Dodging

Dodge is the primary skill of the Evade portion of the Evade/Block/Parry system which helps determine a character's overall Defensive Strength (DS) against melee, ranged and bolt AS attacks. Although the terms dodge and evade are often used interchangebly they are not the same. Dodge is a trainable skill that is one of the factors used to determine a character's evade defensive bonus.

Because of the training point costs and skill ranks available per level, dodge is often a staple of the more physical professions while magic users will often forego it entirely. The decision for how much dodge training a character will have is usually a function of a character's particular training path.

Note: The DS formula that uses dodge as a primary skill can be found on the Evade page along with other information regarding evading attacks.

Ranks and Training Costs

Type	Square			Semi			Pure
Profession	Rogue	Warrior	Monk	Bard	Paladin	Ranger	Cleric	Empath	Savant	Sorcerer	Wizard
Max Ranks Per Level	3	3	3	2	2	2	1	1	-	1	1
Training Point Cost	2/1	4/2	1/1	6/6	5/3	7/5	20/20	20/20	-	20/20	20/20

Dodge Ranks and Evade

The Dodge skill is a primary factor in evading an attack entirely. While in stance offensive, a character, singled trained (1 rank per level) in dodge, has approximately a 5% chance of evading an attack against a like-level foe. A character double trained (2 ranks per level) has a 10% chance and a character triple trained (3 ranks per level) has a 15% chance for an outright evasion. These percentages increase as a character moves to more defensive stances. The chance of an outright evasion also depends on a character's agility/intuition skill bonuses, encumbrance, and certain spells such as Mass Blur (911), Mobility (618) and Song of Mirrors (1019).

Dodge DS Formula (vs Melee Attacks)

The first step in determining the Dodge DS bonus is to calculate the Base Value.

Dodge Ranks + (AGI Bonus) + trunc(INT Bonus ÷ 4) = Base Value

The second step is to enter the Base Value into the Dodge DS formula with the values of the other factors (see tables below).

((Base Value × Armor Hindrance × Shield Factor) - Shield Size Penalty)) × Stance Modifier = Dodge DS

Note 1: Truncate results to integer values after each operation in the formula.
Note 2: Shield size penalties vs melee attacks are 0 for small/medium, -5 (large) and -10 (tower)

Example I

Dodge DS for a character with:

• Dodge Ranks: 60
• Agility Bonus: 20
• Intuition Bonus: 18
• Armor: Brigandine Armor (0.94 factor)
• Shield size: Medium (0.70 factor)
• Stance: Advanced (0.80 factor)

Step 1 (Base Value) Calculations:

60 + 20 + trunc(18 ÷ 4) =  84 Base Value

Step 2 (Dodge DS) Calculations:

84(Base Value) × .94(Armor Hindrance) × .70(Shield Factor) × .80(ADV Stance) =  43 DS 

Without truncating after each operation there would be an incorrect result of 44 DS.

Example II

Dodge DS for a character with:

• Dodge Ranks: 60
• Agility Bonus: 20
• Intuition Bonus: 18
• Armor: Brigandine Armor (0.94 factor)
• Shield size: Tower (0.54 factor)
• Shield size penalty: -10
• Stance: Advanced (0.80 factor)

Step 1 (Base Value) Calculations:

60 + 20 + trunc(18 ÷ 4) =  84 Base Value

Step 2 (Dodge DS) Calculations:

((84 × 0.94 × 0.54) - 10)) × 0.80(ADV Stance) = 25 DS

Dodge DS Formula (vs Ranged Attacks)

(Base Value × Armor Hindrance × Shield Factor × Stance Modifier) × 1.5 = Dodge DS

Note: Truncate after each operation. Round up final result.

Armor Hindrance Factors

The Armor Hindrance values to be used in the formula are:

ASG	Name	Hindrance Factor		ASG	Name	Hindrance Factor
1	Normal Clothing	1.00		12	Brigandine armor	0.94
2	Robes	1.00		13	Chain mail	0.94
5	Light leather	1.00		14	Double chain	0.93
6	full leather	1.00		15	Augmented chain	0.92
7	Reinforced leather	0.98		16	Chain hauberk	0.91
8	Double leather	0.97		17	Metal breastplate	0.90
9	Leather breastplate	0.97		18	Augmented breastplate	0.88
10	Cuirbouilli leather	0.96		19	Half plate	0.85
11	Studded leather	0.95		20	Full plate	0.83

Note: Armor hindrance is equal to half the armor's action penalty.

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Shield Factors

The Shield Factors to be used in the formula are:

Size	Shield Factor
Small	0.78
Medium	0.70
Large	0.62
Tower	0.54

Note: The shield factors are derived from the following shield penalties: 22% (small), 30% (medium), 38% (large) and 46% (tower).

Stance Modifiers

The Stance Modifier values to be used in the formula are:

Stance	Modifier
Offensive	0.75
Advanced	0.80
Forward	0.85
Neutral	0.90
Guarded	0.95
Defensive	1.00

See Also

Evade

References

• http://www.play.net/gs4/info/combatguide.asp#factors
• http://www.play.net/gs4/info/skills.asp#dodging