Resistances (Origins)

Resistance signifies a character's ability to withstand or reduce the effects of an opponent's attack. There is a type of resistance for each type of damage in the game: Mental, Physical, Spell, and Elemental. The last is further divided into five types: Fire, Cold, Electric, Nature, and Spirit. Each point of resistance reduces damage (of that type of attack) by 1%. In some cases, a target is given a chance to offset some of the effects of an attack if it passes an appropriate check for that type. There are also displacement/dodge and missile deflection ratings, which offer 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

Type	Ability to withstand...	Resistance Formula	Resistance Limits	Examples and 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%	Spell resistance only works against spells that can be casted by controllable characters (e.g. although Aura of Weakness and Miasma are technically the same spell/talent, only the latter may be resisted).
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 checks

See also: Combat mechanics § Resistance Checks

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

Tree	Threat	Type	Resistance
Arcane	Repulsion Field	Spell	Physical
Battlemage	Hand of Winter	Spell	Physical
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
Entropy	Weakness	Spell	Physical
Keeper	Nature's Vengeance	Spell	Physical
Keeper	Thornblades	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
Champion	War Cry upgraded with Superiority	Talent	Physical
Dog	Charge	Talent	Physical
Dual Weapon	Cripple	Talent	Physical
Dual Weapon	Riposte	Talent	Physical
Dual Weapon	Punisher	Talent	Physical
Duelist	Upset Balance	Talent	Physical
Guardian	Aura of the Stalwart Defender	Talent	Physical
Ranger	Slam (Summoned Bear)	Talent	Physical
Rogue	Below the Belt	Talent	Physical
Shale	Earthen Grasp	Talent	Physical
Shale	Hurl Rock	Talent	Physical
Shale	Quake	Talent	Physical
Shale	Regenerating Burst	Talent	Physical
Shale	Rock Barrage	Talent	Physical
Shapeshifter	Slam (Bear Shape)	Talent	Physical
Templar	Holy Smite	Talent	Physical (non-spellcasting targets)
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
Power of Blood	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
Reaver	Frightening Appearance	Talent	Mental
Templar	Holy Smite	Talent	Mental (spellcasting targets)
Dog	Growl	Talent	Mental
Dog	Dread Howl	Talent	Mental
Ranger	Howl (Summoned Wolf)	Talent	Mental
Shale	Bellow	Talent	Mental

Enemy resistances/weaknesses reference sheet

General types

Type	Fire	Cold	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%

Bosses and subtypes

Type	Fire	Cold	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%	+75%	0%	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	Cold	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%

Enemy resistances and immunities analysis

• An obvious conclusion one can draw from this reference sheet and the immunity list is electricity and spirit are most rarely resisted types of elemental damage, with no enemies immune to them. 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).
• 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.
• Fire damage is quite frequently resisted, but this is offset by the fact both Darkspawn and Undead type enemies have weaknesses 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 that 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.
• On Casual difficulty, spell resistance is reduced by 10% (to a minimum of 0%) and on Nightmare it is increased by 5%. Additionally, on Hard and Nightmare difficulties all enemies gain 5% elemental resistance.

Global and specific resistances

Global resistances apply to their subtypes; however, bosses do not inherit resistances. An example is a genlock inheriting darkspawn global resistances, yet neither Archdemon nor Broodmother inherit darkspawn global resistances. The Archdemon does not inherit High Dragon resistances either.

Items providing spell resistance

See also: Item properties § 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	+1 to all attributes +10% spell resistance +10% chance to dodge attacks	Reward for the A Time of Wood and Stone achievement during Witch Hunt

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 in-game an extra 10% spell resistance, because they have developed a natural resistance to magic due to living close to lyrium.
• 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.