Talk:Block
From Discworld MUD Wiki
Just a few things to note.
Knowns: Most "light" shields (around ten pounds) outweigh most weapons. Shields take alot of damage, making leather unviable, and wood a close second to that. Material increases chance to absorb. Material determines total absord possible. Enchanting makes shields harder to use. Enchanting increases total absorb possible. Size of shield increases chance to block. Size of shield increases chance to absorb. Weight of shield adds to AP cost to block. Weight adds to chance to block. AP for block is rather high. Block is very respectable for defending against multiple opponents. Absorbing attacks, takes no (or very small ammounts of) AP.
Personal research suggests that block is more suited to higher bonus levels, and can be very difficult to level from the start (being frustrating until a 200 minimum bonus for a small wooden shield @ 6 6/9 pnds). This has since been disproved, meaning that block suffers a penalty thoughout the bonus ranges (low-mid-high).
Reports of blocking darts from inhumation have been made.
Burden doesn't effect block nearly as much as parry, and even less so than dodge, not meaning the stat penalty.
Unknowns: Shield effectiveness with weapon used, the theory here is that (like weapons) you get a synergy bonus for wielding something with compariable weight. The % of the weight of the shield that is negated from holding it (based on helpfile, but my best educated guess at this moment seems to be about half) Based on the above two things, and superficial research, some weapons go better with certain shields, although this seems more determined by weigh of weapon, rather than actual weapon used. The rough guide to this seems to be about 1/3rd of the weight of the shield for a comparable weapon (or rather half of half of the weight of the shield).
Competively, Block cannot compare to Parry/Dodge at the moment. It still lacks the extra edge that parry and dodge both share, in retrospect, the difference is like holding a single weapon and parrying with the same weapon (without the known benefits of parry). Block has a slight advantage in the sense that it's shields are generally much heavier than weapons. This advantage is not enough, especially considering that Block drains AP quite fast vs parry/dodge. The only thing that would make block usable (in comparison) would be to give the shields a command like stun (which would drain AP completely), -or- have the action of -being- blocked cost AP (the logic here is that, having a weapon stopped completely mid attack can totally screw you up in combat "flow" having to recover everytime, this makes sense if you think about for a minute), although its quite possible even those wouldn't be enough, from personal observation. ~Benvolio Treviso (still trying for block after 10 years...)
