Do damage reduction debuffs stack?

**Zoltar** · 01-05-2012, 15:05

I noticed that multiple classes have the ability to debuff enemy damage by 20-25%. Anyone know if these effects stack? If they do stack, I'm sure it will be multiplicative and perhaps capped.

(WD) Bad Medicine- 20% damage reduction when damaging enemies with poison.
(Barb) Threatening Shout- 20% damage reduction for 15 seconds.
(Monk) Resolve- 25% damage reduction when damaging enemies.
(DH) Numbing Traps- 25% damage reduction when damaging enemies with certain skills.

If all these were stacked, you would get enemies doing 36% of normal damage. Even if there is a cap, it seems like these skills will be extremely important in Inferno difficulty.

**HardRock** · 01-05-2012, 18:06

No way to know for sure. I'm betting they'll work like slows do and only the most powerful will take effect at a time. This solution would actually promote more diverse skill setups, which I really like.

**beingmused** · 01-05-2012, 18:47

It would be strange if only the most powerful effect was active at once. That makes sense for slow because it is a CC, it is like stunning something already stunned. But things that affect resistances and damage done shouldn't be completely blanked because another class happens to have the same effect. Or maybe I'm just crossing my fingers that my reasoning is correct, or else my group build plan of stacking Conviction-type effects will need to be rethought.

**HardRock** · 01-05-2012, 18:56

If they do stack, then there must be a cap on their effect. Otherwise players will be able to negate most of the damage of enemies in parties.

**galzohar** · 01-05-2012, 20:31

If they stacked multiplicatively then it would be ok. It would be similar to how you could chain CC in coop keeping monsters frozen indefinitely or whatever. In coop you generally have a lot more power than in solo from various aspects, and this one shouldn't really be any different. I'm still surprised they decided to keep the game with hardly any damage increase for monsters and less than "multiply monster HP by number of players" for HP increase when you play in coop, making coop much much easier than solo even if your group has no teamwork, as long as they stick together more or less.

**HardRock** · 01-05-2012, 21:27

I wouldn't like that to be honest. It would still encourage heavy debuff stacking in parties, making builds much more bland. The system I think is in place would be easier to balance and it would increase the number of viable build combinations. A win for everyone involved if you ask me.

Increasing monster damage in multiplayer would completely mess up the game balance. The HP increase is there to counter the increased damage the monsters will receive, thereby maintaining the difficulty more or less. There's no reason to do the same for monster damage. Co-op shouldn't be harder if the party sticks together, but it would be if monster damage would increase with the number of players.

Coop must be somewhat easier compared to solo even with modest amount of teamwork to make up for the fact that most group will most likely won't play optimally. If public games would have disadvantages to them most people probably wouldn't play in them. Coop should always be an attractive option.

**Sooru** · 01-05-2012, 21:37

The snare way, most powerful one taking effect, is really the only sensible way. Taking away fourth of the damage is probably on par with some of the better defensive buffs.

However reducing the damage done to 36% would nearly trivialize survival aspect of the game, since monster damage doesn't increase from solo play.

They've said chaining CC together won't be viable in Inferno, so that can't really be used as an argument here.

**Zoltar** · 01-05-2012, 22:51

Originally Posted by HardRock

Increasing monster damage in multiplayer would completely mess up the game balance. The HP increase is there to counter the increased damage the monsters will receive, thereby maintaining the difficulty more or less. There's no reason to do the same for monster damage. Co-op shouldn't be harder if the party sticks together, but it would be if monster damage would increase with the number of players.

Not really. Increasing the damage would make sense to me, since players are getting much more than additional damage by grouping. Not saying damage should double or anything, but maybe a 10% increase @ 2 players, 15 @ 3 players, and 17% at 4 players.

**HardRock** · 01-05-2012, 22:58

Originally Posted by Zoltar

players are getting much more than additional damage by grouping

They may get more. The point is that right now it's a choice whether you bring party buffs with you or not, because the game's difficulty doesn't really change with an average group in multiplayer. By buffing monsters further the devs would make that choice for the players.

**Zoltar** · 01-05-2012, 23:26

Originally Posted by HardRock

They may get more. The point is that right now it's a choice whether you bring party buffs with you or not, because the game's difficulty doesn't really change with an average group in multiplayer. By buffing monsters further the devs would make that choice for the players.

I think even with the damage increase I mentioned, you would still have the difficulty decrease in an average group vs solo'ing. It's not just about buffs/debuffs. It's also the defensive and utility spells that you get by having more players.

I'm curious about the comment regarding stacking CC not being viable in Inferno. I wonder if that just means something as simple as mobs being stun immune. Will snares be less effective?