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(7.11) Parrying and blocking                                                    
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There are a couple of ways to reduce damage taken. One is simply to have high
armour class (see (6.4) for details), another one is 'Dodging' skill
(see (7.2) for details).
This paragraph is about parrying/blocking only. Note that the chance values
given below do not always apply as is, but sometimes depend on the the attack
type and especially on a little bit of randomness when your character chooses
which defense method it actually uses (block or parry) - for details about this
and about all damage reduction mechanisms in general and the order/chance they
are applied, make sure you also read (6.4).

For melee fighters that use weapons or shields, two more abilities can help:
Parrying enemy attacks with a weapon, and blocking attacks with a shield.
Press 'm' and choose 'Check block/parry chance' to see your actual ability
to block or parry. In order to have this option appear in your 'm' menu, you
need a combat skill greater than zero.

Depending on the server version you might see textual descriptions instead of
raw numbers:
"You cannot parry at the moment."               You aren't wielding a weapon.
"You have almost no chance of parrying."        Below 5% chance.
"You have a slight chance of parrying."         Below 10% chance.
"You have a significant chance of parrying."    Below 20% chance.
"You have a good chance of parrying."           Below 30% chance.
"You have a very good chance of parrying."      Below 40% chance.
"You have an excellent chance of parrying."     Below 50% chance.
"You have a superb chance of parrying."         50% chance or better.
                                                (51% is highest reachable)
Note: Above 30% can only be reached in defensive combat stance without a
      shield equipped. (Because if no shield is equipped, defensive combat
      stance which normally bolsters block chance will transfer that defensive
      advantage to the weapon instead, increasing the parry chance.)
      Also your class needs to be fairly skilled at parrying (see below.)

Depending on the server version you might see textual descriptions instead of
raw numbers:
"You cannot block at the moment."               You aren't wielding a shield.
"You have almost no chance of blocking."        Below 5% chance.
"You have a slight chance of blocking."         Below 14% chance.
"You have a significant chance of blocking."    Below 23% chance
"You have a good chance of blocking."           Below 33% chance.
"You have a very good chance of blocking."      Below 43% chance.
"You have an excellent chance of blocking."     Below 48% chance.
"You have a superb chance of blocking."         48-50% chance (the highest
                                                reachable).

Note: To achieve an extraordinarily high block chance above 30% you'll
      have to enter a defensive combat stance, and your class should be
      fairly skilled at blocking and/or your shield should have a high
      block chance. See the note below.


Additional information:
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Classes do differently well at parrying and blocking. To find out more, see
the class overview table at the end of section (7.5).

Parrying/blocking might get boosted/modified under certain circumstances,
such as pvp or defending from a trap you accidentally set off.


More on Parrying
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The larger a weapon, the more you can parry. Without a weapon, you cannot
parry at all.
A 1-handed weapon will parry less often than a 1 1/2-hander (SHOULD2H), and
that one less often than a 2-handed weapon (MUST2H).
If you wield a 1-hand weapon WITHOUT a shield which "feels especially easy to
swing" (COULD2H), you'll also get an extra parry bonus.
Increasing weaponmastery improves your parry chance; dual-wielding improves it
too, provided that you aren't 'flexibility-encumbered' (compare (5.5)).


More on Blocking
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Some effects that normal armour usually doesn't protect from can actually be
blocked, for example magical breath, ball or bolt attacks.
The bigger a shield, the more you can block. Depending on server settings,
the actual block base chance will usually be displayed as a percentage in []
brackets behind the shield's name, where AC is located for other types of
armour.
This base chance in many cases applies as is to standard melee combat IF your
character tries to block instead of parrying (compare (6.4)), but is sometimes
modified depending on the type of an incoming attack: When deflecting bolts
from bolt traps or when in pvp combat blocking receives an additional bonus.

Parrying and blocking can both be affected by combat stances - see (7.2) for
"Combat Stances" skill.