So, if you recall from the previous update, we changed the shields’ mechanics and added DR to allow some damage to go through. It worked well for approximately 15 min until the combat-savvy testers realized what it means – you always hit, either for full or partial damage. They started brewing berserker potions (bonus to damage, penalty to accuracy – you put more power into your attacks, but you don’t aim) and using power attacks to do massive damage. Who cares if your THC is 10%? You will still hit the shield and no DR will be able block all that raw damage.
To fix it, we changed the passive effect from “chance to counter-attack” to “chance to block all damage” and added a modifier to take the attacker’s THC into consideration: 75-THC.
If your passive chance is 30%, and your attacker's THC is 90, then your chance to block completely is 30 + (75-90) = 30-15=15%.
If the attacker THC is 25, then your chance to block is 30+(75-25)=80%.
We’ve also disabled special effects as hitting a shield isn't the same as hitting a person behind the shield, which put an end to aimed attack: torso exploit. If you aimed at the torso but hit the shield, you didn’t the torso, so DR remains the same.
It works well now, we tweaked DR values and the testers seem to be happy with the balance.
