A smiple way to make barbarians less squishy

[HatsuharuZ]

Barbarians are a bit easier to damage than they should be (or at least I think so). So, to fix this, just give them a 10 to 20% reduction in physical damage at level 20, or spread out the bonus over the 20 barbarian class levels. This reduction in incoming physical damage would work a lot like PRR, but it's not PRR. Similar to how one can have both a dodge chance and an incorporeal miss chance, this reduction in damage would be calculated separately from PRR.

I feel that barbarians need this PDR (percent damage reduction) since the class isn't a naturally self-healing one. Since they have poor AC, they should be better at mitigating that damage they inevitably take in combat than other melee classes.

[9rileystep]

Just a suggestion but wouldn't it be easier to just work with the mechanic that they already have for Barb's.....mainly DR. Since DR and PRR are different its logical that these two would stack. But the Barb would need like DR/20-40 to make it worth anything in end game content (like EE's).

But honestly I think the melee class that's in the most dire need of help is the poor, developer hated Paladin.....

[Noctus]

Just a suggestion but wouldn't it be easier to just work with the mechanic that they already have for Barb's.....mainly DR. Since DR and PRR are different its logical that these two would stack. But the Barb would need like DR/20-40 to make it worth anything in end game content (like EE's).

But honestly I think the melee class that's in the most dire need of help is the poor, developer hated Paladin.....

Yeah, dont throw in yet another mechanic.

DR scales badly, so lets just give Barbarians a significant boost in PRR, as this is their thing when it comes to defense.

[redspecter23]

Yeah, dont throw in yet another mechanic.

DR scales badly, so lets just give Barbarians a significant boost in PRR, as this is their thing when it comes to defense.

The problem is the way the curve works for PRR, even a significant boost won't help much. You can get 30% mitigation from PRR right now easily. Give them a significant boost and they might get to 35%. It's too easy to hit mid 30's's and you need far too much to get out of the 40's. At some point adding PRR does so little it doesn't matter.

I don't think throwing in a few stacking sources of other PRR is such a bad thing. We have dodge, incorporeal and blurry. Why not PRR2 for barbs that grants 10% fully stackable absorption and while they're in there add another 10% stackable for shield wearers. It's not so much another mechanic as it is an extension of the PRR mechanic.

A barb with 50 PRR on live right now has about 26% absorption. With the barb bonus, it goes directly to 36%. For similar gains with a traditional PRR boost, you'd need to give barbs a +30 PRR bonus. The more PRR a barb has, the better the flat 10% bonus becomes. For balance, grant it at barb 6 at minimum, but possibly barb 12. Up it to 20% at barb 18. I'd be hesitant to put too much into the capstone at 20 unless the do an overhaul of all the capstones.

[Qhualor]

lets not add something new. how about improving DR which is part of the core barbarian. DR needs to be exaggerated from the PnP version since DR 7/- is obviously way too little to matter. barbs are meant to shrug off damage and keep on blitzing down their enemies. a barb shouldn't be taking damage than having to cower out of a fight every few seconds to heal up. they should be able to withstand damage they take much better than they currently do.

[EllisDee37]

What's the actual PRR formula? Hmmm, lemme check wiki...

(1 – (0.99^PRR)) × 0.65

Just spitballing here, how about change the PRR formula to:

(1 – (0.99^PRR)) × (0.65 + (0.01 * Barbarian level)

Essentially, a pure barbarian would get x 0.85 instead of x 0.65, while a splash build (say, 6 barb) would get x 0.71. Let's do some quick examples to see how this would play out:

PRR 40
0 barb levels: 21.52% (same as on live)
20 barb levels: 28.14%

PRR 80
0 barb levels: 35.91% (same as on live)
20 barb levels: 46.96%

With fewer barb levels landing somewhere in between, of course.

[HatsuharuZ]

What's the actual PRR formula? Hmmm, lemme check wiki...

(1 – (0.99^PRR)) × 0.65

Just spitballing here, how about change the PRR formula to:

(1 – (0.99^PRR)) × (0.65 + (0.01 * Barbarian level)

Essentially, a pure barbarian would get x 0.85 instead of x 0.65, while a splash build (say, 6 barb) would get x 0.71. Let's do some quick examples to see how this would play out:

PRR 40
0 barb levels: 21.52% (same as on live)
20 barb levels: 28.14%

PRR 80
0 barb levels: 35.91% (same as on live)
20 barb levels: 46.96%

With fewer barb levels landing somewhere in between, of course.

That seems reasonable. Perhaps something similar could be done with the AC forumula too, and apply the new AC formula to fighters and paladins.

[PsychoBlonde]

Hmm, I find the suggestion of class-specific AC and PRR formulas to be interesting. You are aware that barbarians and rogues already get class-specific dodge boosts? Do people USE their Improved Uncanny Dodge ability on their barbarians? You know, the one that gives 50% dodge and +6 reflex?

I think that barbs just flat out need an ability where they rack up stacking temp HP as they attack while raged. And not some pathetic 10 temp hp, either. LOTS of temp hp. OODLES. Base it off the hp values of the mobs they kill so it scales with quest difficulty.

[Dandonk]

I wouldn't mind barbs getting something like 3-5 PRR per class DR they have. I don't play barbs, but giving them some more defensive mechanics definitely wouldn't hurt. Especially since DR is fairly useless in epics.