How low should your AC be before giving up?


Advice


So I'm working on a kickass damage dealer for PFS that
I'm real happy with. Problem is, his AC is abysmal, and he's a bloodrager, so it only gets worse when he rages. I've only done the calculations for level 10, but at that level my AC is going to be a horrible 15/13 when raging. Now I could shell out 12K to up that to 19/17, but it'll hurt my DPR quite a bit, and I'm just not sure it's worth it.
So tl;dr- how low should your AC be (and at what level) to just not care anymore?

Sovereign Court

My rule of thumb is that anyone regularly in melee should have at last level+15 AC, and you don't start thinking of yourself as a tank until clearly past level+20.

That said, I ran into a freak monster with +25/+25/+25/+25/+25 to hit at level 9 recently, so even that doesn't always work.


In my current group, the low AC/high DPR barbarian has died 5 times to date.

The WBL gap from rezzing repeatedly is starting to slow his DPR.


We have a party that's getting into high levels (14 now) and monsters have a nearly +20 to hit. We've all abandoned armor and we're now focusing on other ways to protect ourselves: temporary HP, Blur, Displacement, Mirror Image, and so on. We still wear armour in case the enemy rolls really low (and to avoid iteratives), but we've accepted the fact that almost any attack will hit.

Also, 15 AC at level 10 is abysmal, that means you haven't invested in it at all. You're probably wearing a breastplate and a DEX of 14 or something, no wonder your AC is terrible. Like any part of your equipment, your AC needs some money to function well. You can make your weapon Keen and maybe something else, but that's probably all you'll need for that. Upgrading your Cloak of Resistance is also part of maintenance. Most of my money usually goes to upgrading AC more than anything else, and by that level you'll be earning boatloads anyway.

Bottom line: go invest in AC. It might not deflect the first hit anymore, but it might make enemies miss iterative attacks. It's not as sexy as upgrading your weapon, but your weapon will still function when it's only a +1. A +1 armour simply won't cut it.


Coldwater has the right of it. By ten it is not about avoiding primaries, but rather secondaries or minion attacks. AC is almost never a terrible investment.


Barbarians as a rule are not tanks they kick out damage. It sounds as if you might not be using a shield either another two points right there before magic. I normally don't play Martial types however I have one that is not only a tank but a damage dealer as well. Titan Mauler for two levels Tower Shield Specialist 5th level. I'm currently wearing Full Plate and have a Tower Shield. Without including Dex or magic I hit 23. His Dex I think is 16 adding three more and the armor is +1. 27 AC. I take a slight hit for using Jotun grip but when I rage it balances out. He is last I checked 8th level. I plan to take two levels of a prestige class that will eliminate the down time of raging. I also plan on taking Shield Focus fears further improving my AC.
I have had players with high stats, magic and other abilities hit mid thirties easily most hitting mid forties AC. It can be done it just takes fine tuning.

Sovereign Court

I've seen an abyssal bloodrager in action that had AC 12 while raging. That PC worked quite well however by threatening massive damage to anyone coming within his 20ft threatened radius, and using trip/Blade Lash to keep them on the edge of it, prone.

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