Spells seem to always fail

[Alan]

It seems like enemies resist everything I do. Knockdowns, charms, stuns, taunts, they all seem to fail at least 2/3 of the time. Is there some way to overcome this and effectively apply CC on the first turn?

[Oakshield]

You might want to right-click at them and choose examine to bring up the stats of the enemy.
This also gives you an idea about the resistances they have, including their body building and willpower.

Another thing that might help is using weapons having the extra beneficial effects the spells can give you too.
What also helps, use summons. Spiders have the option to weaken an opponent, undead warriors and wolves can cause bleeding, elementals can pass their element (i.e. fire, frost) on opponents.

For mages it's a good idea to increase intelligence a lot. This will increase the strength of the spell and thus the chance to get an additional effect. Dexterity does the same thing for rangers and rogues.

And last but not least, if you're using mages, start dual wielding wands. Using two wands with the same damage; or even better; two with different damage help a lot to bring an oponent down.

There are opponents, however, who'll resist all side-effects. Yet, when being smart; i.e. use a waterbomb, followed by a freeze bomb to create a slippery floor, you might still be able to trigger some side effects giving you the advantage.

Thorin :)

[DoomyDoom]

Have appropriate stat sky high. That is, you want at least 2 rings and an amulet with Str/Int +1, ideally also your weapon(s) (from level 9-ish and on) and put the vast majority of Attribute points into that stat. For Con 5 chars I typically put +4 into Spd and the rest into Str/Int, and maybe a stray point into Dex for Scoundrel skill 100% activation rate.

Other than that, for Willpower-based spells Drain Willlpower (Witchcraft) removes 5 willpower from enemies, which is the entire resistance.
For Bodybuilding-based ones, Divine Light (Man-At-Arms)... is worthless, because it needs to pass Bodybuilding to reduce Bodybuilding. Which isn't going to happen reliably if you can't pass it in the first place.

[Belhedler]

Originally posted by DoomyDoom:

For Bodybuilding-based ones, Divine Light (Man-At-Arms)... is worthless, because it needs to pass Bodybuilding to reduce Bodybuilding. Which isn't going to happen reliably if you can't pass it in the first place.

I completely second this: I only managed to land one of this effect in an entire playthrough on a STR based char... btw on a tank STR based char Taunt does wonder against close combat units (and has ZERO effect on ranged units)

[slovakiaman]

Originally posted by Alan:

It seems like enemies resist everything I do. Knockdowns, charms, stuns, taunts, they all seem to fail at least 2/3 of the time. Is there some way to overcome this and effectively apply CC on the first turn?

As far as I know, the chances of applying these effects depend on STR or INT. Effects resisted by Bodybuilding depend on STR, while effects resisted by willpower depend on INT. The higher the stat, the higher the chance of applying the effect.
Also, I'd advise you when buying/choosing items for your character, prioritize stat boosts instead of damage or armor.
For stuns, use rain before using the abillities that stun. It makes them pretty much always stun your oponent. Casting the rain abillity directly on the enemy creates a watter puddle that you can electrify that will raise the chance of him getting stunned.
Archers also have a good arsenal of CC arrows, and the AOE (area) ones are especially good.