There are 4 main elemental attacks in Diablo II: Fire, Cold, Lightning and Poison. Each Class has the ability to resist, or reduce the damage done by these attacks by using items or skills.

Curses and Bone based attacks are not considered elemental attacks so resistances will not protect against them.

Monsters, in addition to having the possibility of resistance to Fire, Cold, Lightning and Poison also have the ability to resist physical attacks (much like Shield blocking), and magical damage. When monsters have the ability to resist magical attacks this definition includes the Necromancer Bone spells (Bone Spear/Bone Spirit).

Unique "Spectral Hit" monsters do a random elemental attack each time they swing.

The Barbarian can devote points to Natural Resistance at level 30.

The Paladin can use several Auras including, Resist Cold, Resist Fire, Resist Lightning, Cleansing to reduce the length of Poison and Salvation at level 30 which provides resistances against Cold, Fire and Lightning attacks.

When to use them Melee characters should consider wearing resistance equipment all of the time as they are the least likely to avoid elemental attacks. All characters can keep a set of full resistance gear either in your Backpack, Cube, or Stash. When you run into trouble with monsters, put on your gear until the battle is over. Jewelry is best-suited for this purpose as it only uses 1x1 space. As you reach higher difficulty levels, and later Acts, resistances become very important. You may wish to maximize your resistance to Lightning and Fire especially in Act IV of Hell Difficulty for all classes.

Ranged vs Melee Characters
Resistances are very important for Melee or hand-to-hand combat characters. Characters which use mainly ranged attacks have the ability to kill Monsters that do elemental melee damage before they can reach them. When fighting Monsters with ranged elemental attacks, they can often side step or otherwise avoid these attacks, but not always. Characters whose main damage is done by a Sword, Mace, Spear or other Melee weapon must get up close to Monsters to attack them which exposes them to more elemental attacks. They can greatly benefit from resistances to magical attacks which will reduce the damage they take allowing them to stay in combat longer, survive battles they would otherwise lose, and allow them to use less Healing. There are some elemental attacks that can't be easily avoided such as those by Undead Horrors, Willowisps, Unique Monsters and Bosses. In those situations even Ranged fighters may wish to maximize their resistances.

Minimum Resistance

Your default resistance level changes based on difficulty levels:

Normal Difficulty: 0
Nightmare: -20
Hell: -50

Maximum Resistance

75% is the default maximum resistance for each Character. You can raise above 75% to a maximum of 95% Resistance by using items that raise maximum reistances. You can never be truly immune to elemental attacks, except in the case of being Frozen by Cold.

Negative Resistance Negative resistances will add more damage to Monsters and Players.

Lightning Resistance Lightning Resistances is most handily used when fighting Lightning Enchanted Unique Monsters. Each time you hit a Unique Lightning monster it will release a Charged Lightning Bolt. The more you hit these monsters, the more Charged Bolts are released. High Lightning Resistance can really help you in this situation. There are several lightning focused monsters throughout the game. Generally you will be hit by focused beams of Lightning, the same as the Sorceress' Level 12 Lightning spell, although it may be more powerful. Packs of Lightning Monsters may focus their Lightning Beams on you at the same time, in which case a high Lightning Resistance may insure your survive or greatly reduce the damage done by such attacks. Skeletal Mage types also occasionally have a Lightning Charged Bolt Attack.

Fire Resistance Fire Resistance is very useful as many Monsters have Fire Attacks throughout the game. Your first exposure will be Fallen Shamen, with a Fire Bolt attack. Some unique monsters are Fire Enchanted. They have Fire attacks and when killed explode leaving a blast of Fire. Blood Raven uses a Fire Arrow attack. The Countess is Fire Enchanted. Many monsters will have a Fire Melee attack, and may be Red in color. Mages in Act II and Act III, and sometimes seen in the Monastery cast Fire Balls, Fire Walls, and Meteors especially in the Arcane Sanctuary. Some Frogs in Act III will also cast Fire Balls.

Poison Resistance

Poison just might be the most annoying of the elemental attacks, save from being Frozen. Once poisoned you will be poisoned over time. Your Life Orb will turn green, your character will also turn green letting you know you've been poisoned. Some poisons do more damage than others, and they can last for a short time to a long time. You cannot die from being Poisoned however it will reduce your life to 1, which will make it very easy for other monsters or even booby trapped chests to kill you. There are quite a few monsters throughout the game with Poison attacks, Bone Ash found in the Cathedral in Act 1, Poison Skeletal Mages, Andariel, mummies first found in Act II, Poisonous Frogs, Swamp Monsters, and Ghouls that die leaving a poisonous cloud. Trapped Chests, and Booby Traps also may leave poisonous clouds or shoot poison missiles.

Poison can instantly be cured with an Antidote Potion. Antidote Potions are best used after all of the Poison Monsters have been killed. If you use them while the battle is still raging, often you will just be poisoned again right after drinking an Antidote Potion. You can also find magical items that reduce the amount of time you will be poisoned, and will reduce the damage taken from poison attacks.

Melee characters are often more susceptible to Poison Attacks than ranged attackers. Mummies, Ghouls, and other monsters shoot Poison at close range. It's also easy to walk into a Poisonous cloud left by a Ghoul when it dies.

Cold Resistance

Cold Damage is mainly done by Cold Enchanted Unique Monsters. Other Monsters that have Cold attacks are Claw Vipers in Act II, Mages which have a cold Melee attack, The Summoner uses Glacial Spike, and Diablo who has a Cold Melee attack as well. Mages in the jungle city of Kurast also cast Blizzard, a rain of ice shards. Undead Horrors have a Cold attack which is by far the most damaging. It may be worth maximizing Cold Resistances for those alone. If you were to skip a resistance, Cold Resistance would be the easiest to do without.

Some Cold Enchanted Monsters, when they die will leave an explosive Frost Nova which will usually chill you if you are too close. Keep a Thawing Potion in your inventory to instantly thaw yourself from being chilled. When chilled you will move and attack much slower which isn't very desirable except for a laugh.

The magical "Can't be Frozen" ability provides the ultimate in protection. Cold Resistances become much more important when fighting other players with Cold attacks.

Magic Resistance

Players also have Magic Resistance which is not shown. There are not, however, any items that can give added Magic Resistance. Magic Resistance is lowered 20 on Nightmare Difficulty and 50 on Hell Difficulty. This information might be useful to Necromancers when using Lower Resist (which includes Magic Resistance) in PvP situations.

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