Clearing up the confusion with Mitigation cap and how avoidance really works.

[-Aonein-]

<DIV> <DIV> <HR> </DIV> <DIV>I realize there's a natural desire to see some sort of parity between mitigation and avoidance numbers for the various types of tanks, but it isn't that simple. As I'm growing more fond of saying lately, numbers don't tell the whole story. It's tough to say that X mitigation is worth Y avoidance, because the two traits behave differently in combat.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The mitigation percentage you see is based on a no-arrow solo opponent of your level; your mitigation against another kind of opponent can vary significantly. That's why it's beneficial for a tank to add mitigation even if your display indicates you're at the cap. While you may be at cap against a white-con no-arrow opponent, you're not capped against a yellow-con ^^^ heroic. For wont of a better term, mitigation is mitigated by both the target's level and tier.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Avoidance, on the other hand, is based on level alone. If you have 70% avoidance, it's 70% against an opponent of your level. That doesn't change based on the tier of your opponent; you avoid about the same against a no-arrow opponent as you do against a ^^^. (Special mobs, such as named and epics, have innate to-hit bonuses given to them, but even in that case higher avoidance still provides an advantage.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thus you get hit harder and more often by opponents that are higher level than you are. In contrast, a higher tier (that is, more arrows) opponent of the same level will hit you harder, but not more often.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So like I said, comparing the numbers in your persona window don't tell the whole story. Parsing is prone to similar errors in interpretation. Trying to prove that ClassA is a better tank than ClassB by parsing fights against green ^^^ opponents isn't going to guarantee how those classes will perform against orange-con epic fights. If you want to show performance against a specific kind of opponent, you need to parse against that type of opponent.</DIV> <P>===========================<BR>Steve Danuser, a.k.a. Moorgard<BR>Game Designer, EverQuest II</P> <P></P> <HR> </DIV> <P> </P> <P>It can be found <A href="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=3&message.id=15906#M15906" target=_blank><STRONG><FONT color=#ff3300>here</FONT></STRONG></A> in this thread i been watching for awhile.</P>