Beyond Metalline of PG - DR breakers

[Djeserit]

I'm working on my first melee (a bard), and trying to work out which weapons to carry. I'm mostly using two handed weapons (I'm an orc).

Currently my main weapon is a Tier 3 Elemental Greataxe. This will have to do until I get the eSOS, LOL.
That gives me metalline of PG, good for most things particularly if they are vulnerable to fire.

So I also need a blunt weapon for skeletons, razor cats and liches. Maybe two weapons: a GS maul for the undead and a maul of greater magical beast bane for the cats.

Chaos for maruts, maybe of greater construct bane

Evil for Bralani, Cold iron + evil for Ghaeles - cold iron of blasphemy, perhaps difficult to find

Crystal for Dream Stealers, Crystal + good for Dream Devourers - woo woo stick double upgraded, simple

Law for tharaak hounds - easy to craft axiomatic burst of outsider bane

Piercing for ancient spiders, crimson foot spider and wheeps - Rhal's might

Piercing + good for rakshasa - difficult, the only two-handed weapon I know of is Sireth, impossible for me to get. Could craft a rapier I guess, but that is weaksauce. Maybe just run away instead.

This looks like 8 weapons total.

I also might carry an everbright weapon for rusties, ooze.

and a Holy Burst, greater lawful outsider silver falchion for those who are largely fire resistant.

Not sure if I need smiters, paralyzers, banishers, disrutors or portal beaters any longer.

Comments and advice?

*Thanks to Mr. Cow and DDOwiki for help with DR types.

[Dielzen]

I'm lazy, My 2h uses --
Main beater
Undead beater (3xPOS Maul is a winner, there)
Portal Beater
Drow Beater
Devil Beater
Demon Beater

6 weapons, total.

The number of rhakshasa, razor cats, etc., that you fight at Epic is a pretty low #, and not worth worrying about, imo.

Then again, you'll also run across the person with a Burst/GrtrBane weapon for everything in the game. Nothing wrong with that, but I lose more DPS than I'd gain by having to remember which icon is which beater, 6 is about my limit.

[NovaNZ]

rakshasa = http://ddowiki.com/page/Turbulent_Epee

GL

[madmaxhunter]

rakshasa = http://ddowiki.com/page/Turbulent_Epee

GL

Very nice all around weapon. Replaces Metalline of PG. Works well for marut since it's aligned (chaotic evil).

[ka0t1c1sm]

Not necessarily DR breakers, but some other options to consider:

Impellent of Smiting or Annihilating of Smiting works great on constructs and portals, although I'm not sure if you can find those with a minimum level lower than 20. Greater Construct Bane instead of smiting should work just as well.

Fury of the Flame is a nice ML16 maul that can also be made Epic.

The new physical burst suffixes (Bloodletter, Heartseeker, and Ribcracker) are also pretty nice on weapons with a X3 crit multiplier or higher.

[gphysalis]

rakshasa = http://ddowiki.com/page/Turbulent_Epee

GL

There aren't many piercing two handed weapons, which makes rakshasa hard.
The Turbulent Epees are really nice for breaking almost any DR
Also, celestia is really good for breaking DR

[Krelar]

Also, celestia is really good for breaking DR

Unless you're a pure paladin. The paladin capstone seems to overwrite the light damage.

[voodoogroves]

I also carry these and low-teens versions as well on my pseudo-main as he TRs.

(1) Full Dreamspitter - use this for oozes too. If you're a staff build, this works on most evil outsiders w/one arti spell as well - cold iron, silver, etc.
(2) Triple positive blunt - undead
(3) Anarchic Adamantine of Smiting (this was a nice find)
(4) Axiomatic (burst) (greater) Chaotic Outsider Bane - ideally crafted on a blessed cold iron blank
(5) Holy (burst) (greater) Evil Outsider Bane - ideally crafted on a blessed silver blank
(6) Metalline of Righteousness with festival kit
(7) Shock Greater Dragon Bane w/ a Frost kit

At lower levels I also carry a Flametouched Iron Greater Incorp Bane or a Phase Hammer. I think he's got an unlocked Force Rahl's Might as well. I think I have an Aligned Adamatine Greater Construct Bane as well for lawful lives (instead of the anarchic).

[Inouk]

I'm working on my first melee (a bard), and trying to work out which weapons to carry. I'm mostly using two handed weapons (I'm an orc).

Currently my main weapon is a Tier 3 Elemental Greataxe. This will have to do until I get the eSOS, LOL.
That gives me metalline of PG, good for most things particularly if they are vulnerable to fire.

So I also need a blunt weapon for skeletons, razor cats and liches. Maybe two weapons: a GS maul for the undead and a maul of greater magical beast bane for the cats.

Chaos for maruts, maybe of greater construct bane

Evil for Bralani, Cold iron + evil for Ghaeles - cold iron of blasphemy, perhaps difficult to find

Crystal for Dream Stealers, Crystal + good for Dream Devourers - woo woo stick double upgraded, simple

Law for tharaak hounds - easy to craft axiomatic burst of outsider bane

Piercing for ancient spiders, crimson foot spider and wheeps - Rhal's might

Piercing + good for rakshasa - difficult, the only two-handed weapon I know of is Sireth, impossible for me to get. Could craft a rapier I guess, but that is weaksauce. Maybe just run away instead.

This looks like 8 weapons total.

I also might carry an everbright weapon for rusties, ooze.

and a Holy Burst, greater lawful outsider silver falchion for those who are largely fire resistant.

Not sure if I need smiters, paralyzers, banishers, disrutors or portal beaters any longer.

Comments and advice?

*Thanks to Mr. Cow and DDOwiki for help with DR types.

Holy burst [metal] + greater bane will out damage even the tier 3 elemental in most cases on devils and demons (as most have fire resist), though the elemental rocks against everything else.

I wouldn't worry about spiders or rakshasa, you can just power through the DR without worrying about them much. Definitely carry an everbright, always. I found great use for bodyfeeder + vampiric, but since it looks like you will be self-healing that may not be needed. I wouldn't worry about smiters, paralyzers, banishers unless your DPS is low, and disruptors is covered by triple pos GS.

[Gadget2775]

If you're willing to burn Ing on a Trip Pos ya might as well burn out a Min2. I usually make mine GoodBurst instead of Holy. Better all around beater, and you already called out Holy Silver GB.

[sirgog]

If you're willing to burn Ing on a Trip Pos ya might as well burn out a Min2. I usually make mine GoodBurst instead of Holy. Better all around beater, and you already called out Holy Silver GB.

Tier 3 Epic Elemental Greataxe of Fire is just better than a Min 2. Higher base damage and Brilliance and +6 not +5 put it equal to the non-acid damage of a Min 2, then Greater Incineration is far ahead of the Min 2's acid damage (except against the rare mob that's immune to fire but that is not common any more).

Both break all the same DRs except for Eladrins (Min 2 breaks their DR and EEGoF with Heaven's Light does not). Needless to say Eladrin are extremely rare, coming up in one quest and one challenge.

The only situation in which I'd even consider making a Min 2 is if you regularly run Epic Elite VON5/VON6 and want a weapon that just won't break in there.


I'd suggest the following:

- Main DPS weapon (aim for Epic Sword of Shadow. One of the Caught in the Web weapons is a weaker alternative that is probably more readily acquired.)
- Tricky DR weapon (EEGoF with Heaven's Light, Epic Antique Greataxe)
- Anti-undead weapon. There is no alternative to a triple positive here, they still outclass all alternatives. At present endgame slashing is superior to blunt (for undead drow necromancers) but you might want to make both a blunt and a slashing.
- Thrower. Some mobs are too dangerous to melee (traps near them, or just lethal melee attacks) and so a thrower is mandatory. Cormyrian throwers are excellent in general.

More optional ones:

- Anti-elemental weapon. All of the above weapons are weak or mediocre against most elementals. Annihilating of Greater Elemental Bane is a medium-quality option, better exist.
- Debuff weapon - a Falchion with Radiance really cuts down on incoming damage when mobs are too dangerous to engage in melee (eg a cluster of six EE drow melees). Alchemical weapons and/or lootgen with the Erosive prefix work too in easier content.


On piercing DR: Just use your best non-DR weapon. While some piercing two-handers exist, if you aren't specced for them they will be 30-50 damage per swing behind a regular weapon anyway so just use the better weapon and accept you don't break DR.

[SylvanPhoenix]

- Debuff weapon - a Falchion with Radiance really cuts down on incoming damage when mobs are too dangerous to engage in melee (eg a cluster of six EE drow melees). Alchemical weapons and/or lootgen with the Erosive prefix work too in easier content.

Can you expand on this? I'm not sure what a debuff weapon is or how this is useful. Thanks!

Cheers,
Sylvan

[sirgog]

Can you expand on this? I'm not sure what a debuff weapon is or how this is useful. Thanks!

Cheers,
Sylvan

A weapon with low or mediocre damage that is mostly used to reduce an enemy's ability to hit you.

[Bart_D]

This is where I'm stuck:

- Thrower. Some mobs are too dangerous to melee (traps near them, or just lethal melee attacks) and so a thrower is mandatory. Cormyrian throwers are excellent in general.

I will try some random ones, but what about crafted or lootgen ones? I *dont* want many of these and really can't decide what will generally be most useful.

Also: My THF'er already uses the weapons suggested but my TWF'er (bard) carries a couple large golfbags around... Any suggestions for onehanded replacements for esos/eaga/+++?

[Mastikator]

For levels 12-18 I use
Positive x3 GS Maul for undead
Smiting whatever for constructs
Mineral II Falchion for everything else
using Mineral II Falchion up to 18 means I don't need to take Improved Critical, since I'd just TR at 20, frees up a feat.

Yes, just 3 weapons on 2hander, sue me.

[sirgog]

This is where I'm stuck:I will try some random ones, but what about crafted or lootgen ones? I *dont* want many of these and really can't decide what will generally be most useful.

Also: My THF'er already uses the weapons suggested but my TWF'er (bard) carries a couple large golfbags around... Any suggestions for onehanded replacements for esos/eaga/+++?

Just make a Cormyrian thrower. Doesn't need to be the best possible combination of effects, perhaps make three and use the best one.

TWF is more difficult. I currently carry a real golfbag there too but mostly use an EE Swailing Blade and a Drow Scimitar for non-DR mobs, triple positives for undead and boss-specific DR breakers. My TWF is my bard also and they don't always melee bosses (they often are healing) and so the DR breakers aren't used all that much.

I'm planning to respec for chest blessing and will then use Balizarde and Agony in general (they are the best weapons in the game that are inherently keen, which frees a feat) but haven't put any effort into obtaining them.

[jbleargh]

eAntique for almost everything and a crafted maul of everbright for oozes and rusties.


In heroic lvls, I carry a whole bunch of other weapons like fury of the flame, terror, lit2, holy of smiting maul, holy silver of undead, holy cold iron of lawful outsider, etc, but I rarely use them after the eAntique is available.

I also made some specialized stuff like acid burst of greater incorporeal bane (to beat Cholthulzz), but they rarely leave the bank.

[SylvanPhoenix]

A weapon with low or mediocre damage that is mostly used to reduce an enemy's ability to hit you.

Okay, so with a radiance weapon, you're looking at the on crit blindness feature to cut down on incoming damage? On the erosive prefix, it's the greater stone prison proc to turn the mob to stone? I'm guessing in EE the chance for these procing is good enough that the effects are more reliable than killing them quickly? I've done very little EE content on my barb that I don't have the playing experience to know.

Cheers,
Sylvan