I've thought about asking this for some time now: when I hit things with a melee weapon/bow/spell/whatever, is it normal that no damage at all is inflicted? I mean if it's a gameplay related thing, like an armor save roll or something. I don't know if others have the same issue but sometimes when I hit something or someone and the target backs off or growls or whatever, somehow indicates that it has been hit anyway, it doesn't loose any health. It's kinda annoying when it happens multiple times, like right now I'm about level 20 and I can easily kill the low level critters with one blow but when this issue kicks in I might have to hit them like five or more times before my weapon actually has any effect on them. This is a major pain in the ass when fighting harder opponents, as most of the blows cause no damage at all but on the other hand every strike that I can't dodge/block always harms me so it's pretty conflicting if the combat system really is meant to work that way. I've tried searching the internet for an answer but found nothing so far, anyone here with some knowledge regarding this?

What are your statistics (weapon skills and str\dex) and weapons?
At level 20 it shouldn't be a problem, and it shouldn't affect spells.
In general, attack causing "no" damage is usually an attack that causes very little damage, and it suggests that you are attacking something that is too strong for you. The one hit every now and then that actually hurts is a critical attack (the chance of this attack is shown in character tab next to the corresponding weapon skills).

Well I'm using a two-handed sword with a damage value of about 70 and the weapon skill is maxed out. My STR is around 80, dexterity 37 if I remember correctly (not a fan of bows). But the no-damage thing can happen when I'm fighting something like a lizard or lurker with my 2H sword so it's probably not that I'm fighting something above my skill level. It doesn't happen with scavengers or other really low-level creatures any more but on the other hand it happens more often when I'm fighting something stronger, had a helluva time fighting zombies today because of causing no damage. The chance of doing a critical strike is 10% and I do cause damage with my blows more often than that (thank God), although the causing damage or not causing damage thing usually happens in kind of periods, like I can have several succesfull strikes in a row but then like 5 to 10 unsuccesfull after that. Given that the chance of a critical hit is still 10% it's hardly possible to have that kind of rolls, don't you think? But anyway, have you encountered this kind of an issue? Because I still don't know if this is how it's supposed to work (kinda retarded if it is) or if this is a bug of some kind.

There are two things that can cause what you're experiencing. The first is that you're just not dishing out enough damage to overcome the enemy's armor; in this case you just need to get a bit more powerful before taking on whatever enemy you're facing. The second thing that can cause it is range. Enemies that dodge backwards seem to be able to avoid damage from an attack if they're at the very edge of your range when you hit them. You just have to lure them in a bit closer before landing a blow and you'll be able to do full damage to them (I experienced this issue most often with the orc dogs).

Alright thanks for the answers people, I guess this is how it works then. Just seems pretty weird to me that the "armor save" can annul all damage of the blow but then the next blow can be an instakill (as this is the case with lower level critters), but I'll just have to deal with that then. Unfortunately it makes the whole game a lot less enjoyable.
As DarrkPhoenix already has a healthy amount of rep I'm marking your answer as the solution, Paradoks. :) And you were the one who posted first so it kinda makes sense. Thanks again for the answers, now I at least know that the thing isn't a bug.

Unfair, but thank you :).
I think DarrkPhoenix was right about weapons range (weapons have this statistic, although it is not displayed).

Well I don't think it's terribly unfair, it was unclear whose answer was the one that solved this problem. You were like adding to each other's posts and since only one post can be given the honor of being marked as the solution I decided to give the rep to you, I hope you don't mind DarkkPhoenix. :)

I want my rep goddammit! ;)
Actually I really couldn't care less about it, I'm just glad you found a satisfactory answer to your question. And once you get used to the range bit plus the armor occasionally nullifying the damage it's pretty easy to just work it all into your battle tactics. Not nearly as problematic as the ridiculously small hit boxes on the trolls in Gothic 3.

Heh, thought you'd get your baseball bat and come over for a little "discussion" about the rep thing. :D
And now you made me anxious about the trolls in Gothic 3... can't wait. Although I'll have to fight through Gothic 2 first, that should prepare me judging from what I've heard.

Gothic 3 was actually a pretty poor game compared to the first two Gothic games; still worth playing if you enjoy the series, just don't go in with high expectations. I'd also highly recommend Risen as basically it's just a rebranded Gothic game (following the PB/JoWood split).

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll probably check that one out when I have time then. And I do know that Gothic 3 didn't get terribly good reviews or anything, I'm prepared. :)

If you are going to play Gothic 3 be sure to install the Community Patch. It includes various fixes and performance tweaks so is highly recommended.

I still need to play Risen, Gothic 3 and Forsaken Go... OK - just Risen and Gothic 3 :). By the way, am I the only one who has little hope for Arcania?

Forsaken Gods deserves to be forsaken. ;)
Arcania could be interesting, but some of the design decisions are really questionable so I doubt that they will be able to nail the Gothic feel.