Sorceress blocking%

[jms]

Did you get 'Leet_WootSkills' on battle.net or is this just sp?

If bnet (I see a paladin there!), you're the man DeeBye :lol:

[DeeBye]

Did you get 'Leet_WootSkills' on battle.net or is this just sp?

If bnet (I see a paladin there!), you're the man DeeBye :lol:

Yes, it's a realm character. I also have another sorceress with the name 'wootleetskills' :)

[Caaroid]

Posted on Jan 15 2004, 03:03 PM
QUOTE
With a 75% block you'd get an effective life vs. blockable attacks of 3200.


.. and hope something in hell that swats for 67dmg+ doesn't send you into recovery perpetually on that other 25%.
Might as well start piling %DR now if this is the path one will take.

As opposed to the alternative, where it'd mean 93 damage. I do not see the difference there; only that with the blocking path 75% of the time you cannot get ito hit recovery - since you blocked. True, you're in blocking animation, but that is usually shorter (unless one uses "Lidless, the merc shield", that is ;))

And by the way, the best shield for a blocking sorceress is Storm, so there you go :)

The bigger issue here is, that you cannot block all attacks, and against these non-blockable attacks a higher life would be preferrable.

[DeeBye]

And by the way, the best shield for a blocking sorceress is Storm, so there you go

The bigger issue here is, that you cannot block all attacks, and against these non-blockable attacks a higher life would be preferrable.

This is insane.

First, one must pump STR to 156 to equip a Stormshield.

Then, one must must pump DEX to a fairly high amount to attain max block.

Now I've just placed a few hundred stat points into STR and DEX --- how many leftover stat points do I have to place into VIT? Answer: next to none.

(and don't even THINK about placing points into Energy)


(This post is semi-sarcastic and semi-rambling. It's only 58.93% serious. The craziness sets in when one sees that there are indeed max block sorceresses using SS with a bajillion Life out there on Bnet. HowHowHow?)

[whyBish]

This is insane.

Eh, each to their own :)

I play HC and instead of going the blocking route with sorcs, prefer to sacrifice everything for -DR gear. Although in 1.10 I haven't done it, and doubt it would be as viable as it was back in 1.09 and earlier. Can we still get -25DR amulets and circlets?

My personal preference to keep sorcs safe is, in this order:

1) -DR (and to a lesser extent %DR but that works better vs players, at least before the new cap. Note that -DR and %DR items don't mix well). Even if you get hit, it is not as hard.

2) Merc (cold/hf or tank type merc). Something else for monsters to beat on.

3) A party. See point 2 :P . But seriously, having an extra set of mercs and/or minions is useful. (But then, my conn. is not good so I am a defensive player)

4) Blocking. Relying on blocking without -DR or DR% is a dangerous way to play. Blocking is just a chance to avoid damage, and we all know Murphy can be cruel at times ;)

5) Defence rating (I made a high def sorc in classic, and she could tank very well, but I doubt that she would be able to tank in 1.10 even with the company of the new defiance merc) Again this is like blocking, its only a chance, and in 1.10 Def seems to need to be insanely high to match what you could be getting from blocking anyway.

6) Mana shield. IMO the biggest waste of time ever, but obviously many people have other views ;) Lack of mana is bad news for a sorc, and the new 1.10 version reduces mana based on damage before %DR, -DR etc is counted. So for example with -100DR, you could be taking 80dmg hits, taking no damage but losing big chunks of mana. There is one possibility, maxing TK. I have tried this once in 1.10 and the results were disappointing compared to what you can achieve with any of the other items above. Note that a block or defence build would compliment the TK path, and that TK would be maxed (for syn, but E.S. would be left low to mid range (for + skills to pump it).

Floater) Frozen/Shiver Armor. Everyone has their own preferences for these. They work better (slightly) with a cold sorc build that plans to have high CM (so that the chill/freeze duration is not reduced as much), but CM is not worth investing in for these skills alone. Both these armours are a no point, one point, or 20 points decision, but obviously 20 points is only for the def sor build (which could prabably tank better through items than pumping one of these for def bonuses)

Due to my bad connection I have built a bunch of HC characters that can handle lag spikes. (I used to have sorcs that could sit in the middle of any non boss pack in A5Hell in 1.09 -110DR/-35MDR is very nice).
However do note, that people with better connections can afford to play more offensively, and this will have a large impact on the rough ranking above. A more offensive player would not want to divert skillpoints from offensive skills and synergies, so would likely not consider max TK, or max Frozen armor builds for instance.

[Caaroid]

This is insane.

Nope. First off, HEL that storm: 133 strength. Then it has the second best block chance you can get (and who would use the "I got no resists" whistans?). And it also has VERY fast block.
And then one could consider using Guardian Angel. Yes, yes, the armor that allows you to have 90% resall and gives you block...

Also, as whyBish pointed out,

Relying on blocking without -DR or DR% is a dangerous way to play.

Note the 35% damage reduction on the Storm. With a Shako you're near max.

A few comments to whyBish:
-DAMAGE: I really think it is unviable. I get hit for what it seems like 2-300 damage per hit; a -100 there would only "double" your life where block could quadruple it (yes, I know, only statistically, and you do not get damage-reduction-locked ;).

DEFENSE in 1.10 can work, but you're better off getting it from merc than using a cold armor, if you can keep him alive (and of course you can, that's what teleport is there for). My tank-sorc has around 5.2k defense, with maxed armor it would be around 5.8k (I don't remember the exact number, I did the calculation a long time ago; the point is that defiance and cold armors are additive, thus you gain a little from that 19 points... better spent in TK.

ENERGY SHIELD: depends on build. When I was ignorant (=before adeyke enlightened me) I thought it would be über in 1.10, but it can still work with MAX TK and vulpine items (NAJ armor and NIGHTSMOKE more or less sufficient). The problem here is that Vulpine only works with physical damage, so you still get nailed by elemental attackers. Even with my ES sorceresses I keep it switched off on occasions.

What I would REALLY like to try (but cannot due to my shortage of Storms in Ladder; I only got one on Normal about two months before 1.10 came out; if I keep this up I won't have one on Ladder before 2007) is an all-out defense build, with an elitified Guardian Angel, a Storm and Harlequin crest. With wizardspike you can easily attain 90% resists, 45% PDR, 75% block and a very high defense (with merc hoping around the range of 7-8k). Then again you're left with hardly any +skills from equipment (a lucky amulet, magefist and maybe rings/charms; though even if you had them you'd still need to get resists on them as well...)

I got a prototype of this in non-ladder (Guardian Angel, Mosers, some circlet...), and she did very well in 1.09. Since she's a nova sorc she does not do THAT well in 1.10 (she uses Chain Lighning now, but that's still pathetic with only one synergy), but I think an ORB-MASTERY-TK build would be viable.

[whyBish]

A few comments to whyBish:
-DAMAGE: I really think it is unviable. I get hit for what it seems like 2-300 damage per hit; a -100 there would only "double" your life where block could quadruple it (yes, I know, only statistically, and you do not get damage-reduction-locked ;).

DEFENSE in 1.10 can work

My tank-sorc has around 5.2k defense

Yeah, playing IWD1/2 at the moment so haven't been to hell as often as I would like lately.

On re-reading I obviously forgot another point against blocking and defence. Running. Again this depends on playstyle, and if you tele everywhere it isn't an issue at all.

AS to the -DR vs. blocking, I would suggest go both since they complement well. But if you are looking at them head-to-head then it really is just a personal choice. For me I only see the big damage from boss packs and would suggest that a5h monsters do about 100-150 dmg, however if we take your 300 number, my point is that taking 200 dmg from each shot is better than murphy saying "lets have four non-blocks in a row for 300 dmg each" (although the numbers work out more towards -DR the closer the damage range is to the -DR value, and more towards blocking the higher the damage is)

I am impressed with the 5.2k defence, but what % to be hit is it giving you in a5h?

[Nightwind]

Nope. First off, HEL that storm: 133 strength.

I have a better idea, take one of the many many rare gems you find every day that hapen to have freedom as one of the aplies, and search through them until you find one with +dex on it, ror some other needed boost. those 6-7 points (aprox) that mark the difference between the 20% from hel and the 15% from freedom might jsut be better off with the nice equipment.
and don't give me the reply about getting the stats you need fo your eq, from your eq, your not going to need the dex for blocking unless your using the shield.

[adeyke]

I have a better idea, take one of the many many rare gems you find every day that hapen to have freedom as one of the aplies, and search through them until you find one with +dex on it, ror some other needed boost. those 6-7 points (aprox) that mark the difference between the 20% from hel and the 15% from freedom might jsut be better off with the nice equipment.

Hel is only -20% in weapons. In armour, it's -15%. So the only real drawback of using a freedom jewel with another affix would be availability; otherwise, it could be strictly superior.

and don't give me the reply about getting the stats you need fo your eq, from your eq, your not going to need the dex for blocking unless your using the shield.

I don't really get what you're saying. The self-strength-tiering thing would just mean that you can use Stormshield with 30 less strength than is listed as its requirement, provided you first wear something to give you those 30 strength.

[Nightwind]

most forums you have to be automaticall defencive to the expected counter arguments...
even if they are senceless. I'm still getting used to the high calibur of people who post here.

esentually I was sugesting aditional dex for blocking on the shield, and I didn't want sombody saying "you shouldn't do that, if you don't have enough dex without the eq..." but since the requirement is str, not dex, that argument is just... you get the idea?

I seem to find a freedom gem every single session, and a rare about every 10 hours. It's as if that's all the game knows how to give me at times. I used to collect them, but when i had 10 in my stash and nothing else useful ... i got rid of them in frustration.

my best is a 7% to resists, 5% to dammage, 1 to min dammage, -15% requirments that will eventually find a home in some elite piece on my druid.

[Caaroid]

I am impressed with the 5.2k defence, but what % to be hit is it giving you in a5h?

It is practically useless :) My point is: if you want to go defense, it is pointless to waste points on a cold armor, since the difference would not be THAT noticable.

Yeah, playing IWD1/2 at the moment so haven't been to hell as often as I would like lately.

Well.... when it comes to playing, these days I play NWN:HotU myself. I just POST about D2 ;)

[hakai_no_tenshi]

chem from the dii.net Sorc forums gives a nice table of required dex for breakpoints

One last thing to add about shields.  I'm glad to see someone explaining that 75% block is a no-brainer.  I don't quite agree on the order you've ranked them in, though.  Allow me to re-post the chart I made of how much dex you need for 75% block:

Code:

SORCERESS DEX REQUIRED FOR MAX BLOCK (75%)

shield      str    block    dex/lv    LV30    LV50    LV80    LV99
-------------------    ---    -----    ------    ----    ----    ----    ----
Lidless Eye   58  40%    3.75    128    203    315    387
Lidless Eye + Eld  58  47%    3.19    111    175    271    331
Moser's Circle   53  57%    2.63  94    147    226    276
Grim Shield + Rhyme  58  60%    2.50  90    140    215    263
Sigon's Tower   75  64%    2.34  86    133    203    248
Stormshield  156  67%    2.24  83    127    195    237
Sigon's Tower + Eld  75  71%    2.11  79    121    185    225
Visceratuant Heater  77  72%    2.08  78    120    182    222
Gerke's Sanctuary    133  74%    2.03  76    117    178    216
75% blocking shield   75%    2.00  75    115    175    213
Whistan's Guard   53  87%    1.72  67    102    153    186
Whistan's + Eld   53  94%    1.60  63  95    143    173

Bone/Grim Shields with Rhyme, Sanctuary, or Deflecting suffix have 60% block
Sigon's Tower + Eld and Moser's Blessed Circle + 2 Eld's both have 71% block
Gerke's Sanctuary and Stormshield with an Eld rune both have 74% block

I would probably rank Stormshield as the #1 shield.  Stormshield + Um is usually the way to go as I see it.  An upgraded Visceratuant, though, is better in some ways.  Visceratuant has 60% block, but as a Heater it has 72% block.  You only need 75 Str, because Shako (or a small charm until you find Shako) gives +2 Str.  A Visceratuant Heater needs 77 Str, and you can make a Chains or Enigma Dusk Shroud, which also needs 77 Str.  Stormshield requires 79 more Str, and also requires 14 more Dex at lv90 to have max block, which equates to about 200 life.  If you have 600 life + Stormshield, that -35% DR is the same as An extra 210 life, so things even out pretty well, and Stormshield is better the more life you have, but that extra 200 life from Visceratuant will protect you from elemental attacks.  Both shields have high defense, but Visceratuant also gives you the +1 skills.  So, I would definitely put an Um'd Visceratuant Heater right up with Stormshield.  Many people would say to use a -req jewel in Stormshield, but I would prefer an Um most of the time (you're paying 24 Str to have +22 all res), unless of course you have a godly -15% req jewel with high resists, in which case Stormshield is clearly the best unless you really want +skills.

So, I would put Stormshield and a Visceratuant Heater at the top of the list, and I would use Sigon's or Whistan's until I found them.  Rhyme is pretty mediocre, and anything else I would call clearly inferior to Sigon's or Whistan's.  Lidless Wall is worthless.

--T

[whyBish]

It is practically useless :) My point is: if you want to go defense, it is pointless to waste points on a cold armor, since the difference would not be THAT noticable.

Point taken :)

I would still be interested in the LCS chance to be hit though, just as a rough reference.

[Crystalion]

Frozen/Shiver Armor.  Everyone has their own preferences for these.  They work better (slightly) with a cold sorc build that plans to have high CM (so that the chill/freeze duration is not reduced as much), but CM is not worth investing in for these skills alone.

Good points, whyBish (most I didn't quote here).

I'm all for personal preferences. ;) But I feel compelled to point out a few of the (obscure?) differences between the armors...

Chilling Armor, which almost no one uses, afaik, is insanely good vs. inferno, last I checked.

Chilling Armor (by ranged) and Shiver Armor (by melee) both, regardless of the distance of the attacker, trigger when you are attacked, *not* because you are hit.

Frozen Armor triggers because you are *hit*. Note that if you *block* you are *not* considered to be hit.

I imagine this also means that you won't trigger any other effects "on being struck" (like Delirium), which could be good or bad, depending.

So, while I often use Frozen Armor, it bites that it does not freeze/slow down an attacker that has demonstated an ability to hit you, but who happens to have been blocked... and you are now in blocking mode!

Shiver Armor, OTOH, will chill and slow all attackers even just *trying* to hit you as well, whether they missed because of your DR or because you blocked.

Since blocking will fail (it is capped at 75% after all) you are going to take hits from time to time. I prefer to survive those hits. If my HPs are high enough and my hit recovery and block recovery times fast enough, and I chill the monsters for even attempting to swipe at me, I'm fairly likely to be be able to get off a (fast cast!) teleport to escape danger.

So my preference is usually Shiver Armor. Works for me. YMMV, depending on how you play and what you enjoy.

My present build, a clvl 86 softcore ranged Enchantress, stays away from melee of course. Shiver Armor is just an emergency "get out of jail (almost) free card" for when I somehow get a small number of monsters in my face ("sorry fellas, I didn't really *mean* to teleport into the midst of you... cya!").

...

As crazy as it may sound, I'm quite happy to be using a Luna (with pDiamond) when I'm in teleport/shield mode. Here are the reasons...

1. inven/stash space is tight which limits my choices in equipment when I have *must have* goals
2. since I'm not usually in shield mode, it doesn't have to be "perfect"
3. when I block, I want to recover very quickly (Luna is, at +50%, so, afaik, only 5 frames to block)
4. I wanted a mode where I could ignore enemy Blizzards (several ways of doing this, and Luna is one).
5. when I'm in shield mode I'm often teleporting through danger, so +HPs are useful.

Because I'm a ranged Enchantress and Luna adds dex I actually have 36% block with Luna with without having pumped dex especially for it, which is just short of its soso 40% blocking potential. This doesn't strike me as particularly good, but it does help!

My merc (act 3) is using another "crappy" shield, the Lidless (again, with pDiamond). I swap with him when I feel like it, which is typically only for buffing (but sometimes, when I wear a Ravenfrost, I let him have the Luna, so we can both ignore Blizzards).

My primary defense against physical is to "not be there". So that 36% block *must* be at high speed or I'm dead, because the only stuff that hits me is stuff that "shouldn't happen". Frankly, if I had a slow blocking shield, I'd be hosed, because my Dex is too high! :D

The only real defensive weakness of my build/behavior is vs. *physical* fast arrow ranged attackers (slow arrows do not upset me). Elemental ranged attackers my build can ignore (I'm not counting "magic" damage as elemental here). So really, the only thing I'm "missing" from my shield is charges of "Slow Missile" ;)

I didn't mention this to "convert" anyone, but just to point out just how varied approaches (that still work) can be.

edit: p.s. I didn't mean to be obscure: the Sanctuary runeword, KoKoMal, is for shields and would meet my "slow missile" criteria (only way for a non-Zon to cast SM at will, afaik). The use of a Mal is a bit spendy for the other attributes gained, so you really have to want that Slow Missiles pretty badly.

[Caaroid]

whyBish:

I would still be interested in the LCS chance to be hit though, just as a rough reference.

Ok then. Fist of all, since I de-equipped that sorc (she no longer has her moser's), her base defense is lower, meaning that with the merc's aura and a lev1 chilling armor she has a defense of 4285, character level 71. Observing the to-hit chances on Act1 Fallen Shamen I got 39%, act5 burning archers 48%, act5 death brawlers 49%.

Then I decided to use the calc I threw together some time ago to match these data against calculated values using the AS's new monster database. The Fallen Shaman to hit was correct, Death Brawler and BDA were both 1% higher on the calculations than on the LCS display. With these in mind, I just typed in a few numers to see their effect. For the sake of comparison, taking 75% block into consideration, I also calculated the OVERALL chance to be hit, and change in overall chance to be hit moving up the defense ladder.

For a level 71 character, Act1 fallen shaman, one gets the following DEFENSE - CTH - overall chance to be hit after block - imprivement value vectors:
1500 -> 64% -> 16% -> -
4285 -> 39% -> 9% -> 1.8
6000 -> 31% -> 7% -> 1.3
7000 -> 28% -> 7% -> 1.0

For example, at a defense of 1500 our character has a 64% chance to be hit because of her defense, and with a 75% block that would mean she has an overall 16% chance to be hit. The last column shows, that by upping her defense (in case of the second row; from 1500 to 4285) her "devensive" ability is nearly twice as before (16/9), meaning that about half as many blows connect with the higher defense.

The same table for a level 81 character, Act1 fallen shaman is:
1500 -> 59% -> 14% -> -
4285 -> 36% -> 8% -> 1.75
6000 -> 28% -> 7% -> 1.14
7000 -> 26% -> 6% -> 1.16

And for some more threatening enemy, a burning dead archer, facing a lev 71 character:
1500 -> 75% -> 18% -> -
4285 -> 49% -> 12% -> 1.5
6000 -> 40% -> 10% -> 1.2
7000 -> 37% -> 9% -> 1.1

Finally, a burning dead archer versus a lev85 character:
1500 -> 69% -> 17% -> -
4285 -> 45% -> 11% -> 1.55
6000 -> 37% -> 9% -> 1.22
7000 -> 34% -> 8% -> 1.13

Ok, these are very artificial values, especially knowing that the attack of a fallen shaman cannot be blocked, let alone can it be countered by defense. The point is, however, clear to see regarding the first two datasets in each case. My defense would be ~1500 without a defiance mercenary, and with him, I reach the 4285 value. This results in roughly 33% less hits for my character, but defense works only against certain types of attacks. My defense-and-blocking-and-90%resall sorc was planned in a time, when Minotaurs were the things to fear on the way to baal; and defense also helped against cows (remember, that place was relevant some time back). These days, however, when the main threat is ranged elemental (Will-o-whisps, skeleton mages, Oblivion knights etc) the wisdom of having a defiance mercenary for a sorceress is questionable. Maybe it's time to go for Holy freeze again? (Yes, I know you can get that off of a weapon, but I cannot, and would not do that.)

[whyBish]

Chilling Armor, which almost no one uses, afaik, is insanely good vs. inferno, last I checked.

Chilling Armor (by ranged) and Shiver Armor (by melee) both, regardless of the distance of the attacker, trigger when you are attacked, *not* because you are hit.

Frozen Armor triggers because you are *hit*. Note that if you *block* you are *not* considered to be hit.

So my preference is usually Shiver Armor. Works for me. YMMV, depending on how you play and what you enjoy.

Yes, I personally prefer shiver armor to frozen armor for that reason, but it depends on what level blocking you have (after taking into account whether you run :P ). A Low block (and low def - but that is fairly standard these days) means that frozen armor becomes more useful than shiver armor, and for some his also allows one less skill point 'wasted' on defence :)

I've never tried chilling armor vs. inferno, but considering that the arctic blast monsters are cold immune, and that balrogs are only in a couple places in a4 & throneroom, I think the skillpoint would be much better spent elsewhere, especially when you will be facing a mix of monsters and not solely archers. If you are facing solely (non-balrog) archers and finding them a problem, you would probably get better effect out of a HF merc (although CA has the advantage of being selectable situationally unlike the merc).

Also note that in my 'ranking' I didn't mention "Not being there', and Life/Vit. Not being there is a hard one to rank, because it assumes you have control ove rthe situation, and when you are online you can lag out (also stair traps can be an issue), and since I have a high ping (~500) I would rank 'not being there' low, whereas someone with a good connection would rank it much higher. (Also explains why I am sometimes seen teleporting into mobs in HC, I have a tendency towards tank-ish chars for the conn. reason). As to Life/Vit, I just didn't want to touch that. It is far too personal a decision, depends much on HC vs. SC, availability of equipment (i.e. str/dex requirements of equipment or expected equipment, which leads to twink/mule/trade differences and so on), and also playstyle, not just in terms of tactics (hanging back vs. tanking at the extremes) but also strategy (I know people whose 'style' is to quit chars after lvl 70 which is often without trying hell, skill selection affects competing mana and equipment needs), and teamwork (It used to be more common in 1.09 to be partying with at least a druid or barb (Basin HC West, NZ Time), unfortunately in 1.10 I personally meet fewer of these and so need to be more generous on Life). So as you see, I would need to write a whole guide or there-abouts to cover the Life/Vit decision. :)

[whyBish]

she has a defense of 4285, character level 71. Observing the to-hit chances on Act1 Fallen Shamen I got 39%, act5 burning archers 48%, act5 death brawlers 49%.

That is not as bad as I had expected. Since block is checked after defence (? confirm this?) a 50% chance to not be hit due to defence is better than a 50% chance to block, because of blocking time.

[Caaroid]

Since block is checked after defence (? confirm this?) a 50% chance to not be hit due to defence is better than a 50% chance to block, because of blocking time.

That is what I think, too. And that was the initial idea of the character :) The fact is, you can't really match up to the 15+k a barb can achieve. Then again, they can't really matcj up to a sorceress' damage output these days...

The thing I really hate about 1.10 is that you are practically forced to specialize and min/max your build. Dual tree sorceresses are as scarce now as tri-tree sorceresses used to be (and yes, my first sorc was a nova-orb-hydra one, and I still wish I could use her). Then again, this could be considered "good", and be said that this "encourages team play", since, well, it certainly does. The effectiveness of a well-put-together team in 1.10 is far greater than it was in 1.09, since you can get obscene offense off of specialization (lightning trap assas, fully synergized fireball or blizzard sorceresses); but the cost is that you have to rely on your party members for defense.

I believe that we came to the point where upon designing a character one has to ask oneself the question wether one will play that character (mostly) solo or part of a team, and one has to plan the entire character (equipment, blocking, defense, skills) with a rough party in mind.

That is, if you're not playing a skelemancer ;)

[whyBish]

Yes, but that is the same for all attributes that were listed. If you are going to (and able to) 'stay out of the way' as it were, then heck, you don't even need points in vit ;)

As a side note I did a rough spreadsheet up with some paper figures.
A 106 str char can 'easily' get 700 base def. from armor/shield/helm slots. If those slots average 200%enh. def. that is 2100 def. That gives the following possibilities (all assuming defiance merc running lvl 20 aura), assuming CLVL=MLVL (rough assumption) vs 4000AR monster (rough hell lvl approximation, monsters range from about 3000->6000) (I am ignoring autohit etc. for this):
Sor: No skilll cost : 34.6% to be hit
Pal: 40 skill points HS/Def, doesn't need to run def aura, but HS must be up, and using shield: 16.4% to be hit (will also get bonus blocking from HS :) )
Bar: 40 skill points SS/Shout: 18% (14% using Concentration, but how would you kill with a 1-hander using that skill?)

So it looks like the pala gets the easiest time on the protective side (paladin shield also helps with defence and making up the resists), but would need at least another 20->40 skill points to kill stuff (thinking of possibly smite, charge, or HShock/ResLit/low zeal as 1-hander options)

Barb cant use any combat skills from the rhs of the combat tree due to the shield assumption, which doesn't leave much of an option to kill stuff (maybe leap attack at a stretch)

Sor can play any of her variations, except that she has a large (relatively) chunk into str instead of vit. She may not even want to bother with getting any dex since in this scenario she has a 65% blocking shield with infinite FBR.

This scenario is obviously a lot easier to achieve for a SC trader type player, so let me know if you want me to plug some numbers in at different values :)

[Caaroid]

Well, not really ATTACKING you per se, obviously. Just want to point it out , that against a lot of attacks defense does not matter. And when I write a lot of, I actually mean MOST attacks.

Let's just consider the dangerous foes in the game:
(1) elemental attackers
They come in various shapes and numbers, from gloams through knights and finger mages, ending with the act bosses (4 out of 5 are parctically sorely elemental). Against these, most feared of attacks defense obiously means nothing (that's what resists are there for).

(2) stunners
Urdars, yeti and minion of destruction are in this group, with VERY fast attacks that ignore defense.

(3) archers
skeleton archers and quill rats are made more powerful in 1.10, and I believe against them defense does work. (Not sure about burning dead archers... does the fire part always connect if you fail to block?)

(4) Strong melee monsters
Basically minotaurs and thresers - ok, strong frenzy monsters.

Honorable mention are the dolls, who are fearsome for the explosion but otherwise are rather manageable.

Now as you mentioned, blocking is gamble - but so is defense. I also had a -DAM character back in 1.09 (a barbarian), who was very fun to play in a /GODMODE kind of way throughout normal and nightmare. I do not know wether this is viable or not in 1.10, but the fact is, defense could be said to be less useful than it was in 1.0 - since "defendable" melee is not much of a threat in 1.10. -DAM has the added advantage of working against the deadly stunners and the (not so deadly) death maulers, and you do not have to "sacrifice" the merc for defense.

The more I think about it, the more I want to try out a build like that... then again we'd need to ascertain wether it works or not. I KNOW it works in nightmare, since my MDR(80) DR(40) assassin is nearly invulnerable, but at times she feels the hits (probably only criticals hurt her in NM).

Maybe I'll feel like doing some research in the weekend :)