I will admit I am arguing this point because I enjoy the discussion more than because it is a serious problem. The penalty for death is relatively minor (a minute to get a hireling or second account to raise me). I also don't notice a dramatic difference from level 10 to 16 when I have 70 MRR than from 17+ when I have 50. I don't notice that extra 20 MRR saving my life very often. A spell is either dramatically stronger than I can survive, or it is not.
Until last life I hadn't played a melee character since well before reaper was added (they didn't even have AP trees for classes back then). I remember how badly melee players needed healers and thought it would be tough (especially with the way melee characters complain about how hard it is on the forums). I was quite surprised how relatively unkillable I was. Now that I know how easy it is to play a melee character I no longer accept that ranged and magic users need all these defensive (or offensive) penalties because being a melee is so "hard." The MRR cap for robes is nonsense. If evasion or certain types of monks are too strong defensively than put an MRR cap on those things. The poor wizard that joins my R6 group not knowing what he is in for doesn't need an MRR cap. He isn't the reason MRR caps exist and shouldn't be effected by them.
Yeah, but I notice the difference between 2% Dodge on my (first-life) tank alt and 42% Dodge on my last life. And 52/92% with hat going. I run LVoD a lot and my (DPS Shuri) Monk did a vastly better job tanking orthons than my tank does.
There
is already a Dodge cap as well, but it still remains one of the strongest physical mitigation tools available in DDO
I'm arguing that the MRR cap is a balance mechanism against otherwise unbalanced robes. It's unfair to certain builds for sure, but there are generally ways around it (wear light/med armor, run Evasion, spell absorb, trash filigree etc) and without a downside there'd need to be a nerf to the upside.
It's not even just a monk thing, like I've done a good handful of centered melee builds (I love GMoF for leveling, esp prior to QC buff). The MRR usually doesn't get me killed, but the Dodge does keep me alive.
Melees with decent build/gear/PL investment are pretty great and quite survivable these days at all levels. There have been a lot of changes that help this (second wind, trances + more cc, etc etc). That poor melee that joins my R6 group not knowing what he is in for gets absolutely obliterated if he doesn't hang back and only hit cc'ed mobs. Same person on an
Inquis ranged/caster toon can deal full DPS at vastly less risk. Also a lot of low-hanging defensive benefits for melees being tied to defender stances is particularly awkward for raiding - just as soon as your DPS isn't trash, you're pulling aggro and turning the boss XD
