Chance to Block Question

[GraphicMD]

I am starting a summoner and I am trying to decide if I should sacrifice life for max chance to block. I know there are two ratings when you look at your character screen. Your defense seems to calculate the change a monster will hit, and there is also a chance to block.

How does this work in game play? With every hit you take does it first calculate your chance to block the impending hit, only if the swing is not blocked, will it then calculate the chance the monster will hit? Does it go through two checks? If you have 75% chance to block, and 50% chance the monster will hit does that mean overall there is about an 80-90% chance to avoid the blow altogether?

Also what is Homunculus worth on ladder? Can I trade one for an Um or would I need an Ist.. gulp, or higher?

[Crowd Control]

I am starting a summoner and I am trying to decide if I should sacrifice life for max chance to block. I know there are two ratings when you look at your character screen. Your defense seems to calculate the change a monster will hit, and there is also a chance to block.

How does this work in game play? With every hit you take does it first calculate your chance to block the impending hit, only if the swing is not blocked, will it then calculate the chance the monster will hit? Does it go through two checks? If you have 75% chance to block, and 50% chance the monster will hit does that mean overall there is about an 80-90% chance to avoid the blow altogether?

Also what is Homunculus worth on ladder? Can I trade one for an Um or would I need an Ist.. gulp, or higher?

Yeah, I believe you're right on the percentage part. First the chance to block a physical attack, then the chance to evade any attack given. Personally I find it not worth sacrificing dex for block over life, because the dex can't be used in the weapon. But this might differ per person. For the Homu, you can do a PriceCheck in the trade forums.

[fahartle]

My experience with a Summoner is that you don't need max block at all. If you're in a position where you're taking hits from melee characters with a summoner, then something's wrong with your approach. You're a "rear-in-the-gear" kind of character. That's the beauty of it! Let your minions take the hits. I'd suggest saving all those dexterity points for str for gear, vitality for life, or energy for extra tasty corpse explosions ^_^.