Defense, Parry and Mitigation question

[Toredorf]

<DIV>For a lvl 70 Zerker the cap of defense and parry is 420 and the mitigation is 80% now the question is if by overcaping those with buff and mods does it will benefits when tanking yellow and higher cons? and should i max out the parry and defense AAs?</DIV>

[FightGame]

<DIV>Perform a search you'll see this question pop up every other week</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>But I'll save you time.  Overcapping helps for 2 reasons.  First reason is cap of 420 (or whatever) is against a level 70 mob.  Having over cap will help against a higher level mob.  How much you need for a higher level mob is not defined.  We could do some math and say 420 / 70 levels = 6 per level.  So if your fighting a level 71 mob, add 6 to it.  But this may not be it.  Higher level mobs may have some multiplier added to them to make them tougher.  Nobody knows.  Other reason would be if you get debuffed.<BR></DIV> <DIV>As for what you should do with your aa's, it's really your call, and depends on how you play.  If you tank raids, then ya, mitigation and either defense, parry, or hate gain (either by the straight hate you get in strength line, or by doing more dps in something like the stamina line).  You should look at defense and parry once you're raid buffed, along with how well you hold aggro, and make your own decision really.  If you don't tank raids, but tank almost evry group your in, then mitigation plus whatever.  If you don't tank (which I doubt) , get all the offensive stuff, but don't go crazy or you'll get aggro.  good luck</DIV><p>Message Edited by FightGame on <span class=date_text>09-05-2006</span> <span class=time_text>04:22 PM</span>

[Thor Of Hal]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Toredorf wrote:<BR> <DIV>For a lvl 70 Zerker the cap of defense and parry is 420 and the mitigation is 80% now the question is if by overcaping those with buff and mods does it will benefits when tanking yellow and higher cons? and should i max out the parry and defense AAs?</DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>1. Threat/Hate gain, dont join a raid without it</P> <P>2. Mitigation</P> <P>3. HP</P> <P>4. Avoidance/ Spell resists</P> <P> </P> <P>I wouldnt worry about ur avoidance much... Thats a Monk/Bruisers territory.  Your primary concern is your ensuring you keep agro in a raid and your mitigation, HP is also important.  The better you are at these 4 points in the order of importance the better you will do on raids imo.</P> <P>btw for avoidance:  The order of buffing goes;</P> <P>1. Parry</P> <P>2. Defence</P> <P>3. Agi</P> <P>When a mob hits it will check your parry first then ur def/avoidance.  The higher your parry is the more chance you will dodge. If you equip items with either one of parry/def/agi you will see that parry will boost your avoidance more then defense and defense will do waaay more the crappy agi (66 agi is ~ 0.5% avoidance).   The protection factor on shields will also add alot more.  Tower shields are 5% better about on frontal at all times, but you will loose out on the 76% double attack... vital for holding hate. Bucklers (with the AA line) will add 5% AoE avoidance but still 5% less then frontal i.e. the tower shield gives you 5% frontal extra blockage chance, but it -5% from sides and rear.  Buckler give u +5% Sides and rear but -5% front in comparison to tower shield.</P> <P>Vladnor The Berserk</P> <P>70 Berserker</P> <P>Unity</P> <P>Splitpaw</P><p>Message Edited by Thor Of Halla on <span class=date_text>09-25-2006</span> <span class=time_text>05:13 AM</span>

[Dozerta]

I tried using the search function to find the answer to the following, but the data seemed a bit old.  Anyway, what function does wield a shield / buckler have in EQ2?  From reading the above post (thank you for that informatoin btw), I can see that it 'blocks', but what does blocking mean in EQ2?  Does a block negate all of the incoming damage?  Does it only take off a portion? (and if this is the case, does a tower shield take off more damage than a buckler?) Does it prevent critical strikes?Thank you in advance for any input on this matter.<div></div>

[Wargurine]

Blocking adds to your avoidance. If you put your cursor over your avoidance % as showed in the persona window, it will give you a breakdown of the totals you get from parry, def, etc. So as one of the posts says in this thread, a tower shield gives you an avg of 5% xtra avoidance over using a buckler when your talking T7 raid lvl shields. IMO, the two best bucklers in the game for a zerker are attainable w/o raiding, the Archaic Buckler can be bought on the broker even though it drops in HoS from the trash, or the one that comes from HoF (forgot the name of the shield, Asomethingorother Guard). So for a non raider, you really won't lose any avoidance going 4/4/8/8 in the sta line over using a tower shield.<div></div>

[Dozerta]

And avoidance is just as it sounds?  i.e. - you avoid the damage completely?<div></div>

[Wargurine]

yes<div></div>

[FightGame]

<DIV>yes, if you avoid the hit, it do not get hit at all.  You can avoid by using your base avoidance (which comes from defense and agility, and maybe other things such as racial traits), blocking (which comes from your shield), parrying (which comes from parry), or deflection (which plate users don't get).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>When you go stamina line with buckler, and put 8 points into the 4th ability, which gives you additional avoidance, you will still be about 4% total lower avoidance.  But, you pick up a small chance for 360° avoidance, which some say doesn't get added into your displayed avoidance.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Wargurine]

It definately doesn't get added to your displayed avoidance. I am a very visual type of person, and don't like taking things on faith, so I was alittle upset that my avoidance didn't change as I put 8 points into that ability, and I was watching closely too lol<div></div>

[Dozerta]

Thank you both for your input.  <span>:smileyhappy:</span><div></div>

[FightGame]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Wargurine wrote:<BR>It definately doesn't get added to your displayed avoidance. I am a very visual type of person, and don't like taking things on faith, so I was alittle upset that my avoidance didn't change as I put 8 points into that ability, and I was watching closely too lol<BR> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>hmm, pretty sure mine did.  With no points in, I was about 7-8% low.  When I was done, it was (is now) 4-5% lower than with tower shield.

[Huna]

<DIV><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> FightGame wrote:<BR> <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Wargurine wrote:<BR>It definately doesn't get added to your displayed avoidance. I am a very visual type of person, and don't like taking things on faith, so I was alittle upset that my avoidance didn't change as I put 8 points into that ability, and I was watching closely too lol<BR> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>hmm, pretty sure mine did.  With no points in, I was about 7-8% low.  When I was done, it was (is now) 4-5% lower than with tower shield.<BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>It definitely adds to the displayed percentage.  I just added my 5th point the other day, and I watched it change.  I also watched it change when I added the 4th point.</DIV>

[Thor Of Hal]

<P>As it is now... in EoF their will be a big restructing of the way these things work.</P> <P>In effect Avoidance will become better to tank with.  But the important thing to remeber is that we DONT use avoidance as a primary means for tanking.. Thats Monks/bruiser territory,  Instead Mitigation (which atm is over powered) is where we must excel in and we gain the most bonus out of.  So make sure you have 312 in mitigation.</P> <P>I have since respec my aa line according to this, as a dev (blackguard maybe) has said that the benefits u get from mitigation get exponentially higher the closer you are to cap... This will change as of EoF you instead see a dimishing returns curve towards cap (which have all been raised). But you can still take comfort that say if maximum effiency for a stat was 5k (like miti or spell resists) you will still increase in resists the higher u go.  So basically get ready to CAP your critical stats and get those other pesky ones as close to maximum effiency point you can.</P> <P>That means we gotta cap STR, STA, Mitigation <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P> <P>Vladnor The Berserk</P> <P>70 Berserker</P> <P>Unity</P> <P>Splitpaw</P>

[FightGame]

<DIV>Pretty much the same we've always wanted to cap...but if you're tanking, I think the order will still be mit, sta, str  (of course raw health and things too, but of the three you listed).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I can't wait to see how much power and damage I have when I'm buffed to over 1,000 strength <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV>

[Thor Of Hal]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> FightGame wrote:<BR> <DIV>Pretty much the same we've always wanted to cap...but if you're tanking, I think the order will still be mit, sta, str  (of course raw health and things too, but of the three you listed).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I can't wait to see how much power and damage I have when I'm buffed to over 1,000 strength <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>[Removed for Content]   +12 probably</P> <P>p.s. Sort your threat out before you go for miti, hp, avoidance, resists </P> <P><img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P> <P>Vladnor The Berserk</P> <P>70 Berserker</P> <P>Unity</P> <P>Splitpaw</P><p>Message Edited by Thor Of Halla on <span class=date_text>10-08-2006</span> <span class=time_text>05:45 PM</span>

[FightGame]

My threat was sorted a long time ago.  It's not a problem.  Mobs hate me thanks to knowing my character + Stamina line + master taunts + dirge.  I very rarely lose aggro.  When I do, it's usually because I'm stunned or stifled.  Or maybe someone targeting the wrong mob or nuking 3 seconds into fight.  Or if the mob has a mem wipe.  None of which can be controlled by me.  I average 800-1100 dps and there's a few members that average well above that and never get aggro.  And it's not all about the warrior taunting and doing what they're suppose to  -  many times keeping the mob on the MT is a group or raid effort.

[Thor Of Hal]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> FightGame wrote:<BR> My threat was sorted a long time ago.  It's not a problem.  Mobs hate me thanks to knowing my character + Stamina line + master taunts + dirge.  I very rarely lose aggro.  When I do, it's usually because I'm stunned or stifled.  Or maybe someone targeting the wrong mob or nuking 3 seconds into fight.  Or if the mob has a mem wipe.  None of which can be controlled by me.  I average 800-1100 dps and there's a few members that average well above that and never get aggro.  And it's not all about the warrior taunting and doing what they're suppose to  -  many times keeping the mob on the MT is a group or raid effort.<BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>Yup</P> <P>But ppl tend to sometimes look to heavly in tanking themselfs out.  For example in terms of AA lines, you could got 8 into the final Wis AA ability. And maybe sacrifice your zerker double attack to say 49%. + put the 8 into the aoe avoidance with the buckler</P> <P>Sta 4,4,4,8 - 4/5% aoe avoidance.</P> <P>Wis 4,4,4,8,8 - +312 miti, +20 to slashing crushing piecring (stance penalty removal)</P> <P>Thats what it did look like.   </P> <P>This setup was one of the first i had while i was still getting my AA points up to 50.  And at 50 with it completed... the agro ability SUCKED coz the dps had been nerfed by myself too much (no 76% double attack and 4 in DPS mod) - lol was gunna respec neway when i reached 50 aa points <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P> <P>A guardian could get away better with this setup due to thier CA setup... But not a zerker.</P> <P>And if your agro is [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn]... dont bother coming on the raid!!</P> <P>Hence i say Sort your Threat out before nething else...  Its an easy thing to do, but never the less it doesnt make it any less critical! </P> <P>Vladnor The Berserk</P> <P>70 Berserker</P> <P>Unity </P> <P>Splitpaw</P>