Counter to dragon breath attack? (Overland)

SickleCider

I forget what the actual name of the attack is. It's not the sweeping breath, but the concentrated beam that says "I hate you in particular" while the dragon is grounded.

Context: I'm a DPS magsorc. I find myself drawing a lot of dragon aggro (which gives me a theory about aggro being determined by damage dealt when there isn't a taunt applied). Double shield stacking, blocking and roll dodging where appropriate, I can deal with Unrelenting Force and the dragon's melee attacks, but I don't know what to do about the breath attack. It chews right through my shields + blocking. It has a pretty short telegraph, and the tracking and hitbox on it are too accurate/big for me to roll dodge out of. Obviously I'm no tank, but if I can, I'd like to not get reliably deleted by this move, and keep the dragon sitting still and focused on me for longer.

Advice?

bmnoble

If your not a tank you should not be trying to face tank the dragon, let it focus on someone else and keep moving around to the back of the dragon, if you stay in front of the head your likely to be a target of the breath attacks.

Its meant to be a one shot of close to for most DPS, short of changing up your gear a bit to sacrifice damage for extra survivability and becoming close to or an actual tank your not easily going to be able to survive the attack.

Its not worth it playing tanky against those dragons though, even on my tank I respec to a damage dealer build and just make a point of staying out of the way of the dragons attacks its much more enjoyable.

SickleCider

Oh, definitely, I agree I shouldn't be face tanking the dragon. I find myself ending up in that situation a lot because not many people are running the dragons lately (at least at the hours I play), and other players don't often draw the aggro off me.

Definitely not going to respec/regear for overland dragons. I agree about that, too. I'd rather eat the one shot, haha.

You gave me a couple of ideas:
1. Play purely defensively when I have aggro to see if I lose it
2. Instead of keeping the dragon sitting in place, maybe try circle strafing and have it spinning in place. This is less safe for the other players, but it would still keep the dragon in one spot.

FierceSam

Hey dude,

The other alternative would be to develop a build variation specifically for dragons. One that would take their specific attacks into account - so you might slot a purge or vary your gear to give you a better chance of surviving the entire fight.

It could be an interesting way to learn about your build and the different types of techniques you might need to use throughout the game.

Good luck and have fun.

Finedaible

Running to the sides out of range is the only other option (it can only aim the breath cone within a certain range to its sides). Other than that, you can apply the Evasion buffs (Major buff preferred) to mitigate the AoE attacks by quite a lot. Stack major/minor protection for even more mitigation. Might have to search outside of your class skills and stat spec for these buffs though.

SickleCider

FierceSam wrote: »

Hey dude,

The other alternative would be to develop a build variation specifically for dragons. One that would take their specific attacks into account - so you might slot a purge or vary your gear to give you a better chance of surviving the entire fight.

It could be an interesting way to learn about your build and the different types of techniques you might need to use throughout the game.

Good luck and have fun.

Finedaible wrote: »

Running to the sides out of range is the only other option (it can only aim the breath cone within a certain range to its sides). Other than that, you can apply the Evasion buffs (Major buff preferred) to mitigate the AoE attacks by quite a lot. Stack major/minor protection for even more mitigation. Might have to search outside of your class skills and stat spec for these buffs though.

I did say I didn't intend to respec for this, but you two do raise some interesting points about how this can be an educational opportunity. I'm doing the dragons for fun (and loot), so I might as well, right? Thanks for the tips!

Indigogo

I end up in the exact same position a lot also. I lay down my skills and smash the dragon then it turns on you with a look that says, "You want to go little magic man?" And I draw all the aggro.
It absolutely targets high dps threats which makes sense really.

I can't mitigate the direct attacks so I kite to the back if I can, if not, I roll dodge towards the gap between the neck and the wing for a fast exit out of danger.

Dagoth_Rac

Indigogo wrote: »

I end up in the exact same position a lot also. I lay down my skills and smash the dragon then it turns on you with a look that says, "You want to go little magic man?"

I know that look! I usually say, "No. I don't want to go." Then I shield + roll-dodge out of the arena. He will follow you to edge of arena and glare at you for a bit, but it does seem to break aggro. The frosty claws dragons are tough, though. Having to go through that snowstorm wall they put up around perimeter of arena is dangerous.

SickleCider

Indigogo wrote: »

I end up in the exact same position a lot also. I lay down my skills and smash the dragon then it turns on you with a look that says, "You want to go little magic man?" And I draw all the aggro.
It absolutely targets high dps threats which makes sense really.

I can't mitigate the direct attacks so I kite to the back if I can, if not, I roll dodge towards the gap between the neck and the wing for a fast exit out of danger.

Dagoth_Rac wrote: »

Indigogo wrote: »

I end up in the exact same position a lot also. I lay down my skills and smash the dragon then it turns on you with a look that says, "You want to go little magic man?"

I know that look! I usually say, "No. I don't want to go." Then I shield + roll-dodge out of the arena. He will follow you to edge of arena and glare at you for a bit, but it does seem to break aggro. The frosty claws dragons are tough, though. Having to go through that snowstorm wall they put up around perimeter of arena is dangerous.

You've both got some really good tips! I'll try dodging underneath when I see the breath attack coming, because I can reasonably mitigate the AOE aura for a little while. And if I'm in a rough patch, I'll break to the edge of the arena. . . though I'm usually like "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED" when something like this happens to me in a video game. lol. I've noticed that it's not just attacks directly on the dragon that draw its attention, I get it a lot after burning down minions, too!

SickleCider

@Indigogo I followed your suggestion about where to dodge, and after a few tries at it, I think I've got it! Thanks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrVR1ijKWCE

Indigogo

Hell yeah! Nice one. Get wrecked dragon!

SickleCider

Indigogo wrote: »

Hell yeah! Nice one. Get wrecked dragon!

Thanks! The others helped, too, of course. lol