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PoE 1Lesson 4 of 12VerifiedVerified for 3.30

Resistances: why you die

What fire, cold, lightning and chaos resistance do, the 75% maximum, the -60% the campaign takes away, why negative resistance is so dangerous, and how to cap your resistances with gear.

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Resistances: why you die

8 sections

Resistances: why you die

Fire
75% (82%)
Cold
75%
Lightning
51%
Chaos
-20%

The white tick is the 75% maximum. Brackets show resistance past it.

A resistance panel: Fire 75% (82%), Cold 75%, Lightning 51%, Chaos -20%.

Why resistances matter

Armour only cuts physical damage. Fire, cold, lightning and chaos damage are cut by resistances instead, so low resistances let those hits through almost whole.

Your resistances are on the character sheet. Press C in game.

Read it as text

Why resistances matter

Armour only cuts physical damage. Fire, cold, lightning and chaos damage are cut by resistances instead, so low resistances let those hits through almost whole. Your resistances are on the character sheet (press C in game).

What a resistance does

Each resistance cuts damage of its own type by that percentage. At 75% Fire Resistance a 1,000 fire hit does 250.

The 75% maximum

Resistances stop at a maximum of 75%. Anything past it blocks nothing more, though it helps when something lowers your resistance. Some passives and items raise the maximum, but never above 90%.

The campaign takes some away

Finishing Act 5 gives -30% to all resistances. Finishing Act 10 gives another -30%, so -60% in all, for the rest of the game. +60% Fire Resistance from gear lands at 0% after Act 10.

Negative resistance hurts

Below 0% you take extra damage. At -60% a 1,000 hit does 1,600: 6.4 times what you'd take at 75%.

Chaos resistance

Chaos is its own resistance. Fire, Cold and Lightning gear doesn't add to it, but 'all resistances' does, and it gets the same -60% from the campaign. Cap Fire, Cold and Lightning first.

Fixing low resistances

Resistances come mostly from gear: rings, amulets, belts, boots, gloves, helmets and shields can all roll them. The passive tree has some too. Swap gear first; take tree nodes when you're a few percent short.