Hello all,
I was wondering, is there a trick to mastering defenses? The reason I ask is mine just dont want to seem to go up. My parry is only 79percent, shield block is only at 77percent, and dodge is at 80percent.
Thanks for any help,
Ilanthas

Here's a question then. You say you are a Hunter class, correct? Are you trying to use a bow to kill people? Because if you are, you really REALLY shouldn't bother. The only hunter bow skill I have ever found to be of use in PK was Aimed Shot Torso. Once mastered it has a 'fairly high' chance of succeeding in knocking them back, which lags them a bit. Other than that, use another weapon, any other weapon. Well, I should say the last Hunter I played faired well enough at staying alive when using aimed shot torso.

It depends on a ton of factors.

Is your race intelligent? Dumb giants are always going to learn slower, although I heard they improved the low-end of learning a bit ago. Elves are naturally going to improve much faster.

Do you tank a lot? A lot of people who really want good defenses will solo-rank as long as possible in the lower levels.

What level are you? I believe defenses wont go above 80% before level 15 or something. Also, due to the pace at which they improve, it's very unlikely that a lower-level character will have great defenses, unless you've deliberately spent a lot of time working specifically on training them up (i.e. by tanking multiple mobs at a time while doing low damage).

I usually find the best general policy is to not worry about it. Solo rank some if your race/class is conducive to it, try not to do too much ludicrous-speed power ranking, and try to tank as much as you can when in groups. Other than those loose guidelines, just play.

Aarn

Hello,
I am an elven Ranger/hunter. The reason I am asking is that I keep getting my but handed to me in pk. It seems everyone who attacks me is evicerateing or worse while I can only manage to maul them. Of course most people who have been attacking me are at least six to seven ranks higher. It is getting to be frustrating because I am constantly losing any coin I have. I do have an int of 24.

>Hello,
>I am an elven Ranger/hunter. The reason I am asking is that I
>keep getting my but handed to me in pk.

That's pretty standard for newer players, and it's usually a combination of a bunch of different factors: most everyone else knows the world better than you (and can chase/escape easier), knows better which gear to gather and how, knows which tactics they should be using in a PK vs. a given opponent, etc.

You may want to save some logs of your PvP fights and toss them up on the log board. Other players can give you helpful advice based on what you're doing or not doing.

>It seems everyone who
>attacks me is evicerateing or worse while I can only manage to
>maul them.

Probably a lot of that is a function of their armor and weapons. Some skills play some role in damage but assuming everyone practiced everything reasonable at least to 75% or so in their guild, gear starts to become a major factor.

>Of course most people who have been attacking me
>are at least six to seven ranks higher.

As a very high XP penalty character, you should get used to that. You're almost always going to fight at a level disadvantage.