BLOCK AND DEFENSE

Blocking and defense rating in Median XL work much the same as in classic Diablo II Lord of Destruction, but their role in the game has changed. In the regular game, max block (75% block) through investment into dexterity was common, while defense rating was hardly worth it. The two statistics are much more balanced in Median XL.

Important: In Diablo II, when you run, attack always hit you and chance to block is reduced to 1/3. Walk speed is much improved in Median XL though, so you might consider walking.


Defense

The chance to be hit, when walking or standing, is as follows:

Chance to be Hit = 100% *
2 * Attacker_Level/Attacker_Level + Defender_Level
*
Attack_Rating/Attack_Rating + Defense

Capped between 5% and 95%, rounded down.

Investing into defense pays off if you can get around 75K defense at level 120, at which point you will see a noticeable improvement in your chance to be hit. Some builds can go well over 500K defense.

Block

In Median XL, your chance to block depends on character class:

Shields have 0% chance to block, except class-specific shields – which provide +1% extra chance to block.

The block rating is boosted by dexterity as follows:

Chance to Block =
Block% * (Dexterity - 15)/2 * Character_Level

Capped at 75% chance to block, rounded down.
Block% is the base chance to block from: the character class + class-only shield + other bonuses (items/skills/etc.)

Max block is hard to reach; you will need to invest heavily into dexterity. This is a balance measure in Median XL to ensure that shields do not outclass two-handed weapons as in classic Diablo II Lord of Destruction.

Amount of dexterity needed to achieve max block (75%) on a level 120 character:

Base blockDex needed
1%18015
2%9015
3%6015
4%4515
5%3615
6%3015
7%2587
8%2265
9%2015