D&D 4E 4e Question about resistance/immunity

[MrGrenadine]

I'm creating a war wizard, who specializes in Thunder and Cold powers, but I'm toying with the idea of making him purely a Winter Warlock/Mr. Freeze type, and just piling on all of the appropriate Cold based powers, items, and feats.

I'm a little wary of putting all of my elemental eggs in one basket, though, for the obvious reason: Resistances and Immunities.

But I have a couple questions:

If a monster has Resist X Cold, then Cold damage is reduced, but the monster would still be affected by any rider effects (slow, etc.), right?

And I'm not sure if any monsters have immunity to Cold, but if so, same question.

Last, for anyone who has created a character based around one elemental power--any advice or recommendations?

Thanks!

 

[NMcCoy]

I'm playing a fire-oriented Dragon Sorcerer. So far it hasn't been problematic at all, though some of that may be due to a combination of rare combat, plot-fueled special abilities, and an accommodating DM.

Mechanically, I'd recommend picking up an elemental quarterstaff (which can be used as an implement for wizards) to retype your spells when needed - either to or from cold, as you prefer.

Resistance doesn't ever affect non-damage effects of powers, even if the damage is reduced to 0. Searching the Compendium for "immune cold" turns up only 15 monsters total.

Quoth the Compendium, on immunity: "A creature that is immune to a damage type (such as cold or fire), a condition (such as dazed or petrified), or another specific effect (such as disease or forced movement) is not affected by it. A creature that is immune to charm, fear, illusion, poison, or sleep is not affected by the nondamaging effects of a power that has that keyword. A creature that is immune to gaze is not affected by powers that have that keyword."