Shield + Dodge?

[bushwhacker2k]

1)Do the chances to avoid melee and arrow attacks stack from the shield ability and the dodge ability?

2)Also, I heard in Broken World the number of points you can put in a skill is 30, is this true?

3)Is it possible to get 100 of each skill in each ability (melee, archery, combat & nature magic)?

4)In your opinion is a character totally focused on dealing damage (thus relying on ally healers/health stealing) viable? (Give a seperate answer for solo and multiplayer[by multiplayer I mean either multiplayer or the single-player campaign where you get allies])

5)In your opinion is a character totally focused on defense (A melee character with a shield who has the absorption ability maxed and the Invulnerbility power at lvl 3) viable? (Give a seperate answer for solo and multiplayer[by multiplayer I mean either multiplayer or the single-player campaign where you get allies])

6)If you think both of the above characters are viable, which do you think is better?

7)Are death magic or blood assassin abilities better for dealing damage?

8)Thanks

[flix]

#2: The number of points has been increased to 30 in Broken World.

#3: Theoretically, I don't see why not. Also, there is a mod that will let you do this easily.

#4: I haven't played online or pure solo, only offline with a full party. In this setting, I have two combat mages and a dual-wield melee that are created almost solely to deal the most possible damage, although every character I make does a little multi-classing eventually, usually a point or two in the warrior's Fortitude (for health) and maybe the ranger's Dodge and Survival. Ultimately, though, what keeps the combat mages alive (the dual-wielder does fine on his own) are nature mage buffs, healing magic, and the provoke/summon provoke skills of the Warrior/Nature Mage. A melee character can ignore defense skills and get by fine with a healer in the party, but a strong combat mage will use curses, which makes enemies swarm him, requiring some kind of provoke skill to take the heat off. Between all these factors and decent life leech, defense skills may not really be needed.

#7: Probably the blood assassin, since it's a hybrid class, and can benefit from the skills of three different classes. Then again, all kinds of life leech is built into death magic powers.

[OpaJopa]

#2: The number of points has been increased to 30, but you can only raise them to 20 yourself, the rest has to come from items.

[bushwhacker2k]

Thanks for the answers, I see now what the guide meant by 30 points

Does anyone know the answer to question 1? I'd like to know

[flix]

I don't see why they would stack, since Barricade gives chance to block a successful enemy hit with a shield, while Dodge gives chance to avoid being hit altogether.

[bushwhacker2k]

I don't see why they would stack, since Barricade gives chance to block a successful enemy hit with a shield, while Dodge gives chance to avoid being hit altogether.

I think I am misunderstanding something... blocking means the attack is nullified, correct? If not blocking is much suckier than I thought

Also, what mod are you referring to?

[flix]

When either skill works, the effect on you is the same (no damage), but I think the game first calculates the chance for you to not get hit at all (based on armor, dodge, etc.) then after that, the shield blocking chance will apply if the hit is still successful. By 'successful' I mean the enemy overcomes your chance to not get hit, not that you take damage. Think of blocking as picking up the slack where your chance to avoid being hit leaves off. So, the two don't stack, but they both work together to help you not take damage from melee/ranged hits. Hope this makes more sense.

The mod lets you get level 100 in any mastery after just one kill, so it's not really much fun as far as gameplay goes, but it is good for experimentation. You can get it here: Dungeon Siege 2*Instant XP Mod for PC Games

[bushwhacker2k]

Thanks for the mod! tho I may not use it atm (especially since the laptop I'm using atm is having internet connectivity problems!)

I think I understand what you're saying about dodge and shield block... also I thought armor was damage reduction but it's actually a chance to not be hit!

So if dodge gave 20% and shield gave 20% then the chance to avoid would be like 36% to avoid being hit? (initial 20% and then 20% of the remaining 80%, hope that made sense, people tell me I do math strangely)

[flix]

Exactly. I'm horrible with math but you set it up right.