transtemporal
10-01-2007, 09:15 PM
Howdy folks,
What this guide is and who its for
This guide is all about defending your toon from the damage caused by melee and ranged weapons intersecting with your toons jiggly bits. It's primarily a guide for the n00bish, but even you wizened twinkie types might learn something, so settle into your zimmer frame and read on... :) Its basically intended as an overview of the "statable" defence options available to your character, in order of their usefulness.
What this guide is not
Its not a discussion of defence recommendations for a particular class, level or role. Its not a discussion of defensive tactics & techniques such as jumping, diplomacy, tumbling, kiting, "offense as defense" or controlling the battlefield. (Although as others have rightly pointed out these are just as essential to your defensive effort, so I'll cover them in a later update). Its not a discussion of defenses against spells. These work in a different way to physical combat and will be covered in a separate section (or possibly a different guide);
Two disclaimers:
I use the words 'mob' and 'monster', 'toon' and 'character' respectfully, interchangeably;
I mix british and american spellings and colloquialisms with uninhibited and wild abandon. I also occasionally use made up words like "desirableness" and "statable". So sue me already, old bean. ;)
Below is the list of Melee & Ranged Statable Defence Basics (M&RSDB) as defined by transtemporal, in order of desirableness.
Melee & Ranged Statable Defence Basics (M&RSDB)
=============================
Miss chance; AKA blur, displacement
Fortification item
Armour Class (AC)
Damage Reduction (DR)
Hit Points (HP) + HP buffs
Miss chance. % chance they miss before they even roll to hit. Get it from arcane spells blur (2nd), displacement (3rd) (can also get it from glitterdust, invisibility & shadow walk). Great because its not opposed by the mobs attack roll so even works with mobs who have 40+ attack. Ha! Stoopid monster!
Fortification item. % chance a confirmed critical/sneak attack becomes a normal hit instead. Comes in 25%, 75% and 100% flavours. Awesome for everybody; wiz, tank, bard and rogue alike. Prevents those situations when you're up one moment and down the next. (BTW, the reason why fort is before AC is that not all roles absolutely need AC, but everyone can benefit from fort).
Armour Class (AC). d20 + attack vs AC. Get it from dex, armor, shields, spells, enhancements, feats etc. Lots has been written about this so won't reiterate.
Damage Reduction (DR). Reduces the amount of physical damage taken from a hit. Get it from class abilities, items, spells. Either looks like (number)/(material) or (number)/-; e.g. 10/adamantine or 5/-. The former means "reduce the damage taken by x amount, unless the weapon is made of y material", the later means "reduce the damage taken by this amount no matter what material the weapon is made from". Note: DR doesn't reduce damage from spells, those are called Resistances (similar concept, but for spells and can't be trumped by a material, not to be confused with resistance bonuses). There is quite a bit written about DR on the forums; e.g. what it is and what stacks with what so I won't reiterate.
Hit Points (HP) + HP buffs. Last but not least line of defence, ideally shouldn't be your only line of defence. Your normal HP score comes from your class, feats, enhancements, items and con score, HP buffs come from spells and items. There are basically three types of HP buffs: buffs that add directly to your normal HP score (con buffs like bears endurance & brb rage ability), temporary HP buffs that appear in brackets after your normal HP score (Aid, Greater heroism, False Life) and so-called "ablative" HP buffs (from spells) that appear in the top right of the screen (Stoneskin, Protection from Energy). Damage is taken from ablative HP buffs first, then temporary HP buffs, then normal HP. Theres also lots written about HP, what stacks with what and where from so won't reiterate.
Stoneskin (4th lvl arcane spell) deserves a special mention because it gives an ablative DR (10/adamantine) buff (10 per level, max 150). So dmg from a non-adamantine weapon or natural attack is reduced by 10 with the remainder being deducted from the wearers HP. Each hit also reduces the ablative DR. Dmg from a non-adamantine weapon reduces the DR by 1-9 if the dmg is less than 10 or 10 if the dmg is equal to or greater than 10. Dmg from an adamantine weapon reduces the DR by the full amount. Stoneskin lasts for 1 min per level (or 2 w Extend feat) or when the ablative DR are used up, whichever comes first.
For example; if you have a 120 DR Stoneskin, 23 dmg from a non-adamantine weapon reduces the stoneskin by 10, leaving 110 DR left with 13 HP dmg taken by the wearer. If the weapon had been adamantine instead, the DR is bypassed and our stoneskin would have been reduced by the full 23, leaving 97 DR with 23 HP dmg taken by the wearer.
Summary:
These are the basic statable defence options available to your toon. While having high scores in all of them would be great, its not always practical (or even desirable) for all builds in the party. The key is: know thy build, thy neighbours, thy level and thy content and ye shall know what statable defenses best fit your toon. Happy defencing!
Cheers,
transtemporal
edit: removed "diplomacy skill" and "after the fact" defenses for the moment. They're kind of individual tactics that one can employ. Still cool though, and will add back in for defensive tactics.
What this guide is and who its for
This guide is all about defending your toon from the damage caused by melee and ranged weapons intersecting with your toons jiggly bits. It's primarily a guide for the n00bish, but even you wizened twinkie types might learn something, so settle into your zimmer frame and read on... :) Its basically intended as an overview of the "statable" defence options available to your character, in order of their usefulness.
What this guide is not
Its not a discussion of defence recommendations for a particular class, level or role. Its not a discussion of defensive tactics & techniques such as jumping, diplomacy, tumbling, kiting, "offense as defense" or controlling the battlefield. (Although as others have rightly pointed out these are just as essential to your defensive effort, so I'll cover them in a later update). Its not a discussion of defenses against spells. These work in a different way to physical combat and will be covered in a separate section (or possibly a different guide);
Two disclaimers:
I use the words 'mob' and 'monster', 'toon' and 'character' respectfully, interchangeably;
I mix british and american spellings and colloquialisms with uninhibited and wild abandon. I also occasionally use made up words like "desirableness" and "statable". So sue me already, old bean. ;)
Below is the list of Melee & Ranged Statable Defence Basics (M&RSDB) as defined by transtemporal, in order of desirableness.
Melee & Ranged Statable Defence Basics (M&RSDB)
=============================
Miss chance; AKA blur, displacement
Fortification item
Armour Class (AC)
Damage Reduction (DR)
Hit Points (HP) + HP buffs
Miss chance. % chance they miss before they even roll to hit. Get it from arcane spells blur (2nd), displacement (3rd) (can also get it from glitterdust, invisibility & shadow walk). Great because its not opposed by the mobs attack roll so even works with mobs who have 40+ attack. Ha! Stoopid monster!
Fortification item. % chance a confirmed critical/sneak attack becomes a normal hit instead. Comes in 25%, 75% and 100% flavours. Awesome for everybody; wiz, tank, bard and rogue alike. Prevents those situations when you're up one moment and down the next. (BTW, the reason why fort is before AC is that not all roles absolutely need AC, but everyone can benefit from fort).
Armour Class (AC). d20 + attack vs AC. Get it from dex, armor, shields, spells, enhancements, feats etc. Lots has been written about this so won't reiterate.
Damage Reduction (DR). Reduces the amount of physical damage taken from a hit. Get it from class abilities, items, spells. Either looks like (number)/(material) or (number)/-; e.g. 10/adamantine or 5/-. The former means "reduce the damage taken by x amount, unless the weapon is made of y material", the later means "reduce the damage taken by this amount no matter what material the weapon is made from". Note: DR doesn't reduce damage from spells, those are called Resistances (similar concept, but for spells and can't be trumped by a material, not to be confused with resistance bonuses). There is quite a bit written about DR on the forums; e.g. what it is and what stacks with what so I won't reiterate.
Hit Points (HP) + HP buffs. Last but not least line of defence, ideally shouldn't be your only line of defence. Your normal HP score comes from your class, feats, enhancements, items and con score, HP buffs come from spells and items. There are basically three types of HP buffs: buffs that add directly to your normal HP score (con buffs like bears endurance & brb rage ability), temporary HP buffs that appear in brackets after your normal HP score (Aid, Greater heroism, False Life) and so-called "ablative" HP buffs (from spells) that appear in the top right of the screen (Stoneskin, Protection from Energy). Damage is taken from ablative HP buffs first, then temporary HP buffs, then normal HP. Theres also lots written about HP, what stacks with what and where from so won't reiterate.
Stoneskin (4th lvl arcane spell) deserves a special mention because it gives an ablative DR (10/adamantine) buff (10 per level, max 150). So dmg from a non-adamantine weapon or natural attack is reduced by 10 with the remainder being deducted from the wearers HP. Each hit also reduces the ablative DR. Dmg from a non-adamantine weapon reduces the DR by 1-9 if the dmg is less than 10 or 10 if the dmg is equal to or greater than 10. Dmg from an adamantine weapon reduces the DR by the full amount. Stoneskin lasts for 1 min per level (or 2 w Extend feat) or when the ablative DR are used up, whichever comes first.
For example; if you have a 120 DR Stoneskin, 23 dmg from a non-adamantine weapon reduces the stoneskin by 10, leaving 110 DR left with 13 HP dmg taken by the wearer. If the weapon had been adamantine instead, the DR is bypassed and our stoneskin would have been reduced by the full 23, leaving 97 DR with 23 HP dmg taken by the wearer.
Summary:
These are the basic statable defence options available to your toon. While having high scores in all of them would be great, its not always practical (or even desirable) for all builds in the party. The key is: know thy build, thy neighbours, thy level and thy content and ye shall know what statable defenses best fit your toon. Happy defencing!
Cheers,
transtemporal
edit: removed "diplomacy skill" and "after the fact" defenses for the moment. They're kind of individual tactics that one can employ. Still cool though, and will add back in for defensive tactics.