In Elder Scrolls Online, understanding how weapon damage reductions affect PvE enemies is crucial for maximizing your group's survivability and overall efficiency. This guide will explore major and minor debuffs that reduce enemies' weapon and spell damage, the weakening enchantment, and how these factors interact with different bosses in the game. By delving into the specifics, we'll determine the effectiveness of these reductions and their potential impact on your gameplay.

• Debuffs and Enchantments
• Testing and Analysis
• Max HP-Based Damage
• Major and Minor Maim

↖ Debuffs and Enchantments

Minor Cowardice:

Minor Cowardice is a debuff that reduces an enemy's weapon and spells damage by 215. It is available from specific sources like the Warden's Corrupting Poll skill and the Nightblade's Power Extraction skill. While it can be valuable, sacrificing a five-piece item set slot solely for Minor Cowardice is generally not recommended.

Major Cowardice:

Major Cowardice is a more potent version of the debuff, reducing an enemy's weapon and spell damage by 430. It can be obtained from Nightblade's Aspect of Terror skill, as well as various sets like Kid Marshal's Cruelty, Nix-Hound's Mark, and Vicious Ophidian. Unlike Minor Cowardice, Major Cowardice can have a substantial impact on the enemy's damage output.

Weakening Enchantment:

Weakening enchantment is a weapon enchantment that reduces an enemy's weapon damage. Its effectiveness varies based on the weapon's trait, with infused being the most common choice. The value of a 200 weapon is 348, but with an infused trait, it goes up to 452. Healers often provide infused Weakening enchantments, offering a valuable means of damage reduction.

↖ Testing and Analysis

Determining Effective Damage Reduction:

To evaluate the impact of weapon damage reductions, testing on different bosses was conducted. The data indicated that the reduction in damage depends on the specific enemy. Some bosses experienced a 30% reduction with 430 weapon damage reduction, while others saw as little as 7% reduction.

Bosses and Difficulty Levels:

It was observed that bosses in dungeons have average weapon damage lower than those in trials. Additionally, the weapon damage of bosses can differ based on the difficulty level. For instance, hard mode did not increase boss weapon damage compared to veteran versions.

Increasing Returns:

Weapon damage reductions exhibit increasing returns. This means that as more reductions are applied, the overall damage reduction percentage rises at a diminishing rate. Adding sets like Torug's Pact and Heartland Conqueror on top of existing reductions can lead to a more significant damage reduction than anticipated.

↖ Max HP-Based Damage

Limitations of Weapon Damage Reductions:

While weapon damage reductions can be valuable, they may be less effective against bosses dealing Max HP-based damage. Attacks like Rift Master Nakuri's Codex in Scriveners Halls rely on Max HP rather than weapon damage.

↖ Major and Minor Maim

Impact of Maim Debuffs:

Major and minor maim debuffs reduce enemies' damage by 10% and 5%, respectively. It is essential to note that these debuffs are applied after weapon damage reductions. They also affect Max HP-based damage.

Conclusion:

Understanding how weapon damage reductions and debuffs impact PvE enemies is vital for optimizing group performance in Elder Scrolls Online. By considering specific boss mechanics, difficulty levels, and the interaction of various debuffs, you can tailor your strategies to increase survivability and maximize damage mitigation. Always adapt your approach based on the encounter and your group's composition to achieve the best results in your adventures.