Alleged Hit Distribution
40% Torso
15% Head
30% Arms
15% Legs

The Formula I'm presenting is my enhancement upon Amery's original work.

To compare Armor1 to Armor2 based upon a specific critical rank generated by a specific weapon to a specific body area:

[A+B+(C-D)]/E = Superiority of Armor1 in terms of DS to Armor2
A = enchantment of armor1 - ET of armor2
B = AvD (of weapon) of armor2 - AvD of armor1
C = (crt of armor1 x crit rank level) / damage factor of armor1
D = (crt of armor2 x crit rank level) / damage factor of armor2

crt = critical rank threshold, meaning skin = 3, plate = 11
E = self DFRedux factor

Now that the Formula is laid out, going to give an example.

As a Mage, I usually only die if I get a crit rank of 5 or greater to the head. So for this example, going to use a broadsword hit against head for crit rank of 5. I'm going to compare 7x double (armor1) to 3x chainmail (armor2) for this example as well.

A = 35 - 15 = 20
B = 37 - 33 = 4
C = (5 x 5) / .300 = 83
D = (7 x 5) / .225 = 156
E = 1 (I have no DFRedux)

Note here that chainmail only has chain on torso and hard leather on head, so crt is 7 instead of 9... however, because it is chainmail, chain DF is used.

[A+B+(C-D)]/E = Superiority of Armor1 in terms of DS to Armor2

[20 + 4 + (83-156)] / 1 = -49 DS

This means that wearing 3x Chainmail *acts* as if I have an extra 49 DS when protecting against a rank 5 hit to the head.

Granted, if I was able to generate an extra 49 DS while wearing 7x double leathers, this would be a moot argument, as double leathers have a lower spell hindrance. However, spell 150, WoF, is rather difficult to have always on... and is going to be one of the first spells made self-cast (along with 919, 219).

So, this is the closest I can get to some form of DFRedux for myself... but only because I'm wearing heavier armor.

I'm going to deal with the "Redux is unbalancing" argument here as well, and show why that is not necessarily true.

If I was, say a Rogue, with a DFRedux of 50%, the end result of the above example would be /.5 for -98 DS. Which obviously shows how those with Redux can survive larger endrolls.

Now let's switch the 3x chainmail to 3x full plate for a better example, as it's a Rogue now. But we're still comparing against 7x double leathers.

A = 35 - 15 = 20
B = 18 - 33 = -15
C = (5 x 5) / .300 = 83
D = (5 x 11) / .200 = 275
E = .5

[20 -15 + (83 - 275)] / .5 = -374 DS

This shows that by wearing 3x fullplate instead of 7x double leathers, protects said Rogue against a critical rank hit of 5 to the head, as if Rogue had an extra 454 DS.

That's an extra 276 DS for the Rogue... for going from 3x chainmail to 3x full plate (remember the -98 DS earlier?) This should show that it's the *armor* the Rogue wears, not DFRedux itself that *protects* him.

Now lets suppose said Rogue is very old and has trained well... assume DFR of 10%. The 3x chainmail example at -98 DS would now be -490 DS, and the 3x full plate example at -374 DS would now be -1870. That's a difference of 1380 DS, purely generated by switching to the heavier armor.

Yes, DFRedux acts as a multiplier factor (going from /.5 to /.1) but the benefits are ONLY *truly* realized in the heavier armor set.

I hope that this formula can effectively show how much more heavier armor will protect oneself, compared with lighter armor.... and also of the inherent symbiotic relationship between DFRedux and heavy armor.