[tom the terribl]

Good question and rings, amulets, armor and weapons with majic resistance help protect against all majic. Dorians amulet with +40 is helpful for everyone in party that has strong magic aptitude.

When you look at an amulet being worn by a NPC it will show a number in percentage that applies to that NPC. If the NPC is strong tech then it may only show around 5%. So dorians amulet may be only have 2 magic resistance on that NPC. In the inventory screen the lower right window of the visual armor/weapon screen will show all of the defensive attributes on every character. Hold your mouse over the window to view the defenses.

So the effect of using any armor or weapon depends on magic/tech level, magic resistance, willpower and any defensive spell like force field. After getting Master of Force I protect all team members with the force field. It keeps Arronox alive throughout the Void without dying once.

That blade you had was probably low (1-72) because your strength was low. Weapons background in the visual weapon/armor panel will be red if your strength is too low. Dexterity also affect striking capability.