Chain vs. Leather... is it really worth it?

[Lord Dragon]

I figuered that this would be the best place to ask this question... since like everyone else reading around here I am also a ranger.  and that question is... is Chain armor worth it.  The reason why I am asking this, and with the way I see things is,  a 61% chance to completely avoid an attack would be better then a 25% chance to avoid an attack but have a 30-45% (if that) absorbtion of damage.  This is why I haven't moved to chain armor as of yet because I really am still undecided and I just want some people input.  Mind you I have pulled off some extraordinary feats in just leather with a 60%+ avoidence.  the one that stands out in my mind the most would be me and a fury 1 level above me taking on a green epic X2, something I don't think I would have been able to do in chain<div></div>

[Zholain]

<font size="2">You will never get a clear-cut answer to this question, as I don't think there is one.  There have been numerous threads on this very subject in the past, in the end just concluding that you should wear whatever type you want to wear.The only thing I can guarantee is that in KoS, if you raid and pursue getting your relic pieces, you will be restricted to chain.</font><div></div>

[Balerius]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Lord Dragon wrote:<BR>I figuered that this would be the best place to ask this question... since like everyone else reading around here I am also a ranger.  and that question is... is Chain armor worth it.  The reason why I am asking this, and with the way I see things is,  a 61% chance to completely avoid an attack would be better then a 25% chance to avoid an attack but have a 30-45% (if that) absorbtion of damage.  <BR><BR>This is why I haven't moved to chain armor as of yet because I really am still undecided and I just want some people input.  Mind you I have pulled off some extraordinary feats in just leather with a 60%+ avoidence.  the one that stands out in my mind the most would be me and a fury 1 level above me taking on a green epic X2, something I don't think I would have been able to do in chain<BR> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>There is a simple answer:  It depends.</P> <P>It depends on the level of mobs you are fighting (higher level mobs hit harder and you avoid them less; you also do damage to them more slowly), the quality of your weapons/poisons (affects how fast you kill the mob), the quality of your CAs (affects how quickly you kill the mob).</P> <P>From my experience, rangers just don't have sufficient avaoidance to make relying on avoidance to out-last a mob a reliable strategy.  My experience is that we are better off relying on mitigation.  So I would say use chain.</P> <P>Which isn't to say that you shouldn't take advantage of any avoidance you can get.  So I would especially ensure I used my defensive stance when soloing.</P> <P>Lastly, this should only ever be a question for whn you solo (or maybe duo).  In a normal group/raid, you should never be the taget of a mob's attack anyway so the question is irrelevant.</P>

[BooDon]

<P>Leather aint bad for solo or dueling but for me its all about chain.   Why?  Because when I'm in a group and get aggro from some add or uber named I want all the mitigation I can get so I can survive a few extra shots.</P> <P>I've also been raiding the past 2.5 months and most major raid mobs have 2 to 3 AEs.  Its almost guaranteed that mobs will have a raidwide physcial damage AE (Vyemm has Scream of Chaos, alot of mobs have tail lashes).  I have like 39% mitigation self buffed and I don't like dying so im all chain.  And so far I've seen very few leather drops while raiding so those always go to the brawlers and druids.  Back in the t5 days leather was pretty good to wear, now with the damage mobs do I think it makes alot more mitigation to survive.</P> <P>So I guess it depends on your playstyle, leather is good for solo player, either or mixmatched is good for groups, but in raids i'd recommend chain. </P>