.: Help for defense

DOGMud uses a layered defense system where you get multiple chances to avoid incoming
attacks. Each defense type uses different skills, costs different stamina, and has
different requirements.

━━━ Defense Order ━━━

When attacked, your defenses are checked in this order (first success avoids the attack):

  1. Dodge → 2 stamina
  2. Parry → 4 stamina (only if weapon equipped)
  3. Block → 5 stamina (only if shield equipped)

Each defense costs stamina even if it fails. Run out of stamina and your defenses
collapse! This makes combat a war of attrition in long fights.

━━━ Dodge Defense ━━━

Your first line of defense, available to everyone.

  Skills Used: Unarmed Combat + Dexterity
  Stamina Cost: 2 per attempt
  Requirements: None (always available)

  Effectiveness Reduced By:
  - Heavy armor (reduces mobility)
  - High encumbrance (too much weight)
  - Being prone (-50% effectiveness)

Dodge is your bread-and-butter defense. Even heavily armored fighters rely on dodge
as their first chance to avoid damage.

━━━ Parry Defense ━━━

Use your weapon to deflect incoming attacks.

  Skills Used: Weapon Combat + weapon parry rating
  Stamina Cost: 4 per attempt
  Requirements: Weapon equipped in primary or offhand

  Bonuses:
  - Two-handed weapons get parry bonus
  - Can parry with either hand when dual wielding

  Penalties:
  - Being prone (-30% effectiveness)

Parry is more stamina-intensive than dodge but can be very effective with the right
weapon. Two-handed weapons excel at parrying.

━━━ Block Defense ━━━

Use your shield to absorb the blow.

  Skills Used: Weapon Combat + shield block rating
  Stamina Cost: 5 per attempt (most expensive)
  Requirements: Shield equipped in offhand

  Benefits:
  - High effectiveness with quality shields
  - Works reasonably well even when prone (-20% effectiveness)

  Penalties:
  - Highest stamina cost
  - Cannot dual wield weapons (shield takes offhand slot)

Block is your final defense layer. Shields are stamina-hungry but provide excellent
protection when your other defenses fail.

━━━ Defense Strategy ━━━

  Stamina Management:
  Long fights drain stamina quickly. Each missed defense costs stamina, so manage
  your stamina pool carefully. Low stamina (<50%) imposes severe combat penalties.

  Equipment Choices:
  - Dual wield: More attacks, only dodge and parry
  - Sword + Shield: Fewer attacks, all three defenses
  - Two-handed weapon: Moderate attacks, strong parry, no block

  While Prone:
  All defenses are severely reduced when knocked down. Use stand to recover
  quickly, or rely on auto-recovery to save stamina.

━━━ Defense Skills ━━━

Improve your defenses by progressing these skills:

  Unarmed Combat: Improves dodge effectiveness
  Weapon Combat: Improves parry and block effectiveness
  Dexterity Stat: Improves dodge chance (use-based progression)

Train these skills through combat and see your survivability increase dramatically.

See Also:

  help combat, help attack, help stamina, help prone
  help skills, help dual-wield