Lowering Resistances

[benepperson]

I have a question about some new effects with v1.10......specifically, the -X% Resistance effects of new runewords and items in v1.10. For example -- the Doom runeword lowers enemy cold resistance 40-60%, the new Thunderstroke javelin lowers enemy lightning resistance 15%, etc etc etc.

What actions specifically trigger this effect? Are resistances lowered once the enemy has been physically attacked? Will a melee attack, a ranged attack, or even a spell attack work for lowering their resistances?

How about hitting them with an aura, will that count too? Namely, if a Holy Shock paladin has a Crescent Moon sword equipped, will enemy resistances drop 35% as soon as his Holy Shock zaps them, or must he strike them with the sword to engage it? Or, similarly, if a sorceress' mercenary has Hand of Justice equipped, can she exploit lowered resistances and immediately blast them with Fire Wall, or must she wait until the merc has dealt a blow to each enemy?

Any help from knowledgable experts would be much appreciated.

[adeyke]

-% enemy resistance works exactly like cold mastery. That is, you're not affecting monsters' resistances at all. It's just that their effective resistance to your attacks is reduces.

Thus, if your merc has -% enemy resistance gear, that means monsters will be less resistant to your merc's attacks. However, it won't help you at all.

Monsters also aren't "tagged" by the property. As soon as you put on the gear, monsters will be less resistant to your attacks and spells. As soon as you take it off, they'll be back to normal (since, indeed, it wasn't the monsters that were changed).

[AtomicKitKat]

That's an interesting thought. What about the Holy Freeze from the Doom weapon? Would it affect what would normally be a Cold Immune monster?

[adeyke]

-% enemy resistance can't break immunities, so they still wouldn't take cold damage from it. You can always slow even cold immune monsters, as long as they're not chilling-immune.