And after weeks of procrastinating, I finally got around to typing this up. Enjoy.
As we all should know by now, the defense formula for a same-level target is this:
As we all should know by now, the defense formula for a same-level target is this:
Defense Rate = Defense / (0.01 * Defense + 0.35 * Level + 8.7)
A common question we get is, does the Armor Rip from Cruel Bite really work? This concern is commonly raised when you compare the Guild Skill "Strike a Vital Point 6/7" with 3 stacks of Armor Rip from "Wild Crush 10/10". The damage you deal seems significantly higher with the Guild Skill than Wild Crush. Why is this so?
Answer: Yes! Armor Rip does work, but it works slightly differently from what you are familiar with. Strike a Vital Point actually affects the DEF Rate, but Wild Crush affects the raw DEF value.
Here's an example to illustrate the impact.
Let's assume I'm level 80, and so is my opponent. Let's say my opponent has a 75% DEF rate, which translates to 11010 raw DEF. If I use Strike a Vital Point 6/7 on my opponent, his new DEF rate would be 75% - 30% = 45% DEF Rate. Simple enough.
As I mentioned earlier, Armor Rip on the other hand affects the raw DEF value. So instead of looking at the 75% opposing DEF, I will need to look at the 11010 raw DEF. If you subtract 30% of the raw DEF, you get 11010 - (11010 * 0.3) = 7707 DEF. Next, we have to translate that back into a DEF Rate. Going off our defense formula, 7707 DEF results in a 67.74% DEF Rate. Effectively, this means that our Armor Rip reduced the opponent's defense by 75% - 67.74% = 7.26%.
Now you see, Armor Rip is working, but the change is significantly smaller than you would think, which explains the less-than-noticeable change.
Here's another example using 65% DEF rate (6816 raw DEF) opponent, again at level 80.
Spoiler
Now you might be thinking "OMG Arby QQ that's so unfair." Of course, if you do, I will have to maul you. Truth is, it's a rather fair number and a decent increase to our overall DPS. Not only that, it's something you can keep up for the entire battle, it's something that your entire raid will benefit from, and it actually stacks with Strike a Vital Point as well.
Now that you know what's going on, you can make your own decision on how this will help you in your own personal builds. Run along now little cubs, before I eat you for breakfast. Cheers.
