"Changing Tank Damage Calculation"

[Jpec07]

So a lot of people have taken this phrase and run with it. They've interpreted it to mean that the developers are changing which stats contribute to tank DPS, and the prevailing player theory is that tanks will be deriving their damage output calculations from Vitality and/or Parry, instead of Strength. I've seen people basing entire arguments on this premise, based on an interpretation of a phrase. And for a community so focused on maximizing tank DPS, it absolutely makes sense. What else could "tank damage" mean outside of the damage tanks do?

Well, frankly, that's not how I read it. "Tank damage" in my mind has always meant incoming damage. So what if instead of something so drastic as changing which stats affect our DPS, this phrase in the interview meant that they were changing the combat table for tanks, in an effort to make Parry and/or Vitality more valuable?

Critical strikes currently cannot be parried or blocked. But what if block or parry were calculated first?

Currently, a hit can only be blocked or parried, making parry less valuable with a high-block-rate shield. But what if an attack could be both blocked and parried?

The same interview said that magic attacks will never be able to be blocked. What if they're allowing tanks to parry magic attacks?

Parry currently has an abysmal scaling rate, with full 210 parry gear offering something like 30% parry in current content. What if they're making it so that number would go as high as 50% or 75%?

Parry is also one of the poorest-performing stats, because it is a linear conversion rate, versus an exponential rate like we see with Crit (Parry only counts once when calculating mitigation returns, while Crit counts twice when calculating DPS returns). What if they're making Parry amount scale with the stat?

Ultimately, the point I wanted to bring to the fore is that we don't know what this phrase means, or what will happen in 3.2. And especially given that nothing on the matter was spoken of in the latest letter from the developers, it suggests to me that the change will be comparatively minor.