A Thought Experiment: Blaster, IOs and Regen
By
Adeon Hawkwood,
Posted on: 2012-07-07 09:35 in Blasters
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
This comes up a lot, and its difficult to really discuss around except to say that the math backs up some of it, but moots most of it.
Probably the most direct statement I can make about this issue is that there are no non-regen models of survival. All survival is based on assuming that we have a health bar we're trying to keep above zero, something that keeps trying to refill it, and incoming damage. And actually, all models for defense and resistance basically assume they modify incoming damage. In effect they *disappear* under the standard models. All models are regen models. There is no sharp boundary between something that is "regeneration based" and something that is "defense" or "resistance" based. That's an artificial distinction that puts a continuum into three arbitrary buckets. As to the psychological issues, in fact my study of that phenomenon concluded that in this one area, Defense and Regeneration are more alike than either are to Resistance. |
I don't doubt that you and several other people understand that. I'm not sure if the general population does, though.
Part of the reason it sits firmly in my mind is less from looking at personal mitigation from armors and more from looking at Support sets. Specifically, thinking about it less from the "How do I survive" aspect and more from the "How likely is someone else to drop after activating this?" perspective. The huge +Regen component in Recovery Aura specifically definitely helps people but also has trust issues built into it that make its contribution hard for me to correlate directly to personal armor. In addition, I can clearly see if someone isn't doing much healing. With Defense/Resistance often people just throw a shield on you and there is much more limited element of timing or psychology that plays into it.
But the other place I really notice it is with low-ish HP ATs like Dominators. In TPN there is an enemy that can almost kill most of my Doms in one hit. Regen and healing help me there in only a very moderate way, because they flat like me instantly if they hit. While that result is predictable with some types of examinations, I'm not sure the playerbase as a whole considers those things when reading about how great Drain Psyche is (even though it is a great power for other reasons.)
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