Is Spell Resistance Useful Now Even A Little?

[changelingamuck]

Simple questions to weigh in on:

(1) Is spell resistance useful at this point in the game's history?

(2) If so, is there a particular value to aim for?

(3) Is there a level at which spell resistance stops being useful entirely? Only useful during heroic levels? Useful up until eHard? eElite even somehow?

(4) If spell resistance is actually useful now, is the spell "Spell Resistance" (and/or Mass Spell Resistance) worth slotting ever?

(5) How can we know how many caster levels and spell penetration bonuses mobs have in any given level range to be able to answer these questions reliably?

Edit: (6) Which spell resistance bonuses stack if any do at all. For example, would a spell resistance enchantment on an item stack with the "Spell Resistance" spell?

[jaegarnel]

The way spell resistance works (as a caster level check against spell res) means that it will only be useful in content where

1) there are caster mobs
2) those caster mobs use spells that have a spell resistance check, mostly CC, some debuffs and insta-kills
3) the level of those mobs isn't so high that they'll make any check against a spell resistance you can reasonably get (which would be 10 + caster level from the spell res spell, your level + 16 if you're a drow with spell res enhancements, or 30 from epic items)
4) you wouldn't be protected against the effect anyway (by FoM for a hold person, deathblock for instakills or high saves)


Number 1 and 2 means there are relatively few quests where spell resistance even matters, number 3 means that it's mostly useless in heroic elite, epic hard and epic elite content where mob CR are usually much higher than your level, and number 4 means that even if spell resistance would be potentially useful in the content you're playing, there are typically other and better ways to protect yourself.

And no, AFAIK, spell resistance effects don't stack, only the highest matters, with the exception of the drow enhancement that add to your base SR.


The fact of the matter is that I just leveled an old drow sorcerer toon (who took +4 spell res from enhancements to get +2 cha) from lvl 9 to 22, and it was very rare that his spell resistance was actually useful. I don't expect that to change in higher level content where mobs CR are even more inflated.

[SirDrakaden]

They definitely should re-check the usefulness of Spell Resistance, in normal D&D rules, this would nullify damage spells too, but in DDO, it's inexistant, even a damage absorb % from the spell resist would be grand (Like if your Spell resist is 30, absorb 30% damage from damage spells), that would be, in my opinion, a good compromise.

[Charononus]

In a word

no

[GeoffWatson]

Last Crystal Cove I made a 1st level Barbarian to farm green shards with (1st level vs 6th level mobs is easier than 25th level vs 30th level mobs).

I gave him a Scarab of Protection, and the SR 20 from it was actually useful. Stopped a few spells from Jack Jibbers (who was 10th level).

So SR can be useful, occasionally.

Geoff.

[Deathdefy]

In Monastery of the Scorpion, the spell "Spell Resistance" used to provide SR to be immune to the end room's disco balls.

I don't know if it still does. That's literally the only place I found it useful, but it was (and still might be) useful enough to bother memorizing on clerics for the duration of farming.