The Truth about Iron Reflexes

IMPORTANT EDIT: Currently, after patch 0.11.2, Dexterity no longer multiplies your evasion before converting it into Armor. So now Evasion and Armor are exactly the same (1=1) when you have the Iron Reflexes node. So when comparing pieces of gear, 1000 Evasion and 1000 Armor are exactly the same.

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Iron Reflexes (IR) is a Keystone on the passive skill tree that converts all Evasion Rating into Armor.

When I decided to get this skill, I looked for some info here and there; and I saw that many people had many doubts, and that most of the time it was poorly explained; but now that I know "everything" (correct me if something is wrong, XD) I wanted to share how exactly this skill works.

First, the obvious, IR will transform your evasion into Armor.

EXAMPLE: You have 1.000 armor and 1.000 evasion, you get IR, you end up with 2.000 armor and 0 evasion.

Now, the non-so-obvious things:

- Even after losing all your Evasion Rating, you will still have 5% Chance to Evade (which is the minimum). Notice however that taking Unwavering Stance (and people getting IR usually get this keystone as well) will reduce it to 0%, since it completely removes evading attacks as an option.
(Similar to how Resolute Technique gives you 100% Hit and 0% Crit instead of the "normal" maximum/minimum of 95%/5%)

- Nodes/Items that increase % of your total armor will increase the armor granted by IR just normally. So having 50% Increased Armor would give you, on the example, 50% of the total 2.000, for a total of 3.000 armor.

- Nodes/Items that increase % of your total evasion, will also increase the armor granted by IR. So having 50% Increased Evasion would give you, on the example, 50% of the 1.000 evasion, for a total of 1.000 + 1.500 = 2.500 armor.
Notice that %Evasion Nodes are worse unless you are only wearing evasion-only gear, which is kind hard for a Marauder because of the Dex requisites.

- Hybrid Nodes that increase both % of your Armor and Evasion will only apply ONCE. This means that if its 40% Increased Armor and Evasion, it will count as if it was 40% Increased Armor; since Evasion gets transformed into Armor and then you apply the % (or you can apply the % when its Evasion before making it into Armor, is the same result, because that increased Evasion can't get the % again when it becomes armor.
Why 40% on this example? Because usually 50% Armor or 50% Evasion is equivalent to 40% both.
So, in this example, you would get 1.400 + 1.400 (or 2.000 + 40%) for a total of 2.800 armor.
So, when picking an Hybrid Node like Leather & Steel, with Iron Reflexes, count it only as if it was the equivalent to % Armor.

- When choosing between a chest with 500 Armor, a chest with 250 Armor and 250 Evasion, or a chest with 500 Evasion... The best one is the Full-Evasion one, then the Hybrid, and the worse the full-armor one.
Why you ask? Aren't they exactly the same? Well... Technically they are... But there is a very minor detail that makes Evasion better: DEX increases Evasion (5 Dex = 1% Evasion).
Right now, with my 136 DEX, +% Armor and Determination Aura I get 2.75 Armor per each Armor Point on the Gear, and 3.15 Armor per each Evasion point on the Gear.

So... Once you get Iron Reflexes, don't take Evasion Nodes (unless you know you are going to gear full-Evasion gear because of a weird built with lots of DEX, in which case they are just as good as Armor ones); think about Armor/Evasion Nodes and if they were only Armor ones; and when choosing gear pieces (if DEX allows) EVASION > HYBRID > ARMOR; but you can just assume they are all equally good for you.

If you have a "decent" DEX for using some skill, aura, support or weapon, you will probably end up with the Hybrid Gear, which is not only the easier gear to get color combinations in, but is also usually the gear that adds up the most numbers in total:

Triumphant Lamellar (Lv69) AR/EV = 271+340 = 611
Full Dragonscale (Lv63) AR/EV = 335+226 = 561
Glorious Plate (Lv68) AR-Only = 553

Then again, you will probably end up with the one with the best slots and/or item level :-P
(Ignoring stats because I assume you can/will craft from some whites, so just telling you which ones are sightly better for you).

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IMPORTANT EDIT: Currently, after patch 0.11.2, Dexterity no longer multiplies your evasion before converting it into Armor. So now Evasion and Armor are exactly the same (1=1) when you have the Iron Reflexes node. So when comparing pieces of gear, 1000 Evasion and 1000 Armor are exactly the same.

i didn't know all of that, very informative for me.
Thanks

Same here, thanks for all the info. I've been contemplating Iron Reflexes but I'm using a high hp with life regen/leech build. Haven't decided if I want to invest anything into dexterity nodes or gear for the evasion gear. I'll have to make up my mind soon though.

Thx for the info!

Great post!

Thanks,
Hob

Bump.

i heard they will nerf the double buff evasion on gear or auras gets when you have IR and %armor passives (one from dex then one from %armor)

"Even after losing all your Evasion Rating, you will still have 5% Chance to Evade (which is the minimum)."

so i can take Arrow Dodging (doubles chance to evade projectile attacks) along with IR. Great!
(as long as i dont do Unwavering Stance.)

I will have 10% to evade.
Now is it worth it to spend a point to take that node?

Also, do you know if the cobra and construct attacks are considered projectile or spells?

dex requirements not that bad imo, much better to go pure evasion armor even as a marauder, then evasion nodes are equal to armor nodes.

"

Assur wrote:

i heard they will nerf the double buff evasion on gear or auras gets when you have IR and %armor passives (one from dex then one from %armor)

I don't think they will, but you never know.

"

Pi314 wrote:

I will have 10% to evade.
Now is it worth it to spend a point to take that node?

Also, do you know if the cobra and construct attacks are considered projectile or spells?

I personally don't think its worth it, but is up to you. Both 5% and 10% are pretty unreliable and may not happen at all in 9 straight attacks.
The power of that keystone is to become almost immune to projectile attacks when you have a lot of evasion.

And I don't know, but if I had to guess I would say both are projectiles.

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Hokonoso wrote:

dex requirements not that bad imo, much better to go pure evasion armor even as a marauder, then evasion nodes are equal to armor nodes.

Well, depends on your build. My 2Hander Melee has 126 DEX right now, will probably end with some more, but I highly doubt that he is able to get the 183 or 197 DEX required by Assassin's Garb and Zodiac Leather; and hybrid armors are just as good.

Bonus Unrelated Clip, Cyclone Marauders (also known as Whirlwind Barbarians, XD):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5toCbb-vn4
(Coming next week!)