Get rid of % damage mitigation.

[Bobucles]

In the character screen, your damage mitigation value is given as a percent. I think this doesn't work well, because the value of each percentage point is never the same. For example, going from 3% to 4% mitigation is nothing, while going from 97% to 98% is worlds apart. This leads to stupid posts about "well, at 3%, it takes 40 AC to get 1%, but at 60%, it takes 120AC to get 1%." This is quite obvious when you realize that every point gives increased returns, so it comes with an increased cost. The percentage also makes it more difficult to determine if there are any diminishing returns to getting more AC,(for those that don't look for formulae) as they're masked by the percentage. It should be replaced with a number whos value isn't done on a curve.

Instead of displaying damage mitigation, it should display an endurance multiplier, with the adjusted endurance. It's still the same stat being displayed, only that this will show exactly how it affects your character. You'll know that 1% means the same thing across the board, so 200% is twice as good as 100%, and 400%(max?) is twice as good as 200%. This does not take magical damage into account, but it never cared about AC to begin with.

There are two ways I know of displaying it. One, is by giving the multiplier which is essentially given to the character's endurance. It can be displayed as either a decimal, but I'm not hot about that, or as a percent, which IMO would work. The other, is to display the adjusted HP value against physical attacks.

However, this could make abilities that give or take a direct mitigation percentage confusing. I know shadowform would be affected, and maybe the warrior's stances. Because of this, it may still be prudent to display the % damage mitigation.

[bovinius]

Hi there! I only vaguely understand what you are talking about. I've only been playing a litte over a month, and have just started examining the formulas which affect the damage my character takes. (The main motivation was that my shaman made 40th, so now he gets Mail.)

I'm just learning XML, too, so I have exactly zero chances to write this mod. One problem I see is that even someone who is an expert in XML could not help, if he/she doesn't understand what you are talking about.

Now, if you were to post the exact formulas and exactly how you want each number range to be displayed, it would help a lot.

Just a suggestion, I was not being critical. I would like to see this mod written and hope my post helps speed it up!

[Bobucles]

Oh, I'm sorry. I meant about the stats shown in the character status screen. When you mouse over the armor value, it gives a % value for damage mitigation.

That's the number which is iffy in usefulness. As a value, its strength is on a curve. the difference between 1% and 5% damage reduction is nothing compared to the difference between 97% and 98% DR, for example. When going melee, the 1-5% DR increase gives about a 4% increase in the character's endurance. The 97% to 98% DR improvement gives a whopping 50% increase in the character's endurance. This kind of inconsistency makes % DR very tough to understand and make a judgement about, unless you're a math major or something.

I propose that instead of showing damage reduction on the character screen, a sort of "melee life expectancy" should be shown instead. This number could be a multiplier/percentage, or simply the adjusted HP value against melee attacks.

In case you don't know, here's a way to get the adjusted endurance value. In this example, I'll use 45% DR:
- Take the damage reduction %. Turn it to a decimal.
45 / 100 = .45
Every 1 melee damage has .45 damage subtracted.

- Subtract 1, and take the absolute value:
.45 - 1 = -.55
[-.55] = .55
Every 1 melee damage takes away .55 HPs.

- Take one, and divide by the number, to flip the ratio around. This is the multiplier:
1 / .55 = 1.81~
Every 1 HP is worth about 1.81 melee damage.

- This can be turned to a percentage:
1.81~ * 100% = 181%
The character has about 181% HP endurance against melee attacks.

- Or it can be used to give an adjusted HP value. This particular character has 3000 Hit points:
1.81~ * 3000 = 5455
The character has an equivelant of 5455 HP against melee damage.

The same character with 5% damage reduction has 3158 HPs against melee. With 50% damage reduction, he has 6000HP against melee damage. With 75% damage reduction (max) he has 12000 HP against melee damage.

These values are much more useful and accurate then the % damage reduction value, IMO. They'll give a more clear idea of just how durable the tank is going to be. It will also make armor bonuses much more easily noticed by the average player.

Sorry if I wasn't clear before. I hope I made things less confusing, instead of more. So, any more comments, or suggestions?