Avoid Evade?

DiscOH

Artisan
I've only been to one game, but I got to see a lot of combat. It seemed like, once people got into striking range, attacks get called out 1-2 times per second, "sixnormalsixnormalsixnormal...'.

As far as I can tell, evade is only ever "worth it" for blocking basic attacks with complex riders (for instance, poison coatings). The problem I'm seeing is that armor does the exact same thing.

Q:
Do people generally purchase evade when other persistent defensive options like extra armor exist?
Are there frequent edge cases that make evade valuable?
It looks like an even bigger waste of build points than shatter. What am I missing?
 
I've got 10 evades (and a 30 point arcane armor (but no shatters, I agree with you 100% there)).

There are events where I will maybe use two or three (and mainly because I don't want to refit my armor), and there are fights where I will go through all 10.

Evades are great against carrier attacks, especially high damage carrier attacks, but the actual use of them is very situational.

The times I've used them all, they've saved my bacon, but a lot of the time they just sit there.

Personally, (and this is coming from a high level perspective), I would probably buy them as a rogue once I got to swinging 10s, but probably not until mid-teens or so as a scout.
 
Wanna know when Evade saves your life?

When you have a Magic Armor and someone double-taps you with a normal attack and a kill-shot, like a Terminate, Eviscerate, or even a Waylay.

You Evade the first one and let your MA handle the second.
 
Evade is also great for tanking things swinging massive carrier.
 
Armor runs out. Sometimes very quickly. Carrier attacks can be brutal (Drain, Sleep, Death, Vertigo, Wither Limb, etc.). Evade may be a limited use "Oh #&%@" button, but when you need it, you will be glad you paid for it.

-MS
 
Even normal attacks of high enough value can be rough on a Rogue, with a lower Body Point total than their Fighter buddies. I play a Rogue with > 10 Evades, and even with 20 Armor Points and 40+ Body Points he can only take a limited number of swings from enemies hitting for 10+ with every swing. There are multiple times I've been able to save somebody who goes down behind enemy lines by simply finding an opening and running through, taking 15 or more swings for "10 normal!" or "15 massive!" or whatever, and simply Evading all or most of them on the way to save my buddy. If something bigger hits along the way, well, that's what Dodges are for.
 
Wanna know when Evade saves your life?

When you have a Magic Armor and someone double-taps you with a normal attack and a kill-shot, like a Terminate, Eviscerate, or even a Waylay.

You Evade the first one and let your MA handle the second.

Is that legal?

I understood magic armor to have a visual effect on activation. So if you retcon the first attack with an evade, they would retcon their killing blow and triple tap instead etc.


Thanks for the input everybody. My take away is it's ok as an investment once my main build is finished and I have arcane armor @30.
 
You actually can't retcon a skill once used (barring rare, Marshal-approved circumstances), and especially not if a defense is called against it. They can fire that normal attack and quickly Terminate you right after, but if you Evade/Dodge/Parry/Riposte the first one and call Magic Armor for the second that Terminate is still used up, no take-backs.

They could have another Terminate and use that if they really wanted to, sure, but they've already expended the first on your Magic Armor or other defense.
 
Is that legal?

I understood magic armor to have a visual effect on activation. So if you retcon the first attack with an evade, they would retcon their killing blow and triple tap instead.

If they wait for you to call your defenses on the first hit before the Terminate/Eviscerate you can't "retcon".

I.E. : "5 Normal." "Magic Armor." "Terminate."
This exchange can't go back and evade the 5 Normal, you already called your defense, there magic armor.

If they strike "5 Normal, Terminate" in two swings before you can call your defenses (which is common) then you get to call your defenses against both attacks. "Evade, Magic Armor" in that case to save your bacon.
 
If they wait for you to call your defenses on the first hit before the Terminate/Eviscerate you can't "retcon".

I.E. : "5 Normal." "Magic Armor." "Terminate."
This exchange can't go back and evade the 5 Normal, you already called your defense, there magic armor.

If they strike "5 Normal, Terminate" in two swings before you can call your defenses (which is common) then you get to call your defenses against both attacks. "Evade, Magic Armor" in that case to save your bacon.

This is getting a bit tangential, but:

How long of a window do you normally have to create in order to be safe from retroactive defenses? I saw people in fights that could take maybe 3-5 seconds to decide they dodged something.
 
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Defenses need to be called within two seconds to be valid. Page 100 of the ARB (technically, it's referring to Spell Defenses like Spell Shield/Magic Armor, but that would realistically be the same limit for any defense).

Depending on circumstances, Marshals (or the participants, if no Marshal is present) might give leeway, but that should be the exception, not the rule.
 
The biggest use (after '31 death') I've found for Evade in my many years of Rogue is that shot that comes in while you're refitting your armor. Sure, you're breaking your refit timer by using a game skill, but at the same time that can often be the difference between starting your refit over or needing a healer to scrape you up off the grass.
 
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