Misadventures of Damage Block mechanics

Grim Dawn Gameplay Discussion
1

Hi!

I am a player with a lot of experience, I know and personally tested many mechanics, but for all 6 years since game release , only the last experiment with block mechanics disappointed me (like a Kimon).

nothing about reflect :crazy_face:

And before you continue reading try to answer: If I wield shield with 1000 block damage and get 2000 potential damage, how many real damage I’ll get? (answer below)

Some times ago while checking game files i noticed weirdness of Block formulas.
records/gane/combatformulas.bdr file contains 2 formulas: for cases when incoming damage lower (or equal) and greater than blocked damage.

First of all, I note that all shields in the game have 100% absorption (shieldAbsorptionDV in equations below). It is similar to armor absorption, but completely independent parameter.

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So, return to formulas.
Firs one: for damage lower of equal than block (DLEB) damageDV * ((100 - shieldAbsorptionDV) / 100 ) means all incoming damage blocked: damageDV * 0 = 0

But what with case when Damage greater than block (DGB)?
Well, damageDV - (shieldDefenseDV * ((170 - shieldAbsorptionDV) / 100)) - This equation means shield work with only 70% effectiveness: damageDV - (shieldDefenseDV * ((170 - 100) / 100)) = damageDV - (shieldDefenseDV * (70 / 100)) = damageDV - (shieldDefenseDV * 0.7)

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I posted a bug report, but Zantai said that block worked as intended (c). Bug report section cleared, but trust me.

Today I returned with experimental data.
Initial data:
Shield with 100% of 1000 Damage blocked.

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Maces with 1000, 2000 … and well… 3000 damage

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Spawn test dummy with 0 any ather defenses wielding shield and hit it.
1000 damage obviously blocked

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2000 damage … drumroll … 1300 dealt and 700 blocked (<-answer here)

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And last but not least 3000 damage: dealt 2300 blocked 700

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As I said Shield work with 70% effectiveness.

Now tell me, did anyone know this? Didn’t you, when creating S&B build, count on blocking nominal damage in all cases? Neither in the official game guide nor in any other user guides there is a word about this.
I know the formula has changed, but I can’t track exactly when. Most likely in patch 1.1.0.0, but I think it should have been again later. Because before 1.1.0.0. DGB equation was damageDV - (shieldDefenseDV * (( 100 - shieldAbsorptionDV) / 100)) meaning the shield didn’t work against greater damage.

What do you think of all this?

If you want repeat experiment, here is mod with test character
ShieldAndAbsorb.zip (225.6 KB)
To spawn test dummy, press “~” and type game.spawn "records/creatures/testdummy.dbr"

21 Likes
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That would mean

  • we receive 0 dmg from 1000 dmg hit

  • we receive 301 dmg from 1001 dmg hit

(1 dmg dealt more equals 301 dmg more taken)

2 Likes
4

Indeed.
10/

1 Like
5

Can remember the bug report - and thanks for testing it again in more detail (as I like S&B characters)

6

i recently made a meme 100% block recovery build, with 100% uptime on that recovery buff
granted i didn’t have more than like 4k dmg blocked and 60% block chance (85% chance for like 40% duration)
but i could not fully wrap my head around why it felt ridiculously squish, as if it was receiving a surprising amount of dmg, despite that 100% block recovery

i wonder if this revelation partially explains that :thinking:

7

Excellent report @DenisMashutikov :+1:

1 Like
8

That missing 30% is supposed to be redirected to pistol damage during gun and shield usage, obviously. I’m sure that’s the bug report that is needed

3 Likes
9

Huh, I thought GD got rid of that TQ legacy, but I guess not. Not entirely, at least.

Back in 2018 I stumbled upon this TQ defences order guide:

(I’ve timestamped this for the video to start at the important part about shields)

So I guess % damage blocked is a pretty important stat. I only wonder why the hell shield stats are so rare. First of all, all shields have realtively low base % block chance, and the only class that has easy access to it is Warlord. If you’re playing like Ritualist, Cabalist< Purifier or whatever, you can forget about more than ~35% block. Then there’s % damage blocked. This one is also a rare stat and somehow it’s also pretty biased towards Soldier and Oathkeeper gear. And finally, block recovery, which is super, SUPER rare. We have like, Shieldmaiden constellation with it, two shield components (both of which are tied to retal pretty heavily), and of Barricades suffix (I’m not counting in Overguard and Absolution because that’s Warlord all over again - and it’s only temporary).

No wonder people prefer DW or 2h instead of S&B. Shields are treated mostly as stat sticks, which is a bummer. I like shields. Paladin was my #1 in D2 =(

3 Likes
10

This is only when the damage received is greater than the block value right? So if I have 2000 block and the attacker deal 2500 damage, the damage I receive is 1100 correct?

11

Yes, for damage greater than block.
Yes, you will receive 1100 from single 2500 damage.

12

Well that explain why S&B builds doesn’t provide that much defense as it should be againts tough enemies. Thanks for the work!

13

does it hilariously happen to be that Damage Reduction debuff has any impact on block mechanics too? :grin:

1 Like
14

I wouldn’t be surprised !

Damage reduction debuff is believed to slow your GPU to reduce your chances in the game so messing with block would not be a biggie :wink:

15

It should definitely not function that way even if intended, in my personal opinion.