How would You like Block to work?

[Tryble]

In that case, my vote would go to having Block negate the single highest instance of incoming damage the turn it's used.

If that's not possible (probably overcomplicated to implement), then I second bpat's "boneshield-esque with minimum damage threshold" idea.

[HousePet]

Bumpage, because I would hate to do something based on a statistically non-significant result.

[Cathbald]

I find this discussion very interesting so here are my thoughts on block :
- I do not want it to be passive, I want to actively raise my shield and gain something out of it.
- I like the counterstrike debuff, dealing no damage the turn you block to get it back later if you actually blocked something. But l find a bit silly that blocking a fireball give the counterstrike debuff to a mage (same for any other ranged attack)
- I'd like to have some level of decision over who or what I'm blocking. I especially like the idea of directing my block (raising my shield in front of me does not protect me from a backstab)

With that in mind, this is what I propose :
Activate block -> select a zone in a cone (you turn in that direction and raise your shield) -> ignore damage equal to your block value from every attack coming from that zone next turn
(But it would have to move with you... I'm guessing a «directionnal aura» like that would be pretty hard to implement?)

More levels in block talent increase the range of the cone (you get better at seeing over your shield while it is raised and can anticipate attacks from further away?)

As before, block lasts one turn, with more added thanks to riposte

Counterstrike only applies to enemies in melee range

Eternal guard turns the talent into a sustain. Deactivate manually then reactivate to change the direction of the cone. Do not deactivate from movement but deactivate after (one? A few?) attacks or non-instant talents

Spectral shield extends the width of the cone and allows counterstrike to apply on all attacks

Hope some ideas at least seem nice to someone.

[Davion Fuxa]

I'd be careful with fiddling with the mechanics that block projectiles at range. The Skirmisher Unlock specifically comes to mind as to why - since to unlock Skirmisher you 'NEED' to be at a distance from an enemy that you attack with the Counterstrike Debuff on.

[Tryble]

Oh hey, turns out you can actually change your vote on these forums. I moved mine from 'other' to 'boneshield-like'.
Anyway, if you want a lot more votes, you'll probably have to ask chat to take a look or something...forums're pretty slow.

If you make a decision, what are you going to do about the shield prodigies? Will you make another thread for those?

[HousePet]

Yeah I set it to be changeable, cos people always change their mind or vote and then discuss things.

I made a poll because I tried making a testable fix addon, but am not getting any response about it, but get random noise about what direction to go in. So now I have even more random noise about what direction to go in. XD

[Jarinex]

I must admit, I am not an expert when it comes to this kind of stuff, so I don't have anything in terms of ideas or feedback to provide...

I did give your block update a try, and I do like some of the ideas (particularly in terms of damage type and using spell save to block it)

That being said I'm not sure how I would like it to work. I believe as some have said that actively blocking should be useful and worth putting a turn into.

I could see a bone-shieldish blocking working, if balanced properly

Edit: As I have thought on it a bit more, I'm not sure where I lie.

With the first option, it would help against multiple enemies with weaker attacks, but a very strong enemy could get past it (I know that all too well from playing insanity )

With the third option, it would help against the stronger enemies, but (depending on how many hits you let through) could be problematic if
multiple enemies hit at once. Bpats suggestion might work well enough.

I'm not really fond of the second option as being the main option. Perhaps that could be something certain classes get as a talent (like an active or sustain)

[HousePet]

How about something like a smallish reduction from all incoming damage while blocking, but if you are hit with a large hit (say >30% of max life), the entire attack is blocked and the Block effect is cancelled early.

[astralInferno]

that sounds p great, I'd go for that!

[nsrr]

I would go for that, as well. Seems like the best of both flat reduction and strong hit prevention.

[Jarinex]

That might work, depending on the damage it reduces.

[HousePet]

Here is an addon containing previous tweaks with the above mentioned Block mechanic.
Please give it a go and tell everyone how it went.

Current values are 10ish block points per material tier. Sacrifice for a hit above 50% of max life.
For non physical damage, your Spell Save is used as a percentage multiplier onto the block value. So 30 Spell Save and 20 Block value means that non physical damage is reduced by 6. Spell Shield and Spectral Shield improve things.
Eternal Guard makes the Block effect last an extra turn, and also stops the effect deactivating if it negates a >50% max life hit.
Numbers are of course flexible, we just need to consider what the base strength should be and what can be achieved via point investment.

[Jarinex]

Rolled a quick bulwark with the one you just uploaded. Only died one time on insane (which was due to me not being smart), so I think its definitely doing something

[rexorcorum]

I've tried it out as well and it looks good. I'm quite unsure if I use it correctly though - set it up to auto-use on every enemy visible (for the old block I've always used "visible & adjacent") and I've played razakai's Bastion. Nothing was borked as far as I can tell (died in Lake Nur II, nightmare, but as a new NM player I always die there ). It feels more fluid that the previous one and that is a good thing.

[Jarinex]

I actually didn't realize it worked well enough with Bastion, so I gave it another shot with Bastion on as well. Working pretty good if you ask me.