+Int or +Damage on Wizard...

[JarNoBaka]

Sort of, if you intend on actually doing inferno mode you're going to need to pump vit.

This is my Wizard at the moment and I'm in Act 2 inferno.

For reference, shit in act 2 hits me for 30k a swing with all of that reduc/HP, the biggest thing is staying alive so you can actually kill shit.

hoq do you even kill things with that weak dps <.< like bosses have a timer before they will kill you i dont think you could even kill the butcher on inferno before the floor is all fire per say

like my wizard to killed diablo on infernal has 28K dps and only 18K HP and i did just dandy(1500~ life regen and 4.6K def).

[Spira]

Spira, I think either you or I is mistaken how Armor works in Diablo 3.

I'll admit most of my knowledge comes second hand from my roommate, who has almost completed Inferno (He took a week off from work for the release...). But he's an aggressive theorycrafter in any game he plays.

Dodge is the first line of defense for any attack.
Armor is the second line of defense, as a modifier for all incoming damage. Both Elemental and Physical attacks are subject to Armor's % reduction. While armor does have diminishing returns at higher values, having a stable, high Armor value is one of the most valuable ways to mitigate damage taken.

Resistances are a modifier applied AFTER armor. So if you have 50% reduction from armor, and then 20% reduction from resists, you will take 40% damage.

Then block is a static reduction based on block % and shield value, applied AFTER armor reduction.


While armor has perceived diminishing returns, the estimated time to live remains constant throughout it's progression. Therefore, while it may take more armor to raise 1% from 50-51% as opposed to 25-26%, it's because that additional 51st% is effectively reducing all incoming damage by 2%, while the 26% is reducing it by 1.33%, and the estimated survival rate remains constant, and the returns reflect this.

In the end, it's a balancing game, depending on what's right for your class. As a Wizard, there's no reason to go out of your way for additional resistances, as you'll be getting a decent amount from your INT. But if you're forced to choose between +300 Armor versus +100 Resists, the Armor would likely be more valuable.

i get the feeling neither of us are really correct, but not wrong either.

i agree. dodge is first line of defense, then armor, then resistances, and the effect is compounded, meaning like you said.
50% armor, then 20% resists = effectively 60% dmg reduction, 40% dmg taken.

however, the order shouldn't matter, because both reductions are percentage based, so they'll work out to be the same.
ie. in the example given 40% dmg taken.
so if you focused primarily into resists, and not so much into dmg reduction, you can achieve the same effect.

my point tho is that i have reason to believe all stats will give diminishing returns the higher it goes - and you'd be hardpressed to find better gear in each slot as you squeeze out those last points. On the other hand, you can get substantial bonuses from finding a different state altogether.

its definitely a balancing game. But if you're forced between +300 armor (approx ~3% dmg reduction stat) and 100 resists (~16% reduction thru resist stat), it would depend entirely on how much of each you already have.. but practically speaking, and if you're like me with both of them being around the same %, the chances of your getting armor on gear that outmatches the equivalent amount of +resistance is pretty low, except maybe on shield.

if you're doing inferno tho, you'll kinda need both. there's always a need to go out of your way for additional defenses.

[Artemicon]

Rather than go through the trouble of logics and proofs I'll just use a slideshow.

Spoiler: show

As you can see my weapon has no vit on it, but my shield has 92 vit. Now my 2 handed paddle has 83 vit. If the game took into account the fact that equipping the 2h paddle would remove my shield then it should say that my hp total would go down. Instead of says that it would increase by 3000, which as you can clearly see it doesn't.

This only proves life to me not damage, I can't rule out a bug but now I want to further test it. Would having familiar with the sparkleflint rune give me the results I posted? I don't remember the tooltip but I know it increases my damage just not as a whole or for weapon and offhand and or each individual piece that adds damage...

This is getting confusing but I'm still not convinced, fuck work I want to know now.

[Plow]

nevermind I misread shit lol

[Odon]

hoq do you even kill things with that weak dps <.< like bosses have a timer before they will kill you i dont think you could even kill the butcher on inferno before the floor is all fire per say

like my wizard to killed diablo on infernal has 28K dps and only 18K HP and i did just dandy(1500~ life regen and 4.6K def).

Since reading doesn't seem to be your strong suit, the image was posted 4 days after the game came out, AKA right as I started farming inferno.
There is no fucking way you killed Diablo with 28k DPS and only 18k HP you know how I know this? Because you would never live past the shadow clone, even if you played flawlessly on Diablo and missed every single one of his attacks, the clone will kill you.


Sincerely someone who has actually killed Diablo on Inferno.

[Plow]

impale is pretty hax, not that there's any way in hell it happened but I think you could handle a clone at least once

oh nvmnd he said wizard, i dunno shit about them

[Odon]

Nope, 28k isn't enough DPS to get the clone down before Diablo spawns again.

[Odon]

oh nvmnd he said wizard, i dunno shit about them

It's okay, I do. I play one.

[Boyiee]