I was in hard core, ultimate mode with a lvl 95 blade master. I had 10460 health, all resists 80 or higher.
Janaxia cast her reap spirit on me, I recognized the sound effect and wraiths appeared, and then I was insta-killed.
I have plenty of things that restore health when below a certain %, but none of those help if my health goes to 0.
I don’t think it can be blocked or dodged (i had over 20% avoid melee and ranged attacks).
Is there anything I can do to at least reduce the damage?
It was not the spirit that killed you, but the stackable RR from the spirit. https://www.grimtools.com/monsterdb/1444/skills
Basically, 91% RR from one guy. You must’ve been unlucky as F, if the spirit managed to debuff you so hard.
Also, she spawns two of them, so you can lose even 152% of your resists. 
Try to kill the ghost asap no matter what.
What killed you was probably the PRM like looking shotgun after debuffs
What do PRM and RR stand for?
Thanks, I do think I saw more than one wraith appear right after that sound. She was almost dead too. I guess the best defense is not to do the quest until after I finish the DLC for the accomplishment.
Is there nothing I can do to prevent this? Like, maybe over max my resists? It seems a bit…unreasonable…to have an attack that can insta-kill you and have no way to be prevented.
RR = Resist Reduction
PRM = Panetti’s Replicating Missile (arcanist’s skill)
If you manage to overcap all of your resists by 150%, you can do it. Just kill the spirits (as I said) right when they spawn and you’re done.
I thought debuffs of the same name didn’t stack? At least it’s not reflected on your toolbar as having multiple debuffs with the same icon. so it should “only” be 91%, which is still a hell of a lot. I’ve seen my vitality resist drop to 40 ish percent at the lowest when fighting her with 80+50 overcap, so it seems to check out that they’re not stacking
actually, it could be possible to put together an arrangement with +150 resists just for that fight, with all the augments and components to help.
Would % less from undead also help? I could switch to revenant constellation and use lichguard, plus other means.
I had almost 20% absorption from my soldier’s menhir’s bulwark skill. I could probably increase the damage absorption through using aether clusters, menhir’s bastion relic, and other means.
It’s going to be some time before I get another character to that point again, so plenty of time to plan. Or, I could just skip it, it’s optional.
Whatever you do, you’ll die to RR/shotgunning again and again as melee. Just get used to it.
Your HP pool is low btw, you should have it at +15K on HC at this point of the game.
Not that it would have saved you in this scenario (for ex. 3 days ago Janaxia oneshot me at 16K), but having it higher is a must in general.
If going for melee on HC, aim at block/absorption. Boring, I know, but it’s safer than anything else.
Or just work around tanky pet builds/totemers and unlock easy mode.
Janaxia’s basic attack, which looks like a chaos bolt but with like five projectiles, has life reduction. I believe it’s 8% per projectile, so if you get shotgunned in the face you take 40% of your current health as damage. She uses this attack all the time too. That’s what usually kills me.
Thanks for the tip. My blademaster was getting absorption from its Scars of Battle skill, but I hadn’t given attention to it beyond that.
I had 20%+ avoid from Shadow dance, two constellations for healing in combat (behemoth+dryad), tortoise and shield maiden for further support. Physical resist was at 50% but trying to get higher. All my other resists were 80+. Very high block with overguard and other sources. Toad for convert damage to health. Damage reduction from menhir’s bulwark.
Until this point, I had pretty much walked through the game without anything challenging me. I thought I had found an impregnable build.
I started work on a commando, I added targo for extra security. Edit: Actually, I think I’ll do an inquisitor/soldier because in the end game, the reduction of damage from aetherials/chthulus will be essential, especially the final bosses.
This is more challenging than I expected, but I am sure I will do it. I’ve completed ultimate without picking any classes, relying entirely on items and constellations, although I died plenty of times.
The safest way to fight Janaxia as melee is to never face her for long, but to hit and run.
You wait at distance for the nova next to the wall so you can avoid all the projectiles. Then she will cast panetti, if there’s no RR on you charge and beat her ass for a while, retreat. If she spawns spectres, kill them first before initiating.
BTW there’s another bitch which I find even more dangerous: Avris Marrowill in the dungeon next to Gloomwald rift. She shotguns even better and uses various attacks with ridiculously high HP reduction.
I personally never do her on HC, there’s no reward but risk is over the roof.
I hate the cellar purple witch too DA reduction + res debuffs + HP reduction and I dont even play HC
There’s nothing weird in this boss. She just annihilated all my pets with one skill on normal, with capped bleed resist and ~40 vitality resist. That’s fine. I actually think she’s harder to beat than some nemesis monsters, but she dies quickly if you go full derp mode and sit on her till she dies. Worked almost all the time for me, except for the pet build because my character didn’t deal any damage (pets did all the job, or maybe I ran away, can’t remember, lol).