[Combat] The problem with armor proposal

[Warsoul]

The Issue

Armor is the end all / be all statistic, and any career can stack armor through talisman slots and armor potions.

Why this is an issue

The capability to implement extreme armor for all careers causes the following additional problems:

• Reduces the value of physical damage across the board
• Inflates the value of armor pots, tactics and talismans (more armor to ignore armor debuff)
• Creates a need for maximum armor debuff in pre-made groups thereby elevating certain careers over others
• Muddles the role arch types (everyone can tank damage)

Potential solution

“Armor Arch type” solution:

Institute a hard armor percentage cap by armor type:

• Heavy – 75%
• Medium – 50%
• Light – 25%

Additional armor added above what is required to meet the hard cap for each arch type is completely ignored.

Change all armor debuffs to be percentage based, and equalize them:

• Morale debuff – 20%
• Mastery debuff – 15%
• Career debuff – 10%

Moving to a percentage based debuff is important as we want to completely ignore additional armor that has been stacked and equalizes the value of careers with armor debuffs.

Institute a resistance percentage cap by armor type:

• Heavy – 25%
• Medium – 50%
• Light – 75%

Additional resistance added above what is required to meet the hard cap for each arch type is completely ignored. This is important to ensure that those who are physically resistant are susceptible to magic damage and vice versa.

Change all resistance debuffs to be percentage based, and equalize them:

• Morale debuff – 20%
• Mastery debuff – 15%
• Career debuff – 10%

Moving to a percentage based debuff is important as we want to completely ignore additional resistance that has been stacked and equalizes the value of careers with resistance debuffs.

The final benefit of having hard values that you cannot "overcap" is this will lead to less power inflation due to new armor (more armor just allows you to prioritize other stats over armor tali's and potions), and provides a smaller power gap for the newly 40 versus the seasoned vet.

Closing

Extreme physical resistance is only a problem when every class can obtain it. The flip side of that coin is that along with everyone being able to be physically resistant, they can also become magically resistant which also creates natural challenges for magic RDPS, and also potentially led to the inflation of their class mechanics. A natural solution is to lock real armor hard caps by armor arch type, while also creating a vulnerability.

Example of caps implemented:

• Chosen – 75% armor & 25% resists
• Archmage – 25% armor & 75% resists
• Witch Hunter – 25% armor & 75% resists
• Disciple of Khaine – 50% armor & 50% resists

As a consequence of this solution all armor and resist debuffs would need to move to a flat %, which provides an opportunity to standardize how they work.

Example of reworked armor debuffs:

• Marauder – Cutting Claw 15%
• White Lion – Forced Opportunity 15%
• Iron Breaker – Stone Breaker at 100 grudge – 10%
• Black Guard – Horrific Wound at 100 hate – 10%

Regardless, I believe that this change would create a very positive change for ORvR and provide for more inter-class and group composition diversity.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

[Penril]

Declining for now. If there is an issue with armor, it is mostly because of armor pots and talismans.