Reactions to Injury: 5 or more hits in one turn

[Shostak]

Originally Posted by Major Ross

So, if I understand the rules correctly, if I elect to simply "defend" for my next "action", then that will effectively serve my -2 DX penalty, correct?

Yes.

However, after I take the 5 hits, for the next turn, my DX is now effectively adjusted to be -2 and that could impact both the order I attack and the odds of landing a hit by a negative 25%!

Your DX will only be at -2 the next turn if you had already acted on the turn you received 5 wounds, since the wound penalty affects your next action. This is a change from Classic TFT to Legacy Edition. In Classic, the penalty applied to the entire following turn, whereas Legacy specifies only the next action. This lets someone recover much more quickly than in Classic.

So, really, for a low DX character, it would be wise to "defend" after taking that much damage and try and recover your bearings, if you will, before attempting another attack (unless you're feeling lucky!).

It's always a matter of chance, but making decisions with an understanding the odds is a sound strategy.