Evasion is a fundamental defensive mechanic designed to help a character avoid incoming attacks, significantly increasing their chance to escape damage entirely.
Evasion functions as a primary defensive layer by providing a chance for a character to completely avoid being hit by an attack. This mechanism acts as the first line of defense, potentially negating damage before other protective measures, such as armor or energy shields, would even come into play.
- Core Principle: When an attack is launched against a character, evasion is checked to determine if the attack successfully lands. A higher evasion rating translates to a greater statistical likelihood of dodging the hit.
- Opposing Force: Accuracy: The effectiveness of a character's evasion is directly challenged by the attacker's accuracy. This means that while you might have a high evasion rating, a highly accurate attacker can significantly reduce your chances of evading their strikes. It's a contest between the defender's ability to dodge and the attacker's ability to hit.
- First Layer of Defense: As a "first layer of defense," evasion aims to prevent damage outright. If an attack is evaded, no damage calculation occurs, preserving your health and other defensive resources.
To illustrate the interaction between evasion and accuracy:
| Characteristic | Evasion | Accuracy |
|---|---|---|
| Role | Defender's chance to avoid incoming attacks | Attacker's chance to successfully hit a target |
| Interaction | Opposed by the attacker's accuracy | Opposes the defender's evasion |
| Outcome of Success | No damage taken from the attack | Attack lands, potentially dealing damage |
Evasion Within Defensive Systems
Evasion is one of several core defensive attributes a character can possess, often working in conjunction with or as an alternative to others. These defense types are crucial for a character's survivability against various threats.
Key Defense Types Include:
- Evasion: Increases the chance to avoid incoming attacks.
- Armour: Reduces incoming physical damage taken.
- Energy Shield: An additional protective health pool that absorbs damage before your main life.
- Ward: A temporary shield that absorbs a single hit of damage, refreshing after a short delay.
Acquiring Evasion
Characters typically gain evasion rating from various sources, most notably it can implicitly appear on equipment. This means certain gear pieces inherently come with evasion as a base defensive stat, contributing to a character's overall ability to avoid hits.
Practical Insight
Maximizing evasion can make a character feel very agile, allowing them to navigate dangerous encounters by simply not being hit. However, relying solely on evasion can be risky against enemies with very high accuracy or attacks that cannot be evaded (e.g., certain spells or abilities designed to guarantee a hit). A balanced defensive strategy often combines evasion with other defensive layers to cover different types of threats or scenarios where evasion might fail, ensuring a more robust defense overall.
