is s/l softcap at the expense of other damage types worth it still given the def changes?

[ryokoryu]

Since the defense changes made it so just having S/L damage in an attack no-longer works to attract the hit to that defense is it still the best to go with?  I ask because most of the builds here follow the philosophy to softcap S/L just like they used to.

[kelika2]

since you didnt list your secondary i cant say.  something like willpower or bio armor with low s/l i would

but its not uncommon to use multiple builds these days for damage types for different situations/task forces.  s/l in yin or synapes does not make much sense and at higher levels the mix of damage types gets so annoying just bring a cold dom and not worry about it.

[Snarky]

My Dark Dark Brute has almost no traditional defense.  Of any type.  It really depends on on powersets, playstyle, and build philosophy 

[Krimson]

None of my toons have S/L Defense soft-capped. Most of them do have S/L Resistance capped.

[Zect]

I usually assume any brute build that softcaps only SL either hasn't been updated since the changes or is still doing some SL farm.

[Cossatot]

Where can I find information about this change to how defense works?

 

I've searched the forum for a while now already.

 

 

[ryokoryu]

On 5/2/2024 at 2:32 PM, Cossatot said:

Where can I find information about this change to how defense works?

 

I've searched the forum for a while now already.

 

 

I don't remember when the patch was that changed the way defenses work but instead of defense checking every damage type for a defense check it only checks the highest and if there is a tie ti checks the most exotic type

[tidge]

On 5/2/2024 at 4:32 PM, Cossatot said:

Where can I find information about this change to how defense works?

 

I've searched the forum for a while now already.

 

 

 

I think it was in page 4:

 

 

[Xaddy]

I think I've just decided to respec my elec/shield brute to focus on recharge instead of anything else.
 

[Sovera]

The changes to S/L were not global. Only SOME of the attacks in SOME of the factions had the S/L component removed to be pure energy/etc in order not to be deflected by S/L defense. They devs wanted to lower the worth of raising S/L but not make it obsolete in one fell swoop.

 

 

Regarding the original question it depends. S/L defense is just a layer of mitigation. By itself it won't save you, but, in combination with the other layers it will help. It's true that some factions will do defense debuffs and cut through defenses that have no DDR, but there are also a LOT of factions who do S/L and do no defense debuff.

 

As a rule and if possible try to raise all defenses equally instead of just one but if resist based and having only one defense you can pick then S/L is usually a good pick.

 

 

With caveats. Bio, for example, has strong S/L resistances but no E/N resistances. It lives and dies by its E/N defenses and since it has no defense debuff resistance those defenses melt like butter. In that case it is smarter to ignore S/L defenses and instead lean on S/L resistances and then pour more into E/N defenses so it will take a few hits of E/N defense debuffing.

[Cossatot]

thank you