Skyrim Tips and Tricks » Discussions

How 'Afterburn' damage works in Skyrim

Tags: #Tips and Tricks Showcases 

• Paul England

  

  Member
   

  May 27, 2014

  My understanding is that Draugr are resistant to frost, but not actually weak to fire.  So you could use shock against them with pretty much the same effectiveness as fire.  Of course, fire is still a strong choice because of its cheaper cost and the afterburn damage. 

  My understanding is that Draugr are resistant to frost, but not actually weak to fire.  So you could use shock against them with pretty much the same effectiveness as fire.  Of course, fire is still a strong choice because of its cheaper cost and the afterburn damage. 

• James

  

  Member
   

  May 27, 2014

  It's been a while since I actually looked into resistances (a topic I plan on covering sometime soon) but from memory I believe the common belief that undead are weak to fire is incorrect.  I know for a fact Draugr are NOT weak to fire and if memory serves me correctly (always a gamble) vampires aren't actually weak to fire either.

  Draugr are resistant to frost because they are classified as 'NORD' and it has nothing to do with them being undead either.  Vampire's typicaly fall under a few classes (Nord, Breton, Imperial, etc) and have the corresponding resistances but I don't think they're inherantly strong against frost either but that may be incorrect. 

  I know for an absolute fact (because I used an Imperial vampire as a test subject for part of this week) that at least some vampire NPC's have no weakness to fire or resistance to frost.  Unsure if it's all of them, although I suspect that is the case.

  Just remember what you read on the popular Wiki's (UESP, Skyrim wikia, etc) is almost always just public opinion, as that is the fatal flaw of all wiki's.  While I believe that Wikipedia is a valid source on most information because it is kept up to date by experts and professionals, my discussions on this site should show you that a lot of the information about Skyrim is either misunderstood by most people or is outright unknown.  I've been playing around with the wall spells recently and they're very different from how UESP says they are, so always tread carefully with information.

  P.S.

  As a note, I only post information to this site that I am completely confident with.  On occasion I can't be 100% accurate with the exact numbers (as is the case with this discussion's taper values under necromage) but the effects I discuss are always accurate.  It's my goal to figure out whatever I can about Skyrim's mechanics and post the information for everyone to use and abuse.  If anyone EVER has any information that disagrees with anything I post I always welcome it and will look into it to the best of my ability. 

  It's been a while since I actually looked into resistances (a topic I plan on covering sometime soon) but from memory I believe the common belief that undead are weak to fire is incorrect.  I know for a fact Draugr are NOT weak to fire and if memory serves me correctly (always a gamble) vampires aren't actually weak to fire either.

  Draugr are resistant to frost because they are classified as 'NORD' and it has nothing to do with them being undead either.  Vampire's typicaly fall under a few classes (Nord, Breton, Imperial, etc) and have the corresponding resistances but I don't think they're inherantly strong against frost either but that may be incorrect. 

  I know for an absolute fact (because I used an Imperial vampire as a test subject for part of this week) that at least some vampire NPC's have no weakness to fire or resistance to frost.  Unsure if it's all of them, although I suspect that is the case.

  Just remember what you read on the popular Wiki's (UESP, Skyrim wikia, etc) is almost always just public opinion, as that is the fatal flaw of all wiki's.  While I believe that Wikipedia is a valid source on most information because it is kept up to date by experts and professionals, my discussions on this site should show you that a lot of the information about Skyrim is either misunderstood by most people or is outright unknown.  I've been playing around with the wall spells recently and they're very different from how UESP says they are, so always tread carefully with information.

  P.S.

  As a note, I only post information to this site that I am completely confident with.  On occasion I can't be 100% accurate with the exact numbers (as is the case with this discussion's taper values under necromage) but the effects I discuss are always accurate.  It's my goal to figure out whatever I can about Skyrim's mechanics and post the information for everyone to use and abuse.  If anyone EVER has any information that disagrees with anything I post I always welcome it and will look into it to the best of my ability. 

• James

  

  Member
   

  May 27, 2014

  As for the question about Ahzidal's mask yes it boosts the damage of the fire spells and thus also the afterburn.  I didn't want to include it in this discussion because while I use a fire spell for the example, this is just an introductory discussion about taper mechanics and not about any particular spell. 

  Next discussion is going to be about the FireStorm spell and will include the mask (plus a few other things).

  As for the question about Ahzidal's mask yes it boosts the damage of the fire spells and thus also the afterburn.  I didn't want to include it in this discussion because while I use a fire spell for the example, this is just an introductory discussion about taper mechanics and not about any particular spell. 

  Next discussion is going to be about the FireStorm spell and will include the mask (plus a few other things).

• James

  

  Member
   

  May 27, 2014

  I bought the Legendary hardcover copy of the official guide when the Legendary edition came out (was on sale for $10) and I was so incredibly disapointed with it.  So much incorrect information and even more was completely left out!

  I bought the Legendary hardcover copy of the official guide when the Legendary edition came out (was on sale for $10) and I was so incredibly disapointed with it.  So much incorrect information and even more was completely left out!

• James

  

  Member
   

  May 27, 2014

  I love phishing the attack burton's!

  If you mean the old trick of spamming the 'Flames' spell with quick bursts I believe the Afterburn damage for Flames is ~1.2 damage with both Augmented perks so it's nothing to sneeze at but it's far from amazing.  A lot of people claim that when a target is 'on fire' that they take bonus damage from additional attacks which makes them think spamming flames does a ton of damage but this simply isn't true.  It's still a viable tactic but isn't as wonderful as some think.

  I love phishing the attack burton's!

  If you mean the old trick of spamming the 'Flames' spell with quick bursts I believe the Afterburn damage for Flames is ~1.2 damage with both Augmented perks so it's nothing to sneeze at but it's far from amazing.  A lot of people claim that when a target is 'on fire' that they take bonus damage from additional attacks which makes them think spamming flames does a ton of damage but this simply isn't true.  It's still a viable tactic but isn't as wonderful as some think.

• Paul England

  

  Member
   

  May 27, 2014

  Wall spells - what a mess!  In terms of providing players with accurate information, I mean.  The in-game effect says 50 pts. per second.  UESP lists some funkier numbers - for Wall of Flames, 8pts/sec for the direct damage, with 20pts/sec for the hazard itself.  Frost and Shock walls seem to operate differently, too. 

  I have never really used Wall spells, partly because of the uncertainty of the numbers (and therefore how best to use them). Would be great if there were an actual, accurate listing of the damage!

  Wall spells - what a mess!  In terms of providing players with accurate information, I mean.  The in-game effect says 50 pts. per second.  UESP lists some funkier numbers - for Wall of Flames, 8pts/sec for the direct damage, with 20pts/sec for the hazard itself.  Frost and Shock walls seem to operate differently, too. 

  I have never really used Wall spells, partly because of the uncertainty of the numbers (and therefore how best to use them). Would be great if there were an actual, accurate listing of the damage!

• Borommakot

  

  Member
   

  May 27, 2014

  Definitely agreed on this. Wall Spells could have great potential if we knew what to do with them.

  Definitely agreed on this. Wall Spells could have great potential if we knew what to do with them.

• Paul England

  

  Member
   

  May 27, 2014

  Huh, that's a great idea Ben... for some reason, I always thought of walls as a defense against melee types.  The problem is, melee NPCs are going to run through your wall in about 1 second and start hitting you in the face (unless you stunlock them in place via Impact or paralysis). 

  But it does make much more sense to use them against ranged NPCs, who are going to stay in basically the same spot during combat.  Can't believe I haven't thought of that. Thanks! :)

  Huh, that's a great idea Ben... for some reason, I always thought of walls as a defense against melee types.  The problem is, melee NPCs are going to run through your wall in about 1 second and start hitting you in the face (unless you stunlock them in place via Impact or paralysis). 

  But it does make much more sense to use them against ranged NPCs, who are going to stay in basically the same spot during combat.  Can't believe I haven't thought of that. Thanks! :)

• Vazgen

  

  Member
   

  May 27, 2014

  For the record, UESP doesn't mention draugr or vampires having any weaknesses to fire or sun damage (vampire article has such line but I think it's related to the player not NPCs). UESP article on Draugr

  That site was wrong for a couple of things but it's correct in about 95% of questions, at least in my experience

  For the record, UESP doesn't mention draugr or vampires having any weaknesses to fire or sun damage (vampire article has such line but I think it's related to the player not NPCs). UESP article on Draugr

  That site was wrong for a couple of things but it's correct in about 95% of questions, at least in my experience

• James

  

  Member
   

  May 27, 2014

  I know for a fact it used to list them as having a weakness because I tried to edit it and it got changed back, UESP went through a massive amount of editing in the past few months so it was probably cleaned up then.  the Wikia still cites it I believe.

  Regardless of what the sites may or may not state, it remains a common belief.

  I know for a fact it used to list them as having a weakness because I tried to edit it and it got changed back, UESP went through a massive amount of editing in the past few months so it was probably cleaned up then.  the Wikia still cites it I believe.

  Regardless of what the sites may or may not state, it remains a common belief.