+30 vitality or +1 armor

[sydlosttarot]

+30 vitality or +1 armor

I post in GameFAQs on the Witcher 2 boards and this was a topic that came up. The original question was: How is armor factored in this game?

I suggested using Diamond Armor Enhancements for upgrade slots exclusively, but I am curious for those with much more experience or those who know how it's tabulated which is better to focus on: armor or vitality. There's been arguments in the wiki that focusing on raw vitality isn't as helpful as armor because regeneration/base health isn't as important as preventing the damage in the first place. Without knowing how damage is tabulated though, both of these points seem moot.

Does this make sense or am I asking the wrong question.

 

[myari]

Hmm honestly i dont know.. i would go for the 30 vitality but i dunno if its better

 

[chiefje]

For as far as I know it goes like this: Sword of enemy does 50 damage, you have 20 armor, you take only 30 damage from hit.

 

[sydlosttarot]

Without status effects and such, that sounds right but I wasn't sure. There probably is no objective scale then if that's the case.

 

[OMGmyFACE]

I'd personally go for the vitality. For more armor, I usually just put the best enhancements I have on.

 

[GuyNwah]

Unless you have a big multiplier on Armor, say from a Virga potion and both levels of Catalysis, small Armor bonuses are not all that useful in harder modes. Enemies hit much harder than the damage reduction you get from the armor, and a single extra hit you take will use up all the vitality bonus.

Especially in Dark mode, the watchword is "do unto others before they do you". You want to do the most damage you can, as fast as you can, so you avoid taking damage.

Unless you don't use signs much, armor enhancers that increase sign damage are more valuable. Only one of these is craftable, and that only in very limited quantity: Magic Wrap.

But if you're playing a conventional tank character who relies on hit points and damage reduction, Dwarven enhancements (common) and Diamond enhancements (craftable, unlimited) are the best you can do, with both +2 to armor and +10 to vitality.

 

[sydlosttarot]

Builds weren't being thought of when the question was asked or items in particular. I mentioned the Enhancements as that was my only contribution to the original thread. Beyond that, I said I'd solicit info here for figuring out how damage is calculated. I'll impart everything said so far though. Thanks guys and please keep responding if anything else comes to mind.

 

[lucashf3]

It much depends on how you play, I rather use armor than vitality, in any case I use some greater vitality mutagen, but just a few. I personally like hit-avoid-hit-avoid combat, I rarely stay dealing blow after blow to an opponet (the only time I do this is when there's only one enemy) and I avoid almost all the damage, in fact I played easy, medium and hard, and on hard I've never had to use quen sign to prevent damage, but that only worked because of my fighting style.

Returning to the answer of your question I don't know how damage is calculated but if I have to choose I say it again I'll choose armor.

 

[GuyNwah]

Builds weren't being thought of when the question was asked or items in particular. I mentioned the Enhancements as that was my only contribution to the original thread. Beyond that, I said I'd solicit info here for figuring out how damage is calculated. I'll impart everything said so far though. Thanks guys and please keep responding if anything else comes to mind.

Yes, the value of an enhancement to your character depends on your build and the difficulty level.

The way damage is calculated says a lot about how you should appraise that enhancement. So you're right; you still need to know how damage is calculated.

For damage from blows, your effective armor rating is a straight subtraction for each blow. If your opponent hits for 50, and you have 20 armor, you'll take 30 damage.

If you have a +2 armor enhancement, you'll take 2 points less per blow.

If you have a +10 vitality enhancement, you'll be able to take 10 more points in all.

So if you take 5 blows in a fight, the values are equal. The problem is, especially in Dark mode, you can't take 5 blows from a strong opponent, and this somewhat renders the armor vs. vitality question moot.

 

[sydlosttarot]

So 1 point of armor definitely represents 1 point of damage not taken. The OP in that thread hadn't brought up difficulty and for whatever reason no-one else saw fit to. I haven't played Dark yet, but from how you've talked about it your assessment sounds appropriate. I'll relay everything in total and link directly to this thread. If anything, more people should pop in and join the party.

 

[CostinRaz]

I'd focus on getting both vitality and armor truth be told. So Diamond Armor Reinforcements work best.

 

[sydlosttarot]

I don't know if the original question was actually formed around choosing thirty vitality over one point of armor, but I think the TC at the GFAQs topic meant as a catch-all which value means more. Otherwise, yeah I use Diamond Armor exclusively as you said.