you are a Sorcerer or Bard Which spells can be cast Spell Point calculation Offensive spell power calculation If you are a Favored Soul Which spells can be cast Spell Point calculation If you are a Cleric or Paladin Ability to Turn creatures	Charisma Items
Constitution	CONSTITUTION measures your health and stamina. This stat affects your total hit points and Fortitude saves.	Hit Point calculation Fortitude Saves	Constitution Items
Dexterity	DEXTERITY measures your coordination and agility. This stat effects your Armor Class (physical defense), Reflex saves, and your change to hit with ranged weapons	Armor Class Reflex Saves Attack for ranged weapons	Dexterity Items
Intelligence	INTELLIGENCE measures learning and reasoning ability. This stat affects how many skill points a character gets and also affects spell access, spell points, and offensive spell power for wizards and artificers.	Skill Point calculation If you are a Wizard or Artificer Which spells can be cast Spell Point calculation Offensive spell power calculation	Intelligence Items
Strength	STRENGTH measures your muscle power and affects your chance to hit with melee attacks and the damage you deal with them.	Attack and Damage for many melee weapons Carrying Capacity	Strength Items
Wisdom	WISDOM measures willpower and intuition. This stat affects Will saves for all characters, spell access, spell points, and offensive spell power for clerics, druids, paladins, and rangers, offensive spell power for favored souls, and is also important for some monk abilities.	Will Saves If you are a Cleric, Druid, Paladins, or Ranger Which spells can be cast Spell Point calculation Offensive spell power calculation If you are a Favored Soul Offensive spell power calculation If you are a Monk: Some capabilities	Wisdom Items