Turbine's Kevin "EdgeCase" Nolan has penned a new developer diary on the Lord of the Rings Online site that goes into a deep dive about the combat changes in Update 18. It's a very comprehensive look that includes a lot of numbers and minute details that those who love the nitty gritty will find interesting.
For those looking for the quick and dirty, Nolan wrote:
1. We've made some long-overdue adjustments to the way avoidances work in LOTRO. In general, you will get a lot more partial blocks, parries, and evades, and about half as many full blocks, parries, and evades.
2. Partial blocks, parries, and evades will mitigate much more damage.
3. On average, most players will take roughly the same amount of damage, despite this change.
4. In instances, it will be much more important to skillfully position yourself behind your enemies: enemies with high block, parry, and evade ratings will generally take fewer crits unless you're attacking from behind.
5. Most players will receive a small buff to damage from Mastery, and Mastery has a much higher cap at level 100 and higher.
6. Medium Armour wearers will be able to cap their mitigations for less rating than heavy armour wearers.
Head over to the Lord of the Rings Online site to read the full details.
