melee/ranged/aoe def vs S/L/etc.
www.paragonwiki.com/wiki/Defense
Basic rundown on how defense vs. an attack works.
Each attack has one or more attack types - if you view the detailed info, it shows them in the power details in the first two section of the power.
Example :
Shadowmaul is Melee/Smashing/Negative Energy.
Fireball is AoE/Fire
The attack will check against the highest applicable defense value - Either Melee OR Smashing, OR Negative Energy in the case of Shadowmaul, or AoE OR fire in the case of Fireball.
In your case, S/L/F/C/E/N/P doesn't really matter, because on those your Positional (Melee, Ranged, AoE) defense will always be higher than any of your typed defenses. I'm guessing the guy who was surprised didn't realize Shields was Positional defense.
The only time type will matter is the few, very few, attacks only a single attack type. Mind Control powers are merely "Psychic", Spectral Terror is just "Negative Energy".
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I'm not sure if this is what you are asking, but here it is anyway...
What are the different damage types?
The following types of damage may be available to either Hero or Villain characters, but there are other, unlisted types that only a few rare enemies can do. It helps to know the different types available, as certain powers can help a character resist particular types, or become more vulnerable. Cold Cold or ice-based powers generally have the side effect of slowing an opponent's attack and movement speed. Some cold based powers can also immobilize, hold, or even sleep a foe. Energy Energy is not a damage type you can categorize. Power blast does knockback, and energy melee stuns. Electricity does endurance drain, and radiation debuffs defense. Sonics (energy and smashing damage) debuff damage resistance. There are many mob energy powers that can debuff pretty much anything, and some can even control (hold, immobilize) targets. Fire Damage that is rooted from the element of fire is often associated with damage over time (over and above the initial direct damage). Lethal Lethal is not a damage type you can easily categorize. Swords and guns typically debuff defense (claws do not). Axes do knockback, as do many higher level assault weapon powers. Claws are fast and have an endurance discount, while archery is simply very accurate. The lethal component of spines does not slow a foe, but spines also have toxic damage. It is this toxin that slows a target attack and movement speed. Multiple application of the toxin can result in immobilization. In general, the secondary effect of lethal attacks is more dependent on the set than the damage type. Negative Energy Indicative of the realm of the netherworld, dark or negative energy based powers, such as dark miasma or dark melee, are known to reduce an opponent's accuracy in addition to inflicting injury. Psionic The power of the mind is the basis for psionic damage and unless the opponent is specifically resistant to such damage, the resulting effect could be devastating. A psionic attack often slows an opponent's attack speed. Psionics can also have a variety of effects including sleep, stun, hold, fear, etc. Smashing Smashing is not a damage type you can easily categorize. Many smashing attacks stun, knockback, or do damage over time, and some can hold. The effect is more dependent on the set than the damage type. Toxic Toxic is not a damage type you can easily categorize. Effects vary, but toxic can pretty much debuff anything, Secondary effects include damage over time (DoT), slow, debuff damage, debuff damage resistance, debuff accuracy, debuff defense, hold, sleep, etc. The effect is more dependent on the set, and even the individual powers, than the damage type. Other Effects Below are some additional details on what these definitions mean. All of the descriptions below will indicate if a target fails to resist the effect.
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Well it appears there is no info there about the positional attacks or how they compare to the other types, but luckily we've got other resources for that. lol
Short Answer: The Blaster was an idiot. Your defenses are the best option for a Shield Defense Scrapper, you're a little over the 45% soft cap on Ranged and AoE and a little under on Melee so you could look at tweaking your build a bit but it's not critical.
Long Answer:
All attacks in the game have "defense" tags which determine what defenses work against them. Most attacks have one positional tag (Ranged, AoE and Melee) and one or more Type Tags (Smashing, Lethal, etc.) based on what damage they do. There are some exceptions to this such as non-damaging mez powers which lack a Typed tag or Mind and Illusion Control attacks which have a Psionic tag but lack a Positional tag but those are the exception, not the rule.
When you get attacked the game looks at your defenses for all of the tag the attack has and the highest defense is used to determine if the attack hits or not.
Therefore the majority of people opt to build up either the Positional Defenses or the Typed Defenses but rarely both.
There are pros and cons to each approach but the best advice is to build on the defenses you already have. A Blaster can take a S/L Defense shield in their epic so building up typed defenses is popular with blasters who take that (although for a Blaster who takes a pool with a Resistance Shield Ranged defense is a more popular option).
A Shield Defense character on the other hand has strong positional defenses and is wise to capitalize on them. Positional defenses are virtually no use to such a character (baring a few special cases).
It is technically possible to make a character who has 45% to all 10 defenses (a Traps defender with the Fighting pool is the easiest example) but there is little reason to do so other than for laughs.
I have a lvl 50 DM/SD scrapper and I recently spent about 400mill equipping him with IO sets. His ranged defence is currently at 47% melee is 43% and aoe is 49%. I love this build and it has allowed me to solo +3x8 with no problem (I have not tried going any harder as of yet) I was teaming the other day and I was asked by a blaster what my smashing and lethal defence was and i told him they hovered around 17% and he seemed shocked. what is the difference between ranged/melee/aoe defence versus more specific types? which is better? To clarify I am not asking for build suggestions as I am to poor to do anything about that even if I wanted to. Thanks in advance for the help
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