Dodge vs Armour

[Cytokinesis]

However, dodge also is risky.
Dodge, actually has a cap.

Lovenus tested it a long time ago and found the cap to be around 30% or around that.
He stated, that there was no way the game would just let him dodge 1/3 of all hits.

I got 38% dodge on my bird once (unbuffed).

[Primal]

Well, it's like the man said, a huge debate. Last time I tried Emma, I got slaughtered with my armour so I switched to dodge. Only had 20%, but it got me back in for a min. I'm gonna have a snarling set on me just in case.

Sent from my X10a running EW Jet xKernel 5.1

[Imsebastiaanl]

Go for armor, 12 dodge is not enough in total to dodge many attacks. If you can get like 25 dodge, go for dodge.

[Primal]

Highest I can get is 32 and I wasn't impressed. Trying to get my armour much higher.

Sent from my X10a running EW Jet xKernel 5.1

[Bunnyshoota]

Actually, I believe it's best if you have high armor and high dodge.

[razerfingers]

No matter how high your armor is or health regen is in pvp a low lvl bird lets say 61 for example and you're a lvl 66 crafted orlok if the bird knows how to kite or how to stay outta range well you're golden but dodge does help a little bit sometimes you can get to close and be the end of you but you're talkin pve i think anyways thats my two cents from personal expirience lol

[Primal]

Actually, I believe it's best if you have high armor and high dodge.

I dig man. I switch my dagger for some dodge without sacrificing armour.

Sent from my X10a running EW Jet xKernel 5.1

[trunzoc]

I'm currently a lvl 65 full dex bird.

I tried 4 different sets in a few different situations...

1) I just got a full drainers set (with void wing since drainer's wing doesn't seem to exist) just to see what happens. I had 29 dodge, 143 armor.
2) My NORMAL max armor set (lvl 65 Vampyr set, except with a snarling quickstrike talon, or drainer dagger, depending on need) is 14 dodge, 200 armor.
3) My normal armor set with drainer's helm instead of vampyr is 20 dodge, 186 armor
4) My max damage set (full lvl 65 vampire dagger set) is 6 dodge, 189 armor, and 250+ more DPS than any of the other sets.

Situation A) Plasma Pyramid farming... Set #1 sucks. Didn't dodge nearly enough to make up for the tremendous amount of armor, mana regen, and DPS i sacrificed to get it. With set #4 I can walk away from the game with 5 mobs beating on me and come back 5 minutes later with full health. When killing, I can go non-stop spamming skills with no mana drain. With set #1 I actually almost died a couple times going at the same pace as with set #4, and my mana bar was empty very quickly. Sets #2 and #3 both performed well, but I think I actually preffered #3 over #2. Either way, none of them compared to #4 for efficiency in this dungeon.

Situation B) XP runs in Mt. Fang floors. #1 was pointless. With a decent group you don't get hit enough to warrant losing so much damage on the off chance that you do get attacked. #2 and #3 both worked well, and I did seem to take less damage when I did get aggro, but still suffered pretty hard in the damage dept. As a bird, if you play smart, I just don't think you get hit enough in normal xp runs to worry about needing more dodge.

Situation C) Bosses in fang that aren't named Aunt Emma. I found basically the same results as Situation B. If you play smart, you shouldn't get hit.

Situation D) Bosses in fang that ARE name Aunt Emma. I was hoping the Drainer set would prove itself here, but nope. Her normal screams were hitting me over 250 each and the 29 dodge did nothing to help that I could notice. sets #2 and #3 seems about the same again. Damage from her attacks were between 150-160. #4 didn't do well. With a dagger up close, she is tough without HP to keep you alive.


My conclusion...

If you're playing a level that you can solo, go for the quicker kill than the higher armor.
If you are playing in groups, play smart. to the party overall, the DPS more than makes up for the higher armor and playing smart is better than armor/dodge rating.
Against bosses, unless they AOE, damage and smart gameplay is better than armor/dodge.

In the end, the ONLY time I saw higher armor/dodge as a benefit was against Emma because smart gameplay does nothing to keep you safer.
As far as armor OR dodge, it really doesn't seem effective at my level to go with the much lower level dodge set instead of the much higher level stuff with better armor. I'd imagine that in the sewers, the Drainer's gear would be really good against the bosses there to help you stay alive, but it's hard to tell what is helping: The Drainer's higher than normal (for lvl 55) armor, or the drainer's higher than normal (for lvl 55) dodge.