Fear

This article is about the game mechanic. For the spell, see Fear (spell).

Spells, magic items, and certain monsters can affect characters with fear effects. Generally, if a fear effect allows a saving throw, it is a Will save (DC depends on the exact spell or effect). All fear attacks are considered mind-affecting, meaning that unless stated otherwise they're blocked by Mind Block and Fear Immunity effects.

All Fear-based spells have the Fear spells and Mind-Affecting spells spell descriptors.

Fear can be loosely broken up into four 'tiers' of fear, with additional other 'fear-like' effects to be classified in a fifth category.

Player characters have an innate resistance to most Fear based effects: against players, these effects have their duration reduced by 30% or more.

_{In PnP, Fear effects are designed to be cumulative. A shaken character who is made shaken again becomes frightened instead. A frightened character who saves against the effect may still be shaken. Note this doesn't always work in DDO however. Only certain fear effects function this way, such as the fear spell and a couple others.}

Shaken

"You are shaken from fear.'

Shaken is the most common fear-based effect, granting a -2 penalty to all saving throws.

Shaken usually is applied by non-spell sources, or as an effect triggered by a different Fear spell being saved against. It usually serves as little more than a temporary reduction to saves.

Unless otherwise stated otherwise, a Shaken creature makes recurrent Will saves to end the effect early.

Sources of Shaken:

• Dragon Disciple enhancements: Draconic Devotion II: Applied without a save when a foe is targeted by a Breath Weapon spell. Lasts 6 seconds.
• Soul Eater enhancements: No Worse Fate: Applied without save when a foe is damaged by a weapon or Eldritch Blast. Lasts 6 seconds, 2 second cooldown between triggers.
• Bladeforged enhancements: Fearsome Presence: Applied without save when a foe is damaged by a weapon. Lasts 6 seconds. Can have its duration extended through continued strikes.
• Fury of the Wild: Primal Scream: Applied without save. Lasts 30 seconds.
• Cause Fear: Applied when a foe saves against the effect. Lasts 6 seconds.
• Scare: Applied when a foe saves against the effect. Lasts 6 seconds.
• Fear (spell): Applied when a foe saves against the effect. Lasts 6 seconds.
• Symbol of Fear: Applied when a foe saves against the effect. Lasts 6 seconds.
• The Frightful Presence monster trait causes this effect on a successful save to players that enter the activation radius.
• Wheeps apply a version of Shaken known as "Weeping Dirge" to those around them.

Exceptions/Unique behavior:

• Doom:
  • Unlike other Shaken effects, Doom does not have recurrent saves. It lasts for an extended duration (1 minute per caster level), and stacks with other Fear effects.
  • Tooltip: Doom: "You are filled with dread and have become shaken."

Frightened

"You are frightened and cannot perform any action other than basic movement."

Frightened is the second most common Fear effect, and likely the one most players associate with the moniker of "Fear". Frightened creatures are unable to take hostile action (Cannot attack, cast spells or activate items) and move 35% slower during the effect. Monsters flee away from hostile targets, occasionally spinning in circles.

Frightened, as a condition, encompasses DDO's implementation of "Panicked", "Fear", and "Afraid". Any effect which states that it applies any of those three conditions effectively applies Frightened instead.

Unless stated otherwise, Frightened creatures make recurring Will Saves to come to their senses every 6 seconds. Player characters make this saving throw once every 3 seconds instead.

Sources of Frightened (regardless of label):

• Cause Fear: Single Target, 6d4 seconds duration
• Scare: Delayed ground-targeted AOE, 6d4 seconds duration
• Fear (spell): AOE Cone, 6 seconds per caster level duration
• Symbol of Fear: Delayed Ground-targeted AOE, 6 seconds per caster level duration (effective max duration 20 seconds)
• Fearsome items: Applies upon being struck.
• Arcane Archer enhancements: Terror Arrows: Unknown duration
• Prismatic Ray: Indigo Ray: Permanentneeds verification duration
• Prismatic Spray: Indigo Ray: Permanentneeds verification duration
• Quests or effects which temporarily transform you into a helpless Rat are effectively area-based Frightened effects that ignore Fear Immunity.
• The Frightful Presence monster trait causes this effect on a failed save to players that enter the activation radius.

Exceptions/Unique behavior:

• Draconic Devastation: Applied without save to Shaken targets. Lasts 6 seconds.
  • This version of Frightened applies a 90% slow, rather than 35%.needs verification
• Chill Touch: Applied to Undead targets. 6d4 seconds duration.
  • Unlike most Fear effects, Chill Touch ignores Fear Immunity and does not reduce movement speed.
  • Tooltip: Undead Fear Effect from Chill Touch: "You are frightened."
• Acolyte of the Skin enhancements: Fiendish Glare
  • Unlike other Frightened effects, Fiendish Glare does not have a saving throw attached to this effect, nor does it have a visible debuff flag. Its chance to land is rolled per hit target.
  • This effect is labeled as "Demonic Fear" in the combat log.
• Acolyte of the Skin enhancements: Glare of the Pit
• Acolyte of the Skin enhancements: Fiendish Symbiosis

Acolyte of the Skin enhancements: Drink Their Fear provides double Pact dice against targets that are Frightened by any means.

Paralyzed with Fear

"You are paralyzed with fear."

Becoming Paralyzed with Fear is an incredibly dangerous Fear effect, sharing many traits with regular paralyzing effects. Unlike other Fear effects, effects which paralyze targets with fear tend to have an internal cooldown between applications: the shock and terror they provide loses its edge after the initial scare. Creatures Paralyzed by Fear are frozen in place by fear, and cannot move, act or defend themselves in any way. They usually are not considered Helpless.

Sources of Paralyzed with Fear:

• Howl of Terror: 6d4 seconds duration. No re-application penalty
• (Fighter) Ravager enhancements: Visage of Terror: Applied to those who successfully save. 6 second duration.
• Draconic Incarnation: Daunting Roar: 6 second duration, single trigger per creature.
• Mummy despair: Applies to those who enter within range of a Mummy. 6d3 second duration, renders victims Helpless. A successful save wards against this effect for 30 seconds.

Cowering

"You are Cowered."

Cowering is the rarest and most dangerous Fear effect. It is rarely, if ever applied to player characters, and is very sparingly provided to players as well. Cowering creatures are frozen in place by fear, and cannot move, act or defend themselves in any way. They are usually considered Helpless.

Sources of Cowering:

• Divine Crusader: Cower Before Me: Casting Consecration now Cowers targets for 4 seconds.
• Fearsome Countenance: Cowers a single target for 6 seconds.
  • Applies a 10% Movement and Attack Speed penalty on successful save.
  • Can affect mindless creatures, but is stopped by Immunity to Fear.
• Turn Undead
  • Successfully Turned targets that are not outright destroyed are frozen in place for up to 1 minute, with no recurring save. Creatures cowering from Turn Undead are not Helpless.
  • Turn Undead ignores Fear Immunity.

Exceptions/Unique behavior:

• Dragon Lord enhancements: Greater Roar: Dragon's Roar now Cowers targets on a failed Will Save.
  • This version of Cower isn't actually a Fear effect: It's an unbreakable Daze effect that makes victims Helpless. It is merely flavored as a Fear effect.

Dhampir: Ascendant Bite: Vampiric Bite will attempt to kill any living, Corporeal and Cowering target on a failed Will save. It is confirmed working with Fearsome Countenance and Turn Undead.

• Turn Undead only functions this way if a victim is Turned while Undead, is cowered, and then loses its Undead race (via disabling a Transformation). This is obviously not practical in most situations.

Other Fear Effects

Other effects are blocked by Fear Immunity, and are thus treated as Fear Effects.

• Bane (spell): Lowers all saves by 1 for 24 seconds, plus 6 seconds per caster level. It is effectively a weaker version of Shaken that dispels and is dispelled by Bless.

Phantasmal Killer effects:

• Phantasmal Killer
• Weird
• Bottled Fear

These effects are blocked entirely by Fear Immunity (including the damage portion on save), and the death portion is blocked by Deathblock.

To Test:

• Legendary Dreadnought Terror
• Acolyte of the Skin T5s
• Draconic Devastation

Defense/immunity to fear

Many players attempt to shield their characters against fear effects. Characters can gain immunity to fear from class abilities, enhancements, and item effects.

Ways to gain immunity to fear

Augments and items

Spells

• Greater Heroism
• Greater Liquid Courage
• Heroes Feast

Transformations

• Plants, Undead and Vermin are immune to most mind-affecting effects, including most Fear effects.

Protection

If immunity is not available, you can increase the odds of resisting most fear effects by increasing your will save. Several spells and effects exist that explicitly increase your defense versus fear effects, e.g.:

• Aura of Courage
• Inspire Courage

If a target is already affected by fear, there are ways to help, e.g.:

• Remove Fear
• Rallying Cry (PDK, PDK iconic past life, Warchanter) (can be used while feared)

Fear-based spells

DDO includes several fear-inducing spells and SLAs:

• Bane (spell) • Cause Fear • Doom • Fear (spell) • Phantasmal Killer • Prismatic Ray • Prismatic Spray • Scare • Symbol of Fear
• Weird

Most undead and construct races are immune to mind-affecting spells, and therefore are also immune to fear spells. (Some special non-spell effects exist that can induce fear even in monsters that are usually immune, for example, Turn Undead.)

Some abilities exist that increase the potency of your fear spells:

• Moontouched: +3 DC