Diminishing returns

Diminishing returns means that certain spells and abilities become less effective against a target if used frequently within a short period of time. While diminishing returns mostly applies to player characters, some abilities also have diminishing returns in PvE. The table below contains a list of abilities that are affected by DR, and under what circumstances. In addition, DR categories are listed. Effects within the same category share diminishing returns.

When an ability with diminishing returns is used against a target in PvP, the first effect has full PvP duration. If the same category of effect (e.g. root) is used on that target within 18 seconds, that effect's duration is reduced by 50%. On the third use, the duration is reduced by 75%. After this, the target is immune from all effects in that category for the next 18 seconds. Note that when used against another player, effects will only last for their PvP duration, often far shorter than the duration stated in the ability's tooltip. The maximum PvP duration is 8 seconds.

Spells must be used on the same target within 18 seconds of the * end* of the duration in order to be diminished. In other words, if a target hasn't had a root spell active on them for more than 18 seconds, this category of diminishing returns will be reset on the target, and the next rooting spell will have full effect.

Diminishing returns for knockback effects and taunts are a special case with different timings. Knockbacks are immediately immune after first usage, and reset after 10 seconds versus 18 seconds. Taunts that force aggro from mobs or pets reset after 18 seconds like usual, but they only become immune after fifth usage instead of after the third.

Table[]

The table below has been sorted out into diminishing returns categories. Each ability shares diminishing returns with the other abilities it has been listed with, and no others unless otherwise stated.

Note that the table data is for World of Warcraft Shadowlands only, not Classic.

Values marked with ?! are not sure to be the real. Modify if you know the correct ones.

Category	Class	Ability	PvP Duration
Roots	Death Knight	[Deathchill]	4 sec
	Druid	[Entangling Roots]	8 sec
	Druid	[Entangling Roots] from [Nature's Grasp]	8 sec
	Druid	[Mass Entanglement]	8 sec
	Hunter	[Binding Shot]	8 sec
	Hunter	[Steel Trap]	8 sec
	Hunter	[Harpoon] (?!)	3 sec
	Hunter	[Tracker's Net]	6 sec
	Mage	Freeze (Water Elemental)	8 sec
	Mage	[Frostbite]	4 sec
	Mage	[Frost Nova]	8 sec
	Mage	Tormenting Backlash (+Silence)	4 sec
	Monk	[Disable]	8 sec
	Monk	[Clash]	4 sec
	Shaman	[Earthgrab Totem]	8 sec
	Shaman	[Frost Shock] with Surge of Power	6 sec
	Warlock	[Conflagrate] with [Entrenched in Flame]	3 sec
Stuns	Death Knight	[Asphyxiate] (Frost, Unholy)	4 sec
	Death Knight	[Asphyxiate] (Blood)	5 sec
	Death Knight	[Frostwyrm's Fury] with [Absolute Zero]	3 sec
	Death Knight	[Gnaw] (Ghoul)	1 sec
	Death Knight	Monstrous Blow	2 sec
	Death Knight	[Dead of Winter]	4 sec
	Death Knight	[Reanimation]	3 sec
	Demon Hunter	[Chaos Nova]	2 sec
	Demon Hunter	[Illidan's Grasp]	6 sec / 3 sec
	Demon Hunter	[Fel Eruption]	4 sec
	Demon Hunter	[Metamorphosis] / [Metamorphosis] (PvE only)	3 sec
	Druid	[Maim]	1-5 sec
	Druid	[Mighty Bash]	4 sec
	Druid	[Rake] (Rank 2)	4 sec
	Druid	[Overrun] (+Knockback)	3 sec
	Hunter	[Consecutive Concussion]	4 sec
	Hunter	[Intimidation]	5 sec
	Monk	[Double Barrel]	3 sec
	Monk	[Leg Sweep]	3 sec
	Paladin	[Hammer of Justice]	6 sec
	Paladin	[Wake of Ashes] (PvE only)	5 sec
	Priest	[Psychic Horror]	4 sec
	Priest	[Holy Word: Chastise] with [Censure]	4 sec
	Rogue	[Cheap Shot]	4 sec
	Rogue	[Kidney Shot]	2-7 sec
	Shaman	[Lightning Lasso]	1-5 sec
	Shaman	[Capacitor Totem]	3 sec
	Shaman	[Pulverize] (Primal Earth Elemental)	4 sec
	Warlock	[Axe Toss] (Felguard)	4 sec
	Warlock	[Axe Toss] (Wrathguard) (?!)	4 sec
	Warlock	Meteor Strike (Infernal)	3 sec
	Warlock	Meteor Strike (Abyssal)	3 sec
	Warlock	[Shadowfury]	3 sec
	Warrior	[Shockwave]	2 sec
	Warrior	[Storm Bolt]	4 sec
	Warrior	[Warpath]	3 sec
	Highmountain Racial	[Bull Rush]	1.5 sec
	Kul Tiran Racial	Haymaker (+Knockback)	3 sec
	Covenant Ability	[Wild Hunt's Charge]	5 sec
	Soulbind Ability	Sparkling Driftglobe Core	3 sec
	Tauren Racial	[War Stomp]	2 sec
Incapacitates	Demon Hunter	[Imprison]	8 sec
	Demon Hunter	[Imprison] with [Detainment]	5 sec
	Druid	[Hibernate]	8 sec
	Druid	[Incapacitating Roar]	3 sec
	Hunter	[Freezing Trap]	8 sec
	Hunter	Freezing Trap (Diamond Ice)	5 sec
	Hunter	[Scatter Shot]	4 sec
	Hunter	[Wyvern Sting] (?!)	8 sec
	Mage	[Polymorph]	8 sec
	Mage	[Ring of Frost]	8 sec
	Monk	[Paralysis]	4 sec
	Paladin	[Repentance]	8 sec
	Priest	[Holy Word: Chastise]	4 sec
	Priest	[Shackle Undead]	8 sec
	Rogue	[Gouge]	4 sec
	Rogue	[Sap]	8 sec
	Shaman	[Hex]	8 sec
	Shaman	Sundering	2 sec
	Warlock	[Banish]	8 sec
	Warlock	[Mortal Coil]	3 sec
	Pandaren racial	[Quaking Palm]	4 sec
Disorients	Death Knight	[Blinding Sleet]	5 sec
	Demon Hunter	[Sigil of Misery]	8 sec
	Druid	[Cyclone]	6 sec
	Hunter	[Scare Beast]	8 sec
	Mage	[Dragon's Breath]	4 sec
	Monk	Song of Chi-ji	8 sec
	Monk	[Incendiary Breath]	4 sec
	Paladin	[Blinding Light]	6 sec
	Paladin	[Turn Evil]	8 sec
	Priest	[Mind Bomb]	6 sec
	Priest	[Mind Control]	8 sec
	Priest	[Psychic Scream]	8 sec
	Rogue	[Blind]	8 sec
	Warlock	[Fear]	8 sec
	Warlock	[Howl of Terror]	?? sec
	Warlock	[Seduction] (Grimoire of Sacrifice)	8 sec
	Warlock	[Seduction] (Succubus pet)	8 sec
	Warrior	[Intimidating Shout]	8 sec
	Soulbind Ability	[Agent of Chaos]	6 sec
Silences	Death Knight	[Strangulate]	4 sec
	Demon Hunter	[Sigil of Silence]	6 sec
	Druid	[Solar Beam] (?!)	8 sec
	Hunter	[Spider Sting]	4 sec
	Hunter	Spider Venom	3 sec
	Paladin	[Avenger's Shield] with [Shield of Virtue]	4 sec
	Priest	[Silence]	4 sec
	Rogue	[Garrote]	3 sec
	Warlock	[Unstable Affliction]	4 sec
AoE Knockbacks	Death Knight	[Gorefiend's Grasp]	N/A
	Druid	[Overrun]	N/A
	Druid	[Typhoon]	N/A
	Druid	[Ursol's Vortex]	N/A
	Hunter	[Bursting Shot]	N/A
	Hunter	Hi-Explosive Trap	N/A
	Mage	[Blast Wave]	N/A
	Monk	[Ring of Peace] (?!)	N/A
	Priest	[Shining Force]	N/A
	Shaman	[Thunderstorm]	N/A
	Kul Tiran Racial	Haymaker (?!)	N/A
Disarm effect	Druid	[Faerie Swarm]	5 sec
	Monk	[Grapple Weapon]	6 sec
	Rogue	[Dismantle]	6 sec
	Warrior	[Disarm]	6 sec

In PvE[]

Many types of crowd control also suffer from diminishing returns versus NPCs, usually stuns. 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.

Warlords of Draenor[]

Warlords of Draenor will see dramatic adjustments to existing diminishing returns categories.

All Roots now share the same DR category.
- Exception: Roots on ' [Charge]' types of abilities have no DR category, but have a very short duration instead.
All Stuns now share the same DR category.
All Incapacitate effects now share the same DR category, and have been merged with the Horror DR category.
The Fear DR category has been merged with the Disorient DR category.
Numerous abilities have been moved to different DR categories.

6 diminishing returns categories remain:

Roots
Stuns
Incapacitates
Disorients (previously sometimes known as Mesmerize)
Silences
AoE knockbacks

Abilities list[]

Roots[]

Death knight
- Chains of Ice (with Chilblains)
Druid
- Entangling Roots
- Mass Entanglement
Hunter
- Charge (Tenacity pet)
- Entrapment
- Narrow Escape
Mage
- Freeze Water Elemental
- Frost Nova
- Ice Ward
Monk
- Disable
Priest
- Glyph of Mind Blast
- Void Tendrils
Shaman
- Earthgrab Totem
- Frost Shock (with Frozen Power)

Stuns[]

Death knight
- Asphyxiate
- Gnaw (Ghoul)
- Monstrous Blow (Ghoul w/ Dark Transformation active)
- Remorseless Winter
Druid
- Maim
- Mighty Bash
- Rake
Hunter
- Binding Shot
- Intimidation
Mage
- Deep Freeze
Monk
- Charging Ox Wave
- Fists of Fury
- Leg Sweep
Paladin
- Fist of Justice
- Hammer of Justice
- Holy Wrath
Rogue
- Cheap Shot
- Kidney Shot
Shaman
- Pulverize (Primal Earth Elemental)
- Static Charge (Capacitor Totem)
Warlock
- Axe Toss (Felguard)
- Shadowfury
- Summon Infernal
Warrior
- Shockwave
- Storm Bolt
Racial
- War Stomp

Incapacitates[]

Druid
- Incapacitating Roar
Hunter
- Freezing Trap
- Wyvern Sting
Mage
- Dragon's Breath
- Polymorph
- Ring of Frost
Monk
- Glyph of Breath of Fire
- Paralysis
- Ring of Peace
Paladin
- Repentance
Priest
- Dominate Mind
- Holy Word: Chastise
- Psychic Horror
Rogue
- Gouge
- Sap
Shaman
- Hex
Warlock
- Banish
- Blood Horror
- Mortal Coil
Racial
- Quaking Palm

Disorients[]

Druid
- Cyclone
Paladin
- Turn Evil
Priest
- Psychic Scream
Rogue
- Blind
Warlock
- Fear
- Howl of Terror
- Mesmerize (Shivarra pet)
- Seduction (Succubus pet)
Warrior
- Intimidating Shout

Silences[]

Death knight
- Strangulate
Druid
- Glyph of Fae Silence
Mage
- Frostjaw
Paladin
- Avenger's Shield
Priest
- Silence
Rogue
- Garrote
Racial
- Arcane Torrent

AoE knockbacks[]

Death knight
- Gorefiend's Grasp
Druid
- Typhoon
- Ursol's Vortex
Hunter
- Glyph of Explosive Trap
Shaman
- Thunderstorm
Warlock
- Fellash
- Whiplash

Patch changes[]

Patch 9.0.1 (2020-10-13): Diminishing returns now affect secondary stats. (Crit, Haste, Mastery, and Versatility)
Patch 5.4.0 (2013-09-10):
- There are now diminishing returns on Vengeance gains while tanking multiple targets. Each additional target grants progressively less Vengeance.
- Area knockback effects now all share a diminishing return category. After a player has been moved by one of these spells, the player will be immune for 10 seconds. This new category applies to: [Fellash], [Gorefiend's Grasp], [Glyph of Explosive Trap], [Thunderstorm], [Typhoon], [Ursol's Vortex], and [Whiplash].
- [Divine Star]'s healing is no longer affecting by diminishing returns when used on multiple targets.
- [Halo]'s healing is no longer affecting by diminishing returns when used on multiple targets.
Hotfix (2013-10-11): We've seen some confusion recently about exactly which crowd control effects share diminishing returns. To hopefully clear that up, we're providing the following, categorized lists of all of the CC effects in the game. [...]
Patch 5.3.0 (2013-05-21): [Ring of Peace] had been redesigned. The ability forms an 8-yard sanctuary around a friendly target for 8 seconds, instantly disarming and silencing enemies within the area-of-effect for 3 seconds. Enemies that use abilities other than auto-attacks or cast spells on allies within the Ring of Peace will be disarmed and silenced for 3 seconds. Disarm and silence effects are subject to diminishing returns.
Patch 5.2.0 (2013-03-05): [Warbringer] now reduces the target's movement by 50% for 15 seconds (8 seconds in PvP), in addition to its other effects. The 3-second stun/knockdown is now in the diminishing returns category for stuns (same as [Shockwave] and [Storm Bolt]), and not the proc stun diminishing returns category.
Patch 5.1.0 (2012-11-27): The [Growl] pet ability will no longer cause diminishing returns against bosses that are immune to its effect.
Patch 4.2.0 (2011-06-28):
- [Deep Freeze] and [Ring of Frost] will cause diminishing returns on each other, in addition to the spells they normally share diminishing returns with.
- [Sin and Punishment]'s [Vampiric Touch] backlash fear effect no longer has diminishing returns.
Patch 4.1.0 (2011-04-26):
- The root effect from [Shattered Barrier] now shares diminishing returns with the root from [Improved Cone of Cold].
- [Charge] and [Intercept] no longer have diminishing returns on their stun effects.
Patch 4.0.6 (2011-02-08):
- Hunter Pet Fix: Ravage no longer counts toward stun diminishing returns.
- [Charge] now shares diminishing returns with stun effects.
- [Charge]'s stun continues to not trigger diminishing returns for Protection warriors who have the [Warbringer] talent.
Patch 4.0.3a (2010-11-23): [Improved Polymorph] now correctly shares diminishing returns with controlled stuns.
Patch 3.3.0 (2009-12-08): Taunt Diminishing Returns: We've revised the system for diminishing returns on Taunt so that creatures do not become immune to Taunt until after 5 Taunts have landed. The duration of the Taunt effect will be reduced by 35% instead of 50% for each taunt landed. In addition, most creatures in the world will not be affected by Taunt diminishing returns at all. Creatures will only have Taunt diminishing returns if they have been specifically flagged for that behavior based on the design of a given encounter.
Hotfix (2009-09-09): We just deployed a hotfix to modify [Holy Wrath] so this spell has the same diminishing return mechanics that other player stun spells and abilities currently have. This will prevent Undead creatures that we wish to be susceptible to stun from being permanently stunned if you include enough Paladins in your raid who then rotate their Holy Wrath casts.

This will affect the difficulty of Anub'arak, but we didn't want the "right way" to defeat this fight to involve bringing five Paladins who used [Glyph of Holy Wrath] on their Holy Wrath spell.
Patch 3.0.8 (2009-01-20): All Silence spells now have diminishing returns. This includes: [Arcane Torrent], [Garrote] silence effect, [Improved Counterspell] effect, [Improved Kick] effect, [Silence], [Gag Order], [Silencing Shot], [Spell Lock], and [Strangulate].
Patch 3.0.2 (2008-10-14): Melee mitigation stats also have diminishing returns.
Patch 2.3.0 (2007-11-13):
- [Blind] is now a physical (no longer a poison) attack. Reagent requirement removed. Now shares the same diminish category as [Cyclone] and is now diminished in PvE as well as PvP.
- [Riposte] is now subject to diminishing returns in PvP.
- [Frost Shock] is no longer subject to diminishing returns.
- [Unstable Affliction]: The silence from this ability is now subject to diminishing returns.
- [Disarm] is now subject to diminishing returns in PvP.
Patch 2.1.0 (2007-05-22):
- [Entrapment] (Survival): Effect duration reduced to 4 seconds and is now subject to diminishing returns in PvP.
- [Frostbite] effect is now subject to diminishing returns in PvP.
- [Death Coil] is now is now subject to diminishing returns in the Horror category.
- Reputation: Players will experience diminished gains in reputation from killing outdoor mobs while in raids larger than five players.
Patch 1.9.0 (2006-01-03): The stun effect's duration no longer diminishes or is diminished by controlled stun abilities and spells:
- Improved Starfire
- [Improved Concussive Shot]
- [Impact]
- [Seal of Justice]
- [Blackout]
- [Mace Specialization] (rogues and warriors)
- [Pyroclasm]
- [Improved Revenge]
Patch 1.4.0 (2005-04-19): A handful of spells were added to the list of spells subject to diminishing returns in PvP. It is our goal to set as few spells as possible to be diminished. We've identified this short list of spells as having durations and cooldowns sufficient to almost permanently slow or immobilize targets but without adequate controls or other limiting factors. 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. The list of affected spells is: