Diminishing returns

From WoWWiki

Class	Effect	PvP	PvE	DR Category
Druid	Bash	Yes	No	Stun
	Entangling Roots	Yes	No	Root
	Hibernate	Yes	No	Sleep
	Cyclone	Yes	Yes	Blind/Cyclone
	Celestial Focus	Yes	Yes	Stun Proc
Hunter	Freezing Trap	No	No	None
	Entrapment	Yes	TBD	None
	Wyvern Sting	TBD	TBD	Sleep
Mage	Frost Nova	Yes	No	Root
	Polymorph	Yes	No	Gouge/Polymorph/Sap
	Impact	Yes	Yes	Stun Proc
	Frostbite	Yes	No	Root Proc
Shaman	Frost Shock	No (in 2.3)	No	None
	Stoneclaw Totem	Yes	Yes	Stun Proc
	Earth Shock	No	No	None
Paladin	Hammer of Justice	Yes	Yes	Stun
	Seal of Justice	Yes	Yes	Stun Proc
	Repentance	Yes	?	Gouge/Polymorph/Sap
Priest	Psychic Scream	Yes	No	Fear
	Mind Control	Yes	No	Charm
	Blackout	Yes	Yes	Stun Proc
Rogue	Sap	Yes	No	Gouge/Polymorph/Sap
	Gouge	Yes	No	Gouge/Polymorph/Sap
	Blind	Yes	Yes	Blind/Cyclone
	Cheap Shot	Yes	Yes	Stun
	Kidney Shot	Yes	Yes	Kidney Shot
	Mace Specialization	Yes	Yes	Stun Proc
Warlock	Fear	Yes	No	Fear
	Seduction	Yes	No	Fear
	Howl of Terror	Yes	No	Fear
	Death Coil	Yes	No	Horror
	Shadowfury	Yes	?	Stun
Warrior	Mace Specialization (Stun)	Yes	Yes	Stun Proc
	Charge	Yes	Yes	Stun
	Intercept	Yes	Yes	Stun
	Concussion Blow	Yes	Yes	Stun
	Hamstring	No	No	None

Diminishing returns means that certain spells and abilities are less effective against player characters if they are used frequently within a short period of time. The table to the right contains a list of abilities that are affected by DR, and under what circumstances. In addition DR categories are listed. Effects within same category diminish each other.

From the official 1.4 release patch notes:

• When a spell with diminishing returns is used against a target in PvP, the first effect has full duration.
• On the second use of the same category of spell (e.g. slowing), that spell's duration is reduced by 50%.
• On the third use, the duration is reduced by 75%.
• On the fourth attempt, the target becomes immune to the spell.
• Spells must be used on the same target within 15 seconds of the *end* of the duration in order to be diminished. In other words, if a target hasn't had a slowing spell active on them for more than 15 seconds, the next slowing spell will have full effect.

Some abilities share diminishing returns, — that is, it doesn't matter which one you use; the next time you use an ability in the same category on the same target, its duration will be diminished just as if you had used the exact same ability. These abiltiies are the Rogue abilities Gouge and Sap; the Warlock spells Fear, Howl of Terror, and Seduction; and the Warrior abilities Charge, Concussion Blow, and Intercept.

Diminishing Returns in PvE

Many types of crowd control also suffer from diminishing returns versus NPCs. Diminishing returns do not count per player but per creature; every creature has its own diminishing return for each group of CC and all players in your party / raid will be affected by that diminishing return.

External links

• Official 1.4 Patch notes that talk about diminishing returns
• Official 1.9 Patch notes that talk about diminishing returns as they relate to controlled stuns