Suggestion: Replica Brass Dome

I've felt for a while now that there is no good definitive way to focus heavily on Physical Damage Reduction - so the natural thing to do is make a suggestion that fits what I imagine.

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Replica Brass Dome
Gladiator Plate
(350-400)% increased Armour
+(1-5)% additional Physical Damage Reduction
Armour does not apply to Physical Damage
50% less Armour
Gain +1% additional Physical Damage Reduction per 1000 Armour
Take no Extra Damage from Critical Strikes

The pertinent lines are
* Armour does not apply to Physical Damage
* 50% less Armour
* Gain +1% additional Physical Damage Reduction per 1000 Armour

The main benefit is extending "armour" to also apply to physical damage over time. I think the opportunity cost is reasonable, a typical build might focus on getting enough armour to reach around 50% physical damage reduction - then using other sources of physical damage reduction to reach the final amount.

What?

You know you can get like a half million armor by stacking it, right? Even at 50% less, that's 125% physical damage reduction.

Also, the point of replica uniques is usually to change ALL of the signature mods to either invert them or amplify both positive and negative aspects of the item. So a far more fitting replica variant would be something like -(1-5)% max resistances, even more armor, and "All hits against you are critical strikes"

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TrashCondor wrote:

I've felt for a while now that there is no good definitive way to focus heavily on Physical Damage Reduction

And yet....your Replica example is already THE way to focus heavily on Physical Damage Reduction: armor stacking. I don't know how much more "definitive" you can get than 1 of the three CORE defensive options.

Your item is pointless: it would function EXACTLY the same as armor already functions lol. If you are going to stack enough armor to make good use of that redux line, you are likely already stacking enough armor to get 90% physical reduction of pretty much every source of physical damage in the game, except boss slams.

I don't think you understand the purpose of the item then.

1. It mitigates physical dots (armour normally does nothing for physical damage over time)

2. It let's you use armour to protect against physical damage while using Transcendence keystone

^as spelled, it would not work with Transcendence because Transcendence only works IF armor is being applied to physical damage in the first place. But this armor overrides that initial relationship, and therefore overrides any subsequent conversion. Or at least that would be my understanding. This could easily be something adjusted by GGG.

Yes, your item would be great for Physical DOTs. That is a good point. And yea you did point that out in the OP.

BUT

You mention the tradeoff and proceed to highlight what is likely the lowest usage of the item (getting to 50% pdr armor rating). But if someone is using an armor stacking item, and then also using transcendence which requires armor stacking...they are going to end up with 100s of thousands of armor pretty easily. No one is going to use this over the normal Brass Dome if they AREN'T stacking armor super high, just to mitigate DoTs. Furthermore, physical DoTs aren't so dangerous that they would even be worth the tradeoff of REGULAR armor interaction.

Endurance Charges, 1 or 2 pdr-type reduction mods, bleed immunity, and Pantheon is more than enough for any physical DoT the game throws at us.

hmmm, I see where you're coming from regarding Transcendence - it is definitely a question on whether it would apply or not as written. The intention certainly would be that the two could interact favourably. (Though any "Defend with 200% Armour" would not work, at least the way I read it.)

Armour stacking builds that go for 500 000 to 1 000 000 armour don't really benefit from the item, since they already have all the armour in the world. And they are using Replica Dreamfeather, because what else will you do with a million armour?

But what about builds that want thick physical damage reduction without going overboard on armour? Getting to around 100k (before the 50% less) is still a noticeable investment, but it obviously isn't the focus of the build and you can go with any damage method that you want. And you have 50% PDR before other sources of PDR are considered. Certainly you could go for 200+k armour too, but then you start devoting a very sizable part of your build to just the physical defense (and at 200k you don't really have enough to justify using Replica Dreamfeather).

The problem that I'm addressing is that I like to be tanky, and I'm very happy with my tankiness in maps - but in the face of uber bosses the tankiness drastically falls off. (Also I'm bad at the game and cannot handle degen puddles. They are my nemisis.)

Try Doppelganger Guise then. That's what that's for.

Noted. But it is nice having alternatives ^_^

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TrashCondor wrote:

The problem that I'm addressing is that I like to be tanky, and I'm very happy with my tankiness in maps - but in the face of uber bosses the tankiness drastically falls off. (Also I'm bad at the game and cannot handle degen puddles. They are my nemisis.)

I mean....ubers are designed to be un-tankable. You need to actually be "good" to beat them (reflexes, strategy, timing, etc.). GGG does everything in their power to negate the stat checkpoint effect on the ubers.

The whole point of ubers is to test the strongest builds for good players. GGG is definitely not adding an item that allows trash players to trivialize the damage they do.