Demonic Wards reduces dmg by a flat 15%. I currently have about 10% vers (i specifically geared for it). Does that mean I get a total of 25% DR or does it mean it’s 15% reduced, and then 10% of that, so 23.5%?
I’m just trying to figure out if I should stop trying to gear for vers at some point or if it will be always helpful no matter what.
(side note, my second stat i’m prioritizing is haste)
I don’t think so. Haven’t done the math. Wait for Xaedys. He’s the math wiz
Versatility is pretty simple: 1% Versatility grants a 1% increase to your damage, healing, and absorbs, and reduces the damage you take by 0.5%.
So it says on old Dev posts. Note that damage reduction is HALF of the percentage amount of versatility you are carrying. So, 15% D.R. plus one half of ‘about’ 10% vers. should be a 20% D.R. Sounds good, worth trying for more. Is it worth more than Haste? idano, I can’t get enough of either to really say. For me, haste has a break point of about 21.5%, if I stay on the high side of this, my D.S. recharge time doesn’t exceed 16 secs and immolation 12 secs. stutter in my rotation, waiting for recharging abilities, not a problem. Just to that point, haste has priority over Vers. Good luck to you, reaching the point of too much Versatility.
Vers is generally the best VDH stat after around 20% haste.
As for the OP question it should be the latter description. I don’t know the order of damage reduction calculations but further reductions should apply to the reduced amount of damage, not to the original amount.
ah I meant I have 10% reduced dmg from vers, which is right at 20% with food and such. I do need to find a way to replace some of my mastery with haste, but it’ll take time.
The main reason I’m asking the original question is because I feel 25% passive DR for ALL dmg is pretty huge considering how much issues VDH have had with tanking. I try to gear and play for a more shield build (null barrier, soulmonger, soul barrier, etc.). The passive DR + shields makes for a fairly smooth damage intake.
So the thought is why not just add even more vers and why that kind of build/playstyle is not recommended more than the high dps, but ping-pong health one?
All DR is multiplicative, not additive. This means that 10% DR from any source reduces your damage taken by 10% compared to the damage you’d take without that source of DR.
The formula is DamageTaken = RawDamage * (1 - DR1%) * (1 - DR2%) * (1 - DR3%) ...
Specifically for your example, you take 15% reduced damage from Demonic Wards, meaning you take 1 - 0.15 = 85% of the raw damage. 10% versatility is applied as an additional source of DR, meaning you take 0.85 * (1 - 0.1) = 0.85 * 0.9 = 76.5%. So yes, they net to 23.5% DR, as you guessed.
This is important, though. If this weren’t the case, DR would get more potent the more sources you had of it. If they were additive, for example, then a paladin (ignoring their DR from armor and Consecrate) with Guardian of Ancient Kings up (50% DR) would go from 50% to 60% DR with 10% versatility. This would mean that versatility reduced their damage by 1 - (1-0.6) / (1 - 0.5) = 1 - 0.4 / 0.5 = 1 - 0.8 = 20%. Double the normal effectiveness. That would be very bad, because it would make stacking DR absurdly powerful, which would require nerfing all sources of DR to prevent them from getting out of control when stacked (and thus making them pretty meh when used alone).
When stacked multiplicatively, they also intuitively make more sense. Regardless of how much DR you currently have, activating an ability that grants you 40% DR (say, Fiery Brand) reduces your damage intake by 40% of the damage you are currently taking.
This also effectively means you can treat each source of DR in isolation. Regardless of your DR from other sources, 10% DR from versatility means you need 10% less external healing to keep up (and 25% less self-healing, since you take 10% less damage and self-heal for 20% more).
Edit: that said, I should point out that versatility is additive with itself for DR. That actually makes it, for the purposes of DR, slightly better the more of it you have. For example, your first 1% versatility reduces your current damage intake by 1%. If you already have, say, 20%, however, your next 1% reduces your current damage intake by 1 - 0.79 / 0.80 = 1.25%. Unfortunately, this effect is very small over the range of viable values, so it can largely be ignored.
My eyes crossed about half-way through. But really, what I wrote was word for word what a Dev wrote/said when explaining what effect the Versatility stat would have. From patch notes: Versatility
Versatility increases outgoing damage, healing, and absorbs and to a lesser extent, reduces incoming damage. With 5% Versatility, players do 5% more damage and healing, enlarge their absorbs (like [Power Word: Shield]) by 5%, and take 2.5% less damage. The healing increase applies to self-heals like [Recuperate] as well.
Well. I didn’t doubt it, but you are right, and they were/are right and I am wrong and I’m able I can see why maybe before I die i’ll pay attention to what i read and be able to do simple math…30k-15%=25.5k-10%=(22.95)-30k=7.05=23.5% dr The versatility d.r. it works for all damage, meaning Magic, another fine reason to stack it up. The Haste/Versatility build/gear is the goal or guide point for most, I think. Its mine, if I have a choice. But is this a choice? Wristwraps of the Insatiable Maw,ilvl440 crit haste vs 7th legion bracers, ilvl430, haste, vers. I don’t sacrifice 10 ilvls for vers. But for Haste I will. to keep the 16sec refresh. Playstyle is mostly a matter of choice, theres as many as 2 viable builds, lol.
Vers would help more with the ping pong style.