Balance analysis of 2.1 WAR proposed changes

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Originally Posted by Bardo

Shouldn't stoneskin factor into eHP? Especially as PLD can cast it on themselves before burst?

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You could, but I have not included it for various reasons. I apologize for omitting my reasoning for its exclusion. I pushed myself to complete this thread the day the proposed changes were posted, whereas my last thread was a week in the making (which is why it was such a wall of text).

Stoneskin is in a rather awkward place with respect to eHP. The 3-second cast means that when an enemy is using autoattacks, you can't really rely on it due to the possibility of interruption. That makes it somewhat inappropriate for inclusion as eHP (just as blocking, evasion, and so on are not included). It could theoretically be applied with some degree of certainty if you drop Awareness, but that currently makes heal crits on you impossible. Additionally, the window in which it must be dropped is extremely narrow (no more than 3 seconds due to being cleared by an autoattack unrelated to the burst), it is incompatible with a healer's own efforts, and you need a window of 5.5 seconds between last GCD and completion of cast to get the cast off. Finally, it also is not a unique effect to one tank -- a PLD or WHM can cast it on a WAR just as well. For these reasons, I did not include Stoneskin previously and still have not included it.

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Originally Posted by Enjin

It's interesting that you include featherfoot but not the blind from PLD flash.

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I did not include Featherfoot, and I do not have any data on the stacking of blind and evasion effects.

I'd almost say you should include Bulwark on that first graph. I know you said perfectly reliable but when I pop that skill I block plenty enough to put at LEAST a solid 20% reduction for it's duration. My blocks mitigate 28% damage on each hit, so I'm giving up 8% on the chance I don't block. I believe that would put Paladin a little over in mitigation still. My $0.02.

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Originally Posted by Naelle

I'd almost say you should include Bulwark on that first graph. I know you said perfectly reliable but when I pop that skill I block plenty enough to put at LEAST a solid 20% reduction for it's duration. My blocks mitigate 28% damage on each hit, so I'm giving up 8% on the chance I don't block. I believe that would put Paladin a little over in mitigation still. My $0.02.

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I do not believe it is possible to reach 100% blocking chance except while using a round shield, of which there are no ilvl70+. eHP is only a matter of perfectly-reliable bonuses. You cannot create a design such that random occurrences flatten your tank. You will notice that the heavy attacks like Death Sentence also cannot crit. This aspect is part of that design philosophy.

//EDIT: If anyone has data showing that reaching 100% block rate is feasible under Bulwark, I'm all ears.

Thank you for putting this up Gamemako. I lurk more then I talk on these forums, but voices of reason are always a sight for sore eyes after reading so much needless QQ being thrown around. Keep it up bud, you are fighting the good fight! I think more PLDs need to read through and understand these changes. Instead they are completing their circle of tears in other threads, ignoring any reasonable conversation.