» Mon Jan 31, 2011 9:21 pm
yeah, damage health, has only one factor modifying damage; magic resistance/weakness rather than elemental resistance/weakness. For example, an altmer conjurer you might run into will have weaknesses to fire frost and shock, 25% each. Meaning... a spell doing 10 pts of fire, 10 pts of frost, and 10 pts of shock damage will actually do 10 + (10 x .25) x 3. This equals 37.5 rounded down to 37 (Oblivion spell effects ALWAYS round down, im not sure why, but i think its the way it was written so spell effectiveness when wearing armor will always be noticeable) points of damage rather than 30 (10+10+10). However, a spell doing 30 points of damage health will have no greater effect on the altmer and do just that, 30 points of damage. Experimenting (or the ES wiki) is the best way to learn the resistances and weakness of your enemies, thus, maximizing your spell/enchantment making effectiveness and tailoring them to the enemies you'll be facing.
The opposite of that example would be a breton inflicted by the same spell.... 10pts fire, frost, and shock......50% MAGIC resistance = 5+5+5 damage. Equivalent to damage health at 30 pts - 50% = 15...
Damage health is over all safer for any/all enemies, but less effective against specific enemies ( especially if you're a vampire hunter, or dremora killer, with 33% shock weakness and 25-75% fire weakness respectively)