I’ve recently introduced some new players to DDO and they are loving it. Now the problem though is that some of them have never touched the pen and paper version before and because of this certain rules escape them. Rules like weapon types being different so bludgeoning, piercing, slashing and what the different monsters are more resilient to. Skeletons hate bludgeon etc etc.

He also has identified another related area of confusion for the new DDO player:

Another problem is that they have no idea what abilities go on what weapons. Things like smiting, banishing, vorpal, disruption and so forth. Vorpal is not found on bludgeon, smiting and disruption is etc etc.

Abilities such as Banishing or Vorpal are properties of Magical Weapons and have effects that go beyond merely boosting or mitigating damage. While the two topics are related, I won’t be going too far into this. Perhaps I’ll write a post on the topic, or you can see a guide on it at mmodb.

Damage Type

Speaking of damage, the key to understanding what is meant by Weapon Type is to understand what it directly relates to, which is Damage Type. From ddo.com:

Damage and Damage Types

To defeat foes, you need to deal enough damage to reduce their hit points until they are vanquished. The more damage you can deal, the more effective you will be against your enemies. By inspecting weapons, you can see the amount and kind of damage dealt by the weapon. Most weapons deal one of the following basic damage types:

There are creatures in Xen’drik that are resistant to some damages. In some cases, they can be affected more or less by different weapon damage types.

This is what is meant when you see the tutorial message about skeletons susceptibility to Bludgeoning damage or zombies susceptibility to Slashing damage. This is not actually an extra advantage, however. Some creatures have a natural ability to resist damage, the named “vulnerability” merely allows you to bypass that and deal damage normally. The ability to resist damage in this way is called Damage Reduction.

Damage Reduction

Hereafter referred to as DR, this is a creature’s (or player’s) special ability to resist damage. Players can gain DR from magical items, creatures have it due to an innate special ability. From the DDO Compendium:

A special defense that allows a creature to ignore a set amount of damage from most weapons, unarmed attacks, or natural weapons, but not from energy attacks, spells, or spell-like abilities. The number in a creature’s damage reduction is the amount of hit points of damage the creature ignores. The information after the slash indicates the type of weapon (such as magic, silver, or good) that overcomes the damage reduction. Some damage reduction, such as that of a barbarian or some elementals, is not overcome by any type of weapon. Example: A creature with DR 5/Bludgeoning ignores the first five points of incoming damage unless the source is a bludgeoning weapon.

To give more examples to the one above, a Zombie would have a DR 5/Slashing. Imps have DR 5/Magical. Skeletons will ignore the first five damage unless from a Bludgeoning weapon and Zombies ignore the first five damage unless delivered by a Slashing weapon. Imps ignore the first five damage from all but Magical weapons.

Turbine does a fair job sticking to the basic d20 ruleset for many things, and DR is one of them. The d20 SRD (Source Reference Document) is a decent resource for looking up things like monsters’ basic DR.

Weapon Properties

Some monsters will have DR against all weapons except those with certain properties such as being made of Adamantite or being imbued with magical fire. A good example of this are Golems’ resistance to all but Adamantine weapons.

To reuse an example from above, Imps are have resistance to all but Magical weapons (i.e. either a +1 short sword or a +1 club would work).

DDO monster DR types

I have compiled a list of monsters with DR and the types of damage that bypass their resistances. If you see I have left something out, please put it in the comments and I will update the post.

Some monsters require more than one damage type to mitigate their DR. I indicate it with (+ damage type).

Acid

• Troll

Adamantine

• Flesh Golem
• Iron Golem
• Stone Golem
• Clay Golem (+ Bludgeoning)
• Guardian of Shan-To-Kor
• Warforged
• Granite Gargoyle (+ Magical)

Bludgeoning

• Razor Cat
• Arcane Blackbone
• Arcane Skeleton
• Clay Golem
• Skeleton
• Skeleton Archer
• Skeleton Arcus
• Skeleton Captain
• Skeleton Swordsman
• Skeleton Warrior
• Lich (+ Magical)

Byeskh

• Mind Flayer (Illithid)

Chaotic

• Maruts (Inevitable)

Cold Iron

• Bralani
• Jaralith
• Ghaele (+ Evil)
• Flesh Render (+ Good)
• Ice Flenser (+ Good)
• Fire Reaver (+ Good)
• Maralith (+ Good)

Crystal

• Dream Stealer (+ Good)

Fire

• Mummy
• Troll

Evil

• Ghaele
• Bralani

Good

• Bezekira
• Dream Scourge
• Ghostly Skeleton

Ghost Touch

• Spectre
• Umbral Gargoyle
• Umbral Worg
• Wraith

Lawful

• Tharaak Hounds

Magical

• Gargoyle
• Mephit
• Wraith
• Specter
• Quell
• Shadow

Mithril

• Stormreaver

Piercing

• Ancient Spider
• Crimson Foot Hive Spider
• Whelps
• Rakshasa (+ Good)

Silver

• Bearded Devil (+Good)
• Orthon (+ Good)
• Vampire
• Pit Fiends (+ Good)
• Horned Devils (+ Good)

Slashing

• Dread Zombie
• Dwarf Zombie
• Elf Zombie
• Zombie

Conclusion

Let’s summarize, shall we?

Weapons are classified as having a type of damage, based on their design, i.e. daggers pierce, swords slash and clubs bludgeon.

Some weapons also have extra properties that define their damage, like being made out of silver or being magical.

Certain monsters are resistant to all but one (or two) types of damage. Zombies cannot resist Slashing weapons and Golems cannot resist weapons made from Adamantite.

I just don’t get the dying issue.  The guide I read said that I can get someone to pick up my soul stone and bring it to a resurrection site but what do I do if I am soloing?  I am a newbie to this game and I am only at level two.  And where are and what do the resurrection sites look like?  Is there one in or around Kothos?  I know this is a simplistic question, but I admit I am clueless.  Thanks.  Peggy.

Dieing in DDO is interesting and not at all like the more conventional MMOs.

First you are knocked unconscious and begin losing hitpoints unless you stabilize. If you hit -10 hp without stabilizing you die. Of course a party member with heal kits or a cure (light, medium, etc.) wounds spell will get you back up and running if they can get to you before you actually die.

When you do die you drop a soul stone and appear as a ghost. A party member can pick this up and carry it to a resurrection shrine which is the large red-glowy statue next to a rest shrine (a blue glowy statue). These shrines are located at various pre-defined locations around dungeons and wilderness areas. This is obviously the best option in a bad situation, but not all players, like hardcore soloers, have it as an option.

If you solo a dungeon and die (or if your whole party wipes) during your adventure, you have two options:

• resurrect at the location your soul is bound to
• have Resurrection cast on you
• buy a Resurrection item from the DDO store

The first is the obvious way out, though with comes penalties in experience gain and item decay and time lost for traveling. This the option anyone can take and everyone wants to avoid.

Being resurrected requires you have a Cleric or Favored Soul with a high enough level to cast it. So it is not really an option for a soloer and even for a grouper, at level two that is probably not an option. But at level 20 it is definitely normal in a group setting.

Buying a potion or scroll of Resurrection from the DDO Store (for real-world money) will allow you to basically cast Resurrection on yourself after you have died. It is an easy way out of a hopeless situation, but unless you have an unlimited supply of real money you would be better to save this option only for this really exceptionally frustrating dungeons.

If you have anything else to add, please feel free to comment!