Something I've wondered about for a while: We all know that some damage types are more-resisted than others, but how big are the differences? And what is the exact order of least-resisted to most-resisted?
So, over the weekend, I decided to find out. I took advantage of D&D Beyond's filtering options to assemble data on resistances, immunities, and vulnerabilities by CR, and crunched the numbers to see just how much a point of poison, fire, force, etc. damage is worth. If you're a caster picking out damage spells and you want to know how to get the most blast for your buck... this one's for you.
A note on slashing/bludgeoning/piercing: For each of these types, I only counted absolute resistance to that type. Resistance that can be bypassed by magic weapons is not included. So a black pudding counts as "immune to slashing," but an iron golem does not.
Summary:
And now, the actual data. (Here's hoping ENWorld formats the tables correctly... *fingers crossed*)
Damage Effectiveness: This table includes data from the Basic Rules, Monster Manual, and Volo's Guide to Monsters. (I decided to leave out custom monsters/NPCs from the adventure paths.)
The calculation is the average of "How much damage would this monster take from a point of [x] damage?" So a vulnerable monster counts for 2, a resistant monster counts 0.5, an immune monster counts 0, and everything else is 1.
Vulnerable/Resistant/Immune, Percent of Monsters: This table breaks down what percent of monsters are vulnerable (V), resistant (R), or immune (I) to a particular damage type.
Vulnerable/Resistant/Immune, Count of Monsters: Same as above, but this is the actual count of monsters in each category:
NEW - Damage Effectiveness by Creature Type: Shows the damage effectiveness calculation broken out by creature type. In the case of fiends, I added alignment as a proxy for demon/devil (so if you're about to play Out of the Abyss, you want to look at "Fiend CE," not so much "Fiend LE").
So, over the weekend, I decided to find out. I took advantage of D&D Beyond's filtering options to assemble data on resistances, immunities, and vulnerabilities by CR, and crunched the numbers to see just how much a point of poison, fire, force, etc. damage is worth. If you're a caster picking out damage spells and you want to know how to get the most blast for your buck... this one's for you.
A note on slashing/bludgeoning/piercing: For each of these types, I only counted absolute resistance to that type. Resistance that can be bypassed by magic weapons is not included. So a black pudding counts as "immune to slashing," but an iron golem does not.
Summary:
- Across all levels, poison is by far the least effective damage type, and it gets weaker the higher you go. That's what happens when whole categories of creature are flat-out immune.
- Fire, cold, and lightning form the second "tier." Fire is weaker than the others, but the difference is not large until very high level. Note that while fire is the most-resisted of the three, it's also the most common vulnerability of all damage types. Which ain't saying much.
- The third "tier" is acid and necrotic. There are not many monsters that resist these, making them good picks for a damaging cantrip (you always want a reliable fallback). You know... just in case you needed another reason to pick up toll the dead.
- Psychic, thunder, weapon (slashing/piercing/bludgeoning), force, and radiant are almost never resisted.
And now, the actual data. (Here's hoping ENWorld formats the tables correctly... *fingers crossed*)
Damage Effectiveness: This table includes data from the Basic Rules, Monster Manual, and Volo's Guide to Monsters. (I decided to leave out custom monsters/NPCs from the adventure paths.)
The calculation is the average of "How much damage would this monster take from a point of [x] damage?" So a vulnerable monster counts for 2, a resistant monster counts 0.5, an immune monster counts 0, and everything else is 1.
Overall | CR <1 | CR 1-4 | CR 5-10 | CR 11-16 | CR 17+ | |
(573 monsters) | (161 monsters) | (204 monsters) | (134 monsters) | (48 monsters) | (26 monsters) | |
Poison | 0.78 | 0.88 | 0.79 | 0.73 | 0.71 | 0.58 |
Fire | 0.89 | 0.96 | 0.92 | 0.85 | 0.77 | 0.65 |
Cold | 0.91 | 0.98 | 0.93 | 0.87 | 0.79 | 0.83 |
Lightning | 0.92 | 0.98 | 0.93 | 0.88 | 0.80 | 0.77 |
Acid | 0.95 | 0.99 | 0.96 | 0.94 | 0.90 | 0.92 |
Necrotic | 0.96 | 0.99 | 0.96 | 0.97 | 0.94 | 0.83 |
Psychic | 0.98 | 1.00 | 0.99 | 0.98 | 0.96 | 0.92 |
Thunder | 0.98 | 0.99 | 0.99 | 0.98 | 0.94 | 1.00 |
Piercing | 0.99 | 0.98 | 0.99 | 0.99 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
Slashing | 0.99 | 0.98 | 0.99 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
Force | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
Bludgeoning | 1.00 | 1.01 | 1.00 | 0.99 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
Radiant | 1.00 | 1.01 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.99 | 0.98 |
Vulnerable/Resistant/Immune, Percent of Monsters: This table breaks down what percent of monsters are vulnerable (V), resistant (R), or immune (I) to a particular damage type.
Overall | CR <1 | CR 1-4 | CR 5-10 | CR 11-16 | CR 17+ | |
(573 monsters) | (161 monsters) | (204 monsters) | (134 monsters) | (48 monsters) | (26 monsters) | |
Poison | V-0% R-1% I-21% | V-0% R-1% I-12% | V-0% R-1% I-21% | V-0% R- 2% I-26% | V-0% R-0% I-29% | V-0% R-0% I-42% |
Fire | V-2% R-9% I-8% | V-2% R-5% I-4% | V-2% R-7% I-7% | V-1% R-17% I-7% | V-2% R-13% I-19% | V-0% R-8% I-31% |
Cold | V-1% R-11% I-4% | V-1% R-5% I-1% | V-1% R-6% I-4% | V-1% R-19% I-4% | V-0% R-21% I-10% | V-0% R-19% I-8% |
Lightning | V-0% R-9% I-4% | V-0% R-3% I-0% | V-0% R-7% I-3% | V-0% R-15% I-4% | V-0% R-15% I-13% | V-0% R-15% I-15% |
Acid | V-0% R-4% I-3% | V-0% R-2% I-0% | V-0% R-4% I-2% | V-0% R-5% I-4% | V-0% R-4% I-8% | V-0% R-0% I-8% |
Necrotic | V-0% R-3% I-2% | V-0% R-0% I-1% | V-0% R-2% I-3% | V-0% R-4% I-1% | V-0% R-8% I-2% | V-0% R-12% I-12% |
Psychic | V-0% R-0% I-2% | V-1% R-0% I-1% | V-0% R-0% I-1% | V-0% R-1% I-1% | V-0% R-0% I-4% | V-0% R-0% I-8% |
Thunder | V-0% R-2% I-1% | V-0% R-1% I-0% | V-0% R-2% I-0% | V-1% R-5% I-0% | V-0% R-0% I-6% | V-0% R-0% I-0% |
Piercing | V-0% R-3% I-0% | V-0% R-4% I-0% | V-0% R-3% I-0% | V-0% R-2% I-0% | V-0% R-0% I-0% | V-0% R-0% I-0% |
Slashing | V-0% R-1% I-0% | V-0% R-3% I-0% | V-0% R-1% I-1% | V-0% R-1% I-0% | V-0% R-0% I-0% | V-0% R-0% I-0% |
Force | V-0% R-0% I-0% | V-0% R-0% I-0% | V-0% R-0% I-0% | V-0% R-0% I-0% | V-0% R-0% I-0% | V-0% R-0% I-0% |
Bludgeoning | V-1% R-2% I-0% | V-2% R-2% I-0% | V-0% R-1% I-0% | V-0% R-2% I-0% | V-0% R-0% I-0% | V-0% R-0% I-0% |
Radiant | V-0% R-1% I-0% | V-1% R-0% I-0% | V-0% R-0% I-0% | V-0% R-1% I-0% | V-0% R-2% I-0% | V-0% R-4% I-0% |
Vulnerable/Resistant/Immune, Count of Monsters: Same as above, but this is the actual count of monsters in each category:
Overall | CR <1 | CR 1-4 | CR 5-10 | CR 11-16 | CR 17+ | |
(573 monsters) | (161 monsters) | (204 monsters) | (134 monsters) | (48 monsters) | (26 monsters) | |
Poison | V-0 R-7 I-121 | V-0 R-1 I-19 | V-0 R-3 I-42 | V-0 R-3 I-35 | V-0 R-0 I-14 | V-0 R-0 I-11 |
Fire | V-11 R-53 I-47 | V-4 R-8 I-6 | V-4 R-14 I-14 | V-2 R-23 I-10 | V-1 R-6 I-9 | V-0 R-2 I-8 |
Cold | V-4 R-61 I-23 | V-1 R-8 I-1 | V-2 R-13 I-9 | V-1 R-25 I-6 | V-0 R-10 I-5 | V-0 R-5 I-2 |
Lightning | V-0 R-50 I-23 | V-0 R-5 I-0 | V-0 R-14 I-7 | V-0 R-20 I-6 | V-0 R-7 I-6 | V-0 R-4 I-4 |
Acid | V-0 R-21 I-16 | V-0 R-4 I-0 | V-0 R-8 I-5 | V-0 R-7 I-5 | V-0 R-2 I-4 | V-0 R-0 I-2 |
Necrotic | V-0 R-17 I-12 | V-0 R-0 I-1 | V-0 R-5 I-6 | V-0 R-5 I-1 | V-0 R-4 I-1 | V-0 R-3 I-3 |
Psychic | V-1 R-2 I-10 | V-1 R-0 I-1 | V-0 R-0 I-3 | V-0 R-2 I-2 | V-0 R-0 I-2 | V-0 R-0 I-2 |
Thunder | V-1 R-14 I-3 | V-0 R-2 I-0 | V-0 R-5 I-0 | V-1 R-7 I-0 | V-0 R-0 I-3 | V-0 R-0 I-0 |
Piercing | V-0 R-16 I-0 | V-0 R-7 I-0 | V-0 R-6 I-0 | V-0 R-3 I-0 | V-0 R-0 I-0 | V-0 R-0 I-0 |
Slashing | V-0 R-8 I-2 | V-0 R-5 I-0 | V-0 R-2 I-2 | V-0 R-1 I-0 | V-0 R-0 I-0 | V-0 R-0 I-0 |
Force | V-0 R-0 I-1 | V-0 R-0 I-0 | V-0 R-0 I-1 | V-0 R-0 I-0 | V-0 R-0 I-0 | V-0 R-0 I-0 |
Bludgeoning | V-4 R-10 I-0 | V-3 R-4 I-0 | V-1 R-3 I-0 | V-0 R-3 I-0 | V-0 R-0 I-0 | V-0 R-0 I-0 |
Radiant | V-2 R-4 I-0 | V-1 R-0 I-0 | V-1 R-1 I-0 | V-0 R-1 I-0 | V-0 R-1 I-0 | V-0 R-1 I-0 |
NEW - Damage Effectiveness by Creature Type: Shows the damage effectiveness calculation broken out by creature type. In the case of fiends, I added alignment as a proxy for demon/devil (so if you're about to play Out of the Abyss, you want to look at "Fiend CE," not so much "Fiend LE").
Aberration (31) | Beast (113) | Celestial (8) | Construct (16) | Dragon (52) | Elemental (24) | Fey (17) | Fiend CE (21) | Fiend LE (13) | Fiend NE/Other (9) | Giant (19) | Humanoid (122) | Monstrosity (68) | Ooze (6) | Plant (18) | Undead (36) | |
Poison | 0.97 | 1.00 | 0.63 | 0.31 | 0.91 | 0.33 | 1.00 | 0.02 | 0.15 | 0.33 | 1.00 | 0.93 | 0.87 | 1.00 | 0.89 | 0.11 |
Fire | 0.90 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.73 | 0.65 | 0.97 | 0.48 | 0.08 | 0.44 | 0.89 | 0.98 | 0.93 | 1.00 | 1.25 | 0.92 |
Cold | 0.90 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.84 | 1.06 | 0.91 | 0.50 | 0.54 | 0.56 | 0.84 | 1.00 | 0.93 | 0.83 | 0.97 | 0.79 |
Lightning | 0.84 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.94 | 0.84 | 0.92 | 1.00 | 0.50 | 1.00 | 0.61 | 0.89 | 1.00 | 0.96 | 0.67 | 0.86 | 0.78 |
Acid | 0.90 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.94 | 0.84 | 0.96 | 1.00 | 0.98 | 1.00 | 0.44 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.98 | 0.58 | 1.00 | 0.90 |
Necrotic | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.88 | 0.94 | 0.99 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.98 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.53 |
Psychic | 1.03 | 1.00 | 0.88 | 0.63 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.97 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.96 |
Thunder | 0.90 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.98 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.89 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.90 |
Piercing | 1.00 | 0.96 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.81 | 0.99 |
Slashing | 1.00 | 0.96 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.67 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
Force | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.94 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
Bludgeoning | 1.00 | 0.97 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.04 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.92 | 1.08 |
Radiant | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.75 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.05 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.03 |
Last edited: