Defense against negative levels

[alex1972]

Weird. I'd say I have run it at least 4 times per year over 9 years. Never has the visor been offered. Maybe the three completions have to be within a certain period of time?

Knobull, First, I acknowledge that improbable rolls happen, so it is fully possible that you have run Tangleroot several times and never received a Visor. However, that end reward list is unusual in that it is very long. I have to scroll down quite far to see the full list of what is offered, and the Visor is usually near the end of the list. There are only a few reward lists like this, so perhaps not everyone has noticed the scroll bar on the list?

I apologize if I'm not offering anything you didn't already know, and I hope your next run nets you this very handy clickie.

[CeltEireson]

Or become a halfling and take the dragonmark - break out the leeches enhancement will remove 1 neg level (and poison/disease) every 3 secs and lasts as long as your heal skill which depending on your class can be pretty high - think it was over 60 on my monk. Get 6 six uses per rest. Useful against beholders as its constantly removing the levels as you fight whereas as deathward will have been dispelled but of course as folk have mentioned some of the spell absorption items can deal with the beholders rays as long as there's not too many before you can rest to restore the charges.

[yfernbottom]

Or become a halfling and take the dragonmark - break out the leeches enhancement will remove 1 neg level (and poison/disease) every 3 secs and lasts as long as your heal skill which depending on your class can be pretty high - think it was over 60 on my monk. Get 6 six uses per rest. Useful against beholders as its constantly removing the levels as you fight whereas as deathward will have been dispelled but of course as folk have mentioned some of the spell absorption items can deal with the beholders rays as long as there's not too many before you can rest to restore the charges.

This is what I did on my current first lifer. Even with a modest heal skill, it will clear quite a few negative levels as long as you remember to use it before your skill gets debuffed too much. If you wait until you really get hammered you might have to blow three or four charges to clear them all, since the first one or two will only last long enough to restore a single level. Still, for one enhancement point, I think it's a great option if you are taking the DM feat anyway. Plus halfling is available to even a brand new FtP account.

[ThreadNecromancer]

*snip*

When you hit epics, a 4 (or maybe 5) piece purity sentient set gives immunity to negative energy drain.

*snip*

It's the 4pc set bonus, but I'm not sure it's working properly. I tested it in heroic Abbott and still got double digits worth of negative levels.

Either that, or those Wheeps/Quells are OP as hell.

[LightBear]

There is:
https://ddowiki.com/page/Spell_Resistance
https://ddowiki.com/page/Category:Sp...sorption_items
https://ddowiki.com/page/Negative_Energy_Absorption
https://ddowiki.com/page/Death_Ward
And finally there is
https://ddowiki.com/page/Resistance_(enchantment)
(Not sure if there is a resistance for necromancy affix, does anybody know if there is one?)

And yes, that does seem to be the order in which they are checked, tho spell absorb and neg en absorb might tick off at the same time if two items are equipped at the same time.

To get back up you can use restoration and heal (prob from scrolls).

My favorite items for this are:
Eternal Flask of Death Ward (mysterious remnants trade in), useable from level 1 and upwards.
Elegant Diamond Necklace (store bought item), equip when going against beholders
(Epic) Phiarlan Mirror Cloak, has both spell resistance and spell absorb but is drained empty with one magic missiles spell.

[0ldschool]

There is:
https://ddowiki.com/page/Spell_Resistance
https://ddowiki.com/page/Category:Sp...sorption_items
https://ddowiki.com/page/Negative_Energy_Absorption
https://ddowiki.com/page/Death_Ward
And finally there is
https://ddowiki.com/page/Resistance_(enchantment)
(Not sure if there is a resistance for necromancy affix, does anybody know if there is one?)

And yes, that does seem to be the order in which they are checked, tho spell absorb and neg en absorb might tick off at the same time if two items are equipped at the same time.

To get back up you can use restoration and heal (prob from scrolls).

My favorite items for this are:
Eternal Flask of Death Ward (mysterious remnants trade in), useable from level 1 and upwards.
Elegant Diamond Necklace (store bought item), equip when going against beholders
(Epic) Phiarlan Mirror Cloak, has both spell resistance and spell absorb but is drained empty with one magic missiles spell.

Belated thanks for your suggestions. Unless I am mistaken, Heal will not remove negative levels. But I do have Restoration scrolls, which i confirmed I can use with 4 neg levels. I'm going to need a pile of them, though, at that rate. It would be vastly better if was protected from being neg'd in the first place. I've just managed to open up my Belt slot, and I would love to put in the belt equivalent of Death's Locket, or Jeweled Cloak. I can't bring myself to give up effects in the cloak and necklace slots at the moment, at least on a full time basis. Anyone know of any Spell Absorption or Negative Energy absorption belts? Eternal Flask of Death Ward sounds spectacular! I'm going to have to find the Mysterious Remnants trader.

Thanks again.

EDIT: I just realized what you meant, Restoration and then Heal to get back the HP. Sorry about that!

[Zretch]

It's the 4pc set bonus, but I'm not sure it's working properly. I tested it in heroic Abbott and still got double digits worth of negative levels.

Either that, or those Wheeps/Quells are OP as hell.

I've never been neg leveled in VoN3 beholder cave with a 4 piece purity. it may be that the Abbott mobs are OP.

[Zretch]

Belated thanks for your suggestions. Unless I am mistaken, Heal will not remove negative levels. But I do have Restoration scrolls, which i confirmed I can use with 4 neg levels. I'm going to need a pile of them, though, at that rate. It would be vastly better if was protected from being neg'd in the first place. I've just managed to open up my Belt slot, and I would love to put in the belt equivalent of Death's Locket, or Jeweled Cloak. I can't bring myself to give up effects in the cloak and necklace slots at the moment, at least on a full time basis. Anyone know of any Spell Absorption or Negative Energy absorption belts? Eternal Flask of Death Ward sounds spectacular! I'm going to have to find the Mysterious Remnants trader.

Thanks again.

EDIT: I just realized what you meant, Restoration and then Heal to get back the HP. Sorry about that!

Greater restoration scrolls will remove all negative levels for one scroll use, but you'll likely have to be a CHA build on a class that has UMD has a class skill to cast them at a reasonable level in heroics.

[EllisDee37]

It's the 4pc set bonus, but I'm not sure it's working properly. I tested it in heroic Abbott and still got double digits worth of negative levels.

Either that, or those Wheeps/Quells are OP as hell.

One of the mechanics in Ascension Chamber is a debuff that makes all your equipped gear stop working. It's actually a fairly common/frequent debuff in there.

On multiple occasions I have left that raid with the debuff still in effect, and as I jumped down to the bestower to use a bypass timer I dropped like a rock because my feather fall gear wasn't working.

[0ldschool]

Greater restoration scrolls will remove all negative levels for one scroll use, but you'll likely have to be a CHA build on a class that has UMD has a class skill to cast them at a reasonable level in heroics.

I can use them, if I'm not at negative 4 levels. Once that happens, I can't get my UMD up high enough to get them to work at all reliably. Actually, that is as of a few weeks ago. Now that I think about it, with another level +1 & an insightful CHA +3 necklace that I picked up (along with my UMD+2 goggles and CHA+8 ring), I may be getting to the point where I can. I can get up to UMD=42 with the rogue skill boost, but that is with no neg levels. More often than not I seem to find myself with exactly 4 negative levels, I'm not sure why that is. So -8 to max UMD is 34. I should have a roughly 50%-50% shot at the GR scroll now. That's not too terrible, I suppose. From a pp standpoint, still better off with 4 Restoration scrolls. From a less annoying game play standpoint, the GR scrolls may be viable now.

Anything much more than 4 neg levels is going to be Restoration all the way. I need to get in the habit of having a hireling cast Death Ward is the real answer. Do any hirelings have Greater Restoration?

[askrj1]

Anything much more than 4 neg levels is going to be Restoration all the way. I need to get in the habit of having a hireling cast Death Ward is the real answer. Do any hirelings have Greater Restoration?

Higher level FVS hires tend to carry them, you can take a look at the spells that hires carry from the mouseover tooltip before buying. Albus at 20 definitely does, I think Althea at 16 also does.

If you do find spell absorb/neg absorb items remember they do not need to be on all the time, just note when you will be fighting beholders or neg-spamming mobs and swap the piece in as necessary. This will avoid the item from be wasted eating up other less damaging spells.

[spyder7723]

An upgraded pale lavender ioun stone will solve all your spell absorption worries. It equips in the trinket slot. 50 charges that replenish 15 at a time at every shrine. And it's a relatively easy farm to get one and upgrade it.


Edit to add: and its a minimum level 5 item so if you ever tr you will never worry about kobold shamans again!

[askrj1]

An upgraded pale lavender ioun stone will solve all your spell absorption worries. It equips in the trinket slot. 50 charges that replenish 15 at a time at every shrine. And it's a relatively easy farm to get one and upgrade it.


Edit to add: and its a minimum level 5 item so if you ever tr you will never worry about kobold shamans again!

Dreaming Dark is not an easy farm for a new player. The upgraded ioun stone is useful, but it will take quite a bit of work to get there if you're not a pimp level 20 with EDs rushing the quests.

[cru121]

Has this been mentioned?
https://m.ddowiki.com/page/Negative_level

[Ulfo]

And this:

Scarab of Protection? 8)

[ThreadNecromancer]

One of the mechanics in Ascension Chamber is a debuff that makes all your equipped gear stop working. It's actually a fairly common/frequent debuff in there.

On multiple occasions I have left that raid with the debuff still in effect, and as I jumped down to the bestower to use a bypass timer I dropped like a rock because my feather fall gear wasn't working.

Been even longer since I checked my debuff bar while running Abbott. However I've since noticed that they can't bypass my spell resist anymore.

[0ldschool]

Has this been mentioned?
https://m.ddowiki.com/page/Negative_level

Yes, thanks, I did go there. I always go to DDOwiki first. But I've found it doesn't always have all of the answers, is occasionally outdated, and I have gotten useful help here from others that provide context and combinations of items that only experience can bring. That's why I'm so appreciative of those here who take the time to pass along that tribal knowledge.

An example of my DDOwiki confusion is Spell saves. That one confounded me for a while, as most effects that don't appear in the character sheet tend to do. If you click on Spell Saves in Cannith crafting, it takes you to the Saving throw page, which makes no mention of spell saves at all! And there is no link there to the "Resistance(enchantment)" page, which I eventually learned is where the actual information for spell saves resides. Even when you get there, it took some time to sort out that I should be slotting Staunch and Realistic items and not worrying about the rest (Stalwart, Agile, Disciplined, Lucid, Disenchanted). To be honest with you, I'm still not 100% confident that I understand it correctly, but it's working for me.

[Amorais]

Death Ward clickies are fine but remember many modules have mobs that chain cast dispel magic on you. Quite often that means it doesn't last long.

What I can't abide is the fact you get mobs who are too low CR still able to cast energy drain on you. Its almost as much of a pain as Ray of Enfeeblement which doesn't seem to have any defence except running about a lot and hoping it doesn't hit.

[0ldschool]

My latest thinking here is that I must face the fact that I am rapidly approaching Level 20 and the heroic XP cap. Probably best to plan for Level 20 and beyond.

In an effort to add Spell absoprtion and keep Blurry and Ghostly, DDOwiki provides a very obvious combination that fits my gear: Epic Phiarlan Mirror Cloak & (ML20 Ring of Stalker OR Epic Ring of Shadows). Any thoughts on this plan? The Tier 2/3 Ring of Stalker is extremely enticing. How unpleasant will that be to farm? I have the ML14 Ring of Shadows now, and I am partial to that farm, since I can go right to the specific room and exit the quest if I have no luck, either no ring or no chest appearing at all. But the Ring of the Stalker is frankly better and a perfect fit for my gear and frees up gloves as well with the Deception.

EDIT: 2/19/2020 - 14 months after this post, and I just crafted my first Epic Crafting item, which just so happens to be the Epic Phiarlan Mirror Cloak! I remember being interested in it and then quickly giving up when I realized how unlikely it would be to get one. This was purely by chance, I have not actively tried to farm any S/S/S. That being said, I'm pretty happy about finally getting one

[Lil_Mischif]

Ok, so I'm a bit late to the discussion. A lot of folks have said a lot of useful things. Maybe some things have changed, since the majority of posts.

I have to admit that I'm not in love with the idea of using expensive/hard to get potions, just to have them de-buffed. I really like the Phiarlan Mirror Cloak. And it is, as far as I'm aware, the best SR you can get anywhere near that level. And there are many other items, that others have mentioned, that I have not tried for one reason or another. For instance, I have a Very hard time getting Raid Items.

I have seen a precious few items with Sealed Life or Life Sealed on them. Sorry to say I can't remember the effect name for certain and couldn't find anything in the wiki or the auction houses. If you can get them, there better than all the potions, wands and scrolls you can possibly carry, for the current purpose. That said, I'm not even sure they are still dropping. ;-(
If anyone does know, PLEASE share.

There are some items that might work, though it may depend on things like play style, proficiency and so on;

• Belt of Thoughtful Rememberance
• Carved Bone Shield
• First Light (available at multiple levels, from the Night Revels)
• There are a few others, but they have drawbacks.

And lest we forget that (if they ever fix the augment slotting issues) you can put a Deathblock Ruby (also available from the Night Revels) in any Red, Orange or Purple slot. And I know that won't stop any Level Draining, but it will still stop those nasty death effects.