How resistances work - A short guide

MikeB

Staff member
Loreseeker
Joined
31/10/2016
Messages
1,390
Location
Germany
This guide is meant for new players who want to learn more about how resistances work and how they are properly handled to get the most out of the game. While some things are quite obvious and intuative, others are not (at least to me). When I started playing this game, it took me some time to figure certain things out, mostly by searching this forum, gathering pieces of information here and there. So I thought it would be a good idea to sum these things up.

Types of resistances

There are 6 types of resistances, represented by small symbols described in brackets below.
  • Resistance against Fire (flame)
  • Resistance against Cold (snowflake)
  • Resistance against Lightning (flash)
  • Resistance against Death (ghost)
  • Resistance against Poison (green drop)
  • Spirit resistance / Mental shielding (small sun)

As you might guess, the first 5 resistances in the list provide protection against the corresponding fire/cold/lightning/death/poison attacks. As they all behave in very much the same way, I will refer to them as elemental resistances from here on (although death is not strictly what you would call an element, but who cares). The last one, Spirit resistance, is a bit special, since it has no direct counterpart in attacks. It is rather a general ability to resist certain mental assaults, from which only Stun (not being able to move) and Paralysis (not being able to move for a very long time) are currently implemented in the game. But as I understand, more nasty attacks on the mind of your character are under development.

The meaning of elemental resistance values

During my first few hours of gameplay I totally misconceived the resistance values, taking them for pure percentages that reduce the corresponding damage. Later on, I became suspicious as some rose above 100 and I still received elemental damage. My intuition seemed to be wrong, at least partly.

In fact, the resistance values can directly be interpreted as percentages only up to a value of 50. After that, a mechanism kicks in which multiplies every additional point by a penalty factor of 1/2 (for values 51 to 100), 1/4 (for values 101 to 150), and so on. In this way, you get closer and closer to the magical 100%, without ever being able to reach it (quite mean, isn't it).

Some examples for clarity:
  • 50 resistance -> damage reduction by 50% (halve damage)
  • 82 resistance -> damage reduction by 50% + 1/2*32% = 66% (one-third damage)
  • 100 resistance -> damage reduction by 50% + 1/2*50% = 75% (one-quarter damage)
  • 150 resistance -> damage reduction by 50% + 1/2*50% + 1/4*50% = 87.5% (one-eighth damage)

Please note that, strictly speaking, the aforementioned is only valid for the 5 elemental resistances, where the corresonding damage can directly be reduced by a specific amount. I'm actually not sure about the exact rounding rules, but it seems that you always receive at least 1 dmg point, irrespective of how high your resistance is (maybe someone can confirm this). This makes sense and simply means that you can never become invincible for any enemy.

The meaning of Spirit resistance values

As mentioned above, Spirit resistance is somewhat special and behaves differently, as Stun and Paralysis deal no direct damage (instead, you simply get beaten to death while hanging out for a while). The percentage value (let's take x=50% as an example) is still calculated as described above, but is now split up into two halves to effectively define three outcomes of each attempt:
  • With a chance of 100%-x = 50% you receive the full blow, getting properly stunned/paralyzed.
  • With a chance of x/2 = 25% you partially resist the effect, getting stunned/paralyzed only half the normal period (i.e. getting only half beaten to death).
  • With a chance of x/2 = 25% you completely resist the effect and take no harm. Time for revenge.

I'm not sure if this scheme can be applied to other forms of mental attacks. We will have to see once they are added to the game.

Enemy resistances

So far we have only talked about resistances of player characters, but most enemies possess some sort of resistance as well. This means that they can absorb a certain percentage of a specific elemental damage (provided you use a weapon dealing such). Some creatures even get healed from certain elements, so be aware. If you see green sparkles appearing above the enemy at each of your blows, its definitely time to grab some other weapon. However, unlike the PC (and this is good news for a change), they may also have weaknesses, effectively boosting the damage they receive from a certain elemental attack.

Providing a list of all the creatures and their resistances/weaknesses is far beyond the scope of this post (maybe that would be something for the Wiki?). I would just recommend to turn on the combat log (Settings -> Display combat log) and have a look at it once in a while (by tapping at the top of the screen, next to your health bar). There you not only learn which kinds of attacks the enemy uses on you, but also whether your attacks have the desired effect. If it reads something like "6-4=2 (cold)", you should probably switch to a weapon having some effect other than Cold damage. If it instead reads "5+1=6 (fire)" you are on the right track.


That's it for now. Maybe I or someone else will add further information when stumbling upon it.
As always, feel free to comment and correct.
 

feldon

Loreseeker
Joined
18/04/2016
Messages
1,352
Great guide. Decent chance a good part of this will be plagiarized onto the wiki.
 

ClockworkGhost

New Member
Joined
11/05/2016
Messages
397
Location
New Zealand
Awesome post mate :) You write really well. Do you feel up to becoming a loreseeker and helping Feldon get everything written up and added to the Wiki? As the game is under development, so is the lore - we need as many people eloquent as you as possible to record the lore, sort of a combination of players handbook and 'how to' guide for times you really need to know the answers.
 

MikeB

Staff member
Loreseeker
Joined
31/10/2016
Messages
1,390
Location
Germany
ClockworkGhost":1t7ttl1x said:
Do you feel up to becoming a loreseeker and helping Feldon get everything written up and added to the Wiki?
Already thought about that, but need to shift some priorities. Maybe playing less EK and writing more for the Wiki... ;)
 

Dimidium

New Member
Joined
11/07/2016
Messages
552
Excellent guide. This is definitely Loreseeker-Quality stuff here. Why don't you drop by and say hello?

If I could offer some constructive feedback. I understand the math in the entire document just fine, however it could use some clarification/simplification. This would facilitate a greater understanding for the community as a whole.

And this is only your 4th post. Quality stuff there.
 

MikeB

Staff member
Loreseeker
Joined
31/10/2016
Messages
1,390
Location
Germany
Dimidium":e9k0wenh said:
Excellent guide. This is definitely Loreseeker-Quality stuff here. Why don't you drop by and say hello?
Ok ok, so I enrolled...

Dimidium":e9k0wenh said:
If I could offer some constructive feedback. I understand the math in the entire document just fine, however it could use some clarification/simplification. This would facilitate a greater understanding for the community as a whole.
The intention was to provide the background math for those who really care about how their character values are derived. Cannot think of any serious simplifation to that right now. But I understand that a more descriptive explanation is needed, maybe putting the "hard" math separately.
However, I would defer these efforts to the Wiki, provided we get the chance to implement a corresponding section there.
 

Dimidium

New Member
Joined
11/07/2016
Messages
552
MikeB":1nb2tyaf said:
Dimidium":1nb2tyaf said:
Excellent guide. This is definitely Loreseeker-Quality stuff here. Why don't you drop by and say hello?
Ok ok, so I enrolled...

Dimidium":1nb2tyaf said:
If I could offer some constructive feedback. I understand the math in the entire document just fine, however it could use some clarification/simplification. This would facilitate a greater understanding for the community as a whole.
The intention was to provide the background math for those who really care about how their character values are derived. Cannot think of any serious simplifation to that right now. But I understand that a more descriptive explanation is needed, maybe putting the "hard" math separately.
However, I would defer these efforts to the Wiki, provided we get the chance to implement a corresponding section there.

Glad to have you on the team, MikeB. You wrote some really good stuff there.

A more descriptive text may indeed be all that is needed, but that's all up to you. I was merely giving peer review of your document.
 

Top