As far as I'm aware:
There are 3 types of damage: magic, physical and ranged. There are also three types of resistances: magic, plysical and ranged. Each weapon does one or more type(s) of damage, but the damage it causes is reduced by the target's resistance (to that particular type of damage).
So (in theory) if an opponent has high magic resistance, and low ranged resistance, then you should concentrate on ranged damage rather than magic damage. In practice, opponents rarely specalise in just one type of resistance (certainly not on average), so when it comes to your character's 'build', mixing your damage abilities isn't going to give you any real advantage. You're much better off specialising in one particular type of damage - you'll end up much more powerfull that way. The basic point is: 'Damage is good, regardless of what type it is, and the more you can cause, the better...'
Magic damage is generally considered to be the best specialisation, because:
- It increases all weapon damage, both physical and ranged, even if the weapon doesn't normally cause any magical damage. By comparison: physical specialisation only benefits physical weapons, and ranged specialisation only benefits ranged weapons.
- It also affects damage-based spells (unlike physical or ranged specialisations).
Anyway, as I said, this is only my own understanding, I'm happy to be corrected if anyone knows better!
