Base Character Evasion Rating has been lowered to 15 (previously 53). Characters no longer gain Evasion Rating per level.
Evasion is the first layer of defence that increases a character’s chance to evade incoming attacks. Evasion is opposed by the attacker’s accuracy. Along with armour and energy shield, evasion is one of the three defence types that can implicitly appear on equipment.
All classes start with 15 base evasion rating and gain 0 additional evasion per level.
Dexterity grants bonuses to Evasion Rating. Every 5 points of dexterity provide 1% increased Evasion Rating. Non-multiples of 5 will be rounded up to the nearest multiple of 5 (e.g. 142 dexterity will be rounded to 145).
Evading an attack prevents all damage and other harmful effects including status ailments and stun. Only melee and ranged attacks can be evaded; spells automatically hit. The chance to evade an attack is based on the defender’s evasion rating compared to the attacker’s accuracy.
Armour is a form of defence that mitigates incoming physical damage from hits. Armour rating can be increased by wearing equipment, taking certain passive skills, using skills (e.g. Molten Shell), and drinking flasks (e.g. Granite Flask).
Along with evasion and energy shield, armour is one of the three defence types that can implicitly appear on equipment. Unlike resistance, armour has diminishing returns as its effectiveness is based on the magnitude of incoming physical damage (multiplied by 10). As a result, armour is most effective in mitigating small hits (i.e. 50% and better reduction for initial damage less than a tenth of the armour value) and least effective in mitigating very large hits (where its absolute reduction can at most be one tenth of the armour value).