Resistances (Origins)

For resistances in Dragon Age II, see Resistances (Dragon Age II).

See also Resistance Checks in Combat Mechanics and Immunities.

Resistance measures a character's ability to withstand or reduce the effects of an opponent's attack. There is one type of resistance for each damage type in the game: Mental, Physical, Spell, and Elemental, which is itself divided into five types (Fire, Cold, Electric, Nature, and Spirit). Each point of resistance generally reduces damage (of that type) by 1%. In some cases, a target is given a chance to offset some of the effects of an attack if they pass an appropriate check for the relevant type. There are also displacement/dodge and missile deflection ratings, signifying a percentile chance to completely ignore any physical attack and a percentile chance to ignore any missile of non-spell origin, respectively.

Some abilities, skills, or items allow combatants to enhance their resistances; they are also enhanced at higher levels and ranks.

Types of Resistances

Type	Ability to withstand...	Formula to Calculate	Resistance	Examples & Other Notes
Mental	Bard songs and mind-control spells. Possible to completely resist or take a limited debuff.	(Willpower+Magic+Cunning-30)/2 rounded up	up to 100 (up to 150 in Awakening)	Captivating Song, Blood Control, Horror; not a percentage (score of 100 or more does not confer immunity)
Physical	Direct attacks on the body. Possible to completely resist or take a limited debuff.	(Strength+Dexterity+Constitution-30)/2 rounded up	up to 100 (up to 150 in Awakening)	Knockdown, Earthquake, Paralyze; not a percentage (score of 100 or more does not confer immunity)
Spell	Hostile magical spell attacks. A percentage denotes a chance to completely resist a hostile spell. Friendly fire spell effects are applied normally.		up to 100%
Elemental	Attacks based on each of the five elements. This will reduce the damage by % you have. Minimum elemental resistance is -100% (attainable with hexes).		up to 75% (up to 85% in Awakening)	Fireball, Cone of Cold. There are distinct resistances for Fire, Cold, Electric, Nature, and Spirit effects.

Resistance Check Reference

The following table includes a list of Talents and Spells and the relevant resistance check.

Tree	Threat	Type	Resistance
Blood Mage	Blood Wound	Spell	Physical
Creation	Glyph of Paralysis	Spell	Physical
Creation	Glyph of Repulsion	Spell	Physical
Creation	Grease	Spell	Physical
Entropy	Mass Paralysis	Spell	Physical
Entropy	Miasma	Spell	Physical
Entropy	Paralyze	Spell	Physical
Primal	Blizzard	Spell	Physical
Primal	Cone of Cold	Spell	Physical
Primal	Earthquake	Spell	Physical
Primal	Fireball	Spell	Physical
Primal	Petrify	Spell	Physical
Archery	Pinning Shot	Talent	Physical
Dual Weapon	Cripple	Talent	Physical
Dual Weapon	Riposte	Talent	Physical
Duelist	Upset Balance	Talent	Physical
Rogue	Below the Belt	Talent	Physical
Two-Handed	Mighty Blow	Talent	Physical
Two-Handed	Pommel Strike	Talent	Physical
Two-Handed	Sunder Armor	Talent	Physical
Two-Handed	Sunder Arms	Talent	Physical
Two-Handed	Two-Handed Sweep	Talent	Physical
Two-Handed	Sweeping Strike	Talent	Physical
Blood School	Blood Fury	Talent	Physical
Weapon and Shield	Overpower	Talent	Physical
Weapon and Shield	Shield Bash	Talent	Physical
Weapon and Shield	Shield Pummel	Talent	Physical
Blood Mage	Blood Control	Spell	Mental
Entropy	Horror	Spell	Mental
Entropy	Sleep	Spell	Mental
Entropy	Waking Nightmare	Spell	Mental
Bard	Distraction	Talent	Mental
Bard	Captivating Song	Talent	Mental
Templar	Holy Smite	Talent	Mental
Dog	Growl	Talent	Mental
Dog	Dread Howl	Talent	Mental

Notable Monster Resistances/Weaknesses Reference Sheet

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakenings

General Enemy Types

Type	Fire	Frost	Nature	Spirit	Electricity	Base
Demon	+50%	0%	0%	+5%	0%	0%
Darkspawn	-15%	0%	+25%	0%	0%	0%
High Dragon and Flemeth	+75%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Undead	-25%	+75%	Immune	0%	0%	0%

Specific Boss Monsters & Monster Sub-Types

Type	Fire	Frost	Nature	Spirit	Electricity	Base
Abomination	0%	0%	Immune	0%	+25%	0%
Arcane Horror	0%	Immune	Immune	0%	0%	+20% spell
Archdemon	+60%	+75%	+25%	+75%	+75%	0%
Broodmother	0%	0%	0%	+75%	0%	+75 mental
Genlock	0%	0%	0%	+5%	0%	+3 mental
Hurlock	0%	+5%	0%	+5%	0%	+1% dodge
Ogre	0%	+20%	0%	+15%	0%	+10% spell
Revenant	0%	Immune	Immune	0%	0%	+75 mental
Steel Golem	0%	+50%	Immune	0%	+50%	+50% physical
Stone Golem	+50%	+50%	Immune	0%	0%	+50% physical
Wild Sylvan	-50%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%

Shapeshifter Forms

Type	Fire	Frost	Nature	Spirit	Electricity	Base
Bear (monster and Shapeshifter form)	0%	0%	+50%	0%	0%	0%
Flying Swarm (Shapeshifter form)	-75%	0%	0%	0%	0%	+100% missile deflection +40% dodge
Spider (monster and Shapeshifter form)	-10%	0%	+75%	0%	0%	0%

Monster Resistances and Immunities Analysis

An obvious conclusion one can draw from this reference sheet and the Immunities list is electricity and spirit are most rarely resisted types of elemental damage, with no enemies immune to them, while nature is (a) most commonly resisted, (b) an unparalleled number of creatures are immune to it, and (c) not a single enemy in the game has a nature damage weakness**. Consider also the stamina draining effect from electrical damage and the fact the most damaging spells and spell combinations in the game are spirit-based (Mana Drain, Entropic Death, Virulent Walking Bomb, Blood Control). Fire damage is quite frequently resisted, but this is offset by the fact both Darkspawn and Undead type enemies have weakness to fire. Cold damage is also commonly resisted, but since cold-based spells also have the ability to Freeze and Slow targets, this is less of a problem (see Cone of Cold for more information). It is also noteworthy spell resistance is extremely rare, and even when present, its value is quite low, so certain spells/spell combinations (Paralysis Explosion, for example) are almost guaranteed to work under any conditions.

Note that on Casual Difficulty, spell resistance is reduced by 10% (to a minimum of 0%) and on Nightmare it is increased by 10%. All resistances to damage schools remain unaffected.

• Note: The Archdemon at the end of Origins is a notable exception to the general rule. While it does not have a "weakness" to nature damage, as such, its resistances to all other forms of elemental damage are much higher (60 to fire and 75 to the others) than its nature resistance, which is only 25. However this does not in itself justify altering character build strategies, as there are other ways to inflict nature damage that can be used for this one major fight.

NOTE:

(1) The information listed in the above tables is unclear in some cases - notably regarding Darkspawn. In the "General Enemy Types" table, Darkspawn are shown to have a 25% resistance to Nature damage, a -15% weakness to Fire damage and base (0%) resistance to Frost and Spirit damage. In contrast, under the "Specific Boss and Subtype" table, Genlocks, Hurlocks and Ogres are stated to have no weakness to Fire, no resistance to Nature damage and some resistance to Frost and Spirit Damage. Whether the "Specific Boss/Subtype" resistances are in addition to the ones listed in the "General Enemy" table or corrections need to be made to one/both of the tables is unclear and needs to be resolved.

(2) The first comment/conclusion is wrong regarding Fire based attacks, and also Spirit damage if the "Specific Boss/Subtype" table listings are correct. In that case, common enemies such as Genlocks and Hurlocks along with Ogres all have some Spirit damage resistance (albeit minor in some cases). Not a single enemy is weak against Spirit attacks. Conversely, while Demons, High Dragons (presumably all Dragons have some Fire resistance), Stone Golems, Abominations and the Archdemon have Fire resistance, except for Demons, the other enemies are uncommon (or singular). Furthermore, Darkspawn have either no resistance or have a -15% penalty against Fire damage (see (1) above) and Undead are quite susceptible to Fire attacks.

As a result, the proper conclusion is that apart from a few specific instances, Fire attacks are quite effective for most enemy encounters and Spirit attacks are not "rarely resisted." Electrical attacks are rarely resisted and Physical attacks are the least commonly resisted of all (only Golems have resistance -> 50%). The rarity of resistance to Physical damage is noteworthy to Mages as a few staves, such as Final Reason or Piece of Wood, deal Physical damage and thus a good situational choice.

(3) IF the resistances listed in the "General Enemy Type" table are global for each creature type, then the Archdemon would have 50% Nature resistance and 45% Fire resistance making Fire attacks your best bet - ironic since the Archdemon is in High Dragon form.

Items List

Spell Resistance

Name	Enhancements	Acquisition
Templar Armor Requires: 27 strength	+3 willpower +20% spell resistance +5 mental resistance	Restriction: Templar
Knight Commander's Plate Requires: 39 strength	+5 willpower +40% spell resistance +10 mental resistance	Sold by Faryn in Frostback Mountain Pass for 27 42 0. Restriction: Templar
Armor of the Divine Will Requires: 38 strength	+20% spell resistance -5 magic	Sold by Ruck in Ortan Thaig. Restriction: Templar
The Spellward	+5 willpower +8 health regeneration while exploring +30% spell resistance +10% chance to dodge attacks +6 defense against missiles	Origins: Sold by Bodahn Feddic at the Party Camp Leliana's Song: Dropped by Weapon Master in the Noble's Estate (2nd time) Witch Hunt: Sold by Sandal in the Apprentice Quarters
Key to the City	+2 to all attributes +4% spell resistance +10% to healing effects received	Found in the Assembly Cache in the Chamber of the Assembly, Orzammar Diamond Quarter after completing The Key to the City side quest.
Athras's Pendant	4% spell resistance	Obtained from Athras in the Dalish Camp as a reward for completing the side quest Lost to the Curse.
Mark of Vigilance	+6 defense +2% spell resistance +5 mental resistance	Requires the Mark of Vigilance DLC.
Spellweaver Requires: 27 strength/magic	+5 magic +1 or +2 mana regeneration in combat +10% spell resistance +3 electricity damage	Dropped by the Arcane Warrior Cultist Overseer in the Mountainside Caverns, during The Urn of Sacred Ashes main quest. Restriction: Arcane Warrior
Antivan Leather Boots Requires: 18 strength	+4% spell resistance	They come from Antivan Leather Boots (gift) in Origins, and purchased from the Bartender and looted from the Smuggler Leader and Crow Assassin in Awakening.
Blackblade Boots Requires: 24 strength	+4 dexterity +4 willpower +4 cunning +8% spell resistance	Cannot be acquired via normal means. Restriction: Rogue
Havard's Aegis Requires: 22 strength	+4 spell resistance Chance to avoid missile attacks	Looted from the Ogre at the top of the Tower of Ishal.
Reaper's Vestments	+6 constitution +20% fire resistance +16% spell resistance +10% chance to dodge attacks +12 armor	Sold by the Tranquil Proprietor at the Wonders of Thedas Restriction: Mage
Ancient Elven Gloves Requires: 22 strength	+2 armor +4% spell resistance	Found in the Ruined Temple. Cinch of Skillful Maneuvering may refer to: Cinch of Skillful Maneuvering (Origins), a belt in Dragon Age: Origins Cinch of Skillful Maneuvering (Awakening), a belt in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Other

• pc Greagoir's Shield: +4% spell resistance
• Fade Shield: +5% spell resistance
• Arcane Shield and Fade Shield: +15% spell resistance
• Dwarven Resistance: +10% spell resistance
• Spell Shield: +75% spell resistance
• Dweomer weapon runes, +2-14% spell resistance

Notes

• Dwarves have an extra 10% spell resistance, for the same reason that they cannot become Mages and do not enter the fade when they dream; because of their close contact with Lyrium, they have developed a natural resistance to magic.
• Note that some abilities (e.g. Dirty Fighting) are absent from the above list and are not subject to a physical resistance check. They are subject to immunities (i.e. stun, knockdown, etc.) however. This can be misleading because even if a creature/player is immune to a given effect, "Resisted" will still appear above the character when an immunity protects that player from a physical effect such as stun and knockdown.