Recived Physical Damage Confusion

I have a warrior... Magnus Rattacore.

This is his armor set atm:

Executioners Helm of Minor Axe Mastery
energy +1
Axe Mastery +1 stacking
Axe Mastery +1 non-stacking
Armor +20 vs. physical damage
Armor 80
Infuzed

[or] Pumpkin Crown of Superior Absorption 2005
Reduces Physical Damage by 3 non-stacking
Infuzed

Stalwart Istani Curiass of Major Absorbtion
Reduced Physical Damage by 2 non-stacking
Armor +10 vs. physical damage
Armor +20 vs. physical damage
Infuzed

Knight's Kurzick Gauntlets
Armor +20 vs physical damage
Received Physical Damage -3
Infuzed

Ascalon Leggings of Attunement
Energy +2
Armor +20 vs physical damage
Received physical damage -3
Infuzed

Platemail Boots of Minor Absorbtion
Reduced Physical Damage by 1 non-stacking
Armor +20 vs. physical damage
Armor +10 vs. physical damage
Infuzed

Grognar's Defender (shield)
HP +45 while in stance
Recived Physical Damage -2 while in stance


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so ive been using this "recived physical damage" crap for a while. How ever im not exactly sure what it means in terms of combat... Also my main concern is im not sure how much of it is affective because of the stacking non-stacking stuff and all that, its very confuzing..

Right, how absorption (the -X received physical damage) on equipment works is as thus:

The absorption from a rune does not stack with other runes, you only need the one absorption rune on a set of armour. Runes of absorption stack with other sources (armour bonus and shield).

The absorption granted by Knight's/ascalon armour does not stack with other armour pieces, instead, it reduces damage if an attack strikes that area (the areas being head, chest, legs, hands and feet).
So, if you were wearing a knight's helm and platemail for the rest and got hit in the feet, you would not absorb the attack.
The bonus from armour stacks with other sources (absorption rune and shield).

The absorption bonus from a shield is constant, regardless of where you get hit or what other armour you are wearing. As long as you meet the requirement for the absorption (i.e. in your case, that you in a stance) you will get the absorption effect.
Absorption from shields stacks with other sources (absorption rune and armour bonus).

So, to get the most damage absorption, you'd need to have a full set of knight's armour (helm, chest, legs, boots and gloves), upgraded with only *1* absorption rune, and a shield granting absorption bonuses.

However, most decent players opt for other armour sets - armour bonuses such as Sentinel's generally reduce damage more than the absorption effect of knight's armour.

Oh, aaaaand... EDIT: What -X Received Physical damage actually does is, whenever you are struck by a physical attack from a weapon, such as a spear, sword or a troll's fist, you take that much less damage from the attack. However, all spells cast at you, and any attacks made by weapons with non-physical damage (wands, staves, fiery swords and the like) will bypass this absorption. Many foes in PvP will switch to an elemental damage weapon to bypass a warrior's bonuses and deal more damage, making absorption effects less useful in PvP as opposed to PvE.

Hope that's clear enough, best way I can explain it

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all you really need to know is that +armor or +health insignias>>>absorption

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