Highest possible damage reduction! D&d 3.5

[Evy]

Hey guys and gals! So my question is what is the highest possible damage reduction in d&d 3.5? With 14 levels in psyicic warrior with biofeedback and inertial barrier i can get up to about 35/- damage reduction... But is there a build already created and posted or something that can beat 35/- damage reduction?
Game is level 14 and will get higher in levels possibly up to 20 i have no idea... LA can be as high as 13 as i need 1 level lol.

[Inevitability]

You know different sources of DR/- don't stack right? What's more, you can't expend more PP on a power than your manifester level. Unless you get very cheesy (and then there's really no limit to your potential DR), a 14th-level psychic warrior will be limited to DR 6/- with Biofeedback.

Anyway, Mantle of Pure Spite can grant you DR 15/-, so that might be a good place to look.

[Remuko]

If you use the epic level handbook and remove the level cap there is no limit as there is a stackable epic feat that increases DR permanently.

[Âmesang]

Greater deities can get DR 35/epic and [alignment] with the Increased Damage Reduction salient divine ability. :smalltongue:

[Evy]

I know different types dont stack thats why me as the player of the champ is limiting it to dr/- ... Types of the. Same type do stack unless noted otherwise. I lnow the feat roll with it stacks and the psionic powers all go together but with all not (not including mantle of pure spirit i can get about 35/- dr but i need ways to make it higher or something or if someone already has done this and i cant find it.

EDIT: I'm not a deity though

[Inevitability]

I know different types dont stack thats why me as the player of the champ is limiting it to dr/- ... Types of the. Same type do stack unless noted otherwise. I lnow the feat roll with it stacks and the psionic powers all go together but with all not (not including mantle of pure spirit i can get about 35/- dr but i need ways to make it higher or something or if someone already has done this and i cant find it.

No, DR in general doesn't stack: the psionic powers don't 'go together'.


If a creature has damage reduction from more than one source, the two forms of damage reduction do not stack. Instead, the creature gets the benefit of the best damage reduction in a given situation.

That said, you could aim for a rolling build. Get your con to 20 at level 1 by being a dragonborn human with 18 con, then get as many bonus feats as you can and spend them on Roll With It, which explicitly stacks with DR you already have.

ECL 14 means 5 feats from levels, plus one from being human. If you take two levels of human paragon, you can get another feat, and with two flaws the feat can be taken twice more. Have your first level, as well as all 11 other levels, be Psychic Warrior so you can get Toughness at level 1.

Using your Psychic Warrior levels, manifest Immovability, which grants DR 15/-. Each iteration of Roll With It stacks, giving you a grand total of DR 33/-. Because Immovability lasts while you keep concentrating, this is theoretically continuous.

[martixy]

Talk about fluff clash though.
Immovability
Roll with it
...

P.S. Btw, while we're on the psionics theme. Elans have their racial ability to prevent damage. It acts like DR, but technically isn't, so stacks with any other sources. Takes an immediate action though.

[John Longarrow]

Just watch out for initiators. There are low level maneuvers that ignore DR.

[Inevitability]

Just watch out for initiators. There are low level maneuvers that ignore DR.

Those are very uncommon on monsters, though.

[John Longarrow]

Those are very uncommon on monsters, though.

Depends on the DM... :belkar:

[flappeercraft]

Well with some cheese you can become immune to damage effectively making you have DR/ Infinity and resistance to all elements infinity

[Mato]

So my question is what is the highest possible damage reduction in d&d 3.5?Theoretically it's infinite by using a Pun-Pun like means to obtain NI feats since there are at least two none-epic stacking ones out there.

Highest for first level is probably be one of those dragon +0 templates for a 20 con human with flaws so it can take roll with it four times for a starting damage reduction of eight. For level two you could look into mineral warrior for 16/adamantine but after that I'd just focus on other things.

It's actually easier to become immune to most forms of damage such as using troll-blooded, alter self, or a shriver to obtain regeneration then using puglist fighter, crimson scourge, or favor of the martyr to become immune to nonlethal damage.

[sleepyphoenixx]

You don't really need much DR. You especially don't need to (and shouldn't) invest massive resources into getting sky-high DR when it only covers a fraction of the attacks you'll face.
Just get 10-15 and then add something like Starmantle, the Starmantle Cloak, Retributive Amulet or Empyreal Ecstasy (all BoED) to take half damage from weapons.

That, some temporary HP and crit immunity should cover you against anything (weapons-related) that isn't an optimized ubercharger.
And for those there's really cheap defenses like a Shadow Cloak, that Setting Sun maneuver with the name i don't remember and a whole bunch of other cheap stuff that no-sells chargers pretty easily.

Then you can worry about defenses against the stuff that you really don't want to get hit by. Saving throws, immunities to death effects, energy drain, mind-effecting and divination, touch AC etc.
Because DR won't do anything against a Finger of Death, Dominate Person or Twinned Enervation to the face. A bit of hp damage is easy, but you really don't want to take those.

[Menzath]

Not sure if this was noticed but in the dmg it does say that dr does not negate touch attacks. Which includes damage from grapples. That can be really painful.

Edit:my English rocks when I'm sleepy

[The Viscount]

Highest possible I can find is DR 50/magic by shapeshifting into a Vorr and using Shadow Form. Because of the way Fiend Folio's update changed things the DR 50/+5 from shadow form has not been altered, so I'm assuming it just goes to /magic. Then take Thick Skinned however many times you wish to increase it by 2 each time.

[Rizban]

Highest possible I can find is DR 50/magic by shapeshifting into a Vorr and using Shadow Form. Because of the way Fiend Folio's update changed things the DR 50/+5 from shadow form has not been altered, so I'm assuming it just goes to /magic. Then take Thick Skinned however many times you wish to increase it by 2 each time.Technically, the rule is
Most monsters subtract 5, 10, or 15 points of damage from most attacks
...
Make the damage reduction amount (the number before the slash) 5, 10, or 15. As a general rule, use 5 for weaker monsters, up to CR 4 or 5. Use 15 for strong monsters, CR 13 or higher. Use 10 for everything in between.

Since 50/+anything was rather rare, I looked to the Epic Level Handbook for guidance on how to address the Vorr.
Invulnerability rod and golem armor both had 50/+3, and both were reduced to 15/adamantine.
Devastation beetle had 50/+10, which became 20/-.
Prismatic and Force Dragons that had 50/+10 or higher were reduced to a max of 25/epic.
The mithral golem, which had exactly 50/+5 was changed to 15/epic and adamantine.
The adamantine golem's 50/+7 became 20/epic and adamantine.

Since a Vorr is non-epic (only CR4), and 50/+5 doesn't exist in 3.5, I'd probably set its shadow form DR to 15/magic if I retained the DR at all. Since it's a shadow form, I'd be more likely to drop the DR entirely and just give it a 50% miss chance, essentially as if it were incorporeal.

[Inevitability]

Highest possible I can find is DR 50/magic by shapeshifting into a Vorr and using Shadow Form. Because of the way Fiend Folio's update changed things the DR 50/+5 from shadow form has not been altered, so I'm assuming it just goes to /magic. Then take Thick Skinned however many times you wish to increase it by 2 each time.

Somewhat off-topic, but is anyone else amazed Thick Skinned included a table to show us what is, essentially, basic math? I feel like I can grasp what happens when you add two to something without an illustrated guide.

[Rizban]

Somewhat off-topic, but is anyone else amazed Thick Skinned included a table to show us what is, essentially, basic math? I feel like I can grasp what happens when you add two to something without an illustrated guide.

Considering that it was notated as DR X/+Y, I am glad they clarified that it was meant as DR X+2/+Y rather than DR X/+Y+2. They're a significant difference in going from DR 10/+1 to DR 12/+1 and going from DR 10/+1 to DR 10/+3. The table, however, was definitely overkill. :smallbiggrin: On the other hand, since it can only improve according to the table, creatures that had DR X/+5 or tougher couldn't technically benefit from the feat.

[nyjastul69]

Technically, the rule is

Since 50/+anything was rather rare, I looked to the Epic Level Handbook for guidance on how to address the Vorr.
Invulnerability rod and golem armor both had 50/+3, and both were reduced to 15/adamantine.
Devastation beetle had 50/+10, which became 20/-.
Prismatic and Force Dragons that had 50/+10 or higher were reduced to a max of 25/epic.
The mithral golem, which had exactly 50/+5 was changed to 15/epic and adamantine.
The adamantine golem's 50/+7 became 20/epic and adamantine.

Since a Vorr is non-epic (only CR4), and 50/+5 doesn't exist in 3.5, I'd probably set its shadow form DR to 15/magic if I retained the DR at all. Since it's a shadow form, I'd be more likely to drop the DR entirely and just give it a 50% miss chance, essentially as if it were incorporeal.

I think you could go 20/magic with the Vorr, but no more. Sorry. Lol Yeah, you figured it out. The Vorr wasn't updated because the DR isn't in the stat block. Your use of incorporeal here is exactly how I would handle the DM changes necessitated by the 3.5 update.

[Rizban]

I think you could go 20/magic with the Vorr, but no more. Sorry. Lol Yeah, you figured it out. The Vorr wasn't updated because the DR isn't in the stat block. Your use of incorporeal here is exactly how I would handle the DM changes necessitated by the 3.5 update.I wouldn't actually make it incorporeal though, since it's supposed to be overcome by true seeing. I also wouldn't grant it total concealment, as that grants a number of other benefits we don't really want to add. Just giving it a 50% miss chance with no other qualifications is, I think, the best option.

[nyjastul69]

I wouldn't actually make it incorporeal though, since it's supposed to be overcome by true seeing. I also wouldn't grant it total concealment, as that grants a number of other benefits we don't really want to add. Just giving it a 50% miss chance with no other qualifications is, I think, the best option.

Sorry, sloppy terminology on my part. Incorporeal is too much. 50% miss chance does not mean incorporeal. My bad.

[Pugwampy]

You know different sources of DR/- don't stack right?

Awww that sucks . I thought an admantine armour barbarian was a sweet idea .

Thank you for killing my dreams