+parry,+defense,+shield block, extra mitigation

[Gisallo]

Okay finally got to T8 and am starting to seriously look at my equipment spec.  Until now my attitude had been basically "level level level".  Now I am wondering when I see gear that says any of the above, are they pretty much equal, or does one give more bang for the buck.  Right now I am pretty much wearing mastercrafted with the exception of my shoulders which are a drop from shard of fear, better mit and also + aggression but as I start to get drops that have bonuses on them, I am wondering if hanging onto the master crafted stuff with the shield block is worth it or if the whole +3 total I have from that right now is just too paltry to sacrifice for the extra mitigation and stats I may get from the legendary drops that I am starting to get.  Fabled in T8 is of course a no-brainer.  

[LygerT]

<p>+shield block chance and + parry chance is superior to ALL, keep that in mind when picking gear because those 2 are uncontested avoidance, meaning they have a direct % to avoid all incoming damage compared to any other avoidances. order of general importance is as follows block>parry>defense, which all have diminishing returns curves and are contested avoidances. agility affects avoidance, as does defense, parry affects parry of course and shield mitigation affects your block chance, keep in mind your shield level protection level and its quality(fabled>Legendary) all play a part in how much you get out of each piece. </p><p>as far as mitigation levels go, this is about the only expansion where i pretty much see almost all plate being equal in the mitigation department, swapping out my upper end VP set for some lower end legendary would probably only be a marginal hit to how hard the mobs hit us, the only shining factor differentiating the level of armors is the benefits they give us in stats and buffs. </p><p>our shield is our second best friend next to uncontested avoidance, being that we're stuck with a buckler unless you can get your hands on the best tower shield in the game (bulwark of the unstoppable off trakanon) then you need to look for bucklers with the best quality(remember fabled and level owns all since mitigation is contested as well) in protection level, item level and level quality. the best tanking buckler is virtues guard from protectors realm, even pickups can manage this zone so it isn't out of reach for even casual players, followed by ghostly guard of wrath out of a heroic instance Veksar. </p><p>all plate tanks have become avoidance tanks, meaning its your job to avoid hits not take them. uncontested avoidance is most important followed by contested avoidances then it's all about how much health you have and how well your healers actually do their job.</p>

[Zhonata]

<p>To start with Im a bit fuzzy on this as well but i will tell you what I think I know <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Shield Block/Reposte>Parry/Dodge>Defense> Mitigation</p><p>In ROK Avoidance is king the mobs hit so hard that it is better to just avoid the attack all together. Also take into account that with instance gear/group buffs and our temp buffs you can easily hit the point of diminishing returns for Mitigation.</p><p>Uncontested Avoidance is anything that gives a straight percentage% increase to your avoidance, meaning no matter what the mobs level is you still have said % chance to avoid. This is what i was told and still am not sure. So correct me if im wrong.</p><p><u>Shield Block or Block</u> is the best of the conteseted avoidance it just straight out blocks the attack and seems to give the best bang for your buck base avoidance increase.</p><p><u>Reposte</u> at least from what I have gathered is a completely seperate avoidance check much like Adrenaline is a seperate mitigation check. This is Uncontested avoidance and I do not believe that it stacks, /shrug, so each items you get that adds to your reposte is a seperate check. At least again what I have been told.</p><p><u>Parry/Dodge/Deflection</u> All add to your base avoidace with higher multipliers than defense.</p><p><u>Defense</u> adds directly to your base avoidance the least bang for you buck.</p><p>So yes the master crafted armor with shield block is awsome <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Im sure lyger will chime in an correct me on the points im wrong about, but that is as much as i know.</p><p>*edit* Hahaha he beat me to it lol</p>

[LygerT]

<p>i forgot to add Riposte but currently the only way to get riposte is from our stamina tree, which 99% of zerks still use to make sure you can manage aggro semi easily, it is also one of the mechanics that keeps us able to use a buckler without getting our butts handed to us while doing so since stamina 4 gives 8% uncontested avoidance it is the single best ability we get for uncontested avoidance, it also adds a small damage return to the mob while doing so. </p><p>and Zhon, i can't reply to you ingame for some reason, it gives me an error that that is an invalid character name even just using the reply command. you can just join the zerker channel though, then again maybe you just logged out before i could reply. <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" /></p>

[Mogzilla]

<cite>Zhon@Lucan DLere wrote:</cite><blockquote><u>Reposte</u> at least from what I have gathered is a completely seperate avoidance check much like Adrenaline is a seperate mitigation check. This is Uncontested avoidance and I do not believe that it stacks, /shrug, so each items you get that adds to your reposte is a seperate check. At least again what I have been told. <p><u>Parry/Dodge/Deflection</u> All add to your base avoidace with higher multipliers than defense.</p></blockquote><p>Riposte is a seperate check you make after a successful parry.</p><p>A certain percentage of all successful parries become riposte.</p><p>This is for contested riposte.  Your sta line and uncontested riposte change that a bit.</p><p>Defection is a brawler only skill and does nothing for warriors.</p>