MMOrpg Combat Lab
Technical Specification · Shields

Shields

Shields provide two distinct defensive benefits: a percent chance to block incoming attacks entirely, and a flat damage absorption value when a block succeeds. Both scale with gear quality; only block value scales with level.

§ 04.01

Shield Stats

Shields have two primary stats: the percent chance of a successful block (Shield Block %) and the flat value of damage blocked (Shield Block Value).

Shield Block %

Shield Block % chance does not scale by level, it is a fixed percentage determined by shield type (currently only light or heavy) that is adjusted by gear buff multipliers. See reference below for base block percentage.

A Level 60 tower shield with 12% base block percentage that is Dungeon Ready:

Shield Block % and Block Value Multipliers by Quality

Block % & Block Value Multipliers by Quality
QualityGear Preset Name% ChanceRationale
Common (White)Unused0.8×Starter gear
Uncommon (Green)Leveling1.0×Standard baseline for leveling
Rare (Blue)Dungeon Ready1.25×Higher quality dungeon rewards
Epic (Purple)Elite1.75×Highest quality gear
N/AMax2.75×Simulation Max before game-breaking

Shield Block Value

Similar to weapon DPS, we'll scale Shield Block Value based on player level, defining the baseline and sharp power curve. The baseline and scaling factor are both determined by shield type. See reference below for these values.

  • Block Value (v) for a flat, block absorption baseline
  • 1 + (r%) as a scaling factor (r% increase every level)
Shield Block Value by Level — Tower Shield vs. Buckler (Base, no quality multiplier)

Level 60 Examples (base, no quality multiplier)

Tower Shield: 10 × (1.0460) = 105.2 Blocked Damage

Buckler: 6 × (1.0360) = 35.3 Blocked Damage

Block Value Quality Multiplier

We'll apply the same quality multipliers used by our shield block percentage to modify our shield block value:

If our Level 60 tower shield with 105.2 base block was Dungeon Ready, the modified block damage would be:

§ 04.02

Shield Types

Shield Types
Shield TypeSizeBlock % Base Value (Vstart) Scaling Rate (r) L60 DR Block % L60 DR Block Value
BucklerLight 16%6.00.03 20%44.2
Tower ShieldHeavy 12%10.00.04 15%131.5
§ 04.03

Shield Abilities

Shield Wall & Shield Bash

On Hold — Not Required for v0

These are typical Tank abilities for added protection (wall) and boss spell disruption (bash) and should be considered as we add more fight archetypes. However, this will require some additional research as different Tank types have different "mana bar" replacement mechanics for abilities to balance out usage (e.g. Rage, Holy Power, etc.).

Reference Table