I'm curious why when I'm in the Illoke Stronghold and some Mystic (38 levels below me...) casts a Dispel at me, I keep seeing rank2 neck/nerve wounds, 20-35hp damage, and 6-8 round stuns when I lose my prepped spell...

...yet when I cast at the Empress of Reim and see, typically, 5-15hp damage? (There may or may not be a 'wound' involved, but she pretty much ignores most of them anyhow. And she's immune to stuns, so that portion would be a whiffle anyhow.) It's not like she usually wears much in the way of armor: robes probably >60% of the time, and only every so often up into rigid leather.