Block and Parry question.

[Gallus]

So I've been hearing a lot of opinions and it has been pretty unanimous so far that the best stats for a PLD are accuracy and parry. However, lately, I've seen a few people claiming parry is far worse than most people think on the PLD because you can't both block and parry a single attack (which I already knew) and stuff you could be blocking you have instead a chance to parry it (blocking is better since it not only mitigates more damage but activates shield swipe).

My question here is...how does the parry/block REALLY work?

I've heard stuff like:

1.Mob hits paladin.

Game rolls to see if hit is blocked. If roll succeeds, hit is blocked. If roll fails, game proceeds to next step.
Game rolls to see if hit is parried. If roll succeeds, hit is parried.

[Gallus]

BUT I've also heard stuff like...

2.Most MMO use a "hit table"

Something like:

0-5 = Dodge
6-30= Blocked
31-40= Parry
41-45 = Critical Hit
46-100 = Normal Hit

and then, the game rolls a single a number and find where it is on the chart. Increasing one number simply push the remaining out of the way. So if you increase say dodge for example, it would only lead to diminishing returns on block and parry.

Does anybody REALLY know how the hell does it work? If it's number 1, parry is a good secondary stat for a PLD, if it's number 2 though, parry is useless.

[Raxion]

To my knowledge, Block takes priority over Parry. Meaning the game checks to see if you blocked the attack before calculating whether or not you parried. This why you almost never Parry during Bulwark. If Parry took priority, you would see more frequent parries during Bulwark.

[Gallus]

But Bulwark specifically increases block rate by 60%, not parry rate

[Lord_Zlatan]

But Bulwark specifically increases block rate by 60%, not parry rate

Right. What he is saying, if i understand him correctly, is that the game functions using option 1, using Bulwarks increased block to prove this point. It has a 60% increase for the block to "proc" before it rolls to see if you parry.

[Adrian74]

Hi.. I don't really know the case here about it because I'm just a noob, but.... Seeing it with a programmer 'logic'... It has more sense the first case, so, let's say that probably it first throws a random number (determined by mob accuracy vs player evasion) to determine if it hits, if it hits, then it determines in another random again if the block rate of the player is enough to block, if not... It goes to see if parry... If it is not parried, then another random to see if the attack is critical or not.

-- Graphic example --

Player evasion: 540
Player parry: 750
Player block rate: 450

Monster Accuracy: 600
Monster Critical Rate: 1000

Monster rolls a random number from 1 to its acurracy, 600 obtaining 467
Player rolls a random number from 1 to its evasion, 540 obtaining 300.
The system knows that because "A" (Monster accuracy) is bigger than "B" (Player defense) the attack is a success, so then it goes next step.
Monster rolls a random number bla bla 1 to Accuracy, (600) and obtains a 599
Player rolls a random number, 1 to its block rate, 450. Obtaining 450.

Again system detects that A is bigger than B so it won't be a blocked attack, and the process keeps running for checking if it is parried or not...

The same goes on with parry values... And with critical damage it is super difficult try to guess how would it be because there are so many forms to do it... For example there could be a static number to pass with the random (difficulty) or just a hidden parameter in the enemies such as resistance to critics, etc... It doesn't seems that you do all criticals to level 1 monsters so I doubt that happens.

The second system where they say they just throw a dice and if it is 1-19 is hit, 19-34 is parry, etc etc... Is just lazy, I doubt it, programming requires more stuff and to take in mind values of everyone.

Regards.

[Bucy]

On PLD, Block takes precedence over Parry, so if a Block and Parry are happening, Block will happen, not Parry. If your Block rate is high enough on your shield, you will block lots and parry very infrequently. Given your Block rate is determined by your shield and dexterity tier, and Parry by the rest of your gear, and we cannot Parry magic damage (which is the only type of damage SCoB does) but we can Block magic damage, it makes sense to forgo pursuing Parry on a PLD. PLD has plenty of damage mitigation without parry, if you have a good shield, high strength, and know how to use the buffs. Might as well just look at DPS stats over Parry.