physical or hp shards

You want hp shards the more the better even though you are going hybrid.

I've been an advocate of damage reduction since the beginning of video games. Armor Class > everything is my opinion on absolutely everything. In one game I was playing armor class translated to the chance that you get hit for minimum value, which doesn't apply in this game. In another one, high AC means you can only be hit 5% of the time. With that said...

Go HP. Full HP. Don't even half-and-half it, because your physical resist is a completely moot point as a cleric. Plume Shell is to be used at all times to reciprocate your low physical resist, because it's like god-mode against physical damage classes. Wizard about to drop a blade tempest on your ****? Plume it up. Three blademasters running you down, but you gotta heal your tank? Plume. Its uses are innumerous, and the only time that it can't help you and where physical resist would be better (mobs with physical-based AEs), it's easily countered by the fact that you're in blue-bubble anyway.

Besides, physical res won't help you when a caster wants to molest you.

Terraa - Lost City wrote: »

I've been an advocate of damage reduction since the beginning of video games. Armor Class > everything is my opinion on absolutely everything. In one game I was playing armor class translated to the chance that you get hit for minimum value, which doesn't apply in this game. In another one, high AC means you can only be hit 5% of the time. With that said...

Go HP. Full HP. Don't even half-and-half it, because your physical resist is a completely moot point as a cleric. Plume Shell is to be used at all times to reciprocate your low physical resist, because it's like god-mode against physical damage classes. Wizard about to drop a blade tempest on your ****? Plume it up. Three blademasters running you down, but you gotta heal your tank? Plume. Its uses are innumerous, and the only time that it can't help you and where physical resist would be better (mobs with physical-based AEs), it's easily countered by the fact that you're in blue-bubble anyway.

Besides, physical res won't help you when a caster wants to molest you.

You fail to explain Plumeshell only works IF you know when your being attacked and are aware.

also your HP will go down AS fast as it would with your squishy cleric def and only hold up decently to other mage classes. HP helps alot in situations but wholly ignoring pdef will just make it a thick jello armour

As for the OP, let your build choose your shards. Dont choose one type of shard for every build.

Deceptistar - Sanctuary wrote: »

You fail to explain Plumeshell only works IF you know when your being attacked and are aware.

also your HP will go down AS fast as it would with your squishy cleric def and only hold up decently to other mage classes. HP helps alot in situations but wholly ignoring pdef will just make it a thick jello armour

As for the OP, let your build choose your shards. Dont choose one type of shard for every build.

You bring up a very valid point -- I almost always know when I'm going to be hit, but I'm also extremely careful whenever I play, and I can't judge someone else's playstyle versus my own. As well, to be perfectly fair, I don't neglect phys res absolutely, both my 70 and 80 weapon choices reflect this (216 free phys res, find me one complainer). But, I've found that hp buys me the reaction time that physical res doesn't. Where I've found that the minimal returns from full phys res shards were nice to look at, in practice they fell rather short. A good BM who discovers me to be an easy target will always run up, stun, hit, and ts somewhere in the middle; and I didn't have enough hp to survive it. However, I did have enough hp to survive the same setup from a higher level BM when I switched my augs to include hp. Instead of dying before the stun wears off, I now have time enough to hit plume shell after the first barrage. Now, remember, this is upon the rare occasion that I get caught off-guard; no chance someone I see is going to hit me un-plumed. I don't go down without tanking for at least one plume shell.

Now, as I said, I think damage reduction is everything. Except when diminishing returns really hurt. I honestly feel that the physical resistance us arcane clerics get from armor or shards' return is too low to be of any potential value to us. To be pointed, no class/build benefits more than us in physical resistance returns from shards... on paper. But the facts I'd like to point out are that at this level, the returns are so minimal that you'll never see a difference. 10% more physical resistance is great, and I'd pay billions of coins for a permanent 10% physical resistance buff; but I wouldn't buy it if the option for buying more HP for the same cost existed. The fact is, though, that at my level, where I'd get 10% physical resistance from shards, I'd get 33% more hp instead. In a perfect world, I'd take a 33% hp over 10% ac every time.

But here's the beauty of what I find in plume shell: I can get 33% hp, and on top of that, 80% physical resistance. With a charm, under plume shell, I am nearly invincible. I'll be the first to concede that while under plume shell, you could be completely un-sharded and survive nearly as well as I do, or at the very least, good enough to keep one, maybe two HoTs on yourself, but what I'm getting at is that when melee are around, I'm depending on my shell, not my physical resistance. And outside of shell, I'm not worried about my physical resistance at all, and I've bought that protection by focusing on my gameplay and being aware of all my surroundings at all times.

This is why I went with HP shards.

Deceptistar do you use physical resistance ornaments?

lol, well that's what i thought. Thanks.

Wtfxxxshot - Harshlands wrote: »

wow nice pdef b:dirty am gettin my tt80 GOLD gear to +5 and on the stat calculater it say i will have 5.6k hp buffed and 4.8k p defb:laugh with phy shards

dont refine TOO much >.< TT90 is expensive

I can name 1 boss in wich case 1% p.def is more valid then 3k HP. If you want to put it that way lol.

Use search button and find a post also about this, a dude made a formula that is very accuarte and it shows when you should stop adding HP and start adding p.def.
Tho more experienced players can easy see that point =P

Nelae - Heavens Tear wrote: »

I can name 1 boss in wich case 1% p.def is more valid then 3k HP. If you want to put it that way lol.

Use search button and find a post also about this, a dude made a formula that is very accuarte and it shows when you should stop adding HP and start adding p.def.
Tho more experienced players can easy see that point =P

Er, what should i search? Being LA i can't see that point even if i'd like to... Just curious and interested planning for 9x b:cute

Alerean - Heavens Tear wrote: »

An important thought for the debate over pdef shards or HP shards, keep in mind that some bosses have skills/attacks that bypass defense. That means you take the same amount of damage no matter how much pdef you have, in which case HP is your only defense.

Please, tell us which bosses these are? I really am highly curious.

Xoria - Sanctuary wrote: »

Please, tell us which bosses these are? I really am highly curious.

Some of the frostcovered bosses seem to ignore defenses (and non-boss monsters will also ignore our defenses, but i all of them can be avoided). And, of course, some bosses debuff your defenses. I think the cube also has some examples.