Optimizing mitigation/defense

[serene]

I am running an evoker with an emphasis on on-cast at the start of the battle, but I want to ensure I am maximizing my damage mitigation without wasting spots and was hoping for some help to understand where to draw the line.

Assume that I have a setup where I can give the enemies 15 debuffs (max) each, give my creatures the max buffs, while also casting numerous other spells before the first turn. Occasionally, a few creatures survive and/or are immune to spells and take other strategies, and I don't want them to wipe my glass cannons out.

Perks at my disposal currently:
Arcane Fortitude -5% dmg/spell gem not of class (generally have 10, so -50%)
Naturalization Trait -4% damage for each spell gem (generally 11, so -44%)
Stank Trait -5% dmg from enemies per debuff (15 debuffs ~ -75% damage)
Inner Light -40% damage from all sources
Spirit Shield -5% damage/buff on creature (generally 10-15 buffs -50-75% damage)
Ruin -1.5%dmg/debuff/all enemies (generally 15/enemy 6*15=75 ~ -90% max)

https://berated-bert.github.io/siralim-planner/?b=55d56ab26f8b71f660f2d31cd2f4fab4793669f0fcea7ac01389d7c2329db4f12248ff54258857120532fd6f29fbbd94a859c0063012&s=EV&a=CLGWAQSOIDSNWRM&r=ewjrahvnfmeh

Assuming a damage of 1:
1
* .5 (Arcane Fortitude)
* .56 (Naturalization)
* .25 (Stank)
* .6 (inner Light)
* .25 (Spirit shield)
* .1 (Ruin)
-----------
.001 or
-99.9% damage

Though I know that some of these (all?) cap mitigation at 90%. Is that a hard cap at 90% or just a cap of -90% damage per mitigation strategy? Does it make sense to drop 2-3 mitigation strategies as they are pushing beyond hard caps ?

Thanks

[Firlefanz]

Each source of damage mitigation has a 90% cap, unless stated otherwise (e.g. Hell's Protection caps at 50%). They work multiplicatively, so adding more usually helps, if your team struggles to stay alive.

___________________________________________________
There are some other stategies to deal with damage other than mitigation. There are perks and traits which allow complete negation.
For example, if you like to work with buffs and have the means to gain a lot of them at the start of battle, Numbed Pain (When your creatures would take damage from an attack or spell, they have a 5% chance to take 0 damage for each debuff they have. This trait does not stack.) + Redefined (Your creatures' traits and other effects that are influenced by the number of buffs they have also count their debuffs as well, and vice versa.) can be an option to put on one layer of negation chance.
I don't recommend relying mostly on buffs though. Misery Nemesis and Chocolate Paragon will give you a hard time.

Shades are another more popular example, being able to completely negate damage from spells while they are Invisible via Impossibility (Your creatures with Invisible are immune to damage from spells.).


To deal with physical attacks, you can utilize dodge mechanics. There must be a dozen things or so that give your creatures an independent dodge chance.


When using perks that allow your dead creatures to keep their stat changes, resurrection is another usable option. If your creatures don't deal their damage through passive means, then Second Chance (When your creatures are resurrected, they have a 50% chance to be placed at the top of the Timeline. This trait does not stack.) is a must. Keep the cap of maximum number of resurrections per battle in mind though!

[serene]

Thank you for the explanation!

[leqesai]

Originally posted by Firlefanz:

Each source of damage mitigation has a 90% cap, unless stated otherwise (e.g. Hell's Protection caps at 50%). They work multiplicatively, so adding more usually helps, if your team struggles to stay alive.

___________________________________________________
There are some other stategies to deal with damage other than mitigation. There are perks and traits which allow complete negation.
For example, if you like to work with buffs and have the means to gain a lot of them at the start of battle, Numbed Pain (When your creatures would take damage from an attack or spell, they have a 5% chance to take 0 damage for each debuff they have. This trait does not stack.) + Redefined (Your creatures' traits and other effects that are influenced by the number of buffs they have also count their debuffs as well, and vice versa.) can be an option to put on one layer of negation chance.
I don't recommend relying mostly on buffs though. Misery Nemesis and Chocolate Paragon will give you a hard time.

Shades are another more popular example, being able to completely negate damage from spells while they are Invisible via Impossibility (Your creatures with Invisible are immune to damage from spells.).


To deal with physical attacks, you can utilize dodge mechanics. There must be a dozen things or so that give your creatures an independent dodge chance.


When using perks that allow your dead creatures to keep their stat changes, resurrection is another usable option. If your creatures don't deal their damage through passive means, then Second Chance (When your creatures are resurrected, they have a 50% chance to be placed at the top of the Timeline. This trait does not stack.) is a must. Keep the cap of maximum number of resurrections per battle in mind though!

On point of clarification. Not all damage mitigation is capped at 90%.
Shade trait, for example, is 95% damage reduction while your creatures are invisible.

[Firlefanz]

Originally posted by leqesai:

Originally posted by Firlefanz:

Each source of damage mitigation has a 90% cap, unless stated otherwise (e.g. Hell's Protection caps at 50%). They work multiplicatively, so adding more usually helps, if your team struggles to stay alive.

___________________________________________________
There are some other stategies to deal with damage other than mitigation. There are perks and traits which allow complete negation.
For example, if you like to work with buffs and have the means to gain a lot of them at the start of battle, Numbed Pain (When your creatures would take damage from an attack or spell, they have a 5% chance to take 0 damage for each debuff they have. This trait does not stack.) + Redefined (Your creatures' traits and other effects that are influenced by the number of buffs they have also count their debuffs as well, and vice versa.) can be an option to put on one layer of negation chance.
I don't recommend relying mostly on buffs though. Misery Nemesis and Chocolate Paragon will give you a hard time.

Shades are another more popular example, being able to completely negate damage from spells while they are Invisible via Impossibility (Your creatures with Invisible are immune to damage from spells.).


To deal with physical attacks, you can utilize dodge mechanics. There must be a dozen things or so that give your creatures an independent dodge chance.


When using perks that allow your dead creatures to keep their stat changes, resurrection is another usable option. If your creatures don't deal their damage through passive means, then Second Chance (When your creatures are resurrected, they have a 50% chance to be placed at the top of the Timeline. This trait does not stack.) is a must. Keep the cap of maximum number of resurrections per battle in mind though!

On point of clarification. Not all damage mitigation is capped at 90%.
Shade trait, for example, is 95% damage reduction while your creatures are invisible.

A typical case where the trait states otherwise. ^-^ Thanks for the addition!

[leqesai]

Originally posted by Firlefanz:

Originally posted by leqesai:

On point of clarification. Not all damage mitigation is capped at 90%.
Shade trait, for example, is 95% damage reduction while your creatures are invisible.

A typical case where the trait states otherwise. ^-^ Thanks for the addition!

Also another layer of 'damage reduction' is simply reducing the amount of damage enemies are capable of doing.
Thylacine + trait launcher makes enemies do 95% less damage.

[Firlefanz]

Originally posted by leqesai:

Originally posted by Firlefanz:

A typical case where the trait states otherwise. ^-^ Thanks for the addition!

Also another layer of 'damage reduction' is simply reducing the amount of damage enemies are capable of doing.
Thylacine + trait launcher makes enemies do 95% less damage.

Yeah, TC is utilizing that mechanic with Stank and Ruin.

While launching Thylacine trait at your foes is a fun and wacky thing to do, you'd also have to make sure to kill yours (if you are not using Burn/Poison/Bleed/Blighted), making it a bit of a hassle.

[HeraldOfOpera]

Originally posted by leqesai:

Originally posted by Firlefanz:

A typical case where the trait states otherwise. ^-^ Thanks for the addition!

Also another layer of 'damage reduction' is simply reducing the amount of damage enemies are capable of doing.
Thylacine + trait launcher makes enemies do 95% less damage.

Note that Thylacine lacks "this trait does not stack"...

[blizzcarsten]

Originally posted by HeraldOfOpera:

Originally posted by leqesai:

Also another layer of 'damage reduction' is simply reducing the amount of damage enemies are capable of doing.
Thylacine + trait launcher makes enemies do 95% less damage.

Note that Thylacine lacks "this trait does not stack"...

So it gonna be 6x -95% ? ^^ That sounds like no damage at all.

[leqesai]

Originally posted by HeraldOfOpera:

Originally posted by leqesai:

Also another layer of 'damage reduction' is simply reducing the amount of damage enemies are capable of doing.
Thylacine + trait launcher makes enemies do 95% less damage.

Note that Thylacine lacks "this trait does not stack"...

It doesnt say it on the trait but in my experience it does not seem to stack.