The world of Diablo 2 Resurrected is very brutal and unforgiving. To survive you must have knowledge over the enemy and take advantage of their weakness. In this guide, we will better help you in understanding Resistances in Diablo 2 Resurrected.
Understanding Resistances in Diablo 2 Resurrected
Let’s start by going over some of the general information about Resistances in Diablo 2 Resurrected.
Basics of Resistance
There are a total of four main elemental-based attacks in Diablo 2: Resurrection. Fire, Cold, Lightning, and Poison. Each element has its own weakness.
If their resistance is high, attacking them is useless since they may be immune to your skills. To reduce an enemy’s resistance, use particular items, spells, or skills that can counter that particular element. So never come to a fight unprepared.
Then there are Curses and Bone based spells. This type of magic is not considered elemental so there is no protection against them.
Aside from elemental resistances, you will encounter enemies that will be resistant to physical and magical damage. Magical resistant enemies can also resist the effects of Necromancer Bone spells as well as the Barbarian’s Berserk so be mindful about that.
Each class has its own upper hand regarding resistances. An example being Paladin’s who have several Auras that can reduce elemental damage. Assassins taking advantage of Fade that offers Resistance to all effects for a short period of time etc.
Why do you need Resistance?
Those characters who need to be up-close and personal (Like the Paladin or the Assassin) with enemies will need resistance-providing equipment. In the end, you need to survive an assault, and side steps or dodging may not always save you.
When the majority of enemy attacks have some kind of element, you need to gear up accordingly. Besides, it is your job to expose the target to your party’s elemental attacks so you need to be extra careful.
Ranged characters like the Amazon are not exempted from this.
Keep high resistance gear on you in case. Some battles may call for high defense rather than mobility so until the last sword is drawn, keep this gear equipped. In this case, Jewelry is the logical case for our roguish characters.
Now if your character or someone in your party is associated with the magical arts, use charms. Charms can save you since they boost your resistances whilst providing other buffs to you and your party.
As you progress through the game, you will find that enemies will become craftier and tougher. You will need to equip yourself with a lot of high resistance gear sooner or later.
Resistance Values
Your base resistance levels are determined by the game’s difficulty:
When starting the game, your starting resistance is dependent on the difficulty you chose:
Normal Difficulty: 0
Nightmare Difficulty: -40
Hell Difficulty: -100
In Hell Difficulty your resistance is -100%. Your resistance can’t fall any lower. So, enemies that may attempt to debuff your base resistance will ultimately fail.
To counter this value, The Scroll of Resistance will come in handy. It increases your base resistance by 10 (per use). But be wary, upon death this bonus will disappear.
Additionally, each character has a maximum resistance of 75% to a certain element. Of Course, certain items can raise that percentage, going as high as 95%.
Unfortunately, you can’t be completely immune to an element but just being tanky to these attacks is enough. Meanwhile having negative resistance means that this character will receive increased damage.
Elemental Resistances in D2 Resurrected
Lightning Resistance
When facing Lightning imbued monsters, Lightning resistance gear will come in handy.
Enemies like Willowisps release beams of lightning much like a Sorceress’s Lightning Spell. If you counter these enemies, they release charged bolts of lightning to all corners of the map.
It’s deadly to face these monsters since they sometimes come with magical bonuses like Immunities, Teleport, and Stone Skin. The only way to safely face these monsters is to equip yourself with High to Maximum Lightning resistance gear or bonuses.
Fire Resistance
Since Fire is a commonly used element type in the game, it’s advantageous to build your resistance against this element.
Enemies who are fire-based creatures or enchanted by fire can deal large amounts of damage.
Fallen Shaman, Vampires, Demon Imps or Blood Raven. These are some examples of enemies that you may encounter in your journey that have command over fire spells.
They get brutal as you proceed through the acts so it’s best to always prepare yourself for Fire Resistance.
Poison Resistance
Poison is very infuriating. It keeps draining your HP until it is addressed.
Imagine being poisoned in the middle of a mob that won’t stop attacking you. Then there are types of poisons; some potent or have longer durations than others.
Monsters like Poisonous Frogs, Swamp Monsters, and Mummies can deal Poison attacks. Poisonous clouds upon death, Booby traps, and even chests can expel poison? Talk about being versatile.
In this case, Antidote Potions are your best friends. They can instantly cure you and they can be used again immediately. Some magical items can reduce the chances of poison being inflicted on you or your party member.
Cold Resistance
Imagine being slowed or frozen every 5 seconds. Well, you won’t have to imagine that if you were equipped against Cold attacks.
Monsters like Claw Vipers, Mages, and Zakarum Priests inflict Cold Damage. Cold Damage is by far one of the most irritating elemental types to deal with after poison. Of course, just because of the debuffs they inflict, make sure to keep a thawing potion on you.
There is also a Magical ability called ‘Half Freeze Duration’. It reduces the duration of chilled on the target but this is applied only once.
Your best bet to avoid this altogether is by equipping yourself with cold-resistant gear and jewelry.
Magic Resistance
Though not mentioned anywhere, each character has a base magic resistance value.
It’s a humble 0 for Normal, Nightmare, and Hell difficulties.
Items like Crafted Safety Shield will raise the magical resistance to 5-10%.
Physical Resistance
Physical Resistance values are not mentioned anywhere but each character but it does exist.
On some items, you may spot ‘Damage Taken Reduced by’ which alters this base value by the number mentioned.
Items of Absorption
In a battle, you will need to raise your resistance against a specific damage type. Absorb first heals a player then raises your resistances. On the condition that your HP is full, absorb will raise, and double the resistance to a specific damage type.
Absorb is best used for swarms of Imps or Fallen Shaman. Be wary of Fire Enchanted bosses since they deal massive amounts of damage. Killing you instantly before any buff is applied.
You know that half of the Absorb goes into healing while the other half reduces damage taken. In the end, the amount of damage reduced is twice the Absorb % times the damage taken.
The list of all damage alterations is calculated in this order:
- Energy Shield
- Bone Armor and Cyclone Armor
- Damage Reduction & Magical Damage Reduction
- Resistances
- % Absorb
- Direct Absorb
If you have high resistances, you can heal from specific elements through high absorb % and direct absorb.
