How does one NOT die to disintegrate?

[Derpykat5]

seriously, Disintegrate hits for just over 200 damage, which is 90% of my health. I tried to see what resistance I should stack to take less damage, but the combat log doesn't specify the damage type.

Is this just a case of "hope they don't cast it", or is there actually something I can do to prevent instant death by disintegrate?

[Taebrythn]

ok a few things. disintegrate is untyped damage so there is nothing to protect resist wise. now there are ways to deal with it quite easily. first off its a ray spell so if you're not a melee if you keep moving you can see it coming. standing there of course is a bad idea.

if you're in melee pale lavender ioun stone, mantle of the worldshaper, scarab of spell aborption and few other items can absorb the spell for so long. another thing is if you're melee you have access to some cc like stun/trip or you can sidestep or get behind them.

if you're a caster/ranged you have quite a few options to deal with a caster. casters tend to have higher will saves but low fortitude saves. melee have high fortitude and ranged have high reflex. so i don't know what class or split/ level you are.

another option is to make sure you have a lot of hp. it can help absorb some of those dangerous abilities, traps, or spells.

[Derpykat5]

I'm a 5 Rogue/12 Arti Great-Crossbow user.

is it a ray spell? I didn't see a ray when it was cast. I don't have a lot of stun/interrupt, but on my next attempt at the quest I just popped Endless Fusillade and killed him before he decided he wanted to cast it.

Still, that much damage from one attack with next to no way to prevent it seems a little unbalanced in my opinion.

[Rodfather]

I say just die...cause how fun is the game without a few deaths?

[NavFamG]

Originally posted by Rodfather:

I say just die...cause how fun is the game without a few deaths?

Some really good death antic's would go a long way to upping the fun factor when it happens.

[Derpykat5]

Originally posted by NavFamG:

Originally posted by Rodfather:

I say just die...cause how fun is the game without a few deaths?

Some really good death antic's would go a long way to upping the fun factor when it happens. :lunar2019grinningpig:

Getting insta-killed by a single spell is not one of those anitcs.

[Soap]

Originally posted by derpykat5:

Is this just a case of "hope they don't cast it", or is there actually something I can do to prevent instant death by disintegrate?

lvl 18, disintegrate, guessing you were in the Inspired Quarter? There are certain casters there that will pretty much always cast it at you if they see you and are alive for more than a few seconds. That's one of those chains where simply having experience with the quest and going in prepared makes all the difference in the world. They don't tend to cast it consecutively, but it will usually be one of their first few spells, so sometimes even just staying out of line of sight for the first few will do the trick.

[Derpykat5]

Originally posted by Soap:

Originally posted by derpykat5:

Is this just a case of "hope they don't cast it", or is there actually something I can do to prevent instant death by disintegrate?

lvl 18, disintegrate, guessing you were in the Inspired Quarter? There are certain casters there that will pretty much always cast it at you if they see you and are alive for more than a few seconds. That's one of those chains where simply having experience with the quest and going in prepared makes all the difference in the world. They don't tend to cast it consecutively, but it will usually be one of their first few spells, so sometimes even just staying out of line of sight for the first few will do the trick.

Actually was in Trial By Fire. The second general casts Disintegrate on Elite. That and the Living Disintegrate spells in Tower of Frost.

[Soap]

Originally posted by derpykat5:

Actually was in Trial By Fire. The second general casts Disintegrate on Elite. That and the Living Disintegrate spells in Tower of Frost.

Ah, yeah those living spells are one of the most dangerous things in the game if you don't have saves. I'm a fan of dying in DDO like others here lol, but those things definitely are unbalanced. I think that's kind of the point though, the DMs want to kill players sometimes at least. Taebrythn already mentioned spell absorption items. Farming an ioun stone is well worth it.

[Taebrythn]

yes you do see it and its a green color

[Doug]

Originally posted by Soap:

Originally posted by derpykat5:

Actually was in Trial By Fire. The second general casts Disintegrate on Elite. That and the Living Disintegrate spells in Tower of Frost.

Ah, yeah those living spells are one of the most dangerous things in the game if you don't have saves. I'm a fan of dying in DDO like others here lol, but those things definitely are unbalanced. I think that's kind of the point though, the DMs want to kill players sometimes at least. Taebrythn already mentioned spell absorption items. Farming an ioun stone is well worth it.

At least they finally raised the XP for Tower of Frost... by about double. Nobody sane was running it at level. Probably still won't (there are soo many better options), but it's a great F2P killer.

[Doug]

As for Disintegrate. It's not a death spell, so Deathblock/Death Ward don't help. It's simply a high damage untyped ray spell. It has a Fort save, so it's more dangerous to casters and rogues than to melees.

As a ray spell, it can be dodged. Usually not by waiting for it, though. The ray moves too fast. You either need to duck and weave, or Jump. With a high enough Jump skill at a decent distance, they'll mistarget. The advantage of Jumping over dodging and weaving is that it won't negatively affect things like Archer's Focus.

Your other main options are more HP so you can't be one-shot (at L17 you should have at least 300HP if possible and more's better), and taking down casters quicker.

You could also try hiding behind the melees. Pretty sure ray spells don't have Precise Shot-type logic. Should hit the first target in line.

[Derpykat5]

Originally posted by Doug:

As for Disintegrate. It's not a death spell, so Deathblock/Death Ward don't help. It's simply a high damage untyped ray spell. It has a Fort save, so it's more dangerous to casters and rogues than to melees.

As a ray spell, it can be dodged. Usually not by waiting for it, though. The ray moves too fast. You either need to duck and weave, or Jump. With a high enough Jump skill at a decent distance, they'll mistarget. The advantage of Jumping over dodging and weaving is that it won't negatively affect things like Archer's Focus.

Your other main options are more HP so you can't be one-shot (at L17 you should have at least 300HP if possible and more's better), and taking down casters quicker.

You could also try hiding behind the melees. Pretty sure ray spells don't have Precise Shot-type logic. Should hit the first target in line.

I have 230 HP... What am I doing wrong and how the heck do I fix it? Yes I have con gear, I learned that last time, but with con+7 on my bracers, I really don't think I can go any higher. Is there some aspect of gear/stats I am missing?

[Doug]

Originally posted by derpykat5:

Originally posted by Doug:

As for Disintegrate. It's not a death spell, so Deathblock/Death Ward don't help. It's simply a high damage untyped ray spell. It has a Fort save, so it's more dangerous to casters and rogues than to melees.

As a ray spell, it can be dodged. Usually not by waiting for it, though. The ray moves too fast. You either need to duck and weave, or Jump. With a high enough Jump skill at a decent distance, they'll mistarget. The advantage of Jumping over dodging and weaving is that it won't negatively affect things like Archer's Focus.

Your other main options are more HP so you can't be one-shot (at L17 you should have at least 300HP if possible and more's better), and taking down casters quicker.

You could also try hiding behind the melees. Pretty sure ray spells don't have Precise Shot-type logic. Should hit the first target in line.

I have 230 HP... What am I doing wrong and how the heck do I fix it? Yes I have con gear, I learned that last time, but with con+7 on my bracers, I really don't think I can go any higher. Is there some aspect of gear/stats I am missing?

Con +8 should be available on ML15 gear. In addition to Con, there's also Insightful Con, which will stack and usually is about half the value of the original. That would net you at another 3-4 con and probably 34HP. (There's Quality and Exceptional as well, but they provide very little: Quality goes to about +4 at L30 and I'm not sure I've even seen Exceptional +2.). There are False Life and Vitality on items (iirc those two stack, but not all bonus HP do). And, of course, how much initial Con you took matters. First-life toons should ideally work to run 2 stat builds: primary stat and Con.. and max both as much as possible. Some races & classes have Con or additional HP available in their Enhancements.
Back in the day, people even took the Toughness feat. :)

Then there's playstyle. Are you soloing? If not, wait for someone else to pull aggro before you shoot (let the mob target someone else with its Disintegrate). If you do pull aggro, try using Bluff or Diplomacy to shed it.. or just run & hide until they focus on someone else. The Mechanic enhancement tree includes a few trap options that CC. And Artis also have some spells that do likewise. And your Dog or even the lowly Flame Turret can take aggro for you (Though if you intend to cast Flame Turret in combat, you'll want Quicken. It's a longish cast and too easily interrupted.)

Those are the things that spring to mind. Except, of course, of the one to which you alluded: Kill casters before they can spellcast. Doesn't always work, though. (BTW, a single Fighter level gets you not only an additional Feat, but access to 3 more uses of Endless Fusillade in the Kensi tree: Extra Action Boost.)

And if you're using Great Crossbows and Endless Fusillade, many things won't be standing up to be able to cast: "Tips - Great crossbows, when wielded by a proficient user will knock down targets hit on a natural 20 + confirmation for 6 seconds without a saving throw. Floating targets, red and purple named creatures are immune to this effect."

[Doug]

Oops. I forgot one more option. MRR (Magical Resistance Rating: one component of Sheltering) reduces magic damage you take from most sources. So any MRR or Sheltering you can collect will also help.

[Taebrythn]

another thing to think about it is going after the casters or do a hit/run tactic. the thing is if they can't see you the spell can't hit you. so there are a few ways to do it even on ranged. also knowing who tosses it at you is helpful too. that way you can kill them quicker and know to watch them.