
Moreover, for all effects that trigger on a damaging hit, even a fully absorbed attack still counts as taking or inflicting unsaved damage. Note that absorption, unlike complete immunity, does not protect from secondary effects of an attack that is, all effects other than damage will apply as normal.

Shield fully benefits from all types of protection, so the exact same amount that would otherwise go to unsaved damage depletes the shield potency. If the shield cannot ward off all damage, it disappears, making the remaining amount be drained from the character's Life as normal. Some skills protect the character (or their ally) with a shield of force, barrier of pure diamond or a shroud of holy energy, making enemy damaging attacks drain from the shield instead of the victim's Life pool. In contrast, ten points of fire absorb, even after healing, would make hardly any difference against a 500 damage Meteor.Ībsorb Magic Damage modifiers work against all types of non-physical damage.Ībsorb Damage modifiers are very useful against elemental attacks, especially multiple small damage hits, such as those from Council Members' Hydras or Scarab Demons.Ībsorb X% Damage modifiers are most useful against fierce elemental damage monsters.Ībsorption returns in Diablo III, but works in a slightly different way, absorbing damage like Mana Shield in Diablo I, except that it consumes the shield's own capacity rather than Mana. Ten points of lightning absorb can completely neutralize a Lightning Enchanted boss, if it's emitting dozens of 6-8 damage charges. The value of absorption modifiers varies greatly due to how damage is inflicted:Ībsorbing lightning damage is the most useful since lightning tends to hit in multiple small bolts. There are two types of absorption modifiers: one that reduces damage by a specific number of hit points (e.g., "+15 Fire Absorb" on Hellmouth), and one that reduces damage by a specific percentage (e.g., "Cold Absorb 20%", as found on Raven Frost).

In Diablo II, damage absorption usually works on a damage of a specific type, as well as heals the user that amount of damage before they take damage from the rest of the hit.

Absorption is a special modifier that completely erases a certain amount of damage.
