Defending against Prismatic Ray instakill effects

[Grecan]

I ran solo Beyond the Rift last night for the first time ever, and when i reached the Drow Outpost i was killed by Master Wizard Tsabyrr and his Violet Prismatic Ray, while i was many-shotting him :(

Ok, i know i didn't prepare/buff myself much before that fight, but nevertheless i was very confused (besides a bit angry and sad), cause i thought wearing Deathblock gear protected me from instakill spells.

I read the wiki on Prismatic Ray (http://ddowiki.com/page/Prismatic_Ray) and found out that this spell has 2 instakill rays (violet and green) that ignore Death immunity! Instead, they can be negated by a Will(violet) and a Fortitude(green) save. the wiki also adds that "The violet beam can be extremely powerful, especially when used against enemies who are otherwise immune to most other insta-kill effects." And it also has a double range, so it can reach you from a large distance. :/


So, i guess buffing those saves before facing enemies who can cast this spell is a no-brainer, and the same goes for trying to kill them as fast as you can.
Does anyone know the number in those saves one has to reach in order to be immune to those instakill effects, or at least have better chances? I didn't check to see what i rolled, but my Will has the worst number among all my saves :/

Any other tips/strategies?

Any other similar spells one has to be careful about?

[HungarianRhapsody]

According to the lore, boots of anchoring should prevent the banishment effect, but that might only work if you're on Shavrath when you get hit with the ray.

If you change your name to show up in red or purple, that should also prevent the instant-kill effects of the ray.

[dunklezhan]

Try a deathward (http://ddowiki.com/page/Death_Ward), that protects a bunch of stuff that Deathward doesn't. Just cast it early in your buff cycle so a random dispel magic won't wipe it.

Heystack carries a mass deathward spell. From L18 to 21 I tend to use him just for that, rather then running tangleroot for armfulls of clickies.

[Grecan]

According to the lore, boots of anchoring should prevent the banishment effect, but that might only work if you're on Shavrath when you get hit with the ray.
I guess by banishment you mean the effect of Prismatic Ray: Violet (Sends victim to another plane). I do have those boots (from Amrath) and perhaps they could work in Underdark against this ray, but i'm not so sure...

The 2nd part of your post sounds like cheating to me, so i'm not even quoting it and i would prefer if you deleted it.




Try a deathward (http://ddowiki.com/page/Death_Ward), that protects a bunch of stuff that Deathblock(ftfy) doesn't. Just cast it early in your buff cycle so a random dispel magic won't wipe it.

Heystack carries a mass deathward spell. From L18 to 21 I tend to use him just for that, rather then running tangleroot for armfulls of clickies.Reading Prismatic Ray's description leaves some uncertainty as to if Deathward would work against it though... Are you sure about it?

[lyrecono]

The 2nd part of your post sounds like cheating to me, so i'm not even quoting it and i would prefer if you deleted it.



i suspect it's a troll XD
Nice one though, lol

Merry Christmas!

[HungarianRhapsody]

I guess by banishment you mean the effect of Prismatic Ray: Violet (Sends victim to another plane). I do have those boots (from Amrath) and perhaps they could work in Underdark against this ray, but i'm not so sure...

The 2nd part of your post sounds like cheating to me, so i'm not even quoting it and i would prefer if you deleted it.


The second part of my post wasn't cheating so much as joking. Because red and purple named enemies are immune to all instakill effects, I suggested making your name red or purple. There currently isn't a way to change the color of your name above your character.

I haven't tested the Amrath boots, but it's at least worth a shot. That is exactly what the boots were made for, though, so I believe that it should prevent the effect even if it doesn't under Turbine's current code.

[dunklezhan]

I guess by banishment you mean the effect of Prismatic Ray: Violet (Sends victim to another plane). I do have those boots (from Amrath) and perhaps they could work in Underdark against this ray, but i'm not so sure...

The 2nd part of your post sounds like cheating to me, so i'm not even quoting it and i would prefer if you deleted it.



Reading Prismatic Ray's description leaves some uncertainty as to if Deathward would work against it though... Are you sure about it?

No I'm absolutely not sure about it. I'm just suggesting trying g it cos it does more than death block alone.

[dunklezhan]

The second part of my post wasn't cheating so much as joking. Because red and purple named enemies are immune to all instakill effects, I suggested making your name red or purple. There currently isn't a way to change the color of your name above your character.

I haven't tested the Amrath boots, but it's at least worth a shot. That is exactly what the boots were made for, though, so I believe that it should prevent the effect even if it doesn't under Turbine's current code.

And I agree with this. It SHOULD work, but it was built for a specific raid defense. It may not work vs prismatic banishment.

[Enoach]

The defense against spells that seem to be undefensable, turn to these:

1. Spell Resistance
2. Spell Absorption
3. Kill From Further away

[Grecan]

i suspect it's a troll XD
Nice one though, lol

Merry Christmas!

The second part of my post wasn't cheating so much as joking. Because red and purple named enemies are immune to all instakill effects, I suggested making your name red or purple. There currently isn't a way to change the color of your name above your character.

I haven't tested the Amrath boots, but it's at least worth a shot. That is exactly what the boots were made for, though, so I believe that it should prevent the effect even if it doesn't under Turbine's current code.Lol, i should have understood this was a joke! :D

Good one!





The defense against spells that seem to be undefensable, turn to these:

1. Spell Resistance
2. Spell Absorption
3. Kill From Further awayThis quote from the wiki page i linked (on Prismatic Ray) beats your no.1: "Note that Spell Resistance does not protect against any of these effects, including the non-damaging ones."

About your no. 3: Sure, i was many-shotting from as far as i could, but he came closer towards me, and this spell has double range. And i already said that killing those enemies as fast as you can is a no-brainer.

Thanks for adding no.2, i didn't think about using my Spell Absorption trinket even the 2nd time i got to him *facepalm* (but i had no problem this time, neither my friend who ran towards him - although i drew Tsabyrr's aggro cause of my many-shot i guess - i think i got really unlucky the 1st time)
Oh well, at least i had the Head of Good Fortune in trinket slot for +2 to saves (and remembered to use my Greater Heroism clickie in the middle of the fight with him :/)

[Enoach]

This quote from the wiki page i linked (on Prismatic Ray) beats your no.1: "Note that Spell Resistance does not protect against any of these effects, including the non-damaging ones."

About your no. 3: Sure, i was many-shotting from as far as i could, but he came closer towards me, and this spell has double range. And i already said that killing those enemies as fast as you can is a no-brainer.

Thanks for adding no.2, i didn't think about using my Spell Absorption trinket even the 2nd time i got to him *facepalm* (but i had no problem this time, neither my friend who ran towards him - although i drew Tsabyrr's aggro cause of my many-shot i guess - i think i got really unlucky the 1st time)
Oh well, at least i had the Head of Good Fortune in trinket slot for +2 to saves (and remembered to use my Greater Heroism clickie in the middle of the fight with him :/)

Sorry I was not just giving advice on Prismatic Ray, but providing general advice on how to handle spells where it appears a save is not possible. While not all spells have Spell Resistance, many that don't have saves do have SR checks. SR is not 100%, but some defense is better then none.

I'm glad that I was able to spark your memory about Spell Absorption which actually comes in different forms from the Mantel of the Worldshapper (5 Spells), PLIS (50 Spell Levels), Jeweled Cloak (5 to 20 Charges) or Scarab of Spell Absorption. Having one of these in your inventory to resort to can help to survive these types of attacks, having multiples means options and possibly surviving longer in these situations.

[Annex]

For newer players following along, the DDO Wiki page on Spell Absorption contains some interesting information related to this subject: http://ddowiki.com/page/Spell_Absorption

PLIS is Pale Lavender Ioun Stone. (I had to look it up.)

[dunklezhan]

Also it's a ray. Its hard, but rays can be dodged. Good luck and merry Christmas!