Ðraco wrote:
Masterbaker wrote:
Is it possible to change parry to just give bonus AC based on ranks the same way as tumble?
So for people using two weapons, having 30 ranks in parry would just give 6 AC when the skill was activated.
If adding more attacks per round based on base Parry skill when activated were possible I think that would work better. You can only parry an attack per your attack per round, making dual kama wielding monks the only ones that could pull off that crappy skill.
Incorrect. Parry can only parry 3 attacks per round MAX. No matter if you have 3 attacks per round or 50. Only the 1st attack in an attack flurry is blocked and attack flurries cap at 3 flurries per round, not 4 or 5. More
here.
Parry is useful, but only if you invest heavily in it, and generally only really strong on dex builds with epic dodge.
Parry allows you to basically ignore the first attack made in an attack flurry if your parry is high enough to beat the AB of your enemy. This means that someone with 4 attacks per round that is hasted (giving them a total of 5 APR) can have 3 of those attacks negated. With 5 attacks per round, your "attack flurry" is 2-2-1, meaning 2 attacks, 2 attacks then 1. Against parry this means the first, third and fifth attack is parried..
effectivly this means that the only attacks that can hit you, assuming your parry is high enough, are the second and fourth attack, second is made at -5 AB and the fourth is made at -20 AB. The first and fifth are made a "full" attack bonus, but both are parried. With epic dodge, the attack most likely to hit will automatically miss even if it beats your AC, in this case it would be the -5 AB attack. This means that an enemy with 5 attacks per round can really only really hit someone with insane parry and epic dodge, with an attack made at -20 AB. Mind that 20 rolls cannot be parried, however 19 and below CAN, this is why it works very very well in conjunction with epic dodge, as it offsets 1 natural 20 attack roll every round. Also if your parry beats the opponents AB by 10 or more, you get in a free counter attack.
Let's make an example with completely random numbers off the top of my head to showcase parry. The parryer here is someone with 80ish parry(completely feasable to obtain without too many sacrefices on items), 62 AC(towershield using dex build) and 50 AB(WM levels), the enemy is a weapon master with 56 AB(More WM levels), 53 AC(+5 gear, tumble & dodge ioun) and 5 attacks per round hasted.
The weapon master will have 1d20+56, 1d20+46, 1d20+56 when hasted. against 80 parry and 62 AC, that means that only a natural 20 roll will bypass the parry, if it doesn't the remaining attacks that aren't parried(1d20+51 and 1d20+41) aren't very likely to hit vs the 62 AC, the second attack(1d20+51) will need 11 or higher to land a blow, and that's assuming epic dodge hasn't negated an attack already. The fourth attack (1d20+41) will never land unless it is a natural 20 roll, and even then it will not hit IF epic dodge hasn't triggered that round.
Also note that parry DOES NOT RESPECT CRITS, OUTSIDE OF 20 ROLLS. If you're fighting a weaponmaster that crits at 11 rolls, unless that 11 roll beats your parry, it is parried.
In return however, the parryer is allowed 3 attacks each round due to the parry beating the attack rolls by 10 or more in most instances, which are 1d20+50, 1d20+45, 1d20+40 VS the weapon masters 54 AC. Also, Riposte attacks CAN CRIT. This means that when parrying a single opponent, you are in most cases, more likely to hit them than they are to hit you, as long as you also have epic dodge and aren't trying to parry a monk. However even without epic dodge, parry is a GREAT defensive tool against a single enemy as it will give you a bigger benefit than say, expertise or improved expertise will against a single opponent, without stunting your offensive capabilities with an AB penalty(You loose potentially 2 out of your 5 attacks but keep the remaining 3 at your standard AB rather than with -5 or -10 penalty.)
That said, parry is a niche skill to make a build around, and it does nothing against ranged characters and monks can obliterate parry users rather effectively due to the number of attacks per round they get. However stacking parry on a dualwielding epic dodge dex character provides you with an alternative means of defense that doesn't involve a towershield when you're fighting a single opponent, especially if you get the parrying daggers or alternatively you can put parry on a rapier & your towershield. It requires skill investment just as a spot build does, however when built properly a parry using epic dodger will obliterate pretty much every other sword and shield build out there, especially if it's a dex based parry using epic dodging weaponmaster build with a rapier. Parry can also be great on a melee bard due to the bardsong skill bonus and curse song AB penalty, giving you a more even footing when duelling a proper martial melee build like a weaponmaster.
TLDR: Parry is great when used properly, and crap if not. Same as every other skill out there, either keep it very very high to make it useable or don't bother investing. With enough parry, when duelling someone with 5 attacks per round, and you have 5 attacks per round, you effectivly take away 3 of their attacks (both attacks madeat full AB and one made at -10 AB) leaving them with a -5 AB and -15 Ab attack, while you only loose 2 attacks but retain potentially 3 attacks made at full, -5 and -10 ab. Thus giving you a strong edge to win that duel.