Firstly, i know i've said this elsewhere, but i'll say it here again:
During the development of the combat system (and starting stats), many things changed. I've actually already done creature stats up to Goblins twice before now, and then recently some final decisions and changes were made to both the way certain types of exp are gained and the starting stats of players, and i've once again had to re-do monster stats.
atm i've only done up to Foxes, and even those stats are not well tested, they're preliminary.
Keep this in mind when posting feedback about the monsters
Secondly, in QELServ, Defense exp/levels are supposed to be very hard to gain. No one but people with like 150 a/d and quite a bit of rationality will ever see over 100 exp per dodge.
If a person wants to keep their att and def even, they should train with a weapon that yields about the same att exp per hit as def exp they're receiving per dodge... although QELServ is designed for weapons to be used in training, it doesn't necessarily mean the most
powerful weapon will be the
"best" choice of weapon to train with.
That said, training in such a fashion that you build att and def evenly will yield less OA exp per hour than someone using a stronger weapon and getting more attack exp than def.
This is all by design.
A lot of careful thought has been put into making combat in general, and especially PK, fun and balanced for everyone, but still ensuring those who've put in a lot of work and gained high levels see a good benefit for their efforts.
I've also made considerations in regard to mixers product demand that relate to this, but i wont go into that now.
I'm just mentioning this because i know probably better than anyone how hard it can be to leave the EL mentality behind and remember that this is a different game, so anyone thinking "def exp gain is too low" and was going to post feedback to that effect, it's not too low, it's how it's meant to be.
Another thing i'll comment on, is that Rangers and Mages will optionally be able to train their Defense whilst they train Ranging and Magic, a ranged attacker can strike from a distance (only getting exp on their ranged skill), or can engage in melee combat to gain def exp, but be using their ranged skill still to kill the enemy.
The point being that Defense is not directly linked to the Fighter orientation, it's a generic skill.
EDIT:
Just another note; as Defense will be so hard to build, those who do manage to get a high def level, will reap big benefits.
PK combat will work in such a fashion that a lower level person will be able to hit a higher level person, but they wont be inflicting as much damage per hit as the stronger opponent.
So, if a person does level both their att and def high, they'll be fighting within a system that's balanced for them to be taking damage... but they wont be.
There is something else in place to ensure that no single person can be too uber powerful and like kill an army solo, but i've probably given away too much that i should've just let people figure out anyways ;p so i'll stop here.