Editing Exalted Basic Tactics (section)

== Defense ==

The most important thing in a fight is not getting hurt.  It serves no purpose to commit yourself to something that's just gonna get you killed.  So, the question becomes: How do I fight, and NOT die?  Fortunatly, Exalted is defense heavy.  There are many ways to avoid injury, and they tend to be stronger than ways of inflicting injury, which means that you really have to put some thought into attacking your opponent.  Most defenses are stackable, but some tend to cancel others out, and each defense, of course, has its weaknesses.  The trick is, picking out the ones that will work for you in a way that works well.

<b> Dodge </b>

The simplest, and most focused skill on defense, this defense isn't to be underestimated.  What better way to keep from getting hurt than to not get hit?  Dodge not only eliminates most attacks outright, but it also offers the greatest quantity of reliable defenses.  Parry may result in better (higher in dice pool) defenses, but nothing beats Dodge for sheer quantity of defenses.  When the shit hits the fan, there are few defenses better than Dodge.

Dodge has many advantages over the other defenses.  Things like initiative aren't really important to a dodger, as he can always abort to a dodge, so having a high wits isn't such a worry. Due to its very efficiant Aborting rules, this technique is very effective against a great number of fairly weak attacks, as is typical when your opponent has split his dice pool quite alot.  Best of all, so long as he has room to move, you can always dodge.  You need no special items to do it.

It has weaknesses, though.  As armor tends to slow a dodger down, he typically has a low soak.  This means that if you get hit, it hurts.  A single, focused attack tends to beat dodge, as dodge seldom gets as high in dice pool as a well wielded weapon.  And to get the most out of your dodge requires you to sacrifice your action.  A typical dodger will abort if he loses iniative, and unleash lots of attacks (or a few GOOD attacks) on his opponent if he gains iniative.  Dodge simply isn't as good as parry at splitting for an attack AND a defense.

Dodge is typically defeated by hitting it with a single, high dice attack.  Dodge is strongest against many, small attacks.

A good dodger needs a lot of Dodge, obviously.  The most important attribute for this sort of defense, obviously, is Dexterity.  This is typically the defense of choice for people who focused on ranged combat, where they must keep their hands free, and tend to be lightly armed so they can keep on the move.  Stealthy foes also favor this technique, as does anyone who typically eschews armor.  It's also a good defense for people who like heavy weapons like sledges, but don't want to wear alot of armor for some reason, as the defense penalty doesn't hurt your dodge at all.

<b> Parry </b>

Slightly more complex, this is similar to dodge in that it keeps your opponent from ever hitting you.  Accounted by many to be the strongest of the defenses, this has many numerable advantages: It gives the highest defensive dice pool, it splits well, and it combines well with armor.  When you think of a swordsman, you're thinking of a warrior that focuses on parry!

A good parrier has a high Dexterity, obviously, but he also is high in one of the parry abilities: Martial Arts, Brawl, or Melee (typically Melee).  This is one of the biggest advantages of parrying: your offensive and defensive abilities are tied into one package.  Further, a good parrier is typically has a bigger dice pool than a  dodger: most weapons offer a substantial parry bonus.  This makes it a very powerful defense against people who try to hit you with one single attack over and over again.  Parry has no problem with armor, so you'll tend to see more armored warriors focus on this ability.

Despite its heralded status, it has problems.  Parry relies a great deal on initiative.  If you lose initiative, you only get a single defense.  In other words, if your opponent splits his attack, you're going down.  Further, parries are seldom as efficient as Dodge.  While the parry bonus offers some offset to this problem, too many parries begins to cause problems (A weapon with +2 parry parries two attacks as well as dodging two attacks.  But it doesn't parry 3 attacks as well as dodging 3 attacks).  Finally, inevitably, parrying means having a weapon.  Melee requires it, and Martial Arts and Brawl can't parry Lethal damage without a weapon.  Without a weapon, parry is nowhere near as useful as dodge.  And a poor defensive weapon is seldom a good idea for a parrier.  Sledges do not parry well, and seldom give you initiative.

Parry is typically defeated by gaining initiative on your opponent, or stripping them of their weapon.  Parry is strongest against a single, powerful attack.

Parry is typically used by swordsman or other characters that like to focus on up close combat.  Like fencers, these warriors must be fast and with good weapons.  Armored fighters also typically rely on parry.

<b> Soak </b>

Getting hit happens.  Your dodge or your parry WILL fail you at some point, and only a fool is without SOME protection at that point.  Soak is an important kind of insurance.  In addition, it IS possible to rely entirely on Soak.  Characters with obscenely high soak are often underestimated.  It takes a great deal of effort to get through all of that armor, more than most people are willing to admit.  This is the defense of choice for people who'd just like to focus on bashing away at their opponent.

This offers a great number of advantages.  Most importantly, your character need neither sacrifice some of his valuable dice pool to activate this defense, nor does he need to gain iniative.  He can easily allow his opponent to smack him one, laugh at him, and then lay into him with a weapon of his choice.  Where this defense is strongest is when you get hit by a single, powerful attack.  A massive blow with a Sledge can be soaked to nearly nothing, allowing you to slam back.  And against smaller weapons, like spears and swords, this attack can soak them into near uselessness.

While a very strong defense, it really isn't something you should rely upon exclusively.  It almost universally requires good, heavy armor.  Armor is fatiguing, obvious, and slows you down.  This limits your ability to dodge, to move unnoticed, or to fight for long periods of time.  Further, there is a well known tactic against it: since every attack gets a minimum of one die of damage, it is quite a simple matter for a character with a high dice pool but low damage to split his dice many ways, and attack over and over.  A straight sword isn't much to someone with articulate plate, but if the sworsman hits five times, thats five dice of damage.  Not pleasant.

Soak is typically defeated by multiple, small attacks.  Soak is strongest against single, high accuracy attacks that lack damage, and negates most of the iniative advantage.

Soak, obviously, relies a great deal on Stamina.  Good armor is also a must, making Endurance an important trait.  It's the favored technique of people with low dice pools, or those who want to focus on very heavy, powerful weapons.  It's also taken by just about anyone who can get it, in however small a quantity.  A chain shirt alone is usually worth the investment.  Close combat fighters, inevitably, need soak of some kind.


<b>Range</b>

Often ignored is the fact that if your opponent cannot reach you, he cannot hit you.  This is the axiom of choice of ranged combat fighters, such as archers.  Further, staying a place that's HARD to reach, rather than just far away, is useful as well.  Fire from rooftops, or from horseback, if possible.  Most people don't think of this as a defense, but its extremely useful against close combat fighters.  Speed and good athletics are a must for anyone who wishes to use this form of defense.

<b> Other Factors </b>

There are small, variety of ways to weaken your opponents attacks.  Many things offer negatives of some kind that can be applied to your opponents attacks.  Common elements are: shields (-1 success) and riding horseback (-2 to dice).  The two of these put together makes a mortal nearly unhittable by 4 die extras.  While not terribly useful on its own, its great when mixed with one of the above defenses.