So this is a bit of an argument in my group as to the interpretation of the rules for these qualities. So can anyone point me to an official answer or give me an official answer to this question.

Does the Defensive and Reflective qualities stack with armor's general defense?

The way it seems to be written is that you use either use the higher of Defense or Defensive/Reflective.

Wow, maybe a whole week without somebody asking about defense.

So, officially, the defense rules are "under revision" and we aren't sure. In the official FAQ, it rules that some sources stack, in a developer answered question it rules that they don't stack, and you treat items with Defensive/Deflection as their own sources of defense.

I, personally, go with the FAQ ruling for now.

Create your own interpretation and stick to it. If over the long run your interpretation proves to be too much, then adjust it as needed. For my group, we use the greatest source of defense but we allow Defense from Cover to stack. It's worked out so far and makes sense for my group. Your mileage will definitely vary.

18 hours ago, MamoruK said:

So this is a bit of an argument in my group as to the interpretation of the rules for these qualities. So can anyone point me to an official answer or give me an official answer to this question.

Does the Defensive and Reflective qualities stack with armor's general defense?

The way it seems to be written is that you use either use the higher of Defense or Defensive/Reflective.

At this time, the defensive and/or deflective qualities of an item do not stack with defense from armor, nor from Cover. You use a single item that gives you the best defense against the attack.

There is a thread in the Developer answered questions which delves into this in more detail.

The only exception I've seen to non-stacking is the case where an Item or Mod says "+ X Defense" instead of Defense 1 or 2 or whatnot.

Otherwise I'd say take the Highest Single Value, then add any + Values...and maybe cap at a 4 Total...think that's a simple "Fix" for the discussion.

The main reason we allow all sources to stack, is that to hit ability climbs so much faster than defense ability. Offensive conditions often stack, such as accurate and aiming. Why not defensive and armor?

On 4/10/2017 at 3:28 PM, Oden Gebhac said:

Create your own interpretation and stick to it. If over the long run your interpretation proves to be too much, then adjust it as needed. For my group, we use the greatest source of defense but we allow Defense from Cover to stack. It's worked out so far and makes sense for my group. Your mileage will definitely vary.

that's actually what i'm going with right now.