@Torchlight2 Plus: Awesome, thank you so much! All the best!

And that's just the nice summery of it al you provided!

I recommended your mod in my most recent upload. Also tried the mod out, works great, the Nature Attuned Barb mod or other mods could reduce the amount of monsters/speed of them so it makes active blocking a bit more easy. Cheers!

@Torchlight2 Plus: You're welcome, and thanks for chatting me up! You hit the nail on the head when you said "having the option to play it this style". That is a very important aspect of well designed gaming: giving players a variety of playstyle options. This includes accessibility, difficulty settings, multiple control schemes, toggles for various mechanics, and a variety of ways to engage in combat. The best games offer ways to play them while eating snacks and browsing Discord OR while focusing on excellent, strategic, skill-based sessions that require one's undivided attention!

@Count: Thanks al lot for all your feedback! It gave me the idea to split my final mod (that can take a while to happen since I want to overhaul a LOT) in 2 different kinds. One the more vanilla torchlight kind and one with a more strategic play trough.

For example in a dungeon there are (much) less monsters but they hit much harder so this block mod will be useful!

Another example:
You know, the chance that a ghost will spawn from a dungeon wall, now they are immune for everything except fire, they are faster can teleport and are more lethal. So you might carry a good ranged fire wand or fire enchanted bow/spell/skill on your dungeon adventures or just run away!

There are also mod options to adjust your pet on a way that monsters won't attack the pet but instead immediately target their owner.

@Count: "Lazy mods like "Enemy HP Regen" (especially when the Regen is off the charts) are weak when it comes to strategy and are only there to promote grinding the highest DPS possible in order to overcome those mods."

Hahaha! You know, I used this in the fun mod pack I builded. It's true, I am actually now looking for item with stats to overcome that mod. Why I did use this? Well, to avoid just waiting until your pet/summons kill the boss. It's hard to find a sweet spot in this but playing with 1% regen instead of 0% makes me favor the 1%. If u have idea's how to improve this making the gameplay more challenging en fun I am all ears ^^

@Count: These are helpfull and valid points u just explained here. Sure it really depends on the way you want to play the game but having an option to play it this style would be great. The in game puzzle aspect of Torchlight is almost nothing compared to games like Zelda besides finding some secret rooms and with modding adjusting your skills/items to prepare for though battles.
On the other side Torchlight offers a very easy learing curve, and I also know people who like to play this game while eating some snacks and browsing discord :P

What's funny is that on the game act 1 start you encounter ratlings. If u have a high enough custom difficulty than you need to hide behind walls and stuff to avoid being hit (to much) I liked that aspect, to bad the "arrows" in torchlight are instant hits. In diablo you could avoid them with some skill. (also % with passive skill)

@Torchlight2 Plus: (continued) None of these games are perfect or free from repetition or eventual boredom. But I would love to see ARPGs move away from the established formulaic gameplay of speed, DPS as king, and hordes of enemies with random passive mods as "difficulty". There have been little steps in this direction made by various games in the genre, and more have been made of late...especially with the widespread adoption of WASD control, which enables more strategic gameplay options in combat. I think we'll eventually get there in time. At least I hope so...otherwise we'll just be playing the same old game again with a slightly different color of paint...something we've done for eons. It's fun for a short while, but boy does it get old fast! All the best in your mod and gaming endeavors!

@Torchlight2 Plus: (continued) Give me meaningful attack patterns to avoid, dodge, block. Give me attack patterns that change with increased difficulty to make the experience new and fun to learn. Does this mean increased development and programming? Absolutely! Is it worth it? You better believe it! It will elevate a game from same ol, same old decent/good game status to something truly unique, interesting, and memorable. There are very few memories of combat moments in games like TL2, Diablo, and POE that really stand out and make me smile. But I can tell you many fond memories of combat moments I have of games like Dark Souls, Elden Ring, Zelda, and Dragon Age Veilguard. Why? Because the combat mechanics allow for more interesting interactions, skill-based gameplay, and greater variety throughout the entire experience.

@Torchlight2 Plus: Passive modifiers are certainly 1 level of interaction and do offer more flavor. However, ARPGs tend to rely on passive modifiers either too much or even exclusively to add "difficulty". This leads to a variety of issues in addition to severe repetition and boredom, the biggest of which is one you mentioned...encountering enemies that become impossible to beat due to the random configuration of mods that present themselves. Lazy mods like "Enemy HP Regen" (especially when the Regen is off the charts) are weak when it comes to strategy and are only there to promote grinding the highest DPS possible in order to overcome those mods. That isn't skill, strategy, or very fun in my opinion. It's lazy, weak, and boring.

@Count: Thanks for reaching out, while some mods like ACE tend to enhance some of the bossfights and area's the DPS factor is still a big thing in Torchlight 2 (and I guess in other ARPG's too...)

~ Interesting combat skills: Can be done in GUTS but.... then they do need some purpose. Because why make a well designed skill with 2 elemental types of damage and a slim chance of crit when dealing with a bow class weapon at >50% charge when you can vanquish all the monsters with whatever spell/type of damage u want... The last is the case with vanilla Torchlight 2, Diablo 2 did a slightly better job giving the monsters in Hell mode 1 immunity but there it was hard to survive (with some (extreme overused) exception builds) making a viable class that works that way.

~ Enemy AI patterns, they are pretty hard coded in torchlight. By combining certain monster types enhanced with certain abilities you can still create some tactical gameplay. I do like adding the Human Enemy mod too. This can lead to some more interesting battles. There is for sure lot of improvement possible on this part. There will be chances though of complains from people who find it to hard to play ;)

~ Skill based gameplay is another challenging one. Years ago I made a modifiaction that gives champion monsters with their minions up to 5, 6, 7 random affixes from a custom pool of 50 thus creating a boss type monster with it's own skills + enhanced random skills
For Example an Fire Immune, Lightning Enhanced, Cursed, Teleporting, Extra fast Champion Warbeast. This did add some spice to the game as it needed some more skill to win. (sometimes even need to made the choice to avoid the battle (or come back later).

@Torchlight2 Plus: Thanks! I still play TL2 every once in a while, but I haven't done any additional modding for it lately. ARPG's do need to grow in the strategy area in general. They largely still focus on speed and big DPS...simply throwing more and more enemies and modifiers at you to serve as "difficulty". It's simply too passive. POE 2 has made some small strides with its boss fights and early campaign combat gameplay, but ultimately it also devolves into the same old typical ARPG mechanics. I get bored of this repetitive, uninspired, un-strategic gameplay quite quickly. Grinding for loot and the passive stat power creep just isn't motivating for me. I like interesting combat skills, enemy AI patterns, and skill-based gameplay.

The way you look at the game is pretty interesting, are you still playing torchlight or doing some modding for it? I think we have some semilair thoughts about ARPG's the adding more strategy is also welcomed by me. In Guts there is for example the possibility to add more (custom made) affixes to bosses and you can apply things like (multiple) immune instances to monsters so there is a need to diversify you skill build and using more types of skills.

Thanks, and I hope you enjoy it! And yes, I have played Victor Vran (thanks for the rec), and just about every ARPG and MMO around...hehe. It's nice when they include things like active dodging, but it's rare to find one with active blocking. Van Helsing does have a melee class with active blocking, but it's more of a channel block system rather than a timing based system. I also modded Grim Dawn and Titan Quest (just for my own personal use) with a similar block skill to this one for TL2. It would be nice to see a stamina (or similar) system added to ARPGs to allow for more interesting active blocking mechanics. MMOs also suffer in this department, with only ESO and Neverwinter offering somewhat engaging blocking mechanics. Guild Wars 2 has some blocking skills, but I'm not a fan of cool down systems for blocking skills like GW2 uses (nor am I a fan of cool down or charges systems for dodging like GW2 uses), since it's very limiting on how you can use them.

Thanks I will give this a try. BTW - f you haven't played Victor Vran yet it has active dodging you may like.

@Khyron: Well, you inspired me, Khyron! In the name of all things fun, I updated the mod to be usable with shields, 2 handed melee weapons, or dual wielded melee weapons! Now get out there and block away to your heart's content!

@Khyron: Yes, it is instantly used/cast. It makes for a nice active and responsive experience in my opinion. I enjoy timing my blocks and seeing the "Blocked" message pop up...gives me a greater sense of agency, especially within this ARPG genre where defensive play is almost exclusively passive. You do need a shield though, since I designed it with shield block roleplay in mind.

Sounds brilliant. Is the cast time instant? Also can it be cast w/o a shield equipped and you still get the resistances but not the block chance?

@Singularity: Thanks for the compliment! Yes, Guts allows for that kind of change, but it wasn't what I was going for, and as I stated in the description, with all the different builds and mana considerations like max mana amounts, regen rates, mana potions, etc., it just doesn't make sense to utilize mana for this skill in such a manner. If there was a stamina system in TL2, then I think that would be ideal for a Perfect Block skill...something more akin to Dark Souls blocking in terms of resource management. But for TL2, I just wanted to have a skill based, timed block to enjoy with my tank builds, and this was the setup I enjoyed playing the most after trying many different options, including the larger mana cost variation.

Does guts allow you to add an effect after the block has been triggered to, say, remove 1000 mana or something and then add it back after the second is up? This would allow the skill to be used but not basically just spammed every other button press. Just a random thought, don't mind me. Great mod!

@TorchModders: You're welcome! Thanks for the compliment! I'm glad to hear it's being used and enjoyed!

Thanks so much for sharing this. Great addition to the spells!

@steffire3: Awesome! Looking forward to it!

@ Count (author) : Gladly! I agree with your assessment. We'll speak more on this through Steam Messages as the comments section here is quite limited.

@steffire3: As a game creator/developer, I like to think outside the box and innovate rather than just iterate what has come before with minor bells and whistles. As an example, I have a couple of tabletop games available on Tabletop Simulator now that focus on innovating the card deck builder style of game play (e.g., Pokemon or Magic) and DnD gaming. I like games that minimize chance and rely more on player agency and skill (similar to why I added a skill-based, player controller block mechanic to TL2). So for those tabletop games I removed almost all random elements from games...minimizing dice rolling, allowing players to choose any card from their deck when drawing instead of random drawing, etc. If you're interested, you can check the games out in the Workshop for Tabletop Simulator: Heroic Commander, and Heroic Commander Adventure.

If you ever want to chit chat or throw ideas around, let me know.

@steffire3: But I'm looking forward to the day when games will offer the option for both strategic active well-paced combat mechanics and a more passive typical ARPG experience...either through different difficulty options that actually provide different core experiences (and not just larger health pools and bigger damage/crits) or some other means. In the meantime, at least some games allow us to mod them and get a bit closer to that vision!

@steffire3: Thanks again! Combat pacing is also something I'm constantly mulling over. ARPGs have largely devolved into throwing masses of enemies at the player and relying on high damage output (both from enemies and players) to make the game "challenging". Take Path of Exile for instance...a game I enjoy at times...but one where you can get one-shotted by something off screen...that's not real challenge and does not respect the skill of the player. Oftentimes, enemy AI and unique mechanics get left behind. I understand there is a place for speedruns, OP builds, and that heroic feeling of just laying waste to hordes of enemies as quickly and powerfully as possible before they one-shot/crit hit you to death.

@ (author) : I would be more than glad to see what else you have in mind equal in useful strategy to the Perfect Block. Congrats on your implementation of this across several games!

@steffire3: Thanks! It's been something I've wanted to put in the game for a long time and I finally got around to figuring out Guts and making the mod. I love active blocking in games (big Dark Souls fan), and I wish ARPGS would include the mechanic. I think it adds more depth, strategy, and realism to the experience. I just finished adding a similar blocking mechanic to both Grim Dawn and Titan Quest...just makes the games a bit more fun and interactive in my opinion.

@ (author) : Fascinating mod. Thanks for making it available! ^_^