"Just because the blow is blocked doesn't mean you don't take damage. Can you imagine being hit in the side with a Mace while wearing Chain Mail? It would still bloody hurt! It's just that it wouldn't hurt as much than if you weren't wearing the Chain Mail."
indeed but we're talking about a parrying ability here... 100% parrying ability would mean you would NEVER get hit in the side with a mace as long as you're still armed with a shield or blocking capable weapon... - although i do believe it is feasable to assume there is still a hitpoint loss for a parried attack - albeit minor compared to being smacked flat in the head (you'd look like this guy --> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" /> it's reasonable to assume that if an opponent parrys every physical attack one could still chip away it's health... perhaps each parry would take away some stamina as well as a negligable amount of health - the stamina would re-accrue as a result of standing still but when there's no stamina left the character would face a greater hitpoint loss?)
regardless of if such a skill is implemented i think it would be badass to include a randomized parry animation+sound effect... blah i guess i'm basically saying that it'd just be badass to include even if the parry bonus is adds a 5% chance of defending against a blow (although in that circumstance the player should suffer no stamina or hitpoint loss)...
effectively implementing a parry skill (without it unbalancing the gameplay) could indeed prove to be a tough task... but i hope the divdiv team sees it fit as something to pursue or simply look into <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />
