Now defense has my interest because some of my characters have developed an attitude problem. They don't like to chicken out. The don't like to flee. They just want to stay in there and battle it out. This have forced me to look deep into Defense rating a lot.
In this article I ponder whether it is true that a defense based character has to stick around the same monster level to be able to use his high defense efficiently. Also, I wonder what impact a shield/Twitchthroe combo, Holy Shield, and other defense skills have on the defense situation when the character level/monster level balance changes? This both for being In hell/hell and on the way to there.
Here are some calculations on the to-hit formula to get some insights on what defense rating does, the point being that the to-hit formula transfers into a percentage (%) of how much higher defense rating (DR) needs to be than attack rating (AR) to get the character to have the protection of being hit only so many times.
This is shown in 3 cases. The first is for equal monster/character level (more or less the case for High level characters). Second is for monsterlevel 50% higher than characterlevel (seems to often be like that when playing Single Player). And third case is for those who fool around against monsters that are twice their characterlevel.
The to-hit percentage formula is as follows:
%ChanceTo(be)Hit = 200 * AR / (AR + DR) * alvl / (alvl + dlvl)
AR = Attacker's AR DR = Defender's DR alvl = Attacker's level dlvl = Defender's level
Using this formula, DR/AR gives a number showing how much bigger or smaller DR is compared to AR. DR/AR*100 - 100 shows the percent amount DR is bigger than an AR. How often a character is NOT hit relates to how much higher his defense(DR) is than the attack rating (AR) of the monsters he fights, with the following percentages.
Case 1 for alvl=dlvl (the case when you are fighting monsters at your own level)
The %chance to NOT be hit (equals to be hit in some cases)= DR/AR*100 - 100
33% (2 out of 3) = DR is 50% less than AR in this case. 50% (1 out of 2) = 0% 66% (1 out of 3) = 100% more DR than AR. 75% (1 out of 4) = 200% more DR than AR. 83% (1 out of 6) = 400% more DR than AR. 87.5% (1out of 8)= 600% more DR than AR.
Case 2 for alvl/dlvl = 1.5 (the case when you are fighting monsters of 50% higher level - this is the situation when a character with a level somewhere in the 50's gets to hell/hell)
The %chance to NOT be hit (equals to be hit in some cases)= DR/AR*100 - 100
33% (2 out of 3) = DR is 29% less than AR in this case. 50% (1 out of 2) = 29% more DR than AR 66% (1 out of 3) = 143% more DR than AR. 75% (1 out of 4) = 257% more DR than AR. 83% (1 out of 6) = 486% more DR than AR. 87.5% (1 out of 8) = 714% more DR than AR.
Case 3 for alvl/dlvl=2 (the case when you are fighting a monster there is 2 times your character level).
The %chance to NOT be hit (equals to be hit in some cases)= DR/AR*100 - 100
33% (2 out of 3) = 0% 50% (1 out of 2) = 67% more DR than AR. 66% (1 out of 3) = 200% more DR than AR. 75% (1 out of 4) = 333% more DR than AR. 83% (1 out of 6) = 600% more DR than AR. 87.5% (1 out of 8) = 867% more DR than AR.
For example: If playing a character that is going to face Monsters that are 50% higher level and you want to be protected at least 66% of the time, case 2 shows that Defense rating needs to be 143% higher than attack rating.
Let me define some equipment based level of defense (DR unmodified by any skill)
Low DR = 0 - 500 (doesn't't care at all about DR) Medium DR = 500 - 1000 (some cases, could be a good mage plate in use) High DR = 1000 - 1300 (using a holy Ornate, but with some use of non rare items.. namely Unique!) Very high DR = 1300 to max (with everything maxed, something like 1700-1800 is attainable; of course, only with use of exceptional rares). Eliterian DR = 1800+ (let's hope the expansion pack comes up with some unbelievable elite items)
From now on, the terms "Low DR" to very "High DR" are used to describe an unmodified DR in these ranges.
Do you need to hang back fighting against monsters at your own character level to benefit from your defense?
There is a penalty for being a low level character fighting higher level monsters, but this doesn't transfer into an unreasonably high amount as the case shows. And of course it also works the other way around; if a character is fighting on equal level, you don't get an unreasonably higher effect out of the defense than before. A bonus, yes, but not a lot more.
When fighting monsters 2 times your character level instead of those at your character level, you fall from receiving 1 hit in 4, to 1 in 3 if you can keep a DR 200% higher than the monsters' AR. And this is as extreme as it gets! Now most defense skills work by multiplying the unmodified DR of the character. This means that as soon as the equipment is OK (wearing a good Ornate) and the defense skills have been developed, the defense situation is not going to be much better.
So, my conclusion is that there is no real need to hang back in order to make your defense work (if you have some!).
This is good to know if you have twinked your character with the best ornate. In that case, you're just moving forward with respect to defense.
If you are playing Single Player or pure, or just not good at trading, the big problem and big moment is getting a holy ornate plate. For most variants, that means a change from 300 - 600 unmodified DR to between 1000 to 1200 DR. This single improvement would allow you to jump many levels ahead (possible going straight for hell/hell) and be nearly just as secure as if you wait to gain more levels.
(Don't forget surviving a hit by having enough life and getting exp for a kill, or even to make the hit, and then to be able to kill is alsoe very important to consider).
A Spikefist (thorned Hulk type) on hell difficulty in late Act 3 (level 77) has an attack rating of 4*357=1428. To have 200% higher defense rating, you need around 4284 Dr. Now this would cause a level 40 character to be hit 1 in 3 times and a level 80 character 1 in 4 times. And our level 60 hero would be somewhere in between. If your unmodified defense is 1200 (high) you need a 260% increase to get there. This is, by the way, what the Paladin's Defiance skill (at level 20) gives you.
With a grotesque wyrm (lv80) the high attack rating (4*602= 2402 AR) makes it so a very high unmodified DR is still around 2/3 lower. So you need serious modification to get it up to give good protection. But the wyrm is also the hardest hitter in hell of all the normal monsters. With a unmodified DR of 1200, you need an increase in between 300% and 500% (depending on your character level) to get the safety of only being hit 1 in 3 times.
The range DR needs to be to counter AR in Hell/Hell (besides the grotesque wyrms) is between 1350 and 2000. So with very high DR (unmodified), a character just about catches up even, and simply has his skill bonus to add.
(With or without the 3D shield? 3D = socketed shield inserted with 3 perfect Diamonds)
Twitchthroe/3D tower shield gets blocking in between 69 - 75% depending on the character class using it. Now, a shift to another armor causes you to lose 25% blocking if you keep up with the 3D-tower shield. This is close to being hit twice as much. So, to at least counter that, the DR increase needs to make you double as protected as before (well, DR is not as good as blocking anyway, but lets ignore that because this is about increasing DR and we assume it's just as good).
Looking at the 3 cases from earlier, this means a DR increase of 200 - 300% is needed, assuming that you start of with at least 50% chance to not be hit. Now a 200 - 300% increase is more or less what the shift to a blessed ornate plate gives in itself (estimating a shift from 300-400 DR to 1000-1200 DR unmodified).
So don't worry - a shift away from Twitchthroe to a good ornate will leave you at least even, in itself on the way to hell. And you can keep your 3D shield.
But unless you're using some defense increasing skills, you are actually worse off when arriving in hell/hell. When having a DR in the area of 1000-1200, it no longer keeps you hit less than 1/2 the time. The Spikefist again warns you by hitting the Twitchthroe/3D tower/350 DR character around 1 in 5 and the blessed ornate/3D tower/1100 DR 1 in 4. The numbers vary a little from class to class and character levels, but the difference stays there in favor of the Twitchthroe/3D combo.
So, at this stage of the game, it's the defense increasing skills that should generate the 200+% increase in the DR/AR balance. It is needed to counter the decrease in blocking if staying with a 3D shield.
For a character with high DR supported by defense skills, it sure looks tempting to get increased blocking and defense. Even with the cost of a 3D shield, you'll benefit both from the DR protection and the shield protection. And, if you go for increased block, the whole point of Twitchthroe is gone.
The magic for a defense focused character is going from numbers like 67% block and DR providing 67% chance to absorb a blow (in effect 1 hit out of 9), to then getting 75% block and maybe a 75% chance DR would absorb a blow (in effect 1 hit out of 16). Then, the character is close to being saved from twice as many hits. However, of course, you then need to solve the resistance problem.
The answer to when to switch from Twitchthroe/3D shield to something else when it comes to defense is therefore:
Use Twitchtroe/3D if you don't use any DR increasing skills. Switch ASAP you can wield a good ornate plate and use +Defense skills. Then you can look for the increased block and quit the 3D tower/pavise to get the real bonus of combining defense and high shield block.
There are 2 party affecting defense skills: "Holy Shield" and "Shout" (not counting curses). With our Spikefist example, a Defiance-using Paladin (with a 260% boost at level 20) and a Shouting Barbarian (level 20 gets a 290% boost) together will get all "blessed ornate wielding" party members in the safe zone of being hit less than 1 out of 4 (even if party members are only level 40 and don't have defense increasing skills). They themselves, with proper use of their other skills (the Barbarian's "Iron skin" and the Paladin's "Holy Shield") get up to the magic of being hit less than 1 out of 8 times. And then we add shields! Does it sound good? Shout and Defiance are what party defense is really about.
Holy Shield actually has the potential of increasing the DR of the shield by 310% at level 20, in effect adding to the base DR before other skills modify it. Now, a holy grim shield gets as high as 300 DR, and with the Holy Shield skill it's 1230 DR. Then comes the Defiance bonus (of 260%) on top. Thus the shield has just added a stunning 4428 in DR, instead of a socketed pavise of 78*(410%)*(360%)= 1151 DR. This is a 3277 DR difference. A shield and the Holy Shield skill together have the potential of adding more to defense than the Ornate Plate!.
For the Spikefist in Hell Act 3 this increase alone provides a 230% DR/AR balance change in favor of not being hit. When dealing with a level 80 grotesque wyrm, the change in the DR/AR number is 135% - see the effect in the 3 cases. This comes at the cost of needing to use a 40% blocking grim shield. In the best circumstance (with a increased block of 20% and 21% block from the level 20 Holy Shield), this comes without a decrease in blocking.
But even when staying with a 3D shield, the Paladin with a high DR and defense skills maxed should only get hit like 1 in 12 against the grotesque wyrm and most of the time in hell/hell it's more like less than 1 in 20 hits. And a real defense freak paladin that is lucky enough to have a good grim shield, of course, gets even more difficult to hit.
b) The Barbarian with Iron Skin and Shout.
Well, besides the fact that I don't know a lot about it, there should be no problems except with a dearth of skill points. 20 in Shout 20 in Iron Skin, 5-10 in Natural Resistance, 20 in a Mastery and then Attacks, also. Shout adds a 290% increase in base and Iron Skin adds 210%, both at level 20. So it's 500% add! To save some skill points, it might be ok to work with less than level 20 in both cases. Remember also that the Concentrate attack increases defense up to 210% at level 20. But a Barbarian doesn't get 75% block with a shield. He is more likely to work with a 49% (3D pavise) or a 69% (Rare pavise), or some other stuff in between. Natural Resistance makes the 3D shield less important and increased blocking is nice to have. And with these numbers, it should be possible to stay over 75% chance of not being hit the whole game. Adding a shield, it's less than 1 in 10 hits practically the whole time; more like 1 in 20 a lot of the time.
c) The Sorceress using Cold Armors.
She does actually have the possibility to boost her defense by between 125% and 159% depending on which armor skill from the cold tree she brings to level 20%. Using a mage plate she would be in the medium range DR. With 700 DR she gets a modified DR around 1700-1800. This equals very high DR. The Spikefist would hit her very close to 1/2 the time (no matter what level she has between 40 and 80 and without a shield). With high base defense (around 1200 unmodified), she gets up around 3000 in defense and she is taking punishment from the Spikefist around 1 out of 3. Then it's just the grotesque wyrm hitting at half of the time. Again, no matter what character level, her being at a higher level is a little bit better. That's before shield block. Well, these numbers are a lot better than being hit nearly all the time as in case with low DR, but it's not as if she is really able to stand in a mob. With a shield she is getting 44% (3d pavise) or 64% (rare pavise) blocking. So at best she is hit between 1 in 4 and 1 in 9. Twitchthroe gets her up at 69% (3d tower) or 75% (rare) block, and she is not as easy going, though close (including the occasional low DR hit absorption), than with a high level DR (1000-1300) and 20 lv cold shield. But she's still better off than when using a mage plate (medium range unmodified DR). When wearing an Ornate, let her touch an Armor shrine, or party with a Defiance-using paladin and she joins the untouchables! But a sorc is not a melee character, and therefore she has no other use for the high strength that the ornate requires. She would look for a blessed ornate with a 40% minus to requirements, but she might hesitate to get the strength up there! (But maybe it's my next character.)
d) The Amazon with Dodge, Evade and Avoid.
The Amazon is a special case simply because she has no DR increasing skills but has the evade/dodge/avoid line instead. This is covered a lot in Amazon guides. When adding a shield we are talking tankazons. Remember, everything adds. And with the 3 cases giving a 1 in 2 chance of being hit, that's the same as only being hit 1 out of 8 times. That's awesome (combined with wise use of her combat skills). With an ornate, DR does worse than 50% in hell/hell, but a shield and the D/A/E line can do better. Twitchthroe/3D shield is of course also possible to rely on for her.
e) The Necromancer.
In terms of DR, the Necromancer has nothing to add. And as such, he's equal to characters that don't use defense skills. But on the other hand, the Amazon tank does only have a D/A/E line that in general makes her around twice as good as a character without it. A Necromancer's best option is still Twitchthroe and a good shield when it comes to staying toe to toe! Should he for some reason wield an ornate plate, he just needs a Defiance-using Paladin friend or a Shouting barbarian to join the ranks of untouchables.
And with this, going through the defense rating is over. I hope that you now dare to think that defense is not worthless. You might even think that the 4*AR from Blizzard really was needed. I hope to have encouraged you to play a defense dependable variant. And if you're struggling along the way, remember the golden minutes of encountering an Armor shrine and being untouchable while charging into the meanest, biggest mob you can find.
Even though defense can be used with awesome results, it doesn't give a lot better protection than a shield. And because it doesn't come along that easily either, it's out of the question to really use it instead of a shield. Only with a shield does a defense variant shine! I would like to see shields nerfed with a characterlvl/monsterlvl balance modifier, just to see low level characters too far ahead in the game struggle more. I'd also like to see 2 handed weapons with a good defense be an good option for longer. It could be like characterlvl/monsterlvl*(shield% to block) and only for worse numbers. This nerf would not affect high end characters, and others fighting on equal monster/character level. We could then talk about earning the right to have a good working shield.
Thanks to the Lurkers for great inspiration on this and other topics, during a long period of time.
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