Faster Block Rate



Faster Block Rate (FBR) is a coefficient that increases the speed of Blocking. When the character makes a successful block, they must perform a full blocking animation before they can do anything else, Faster Block Rate will reduce the length of this delay.

Hirelings cannot block, not even a shield-equipped Iron Wolf.

Mechanics
Each character has a base block value, this is not a base block rate, rather is used to calculate the block rate. The block base of the characters are as follows:

The standard animation speed is 256 except in the case of the Amazon wielding one handed swinging weapons* (88) and the Druid in Werebear form (200).
 * One handed swinging = Axes, Clubs, Maces, Hammers, Scepters, Swords, Throwing axes.

The calculation to find Effective Faster Block Rate (EFBR) is:

The calculation to find the block frames is:

Faster Block Rate breakpoints
There are 25 frames per second, so as the Faster Block Rate increases, the frames decrease.

Since frames of animation cannot be further divided into fractions, this creates "breakpoints". You will not see any change in Faster Block Rate until you pass the next breakpoint. This means that an Amazon with 22 FBR is effectively equal to one with only 15.

As one frame is a mere .04 seconds, it may not even seem worthwhile, however in practice, even single frames can make a noticeable difference.