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Message: <blockquote data-quote="eamon" data-source="post: 4986039" data-attributes="member: 51942">A relevant error in this analysis lies in the bolded part.  Also, stun is a best-case status effect for your argument.  The length of the combat is not fixed, and, in fact, is affected (even effected <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />) by the outcome of various attacks.  The combat against the guy who's hit (esp. if stunned) 90% of the time will be over much quicker than the combat against the guy who's hit only 50% of the time; particularly if you consider the fact that the guy that's stunned so often will be at a huge tactical disadvantage (not heal when he needs to, be unable to maneuver or sustain powers with a very high likelyhood, etc.), in addition to being easier to hit simply by virtue of grant CA.Now, in actual combat with a party, this solo is going to take out the guy that he can hit so easily very quickly, even with the +4 defense boost.  The real question is how long the members with decent defenses will survive.  These members will determine the outcome of said battle, not the guy doing nothing by virtue of being stunned or unconscious almost all the time.Additionally, stunned is a really exceptional effect here, being one of the least clear-cut cases.  If the effects include things such as, say, forced movement (throw em into the ravine over there) or any other primarily offensive effect, it's again far more clear-cut in favor of raising high-defenses.  The vast majority of attacks are primarily offensive, hurting the opponent(s) - unlike stunned, which has a large defensive component as well (avoiding damage to yourself).  Effects may go both ways, and even depend situationally.As I said before, effects muddy the waters; not to mention tactics.  The basic damage-based trend remains however, and damage (direct/indirect) remains a critical part of this equation, and that part clearly indicates that the low defenses need a helping hand to become relevant; relying on character-optimization to choose to raise the lowest defense and help balance things is unwise.Hence my suggestions to raise the NAD's (particularly the low nad too) as part of the global game levelling mechanics, and not as part of the character customization-choice via feats.  Feats just work really poorly for this.</blockquote>

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