Chance to Block is a mechanic which has defensive and offensive implications. Negating all damage of an attack that has been blocked, is a significant boost for survivability when used being an additional layer of defense. To use it as such, you need to sacrifice maximum Life. However, it might be incredibly important for Characters engaged in front-line fights, as well as for Hardcore generally.

Monsters also take advantage of Chance to Block.

Mechanics

While wearing a Shield, a Character includes a % Chance to Block. This could be seen by hovering within the Defense value in your Character Screen. Chance to Block is capped at 75% while using the Skills without movement, standing, walking, or using Whirlwind.

When running, the % Chance to Block is reduced to 1/3, lowering the cap to 25%.

A successful block negates the harm from the incoming attack.

The total % Chance to Block is decided using the Character Level (clvl), a Character specific bonus, the bottom % Chance to Block around the Shield, causes of "x% Increased Chance of Blocking", and also the total Dexterity value.

The % Chance to Block is applied after a panic attack successfully passes the hit check before Amazon's Dodge, Avoid, and Evade.

Successful blocks trigger an animation. The amount of this animation is decided by the Block Rate Breakpoint, which is influenced by the Affix "+x% Faster Block Rate".

You can block soon after the animation of the previous block has ended. This can lead you to get into a "Block-Lock".

What could be blocked?

While most attacks could be blocked, there are a variety of exceptions. There are also some unintuitive causes of incoming damage that could be blocked. Check the following table:

Can be blocked Can't be blocked

Melee Attacks Level 49+ Fire Arrow and Cold Arrow

Fired Arrows and Bolts Lightning Bolt

Javelins, Throwing Axes, and Throwing Knives Explosion of Molten Boulder

Check the Skill mechanics here.

Missiles with Physical Damage Component The radial damage of Tornado

Check the Skill mechanics here.

Death explosions from Bone Fetishes and Suicide Minions Radial impact damage of Armageddon

Check the Skill mechanics here.

Explosions from Fire-Enchanted Elites Corpse Explosion

Smite

Charge from Claw Vipers and Reanimated Hordes

Calculations

Dexterity necessary for 75% Chance to Block

The most typical question regarding the Chance to Block is: "How much Dexterity do I need to reach 75%"? To calculate this, we want the following 3 variables:

Shield = Base Chance to Block from the used Shield, such as the Character's bonus

Bonus = Sum of all "x% Increased Chance of Blocking" values and Holy Shield when active

civil = Character Level

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