Max block or not?

[HeavensAvenger]

Hi guys, wondering if i could get your opinions on wether its worth going for max block with my new sorcs. A mellee character player usually and i always go for it, mainly cos its easy to achieve with holy sheild, but do you need it for the sorcesses.

If so how much base dex to you think i should aim for? Am at lvl 53 at the mo and have got 100 base in dex so far, concerned though this is pulling points away from vit?

Dan

P.S sorry for spelling..............

[colgate]

Hi guys, wondering if i could get your opinions on wether its worth going for max block with my new sorcs. A mellee character player usually and i always go for it, mainly cos its easy to achieve with holy sheild, but do you need it for the sorcesses.

If so how much base dex to you think i should aim for? Am at lvl 53 at the mo and have got 100 base in dex so far, concerned though this is pulling points away from vit?

Dan

P.S sorry for spelling..............

Yes it's pulling points away from vit. I don't go for block because I don't have enough StormShields to cover my dying habbit. Oh and SS's don't have +2 to skills.

[AnimeCraze]

If you already have 100 dex, might as well go for it. It's basically comparing safety VS kill speed. SS for safety, and spirit for speed.

[HeavensAvenger]

Thanx for the help so far, if i go for it and am gonna use a ss, what roughly is the dex ill need to achieve near max block?

[PhatTrumpet]

Total blocking = (shield block %) * (dex - 15) / (level * 2)

or, if going for max block (75%), utilizing my ub3r l33t alg3bra skillzors:

dex = (75% * (level * 2)) / (shield block %) + 15

Simply look at your shield's listed blocking in game with the appropriate character (it differs between character classes, or you can look it up on the Arreat Summit), plug in your character level, and out pops the dex you'd need for 75% block. Beautiful, no?

I'm a huge proponent of max block on Sorcs if you have good resists and the life charms to back it up, because even if you have to invest 100-150 points in dex to attain it that only amounts to a loss of 200-300 life.

[HeavensAvenger]

Thanx m8, my maths anit that great but i worked out at lvl 90 with a SS (67% block) that i'd need 216 dex? Sound right? thats a hell of a lot!!! better get some +dex gear / charms........

Dan

[AnimeCraze]

Thanx m8, my maths anit that great but i worked out at lvl 90 with a SS (67% block) that i'd need 216 dex? Sound right? thats a hell of a lot!!! better get some +dex gear / charms........

DanI suggest hard points in dex and life charms, if you can afford. A 20 life sc gives the same as 10 vit points, at 1/2 the same space as a +5 dex lc. In other words, it is 4 times as effective. As people who advocate block says: Sorc has poor life/vita return, so use them for dex. It is the same situation here.

Edit: The only time I think I will really use str/dex charms is to get around str requirements for some high lvl equipments.
ex. Putting on an andy's gives 25~30 str.
Suppose that my zon can't use Andy's yet because of the lvl, and doesn't want to put in more str since Andy's will cover it later. In that case, I use str charms to don the rest of my equip, and get rid of them after I get to lvl 83.

[HeavensAvenger]

Thanx m8, will do that. Pump dex and go with charms, have alot of life charms already so will carry on collecting.

Dan

[junglejunkie]

I've alwasy gone with this:

Max block for PvP (Use SS)
Max Vita for PvM (Use Spirit)

as a guideline, that makes sense to me.