» Wed May 02, 2012 4:55 pm
Sound reduces the opponent's odds of casting successfully. Since the NPCs generally are designed so that casting their spells isn't a problem, Sound only gives a SMALL chance for them to fail. It's not like where the player-character has a 60% chance, and another 10% penalty is significant. Silence might work better, if you can afford to cast it for a long enough duration.
Most of the defensive spells (Reflect, Absorb, Shield) have such a high casting cost that you can only afford a small magnitude or duration, making them only semi-useful (although using an Enchantment, which won't deplete your own Magicka, could be handy). Sadly, Morrowind (and most of the rest of the series) makes it non-cost-effective to use magic defensively.