Report 1317

Report #1317
Skillset: Skill: Armor
 Org: Hartstone Status: Rejected Feb 2015
Furies' Decision:
We aren't going to commit to any specific changes to armour at this time, though
we will keep this report in mind when we get to Overhauling armour. In the
meantime, we will look into damage typing on caster attacks to try to make sure
they are not unduly hampered by armour in adition to DMP/buffs.
Problem: Of all damage types, the physical types (cutting and blunt) are the
most widely defended against, as physical armor is required to defend against
monks and warriors. This creates a situation where characters may be defended
from physical damage using two separate systems, partially bypassing the usual
diminishing returns on damage resistance through the dmp system. Post-overhaul,
damage resistance will be capped at 25% for each type, accessible only through
certain strong guild skills or artifacts... except for blunt and cutting! After
the 25% cap for damage resistance is reached, armor will protect against
additional damage, punishing those with guild attacks that do physical damage
(potentially even ONLY physical damage).
[A: 0 R: 0] Solution #1: Divorce armor ratings from physical damage
 resistance, leaving armor ratings to ONLY modify
 wounds. Certain types of high-end armor may add
 physical defense levels, using the dmp-replacement
 mechanics.
[A: 0 R: 0] Solution #2: Change armor so that magically sourced damage does
 not respect armor ratings. Certain types of high-end
 armor (masterplate) may still provide some physical
 defense against magically sourced physical damage,
 within the dmp-replacement mechanics.
Player Comments:
---[Raeri on 2/4 @ 05:09 writes]:
Either works. I'll voice a preference for Solution 1, then 2.
---[Elanorwen on 2/5 @ 17:54 writes]:
While I wouldn't object to a change such as this, damage done by both warriors
and monks will need to be reviewed if this were to be implemented. Even now, it
is easy for certain monks to produce bursts of damage with no downside to them,
let alone what would happen if robes/armor weren't protecting from physical
damage either... the balancing factor for warriors being that they do wounds
instead of big chunks of damage thus allowing someone prepared to apply health
to cure wounds and use sparkles/scroll to keep their vitals up. Solution 2 is
the one I'd lean more towards.
---[Enyalida on 2/5 @ 18:51 writes]:
Solution 2 would preserve current physical combat damage. This means that a
potential "sol. 4" would be to implement solution 2, and phase in solution 1.
Personally, I'd rather have a promised solution 1 with concomitant tamping down
of monk damage across the board.
---[Siam on 2/11 @ 14:03 writes]:
Going for solution 2 as this helps all casters with blunt/cutting typing
---[Enyalida on 2/12 @ 16:15 writes]:
So does solution 1, of course.
---[Siam on 2/13 @ 10:05 writes]:
My concern with solution 1 is the same as Elanorwen's. If they only modify
wounding, then the damage output would become even greater, hence the preference
for solution 2.
---[Lerad on 2/13 @ 11:08 writes]:
Note that it's not only monk/warrior damage that needs to be re-assessed.
Casters using phyiscal damage (specifically druids, which this report is aimed
at helping) also need their damage to be reviewed and compared to other mage
attacks, if it isn't already. For the review of monk damage, do note that monk
base damage is very low (200 or so per hit, 500 or so per form) and the large
bursts of damage people see are achieved through primarily wound-based
multipliers. Monks do not build wounds the same way warriors do - it takes a lot
more work to do so. Re-scaling the wound multipliers (they can go up to 260%
according to old data) will most likely be the best way to ensure monk damage
don't get too strong at lower wound levels with this new armour change. A monk
who manages to build enough wounds, however, should still do a large amount of
damage - it's the lower wound levels, specifically light/medium/heavy that might
need to have their damage multipliers toned down. For reference, report 941 has
information about monk damage multipliers.
---[Ieptix on 3/17 @ 04:46 writes]:
A final decision on this will be forthcoming, we're still discussing in the
Havens.