02-18-2004, 06:08 PM
Defence generally is only worthwhile if you specialize in it. It also suffers from diminishing returns (quite badly, although this is somewhat "hidden."). While resistances also suffer the same "diminishing" returns, it is much more noticable with defence.
Example: my current avenger uses maxed holy shield and several very high defence pieces of equipment to acchieve a defence over 10 000, giving normal monsters about a 20% chance to hit him. With my merc's defiance aura active, my AC jumps up to about 14k, and my to be hit chance drops to about 16, 17%. Very little difference. With an increase of 40%, my to be hit chance drops by 3 or 4 percent. Conversely, when I switch to resist fire and boost my merc's fire resistance from 75% to 85%, he lasts MUCH longer against venom lords.
Essentially, it's only worth investing in more defence if
a) you already have maxed resistances;
B) you can increase your defence AND keep or increase your resistances.
In short, concentrate on resists, not defence. But if you can add more defence without sacrificing resists (and without other factors, such as slowing your run/walk from heavy armor), then do so.
gekko
Example: my current avenger uses maxed holy shield and several very high defence pieces of equipment to acchieve a defence over 10 000, giving normal monsters about a 20% chance to hit him. With my merc's defiance aura active, my AC jumps up to about 14k, and my to be hit chance drops to about 16, 17%. Very little difference. With an increase of 40%, my to be hit chance drops by 3 or 4 percent. Conversely, when I switch to resist fire and boost my merc's fire resistance from 75% to 85%, he lasts MUCH longer against venom lords.
Essentially, it's only worth investing in more defence if
a) you already have maxed resistances;
B) you can increase your defence AND keep or increase your resistances.
In short, concentrate on resists, not defence. But if you can add more defence without sacrificing resists (and without other factors, such as slowing your run/walk from heavy armor), then do so.
gekko
"Life is sacred and you are not its steward. You have stewardship over it but you don't own it. You're making a choice to go through this, it's not just happening to you. You're inviting it, and in some ways delighting in it. It's not accidental or coincidental. You're choosing it. You have to realize you've made choices."
-Michael Ventura, "Letters@3AM"
-Michael Ventura, "Letters@3AM"