2H and Resistance Reduction

Zama666

Hello,

The 2h skill line - does it any properties that reduce resistance?
(Ie like sword and shield Puncture)

Yes, my Maul is running Sharpened.

To clarify, when you hit a character that has a high resistance, the damage done is lessened, correct?
If you surpass that resistance, you will do the full damage allotted to your character (with all bonus/buffs)?

As a Stamplar, what is a good skill to pop into my 2h bar to help reduce enemy resistances that has worked well for you?

Tankz,

Z

tsaescishoeshiner

Hi!

Penetration directly ignores armor. So if you have 3,000 penetration, that ignores 3,000 armor. Max armor is 30,000, which is equal to 50% less damage.

Going over the resistance does nothing. For PvE, I think small monsters have around 9k resistances and bosses around 18k.

A popular skill to reduce armor is Razor Caltrops, a morph of Caltrops from the Assault skill line (you'll have to PvP a bit). That applies Major Breach to the enemy (~6,000 reduced armor).

You can also use Power of the Light (backlash morph) to apply Minor Breach (~3000 reduced armor).

Groups in dungeons and trials will probably already have debuffs like Breach and other ones, so careful not to overdo it for group content!

If you want more (aka way too much), this thread was updated last year: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/279426/damage-mitigation-explanation-updated-21-03-2021/p1

Or look up "eso penetration cap."

gariondavey

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

Hi!

Penetration directly ignores armor. So if you have 3,000 penetration, that ignores 3,000 armor. Max armor is 30,000, which is equal to 50% less damage.

Going over the resistance does nothing. For PvE, I think small monsters have around 9k resistances and bosses around 18k.

A popular skill to reduce armor is Razor Caltrops, a morph of Caltrops from the Assault skill line (you'll have to PvP a bit). That applies Major Breach to the enemy (~6,000 reduced armor).

You can also use Power of the Light (backlash morph) to apply Minor Breach (~3000 reduced armor).

Groups in dungeons and trials will probably already have debuffs like Breach and other ones, so careful not to overdo it for group content!

If you want more (aka way too much), this thread was updated last year: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/279426/damage-mitigation-explanation-updated-21-03-2021/p1

Or look up "eso penetration cap."

Many players run 30k pen in pvp, so there isn't really a "cap at 30k" for resistances.

gariondavey

Zama666 wrote: »

Hello,

The 2h skill line - does it any properties that reduce resistance?
(Ie like sword and shield Puncture)

Yes, my Maul is running Sharpened.

To clarify, when you hit a character that has a high resistance, the damage done is lessened, correct?
If you surpass that resistance, you will do the full damage allotted to your character (with all bonus/buffs)?

As a Stamplar, what is a good skill to pop into my 2h bar to help reduce enemy resistances that has worked well for you?

Tankz,

Z

The 2h ultimate ignores all armor.
One morph of it also grants you 100 percent penetration for 5 seconds or so. That's the only 2h skill that gives penetration.

Amottica

gariondavey wrote: »

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

Hi!

Penetration directly ignores armor. So if you have 3,000 penetration, that ignores 3,000 armor. Max armor is 30,000, which is equal to 50% less damage.

Going over the resistance does nothing. For PvE, I think small monsters have around 9k resistances and bosses around 18k.

A popular skill to reduce armor is Razor Caltrops, a morph of Caltrops from the Assault skill line (you'll have to PvP a bit). That applies Major Breach to the enemy (~6,000 reduced armor).

You can also use Power of the Light (backlash morph) to apply Minor Breach (~3000 reduced armor).

Groups in dungeons and trials will probably already have debuffs like Breach and other ones, so careful not to overdo it for group content!

If you want more (aka way too much), this thread was updated last year: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/279426/damage-mitigation-explanation-updated-21-03-2021/p1

Or look up "eso penetration cap."

Many players run 30k pen in pvp, so there isn't really a "cap at 30k" for resistances.

This is correct. ~32k is referred to as a soft cap as that is the point we do not get more damage reduction from adding more resistance.

However, in PvP, if a defending player has 35k resistance and is attacked by a player with 3k penetration, then the defender still has 32k effective resistance.

Since this is not in a PvP-specific sub-forum, I will note that the max resistance for an NPC is ~18K and if in a group some group members will use skills that reduce the resistance of the target so we require less than 18k to get to the max penetration.

tsaescishoeshiner

gariondavey wrote: »

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

Hi!

Penetration directly ignores armor. So if you have 3,000 penetration, that ignores 3,000 armor. Max armor is 30,000, which is equal to 50% less damage.

Going over the resistance does nothing. For PvE, I think small monsters have around 9k resistances and bosses around 18k.

A popular skill to reduce armor is Razor Caltrops, a morph of Caltrops from the Assault skill line (you'll have to PvP a bit). That applies Major Breach to the enemy (~6,000 reduced armor).

You can also use Power of the Light (backlash morph) to apply Minor Breach (~3000 reduced armor).

Groups in dungeons and trials will probably already have debuffs like Breach and other ones, so careful not to overdo it for group content!

If you want more (aka way too much), this thread was updated last year: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/279426/damage-mitigation-explanation-updated-21-03-2021/p1

Or look up "eso penetration cap."

Many players run 30k pen in pvp, so there isn't really a "cap at 30k" for resistances.

Yep, wasn't sure if this was for PvP or PvE and didn't wanna overload with info. I just wanted to give a reference for roughly how much 3k/6k resistances is worth.

Zama666

@tsaescishoeshiner thanks! Power of the Light and Razor Caltrops - will give it a go.

I was looking for PvP and PVE...but more PVP not that you mention it.

Running 30K is normal? I guess this explains why my heavy armor is like paper...

gariondavey

Zama666 wrote: »

@tsaescishoeshiner thanks! Power of the Light and Razor Caltrops - will give it a go.

I was looking for PvP and PVE...but more PVP not that you mention it.

Running 30K is normal? I guess this explains why my heavy armor is like paper...

Power of the light hits like a noodle now. They nerfed it into the ground.
I don't even run it anymore.
If you still want minor breach you can get it from jabs sometimes (more with the charged trait on your weapon). You can get it from a restore stamina enchant (even more chance with charged trait).
You can get minor and major breach from the 1h+shield skill pierce armor (it is a taunt in pve so be aware of that)

On my proc pvp spec I just run major breach + about 6k more pen from weapon choices + gear passives.
In no proc I run about 19k pen but that's because everyone and their grandma plays with 30-40k armor in there.

(However, some proc pvp specs definitely use 20-30k pen. Balorgh is a huge component of this.)

rauyran

Zama666 wrote: »

Hello,

The 2h skill line - does it any properties that reduce resistance?
(Ie like sword and shield Puncture)

Yes, my Maul is running Sharpened.

To clarify, when you hit a character that has a high resistance, the damage done is lessened, correct?
If you surpass that resistance, you will do the full damage allotted to your character (with all bonus/buffs)?

As a Stamplar, what is a good skill to pop into my 2h bar to help reduce enemy resistances that has worked well for you?

Tankz,

Z

The Heavy Weapons passive gives you an additional 3300 penetration when you use a maul. That is added to the extra penetration you get from using the sharpened trait.