Mitigation vs Block

[hypozeuxis]

I'm gearing out my Guardian and turning in the armor tokens - are there "soft caps" on Mitigation or Block, or recommendations for one over the other?  For most of the defensive pieces, there is a flat choice between two pieces that differ only in Mit vs Block:

Cryptic Battler's Boots of the Warrior (Block) and Cryptic Soldiers Boots of the Warrior both have the following (ungemmed, unadorned):

5.8% Max Health, 1.5% Extra Parry Chance, 17.1% Crit Bonus, 25% Ability Reuse Speed.

Plus 3.8% Block Chance or 3.8 Mitigation Increase

[becklyn]

According to here: http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Cap

The cap on mitigation is:

Mitigation Cap = 150 * Level = 75%
    Mitigation increases result in increasing returns until (52.5 * Level) at which point mitigation suffers from diminishing returns.

 

And the avoidance cap is:

Avoidance Cap = 80%

• Base = 80%
• Blocking = 70%
• Parry = 70%
• Deflection = 70%

 

[hypozeuxis]

Thanks for the pointer, Becklyn, but I think some of it is out of date (I've seen tanks with well over 100% Block rating, and they don't block all incoming damage).

A more specific set of questions is "if both stats are below the cap, are there guidelines for which is most important to increase?  Or is it like (most) classes' Crit Bonus and Potency, where it is generally optimal to keep them close together?  And if it is "keep them close", what is the relationship between Block (percentage), Avoidance (percentage partially based on Block), and Mitigation (large number in the ~10000 range)?"

My guardian isn't geared nearly as well as Holyguardian or Liepha - very few Arcane pieces, no Potent or better (yet) - so I'm trying to figure out which of their stats I should try to emulate first.

[becklyn]

Yeah I suspect it is out of date too, but from what I understand, the cap at 70% (for block for example) means that even if you have more than 70, it doesn't help any.

I dont know for sure, since it has been a while since I looked at mitigation and avoidance...

Also, in the past I have known a few guardian and other heavy tanks who got as much avoidance as they could, on the theory that while mitigation reduces damage, avoidance means no damage at all.

[Pattywak]

From my understanding 70% is the cap, but having 70% block does not mean that you will block for 70%. Block is contested against the mob's skills. With 70% block, you will theoretically block 70% of attacks from even level, no arrow mobs. But when level differences and arrows come into play, things aren't cut and dry. The same goes for mitigation, the numbers in the examine window are calculated for even level, no arrow mobs. Then there are raid mobs where your block doesn't even come into play. When facing Epic mobs, you have to look at "uncontested block" which is calculated differently for leather tanks vs plate tanks.

Here is the most up-to-date post I've seen on any website about all the stats in game right now http://eq2wire.com/2010/06/17/combat-mechanics-and-player-progression-laid-bare/

[hypozeuxis]

Also very cool link, but the date is 2010 and it talks about level 90 toons vs 98 mobs and STR affecting how much you can carry, so I suspect it is also at least partially out of date.

I guess I'll have to try to figure some of this out on my own - perhaps a set or two of mastercrafted armor with sets of block/parry/defense adorns, and run the same mobs a couple of times?

[Jazzalyn]

Holy and I talked about this last night - he said he had posted here but it looks like his post never saved.

 

The most definitive thing that I've been able to find on the forums is that 18k mitigation is about the cap for level 103 mobs. Everyone on the forums states that it's better to have mitigation over block because strikethrough negate so much of block, but being a block toon, I've always focused primarily on block, then on mitigation and Liepha does pretty well in raids/groups.

 

What's more to the point, if uncontested block was worthless on raid level mobs because of strikethrough, the only negative effect of recklessness would be that I would take 50% more damage, because the fact that I can't block wouldn't matter. I would have to go through the parse to try to pull exact numbers, but watching Liepha's health spike when she doesnt have something up to protect herself compared to when she's not in reckless with block chance going, I think it's something like a 4-5x increase in damage. Could be wrong, because the majority of the time I'm riposting or have a high % of damage reduction/self-heals going, but the spiky difference in raids suggests to me that my block is definitely making a difference.

 

So for Liepha, I get as much defense/parry/dodge gear. Then I focus on block, then mitigation. 

 

-L