I think it would be neat if there was a stat in the after match report that included Damage Blocked. It would reward good team play, and give people feedback on how well they did as one of the tank builds. Sometimes I block the heck out of the enemy playing with my friends, but I end up 2nd or 3rd damage in the group. I’m up front holding back a horde with the Dwarf, and they’re behind me killing things.
Friendly fire would be neat too, because I could show my buddy that shoots me all the time that he’s not as accurate as he thinks he is. But damage blocked would be the best addition because it is usefull at all difficulty levels.
While I think it’d be neat, I doubt Damage Blocked would be as simple to implement as most scoreboard tweaks. I don’t think that damage that gets prevented (by blocking, dodging or staggering enemy out of attack) ever actually gets calculated, so it cannot be directly tracked. Stamina Lost or Hits Blocked would be easier to track, and wouldn’t be that different. Of course, Stamina can be lost from Troll bile, Halescourge’s attacks and Convocation’s pool, and Hits Blocked doesn’t separate between different types of hits. The former can (and should) be avoided though, and the latter problem exists on the Damage Blocked version too, so I don’t see either as significant.
While we’re at it, changes to the Scoreboard have been requested since the VT2 Beta, some bigger and others smaller. The primary reason being that the way it is right now promotes aggressive play (even if dominating the scoreboard gives no tangible rewards), emphasizing killing and dealing damage yourself above actually playing as a team. While you can use some aspects to follow your skill progression, it already requires quite intimate knowledge of the career you’re playing and its (and your) playstyle. And obviously, following the progress on more team- or defense-oriented Careers (RV, IB, WHC…) is a lot harder, with reviving and Damage Taken being the only good stats to track.
And yes, Friendly Fire tracking would be useful in the base game too, but unfortunately as the mod is on the Approved list, we are unlikely to get these tweaks anytime soon.
Damage blocked is often due to mistake (not always, often). If you can hit or even shove an enemy instead of blocking you most often should.
This stat would also reward “braindead” blocking on Ironbreaker with ultimate on; You have a perfectly good 80% damage reduction to utilize for very aggressive trading. Why waste it blocking if you don’t really have to.
You should talk to my friends, then. They often tell me that I don’t block enough. Though I usually play Sienna, and getting a hit in is better than losing one of your 2-3 shields.
But I think it would reward team play better. I play with folks who yolo through stages in order to get top damage, and we keep having to give them health because they also take most damage. Blocking would give them another stat to show they helped the team. That Elf that did 10k damage might have only done that with the Dwarf or Foot Knight knocking back the hoard and blocking shots for them.
I’m just thinking that it would help team play a bit. None of these stats really matter in the long run because they aren’t being tracked over time (at least not on xbox where I play).
Though I usually play Sienna, and getting a hit in is better than losing one of your 2-3 shields.