Defense vs Dodge

[frdnwsm]

I am curious which one helps trooper survivability more. Let's assume a grunt with average values for dodge and defense. I can then augment that soldier with various types of armor and PCS.

I can stick them in Warden armor, and give them a PCS that increases defense by 7 or 8, or I can put them in a Wraith suit (+15 Dodge) and implant a PCS that adds +14 to their dodge value. Which combination would make them more likely to survive combat?

I'm assuming that it's best to specialize in one value, but there is also the option to split the difference; I could also augment both defense and dodge moderately instead of pumping up either one or the other to the max. Or does the decision depend on the trooper's innate stats? If dodge if already high, should I augment it further, or would it be better to add to a stat that is low, like defense?

There are a number of possible combinations here, and it's not clear from reading the manual which might be the best.

[Mrvecz]

Defence lowers the chance of them getting hit in the first place so obviously its better.
A 30 defence is a 30 aim penalty for the enemy. You can see this when attacking things like Gatekeepers or Archons who have native defence and that Gatekeepers are hard to hit as if you would shoot at solid cover enemy despite them being giant orbs and plasma weapons shouldnt be deflectable.

[frdnwsm]

I understand how defense works, but my available PCS can only augment defense by up to 7, while I can pump up dodge by 14. Some of my guys already have decent dodge levels; I can get soldiers with dodge of 46 or so if I really pile it on. And also there's the question of Wraith suit vs Warden armor. (Bear in mind that my wraith suits are limited in number; I can only dole out 1-2 to a squad going out on a mission).

[frdnwsm]

Or maybe the answer lies in the type of mission the trooper will perform? Defense reduces the probability of getting hit at all, while dodge reduces the severity of the critical value if one does get hit. Maybe a gunner doing a lot of suppression or overwatch needs high defense to minimize the chances getting hit (and thus terminating his fire mission) while an assault getting all up in Advent's face on a run and gun, or a shinobi doing a reaper run might benefit more from dodge?

[Deathraven13]

Usually you want both of those to be high, let's say you have a gunner with -10 defense and he his supposed to be supressing targets....... he'll be focused a lot so if you have no one under -10 even after applying PCS better increase dodge, dodge means they may survive a hit more in the end, so a soldier with low health should have more defense in order to be less focused and a soldier with high health should have a high dodge, of course you could also use the life emergency support PCS but if they get one shot because of a crit while with enough dodge they just get grazed...........

Dodge is also important for soldiers that will rush into battle like the shinobi and huh........ assault build with high crit and "run and gun" ability.

In conclusion: Soldiers with negative defense that should never be focused by the ennemie should get a dodge PCS instead if you have nothing better to use, soldiers that will stay in cover a lot and have a positive defense should get some PCS defense then (like the ranger for exemple), if your ranger will fire then hunker down a dodge PCS may be good because at some point he'll be hit if he draw the ennemy fire (like on an HQ assault for exemple).

PS: You can have a gunner build like a tank so either get him a dodge PCS or the one that halve wound recovery time or life support PCS depending of what you have, or if you have a really bad shinobi or a good one that could make a diversion the parry wich give +10 dodge and dodge PCS means you can draw mutons CQC attacks and counter it, same with chrissalids (I don't know if you can counter a berserker because I never let one get near), for exemple you do a raid mission with 3 sharpshooter, one "spotter" wich is a sharpshooter specialized in marking the ennemie (sounds terrible but it's actually pretty good compared to a shinobi scout) and you need something to prevent the ennemie from reaching your sharpshooters, well a shinobi hunkering down and countering melee will slow them, and if it get hit some bonus dodge may prevent it from dying, since dodge reduce the chance of being crit and increase the chance of getting grazed when you should get hit normally it helps. Sure having a soldier injured is not good compared to having all of them healthy, but sometimes it's better to have a soldier injured rather than dead, of course even with 70+ dodge a 3 health soldier grazed by a muton will probably die.

[Sabaithal]

As other's have already said, the two stats are a bit deceptive with their names. I'll just leave the simplified version_
- Defense - Flat value that reduces a units chance to get hit at all. Higher defense, lower chance they'll be hit.
- Dodge - Value that increases the chance that a serious wound will be demoted to a less serious one. IE, a normal shot may be demoted to a graze fire, or a crit to a normal.

Both increase survivability. Its just whether or not you want the soldier to be able to better tank hits, or not get hit at all (but if they do get hit they will likely take more damage).

[krabdr]

I usually put Defense on grenadiers as they're not wearing armored suits (Exos), and Dodge implants Shinobis (and spider/wraith armor) and Templars as they need it when they're "hit." Assaults get mobility implants, tac armor, and best armor available.