comparison of defense and fortitude suffix?

hi, i was wondering if the "of defense" (and of shelter/warding) suffixes actually had any sort of impact on damage taken? or is "of fortitude" for the piddling (but expensive) +30hp "better?" i'm pretty sure 30 hp or 5 defense isn't going to make a large difference, but does 5 armor even do anything? :9

also, i noticed on my warrior that when fighting northern shiverpeaks dwarves, i mostly take 0 damage (have legionairre's chest and legs with 1 knights piece and a sup abs as per usual), but when they use attack skills like griffon's sweep or protector's strike, they often hit for 10s to 18s. is the additional damage component of attack skills armor ignoring? is there any way to reduce that damage? because if it ignores armor, then i guess even watch yourself or dolyak sig wouldn't help.

thank you.

+damage always ignore armor. The only way to prevent/reduce the damage is to use any skill that can reduce damage, i.e. Shielding Hands.

In the end, +30 health mods are better against armor-ignoring damage and degeneration while +5 armor is better suited for just physical and elemental damage.

I used to always go +defense for solo farming, until I got Sentinel's Armor from Cantha. Now I go with +health.

The only way to reduce damage from special attacks is with absorption modifiers. I think -10 is the best you can get under any circumstance (-2 from Knight's, -3 Sup. Absorption, and a -3 hexed, -2 stance or enchanted shield), not counting reduction spells.

For warriors, +30 hp tends to rule the day a as most killers of warriors are armor-ignoring damage or degen, otherwise most oppenents wont bother attacking a warrior unless he is overextended. Its up to you really.

For most other classes, i would say +5 armor is generally my favorite, but its a toss up IMO.

are you sure about that?

I'd generally go with defence in PvE, since alot of things are going to be hitting you -> you want damage reduced, adding health doesn't help there much (you have healers, and if you go below 30hp where the mod saves you, then the armor mod would have kept you higher anyway).

In PvP fort generally, as was said more armor-ignoring things will cause more strife.

Actually, that's correct. Lets take a skill like Executioner's Strike. At rank 12 it does +34 more damage. That means if you meet your axe's requirements, it'll do [(6 to 28)x(%Damage Reduction from foe's armor/100)]+34 damage.

thank you, that cleared things up nicely.

i have 3 new questions for you folks...against a normal 60 AL target, does executioner's strike at +42 (16 axe) still hit harder than a +21 penetrating blow? i suppose over time, penetrating is better dps?

also, when under the effects of frenzy (i'm going for a survivor title, so i use flurry with a zealous mod instead...chicken :9), say we go back to the example of the dwarves hitting me for -0s on their normal, non-skill attacks. will the frenzy just double that 0 damage for a grand total of 0x2=0 damage? or does it work more like healing sig, where the -40 armor, which is roughly x2 damage like frenzy, actually has a chance of turning those -0 damage hits into something mroe substantial? basically, is frenzy penalty calculated after or before armor modification?

finally, i am not in a guild, nor am i really looking for one as i play very casually...is it still possible for me to obtain 15k armor from the luxons or the kurzicks? or will i be forced to choose a guild with the proper affiliations to buy the new armor?

thank you.

I dont think its a guild requirement to be able to help\play either side, at best you can cash in all your factions for gold\amber to build up the cash for the armor

Frenzy doubles the received damage only, I believe. Hence 0x2=0

The only time you need a guild is to play alliance battle or own a city.

And any organized PvP..

Extra armor benefits are a bit hard to explain because it depends what kind of damage you are receiving and how much your total armor is before adding the +5 armor. Armor does nothing against life stealing, armor ignoring damage and damage which has just + damage and no type at all. That is why there is guides like this:

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/content...nics-id674.php

Just make sure you have more faction for the side your want to talk to. If you're going for Kurzick armor, make sure you have more Kurzick faction than Luxon or they won't even talk to you. Same with the Luxon.