Defence vs Blocking

[Xenthe]

Dear fellow Barbs,

Would appreciate if I could get some clarifications on the following topics :

a) for a melee character like a Barb, should I go for the route of high defence or high block ? Unlike a pala which benefit from Holy Shield, I seem to need a ton of dex just to achieve a decent 80% block in hell.

b) my room-mates tell me that block come after defence, thus getting the top defence armour (+ a definace merc) IS the way to go.

Thanks.

PS : this is my 3rd character for this season after my sorc and necro, thus sounding so newbie, pls pardon that.

[sahlakh]

Dear fellow Barbs,

Would appreciate if I could get some clarifications on the following topics :

a) for a melee character like a Barb, should I go for the route of high defence or high block ? Unlike a pala which benefit from Holy Shield, I seem to need a ton of dex just to achieve a decent 80% block in hell.

b) my room-mates tell me that block come after defence, thus getting the top defence armour (+ a definace merc) IS the way to go.

Thanks.

PS : this is my 3rd character for this season after my sorc and necro, thus sounding so newbie, pls pardon that.

(max block is 75%, duh)

High defense is always nice but you need to know a few things:

1) some monsters ingnore your defense totally
2) some monsters have a very high AR (meaning that you need at least 20k def)

I prefer block to defense, don't really care much about defense it's just a bit of extra :). My builds almost always have max block (playing HC) but I'm sure 2-handed builds survive as well, they just need to be more careful in some places and need a lot of life leech.

I'm not absolutely sure but I think your roommate is correct - first def then block (someone correct this :P). As for the aura, I always take might for extra damage, since barbs are really lacking damage these days :(.

[Xenthe]

Unlike a pala which benefit from Holy Shield, I seem to need a ton of dex just to achieve a decent 80% block in hell.
Typo ... I meant to press the "5" key on the numberic pad instead of "8".

I had meant to type 50% ... with about 120 dex, that what I saw one of my friend in a LAN centre having those stats... which kinda of disappointing for my next build.

[sahlakh]

Typo ... I meant to press the "5" key on the numberic pad instead of "8".

I had meant to type 50% ... with about 120 dex, that what I saw one of my friend in a LAN centre having those stats... which kinda of disappointing for my next build.

Well, basically you have two two choices:

1) You go with shield and max block
2) You go with massive 2-handed weapon and dex as low as needed

If you don't have a SS yet, just get +3% better block rate what the current shield shows.

[mstrnicegui]

Max blocking is a very big deal, because only elemental can ignore shields and even some elemental missile types are blockable. If you go with a shield, get max blocking.

[Grandar King of Trolls]

I don't really see where there is a trade-off between blocking and defense. You can definitely have both. That is, provided you carry a shield. If you don't cary a shield, then you will just be able to work on your defense rating, but the real trade-off is between damage and blocking, not defense and blocking. That is, 2-handed weapons generally do more damage than 1-handed weapons. Anyway, my point is that defense and blocking are certainly not mutually exclusive. In fact, they usually go hand in hand.

[Halciet]

Similarly, it doesn't matter which triggers first (block or defense), since they are both checked before damage is applied, and thus no matter how you work it out, it boils down to the exact same chance to be hit.

You have a 5% chance to get hit, and a 75% chance to block; out of 1000 swings:

if defense came first, you'd go down 50 hits, and then block would trigger; 50 hits x .75 = 12.5 hits per 1000 swings

if Block came first, you'd go down to 250 hits, then defense would kick in; 250 x .05 = 12.5 hits per 1000 swings.

Thus, that argument your roommates made is meaningless.

-Hal

[Caerbannog]

Similarly, it doesn't matter which triggers first (block or defense), since they are both checked before damage is applied, and thus no matter how you work it out, it boils down to the exact same chance to be hit.

You have a 5% chance to get hit, and a 75% chance to block; out of 1000 swings:

if defense came first, you'd go down 50 hits, and then block would trigger; 50 hits x .75 = 12.5 hits per 1000 swings

if Block came first, you'd go down to 250 hits, then defense would kick in; 250 x .05 = 12.5 hits per 1000 swings.

Thus, that argument your roommates made is meaningless.

-Hal

I wish my chars had 5% chance to be hit... :drool:
the best I have (I think) Is my LLD zon with Dodge + Block, assuming she gets hit 95% of the time the dodge + block percents lowered it to 12.65 hits of 100 landing ... or 12.25 ... anyway you get the idea :)

[RTB]

Similarly, it doesn't matter which triggers first (block or defense), since they are both checked before damage is applied, and thus no matter how you work it out, it boils down to the exact same chance to be hit.
But just for exactness sake: Defense first, then blocking.

[Inuyasha]

Personally, I find that if you can manage to pull off enough defense to give you a 5% chance to be hit always, then a shield is kind of meaningless. The bonuses of having a 2handed weapon is much more important then.

However, I have yet to see someone who always has a 5% chance to be hit, especially in duels. I wouldn't imagine having anything other than my lancers without a shield.

[spencerjrus]

get a shield, 75% blocking means you are immune to 3/4 of all melee attacks against you.

[jjashik]

i'd go for 75% block first. def, you can get from maxing shout and iron skin and using high def armor. to me max block is a must for any dueling char (unless u make one that doesn't duel melee chars). higher def is just a sugar coating.