Resistances, immunities and vulnerabilities in DND 5e: simple explanation and calculation of numbers (2023)

Last updated on January 22, 2023

I don't know if there is any D&D campaign that has managed to avoid combat entirely. That would be pretty crazy, right?

Combat is one of the three pillars of the game, which is why it comes up quite often.

I'm sure most of us would like to get out of combat alive. Comprehensiontypes of damageand the different ways creatures and characters can bond with them are key to making sure you don't force your allies to cast Revive after every fight.

In this article, we'll give you an overview of resistances, immunities, and vulnerabilities, along with a discussion of their frequency and how you can plan for them as a player or DM.

What is damage resistance in DnD 5e?

Resisting a damage type means you take half damage when hit by damage of that type. You can gain resistance to a specific damage type, damage source, or damage case. As always in 5e, if you divide the damage by 2, you round up.

Damage resistance calculation is done after applying all other modifiers. That is, any additional damage bonus beyond simply rolling the dice. Also, resistances to a specific damage do not stack.

Maybe as a dwarf you have resistance to poison damage. Drinking a poison resistance potion does not give you any additional benefit. This damage isn't halved and then halved again, and you certainly don't get immunity.

Damage resistances are one of the most common damage ratios you'll find in 5e. Many creatures, especially those with higher CR, have at least one damage resist in their stat block. Of course, there are also many ways to gain resistances as a player character.

Some races, such as dwarves and tieflings, have resistances due to their racial traits. Most resistances will come from a class ability.

One of the best out there is the third level Bear Totem ability from the Totem Warrior barbarian trail. Surprisingly, this feature resists initiallyinnon-psychic damage. Crazy? Possibly. Incredible? Definitive.

What is damage immunity in 5e??

Damage immunity means you don't take damage of a certain type. Although this is not defined anywhere in the 5e reference works, for clarity we use the default dictionary definition. I also follow the wise advice of Jeremy CrawfordHere.

Immunity is quite interesting since there is no official definition of 5e. It's shocking that we can't get one considering it's everywhere. Immunity, like other damage modifiers, isn't just limited to creatures and players.

You can find immunity in magical fortresses, ships, items, and basically anything that can deal damage. So... everything.

Damage immunity is an extremely absolute mechanic. Fire damage immunity means you don't take fire damage, end of story. magical fire, flaming swords, lava; No matter what fire damage you deal, it will be fine. If you can get your hands on it, even temporarily, it will be a game changer.

There is also talk of conditional immunities. is nowapartdamage, it's worth talking a bit while we're at it. Conditional immunity hypothetically works the same way. Again, there's no standard definition in our reference books, so it's up to the DM.

In either case, immunity to a disease prevents the side effects it might normally have. Because of this, there will be times when immunity to the poison condition will save you from bound damage, even if it's not a damage type you're immune to.

I bring this up because the line between condition and damage can sometimes get blurred. If part of a suffocating vineContentCondition means you would take 2d6 bludgeoning damage and you are immune to bludgeoning damage, you take no damage.

This doesn't mean it's no longer restricted, unless it also has immunity to the restricted condition.

This previous paragraph may seem complicated.

The bottom line is that immunity to a condition translates to immunity to a condition's damage, while immunity to a damage type doesn't always mean immunity to the damaging condition.

A situation common to poison, as poison is both a damage type and a condition. If you're immune to one, you're usually immune to the other as well. If not, pay close attention to what situation is happening to you.

Note that the wording is often different: "You take x poison damage" sounds different than "You are now poisoned."

What is vulnerability to damage in 5e?

Being vulnerable to a damage type means you take double damage when it hits you. If there is a situation where you have resistance and vulnerability to a damage type, calculate resistance over vulnerability. This can sometimes save a point of damage.

Contrary to damage resistances, weak points are large or terrible. It all depends on whether it's you or your enemy. One thing that needs to be clear is that the doubling effect is applied after all other modifiers.

OfNOdouble the number of dice rolled. The confusion makes sense, we double the number of dice we roll when we get a critical hit.

Exactly why we're doubling critical dice and doubling weak point damage probably has a lot to do with game theory, I don't know. However, the part I mentioned about calculating vulnerabilities by strengths is reason enough for me.

Now you might be thinking how someone can be vulnerable and resistant to the same source of damage. Well, you can take a resistance or vulnerability from a potion or magical effect, effectively canceling the two if you already have the opposite of a racial or class trait.

However, there is an alternative. Damage can be of two types at once. More on that in the next section.

magic/non-magic damage

While magic damage isn't a "type" of damage, let's just say it's a quality that can deal damage. It's also something that both characters and creatures can have resistance, vulnerability, or immunity to. The same goes for non-magical damage.

This kind of bonus damage quality is the source of most cases where a target has conflicting resistances and vulnerabilities. Let's say my barbarian has resistance to club damage while he rampages, but is afflicted with a disease that makes him vulnerable to magic damage.

When hit by a magic hammer that deals 2d6+3 magic club damage, we enter the puzzle.

Luckily, it's pretty easy to fix. First we calculate the raw damage, let's say it averages 11. Then we calculate the club's toughness first, halve it and round it up to 5. Next, we analyze the magic damage vulnerability, which results in a damage total of 10 routes.

As you can see, we lost one damage point there. What about immunity? In fact, it is quite easy because immunity only tells us that we are not damaged.

We come across many demons, elementals, and even higher level undead that have resistance to non-magical attacks.Club, stab and slash damage. The solution for a combat character is to take a magic weapon or have the caster enchant one of their weapons with it.magic weapon.

Unique Damage Resistances/Immunities/Vulnerability

Similar to magical or non-magical attacks, some creatures even have extremely specific relationships to damage types. One such creature is the Jabberwock from The Wild Beyond the Witchlight. Has vulnerability to hit damage dealt specifically by avorpal sword.

Here are some other rare instances that are basically fun and not essential for battle preparation.

What are the most common resistors in 5e?

Being prepared for battle means knowing what opposition you will encounter. While the detailed answer is a bit more nuanced, cold, fire, lightning, and poison damage are the types your enemies are most likely to resist.

Below is a glorious list. It's a list of all damage types, including non-magical club "type", strikes, and piercing attacks, with a count of all resistances, immunities, and vulnerabilities present on 5e creatures. Look no further, this is the top list if you want to know how common resistance is.

For those of you who are a bit more visual, I've created a little graph here that compares all of this data. Remember that it increases immunity to poisonsFarabove the limits of this chart, and if the chart were to go up to 531, we would have little opportunity to see weakness.

This all paints a pretty good picture of what types of damage to avoid and what to stock up on. Thunder, Psycho, and Might are his most reliable damage forms. They also do well with physical damage types as long as they are magical.

What we're seeing here is actually pretty balanced by the damage types we're dealing. Stronger spells are resisted more often. That's why there are subclasses like the Soulknife rogue that always has onemind damageTherefore, there is a demand for off-the-shelf commercial blades.

Another great class to bypass damage vulnerabilities, possibly the best, is the Scribal Order Mage. Their second-tier resource, Awakened Spellbook, allows them to temporarily replace a spell's damage type with a type that appears in another spell in their spellbook.

This means that you can cast extremely powerful spells.like fireball with a damage type not only repelled by a full grown dragon.

What are the best resistors?

The best types of damage you are resistant to are Fire, Poison, andtypes of physical damage. This represents the most common types of damage dealt by creatures and spells that any opposing spellcaster might cast against you.

While resistance to this type of damage gives the best results, resistance to all damage is useful. As a GM, it's important to throw a good combination of enemies at your player characters so they have a chance to see the value of their eventual stamina.

There is a delicate balance to be struck between giving in to a character's resistances and avoiding them altogether. Use your intuition.

How to get resistors in 5e

You can gain resistances from racial or class traits, magic items, or even some spells. Below are some common or excellent sources for getting resistors.

Please note this is far from an exhaustive list, but we may have one in stock so check back soon or find a link below.

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• Water Genasi - Acid resistance as a racial trait.
• Dragonborn - Draconic Ancestry provides adequate breathing resistance; all kinds except blows, stabs and cuts
• Tiefling – Infernal Resistance provides resistance to fire damage.
• Dwarf: Dwarf Endurance provides resistance to poison damage and conditions.
• Triton - Guardians of the Depths provides cold resistance

classroom

• Wrath: 2nd-level barbarian class trait
• Battle Avatar: Level 17 Warhold Cleric Ability; only applies to non-magical damage
• Fiendish Resilience: Fiend Patron Level 10 Warlock Skill; choose a save at the end of the short or long rest; magical andsilver weaponsignore resistance

• Elemental Affinity - Dragonborn Sorcerer Skill, Level 6; Acid, Lightning, Fire, Poison or Cold
• Transmutation Stone: 6th level mage skill from the transmutation school; damage from acid, cold, fire, lightning or thunder; selected each time you use the ability

Quickly

• fake death– 3rd level necromancy; anything but psychic
• santo -evocation of the 5th stage; optional effect; Resistance of any kind other than club, gore or slash
• power protection– 3rd level summoning; one of acid, cold, fire, lightning or thunder
• Want– 9th level summoning; Up to ten creatures gain toughness.
• Steinhaut– 4th level summoning; only applies to non-magical damage
• walk in the wind6th level transmutation; all non-magical weapons

magic items

Many of them have additional effects..

• Stamina Potion (Uncommon) – Provides a specific stamina for 1 hour
• Invulnerability Armor (Legendary) – Resistance to non-magical damage
• Clasp of Protection (Uncommon) – Violent damage resistance
• Lifewell Tattoo (Very Rare) – Resistance to necrotic damage