The most common types of damage in PvE?

JoeKnowMo

JoeKnowMo

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Oct 2005

Wessst Siiide, USA

Mo/

Rank the following types of damage in terms of how frequently you see them in PvE. Feel free to indicate which campaign you see more of one damage type, although I'm trying to figure this out over all 3 chapters + the expansion.

- Cold
- Earth
- Fire
- Lightning
- Blunt
- Piercing
- Slashing

Ben-A-BoO

Ben-A-BoO

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2006

Europe

To be honest,
I don't think my reply might offer you the help you seek. But i assume that you want to choose a mod for your shields ... it really really depends what area you are in ...
That is why I have 28 shields for my paragon and warrior (needed them for pvp anyway - my casters use them as well). And yeah i do a lot of weapon swapping.

And it really isn't that hard anymore to get the shields you need with the EotN collectors:
You get the nice Aureate Aegis for the motivation line with +30 HP for 5 stone summit emblems for example ...
There are +30 HP inscriptables for all the other attribute lines as well ... so not a question of big money anymore.

Otherwise i would rank them by damage potential in pve if I had to choose a mod for a rare skin shield:

Ele damage:

1. Fire
2. Lightning

Mele damage:
1. Slashing
2. Blunt

I hope others might be more helpful,
Timebandit

Edit: changed the order after thinking it through .. again by considering your profession too. see below

JoeKnowMo

JoeKnowMo

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Oct 2005

Wessst Siiide, USA

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by timebandit
But i assume that you want to choose a mod for your shields ... it really really depends what area you are in ... I want to put my most frequently used mods on the rarest shields I have so that those get the most exposure. I'm finding that I usually have +AL vs Piercing equipped most frequently followed by +AL vs Lightning, Fire, or Earth. But I've only recently begun to pay attention.

I'm wondering what some longtime users of shields might have to say about this.

Ben-A-BoO

Ben-A-BoO

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2006

Europe

Hey Joe,
I assume you are a paragon judging your avatar and profession description.
Which means you are a midline player due to the range of your spear and positioning for your shouts.

Mele shields

In PvE, mele will most likely ignore you, due to high armor, and head for the backline squishies or fall to the aggro of your tank(s).
Your choice for piercing makes sense to me on a mele shield against nasty archers or paragons.
Slashing can come in handy in Nightfall and Charr lands ... against those nasty nasty Dervishes that hit multiple foes and so you are more likely to be hit as well.
I vote for slashing in nightfall and EotN since it just hits harder (higher spike potential) then most piercing damage weapons (skills) - no offense to our sins out there =P

Elemental Damage

Other then that you are most likely to be hit by elemental damage.

Fire magic and the heavy hitting AoE's like Meteor Shower, Searing Flame, Rodgorts invocation are the biggest threat to you, so a fire shield makes sense to me in Prophecies, midgame Nightfall and Charr land + destroyers in EotN. My personal first vote.

Water Magic AoE can be nasty in big mobs. Again Torment Area in Nightfall, Norn Lands and shiverpeaks in prophecies teach you a lesson what damage potential that line has. Not a bad choice to have ... would go second after fire for me.

Armor vs. Lightning is very nice to counter the armor penetrating second effects of that line. This would see most use in the Torement area of Nightfall and the dreaded Invoke Lightning AoE. I can't recall any lightning spike (beside pvp, and glint's challenge) that I fall too.

Earth Magics damage potential is mainly AoE (Sandstorm, Unsteady Ground) and that can be avoided by kiting out. Other then that the most dreaded earth magic damage - obsidian flame - is armor ignoring anyway. Only the earth elementals in Nightfall and the Dragon's Stomp ele's in faction city area are "hard hitters". So least important.

Summing up by damage potential in pve areas:

1. Fire
2. Water
3. Slashing
4. Lightning
5. Piercing

I am curious about other suggestions,
Timebandit

Nemo the Capitalist

Nemo the Capitalist

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Aug 2006

Trust me you dont want to know my Chasms of Despair

Zaishen Brotherhood

N/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by timebandit
Hey Joe,
I assume you are a paragon judging your avatar and profession description.
Which means you are a midline player due to the range of your spear and positioning for your shouts.

Mele shields

In PvE, mele will most likely ignore you, due to high armor, and head for the backline squishies or fall to the aggro of your tank(s).
Your choice for piercing makes sense to me on a mele shield against nasty archers or paragons.
Slashing can come in handy in Nightfall and Charr lands ... against those nasty nasty Dervishes that hit multiple foes and so you are more likely to be hit as well.
I vote for slashing in nightfall and EotN since it just hits harder (higher spike potential) then most piercing damage weapons (skills) - no offense to our sins out there =P

Elemental Damage

Other then that you are most likely to be hit by elemental damage.

Fire magic and the heavy hitting AoE's like Meteor Shower, Searing Flame, Rodgorts invocation are the biggest threat to you, so a fire shield makes sense to me in Prophecies, midgame Nightfall and Charr land + destroyers in EotN. My personal first vote.

Water Magic AoE can be nasty in big mobs. Again Torment Area in Nightfall, Norn Lands and shiverpeaks in prophecies teach you a lesson what damage potential that line has. Not a bad choice to have ... would go second after fire for me.

Armor vs. Lightning is very nice to counter the armor penetrating second effects of that line. This would see most use in the Torement area of Nightfall and the dreaded Invoke Lightning AoE. I can't recall any lightning spike (beside pvp, and glint's challenge) that I fall too.

Earth Magics damage potential is mainly AoE (Sandstorm, Unsteady Ground) and that can be avoided by kiting out. Other then that the most dreaded earth magic damage - obsidian flame - is armor ignoring anyway. Only the earth elementals in Nightfall and the Dragon's Stomp ele's in faction city area are "hard hitters". So least important.

Summing up by damage potential in pve areas:

1. Fire
2. Water
3. Slashing
4. Lightning
5. Piercing

I am curious about other suggestions,
Timebandit
yep bout covers it friend

JoeKnowMo

JoeKnowMo

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Oct 2005

Wessst Siiide, USA

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by timebandit
Hey Joe,
I assume you are a paragon judging your avatar and profession description.
Which means you are a midline player due to the range of your spear and positioning for your shouts.
Actually, I mostly play my monk nowadays and this info is for my monk.

I know, my avatar and character name are misleading.

Quote:
Summing up by damage potential in pve areas:

1. Fire
2. Water
3. Slashing
4. Lightning
5. Piercing

I am curious about other suggestions,
Timebandit Thanks for your reply.

I'm in agreement for the most part. Here's my ranking based on my experience and (limited) memory in terms of damage my monk tends to take in PvE:

1. Piercing
2. Fire
3. Cold
4. Lightning
5. Earth
6. Slashing
7. Blunt

Div

Div

I like yumy food!

Join Date: Jan 2006

Where I can eat yumy food

Dead Alley [dR]

Mo/R

Fire's always good to take so a wild searing flame doesn't hurt you for 250. Instead, only 220 :P

Longasc

Longasc

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2005

I disagree on your ranking of slashing/piercing and blunt damage.

But I think you are right. Contrary to what people post, there are many more mobs doing elemental COLD damage than fire nukers are out there.

JoeKnowMo

JoeKnowMo

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Oct 2005

Wessst Siiide, USA

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Longasc
I disagree on your ranking of slashing/piercing and blunt damage. My ranking is based on the type of damage my monk usually takes. Slashing is a very common type of damage in PvE, but since I rarely take melee damage (kiting ftw) I ranked it low.

I take more piercing and elemental damage since they are ranged attacks.

You might be right about cold damage being the most prevalent form of elemental damage. And when you consider the use of Winter in certain missions/areas cold damage occurs even more frequently.

A11Eur0

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Apr 2005

W/

In mursaat lands, lightning is your biggest worry, to add that to the list above.