New wizard question on resistance

[Orina]

I'm a new wizard, and have searched the wiki and stickies to no avail. I have a few questions:What helps determine whether a monster resists our spells, or not? Is there a statistic, item, or achievement that helps ensure things land more regularly?Specifically for the root line of spells, do the upgraded (I.E. Adept, Master) versions improve the chance for these to land? Is this the same or different for other similar spells or effects? Can there be partial resists to spells? If so, does damage scale against resistance (I.E. Monster resists half of the spell, and only takes half damage)?If I have outright missed another post or link with detailed information on resistance, please forgive me, and help point me in the correct direction?

[Azol]

<cite>Orinath wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>I'm a new wizard, and have searched the wiki and stickies to no avail. I have a few questions:What helps determine whether a monster resists our spells, or not?</p><p><b><span style="color: #6600ff;">Just try out and see</span></b> </p><p>Is there a statistic, item, or achievement that helps ensure things land more regularly?</p><p><b><span style="color: #6600ff;">Yes, called Disruption skill</span></b>Specifically for the root line of spells, do the upgraded (I.E. Adept, Master) versions improve the chance for these to land? Is this the same or different for other similar spells or effects?</p><p><b><span style="color: #6600ff;">Yes, they improve. And you also may want to max your Subjugation skill for roots to land.</span></b> Can there be partial resists to spells? If so, does damage scale against resistance (I.E. Monster resists half of the spell, and only takes half damage)?</p><p><b><span style="color: #6600ff;">There are just outright resists (/sigh), but mitigation is the stat that helps to take just %% of full damage</span></b>If I have outright missed another post or link with detailed information on resistance, please forgive me, and help point me in the correct direction?</p><b><span style="color: #6600ff;"><points at every direction at once> Hey, there are loads of info everywhere! And read sticky topics in this forum too.</span></b></blockquote>

[Orina]

Thanks Azol. Some of that was helpful. I'll have to look into skills and see how I can help improve those. It's good to know that the upgraded versions help land rate as well.Honestly, I've read over the stickies. Even the basic guides here seem to miss the mechanical foundations almost entirely. Many others talk about things that may be pertinent, but I wouldn't know it, since many of the terms are lost on me and not explained elsewhere. Having played just about every other MMO out there, this game is absolutely the most difficult to find information on from a beginners perspective. Even the wiki lacks a lot of information.

[Kaxx]

I agree, some of the stickies don't cover some very specific questions.As for roots spells - what you need to do is save up your gold/plat to get the ad3 as soon or before you get to that level.Or harvest the rare and have one made.If you can get the master then buy it!If used right the root spells are awesome.I remember at the lower levels I only had ad1 roots and they always got resisted so I quit using them.From experience I can say you need roots at adp3, especially if you solo alot.

[simpwrx02]

<p>A good way to lower resists is via AAs in the Sorcerrer tree spec down the STA line to get the bonus to casting skills, which imho is the best line for a newly leveling sorc the ability scales based on your level.</p>

[Oakleafe]

<cite>Orinath wrote:</cite><blockquote>I'm a new wizard, and have searched the wiki and stickies to no avail. I have a few questions:What helps determine whether a monster resists our spells, or not? Is there a statistic, item, or achievement that helps ensure things land more regularly?Specifically for the root line of spells, do the upgraded (I.E. Adept, Master) versions improve the chance for these to land? Is this the same or different for other similar spells or effects?</blockquote>A number of things affect spell resistance.If you check your Stats tab on the Persona window and hover the mouse over the value against Wisdom, you will see an explanation saying that it improves your resists against spell damage.  Well, that is true for the monsters too, i.e. the higher their wisdom the better they will resist your spells.  As far as I am aware, we have no ability to check what the mobs (monsters) stats are (although periodically we stick it on the wish list).  If you check the Skills tab on the Persona Window and hover the mouse pointer over the value against Disruption you will see an explanation saying that it reduces your targets ability to resist your spells.  Two things to note here: (1) the higher the number the better (obviously) and; (2) maximum numbers resist less (i.e. 200/200 will resist less than 200/205).Do the same for Subjugation, for roots, stuns etc.Quality of the spells.  If you read the description of your spells (i.e. do an examine and read the explanations) you will see percentages against Resistability, and obviously the better quality the spell the  harder it will be for the mob to resist it.The two best pieces of advice for mitigating against resists is get the best spell upgrades you can afford (and start with the roots and stuns) and always maximise your stats each time you go up a level.<cite>Orinath wrote:</cite><blockquote>Can there be partial resists to spells? If so, does damage scale against resistance (I.E. Monster resists half of the spell, and only takes half damage)?</blockquote>I don't believe single damage spells or roots can be partially resisted, as such, by single mobs.  If you attack a group with a group encounter spell, then one or more (or all!) may resist.  If you fire a damage over time (DoT) spell, then I think they can be resisted during their time limit, but I may be mistaken.What does and can happen though, is that the mobs (and you) have mitigation against certain types of damage (see yours on the Stats tab of the Persona window).  This means that the mob can absorb a certain percentage of certain damage types, so although the damage is not specifically resisted it certainly does not mean that the damage numbers you expect all affect the mob.

[Orina]

Thank you all for the excellent advice and responses. It is good to know that I ought to skip adept one and go for at least adept 3. Using apprentice IV is like pulling teeth! It wont be easy as I'm currently counting silvers, but at least I know what to shoot for.Oakleafe, thank you for taking the time to respond with the detailed info. It was very specifically what I was looking for. It's good to know that I'm not wasting my time with the stam line, too. =P