The purpose of this post is to show the quantitative differences between the Stone Skin and Tenacity talents
Stone Skin is a defensive talent that reduces the DMG taken in an attack. The talent starts with a 5% DMG reduction at Lvl 1/5 and increases in 5% increments per level till you have 25% DMG reduction at Lvl 5/5.
Likewise, Tenacity is also a defensive talent but one that increases your hero's starting HP. Tenacity starts with a 10% increase in HP at Lvl 1/5 and increases in 5% increments until you have a 30% increase in HP at Lvl 5/5.
For the sake of this discussion we will consider the effects of these talents on a generic hero that has 2000 HP. We will also distinguish a difference between ATK Received (AR) and ATK Taken (AT). And finally, we will consider, as our illustrative example, the effects of the Lvl 4/5 talents on our generic hero.
Stone Skin: Our generic hero with 2000 HP and 4/5 Stone Skin receives an attack valued at 2000 (2000 AR).
The 4/5 Stone Skin talent reduces the damage received by 20%. The Attack Taken (AT) is 80% (100%-20%) of the 2000 AR, or 1600. That is the actual value that our hero's HP is reduced by in the attack.
The ratio of AR to AT (AR/AT) is 2000/1600, or 1.25.
In order to kill our hero it must receive 2000 worth of damage to it's HP, or a AT value equal to 2000. Using the AR/AT ratio of 1.25, we see that a 2000 AT translates to a AR of 2500 (2000 x 1.25). This means that our 2000 HP hero has a pseudo HP, but an effective HP, value of 2500.
Tenacity: When we consider our 2000 HP generic hero with the 4/5 Tenacity talent, his base HP is raised by 25%. This 25% increase in HP gives an additional 500 HP so that our hero now has a real and effective HP of 2500. Because the Tenacity talent directly effects HP, the AR and AT values are equal (whereas Stone Skin effects HP indirectly), and it now takes 2500 damage to kill our hero instead of the initial 2000 required prior to the use of the talent.
4/5 Talent Comparison: From the above discussion and calculations we see that 4/5 Stone Skin and 4/5 Tenacity offer exactly the same benefit to our 2000 HP generic hero. Whether it is a pseudo HP as with Stone Skin, or a real HP as with Tenacity, both 4/5 talents confer an additional 500 HP (25%) to our hero.
Talent Tables
All calculations involve a 2000 HP generic hero initially receiving a 2000 value attack and conclude with the attack values required to kill the talent enhanced hero.
Stone Skin
| Lvl | % DMG Reduction | Base ATK (AR) | Reduction in AR due to talent | ATK Taken (AT) | AR/AT | AR Req'd to Kill Hero |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/5 | 5% | 2000 | 100 | 1900 | 1.053 | 2105 |
| 2/5 | 10% | 2000 | 200 | 1800 | 1.111 | 2222 |
| 3/5 | 15% | 2000 | 300 | 1700 | 1.176 | 2353 |
| 4/5 | 20% | 2000 | 400 | 1600 | 1.250 | 2500 |
| 5/5 | 25% | 2000 | 500 | 1500 | 1.333 | 2667 |
Tenacity
| Talent Lvl | % HP Increase | Base HP | HP Increase | Improved HP | AR Req'd to kill Hero |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/5 | 10% | 2000 | 200 | 2200 | 2200 |
| 2/5 | 15% | 2000 | 300 | 2300 | 2300 |
| 3/5 | 20% | 2000 | 400 | 2400 | 2400 |
| 4/5 | 25% | 2000 | 500 | 2500 | 2500 |
| 5/5 | 30% | 2000 | 600 | 2600 | 2600 |
Talent Level Comparison
Here we compare the two talents side-by-side.
| Talent Lvl | Stone Skin AR Req'd to Kill Hero | Tenacity AR Req'd to Kill Hero | Stone Skin AR/Tenacity AR | Tenacity AR/Stone Skin AR | Conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/5 | 2105 | 2200 | 1.0451 | Tenacity by 4.5% | |
| 2/5 | 2222 | 2300 | 1.0351 | Tenacity by 3.5% | |
| 3/5 | 2352 | 2400 | 1.0204 | Tenacity by 2.0% | |
| 4/5 | 2500 | 2500 | 1.0000 | 1.0000 | Equal |
| 5/5 | 2667 | 2600 | 1.0258 | Stone Skin by 2.6% |
Qverall Conclusions
At talent levels 1/5, 2/5, and 3/5 Tenacity offers between 2.0% and 4.5% more protection than Stone Skin. At the 4/5 talent level Tenacity and Stone Skin offer the same level of protection. At talent level 5/5, Stone Skin offers 2.6% more protection than Tenacity.