Defense vs. Resistace for I7 and related issues.

So these are my thoughts and opinions on what I think is needed in I7 to balance Defense and Resistance for melee vs melee fighting. If some of the numbers or my math is wrong, let me know, I'm quite prone to making simple mistakes with my math if I don't go over it in detail.

A few quick notes to keep in mind for this guide. I am using 30% base defense and 30% base resistance to maintain balance within the system since these are what I consider the "average" among the sets. I also feel that a two acc in all attacks is required for most pvpers and take that in account for all my math and reasoning.

In PvP I have from the start with no powers turned on or attacks slotted I have a 50% chance to hit another AT, likewise with no slots/passives/powers on. The formula for this has been show time and again as:

(Base To Hit + To Hit Buffs - (To Hit Debuffs * Combat Mod) – Defense) capped at 5% or 95% * Accuracy (capped at 5% and 95%)

So (.5 + 0 - (0 x 0) - 0) = .5, Then .5 * 1 = .5 or 50% chance to hit

Now figure this is with typical build with 2 accuracy SOs slotted and no ToHit bonuses

(.5 + 0 - (0 x 0) - 0) = .5, Then .5 * 1.66 = .83 or 83% chance to hit

This seems fair so far. Now lets add it a defensive set with a 30% defense

No slotted Acc
(.5 + 0 - (0 x 0) - .3) = .2, Then .2 * 1 = .2 or 20% chance to hit (1 in 5 hits land)
Slotted Acc (x2 SOs)
(.5 + 0 - (0 x 0) - .3) = .2, Then .2 * 1.66 = .33 or 33% chance to hit (~1 in 3 hits land)


Now in theory resistance and defense both at 30% opponents having 2 Acc SOs (not counting for streak breaks):

1 million attacks @ 10 damage each vs 30% Resistance
1x10^6 x (10 x .7) = 7x10^6 damage, Then taking accuracy into account 7x10^6 x .83 = 5,810,000 damage (5.81 DPA, damage per attack)

1 million attack @ 10 damage each vs 30% Defense
((1x10^6) x .33) x 10 = 3,300,000 damage (3.3 DPA) So overall the resistance set is taking ~2.5 DPA more


Now take a controlled fight with a Defense based set vs a Resistance set. The ATs are the same and only using attacks that average to 100 base DPA. Say the two have unlimited health and stand there beating each other for 2 minutes and attack 30 times a piece.

30 attacks @ 100 damage each vs 30% resistance
30(100 x .7) = 2100 damage or 70 DPA

30 attacks @ 100 damage each vs 30% defense
100(30 x .33) = 990 damage or 33 DPA

So the defensive set would win based on these facts alone by taking 1,110 damage less and this isn't including the fact they are not being hit as much by status effects. This is a bit unfair to those ATs that don't have a way to significantly increase their Acc/ToHit or lower Defense as they will clearly lose out overall. I have proven this fact with fights of my DM/DA brute vs my friends Claws/SR stalker. I will admit this is hard to prove outcome since many other factors came into play, but I feel I lost because I missed him to often. This is more a set problem though as all melees have a good form of buildup that will allow for them to hit the target with the exceptions of DM and Claws (their buildup power needs to hit the target to "buildup" in the first place). I will say that ALL MELEE TYPES NEED A BUILDUP POWER TO HIT DEFENSIVE SETS because the melee sets are meant to fight vs the defensive and resistant sets.

In order to consistantly hit, I consider a 90% hit rate consistant, a target with 30% defense a set needs 30% of a ToHit bonus.

90% consistancy
(.5 + .35 - (0 x 0) - .3) = .55, Then .55 x 1.66 = .91 or 91%

To Max out ToHit @ 95%
(.5 + .4 - (0 x 0) - .3) = .6, Then .6 x 1.66 = .95 or 95%

So the buildup powers only need a 35% bonus to consistantly hit a 30% defense AT, or 40% to hit the cap.

Currently all buildup powers hit that cap without needing to slot of ToHits.

Now I feel that the buildup powers are justified because they only last 10 seconds, in which time you can finish off a hurt target or hit them with various status effects to change the tide of battle. I'm sure your thinking, but Rage isn't 10 seconds it is on constantly with only a 10 second downtime when slotted. I fully agree that rage's ToHit bonus needs lowered since it is perma and melee oriented defensive sets stand no chance vs Rage. That said, Rage's ToHit is always on so they will overall hit the defensive set more times then the typical buildup. Rage's ToHit should be put around 25% slotted.

(.5 + .25 - .3) = .45, Then .45 x 1.66 = ~.75 or 75%


Sooooo....Now take a controlled fight with a modified Rage vs a Defense set.

30 attacks @ 100 damage each vs 30% defense
100(30 x .75) = 2250 damage (75 DPA)

This compared to the prior results of attacking a resistant set:
30 attacks @ 100 damage each vs 30% resistance
30(100 x .7) = 2100 damage or 70 DPA

This would put the sets very close damage wise and in my opinion "balanced".

Some of you may complain that SS needs the ToHit to make it as viable as say Energy since it does the highly resisted smashing/lethal damage, but I say a perma 25% bonus will keep you hitting non-defense sets at the cap.


Now the Granddaddy of all problems for defense presents itself in the power know as focused accuracy. Now I'm unsure of the exact bonus this power gives (hero builder says a base of 25%), but needless to say this would destroy a defensive build, especially when buildup is added on top of FA. In order to keep both sides happy I propose that FA be lowered to a base ToHit of 15% which puts it at 25% with 3 SOs, aka on par with Rage. As I have noted before with Rage, I feel this is "balanced".

So what about Rage with FA? Honestly, only Tanks can have that combination so I wouldn't worry about it to much (tanks already have enough problems and could use the extra love).

Now I know that the 9th tier defensive powers will make sets unhittable in most cases, but since it only last 3 minutes I think it is tollerable, nothing is making you fight them toe to toe while they are in "god" mode.

On a final note, I feel toggle dropping must be eliminated for the sake of balance. The reasons it was introduce was because of the high %s of defense and resistance that could be obtained.

Reserving this spot for future updates on Defense and Resistance applying to non-melee ATs.

It's already been announced that toggle dropping will be "dramatically reigned in" or words to that effect in I7.

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I will say that ALL MELEE TYPES NEED A BUILDUP POWER TO HIT DEFENSIVE SETS because the melee sets are meant to fight vs the defensive and resistant sets.

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Blasters (almost) and Stalkers all have Build Up and are generally failry good at taking a good chunk of life from the defense and resistant sets. I would think it would be the job of the highest damage dealers in the game to take on the defense and resistant sets, and they are almost universally equipped to do that job well. Scrappers walk a line in between and many have burst damage virtually on par with blasters, and 2/3 of them have Build Up. Tankers and Brutes (and scrappers to an extent) are much better equipped to harry/kill and absorb the attacks/debuffs of controllers/dominators/defenders/corruptors. I do not believe the job of tankers and brutes is to go toe to toe with the highest damage dealers in the game, although they are quite capable of doing that currently. I certainly do not think they should be spending their precious time beating on resistance/defense sets, when they are generally not equipped to kill them quickly.