For some time something has been bugging me: i see all those bars but i have no clue what they actually mean. So i started testing a bit with the "on demand condition" curse: i can apply that ad infinitum in the safety of the outpost and record everything without being under pressure.

Relevant Data:

Equipment Used

• Angelic Hat (or Heavy Demo hat when not needed)
• Seraphic Coat (or or Heavy Demo Suit when not needed)
• Faust/Avenger/Flourish as the weapons

Combined Curse resist is ~3 bars (2 normal ones, half near the symbol and half at the end), Angelic has about 1 bar worth of resist, Seraphic has about 2 bars; resists seem to be just additive (unlike total defense which seems to be helm value+armor value/2).

Method
I tested curse duration and effect while under the curse condition inflicted by the faust with no relevant gear, just the angelic helm, just the seraphic mail and with both of them on.

Data output
Curse Duration

• 40s with no Gear on
• 35s With just the Angelic Helm
• 33s with just the Seraphic on
• 30seconds with both the Angelic and the Seraphic on

Number of items cursed

• 2 with no Gear on
• 2 With just the Angelic Helm
• 2 with just the Seraphic on
• 1 with both the Angelic and the Seraphic on

The actual items that do get cursed seem to be random. I didn't see what the effect on usable items is since i didn't have any during the test.

Damage done

• 1.5bars with no Gear on
• 1.5 With just the Angelic Helm
• 1.5 with just the Seraphic on
• 1.25 with both the Angelic and the Seraphic on (1 bar the first time, 1 and a half the second time)

All damage comes out as red, though i don't think it's affected by normal damage defense (since none of the other conditions seem to be affected by it)

From the looks of it it seems the first piece of resistance has a huge impact, with the following pieces having a smaller (yet constant maybe? i don't know, i can't afford the trinkets to test for the moment :P). I'd infer that a full resist bar reduces the duration by about 40% since what amounts to a little above half a full resist bar gives ~25% reduction (with a large contribution from the first piece). The damage seems to be reduced as well though the curse condition doesn't give proper conditions to test values on that.

If i'll ever acquire a chaos set or a mad bomber set i'll try to test the negative part of the spectrum but until then, besides the minor upgrades i can get for the angelic line that will help me confirm/infirm my conclusion i won't be able to add much more.

An easier test could be done by the people who possess the Fang of Vog because fire resist/penalty is easier to find on armor than curse penalty/resist.

What i still don't get it how everything relates to shield resists. Shielding seems to give you immunity from any and all afflictions while it's up so what does "fire resist" on a shield mean? There is no relevant info to confirm the supposition that the resistances are a passive effect, mainly due to the fact that they don't show up in the "Character Sheet" summary. Even worse, what does "freeze resist" or "stun resist" on shields actually do?

Thoughts? Any other insight?