"... to let spell block be something all characters can have access to, ..."

"

MrTremere wrote:

So... How hard is it at the moment to hit max attack block and max spell block at the same time, Anvil included?
I mean, I want to redo my riposte templar in delve.

I could see gladiator ( obviously ) or necro reaching max block ( for both ) still.
For Templar ....
- wich cluster (10% now) + templar cluster (4%) + shadow cluster (6%) = 20%
- perfect Raphpith (15%) + perfect Rainbowstride (6%) = 21%
- perfect Rumi = 10%
-> 51%
you still need 27% chance to block spell to reach the cap with Anvil ( better give it up to get Stone of Lazhwar if you really want to cap spell block imho ).
Get 6* 4% reckless defense and 1* 3% reckless defense and you reach the cap.


Good luck with that.
And that is only spell block, you still need to cap block after that lol, Raphpith having only 25% chance to block attacks to begin with.

what you all seems to ignore (not that it changes much) - normal jewels have +1 block/spell block on them. it is not much but it can add up over few jewels

btw 'pseudo math efficiency' blinds easily. it is true that 75% block is much better than 74% and each % above that is even better. true. but it is called opportunity cost. why spend 20 points and 4 gear pieces for 60% block when 2 items give you 35 AND an ability to add another mechanic that - when layered - is actually just as strong or stronger?

block was TOO easy to cap for its power (dodge right now is in the same spot) - and imo should be hard capped at 50% so people do not over-rely on it

not to mention that shaper shields with 'stuff on block' are preeeeety f strong - pizza throw gladiator was pretty much immortal while using this and all it has is the AR roll

"

sidtherat wrote:

block was TOO easy to cap for its power (dodge right now is in the same spot)

Block hasn't changed afaik.

Only spell block has.

PS : that's a 23% block chance shield there btw. And saying that block is too easy to cap until Delve (outside of Gladiator obviously, for which nothing changes anyway ) is clearly living in the past, especially when showcasing such a low block chance shield.
But you are not playing this game anymore I guess so ...

Now if you want to have high block + good reactif + good armour + good life, that is going to be a freaking expensive sh*t, and in PoE such rare items have always been pretty powerful.
Even with 30% block chance, non gladiator and non necro characters have not been able to easly cap block chance with little investment for quite some time, and that is only speaking about block, not spell block obviously.

Up until Delve, my level-92 Juggernaut had 75% attack block and 54% spell block (4% passive nodes, Reckless Defense, Craceann's helm and Sentari's shield). After downloading the 3.4 update to Path of Building, it reports 75% attack block and 9% spell block.

That's either gross incompetence, or a big fat middle finger.

In fact permanent block/spell is insanely hard to cap outside of gladiator. *

You have to gimp your character by overinvesting in block nodes (mostly focused around phys damage!), and you still won't cap it.
Get the highest block chance shield.
Pick every block node at the south-east part of the tree, and you won't cap it.
In addition use certain items (anvil, reckless defense, etc.), which often bring nothing to your char out of the block chance, and you still won't cap it.
You need a Rumi to manage, eventually.
Then use items to convert into spell block.
Make a Frankenstein out of your char. After all of these investments you'll barely have any other defensive layer than block, low life, and poor damage.

All the rumours and exaggerations about easy max block daren't actually true. It's not open beta anymore.
It's insanely hard to get even close if not playing glad, mostly situational with certain overspecialized builds.

That's why players had just some of it, further converted it to spell block - there were items which allowed to achieve decent (but hardly capped) spell block.
Now they got fisted. Can't tell why.
Necro? Fix that, but don't nuke everyone else, altogether.

I don't complain, as when I work around block I overinvest for max effectiveness, hence always pick gladiators.
But that change is weird at best.


* I'm aware there are exceptions, to prove the rule.

fck,i must use bone offering ,cant use flesh offering anymore

"

RogueMage wrote:

Up until Delve, my level-90 Juggernaut had 75% attack block and 54% spell block (4% passive nodes plus Craceann's helm and Sentari's shield). After downloading the 3.4 update to Path of Building, it reports 75% attack block and 9% spell block.

That's either gross incompetence, or a big fat middle finger.

Why "or?"

"

Necro? Fix that, but don't nuke everyone else, altogether.

Already nerfed hard. And nerfing bone offering they also overnerfed ALLofferings.

Attack block wasn't changed, just spell block.

And yeah, the balance around spell block was done really, really badly. It appears that GGG hasn't quite caught on that outright stacking percentile reductions mean that you either go all-in for a high number, or it's worth only cursory investment at best.

To put it by comparison, we have Acrobatics+Phase Acrobatics; 5 passive points alone grants you 66% more eHP vs. attacks, and 42.9% more eHP vs. spells. It's an alright investment if you're lacking any other means to invest, and truly shines if you have access to other sources of dodge/spell dodge. (e.g, you're a Raider, or can stack on stuff like a quartz flask and Vaal Grace and push near or hit the dodge cap)

Meanwhile, tiny numbers are just not worth taking. As Acrobatics is NOT viable for an ES-based build (50% less eHP would require you gain 100% more eHP from the dodges just to mathematically break even) it means that as a mechanic dodge is largely restricted to pure evasion-life builds.

I mean... Tricksters get 10% chance to dodge, which on its own is... 11.1% more eHP on its own? And then the change to spiked shields with 4% chance, so 4.2% more. They're absolute jokes. It's not "opportunity cost;" that's an incorrect use of that term.

The fact is... Outside of a Gladiator (which keeps the old conversion, so to speak) spell block is no longer capable of being built reasonably on anyone. You can sink insane investment for... A tiny bit of more eHP, so not worth it.

ES/Life Char:

Stone of Lazhwar: The ONLY reason to consider this item was the 50% B2SB.
Now: 15%?! There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE that makes this items to be remotely considerable to use.

-> Now that is a must have for SB building one has to discard Eye/Presence of Chayula. The stun immunity is VITAL for Life/ES characters in red maps+. That means one has to sacrifice 60% Chaos res, stun immunity, and a high value of potential ES. For 15!!! fucking percent and nothing else?! JESUS.
--> There are rare shaper amulets one could craft. However, to get one having somewhat useful mods (including SB, ES, Life, etc), one has to:
---> have higher leveled map access
---> shaper influence
---> the "luck" to have an shaper amulet to be dropped
---> the "luck" for using a chaos orb or you craft sth. via masters/essence and still must be "lucky"


Rathpith Globe:

This item was okayish for the endgame. It doesn't have too little ES and was with its 60% S2SB a really good defensive item in conjunction with other block boosting items.

->15% flat SB is FAR TOO LOW to make this item in its entirety VIABLE. Yes, there may be rares to be crafted, but the average player does not care about it and wants some baseline items to be somewhat usable.
->The other mods are at best okayish, but nothing outstanding here.


The other items providing SB are mostly vendor food.


Apparently you want every item slot to be a fucking rare. Why do you produce unique items in the first place?!

Oh, and a really important question: Which defense layer is an ES // Life-ES character to use in the northern part of the tree? MOM doesn't make sense, dodge is evasion based and ES only isn't viable since you had to fucking double nerf it a few patches ago!

It seems the only way to play according to the devs is to ignore usable defensive mechanisms and just put everything into DPS, so that you can oneshot everything before it oneshots you. Fantastic!