Hit Lower Defense (HLD) is an item property found on weapons and reading glasses. A successful hit with such a weapon lowers the defense rating of the target by 25% for 8 seconds. All attackers enjoy the benefit from a successful HLD hit. In other words, the effect is global and not specific to the attacker who scored the HLD hit.
On weapons, the intensity range for the property runs from 2% to 50%. The Mace and Shield Reading Glasses have 30% and the Lyrical Reading Glasses 20% HLD.
There is no cap on Hit Lower Defense.
Multiple or simultaneous hits with HLD do not lower the target's defense any lower than 25%. However, the 8 second duration timer will reset with each successful hit.
For those who play with sound effects enabled, there is a unique noise associated with a successful HLD hit.
There is a system message when you are the victim of an HLD attack: "Your defense has been lowered!!" When the attack expires, the message is, "Your defense returns to normal."
HLD vs. HCI
Tactically, Hit Lower Defense and Hit Chance Increase (HCI) appear quite similar. In fact, the two properties are entirely different. HLD affects the defense of what you hit, while HCI is your chance to hit in the first place. It may sound like the same thing, but it isn't. HLD requires you to hit someone / something before there is a chance for it to work. Whereas HCI works everytime you hit.
Example:
Opponent has max Weapon Skill (120) + max DCI (45%)
You have max Weapon Skill (120) + max HCI (45%)
Result:
You have a 50/50 chance to hit or miss.
But if you score an HLD hit, the next round is...
Opponent has max Weapon Skill (120) + 20% DCI
You have max Weapon Skill (120) + max HCI (45%)
Result:
For this example, you now have a much better than 50/50 chance to hit for the duration of the HLD effect.
Another way to look at it is that HLD stacks with HCI, once a target is affected.
