There are actually six types of elemental damage – fire, cold, electricity, nature, spirit and physical – the last being associated with ordinary melee weapons. Most offensive spells produce one type of elemental damage and certain weapons (including most staves) inflict elemental instead of physical damage. Weapons that have been enchanted by Runes (see page 214) may inflict several different types of damage simultaneously.
Use the Bestiary chapter of this guide to discover the elemental weaknesses of enemies (which may include physical damage if they have weak armor) and select the appropriate weapons for the task. On Nightmare difficulty, enemies also have elemental resistances. A shield icon next to an enemy’s health bar indicates an immunity to your current attack.
If you enable “Show Damage Numbers” in the Options screen, you can identify different types of damage by the color the text appears in.
|
Element |
Text Color |
Secondary Effect |
Rune |
Ability |
|
Fire |
Orange |
Immolation |
Rune of Fire |
Fireball, Firestorm |
|
Cold |
Blue |
Slows enemies |
Rune of Frost |
Winter’s Grasp, Cone of Cold |
|
Electricity |
Yellow |
Stunning jolt (holds enemies briefly) |
Rune of Lightning |
Chain Lightning, Tempest |
|
Nature |
Green |
- |
Rune of Nature |
Wrath of the Elvhen, Ensnare |
|
Spirit |
Purple |
Halves magic resistance and damage resistance |
Rune of Spirit |
Holy Smite, Spirit Bolt, Despair |
|
Physical |
White |
- |
Rune of Impact |
Stonefist, Fist of the Maker, weapon attacks |