Post:Parrying - 12/8/2009 - 5:44:57

Re: Parrying · on 12/8/2009 5:44:57 AM	16938
Heyo! Just a quick comment on parry and shields... There's a bit more separating the two than was mentioned. For example, Parry takes into account your weapon ranks, so it is theoretically possible for parry to either way outperform shield or way underperform it depending on the weapon skill ranks, even if the parry and shield skills are identical. In addition, not only does parry have the lowest multi penalty, but shield actually has some positional and range modifiers, meaning that shield may be better at range x or position y, whereas parry may be better if the attacker is at range x or position y. On top of that, the inherent "bonuses" for shield are a flat bonus, whereas the evasion penalty (which is not necessarily tiny as implied) is a percentage penalty -- so at higher skill ranks, the shield may actually be imposing more of a penalty to -all- defenses (since the effectiveness of parry and shield both depend to some extent on the effectiveness of evasion, which shield hinders) than the shield compensates for. There's little question that shield is best at low levels, nor is there any question that its ability to block missiles and magic makes it superior to parry in certain situations. However, at higher levels, parry is generally better at melee, especially in multi situations. With all that said, defenses as we know them are undergoing drastic revision. Everything you think you know about defense is going out the window over the next month or two. - GM Dartenian
This message was originally posted in Combat - Weapons and Armor (11) \ General Discussions (3), by DR-DARTENIAN on the play.net forums.