some PPU questions

[[F6]Knight]

i got my PPU geared up last night
well ... it used to be my APU and i never played a PPU before
so i got a few questions

1) i read some info that holy heal is 30/tick on others and 40/tick on myself
does the dmg stat on the spell influence that number at all? (so do i need 120% dmg stat to get the max amount of healing?)

2) and what about all the shields? (deflect, absorb, protect)
do they also require 120% dmg stat to get their maximum effect?

3) is the info that i found about shields correct? max 25% resist on others, 85% on selfcast?

4) how is that extra resist calculated? does it add that amount of % to the total resist % or do i get 85% of whatever i m missing?
let me explain
lets say i cast a holy deflect on my friend. he gets 25% more resist
he got 50% force resist.
does he get 75% now? (so 50% from his armor/resists + 25% from deflect)
OR
does he get 62.5%?(50% from his armor/resists + 25% of the remaining 50% he s missing from the 100% total. so that would be 12.5% bonus from the deflect)
i wanna know which one is the correct one. btw dont claim that this is a stupid question in case some people think the second example is insane because other games actually calculate it like that (like eve online). so i wanna figure out if this game does the same thing or not.

[CMaster]

The important stat to raise is not the damage % on the spell itself, but the damage % you get in the "details" section. Getting an artifact damage spell will help with that, but isn't necessarily needed to. I've heard some reports that Holy Heal caps out at 36/tick for foreign and some number above 40 for self, but not so sure about that.
The shields to cap at 25% for foreign and 85% for selfcast. However, because holy deflector is at such a low TL, it seems to limited to 22% for foreign and 81% selfcast. Get a holy deflection ASAP is all there is to say I guess.

Total resistance of a player is calculated as such R% = 1-(1-PSR%)(1-shield%)(1-armour%)(1-resist%)
Psi Resist is of course only factor in for damage with the cause "psi".
Alterantivley, you can consider it as damage applied is resist first by PSR, then what remains is resisted by shields, then what remians is resisted by armour and what finally remains is resisted by con resists. I find it easier to think of just a calculation to total resist, but its just as valid. So yes, adding a foreing holy def to a player whose armour and resists combined to 50% already would only give a 12.5% addition to total resists - but don't be overly fooled by this. He is still taking 25% less damage than he would without. (will live 33% longer with the forieng shield than without!)

[Dribble Joy]

Knight']
4) how is that extra resist calculated? does it add that amount of % to the total resist % or do i get 85% of whatever i m missing?
let me explain
lets say i cast a holy deflect on my friend. he gets 25% more resist
he got 50% force resist.
does he get 75% now? (so 50% from his armor/resists + 25% from deflect)
OR
does he get 62.5%?(50% from his armor/resists + 25% of the remaining 50% he s missing from the 100% total. so that would be 12.5% bonus from the deflect)
The latter. Each part of your defences, shields, armour and resists, take a percentage of what comes before.

So say you have 25% shield, 30% from armour and 40% from resists, that would be 1-(1-0.25)(1-0.3)(1-0.4) = 1 - 0.315 = 68.5% redcution in that dmg type.

[[F6]Knight]

tnx for that info :)

[William Antrim]

Get the best possible spells you can get (slotted for dmg and frequency) as RoF is MASSIVELY important to a ppu (in some situations more so than the damage) and get one friend (with ventrilo) to play with you.

If youve never played a ppu before it is daunting at first (due to all the spells you have to remember) and so having someone to practice on helps no end. After a while it becomes 2nd nature and op fights are SO much different. Its hard to describe if youve never ppued at an op fight but IMO it is one of the most fun classes you can play in nc (when youre winning) but it can also be BY FAR the single most infuriating class to play at times too (ie when youre losing).

Practice makes perfect.

Its also good to have thick skin as you will prolly get hated on everywhere you go.

[[F6]Knight]

the only thing i seem to have some trouble with is actually targetting my allies when they r all running around in between enemies like headless chickens ... half of the time i end up buffing/healing the enemy :p
kinda annoying to have an ally targetted but the spliit second that i press my mouse button to start the heal, the enemy hitbox comes up :(

btw what do most ppu's prefer. first person or third person?

[Nullvoid]

I always found first person worked well for supporting a small PvE team, but in the op war environment, you need the extra vision of what's going on that 3rd person provides.

[William Antrim]

Knight']the only thing i seem to have some trouble with is actually targetting my allies when they r all running around in between enemies like headless chickens ... half of the time i end up buffing/healing the enemy :p
kinda annoying to have an ally targetted but the spliit second that i press my mouse button to start the heal, the enemy hitbox comes up :(

btw what do most ppu's prefer. first person or third person?

I prefer 3rd, unless im solo (1 and 1 friend), the thing with targetting for spells; it has actually improved a little. The RoF on most spells now means youve only got to maintain your target for a brief second. Practice with one other person (even in pve is good) and keep them alive. When you get a bit of confidence then you can go out and pk - go somewhere where you know you will get a fight (crp is good) and try not to die but keep your friend alive.

Most of all just relax into it and try to have fun.