History Main / DamageReduction

!! Examples:

* Many bosses in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' get a [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard "hidden" buff]] that takes 30% off the top of any incoming damage once their health drops below a certain point. Both the player characters and enemies can also have an augment that gives a {{Critical Status Buff}} to physical defense.
* The Sentinel class from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' has abilities that reduce incoming damage with an added effect such as healing or a counter-attack. Combined with DrawAggro abilities, this lets Sentinels soak up massive numbers of attacks for the rest of the party. One ability, Steelguard, further reduces incoming damage with each successive hit until enemy attacks are completely blocked.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' have tanks that have abilities whose purpose is to reduce incoming damage for a few seconds. Since a tank's job is to soak up damage, having damage reducing abilities makes their job easier. Healers have barriers which absorb a certain amount of damage before the barrier breaks.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' have buffs that directly increase the defense and resistance stats. The Blue Mage's Mighty Guard spell, learned from dragon-type enemies, bestows both. Their effects also stack with Protect and Shell.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' have a couple of skills that work like this. Pavise can potentially halve the damage from swords, lances, axes and beaststones, while Aegis can halve damage from bows, tomes, hidden weapons and dragonstones.

** In ''VideoGame/StarCraftI,'' a unit's Size category allows it to resist certain [[DamageTyping damage types]]. A Small unit only takes half-damage from Explosive weapons, and a Large unit takes half damage from Concussive damage. For example, a Zergling hit by a Dragoon's [[EnergyWeapon phase disruptor]] only takes 10 damage instead of the 20 damage the Dragoon's unit info ''says'' it does.

** Also present in ''XCOM 2'' and ''VideoGame/XCOMChimeraSquad'' is the Dodge stat. When the unit is targeted, a good roll for Dodge modifies the hit to be a grazing shot that deals only half or so damage. Critical hits cannot be dodged.

*** Mechtoids protected by a Psi Shield take only 50% damage while the shield is up. This carries over to damage that destroys the shield and affets the Mechtoid's HP pool. The [[{{EMP}} Electro Pulse]] subsystem of tier 3 MEC suits [[ArmorPiercingAttack bypasses this resistance]]
*** With ''Enemy Within'', Sectopods gain Reinforced Armor, which cuts ''all damage'' taken by the Sectopod by 50%, effectively giving them 60 HP. Like with Psi Shield, Electro Pulse ignores this trait.

** ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' adds an armor mechanic, most often seen on mechanical units or units wearing PowerArmor. Each point of armor reduces damage from weapon attacks by one point. Certain attacks can "shred" targets, reducing their armor value for the rest of the mission.

One very important to note is that, most of the time, DR reduces only '''physical''' damage -- that means that, typically, there are one or more ways to get around a DR-based DamageSponge: ElementalPowers almost always bypass DR, and if Magic Damage is different than Physical Damage, suddenly [[BeamSpam spamming the hell outta Magic Missile]] seems like a really, really good idea. Even if neither exist in the setting certain weapons or environment hazards can bypass the effect. DR can also manifest in different types, making some enemies very resistant against magic but weak to physical attacks and so on. Attacks that are specifically designed to ignore Damage Reduction tend to be {{Armor Piercing Attack}}s.

** Armor works by subtracting 3 ([[{{Nerf}} previously 5]]) from any instance of incoming damage, [[PercentBasedValues or halving it]], depending on which would result in damage reduction having the lesser effect.

The TropeMaker here is a little hard to place, as many/most TabletopGames miniatures games use some sort of Armor Rating to reduce damage, but the TropeCodifier is without a doubt ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' (third Ed and above), which uses it to a large extent, and is responsible for the tradition of "magic fire beats DR."

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' have a couple of skills that work like this. Pavise can potentially halve the damage from an incoming physical attack, while Aegis can halve magical damage.