/respec and Defense Rating

[SanJ]

<DIV>Hey gang,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I started on this topic in cross server pally chat last night, but I think everyone was heavily occupied with hotkey bar changes, traits, etc.   At any rate, I've been spending some considerable time pondering over our best choices for a /respec.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Pre LU13/DOF and especially early on in EQ2 a skill for tanks labeled as Defense was critical for tackling higher level mobs, especially on the raid scene.  By default (unbuffed and untraited) a player would normally be at 250 defense rating at level 50.  However, every 5 points of defense would in essence raise the tanks' level by 1 full combat level.  As an example:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>255 defense = 51 tank, 260 defense = 52 tank, 265 defense = 53 tank, ...... etc.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Many players believed in the so called rule of six which essentially meant that if you could raise your tank level higher then six levels above a mob, you would essentially make the mob in question ... well trivial to the tank.  Imagine it would be like an orange con mob, dropping to yellow as you're  buffed by a friend, then dropping to white and down to blue and so forth through green as more and more members of your party or raid group added defensive buffs to the tank.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I don't really want to get into a detailed explanation of the whole concept, but noticing that mobs even 10 levels from your current level now may still con green, does defense rating matter NOW?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I found myself choosing +5 Defense last night (hoping that it did) instead of +5 STA as an example where I could have easily raised my HP through STA if Defense no longer matters.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Self buffed alone after respecing, I had <FONT color=#ffff00>285</FONT> defense SOLO with 0 fabled gear!  (250 for being level 50, +5 for a human trait, +?from Unwavering Faith as I summoned my pet, cast the spell, and cancelled him again, +5 from a leadership trait (last 3 min and then gone for 30 min so 280 most of the time), +? from Benediction (I'm at work and can't look) and finally +1 from the bracers you receive from the harclave).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Based on the pre-combat revamp, I would be tanking mobs as a level <FONT color=#ffff00>57</FONT> tank which seems quite impressive self-buffed and actually being level 50.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Does this skill still matter?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks,<BR>Kalen</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[RiotActer]

Hey bud.. From what I've read and seen so far...  Defense might not be King as it once was.  I believe this was more of the whole balancing thing.  Sure it will help, but it's not the "deciding" factor in tanking anymore.  I have a feeling Wisdom and Resists will be king, but that's just a guess...  I'm in the same boat as you, server crashed right after I talked to you and I was still working on my hotkeys <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <div></div>

[djhbeek]

i think you're on the right track.  every time they talk about tuning mit/mob dps/etc, they keep mentioning con color, so this may mean that since the ranges have been extended, defense is less effective.  of course, they may just be trying to dumb down the statements by saying con color rather than level. <div></div>

[Rochir]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> RiotActer wrote:<BR>Hey bud.. From what I've read and seen so far...  Defense might not be King as it once was.  I believe this was more of the whole balancing thing.  Sure it will help, but it's not the "deciding" factor in tanking anymore.  I have a feeling Wisdom and Resists will be king, but that's just a guess...  I'm in the same boat as you, server crashed right after I talked to you and I was still working on my hotkeys <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><BR> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <DIV>I went for balance in my respec with emphasis on sta, str, agi, int and wis.   Mostly sta and str.</DIV>

[g0thiC_iCe_cReaM]

<DIV>when i did my respec i took all wis, 1 int and 1 str...in combat power and in combat health regen bonuses...i think wis is goning to be a BIG factor in being able to stay alive...that and wards...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>dunno what my defense was as of lastnight and eq2players.com is showing stats for my toon from friday still...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>i've always used a 2 hander...i'm in not so uber gear, but it's decent...(all fulginate except imbued ebon chest and legs - still using a feysteel greatsword because i'm broke after the ebon armor purchase)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>i was soloing mobs that were orange (48 and 49) at 42...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>that is an interesting way of looking at defense now, i'm gonna have to check that out when i get home....</DIV>

[WAPCE]

Correct, Defense previously raised your level relative to a mob, but that was part of the problem that led to tank invincibility and having to raise epics to ridiculous proportions to keep them competitive. Post-revamp, Defense only adds avoidance (but I forget which of the 4 sub-sets it applies to). Regarding total avoidance, Parry > Defense >>> AGI.

[eyes007]

In all I think balance is the way to go now, I ignored my defense and avoidance and went for what I could do in a shorter time AS a soloer. In all reports about our DPS, I don't think it's way down like some reports but rather it's more balanced and requires more strategy than just hitting buttons. The idea was never to try and hit group mobs by ourselves but with groups, solo content (or hard solo content) is there for that reason. I took down a group of 3 blues with no arrows with no difficulty at all, would I have it any other way? No! It's much more fun this way, some of the 2up mobs might need groups, but that detracts from the experience if you wanted to do it yourself - grindin... imo. <DIV>Healing is spot on, wards and support spells are now more "situation specific". I like us being able to attack group mobs and severely damaging them AOE spells that total more than 1000 in damage so that wiping them out with single target killing is more efficient.</DIV> <DIV>The point has been made though, our defense and avoidance now varies with the Con color. Whether we pay atention to that anymore and just get on with the job of killing and such will be a long debate, particularly since killing is more strategic now.</DIV> <DIV>I'm not going to react until the changes are permanent but for the time being, I'm happy <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV>

[uzhiel feathered serpe]

<P>Defense now buffs your avoidance. I chose the +5 def and it buffed me a whole 1% avoidance. Also one of the devs posted that it would work as such. When the next respec comes out ill go for the stre..right now, more power is important.</P> <P> </P>