Armor Ratings broken?

[VEN1MM]

Been playing the game for 3 weeks now and getting more frustrated towards end game.
I recently defeated the Arena Champion while wearing a set of Voidforged Dragon armor.... it was the heavy epic set and I had roughly 1700 armor rating. I fought he well but still got clipped by her attacks 4-5 times but was able to survive and maneuver around. After completing Klaels Stronghold I upgraded to a full set of Godbreaker armor as well and the padding to maximize my armor rating and play a tank build. my armor jumped up about 350 points in total.
I went back in to fight the dungeon again and now she can 1 or 2 shot me and I die instantly if I get clipped. Same happened to my thrall who was a level 19 Cimmerian Berserker with my Voidforged set on. Did the damage get glitched out this week as I am getting WRECKED from mobs I could go tow to toe with with a weaker armor set just a few days ago ?
The game feels more like Elden Rings in combat as any mid tier or top tier enemy will 2 shot me now.

[Estevan Valladares]

Armor rating ? that implies you think armor is a rate ... That is not how armor works.

Armor is a quantity, destined to damage reduction. Each point of armor goes on to diminish a % of damage you take, which you can verify on your information. It will tell your damage reduction.

Lets assume only armor on that for a quick other information.

Weapons have what we call armor penetration, which is the capacity to apply damage beyond what the target armor reduces. That is a "short hand" to create the condition that some weapons are more efficient on heavy armored enemies, and others arent. So a weapon with lesser damage overall, but better armor penetration is more efficient against heavy armor than another with better damage but lesser armor penetration.

The raging Axe for example has 0% armor penetration, so full damage reduction is appllied. Predatory blade for example has 9% penetration and over 100 base damage, which is absurd and therefore makes this weapon the "icon" it is.

So there is a real thing about selecting your weapons and the armor you use against the weapons you are fighting. Easy targets you can just go there and bash until done. Stronger enemies in harder settings require some "planning".

And again, armor is not a rate.

While you can think of something like a tank in this game, it is not a good idea to transfer that concept to this game, because some instances, even a weaker enemy can "kill you from the inside out". And a whole lot of effects can kill you without minding all the armor and "patching" you might be able to put.

[BIT Bear]

Lol. Boss health has been halved or more since Age of Sorcery for all 3 skull enemies. Can't imagine anyone having problems with any of them including Arena champion. Use a 2h sword with high penetration or poisoned weapon and see their hp go bye bye.

[thurgond]

The Arena Champ has much higher armor penetration than any other boss. If you try and tank her, you will die. Thralls will die to her if she engages them.

Also there is no set bonus to armor, so unless each piece has a bonus you want, there is no point in wearing a complete set.

[OF/PewPewPew™]

Originally posted by Estevan Valladares:

Armor rating ? that implies you think armor is a rate ... That is not how armor works.

Armor is a quantity,..

... blah blah blah word vomit...

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rate
"a quantity, amount, or degree of something measured per unit of something else"

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/rate
"a certain quantity or amount of one thing considered in relation to a unit of another thing and used as a standard or measure..."

[Dread Swoop]

Originally posted by pew pew pew:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rate
"a quantity, amount, or degree of something measured per unit of something else"

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/rate
"a certain quantity or amount of one thing considered in relation to a unit of another thing and used as a standard or measure..."

Correct, the term 'rating' doesn't require reference to a linear scale. It can simply be used as another word for damage resistance in this case.

If the OP is interested, the calculation that is used to determine damage resistance is, if I'm not mistaken:

DR = armor value / (armor value + 500)

So with your previous dragon set, at the value you described, you had somewhere around 77-78% DR, and with Godbreaker around 80%. Feel free to correct me if those don't line up with your stats sheet.

From the testing I've done, armor penetration is proportional to the damage resistance of the target. For example, a weapon with 30% armor penetration against targets with resistances of 10% and 80% would reduce that resistance by 3% and 24%, respectively. Thus, depending on the armor pen of the Champion, that extra armor from Godbreaker's might not have helped that much.

I'd be curious if there were variations in your total health between the two fights, as that may have a greater effect than the increase in DR.

[Seishisha]

If the wiki is accurate, the voidforged dragon plate should have a 80HP advantage over the godbreaker gear, which is decent but doesn't seem massive either, it might account for why you died faster.

I guess it depends on how you spent your attribute points. If you have a low HP build that extra 80 would certainly be a bigger boost than the one or two percent extra armour on the godbreaker gear.

[Estevan Valladares]

Originally posted by thurgond:

The Arena Champ has much higher armor penetration than any other boss. If you try and tank her, you will die. Thralls will die to her if she engages them.

Also there is no set bonus to armor, so unless each piece has a bonus you want, there is no point in wearing a complete set.

This