This guide will explain the different effects that may arise in combat along with explaining damage calculation.
Effects
Bleed: Bleed is an effect that inflicts damage over time on enemies. While Bleeding, an enemy will take a set amount of damage whenever they end their turn, and they cannot receive healing from any passive sources, such as natural health regeneration or healing from lingering-effect spells applied before the Bleed effect was inflicted. The Bleed effect can be cured before it ends naturally with the First Aid action or a healing spell applied after the Bleed effect was inflicted; however, the healing from this source is used to cure the Bleed effect, and so the target's health will not be restored. Further healing after the Bleed effect has been cured applies normally. An enemy cannot suffer the Bleed effect more than once at a time; inflicting Bleed again only increases the duration of the effect, to a maximum of 12 turns.
Blindness: A Blinded enemy is unable to see until the effect ends.
Confusion: Flip a coin. If heads, you may act against a foe. If tails, you must act against a friend.
Deafness: A Deafened enemy is unable to hear until the effect ends.
Fear: Feared enemies must use both their movement and action to attempt to flee from combat.
Grappled: A Grappled enemy cannot move or use their reaction until they free themselves from the grapple. This requires an action and 2/3/4/5/6 stamina, depending on the highest Martial skill of the target Grappling them. If they have been Grappled by an ability, the stamina cost to get free depends on the level of the ability used to inflict the effect.
Immobilized / Rooted: An Immobilized or Rooted enemy cannot move, but can use their actions, reactions, and free actions normally.
Knocked Down / Prone: An enemy who is Knocked Down or Knocked Prone is flat on the ground, unable to move or use their actions, reactions, and free actions until they get up. It costs half your movement, rounded up, to stand up.
Lifted: Your movement is reduced to zero and it costs 1 additional stamina to use martial abilities.
Paralysis: A Paralyzed enemy is unable to move or use their actions, reactions, or free actions.
Slowed: A Slowed enemy has their movement reduced by a set amount, but can use their actions, reactions, and free actions normally.
Stagger: While staggered, enemies can only either use an action or reaction on their turn, not both.
Temporary Health: Temporary health represents hit points that expire after a set amount of time. Any damage inflicted by enemies deducts temporary health, and only once there is no more temporary health will normal health be deducted. Any damage inflicted on yourself (such as consuming health to use abilities) deducts from normal health, ignoring temporary health. Temporary health with different expiry times are tracked separately.
Damage Types
There are several different types of damage that you will have to keep in mind. I will not describe them too much.
Fire
Frost
Shock
Divine
Poison
Necrotic
Psychic
Energy
Sonic
Acid
Physical
Each type does different things and interacts with the environment in different ways. For example, necrotic damage kills nature around it, while sonic damage only effects those with the ability to hear.
Damage Calculation
Damage calculation follows a simple set of rules:
Flat damage changes are applied first, followed by percentage changes.
After flat changes are applied to modify base damage, percentage changes are all calculated with respect to this same modified damage number, to ensure consistency.
Damage from poisons coating a weapon are applied afterwards, following the same rules (flat changes first, followed by percentage changes).
Damage from enchantments are applied afterwards, following the same rules.
Percentage changes might need to be calculated separately for different parts of damage if the percentage change only applies to a certain part and not the whole.
Example:
A character has the following effects:
Bull’s Strength (+2 physical damage)
Assassin Perk (+20% damage if the same enemy is targeted on consecutive turns)
Damage Health Poison (3 poison damage)
The enemy has the following effects:
Oakflesh (-1 physical damage taken)
The character attacks with a Master-level Deep Wound ability (single-turn poison damage is increased by 40%, rounded off). First, flat increases and decreases are calculated:
9 + 2 - 1 = 10
Then, percentage changes are calculated.
10 x 120% = 12
Then, poison damage is calculated.
3 x 140% = 4.2 ≈ 4
Finally, poison damage is added.
12 + 4 = 16
Note that a single attack might have different damage types associated with it, and each damage type might need to be calculated separately. For instance:
A character has the following effects:
Crusader’s Mantle (+2 divine damage)
Smite Heretic (x2 divine damage)
The enemy has the following effects:
Is a lycanthrope (x2 weakness to divine and fire damage)
The character uses a Master-level Fire Bolt spell, which has base 9 fire damage. As there is a percentage change which applies to only divine damage, each damage type must be calculated separately.
The fire damage is:
9 x 2 = 18
The divine damage is:
2 x 2 x 2 = 8
Therefore, the total damage is:
18 + 8 = 26
Having different damage types is not the only situation when parts of damage must be calculated separately. For example, the Devastating Smite Restoration spell doubles the damage of the next Smite ability used; therefore, only the damage from the Smite ability should be doubled, rather than overall damage.
While this may seem complicated, rest assured that complex calculations are quite rare - how often are you going to have a huge number of damage-modifying effects active? That, and once you get used to calculations like these, it’s really not so hard.
Dodging Attacks and Ending Spell Effects
Dodging is pivotal in avoiding dangerous attacks and injuries. You may dodge all attacks and spells since the spells are all projectile or area of effect based, though dodging will always cost stamina.
Cost to dodge spells and attacks based on their level:
Novice - 2 stamina
Apprentice - 3 stamina
Adept - 4 stamina
Expert - 5 stamina
Master - 6 stamina
When you are hit by a spell or attack that causes effects, you have to take ALL of it, damage and effects. At the start of your turn, you may end the effects of the spell early by expending magicka based on their level:
Novice - 2 magicka
Apprentice - 3 magicka
Adept - 4 magicka
Expert - 5 magicka
Master - 6 magicka