Velderan |
One of the big problems that have been commented on in the general thread have been the complete disbalance of defense versus offense in the 3.5 system. namely, at high levels, 1st and even second attacks in a progression tend to be auto hits. The main reason for this, really, is that characters have scaling offensive abilities and do not have scaling defensive abilities. This is something that really needs to be rectified to make higher level play balanced. What I'd like to see, is a defense class feature based on BAB, but, I'm aware most people would consider this too much of a fix.
One of the things pathfinder has done well with other feats, such as the skill feats, is given them some kind of scale to offset their relative uselessness. The skill feats, while not powerful, are at least not worth ignoring, depending on the focus of your character.
So, in that vein, I'd like to propose that feats, such as dodge and skill focus, be given a scaling progression. Honestly, a +1-2 to ac is just not really worth it compared to monsters that have +35 to hit. Instead, I think that each feat needs to be given a progression of 1-5, based on character level (basically, make them 1/4 character level). This way, the feats are actually worth using, and go at least some ways towards making offense and defense scale.
On a sidenote, I think shield focus should grant a deflection bonus to defense, to at least make mundane shields worth using.