How valuable is Deflection in PvE?

equilam · June 2014

Hi there,

after reading Kaelac’s guide to damage, tenacity, reisistance and debuffs in Neverwinter especially this part:

Deflection determines the chance of reducing incoming damage by the defender’s deflection severity (base 75% for TR, 50% for all other classes). It is governed by your overall DEX (0.5% chance per point over 10) and deflection stat as well as a number of feats. Deflection is applied last after all DR and buffs have been calculated on damage, i.e multiplicative. In PvE it can help increase chances of surviving spike damage. Deflect is more useful for classes that can cap defense above 80% regularly like GWFs (half unstoppable bar grants 25%, full unstoppable bar grants 50% DR) since you hit hard cap.

it made me think how valuable Deflection is in PvE and if it's a good idea to increase my Deflection from ~700 to ~1000, as I could dedicate a stone for that in my gear, if I wanted that. I play a tanky DC with 2.729 Defence, 702 Deflection, 1.544 Regeneration, 3.192 Recovery, 3.320 Critical Strike, 5.740 - 6.240 Power (depending on my lost Stamina) and 26.908 HP in my Full T1 High Prophet Set. As you might see my Char isn't completly maxed out, but I'm working on that.

What are your opinions about Deflection in PvE?

theosymphany · June 2014

I think I made a typo, probably should say in PvP it increases chances of surviving spike damage (applies too in PvE, but not as relevant). You are pretty tanky already, I'd just stack max HP instead because stacking deflect is not that effective in PvE especially using High Prophet.

equilam · June 2014

@theosymphany
Thank your very much for taking the time to write such detailed articles, I guess you couldn't believe how many readers you have with that. Non native English speakers like me included. Keep it on, your work rocks.

So your advice would be to neglect Deflection as PvE Healer/Debuffer or skip it completely? I'm asking because I got my Deflection mainly from my rings, which are subject of change, when the next stones have levelled up.

kolevra · June 2014

In my opinion, you should go for around 1.5k-2.5k Defense depending on your class and level of experience with the dungeons. If you have extra Defensive slots, grab some Lifesteal. After that, focus entirely on Offensive stats.

Deflection's value is in negating spike damage which makes it very useful in PvP. But in PvE, the big spike damage will almost always come in the form of large red circles or slow, predictable attacks, which means you really should be dodging/avoiding them. Skip Deflection in your PvE build.

How valuable is Deflection in PvE?

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