CoLD MeTaL wrote: If mitigation and avoidance work as in your post, really mitigation and avoidance are the same, and it only matters which is APPLIED FIRST. (Order Ops)
Which again I wonder how you KNOW which is applied first.
So the real question for me is, Does avoidance give you a percentage chance to take NO DAMAGE, or does it work like mitigation as a PERCENT of REAL DAMAGE ?
Others have answered you more than adequately. However, let me say that mathematically, it matters little which is applied first. 7x5 = 5x7
Logically, avoidance is applied first and then mitigation. In real life, you are either hit by the weapon or not. If you are hit, then you take some amount of damage which is mitigated by your armor.
But mathematically, it matters not one iota if you figure it out in the reverse:
1. If he is hit, he would take X damage after the hit is mitigated.
2. Was he hit?
Of course, there are differences in other ways. With avoidance, damage is all or none. You are hit or not any particular round. Also with avoidance, it is only effective within a limited arc in front of the player.
The all or none nature of avoidance makes it streaky. In practice this means that a series of hits that get through can leave you dead if you have poor mitigation because your healers cannot keep up with the damage you are taking. On the other hand, you might sometimes beat something you shouldn't if you get lucky enough on the avoidance rolls.