Author Topic: Lowering DR?  (Read 3201 times)

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kevin_video

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Lowering DR?
« on: December 18, 2009, 04:41:45 AM »
I was talking to a friend of mine about our games, and I was telling him how I was glad my DM had let me switch out the two normal +1 abilities you get from the bow of wintermoon (drow band and frost) for the straight up +2 force ability. If he hadn't, my character would have been completely and utterly useless in our game with all that incredibly high DR that we see on a regular basis.

Then we got to talking about how there's all these weapon abilities, or spells, or feats, or class special abilities that temporarily lower an opponents SR and PR. Like Shattermantle will lower an SR by 2 for every hit you make for 1 round. A Slayer, at lvl 8, get Breach Power Resistance which lowers by 1 for up to 12 hours. Then we wondered. Can you do that with DR too? Is there a feat, or an ability that lets you temporarily get through DR? Think about it. No matter how hard something is, eventually you have to crack its shell. Sparks might fly for a bit, but eventually you're going to find a chink in the armour. Like say the sunder ability. You slowly destroy armour and weapons. Why not sunder DR too? Or have an ability that mimics that. Anyone know if something like that exists?
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Runestar

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Re: Lowering DR?
« Reply #1 on: December 18, 2009, 05:45:22 AM »
There are some abilities which let you ignore dr, but they are few and far between.

I know complete champion has this paladin tactical feat which lets you ignore twice your cha mod in dr while smiting.

A few of the stone dragon maneuvers in tome of battle eschew dr as well.

Others may well exist, but these are the only ones which come to mind at the moment, and they all apply to melee.

What sort of dr are you being pitted against? An archer should have an easier time overcoming it compared to a fighter, since he can carry around an assortment of arrows and use whichever is most suitable at the moment. So carry around some cold iron/silver/adamantine arrows. Holy is best retained on the bow. Think there might be some arrows which deal bludgeoning damage as well.

Of course, this does require a fair amount of prior knowledge about what sort of dr a monster has.

The whole idea of dr in 3.5 is exactly that - they are much harder to overcome, but lower in value, so they play a more meaningful role unlike in 3.0, which was typically all or nothing (they were either high enough to block out all the damage, or irrelevant altogether).
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Chemus

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Re: Lowering DR?
« Reply #2 on: December 18, 2009, 05:47:59 AM »
Warlock Eldritch Blast essence from Dragon Magic lowers DR by 5 for 1 minute on a failed Fort save. Called Deteriorating Blast (pg 81)
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kevin_video

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Re: Lowering DR?
« Reply #3 on: December 18, 2009, 05:52:45 AM »
@ Runestar - A lot of the DR lately has been DR 20/Good and Magic or whatever those damn apes have. Basically the saint character, and I are about the only ones that can deal damage to them.

I did have a lot of arrows before hand, but that requires money. We don't get much, so you have to be very careful. That's why the force bow was so important to me.

@ Chemus - That's something that could be added to a weapon, like a spell right? Would it be the same scenario for the math, or different?
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Chemus

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Re: Lowering DR?
« Reply #4 on: December 18, 2009, 06:15:09 AM »
Don't see why not. Equivalent to 4th level spell, though. Hell, get a way to cast summon monster IV or better; lantern archon's 1d6 ranged touch ignores all DR, even epic. S.M. V or VI nets you d3 or d4+1 of them, respectively. Ex ability too.
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kevin_video

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Re: Lowering DR?
« Reply #5 on: December 18, 2009, 06:40:21 AM »
A 4th level spell isn't that bad, and summon monster can get you into trouble. Charm Monster is not your friend.

But it wouldn't be a spell per sa though, would it? Like you see all of these items that have spells put into them, but they're either constant (ie the Holy Avenger), or they have limited uses per day.
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The_Mad_Linguist

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Re: Lowering DR?
« Reply #6 on: December 18, 2009, 07:48:40 AM »
Get arrows made of Hizagkuur.  +1 fire and +1 electricity damage.  Make 'em fireshaped to boot.  Price is trivial, but getting an extra couple of points of damage in is always nice.
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kevin_video

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Re: Lowering DR?
« Reply #7 on: December 18, 2009, 07:49:28 AM »
Get arrows made of Hizagkuur.  +1 fire and +1 electricity damage.  Make 'em fireshaped to boot.  Price is trivial, but getting an extra couple of points of damage in is always nice.
Where are those from?
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JaronK

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Re: Lowering DR?
« Reply #8 on: December 18, 2009, 08:18:39 AM »
For what it's worth, Factotums can ignore DR all day long (technically, inspiration points per encounter, but that shouldn't be a problem).

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The_Mad_Linguist

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Re: Lowering DR?
« Reply #9 on: December 18, 2009, 08:21:05 AM »
Hizagukhur is from Magic Of Faerun, fireshaped is from dmgII.
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Runestar

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Re: Lowering DR?
« Reply #10 on: December 18, 2009, 08:46:30 AM »
Align weapon could work, get a cleric to buff your weapon.

And how are those monsters getting so high dr? Dr20/whatever is almost strictly reserved for epic foes, prior to that, dr5 for low lvs, 10 at mid lvs and 15 for higher lvs.
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Johannixx

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Re: Lowering DR?
« Reply #11 on: December 18, 2009, 11:28:57 AM »
DR 20/Good and Magic?  Easy.  Sacred Scabbard from MIC.  4400gp.  It casts Bless Weapon on your blade as a swift action when you draw it from the scabbard.  Or, use any number of spells, like Grace (Bard2/Cleric3, swift action, plus it adds a +2 Sacred bonus to Dex and +10' to your movement), Bless Weapon (Paladin 1), or the previously mentioned Align Weapon.

kevin_video

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Re: Lowering DR?
« Reply #12 on: December 18, 2009, 01:43:26 PM »
Align weapon could work, get a cleric to buff your weapon.

And how are those monsters getting so high dr? Dr20/whatever is almost strictly reserved for epic foes, prior to that, dr5 for low lvs, 10 at mid lvs and 15 for higher lvs.
We've been fighting that DR since we were lvl 7-9.

The scabbard is an idea, but an angelhelm works just as well. That's what the warblade uses. If you've got natural attacks, you're screwed. That, and the cleric is never there to game anymore, and doesn't buff anyone but himself, if at all. He's all about his breathe weapon. I can count the number of times he's showed up and cast Bless, on one hand.
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Runestar

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Re: Lowering DR?
« Reply #13 on: December 18, 2009, 11:16:43 PM »
Then can you try to procure some oils of align weapon?

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Chemus

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Re: Lowering DR?
« Reply #14 on: December 18, 2009, 11:54:13 PM »
A 4th level spell isn't that bad, and summon monster can get you into trouble. Charm Monster is not your friend.

But it wouldn't be a spell per sa though, would it? Like you see all of these items that have spells put into them, but they're either constant (ie the Holy Avenger), or they have limited uses per day.
Archons have Magic circle vs. evil. Just sayin.

As to the invocation, it would effectively be a use activated spell. Spell like abilities are treated in almost all ways like spells. So, 4th x CL 6 (minimum warlock level) is 48000gp to lower DR by 5 (non-stacking, Fort save negates). However, not every magic item built off of a spell exactly mimics that spell. So, perhaps there's no save, or there is a save, but it stacks. Then it might be worth the 48K.
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kevin_video

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Re: Lowering DR?
« Reply #15 on: December 19, 2009, 03:27:40 AM »
A 4th level spell isn't that bad, and summon monster can get you into trouble. Charm Monster is not your friend.

But it wouldn't be a spell per sa though, would it? Like you see all of these items that have spells put into them, but they're either constant (ie the Holy Avenger), or they have limited uses per day.
Archons have Magic circle vs. evil. Just sayin.

As to the invocation, it would effectively be a use activated spell. Spell like abilities are treated in almost all ways like spells. So, 4th x CL 6 (minimum warlock level) is 48000gp to lower DR by 5 (non-stacking, Fort save negates). However, not every magic item built off of a spell exactly mimics that spell. So, perhaps there's no save, or there is a save, but it stacks. Then it might be worth the 48K.
Yeah that's kind of what I was thinking. Make the ability constantly active so you don't have to activate it, like the Life-Drinker's ability to constantly do negative levels, or the Holy Avenger's SR.

Then can you try to procure some oils of align weapon?
Again, this requires money for one-shot items. Yeah they're cheap, but you don't exactly get money.
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Black Knight

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Re: Lowering DR?
« Reply #16 on: January 14, 2010, 10:49:22 PM »
You could use a Transmuting weapon, which is a +2 bonus property.  After the first hit, the weapon changes to overcome the designated type of DR for 10 rounds (even if there are multiple types).
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kevin_video

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Re: Lowering DR?
« Reply #17 on: January 15, 2010, 01:24:08 AM »
You could use a Transmuting weapon, which is a +2 bonus property.  After the first hit, the weapon changes to overcome the designated type of DR for 10 rounds (even if there are multiple types).
That's been a consideration. Again, money's an issue. However, the guy who's thinking of getting it has a legacy weapon with a +2 coming up. He's debating.
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