I’m sure as you’ve wandered around Eriador you’ve noticed that weapons have different damage types. This is never really explained in-game and so I thought very little of it. It seemed natural that some would be stronger than others, but how much stronger was not something I was able to piece together.
In any case, I’ll be going over the various damage types, the Great Protection buff and related issues in this post.
Damage Types
For most of the game you’ll likely run into weapons that have “Common Damage”. Common Damage is essentially the most general, basic damage you can apply to an enemy.
A weapon’s tooltip will always display its damage type. The Bronze Sword above states that it does 8 to 12 Common Damage, as outlined in red.
In total, there are six different damage types in the game:
- Common
- Ancient Dwarf
- Westernesse
- Beleriand
- Light
- Fire
These are listed in no particular order, largely because every enemy type has its own specific weaknesses and resistances. However, when possible you will want to replace your Common Damage weapons as they are the most commonly resisted damage type in the game. This will become especially important as you get higher in level.
Lore–masters have a skill called “Knowledge of the Lore–Master” that allows them to check the mitigation (their weaknesses) and resistances of enemies. If you have one in your group, they can easily let you know what will be most effective.
Either way, I think the best place to start is the LotRO Wiki, specifically this post on Damage Types. It lists enemy types alongside their mitigation and resistances in simple tables. As you can see Fire and Light are generally your best bets, although if you’re planning on fighting some Gorthorog Trolls you might want to bring with something else too.
Great Protection
If you’ve traveled to Sarnur or Haudh Iarchith you likely have come across enemies with a buff known as “Great Protection”. The tooltip for the buff states something to the effect of “Certain weapons can break this protection”. At least a few bosses in other areas have this buff as well.
The buff itself cannot be removed, but certain Damage Types can bypass it. These enemies are nearly immune to certain damage types and you’ll likely find yourself doing single digit damage and having most of your attacks absorbed before the enemy takes you down completely.
In my experience, you’re safe if you have Light or Fire Damage weapons. While these might not do 100% damage, they manage well enough. You should be able to finish the enemies off with either of these types and move on. If you’ve not gotten a quest item that has one of these damage types, try looking on the Auction House for polished or mirrored weapons. These names imply that the weapon has Light Damage.
If you have a Lore–master in your group (or are one yourself), you’ll again be able to check enemies’ resistances and mitigation. These will vary by area and by mob, but the most important thing to know is that Great Protection wights in Haudh Iarchith are weakest against Westernesse Damage and Great Protection dwarfs in Sarnur are weakest against Ancient Dwarf Damage.
If you really want to be prepared, I suppose having an assortment of weapons on you could beneficial if you’ll be heading into these areas. One for Ancient Dwarf, one for Westernesse and one for Light (or Fire, if you prefer) should get you through most anything. Of course, as someone who duals wields I usually am stuck doubling this up.
