GameBanshee Forums

Hi.

I just found the Time to finally try out Dungeon Siege 2, and like so many other modern Games it comes without a decent Handbook, giving Details on the Game Mechanics.

My main Question now is, does anyone know any Formula or at least approximative suggestions for a good Armor Rating for a Warrior? How can I decide if I should wear the Armor with a higher Armor Rating but lower Boni, if I have no clue what the higher Armor rating is actually worth? I assume that the chance to evade an attack is not forever linear with armor rating (Like you get in D&D), but instead there are reduced gains from additional armor at high values, which is how it works in most Action RPGs. Has anybody got any real Information on this?

On a related note, do you know how Chances to Block/Dodge add up? If I get 10% to Block from a Skill and 10% from my Shield, do I get a single 20% Chance or two Chances with 10% each?

Third Point, if I have a Shield with 40% reflect Damage, do I receive 60% of the Damage since 40% are reflected, or do I still have to take the full 100%?

Thanks in Advance, aside from the lack of information I like this Game so far. At least GameBanshee has a decent List of the Skills and Powers, so I can plan how to distribute my Skillpoints.

Answers:

Armor influence, approximately: The monster level will be take and divided by the half of your armor value in order to get a special ratio. Then this ratio will reduce the monster's native damage.

As far as i remember dodge bonuses by skills and dodge bonuses by items will be cumulated and applied in one chance calculation.

Pain reflection example: Supposed the final damage (after armor and resistances) is 75 damage points then you will loose 75 life points too, however with totally 60% damage reflection 45 damage points will be returned and will harm the monster (possibly reduced again if the monster has physical resistances).



Well hoinestly, there's no need to take it too stern - DS2 is not so difficult and it also has some minor lacks related on dodging and damage reflection (no panic, generally it works ok).
And about the bonus preference, this is rather a matter of personal point of view and gaming style if +8 armor would be 'better' than +5 strength since strength will slightly increase life and your melee damage too.

Ok, thanks a lot for the answer. According to your approximation I guess an armor rating of about 10 times my level is good to have.

About the game being not to difficult, I noticed that. Still, getting the best character I can and finding the perfect equipment for him is a big part of the fun of this kind of game for me. I certainly don't want to ignore this part and play the game just to see the story. Definitly not three times in a row ;-).

For the dodging, the question gets only real interesting, if you can add up to a really high number. Because raising a single chance from 80% to 90% will cut the damage you take in half, but adding a second 10% chance to your 80% chance will really only reduce your damage intake by 10%. (Unrealistic examples, I guess)

Which does raise annother question, is there a hard limit to those chances? Like, whatever items you put on, your dodge chance never goes beyond 50%?

There is no maximum dodge chance (well i never have seen one, but for ranged attacks it will be hard to get 100% due to the minor lacks mentioned above).
However, with dodge bonuses by skills, by Scorpion pet, by buff spell and by items you really may get close to invulnerability related on common physical attacks.

I guess that's they shield warriors are often called to be quite indestructible - high armor value, native blocking chance and the possibility to have additional defensive bonuses on the shield (of couse don't expect the game to become more challening then ).


By the way, if interested in suffering extraodinary low damage by (ab)using a special/strange/doubtable DS2 rule: if you are 4 levels higher than the monsters, the monster damage will be reduced by 25%, and if 6 levels higher even by 50%.
(Indeed this is a warning, better make some pace if you don't want to enable the easy game mode. )