Rifleman Archive

All defenses stack across professions with the exception of Dodge / Block / Counterattack which are tied to the weapon you are using. i.e. You will only dodge when using a pistol / fencer weapon, you will only block using a Rifle / Polearm etc... Dodge / Block / Counterattack / Melee / Ranged all stack to a maximum of +125 at the moment but I'm not too sure what the max is on the "Defense v's" type of stats are.

From what I have read in the past there is no cap on Defense vs. whatever bonuses.

I think you have it wrong about the block/dodge/counterstrike bonuses. They apply all the time from what I have seen, no matter what weapon you are using. Especially since several different weapons can use both (pikes and rifles get block, fencer and pistoleer get dodge, etc).

I think the only bonuses that require a specific weapon in hand are things like unarmed toughness or -melee profession- toughness. The rest of the defensive bonuses apply all the time no matter what weapon you are using.

Zerathi/Shawn - the grumpy wookiee from shadowfire

all defense mods stack and are capped at 125. this cap only applies to mods picked up from skill trees. does not include SEAs, or other clothing/accessory mods.

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warrenowen wrote:

I think the point being made about stacking defense and equipping the weapon is this...

You can equip a pistol and get +125 Dodge, by having additional dodge from the fencer tree, even though you only receive 90 or whatever from the pistol tree. You can equip a 1h weapon to benefit the other way around. If however you equip something that isn't from the pistol/fencer tree then you will not dodge at all, and the defense is unused.

With melee defense I don't think that applies, it simply stacks.... I think

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Melee and Ranged defenses are basically the counter to aim and to-hit bonuses. These defenses determine whether or notyou get hit. They stack and are not weapon specific. That is, they work no matter what weapon, if any, is equipped. There is a cap of +125. Your build may have higher than that, but only the first 125 of it is used.

Dodge, Counterattack, and Block are all secondary defenses. So if your ranged/melee defenses fail and you get hit, these secondary defenses have a chance of taking over. These defenses stack, so a Pistoleer/Fencer can have a Dodge of +210,. but like Melee and Ranged Defenses, only the first +125 of it is used. However, unlike the melee/ranged defenses, Block only works with Rifles and Polearms equipped, Dodge only works with Pistols or 1H Weapons equipped, and CounterAttack only works with 2H Weapons and Carbines. Thus, you could have a +210 from Fencer/Pistoleer, but when you are holding a Rifle, you will only Block based on your + Block modifier. Dodge will not work.

Two things to note. There is a huge To-Hit melee bonus against us. So while we eventually have a +40 to melee defense at a certain level, this is negated by the To-Hit bonus while you are holding a rifle. When you switch to a non-rifle weapon, this bonus is negated, and the +40 to melee defense does add to yoru defenses with that weapon.

Second, right now, Block is bugged. When we, as riflemen, block, it is reported in the system messages as Counterattack, so it would be easy to confuse the bonuses. We are not actually counterattacking when holding a Rifle. We are blocking because Block, Counterattack, and Dodge are weapon specific.