Evading (dodging) won’t reduce incoming damage so much as negate it entirely. Anytime an attack hits you and you get the “Evaded” message (or “Block”), the attack has no effect on you. No damage, no conditions, no debuffs. Also, no bouncing or AOE blast, for the skills that normally do that on hit.
Some projectiles track, some do not. Non-tracking projectiles can be ‘dodged’ just by strafing away. Tracking projectiles, or fast projectiles, you will need to avoid by other means. In some cases you can throw off the projectile’s aim by rapidly strafing left and right, so you’re not moving more than ~50 range in either direction before reversing, but the projectile predicts that you’ll be moving much farther in one direction, thus missing (without any “Miss” message).
Things like arrows, gunshots, mesmer projectiles will generally need to be evaded. Fire and ice elemental projectiles generally can be strafe-gamed. Otherwise, you’ll need to figure out how other projectiles behave and which method of avoidance is best. Save your dodges for attacks that either track or land too quickly to move away from. And don’t neglect to use other methods of attack avoidance (blocks, blinds, CCs, line of sight/environmental obstacles).
