When Does Enemy DR Get Significant?

[ChaosEmperorDragon]

One of the things I dislike most about this game is button-mashing. I dislike clickies. The idea of carrying around loads of weapon and armor sets is rediculous and ungratifying. Can't help it, I'm an old-timer.

Unfortunately the game is what it is. If I'm going to play it I'll have to conform to what I see as its limitations.

Currently I use one weapon at all times. Well, not exactly true I suppose; occasionally I'll switch to a returning throwing axe if something can't be reached. Other than that I'll use whatever type of slashing great weapon I'm currently spec'd to. I'm level 13. Bludgeoning weapons against skeles? Nah. I just hack 'em down.

It occurs to me though perhaps the reason I have not concerned myself with DR so much is because I'm using a character that focuses on the highest damage single attacks available. 10 damage off of 100 damage each attack isn't nearly as hampering as 10 damage off of two 50 damage attacks that a two-weapon fighter may have to deal with.

My question is what is the typical DR I'll be facing at high levels? DR20? DR50? DR100? As it is right now I'm pretty happy not concerning myself with occasional DR from skeles or whatever. I pretty much always lead the scorecard on kills and I don't zerg and am by no means a trash mob sweeper. Will the DR be increasing considerably at higher levels?

Keep in mind I'm a noob.

[DevilButcher]

Can't help it, I'm an old-timer.
--Snip---
Bludgeoning weapons against skeles? Nah. I just hack 'em down.


ROFL

That's right old-timer love the way you think, stick to the man :)

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRRWwqSMlQ4ZcOG0Ez_IEu8JV55AhkIc-mTlRM24sxZb62wUQA&t=1&usg=__U9gUrmtbBEL4IIBN4XbNIh2c9VE=
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRbgYT53m8kweAG47xngm-HRogdneUpCYAIrCJZ-dDuhH2J7OI&t=1&usg=__d7xawZzyOStgTtLBQD5YkPphXhc=


*** also you will find wep with the prefix Metalline that will bypass "many" types or DR, that will be your trusty Excalibur

[Lorien_the_First_One]

When you hit the shrould craft a GS Min II weapon. It is metaline and either pure good or holy so it bypasses most of the DR in the game. It has bonus base damage, and acid damage. Overall, its a great general weapon for someone like you that doesn't want to worry about an inventory of weapons and it will bypass most DR that is bypassable.

[voodoogroves]

THF is the most forgiving of DR as you can simply over-damage. Large earth elementals have DR 5/- ... and non-heavy-damage builds (TWF, dex, whatever) certainly notice the DPS loss at lower levels (House D, Depths Series is a good example)

I see you're F2P, so you haven't likely faced the ghostly skeletons in Deleras or the flipping archers. DR is enough to be very, very annoying - not quite so much with THF as a -10 or -15 is less of a % reduction. Golems will be problematic (clay, in particular) and you may find you're spending a lot of time hammering on things that others are just dropping.

In the teens, DR begins to vary and be more specific. Good and piercing for Rakshasa.

This thread has good info: http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=178393

[Pantsless]

well, you're just at the cusp of the point at which breaking DR becomes important. from about level 15 to 16 and on, you can actually expect over half of all enemies you encounter to have some sort of DR. usually, the DR is fairly straight-forward to break and still not very high as far as the actual value of reduction. however, the end game raid bosses do have pretty significant reductions as well as more onerous requirements to penetrate their DR (ie: good + silver). the amount of reduction ramps up with difficulty. if you plan to significantly contribute to melee DPS in a raid on hard or elite, you have to be able to break DR....otherwise (even with high damage THF hits), you're probably a wasted slot in the group.

most people simplify their DR breaking and DPS needs by crafting a Mineral-II greensteel weapon as soon as possible. these weapons can be made to break almost all the common forms of DR while also doing much better damage than any randomly generated weapon of the same type.

[voodoogroves]

Also keep in mind that 3.5 even PNP saw the melee types carrying a golf-club of weapons. This isn't a DDO thing; it's basic 3.5

[ChaosEmperorDragon]

ROFL

That's right old-timer love the way you think, stick to the man :)

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRRWwqSMlQ4ZcOG0Ez_IEu8JV55AhkIc-mTlRM24sxZb62wUQA&t=1&usg=__U9gUrmtbBEL4IIBN4XbNIh2c9VE=
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRbgYT53m8kweAG47xngm-HRogdneUpCYAIrCJZ-dDuhH2J7OI&t=1&usg=__d7xawZzyOStgTtLBQD5YkPphXhc=


*** also you will find wep with the prefix Metalline that will bypass "many" types or DR, that will be your trusty Excalibur

LOL! sweet links.

Thanks to everyone for so many responses.

I am F2P and it occurs to me that, perhaps, there are less DR monsters in F2P content for the casual hack n slasher. Despite being an old-timer, I have done my reading and understand that DR is worthy of concern and that I'm playing the most DR resiliant type of melee character.

Could someone please give me some actual in-game numbers as far as elite level DR I might be up against? At this time I have purchase no p2p content but plan on using what little ddo coin I earn from favor rewards on high-level content. It sure would be helpful if the combat log actually told you how much damage you were missing out on from enemy DR.

As a free player, will I actually be able to construct these famous mineral and greensteel weapons I here so much talk about, and if so, how do I go about doing that as early as possible?

Thanks again for the help.

[Hecore]

DR varies, but it's not unusual for a raid boss to have DR/15, and a number of higher level trash mobs have DR/10ish or so.

To craft greensteel you need the Vale of Twilight pack - it's pretty much the one pack you really want to buy as a F2P. It's an exceptionally good pack with a frequently run raid, an explorer zone, great gear, etc.

The soonest you can equip a greensteel weapon is level 12, but as a general rule you won't be completing the raid until you are at least level 15, and depending on your class/who you group with you might not be running it until your level 18+.

[Lorien_the_First_One]

DR varies, but it's not unusual for a raid boss to have DR/15, and a number of higher level trash mobs have DR/10ish or so..

That would be on normal. You can tripple that on elite.

[Hecore]

That would be on normal. You can tripple that on elite.

That's true, but as a low level free player I expect it'll be a long time until he runs hard/elite TOD/Shroud/VOD or any of the epic content.

[Zilta]

On most raids on normal you can get by without having a dr breaker because while the boss's dr is signifigant, you will most likely have enough dps that it doesnt really matter, on hard or elite dr starts to get nasty with bosses like horoth having what I believe is 30dr on hard and 45 on elite. As you can imagine this is a huge chunk of damage you use. Long story short, if you only run normal you dont really need to have a dr breaker at all

[ChaosEmperorDragon]

Okay great guys. Thats the info I need. I'm glad I went THF as it really helps with the DR situation. I don't really have the plat to be buying a ton of different weapons. Sounds like I can continue for awhile without it being a major concern. It also sounds like what I should save up my turbine points for is the vale pack. Still a long way to go before I get it though. I only have 360.

[Lorien_the_First_One]

Okay great guys. Thats the info I need. I'm glad I went THF as it really helps with the DR situation. I don't really have the plat to be buying a ton of different weapons. Sounds like I can continue for awhile without it being a major concern. It also sounds like what I should save up my turbine points for is the vale pack. Still a long way to go before I get it though. I only have 360.

If you enjoy the game consider buying at least a small pack of points. It will help you get the vale unlocked, plus any purchase of points also unlocks much higher limits for mail, the AH, gold storage, and 2 more char slots.