Resistance

When hit by a spell, characters have two chances to resist the spell. The first chance is based on the character's level. If much higher level than the attacking caster, there is a significant chance to resist the caster's spell, but if much lower level, there is a minimal chance to resist the spell (minimum of 1%). If characters make this resistance chance, they are completely unaffected by the spell.

The second chance to resist is based on resistance score and the level of the caster. The higher the resistance score in relation to the level of the attacking caster, the higher the average resistance percentage, up to a maximum of 75%. Against most spells, this resistance percentage is the straight % chance to completely resist the spell. Against direct-damage spells (spells that deliver their full damage upon impact, such as Fireball, Mind Blast, and Earth Shock), this resistance is the percentage of damage resisted on average.

When hit by a direct-damage spell, characters have a chance to resist 100%, 75%, 50%, 25%, or 0% of the spell's damage, depending on resistance score in relation to the level of the attacking caster. Average percentage of damage resisted is the weighted average of resistance percentages for each level of damage resistance (100%, 75%, 50%, 25%, and 0%). Using, as an example, a fire resistance score of 250 vs. a level-50 mage's fire spell, a character would on average resist roughly 75% of the damage of that spell (as can be deduced by calculating the weighted average for the corresponding column in the example table below). To further the example, if characters had fire resistance of 100, they would, on average, resist roughly 30% of the spell's damage.

Here is an example of how various resistance scores play out against level-50 spells: