A lot of us tried it. We tried out a few powers. We got to about level 5 or 8 or so and tried slotting a defensive to help keep us alive. We then rushed head-long into the largest mass of henchmen we could find and watched to see if/when we died. Regeneration gets a lot of love, because at level 8, it makes you a god. Invulnerability gets a lot of praise, because it soaks up those barrages of henchmen attacks, making them a cake walk. Then we tried Lightning Reflexes and died. lol@LR. u sux.
And you never tried it again, did you? While slow moving children in Canada go without. Shame on you. But not today. Today, we dodge with great honor and awesome.
Lightning Reflexes is a power in the Martial Arts family of powers. All 4 of them. It’s their only defensive slotted passive, shared around like smelly hand-me-down clothes, and it increases both your Dodge and Avoidance, which are both typically on the better side of nothing for your average hero.
Dodge isn’t your usual fantasy momma’s boy chance at not getting hit. Dodge in CO is a damage reduction mechanic. A successful dodge reduces the damage from an attack by your Avoidance. So, if your Avoidance is 50% and you dodge, you’ll take half damage. That’s a lot less damage.
But Skip, if I’m supposed to be dodging and avoiding all of this damage, why does LR suck the juicy fruit?
Simple, my naive jelly sandwich. Whatever your dodge percentage is, it’s actually half.
What you talkin’ ’bout, Skip?!
I speak the gospel’s truth, nutter butter. If your character’s status says you dodge 50% of the time, then a henchman taking a bat to your skull will be dodged 25% of the time. And if your avoidance were also at a giga-boned 50%, that means you’re looking at about a 12.5% overall damage reduction, on the queen’s average. Yes, Invulnerability is laughing at you right now.
BUT!
This is where the expiration date on that egg salad becomes ever more misleading. That half tax only applies to instant attacks. You know, the weakling ones that chip at you like a monkey with a screwdriver and a dire hunger for coconut. Incidentally, you’ll notice that these are the only attacks a wave of 5 henchmen will be using on you. Hence your quick and embarrassing loss to the Lametown Sluggers. Now, enter the Villains. If an attack is charged up for one second, you get your full dodge percentage your admission ticket promised. If an attack is charged for 2 seconds, you get 1.5x your dodge rating. If they shoot for the moon and power up for 3 seconds and beyond, you get double the dodge percentage. There is no cap, mind you, and so double your 50% dodge chance is 100%. You will always dodge that attack, knocking off your full 50% Avoidance rating. Not only that, but it stacks with blocks, and you were no doubt blocking that attack he spent so long charging up he might as well have sent you a letter in the mail telling you it was coming.
Result: You laugh at big attacks. Fear is the mind killer, but you are the boss killer.
So you reluctantly buy into this pyramid scam sounding proposal I present. How the do-da-day are you to make use of it? Dexterity. Gobs and gobs of Dexterity. Character Focus it, get some gear upgrades, and beg for it on the sidewalk, because it is the single factor in your Lightning Reflex success, and it counts for a lot. It raises both your Dodge and Avoidance all by its lonesome. It’s not often a slotted power lets a single characteristic pull double duty, especially to the degree it does here, so take it and run. If you can get your dodge chance up to the happy 2 out of 3 chance mark (66.7%), that means when you get a 2 second charge aimed your way, it’ll get multiplied by 1.5 and result in 100% dodging. And dodging instant attacks 1 out of 3 times is no laughing matter either. Not with that hefty avoidance you’ll be sporting.
Don’t let Lightning Reflexes frustrate you. Sure, Regeneration is rocking the casaba right out of the gate, but it is at its peak. The cool kids jump on board, only to watch it whither and weaken as its life goes on. Lightning Reflexes has nowhere to go but up from the moment it hits your bar, getting better and better as the levels come. Maybe it’s not really a PvP favorite (you don’t charge much up in PvP) and massive swarms of henchmen aren’t your thing, but when it comes time to take on the big boys, they’ll know who to call. Probably that Might guy with the chains all over him that keeps whining about how they nerfed Defensive Combo. But you’ll know who they should’ve called.
