Oblivion talk:Resist Magic

Question About Resistance

Although it says discussion, this is more of a question. Does a Breton's (or whatever's) resist magic apply to:

a.) paralysis (I suspect yes, but how? 10 seconds reduced to 5?), and

b.) poison (like fire damage, or damage health) delivered by an NPC's weapon?

If you know, just edit the question into an answer. Thanks. — Unsigned comment by 68.100.243.51 (talk)

Resist magicka should affect paralysis, as long as the paralysis is due to a spell being cast. I'd guess that it decreases the duration of the paralysis, but I haven't tested it myself. However, resist magicka will not affect damage from poisons (Resist Poison is applicable to poisons). So paralysis from a poison will not be altered by resist magic. --Nephele 23:58, 21 December 2006 (EST)

Actually, this is incorrect. If you are immune to magic, you are also immune to poisoned weapons. So a character with the Apprentice birth sign, who has 200% resist magic on himself will not be affected by poisoned weapons. Since he won't be affected by poison at all, the duration of paralysis does not matter, as the poison doesn't get to the PC in the first place. But I don't think resist magic will protect you from gas room traps present in some dungeons. You need actual immunity to poison for that. WRFan 16:23, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

"One disadvantage is that Resist Magic might also undermine some of your spells you cast on yourself: of which Fortify Skill is a perfect example." Are you guys sure about this? I have 100% magic resistance (50% due to being Breton, 50% due to wearing Mundane Ring), and I never have trouble fortifying Mercantile or Speechcraft (only skills I fortify by spell). Or are they exceptions? Lisan al Gaib 09:28, 8 January 2007 (EST)

I believe this may be a glitch that was fixed with the Patch. Or at least in the list of things fixed by the patch there is an item "Fixed issue where spells, powers and lesser powers were being improperly resisted when the player cast them on themselves". I've never looked into this myself, but based on what you've found it sounds like the page needs to be updated. Feel free to make some changes. --Nephele 11:16, 8 January 2007 (EST)

Qa) it does in a way if it is being delivered via spell.(npc casts spell 23% paralyze with 32% magic resistance.(0.23*0.32=0.0736[rounded up to nearest place is 0.1 chance of paralyzing you. same goes with poisons.) if it was 45% vs.s 32% magic resistance(0.45*0.32=0.144; 0.2 with rounding.) 174.20.123.171 20:29, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Error, I think...

The description of this effect implies that it will reduce Fire, Frost, and Shock damage. I'm pretty sure this is false. For those you need Resist Fire, Resist Frost, and Resist Shock. Resist Magic will reduce damage from Absorb/Damage/Drain effects, and other non-elemental hostile spell effects, such as Burden. Can someone confirm this? --TheRealLurlock ^Talk 10:06, 28 February 2007 (EST)

Nope. It's basically a "parent" resist to all the others. I have >100% Resist Magic and no Resist Fire/Frost/Schock and those spells have no effect on me whatsoever. Also, I remember casting a Resist Magic 100% for 3 seconds on Traven before he does his fiery hari-kiri and it saves his hide :) Lisan al Gaib 10:30, 28 February 2007 (EST)

Seems to me that Resist Magic protects against hostile spells, including those that inflict Fire/Frost/Shock damage, but if the same type of damage were inflicted by a poison, it would pass through. Resist Poison would be the opposite complement, while resistance to Fire/Frost/Shock defends against a specific type of damage, regardless of its delivery method. Makes sense to me. --JustTheBast 13:19, 28 February 2007 (EST)

Well, if that's the case, it's a distinct difference from Morrowind in that respect, because in that game, Resist Magicka did nothing to protect you from elemental damage, only non-elemental negative effects. --TheRealLurlock ^Talk 13:34, 28 February 2007 (EST)

Sounds like something that needs to be tested in detail. I'll get right on it. -- JustTheBast 13:50, 28 February 2007 (EST)

Yes, tests bear out my assumption, as stated above. Resist Magic or Poison will reduce any type of damage delivered by the respective method, regardless of type, while Resist Fire/Frost/Shock guard against specific types of damage, regardless of delivery.

Oh, and Azhklan Trolls are damn tough. Ouch. -- JustTheBast 14:37, 28 February 2007 (EST)

If you're doing tests, it would be great to double check whether enchantments on swords are the same as spells (i.e., on a sword with Fire Damage, is that resisted the same way as a Fire Damage spell). Also, there are other damage effects (lava, bonfires) that I'm pretty sure the game implements as a spell: what resists work against those? Thanks for looking into this, JustTheBast! --Nephele 14:26, 28 February 2007 (EST)

I just finished, sorry. I'll go back and test it at once.

Done! Enchantments on weapons, as well as staff effects and the bolts thrown by those jangling towers inside oblivion gates are all spell effects and can be blocked by Resist Magic or the resistance for the respective damage type. I'd assume that the same is true for the bolt-throwing traps found in some ayleid ruins.

Resist Fire or Magic have no effect on the damage dealt by Lava, but there is a resistance that only exists as an actor value, not available as a spell effect, namely Resist Water Damage (Player.SetAV ResistWaterDamage 100). That one lets you swim in lava, easy as you please.

I didn't remember to test bonfires and the like, but I'd imagine that they are neither spell nor poison, so can only be affected by Resiste Fire. -- JustTheBast 15:18, 28 February 2007 (EST)

While testing some other stuff related to resistances in general, I have now looked into open fires, and it seems that the damage they inflict is also a spell effect (Fire Damage 6pts for 2 secs, cast every 3 secs). I've only tested one type of brazier, though. -- JustTheBast 18:32, 3 March 2007 (EST)

Could someone test if resist magic has any effect on a effect spell (e.g. paralysis)?

Enchanting with resist magic

It says that the Resist Magic enchantment is disabled at the enchanting altar. But I am playing with OOO 1.3, and I have been able to enchant multiple pieces of armor/rings and now am at 101% Resist Magic. I wonder if this enchanment is enabled only in OOO, since i have not played unmodded Oblivion.

Added: I noticed something while fighting the Sylvan Warsemers at Barastas yesterday, despite having 101% "Resist Magic", I am still vulnerable to their "Reflect Damage" spells. If I attack them with non-enchanted melee weapons, I still end up getting some damage reflected back to me!!

"Reflect Damage" does not count as a magical attack as such - it counts as ordinary melee damage being reflected. Think of it as if your sword bounced back in your face if you like. It's not only a spell effect, as it can be caused by potions as well.

Gray Aegis

Um excuse my ignorance if Im wrong but couldnt you use the console for the Gray Aegis? — Unsigned comment by 207.199.196.90 (talk)

Yes, you could. You could also just use the console to type tgm, or addspell C6B3 and addspell 2B53F, or any of countless other cheats that would give you magic resistance. But given that using the console there are an infinite number of ways to cheat and give yourself anything that exists in the game, it doesn't seem particularly useful to try to add any of them to UESP articles, especially when the majority of players don't have access to the console and of those who do, many prefer not to cheat and instead keep the game challenging. --Nephele^Talk 03:55, 28 December 2007 (EST)

Further question about Resist Magic and Damage

One thing I'm not clear on is this: say you are an Altmer wearing enough to be at 100% Resist Magic. When hit by a fireball, does the 100% Resist Magic cause it to be completely negated, or does your 25% weakness to fire make you take 25% damage (100% Resist Magicka - 25% Weakness to Fire for 75% effective resistance for the fireball)? ---- Iueras

No fire spells are part of magic, for some reason oblivion splits up some enchanted clothing into resist fire,frost,shock etc. so you wont be damaged. --Umbacano 07:01, 26 February 2008 (EST)

Percentage

I need some help, say i have a mundane ring and a crown of nenalata, Mundane ring has 50% resist magic and 35% reflect spell, while Crown of nenalata has 25% reflect spell. If i equip them both and my enemies first spell goes through my 50% resist will it be reflected back by the 60% reflect spell. The math 50% resist magic + (35%+25% reflect spell) First spell passes 50% = 100%-50% = 50% and then we have the remaining percentage of hitting me gone from the 60% relfect spell =60%-50% = 10% --Umbacano 07:01, 26 February 2008 (EST)

You have it backwards here: Reflect Spell comes into play before Resist Magic does. If you have a 60% Reflect Spell, that gives you a 60% chance of reflecting your enemies' spells back at them. Should they manage to hit you anyways, the Resist Magic will reduce the effectiveness of their spells by 50%. See Reflect vs Absorb vs Resist. --Mike | Contrib 22:01, 28 February 2008 (EST)

Mike has it correct. 60% of spells will be reflected (in their entirety), which leave 40% affecting you. These will then be reduced in effectiveness by 50%, which means (summing everything up), spells will only be 20% effective against you.

The only way to make yourself completely immune to magic is to increase one of Reflect Spell, Spell Absorption, or Resist Magic to 100%. --Gaebrial 02:58, 29 February 2008 (EST)

Resist + Weakness

Would 100% resist magic combined with the Apprentice's 100% weakness to magic result in a completely magically neutral character or one that is still completely immune to magic? From my understanding of how they work together, it should end in a magically neutral person but there are some posts that imply that 100% resist magic is the single resistance that trumps everything else. Can some one clarify? — Unsigned comment by 74.72.187.18 (talk)

As explained at Oblivion:Magical Effects#Resistances and Weaknesses, resistances and weaknesses of the same type add together, so 100%-100% = 0%, or a magically neutral character. --Nephele^Talk 00:56, 14 March 2008 (EDT)

sun damage

would 100% magic resistance make my vampire immune to sun damage? since it's implemented as a spell i think it should but who knows what bethesda might have done to maintain this key liability?

Also, if this could be answered for spell absorbsion/reflect spell, that would be great (especially absorb spell). — Unsigned comment by 75.154.124.81 (talk)

I suspect that sun damage may be coded to ignore magic resistance, absorb, reflect, the lot. I can't see reflect working anyway, as there is nowhere to reflect it to. --Gaebrial 05:26, 10 April 2008 (EDT)

Good question, I'll test this and post back my results here.

Nope, 100% Resist Magic, 100% Reflect Spell, 100% Spell Absorbtion, 100% Shield, I tested them all and none of them work against Sun Damage. --Insane 07:55, 27 April 2008 (EDT)

2 Mundane Rings

It seems to be impossible for me to equip two Mundane Rings, with a message saying "You cannot equip this item right now." at the top. I also permanently obtained the 50% resistance by going to jail with the ring equipped, and now I can't even equip a single ring, let alone two. (Although I can equip 2 other rings) Is it like this for everybody or just me? Also, is it just restricted to Mundane Rings, or can I equip a different 50% resistance ring? (I'd have to make it myself, either by enchanting or by a mod) The reason I'm asking is because this seems unintuitive, I'd expect to be able to equip two 50% resist magic rings to get immunity. Although since the mundane rings were so easy to get (I get about 0-2 every oblivion gate I close), it could be that Bethesda added this limitation intentionally. Can anybody comment on this? --Insane 13:57, 26 April 2008 (EDT)

See Oblivion:Magic Items#Stacking Magic Rings and Oblivion:Glitches#Permanent Enchantments. --Nephele^Talk 14:15, 26 April 2008 (EDT)

im confused

wait, i read the conversation on the top of the page about magic resistance and elemental damage, but i cant really figure out if resist magic affects elemental damage. Also my character is an Altmer i have 25% weakness to fire,frost and shock. If i get 100% magic resistance, do the weaknesses matter or affect if i get hit by an elemental spell?Amantius Allectus 21:50, 4 August 2008 (EDT)

Resist magic will protect you from ANY form of magic to a degree; 100% resistance will cancel all magical effects from affecting you. However, as an Altmer, you have inborn weaknesses to certain types of damage. Therefore, if someone hits you with a fire spell OR a fire poison, you will take extra damage from that. If, however, you manage to get 100% resistance to magic, you will be immune to any non-elemental magic. Elemental magic, on the other hand, would affect you with only 25% effectiveness: 100% resitance - 25% weakness = 75% total elemental resistance. Resistance to other magic would still be perfect. You can check out Resistances and Weakness for more info. Hope it helps. --Mike | Contrib 17:28, 6 August 2008 (EDT)

Yea it helped a lot. Thanks.Amantius Allectus 11:36, 7 August 2008 (EDT)

Black Band

Just thought I'd be helpful here; the Black Band isn't listed on the list of items that can give you magic resistance that is worthwhile. It can give a 15 percent resist magicka at it's highest level. The ring of Mind Shielding can give 12 percent at it's highest level, as well as reflect spell, but that's not listed either. I'm not sure how to list it, but my Breton, who I wanted 100 percent resist magicka for, has the highest level Black Band, the Ring of Mind Shielding, and Diadem of Euphoria for Magic Resistance (not quite complete, but...) Before I got further in the Shivering Isles questline, I had the Black Band, Ring of Mind Shielding, and Savior's Hide, which DID grant complete resistance. Anyways; my point is those above rings would be useful should you not want to start the Main Quest for whatever reason (I personally hate having to deal with those gates whenever I can't fast travel x.x)) — Unsigned comment by 5 October 2008 (talk • contribs) on 71.236.158.47

I've added the Black Band to the article, but not the other items. The Diadem of Euphoria is a Shivering Isles item, and the other are all linked to in the infobox (as they are listed in Generic Magic Apparel). --Timenn < talk > 05:39, 6 October 2008 (EDT)

So Can I Use this?

Several people like to use Dispel on Self or Reflect Spell 100% for 1 Second on self in their spells to make it "Reflection Proof" (on enemies such as Lich). I wanted to know if a 100% resist Magicka for 1 second on self would work as well. --Zirakseez 22:07, 28 November 2008 (EST)

Taking magic damage with 100% resist magic

I'm a Breton with the Mundane Ring, but I still find myself taking magic damage sometimes. I am sure it is magic damage and not poison, melee, or marksman damage because I got hit with a staff of silence and was definitely silenced. My birthsign is the apprentice, but that shouldn't matter with 100% resist magic, should it? I have a few plugins downloaded, but only popular ones and none that affect how magic works, as far as I know. Any idea why this is happening? 66.72.176.14 17:31, 30 March 2009 (EDT)

With the apprentice birthsign you get a penalty of -100 to your magic resistance. A Breton with the apprentice birthsign, 50% race magic resistance and 50% magic resistance from an enchantment would have -100 + 50 + 50 = 0 magic resistance- the weakness to magic effect would be completely canceled out by the resist magic boost, so although your character may appear to have 100 resist magic, it will clash with the weakness to magic effect.--Willyhead^/t 17:40, 30 March 2009 (EDT)

Weaken resist magic

If a character has 100% Resist Magic, is it possible to weaken this by a weakness to magic spell, or will the resist effect make it impossible to weaken a complete magic resistence? --91.47.122.3 11:58, 26 April 2009 (EDT)

Please read the article. --SerCenKing ^Talk 12:07, 26 April 2009 (EDT)

Resist Magic, as pertaining to Potions and CE Armor/Clothing

I've been playing TES IV: Oblivion for quite a long while now, and while I'm quite annoyed at how "not Morrowind" the game is, I've done my best to get used to how things are, or how things work, in this game.

Recently, I've found myself rather irritated at something, and after searching for the same anomaly on multiple forums, I'm beginning to wonder how many people actually know about it. The issue at hand is that I'm playing a Breton character (Thief birthsign) who has obtained both a Mundane Ring and the Black Band in his travels. Naturally, one assumes that having 100%+ Resist Magic would make my character immune to a great number of things. Unfortunately, in the last hour, I have discovered that this is not the case.

I created a batch of Fortify Speed potions (given what attribute is being fortified in this particular potion, I think you all know where this is going), and, having more than 100% Resist Magic, decided to drink four at once so that I could go after a certain item. Upon drinking them, my character was immediately afflicted by a Damage Health effect. Naturally, I considered this to be an error on the part of the developers, so I headed towards my current target, which was the Necromancer's Amulet. Upon taking the amulet (after having returned a cloned copy) and equipping it, my character was then struck by the Drain Strength & Drain Endurance curses applied to the amulet.

What I want to know is, did the developers purposely script potions/items and resistances so that negative effects from potions or constant effect items are forced upon the player regardless of full immunity to negative magicka, or is this some sort of glitch? CorinthMaxwell 21:55, 23 June 2009 (EDT)

It's something they 'fixed' in one of the official patches. Negative effects that are applied 'on self', from potions, enchantments, and spells, ignore all resistances and weaknesses. --Gaebrial 08:30, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

First resistance

Which out of the elemental and magic resistances are counted first? For example a 100 point damage fireball is thrown at me, I have 75% resist fire and 50% resist magic. Does the attack have 75 points countered by resist fire the the remainder (25 points) countered by resist magic reducing it to 12.5 points? or is it reduced to 50 points and then reduced to 12.5 ? I know the result is the same but I would still like to know. (also yes I did read though the other posts but couldn't decide on this issue)— Unsigned comment by 88.109.142.177 (talk) on October 16, 2009

Odds are it's determined by position in your active effects list. If resist magic is higher up on the list, it's used first and vice versa for resist fire. This is similar to the way in which multiple damage effects are calculated in offensive spells, if I remember correctly. Dlarsh^{(Talk,Contribs,E-mail)} 15:35, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

Spell Absorption and Magic Resistance

Quick question: My Breton has a mundane ring for 100% magic resistance, will wearing something like a Spelldrinker Amulet (spell absorption) still work? ...or does the 100% magic resistance cancel it? — Unsigned comment by 96.253.170.23 (talk) on 22 October 2009

If I recall correctly, Spell Absorption is triggered prior to any Magic resistance. So basically a spell is tried to be absorbed first, and if that doesn't work the spell is fully resisted anyway. --Timenn-<talk> 11:03, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

So does this refer to Spell Reflection as well? When is the reflection activated?— Unsigned comment by 68.142.38.7 (talk) at 16:04 on 15 November 2009

Read this. Reflect Spell is triggered before Spell Absorption. ^Talk Wolok gro-Barok _{Contributions} 18:22, 15 November 2009 (UTC)

Resistances and weaknesses of different types

If your character had the apprentice birthsign, 100% weakness to magicka and was wearing the fire ring, 100% resistance to fire, and was hit by a fireball say doing 100 damage, would you take all of it? or none. Does the weakness to magicka counter the resistance to fire? How do weaknesses and resistances of different types interact? 71.125.130.162 00:55, 4 February 2010 (UTC)

This is addressed to some extent here, but I'm marking this question as Good because I feel it could benefit from a fuller answer with more detailed examples. rpeh •T•C•E• 01:05, 4 February 2010 (UTC)

According to the formulas, a character will take 0 damage from a fireball if he has 100% fire resistance: (100 - Total Resistance to Fire)/100 * (100 - Total Resistance to Magic)/100, translates into (100 - 100)/100 * (100 + 100)/100 = 0/100 * 2 = 0 . In fact, he or she will take 0 damage from any fire based source since: Total Resistance to Fire = Resist Fire - Weakness to Fire, which means Total Resistance to Fire = 100 - 0 = 100.

However, if he or she comes under the effects of lets say 50% Weakness to Fire, the total resistance would be (100-0 (The new resistance to fire, due to the Weakness spell combined with the Weakness to Magicka)/100*(100+100)/2= 1*2=2. This is because the Weakness to Fire Spell is twice as effective, due to the 100% Weakness to Magicka. One more thing to note is that this is only in effect if the Weakness to fire was a spell. If the Weakness to Fire came from an enchantment, then it would be (100-50)/100*(100+100)/2=1/2*2=1. So a character would take normal damage from fire spells, and only 1/2 damage from fire based attacks. Dayer - Cleaned it up, my first comment was not completely accurate.

Say you had the 100% weakness to magic from the Apprentice Birthsign, but then say got the Gray Aegis (Resist Magic 100%) does that bring your resistance back to the normal zero, or does it resist all magic? I don't understand the answer above. --Manic 11:43, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

100% resistance - 100% weakness = 0 resistance, so an Apprentice with the Gray Aegis would take normal effects from spells. As explained here, resistances and weaknesses of the same type are summed, while resistances of different types are multiplied, so 100% weakness to magic plus 100% resistance to fire (the initial question) means no damage from fire spells (a 100 damage fireball would be affected first by 100% weakness to magic, resulting in 100*(100+100)/100=200 Fire damage and then that would be affected by 100% Resist Fire, resulting in 200*(100-100)/100=0 final damage). So the general rule is: first sum all Resist Magic/Weakness to Magic effects and apply that to the magnitude of the spell, and then sum all Resist Fire/Weakness to Fire effects and apply that to the new magnitude, the final result is the magnitude of the effect aplied to the character.Nadieeee 20:42, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

Downside to 100% Resistance?

I am wondering if I make my character 100% resistant to magic, will there be a downside? For instance, I often use Disintegrate spells on my own equipment (for weightless items, or for equipment that I have accidentally repaired past 100 and wish to duplicate). Will 100% Magic Resistance make me incapable of casting these spells against my own equip? Another instance is in practicing Destruction school magic against myself. How would that work? Thanks. Glendale1 09:51, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

From what I understand, there is no drawback to 100% magic resistance. Spells that work on self will still work.Oblivionfanatic1988 19:21, 24 April 2010 (UTC)

Yes they still work on yourself. The only drawbacks is positive effects will be resisted. Like the Arena Basin, wayshrines and sheogorath's healer. --Manic 11:45, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

Poison resistance

The (now deleted) sentence that states that poisons are resisted by Resist Magic is bull. I have encountered one enemy with 100% magic resistance, and that is the Altmer at the Arena who carries the Gray Aegis, and yet, my poisons work just fine against him.Oblivionfanatic1988 19:21, 24 April 2010 (UTC)

This is strange, my character has 100% resist magic and no poison except paralysis poison can apply to me, why only paralysis poison works is unknown to me but it still means resist magic works on poison to a degree.117.4.246.86 02:05, 29 January 2011 (UTC)

I'm afraid not. Resist magic has no effect on poisons. rpeh •T•C•E• 10:04, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

Ok, I did a little test, using setav, I set resist magic value of a dremora kynmarcher to 100 and use various poisons against it. here is result:

• damage fatigue, damage health, damage attributes, damage magicka, silence, drain attributes, drain magicka, drain health, drain fatigue, burden poisons ARE resisted by resist magic.
• paralysis, elemental damage poisons ARE NOT resisted by resist magic.

Because I did a test, I don't want someone just say "No, it has no effect on poison" so please, I think you should check it back, Resist magic does protect again most poisons.117.4.244.176 11:49, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

Well I see you've changed your claim now. I tested just fire and frost and they work fine. I'll admit I was wrong about the damage potions, though. The MGEF record for Fire Damage has its resist as "Resist Fire" (obviously); frost is Resist Frost, and so on. The others are Resist Magic, so yes they would be affected. rpeh •T•C•E• 12:40, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

The April 2010 edit is the one that incorrectly removed the poison note: you didn't revert far enough - I've reinstated it. It's especially useful to know since there are no "standard" elemental damage poisons, so 100% Resist Magic is also "Immunity to all NPC Poisons except Paralysis". Aliana 13:29, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

Enchanting

Whether or not Resist Magic is disabled at the Enchanting Alter may be console/PC dependent. Playing on the PS3 does have Resist Magic retained for Spellmaking. — Unsigned comment by 68.6.190.51 (talk) on 29 may 2011

Resist Magic vs. Resist Elements

Hi, im new to this so forgive me, but i know that you all have tested the resist magic vs resist element thing a few years ago, and i was wondering with all the latest patches if it still works that way. — Unsigned comment by 67.187.125.84 (talk) at 01:45 on 7 December 2011

To my knowledge, there has never been any significant change to the effects. – Robin Hood↝talk 04:46, 1 January 2012 (UTC)