Just for the record, as James's thread notes, Daedric actually does the most bleed damage. But Orcish is quirky in that it does much more than the weapons of similar quality, and more even than Ebony. So yeah, Elemental Fury + Dual Savagery with daedric, orcish, or ebony war axes is the way to go if you want to stack bleed as efficiently as possible.
Tempering does not improve bleed damage, nor does anything else (one-handed skill level, enchantments, potions, etc.) with the exception being lowering your difficulty level. It ignores enemy AR and blocking; it's applied similar to magical effects. That being said, it may actually be affected by Weakness to Magic; I have a feeling James would have tested this but his thread doesn't say.
Just for the record, as James's thread notes, Daedric actually does the most bleed damage. But Orcish is quirky in that it does much more than the weapons of similar quality, and more even than Ebony. So yeah, Elemental Fury + Dual Savagery with daedric, orcish, or ebony war axes is the way to go if you want to stack bleed as efficiently as possible.
Tempering does not improve bleed damage, nor does anything else (one-handed skill level, enchantments, potions, etc.) with the exception being lowering your difficulty level. It ignores enemy AR and blocking; it's applied similar to magical effects. That being said, it may actually be affected by Weakness to Magic; I have a feeling James would have tested this but his thread doesn't say.
What would happen if I got the Apprentice stone and the Atronach perk from Alteration? The Apprentice Stone makes my character 100% weaker to magic, but the perk grants spell absorption. For the sake of argument, let's make the numbers simpler and imagine the Atronach perk gives 50% absorption instead of 30% (easily augmented with standard Fortify Destruction potions, BTW). Would that mitigate the Apprentice Stone's weakness to magic?
What would happen if I got the Apprentice stone and the Atronach perk from Alteration? The Apprentice Stone makes my character 100% weaker to magic, but the perk grants spell absorption. For the sake of argument, let's make the numbers simpler and imagine the Atronach perk gives 50% absorption instead of 30% (easily augmented with standard Fortify Destruction potions, BTW). Would that mitigate the Apprentice Stone's weakness to magic?
Right but if I'm getting twice as damaged by incoming spells, but there's a 50% chance of that spell getting absorbed, aren't I effectively only taking 100% magic damage again? Or am I still thinking about this the wrong way?
Right but if I'm getting twice as damaged by incoming spells, but there's a 50% chance of that spell getting absorbed, aren't I effectively only taking 100% magic damage again? Or am I still thinking about this the wrong way?
Statistically, you're right, but in practical terms the damage you receive fluctuates, meaning that some times the absorb won't be enough to keep you alive if your health pool can't take too much of a beating or you get unlucky. Even so, on the long run it does help quite a bit, but you should keep in mind it's not always as reliable as you may think.
Statistically, you're right, but in practical terms the damage you receive fluctuates, meaning that some times the absorb won't be enough to keep you alive if your health pool can't take too much of a beating or you get unlucky. Even so, on the long run it does help quite a bit, but you should keep in mind it's not always as reliable as you may think.
When you absorb the spell you're absorbing 100% of the spell meaning no damage, so with the apprentice and 50% magic absorption you have a 50% chance to take no damage and a 50% chance to take 2x the damage from a spell.
When you absorb the spell you're absorbing 100% of the spell meaning no damage, so with the apprentice and 50% magic absorption you have a 50% chance to take no damage and a 50% chance to take 2x the damage from a spell.