garet_jaxx's Neopets® page

Defence Explained

Ok, everyone knows what a strength boost is, right? That you'll do more damage per icon the stronger you are. (If you don't, go to Strength/Defence Boosts before reading further)

Well, defence boosts work the same way only they function with those defensive weapons that don't block all of an icon type.

I tested this theory with the dark faerie collar which blocks 5 light. At 400 defence, the base damage is 8.5 and since the collar blocks 5, we multiply 8.5 times 5 to get the base amount blocked for the collar by me which is 42. So if I use the collar at my current defence boost, i'll always block 42 pts of damage from light if i use Cautious/Species/Ability (see below) regardless of the actual NUMBER of icons used against me or amount of icons SHOWN as blocked.

If the opponent uses 20 icons but is so weak it doesn't add up to 42, it'll block all light damage and if the opponent is stronger, it'll block less icons, but the same amount of damage...42.

Defensive icons ARE included in YOUR attack modifiers (see Attack Multipliers on the left) from base icons, but your OPPONENT'S attack modifer isn't. What does that mean? Well, with ATTACKING icons, if you use a weapon that does 100 pts of damage on Cautious, it will do 150 if you Berserk (assuming your opponent does the same attack). Simlarly, if it does 100 on cautious and YOU do cautious while your OPPONENT berserks, it will still do 150% of base damage or 150 points. If you BOTH berserk, it will actually do 225 (100*150%*150%).

How do the modifiers affect defence? Well, if your defensive weapon blocks 42 points of damage from light (see earlier example), then if YOU berserk, it will now block 63. Unlike with attacks, however, if YOU use cautious and THEY berserk, it will still only block 42.

Note: The Defend ability has NOTHING to do with the defence stat. Unless you also use a weapon that defends part of an icon, a pet with a defence of 1 will 'block' the same amount of damage when using Defend as a pet with the 700 defence boost.

Additional Comment: Is training to the final defence boost useful? It really depends on the weapons you use. If none of your weapons block some of an icon, then no it isn't. If you use, say the Dark Faerie Collar which blocks 5 light, it means that at the final boost you'll block 75 points of base damage from light rather than 15 from the 125 boost (ppl that stopped at 150 because it was rumoured to be the final boost are actually in the 125-199 boost).