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Winged Scarab

The Winged Scarab is said to have a variable defence for physical which is true in one regard: the number of icons it shows as blocked changes. However, the DAMAGE from physical it lets through is constant depending on your pet's defence.

When these screenshots/tests were done, Grephun had a defence of 378. Looking at the Boosts on the left, that means his defence boost was at 7.5 per icon.

For some reason, the Scarab blocks ALL BUT two defence icons. Meaning that for these tests, he took 15 as long as I used a species attack, faerie ability, or cautious attack. (It's 12 with Defend and 18 with Normal attack, but since that's not part of the story, and I didn't make screenies showing that, I left it out.)

Now Garet, you may ask, what proof do you have to back up this claim? Let's start with Balthazar. It doesn't matter if he does five physical icons, or three, or even just one. As long as I use the scarab and have the rest of his attack blocked, he only does 15 damage to me.
Well that's fine with Balthazar, but couldn't that be a coincidence? Maybe it's just the same with each specific opponent? In that case, let's give good old Chiazilla a try, ok? I'll either use a Battle Plunger or Boil to block his water, a Greater Staff of the Earth Faerie to take care of earth, and how will the winged scarab deal with the physical icons? Three physical here...wow 15 damage again. How about some more? Five phys enough? No? How about eleven physical icons done, yet still just 15 damage.

Time to throw a curveball to show something: Here's Chiazilla doing seven physical icons with 1 earth icon for 23 points of damage. Why is that interesting? Well here's Kasuki Lu doing eight physical with 1 water icon for the same amount of damage...despite the scarab only showing FOUR icons of physical blocked. Even the mighty Snowager has his physical defended in the same way. Whether he uses just two physical or fourteen.

"Ok, ok, you've convinced me...in 1-player, but does it do the same in 2-player?" Let's find out, shall we? I need a volunteer for this part. You there! Katethegreat242! Would you trust the power of the Winged Scarab to protect your pet against Grephun's ferocious attack? Why, thank you, you are brave to do such a thing.

Shall we start with a simple test to see punk242's, with it's defence stat of 62 (2.0 per icon), base damage with the Scarab's defence? Just one icon did 4 pts of damage to punk242? What if we increase it to two icons or even five? Hmmm, still only 4 points of damage? Time to unleash some serious hurt with 26 physical icons! Wait, still 4 points of damage? Shall we try a little more? Like 27 ICONS against that winged scarab! Wow, using the Greater Staff of the Earth Faerie to block the earth and Steam Shield to take care of the light, no matter how many physical icons I used against that Scarab, only 4 points of damage got through to punk242.

Well wait, what about the leaf shield? Doesn't it block a lot of physical, too? Let's find out. Remember that with all other icons blocked, the winged scarab only lets 15 points of damage from physical through to Grephun? Well here's five physical from Chiazilla using the leaf shield for physical defence. Hmmm...53 damage. 53 compared to 15 isn't too bad, is it? Well what if they do 14 physical on your leaf shield like from Ryshu or the Snowager? Wow, 188 from Ryshu (who fierced) and 182 from Snowy instead of 15 and 23 if you had used the Winged Scarab instead (8 of Snowager's damage was from the Aura he used)....plus you at least get SOME attack with the scarab, unlike the leaf shield.

MORAL: The physical defence on the Winged Scarab is variable only in the sense that it depends on how many icons are used against you. It's CONSTANT in terms of the DAMAGE it lets through which is two times your defence boost. Whether you're facing 1 icon or 27 it'll be the same, unlike the leaf shield which seems to be fine for low amounts of physical, but not for larger amounts.