While I would readily agree that the Barbarian wins.. I have two questions/issues:
(1) Are barbs, paladins etc really going to drop whatever helm they're wearing for "Nadir"? It's good in theory, and the defense bonus is immense.. but in practice that helm has a whopping NINE charges on it, will be expensive to repair, and there are so many better helms out there it's not even funny..
(2) When you calculated the Paladin's defense you included Holy Shield. I assume either that's a mistake, or that the Paladin you cited wouldn't be wielding Ribcracker, because Holy Shield.. uh.. needs a shield :)
I dunno. I think that the Cloak of Shadows from "Nadir" is a great defensive bonus, but that few characters are going to actually go with it. It's good as a gauge of a theoretical maximum defense, but does it reflect the practical reality? I think in this regard the Assassin will win out.. even if this fact doesn't change her actual defense number ;)
How do the characters compare if _only_ the Assassin is using Cloak of Shadows? I imagine it's much better.
20k defense is no easy feat.. and when one combines it with level 25 Fade.. if you can get level 25 CoS, you can get level 25 Fade... that's a helluva tank. What if you combined that with a "Call to Arms" weapon that gave the Assassin [at most] level 13 Battle Cry? Level 13 BC lowers target's defense by 74% and target's damage by 37%...
Hmm wait, we've gotta use Ribcracker don't we. I suppose one could have a CTA on the switch and warcry things before thwacking..
(1) Are barbs, paladins etc really going to drop whatever helm they're wearing for "Nadir"? It's good in theory, and the defense bonus is immense.. but in practice that helm has a whopping NINE charges on it, will be expensive to repair, and there are so many better helms out there it's not even funny..
(2) When you calculated the Paladin's defense you included Holy Shield. I assume either that's a mistake, or that the Paladin you cited wouldn't be wielding Ribcracker, because Holy Shield.. uh.. needs a shield :)
I dunno. I think that the Cloak of Shadows from "Nadir" is a great defensive bonus, but that few characters are going to actually go with it. It's good as a gauge of a theoretical maximum defense, but does it reflect the practical reality? I think in this regard the Assassin will win out.. even if this fact doesn't change her actual defense number ;)
How do the characters compare if _only_ the Assassin is using Cloak of Shadows? I imagine it's much better.
20k defense is no easy feat.. and when one combines it with level 25 Fade.. if you can get level 25 CoS, you can get level 25 Fade... that's a helluva tank. What if you combined that with a "Call to Arms" weapon that gave the Assassin [at most] level 13 Battle Cry? Level 13 BC lowers target's defense by 74% and target's damage by 37%...
Hmm wait, we've gotta use Ribcracker don't we. I suppose one could have a CTA on the switch and warcry things before thwacking..