Immunities to Damage Types Or Effects? (Enemies)

[Al_Ciao]

(I'm new to SWTOR, so bear with me, please.)

 

I've read some articles detailing types of damage (elemental, energy, kinetic, internal), saying that internal and elemental damage completely bypass armor.

 

1. So what I'm wondering is, why doesn't every single player (at least those who spec DPS) go for internal- and elemental-damage powers? Are there enemies with immunities to certain types of damage? (For instance, is "internal damage" non-applicable to droids?)

 

2. My secondary question is this: When it comes to effects, such as stun and immobilizing, are any enemies immune to these? Looking at some of the powers available for some classes, some powers specifically say they only stun standard/weak enemies (therefore not strong, elite, or champions), but others merely say stun. Would that mean this latter type will stun any enemy in the game?

 

Please note, I'm primarily asking about PvE, though any thoughts on PvP aspects are welcome too. Thanks! ^-^

[Miltiades]

I don't really know much about the types of damage myself, but I've looked into it for my DPS Mercenary in the past, so from what I've read, one aspect of choosing your type is depended on the skills you use. If you have a rotation with a couple of skills that do a certain type of damage, it makes sense to go look for items with that particular damage type boost. Also, a quick info check on these types, it's internal and kinetic damage that penetrate armor, not elemental. By the way, internal damage works on droids too, I think. At least my DoT Gunslinger had no problems applying internal damage on droids.

 

On your second question: there are stuns that work on elites and champions, yes. Most won't, but there are some. My Jedi Guardian tank has a stun that both raises threat and can stun even champions, yes. But, depending on the (advanced) class and skill tree, be restricted to probably maximum one.

[mimartin]

You can usually look at the buffs on the enemies, they will say if they have boss immunity or now. If they don't then CC's that work on Elites and Champions will work on them. If they do have the immunity, then it will say they can't be CC'ed or interrupted.

 

The reason I want internal damage is that it bypass armor reduction.

[Al_Ciao]

mimartin: What is a CC? Crowd control? What exactly falls under the term "crowd control"? Are stuns included? I've seen the message that bosses are immune to interrupts, but my current character does not have a stun yet, so I don't know about that.

 

Miltiades: On the wiki, it does in fact say that it is internal and kinetic damage that bypass armor, but that's the only place I've seen that. Both this and this article say otherwise. I'm inclined to trust them over a wiki anyone can edit, but of course I could be wrong.

 

Also, thanks for the clarification on internal damage working on droids. That was just an example, but it does at least seem to indicate that there are no broad immunities to types of damage.

 

I'm just wondering...what's the drawback of internal damage? If it bypasses armor reduction, then why isn't everyone selecting powers that do internal damage instead of energy damage? For example, the Sith Sorcerer Lightning Tree mostly affects powers that do energy damage; the Sith Sorcerer Madness Tree has new powers that deal internal damage; so why would anyone ever choose Lightning (energy) over Madness (internal)?

[mimartin]

Yes it is crowd control...I would consider stuns under crowd control. There are many different types. From short a few second stuns to 1 min out of combat stuns. I would even consider some taunts that limit accuracy or damage as a forum of crowd control. If you are not a tank spec, I would not recommend using those in a group setting, but soloing any ablility that helps control the fight is fair game. This game gets real simple to down right easy when you have and learn to use crowd control, interupts and learn the kill order. Weak then strong, elite, champion then boss. Expect in case when a NPC can either stun lock or heal. In that case kill the stun locker, then the healers and the weak to Boss.

[Miltiades]

Miltiades: On the wiki, it does in fact say that it is internal and kinetic damage that bypass armor, but that's the only place I've seen that. Both this and this article say otherwise. I'm inclined to trust them over a wiki anyone can edit, but of course I could be wrong.

I think you're right. In fact, seeing as Internal and Elemental are really the same damage type (same goes for Kinetic and Energy), it wouldn't make much sense otherwise.

 

Drawbacks of internal/elemental damage? Well, while internal/elemental damage isn't mitigated by armor, there are other means of reducing these types of damage (buffs, skills - the Consular's Force Valor buff, for example, reduces internal/elemental damage by 10%). As a rule, when you're faced against enemies with high armor, you pick internal/elemental damage over kinetic/energy, while the opposite is true against low-armor enemies (MMO-Mechanics explains it in more detail).

 

Also, as far as I know, most internal/elemental damage comes from DoT skills (not all), meaning bleeding, burn effects, etc. These need to be applied and especially in PvE where you're dealing with a lot of 'weak' and 'normal' enemies, it can feel tedious. It's against stronger enemies that these skills really shine.

[Al_Ciao]

Haha, well, yes, I imagine it can feel tedious indeed. My ideal playstyle would be a darkside + magic theme, with AoE burst damage that can one or two shot anything in the game >.>

 

Barring that though... Anyhow, Death Field (Sith Sorcerer Madness tree) is burst, so. But duly noted, thanks!

 

I was just a bit curious about how it all worked, and I appreciate you guys taking the time to help me understand!

[Miltiades]

I'm glad you asked the question, it's not always clear to me as well, so getting me to go "investigate" clarifies a few things for me too.