[Ironhawk]

Yeah lifedraing is capped now. Dont recall what it is exactly since I dont use it too much these days. I think you can rely on it to heal some few hp per round and some light battle fatigue but it wont make your guy an unstoppable powerhouse like back in Dom2.

If you are going up against mobs, you are correct that defense is not as valuable. Generally speaking you will want to focus on luck, awe, eth, etc to prevent getting hit and/or strong prot to prevent damage. Remember to use 0-enc units or have some reinvig tho - if you get fatigued your armor will not be worth much anymore.

As for PD thugging, its not that complex. A Fire/Frost brand, some solid protection/hp, and a luck amulet is enough to defeat most nations PD. Alternatively, you could go the Fear/Awe combo which is pretty effective given that rout == death for PD.

Spells for thugs/SCs are pretty much the same as dom2. Mirror Image, Mistform, Invulnerability, Iron Will, etc. Quickness is fine for 0-enc but debatable for others.

One last point about Defense skill - while its not very valuable against mobs - you ignore it at your own risk. Having low defense skill will open you up to attacks from Anti-SCs.