Parry...

[Pizzaparty7]

Can't use real parse numbers as they vary with RNG. Instead you need to use statistical chance. 25% was just for easy math. If your parry always reduces 25% of damage then the difference between 20% and 25% parry rate is 1.25% average mitigation. Therefore, reducing parry by 1.75% would result in around 0.4% more damage taken. That doesn't seem like much... Until it is. Sometimes that sliver of mitigation is the difference between catching a heal or not. I just don't see how increasing the damage output of a tank with a -20% damage penalty is worth it. If that smidgeon of damage is significant then so must equal parry. Especially for the lower hp paladin, block and parry smooth incoming damage and help avoid the tanked being spiked to death.

I could be wrong, but I've always followed the tanking axiom of mitigation first. Just my two cents

[ZDamned]

Can't use real parse numbers as they vary with RNG. Instead you need to use statistical chance. 25% was just for easy math. If your parry always reduces 25% of damage then the difference between 20% and 25% parry rate is 1.25% average mitigation. Therefore, reducing parry by 1.75% would result in around 0.4% more damage taken. That doesn't seem like much... Until it is. Sometimes that sliver of mitigation is the difference between catching a heal or not. I just don't see how increasing the damage output of a tank with a -20% damage penalty is worth it. If that smidgeon of damage is significant then so must equal parry. Especially for the lower hp paladin, block and parry smooth incoming damage and help avoid the tanked being spiked to death.

I could be wrong, but I've always followed the tanking axiom of mitigation first. Just my two cents

I don't think you are wrong in the slightest, But your 0.4% example is totalling 620 damage on my highest damage taken Turn 4 run. Thats less than a Cleric Stance cure 1 from an i90 White Mage. Again, I was in my 620 Parry total set with food, when I took that much damage. Which albeit anecdotal, works against the mitigation mantra. =P

[Kitru]

That doesn't seem like much... Until it is. Sometimes that sliver of mitigation is the difference between catching a heal or not.

That "sliver of mitigation" is derived from an arbitrarily large number of attempts. It's not going to be a make or break an individual instance of an attack because it's an absolutely miniscule increase in chance of it occurring. Parry is a mean mitigation contributor, which means that its value only appears over an extended period of time. In practical terms, it's more like saying that you're going to require 1.25% less healing over time than it is saying that you're going to survive that burst hit more effectively.

[ZDamned]

That "sliver of mitigation" is derived from an arbitrarily large number of attempts. It's not going to be a make or break an individual instance of an attack because it's an absolutely miniscule increase in chance of it occurring. Parry is a mean mitigation contributor, which means that its value only appears over an extended period of time. In practical terms, it's more like saying that you're going to require 1.25% less healing over time than it is saying that you're going to survive that burst hit more effectively.

This is exactly the point i'm trying to get across. Thanks for wording it in such a concise way.