One of my cats is still reading my manual...

I have 2 questions about this stat.

1) What makes it go up? My monk has gone from 12% to 14% DA. Speed is 100%, dex and strength are high. Are they the determinants? Do you include vitality? How can I maximize it?

2) I've only seen it with Monks. Can anyone else get it?

I'm not sure the manual provides any good info here, but what I've read and experienced to a degree are:

Dwarf race gets an automatic 8% resistance (non-improving), I think.
Monks damage resistance scales with monk level (not character level), and I believe only "works" when that character is currently a monk class.
Ironskin (special attribute skill from maxed vitality) provides up to 25% damage resistance (with 100 in that skill).

Ironskin is tough to develop and should be unlocked as early as possible to get higher skill points. It develops by being physically hit from an attack (falling down damage or damage from fire from the crash site in arnika don't cut it), a physical attack from poision doesn't seem to work (like a poision seeker attack). It does not seem to be dependent on the amount of damage taken - in otherwords 1 pt. of damage works as well as 100 pt.s of damge. On an optimal meatshield I will typically utilize a lizard fighter and unlock this skill at around character level 6/7 (which is by far the fastest of any race/class combination) and typically these characters will not wear any armor until at least 2/3rds of the game is finished. Usually I'll have 75 points or more before AP, but I've never finished the game with more than 85 points in this skill (because typically at this time they are wearing armor and are getting hit less often). Initially this skill doesn't seem to do much for damage resistance but by about the time you hit 25 points you really notice an improvement. In addition of course Ironskin also helps fight against things like blindness, draining, sleep, and KO's. Though I've never done it, I'd assume you could increase this skill similarly to the seeker/stealth method, but you would have to find something that does minimal physical damage such as certain weeds firing from a distance AND you would have to monitor the "action" more closely to make sure they get healed when needed (unless you have something helth regeneration stuff).

[ 07-16-2003, 07:39 PM: Message edited by: ScottG ]

well i guess that sums it up. lizardmen do have high vitality (70) so its all a matter of where you wanna go with it. i dont think you will absorb all of the damage you come across, but you can always work on it. also, i dont know if a lizardman monk is a good combo. [img]graemlins/1ponder.gif[/img]

scottg has some great detail about developing the ironskin trait, so i could be wrong on this, but..

i was under the impression that the damage absorption for both the dwarf and the monk were controlled by vitality. that is, as vitality goes up the trait goes up. i've never tested this directly, but it may be that i was mistaking level-up increases for vitality increases.

regarding lizardman fighters, they're a great combination. their mental resistance is poor, and they learn their academic skills (close, ranged, dual) slowly, but they more than make up for it on the physical side

I had never thought of using a dwarf monk, I think I'll try one next time and max vitality to see what I get.