Funcom, question about evades, init, and the Def/Agg slider

[______________Yazule]

Thanks cosmik!

you da man

This is the first reply I ever got from AO *tear rolls down cheek*



think im gonna frame my monitor

that is not a jibe, I know you got a lot to do, and normally I am just ranting insanely (heck I would not reply to half of my own posts)

hehe

[____________Nutbar03]

Cosmik's explaination means that items and nano that "boost AGGDEF" hurt your evade skills, right?

[______________Yazule]

sounds like it nutbar

[______________Lictor]

Originally posted by Ming

That may be what you were told but I think there's a miscommunication or something. Replace the word "hit" with "critted" and I think that's closer. I've set my bar on 100% defensive against greys and it seems they still hit every round, but crit way less. Even on evens/oranges which have a much higher attack than my "evade" for that attack type, the case seems to be they hit just as often, but crit much less the lower the agro bar is set. Correct me if I'm just smoking crack here.

Mmm... Exactly how high are your evades???
With maxed out evades and shining/bright QL50 implants at level 43, greys hit me around 30% of the time in full AGGR... In full DEF, they about never hit me...
As for criticals, I don't know... Are MOBs supposed to crit as soon as level 40???

[________________Ming]

Well figure in greys to me are 70's.

[______________Lictor]

One thing to take into account is that MOBs seem to have quite a variety of attack skill depending on what type they are... I have difficulties evading sharpshooters or assassins... Caster type MOBs however are much easier (except Traders, because of my low Duck-expl).

[_______________Skara]

Particularly since evades cost so much more to raise than my attack skills, there doesn't appear to be any compelling reason to ever have the agg/def slider anywhere but full agg.

Are specials affected by evades? If not, there is no reason to ever touch the slider. If so, there is some strategy in trying to slide to full def before your PvP opponent unleashes their specials.

When I start a new character, I always max evades for several levels. It still means death to not have the slider set to full agg, so what benefit is there to having it set to full def and what benefit is there to increasing evades (real numbers so it is not just a shot in the dark)?

Does the slider affect only crits, or does a higher defensive skill, with the slider set to def, make it more likely they will completely miss me?

I have also heard that my evade skill has to be higher than their attack skill to be effective, but I will decrease crits as my evades close in on their attack skill. Does it affect all attacks, specials, or just crits (or a combination)?

Basically, how does this work?


Skara

[______________Lictor]

Originally posted by Skara
Particularly since evades cost so much more to raise than my attack skills, there doesn't appear to be any compelling reason to ever have the agg/def slider anywhere but full agg.
Are specials affected by evades? If not, there is no reason to ever touch the slider. If so, there is some strategy in trying to slide to full def before your PvP opponent unleashes their specials.
Does the slider affect only crits, or does a higher defensive skill, with the slider set to def, make it more likely they will completely miss me?
I have also heard that my evade skill has to be higher than their attack skill to be effective, but I will decrease crits as my evades close in on their attack skill. Does it affect all attacks, specials, or just crits (or a combination)?

Well :
- It is worth putting the slider to less than full aggr if you're using a very fast weapon and/or have high range/melee init. Since the attack cannot go under 1/1, if you're at less than that, it allows you to stay at a lower aggr level without losing speed. Full benefits
- I would say it would make sense if specials are affected Anyway, I never got hit by a MOB burst, but then, maybe noone ever gets hit by these...
- Well, evade = attack skill => 75% of chance to be hit. Though it seems quite sensitive : when I let my evades fall under, I lose my capacity to evade blows pretty quick. Inversely, when I added my QL50 implants, it improved noticeable...

[Nikki.]

Well cosmik,
I know you SAY you are a normal player like the rest of us. But, I dont think any regular player has a level 200 Crat. :O) You definately arent normal in my eyes :OP

[______________Taelyn]

A question along similar lines, does Parry do anything but up your AC for a few seconds? It seems that if MOBs already do minimum damage, Parry isn't really worth anything. Another question, does parry only work against melee and projectiles, or against all damage?

Along the lines of evades, do they really work? With my agg-def on full defense and my evades maxed, greys still hit me every single time. I have to wonder, what's the point?

To add, I hope funcom considers lowering the minimum damage of MOBs so that its close to that of players. No reason I should do 5 damage per hit with a weapon 10 QLs above my level when every MOB I face hits me for 30-40.

[______________Lictor]

Originally posted by Taelyn
A question along similar lines, does Parry do anything but up your AC for a few seconds? It seems that if MOBs already do minimum damage, Parry isn't really worth anything. Another question, does parry only work against melee and projectiles, or against all damage?

Along the lines of evades, do they really work? With my agg-def on full defense and my evades maxed, greys still hit me every single time. I have to wonder, what's the point?

To add, I hope funcom considers lowering the minimum damage of MOBs so that its close to that of players. No reason I should do 5 damage per hit with a weapon 10 QLs above my level when every MOB I face hits me for 30-40.

What is your level???
With maxed evades, most greys miss me a lot, even on full aggr... That is at level 40so, with QL50 implants... The implants make a difference btw, so it seems evades are pretty sensitive to small variations... Evades also seem to take some time before doing any effect...

[______________Taelyn]

I'm a level 49 adventurer with level 15-50 implants, though most of them aren't for evades. Kinda stupid though that you don't get any results without spending a fortune on implants. Evades should at least do -something- when maxed, even without implants.

[______________Yazule]

any new info cos?

*waits patiently*

[Ashuras]

GOod to see Cosmik replying here

And u play the game ? Wow... if u really do that without cheating , I'll forgive u for not posting here... AO is a game that sucks our free time away at a crazy rate.

[__________Xenodrogen]

Originally posted by Ming



That may be what you were told but I think there's a miscommunication or something. Replace the word "hit" with "critted" and I think that's closer. I've set my bar on 100% defensive against greys and it seems they still hit every round, but crit way less. Even on evens/oranges which have a much higher attack than my "evade" for that attack type, the case seems to be they hit just as often, but crit much less the lower the agro bar is set. Correct me if I'm just smoking crack here.

I remember reading somewhere that aside from a 1%(or something like that) chance of critting, you get an additional .1% for every 10 points your attack skill is over your opponents evade skill. If that's the case, then raising your bar to full agg would make your evades take a serious hit, thus giving your opponents a higher crit percentage (I think)

[_______________Skara]

I use Riders and I have tried moving the slider around. The best setting for me is full agg. The monster dies much faster that way. I have tweaked the slider in PvP, and forgot to move it back is how I found out about this. With the slider more to def, the ratio of damage done vs damage received goes the wrong direction.

I will do some more tests with the slider in different positions to see how their damage done to me is affected, but at least for my current character, full agg is the way to go.


Skara

[______________Taelyn]

I notice no difference in crit or hit rates when changing my agg-def bar. I do notice, however, that things that attack against my Duck/Exp evade (which is low) critical every other hit while those attacking my other evades do minimum damage every time (nice armor). Therefore, no reason to go less than full agg.

[______________Yazule]

hey cos, noticed you were reading the boards, thought I would pop this to the top, in case you had some new info fo us?

[________foolishchild]

Definitely time for a bump!