Blocking

Blocking is a means of preventing damage from enemy attacks by fending with a shield, staff or dual wielded weapons after Evasion and Dodge has failed. The base chance to block when using a shield (22 to 33%) or a staff (12 to 18%) is determined by the base item type. When dual wielding, the base chance to block is Template:SMW character query% no matter which weapons are used. Usually only attacks can be blocked, but there are passives and unique items that apply a percentage of block chance to spells. The chance to block attacks and spells are both capped at Template:SMW character query%.

Mechanics

Blocking an attack prevents all damage and harmful effects including status ailments. Reflected damage can be blocked^[1]; however, blocking reflected damage will not trigger on-block effects.

Block has the following stats: {{#ask:

-Has subobject::Character
|maximum_block_%
|?Has stat text=
|format=ul
|sort=Has stat text
|mainlabel=-

}} The maximum block chance cap applies to both attacks and spells. However items such as The AnvilThe Anvil
Amber AmuletRequires Level 45+(20-30) to Strength8% Chance to Block Attack Damage
10% reduced Attack Speed
10% reduced Cast Speed
+(400-500) to Armour
+(34-48) Life gained when you Block
+(18-24) Mana gained when you Block
+3% to maximum Chance to Block Attack Damage
Reflects 240 to 300 Physical Damage to Attackers on BlockForge your Perseverance on the Anvil of Faith. The Anvil inventory icon can raise the maximum block cap.

Usually only attacks can be blocked, but there are passives and unique items that apply a percentage of block chance to spells. For example, the unique amulet Stone of LazhwarStone of Lazhwar
Lapis AmuletRequires Level 5+(20-30) to Intelligence(12-15)% Chance to Block Spell Damage
(10-15)% increased Cast Speed
+(30-50) to maximum ManaYou are slow, foolish and ignorant.
I am not. grants 50% of Block Chance applied to Spells. A character with 40% block chance would have 40% (attack) block chance and 20% spell block chance with the unique equipped.

Additional chance to block can be gained by taking certain passive skills, using Tempest Shield, equipping a shield with the modifier Local Additional Block Chance %, or equipping unique items such as The Bringer of RainThe Bringer of Rain
Nightmare BascinetQuality: +20%
Armour: (518-680)
Evasion: (745-978)Requires Level 67, 62 Str, 85 DexSocketed Gems are Supported by Level 18 Melee Physical Damage
Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 18 Faster Attacks
Socketed Gems are supported by Level 18 Blind
6% Chance to Block Attack Damage
Adds 20 to 30 Physical Damage to Attacks
(200-300)% increased Armour and Evasion
+(200-220) to maximum Life
20% chance to gain an Endurance Charge when you Block
Can't use Chest armour
Extra gore"What lies beneath your feet?!"
"Sacred ground, watered with tears of blood!".

Block duration

When an attack is blocked, the game also calculates if the attack would have caused a stun were it not blocked. If it would have caused a stun, the blocking animation is played, stunning you briefly. If it would not have caused a stun, then you get a "free" block with no animation. Faster Block and Stun Recovery and Increased Block Recovery modifiers reduce the length of the blocking animation.

The following formula is the complete calculation for the duration of the blocking animation (in milliseconds). If you cannot be stunned, the block animation will never play.

Block Duration = 350 / ( 1 + Block and Stun Recovery + Block Recovery )

Status ailments have no affect on your block chance, but being frozen will prevent the block animation from playing if it otherwise would, and chilled will make it take longer to play (since those two work by decreasing the speed at which your character plays animations).

On hit effects from skills like Glacial Hammer and Viper Strike will still apply because block doesn't prevent a successful hit. However, skill effects based on damage like Puncture are essentially blocked.^[2]

Reducing Block chance

Block chance can be reduced with modifiers such as #% Reduced enemy chance to block and the gem Module Error: No skills found with q_where = skill.active_skill_name="Block Chance Reduction".

Skills that can't be blocked

Some skills cannot be blocked. They can be a nasty surprise for players who rely on blocking attacks or spells. The following damage sources cannot be blocked:

Damage Over Time, for example: Module Error: Too many skills found with q_where = skill.active_skill_name="Righteous Fire". Please choose only one of the following ids:
MonsterRighteousFireWhileSpectred - Deals 1.6 Base Fire Damage per second (page)
MonsterRighteousFire - Deals 1.8 Base Fire Damage per second (page), Desecrate, Fire Trap or Caustic Arrow.
Secondary damage, for example: Explosive Arrows explosion (the attacks can be blocked, but explosions can come from terrain obstacles or minions).

Skills

{{#ask:

Concept:Skill gems
Has subobject.Has stat id::~*block*
OR
Concept:Skill gems
Has stat id::~*block*
|?Has name
|?Has infobox HTML
|?Has support gem letter HTML
|?Has level requirement
|?Has strength percentage
|?Has intelligence percentage
|?Has dexterity percentage
|intro=A list of skill gems that relates to block.
|limit=1000
|link=none
|format=template
|introtemplate=SMW item table/skill gem/intro
|template=SMW item table/skill gem
|named args=yes
|userparam=level=yes, int=yes, dex=yes, str=yes
|sort=Has primary attribute, Has name

}}

Related Unique Items

A number of unique items give bonuses to block, either by directly granting additional block chance, or indirectly by enhancing it in various ways. Note: Only unique items with explicit block-related mods are listed here. Of course, all shields and staffs have implicit chance to block and they also apply on uniques, but they are not shown here.