In Dragon's Dogma Fall Damage is caused by drops above a certain critical height, typically around 5 meters.
Overview[]
Fall damage is caused by falling or being knocked off high walls, cliffs and so on, by being dropped from a height from the clutches of creatures, or after being propelled upwards by spells or explosions.
Small drops do not result in damage. After a certain length of fall, a "free fall" state begins, with the person flailing helplessly. Once in this state they cannot recover, and the fall will certainly result in some harm.
The damage is not mitigated by armor, and is usually proportional to the height dropped.
If fall damage is taken, the victim will be briefly prone, just like a knockdown state, before they are able to get up and continue.
Knock-up[]
Using fall damage from Arc of Obliteration to destroy Living Armor
- For a list of skill that can possibly knock up to cause fall damage, see Knockdown.
Being knockdowned, or knockbacked a long distance does not cause fall damage - however being knocked upwards can result in damage on the subsequent fall. Attacks that can cause fall damage include :
- Blast Arrows
- A direct hit from Fearful Din
- The updraft from the spell Maelstrom
- Several types of Warrior skill including the 'Lash' and 'Arc' types.
- Assassin's Powder Barrage
Fighter's Antler Toss can lift foes, but not usually high enough for damage.
Creature lifts[]
- All Harpy species, as well as the Griffin will grab people and pawns to lift them into the air, then drop them.
- Pawns will sometimes successfully catch an ally falling from a creature's grab, preventing damage.
- Those clinging to Dragons or Griffins may fall from great heights as the vigorous activities of those creatures cause loss of stamina and grip.
- Additionally the escape maneuver by the creature always causes the loss of grip.
- The snake head of a Chimera, as well as the tentacles of an Evil Eye and Gazer may grab and throw prey far enough to cause fall damage. Garm have an attack that rams and then lifts into the air. Similarly breath attack by all Wyvern types causes knockup which may result in fall damage.
Environmental drops[]
Ledge grab
Dropping from a certain threshold of height causes damage. In some cases it is possible to grab onto a ledge before falling (push [move] in the direction of the ledge to grab) - dropping from such a state causes a reduction in the height dropped and may make the difference between damage and a safe fall. It seems that Character Height affects this, as those with longer legs are nearer to the ground when dangling.
Fatal drops[]
As much as long enough falls may reduce health to zero, some falls are always fatal. These generally include falls into abysses or into pits (such as the lift shaft in The Catacombs), and falls from extreme height, such as from the bridge pathways beyond The Tainted Mountain Temple.
Battle tactics[]
Using fall damage is an effective battle tactic. Small creatures can be picked up and thrown off cliffs, and some small flying creatures can also be stunned in flight, leaving them to fall to their end.
Since fall damage is not mitigated by defense it is particularly effective against stronger foes which otherwise resist attacks - these include: Skeleton Lords, Skeleton Brutes, Poisoned Undead, Eliminators and Living Armors - using attacks that knock up can be effective against these heavily armored foes - generally blasts include Blast Arrow and Fearful Din lift high enough. These foes might be more susceptible to fall damage as well.
Cyclopes, Ogres, and even Golems can be killed by pushing, leading, or tricking them off a ledge. If the Arisen or a pawn was clinging to them as they fell they will have a soft landing.
Specifically Ogres and Eliminators can be lured off ledges by dodging their lunging attacks near an edge; Cyclopes are often stupid enough to fall of their own accord; Golems can be pushed off ledges by repeated use of powerful spells like Gicel.
Sometimes giant creatures can be killed by a fall to reachable location below. That allows to recover their loot unlike cases when foes die to a fall into abyss.
- In Fortress of Remembrance Eliminators and Elder Ogres that fall to the Fourth Floor from bridge leading to Black Abbey can be looted.
- Cyclops on the road from Soulflyer Canyon's East Entrance to Ruins of Heavenspeak Fort can fall of the cliff and their body will stay in Cursewood below.
Notes[]
..falls on head..
- When falling from being knocked down (or sideways, such as from a cyclops club) the tumbler will fall on their head.
- Fall damage is increased in this state probably by one half.(verify)
- Flying creatures are generally immune to fall damage - they can still be got rid of by throwing into abysses or the brine.
- The Magick Archer augment Resilience halves the fall damage.
- In Dark Arisen the secret augment Grace allows safe drops from slightly higher places.
- Fall damage is the same in Hard Mode.
- Contrary to the skill's description the staff skill Levitate does not have any real effectiveness against falls from height.
- (Glitch)
Fall damage from attacks that lift (Fearful Din etc) may be much more reliable at 60fps settings. - (Exploit) In Dark Arisen the skill Skull Splitter can be used to avoid fall damage.
- (Exploit) There are numerous exploits in Bitterblack Isle involving knocking down Death over an abyss. Dragons can also be killed in a similar way.
- (Exploit) Living Armor's threshold for "sundering" (past 50% Health the enemy gets immune to physical damage) may be bypassed by inflicting fall damage, which allows slaying the enemy with physical attacks.
