Spell Blocking

[Hornpipe2]

I want to have a discussion on Spell Blocking. As most people know, Diablo characters have a chance to block certain spells from monsters as long as they have 0% resistance to the spell. Once a character adds at least 1 point of resistance, they lose this ability. (Hellfire lifted this restriction, so you are still able to block spells regardless of resistance level - much to the annoyance of Hellfire players).

How SHOULD spell blocking work? In my opinion, it should work regardless of resistance level, but not be an irritant that ruins builds or causes players to avoid blocking. Part of the problem I think stems from the formula used. Take a look (courtesy Jarulf's guide):

Code:

6. if the attacker is a monster calculate block Dex + 2·clvl + bonus[target]
7. if the attacker is a monster subtract 2·mlvl
8. if the attacker is a trap, calculate Dex[target] + bonus[target]
9. if the value calculated is below 0, set it to 0
10. if the value calculated is above 100, set it to 100
11. the value now achieved is the final chance to block (FB)
12. a block of the attack is done if Rnd[100] < FB

I note a few problems here.
* The range of blocking is 0 to 100 which makes it possible to attain 100% blocking and get stuck indefinitely in a block loop - a better solution might be a 5-95 range.
* The formula seems to make it very easy to block given sufficient dex (and especially if the bonus 30/20/10 class-block is working), so you're pretty likely to keep getting interrupted - perhaps it should be adjusted...?
* It is possible to block while in mid-(melee) attack - perhaps it should only work when you're standing still. After all, you can't block while casting.

Please air your grievances about this and how you would fix it! Zenda suggested to me that it would make more sense to cause players (or monsters) with >0% resistance to still get stunned... I'm not quite sure I follow what he is saying, but I am not a Diablo expert by any means. : )

[Selby]

Even 95 is going to be problematic. 50 may even be a pain if the random numbers work against you too often.

To truly fix it, I would suggest ONLY allowing blocking if you are standing still, not attacking. Anything else is going to lead to problems with stunlock (it's also more realistic ;-) ). Naturally I am not exactly sure how easy that is to do as the original code I don't believe checks either state and will block regardless if dex is high enough and the resistance is 0% (except in Hellfire where resistance doesn't matter on the block check).

I personally like not blocking spells with my shield. My CAT rogue did much better in Diablo than in Hellfire until I modified Hellfire to avoid that stupid blocking issue.

[Belix]

I've experimented with spell blocking a bit with different characters over the years now and then, mostly out of curiousity, but with the original Diablo mechanics it always seems a better solution to rely on 60%+ resistances. Without a Fast Block shield the Rogue and Sorcerer are just begging to get block-locked, and I tend to favor Vampire swords with my Warrior - the slower attacks being interrupted by blood stars, fireballs and charged bolts just don't pay off when I can soak up the damage with his beefy hit points and dart aside to cast Healing quickly.

However, if I wanted to change that formula to make spell-blocking viable with any amount of resistances, I think I'd add in a blocking delay. e.g. you can only block a spell every X often (maybe the equivalent of 1-2 times per second?) - that way, being bombarded with spells alone could never put you into block-lock.

Bit of a side note... any of you Rogues or Sorcerers out there run around with those cute little Bucklers of Blocking you find in the Dungeons well into Nightmare? They're not too bad, especially if you can get the durability up to a respectable level with some Hidden shrines.

[Selby]

Bit of a side note... any of you Rogues or Sorcerers out there run around with those cute little Bucklers of Blocking you find in the Dungeons well into Nightmare?

Stormshield ;-) When one of my rogues didn't find it, the shields of +'s were more of a consideration than "of blocking."

[Hornpipe2]

However, if I wanted to change that formula to make spell-blocking viable with any amount of resistances, I think I'd add in a blocking delay. e.g. you can only block a spell every X often (maybe the equivalent of 1-2 times per second?) - that way, being bombarded with spells alone could never put you into block-lock.

This is a good idea too. How well do you think it would work to be unable to block while attacking? That way you would never be interrupted in melee but you'd have your chance to block when you are vulnerable.

[Selby]

How well do you think it would work to be unable to block while attacking?

To reiterate how much I thought that was the way it should be, let's just say that I refuse to play Hellfire "unpatched" on that issue.