there are many sources of AC and whenI looked at my level 12 AC31 ranger build I felt like AC was a little on the low side.
so firstly how much AC should you be striving for at e.g. level 5, 10, 15 and 20 as a full BAB character. not so much the max possible but the avg you should be aiming for to minimise damage you take for the most part.
secondly got any good tricks for boosting AC that others like myself may have overlooked ?
i know rings and amulets of protection and natural armor are always party favorites. maybe other less used feats ? level dips for multiclassers ? items not well know that can help stack on a bit more AC ?
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there are many sources of AC and whenI looked at my level 12 AC31 ranger build I felt like AC was a little on the low side.
so firstly how much AC should you be striving for at e.g. level 5, 10, 15 and 20 as a full BAB character. not so much the max possible but the avg you should be aiming for to minimise damage you take for the most part.
secondly got any good tricks for boosting AC that others like myself may have overlooked ?
i know rings and amulets of protection and natural armor are always party favorites. maybe other less used feats ? level dips for multiclassers ? items not well know that can help stack on a bit more AC ?
For a ranger (or any ranged character) the best AC is distance and/or concealment. Even a 10% miss chance is better than any feasible amount of AC IMO. Also, if you're not in melee range, you aren't going to get hit by anything that deals with non-touch AC.
Like I told my wife when she started playing an archer fighter--if you're close enough that the baddies can take a swing at you, then you're doing it wrong.
At higher levels AC isn't the best defense. Miss chances are generally better. Think about it. A 20% miss chance, the value of a lesser cloak of displacement, protects you from 20% of all those annoying attacks that involve attack rolls unless your opponent has true seeing or another means to bypass your effect. Yes, if your AC is really high they'll still miss you. But how much does that cloak cost vs. the cost of AC-boosting items? Eventually, you'll have an unhittable AC--and nothing will bother to hit you, instead eating the rest of the party. Meanwhile, you'll do less damage in melee than what you otherwise could, rendering your full-BAB less than useful. And that's if an enemy spellcaster doesn't just take you out because you forgot to build up your saves. Really, you need a mix of defenses at the higher levels.
At higher levels AC isn't the best defense. Miss chances are generally better. Think about it. A 20% miss chance, the value of a lesser cloak of displacement, protects you from 20% of all those annoying attacks that involve attack rolls unless your opponent has true seeing or another means to bypass your effect. Yes, if your AC is really high they'll still miss you. But how much does that cloak cost vs. the cost of AC-boosting items? Eventually, you'll have an unhittable AC--and nothing will bother to hit you, instead eating the rest of the party. Meanwhile, you'll do less damage in melee than what you otherwise could, rendering your full-BAB less than useful. And that's if an enemy spellcaster doesn't just take you out because you forgot to build up your saves. Really, you need a mix of defenses at the higher levels.
dosent anything that can see invisble also negate displacment effect ?
I always like the Heavy Armor Optimization and Greater Heavy Armor Optimization feats out of Races of Stone. Also the Shield Ward feat from the PHB II as well as Shield Focus (PCR) and/or Shield Specialization (PHB II).
At higher levels AC isn't the best defense. Miss chances are generally better. Think about it. A 20% miss chance, the value of a lesser cloak of displacement, protects you from 20% of all those annoying attacks that involve attack rolls unless your opponent has true seeing or another means to bypass your effect. Yes, if your AC is really high they'll still miss you. But how much does that cloak cost vs. the cost of AC-boosting items? Eventually, you'll have an unhittable AC--and nothing will bother to hit you, instead eating the rest of the party. Meanwhile, you'll do less damage in melee than what you otherwise could, rendering your full-BAB less than useful. And that's if an enemy spellcaster doesn't just take you out because you forgot to build up your saves. Really, you need a mix of defenses at the higher levels.dosent anything that can see invisble also negate displacment effect ?
No. See invisible specifically does not negate illusions. You're still visible, just not where someone thinks you are. You need true seeing. Also, blindsight should work fine as well.
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I am going to say that you want monsters = your CR hitting you no more than ~50% of the time, preferably 25% or lower if you are focusing on it (like using a shield). I am pulling those numbers out of my ass, so lets run some numbers and see how we stack up. A single monster CR = to your lvl should be a relatively difficult challenge for a solo character, but you should be able to last a couple rounds against them at their full attack. Using the Monster Creation rules for various levels we get
lvl Hit 50% 25%
5 10 21 26
10 18 29 34
15 24 35 41
20 30 41 46
All full BAB classes get medium armor, so you are looking at least +6 there. A 14 dex will get you +2. This leaves +3 from magic geat at lvl 5 to hit the 50% mark. Very doable with a +1 rop and +2 armor. A +1 shield will bring you up to a 24 easily.
At lvl 10 (62K gp wbl, ~15k on defensive items), this gets harder. +3 armor for 9 (9k), +2 from dex (your likely focusing on str, so no boosts here), +1 ROP (2k), +1 ANA (2k), and you are still only up to 23 using almost all the wealth. A magial shield still wont take you to the 29.
At lvl 15 (~60K on defensive items), +5 armor for 11 (25K), +4 dex (+4 item, will not include cost because it can come out of other gear), +3 ROP (18k), +3 ANA (18K), and you are up to 31, having spent slightly more than wbl. A shield will bring this up to the 35.
Secondary attacks from monsters are usually 5 less, so these levels are effective against them. Also, you will have a slightly higher efficiency against monsters.
Comparing real monsters to the chart, you have some monsters with significantly higher attacks and some with slightly lower but usually more attacks.
You can also do a comparison of average enemy DPR against your AC and your life total. If we assume you want to last 4 rounds against a monster of CR = lvl (which is about how long it should take you to kill it on average), and we know how much HP you have, and use the table to determine its average damage we can calculate how high your AC needs to be.
I will assume the PC has a con of 14 and is not taking the +1 HP option. I will assume no criticals in DPR, since they will just end encounters anyway.
CR/PC HP/Monster max DPR/Monster Avg Dam/Monster Hit/AC needed
5 42 10.5 20 10 21
10 80 20 45 18 27
15 117 29.5 70 24 33
20 155 38.75 120 30 37
These numbers are lower, since monster hit bonus and monster damage bonus do not scale together. I like these more, and they are in line with what you can actually get.
I usually use a transformer hooked up to DC current
That... won't give you AC...
I usually use a transformer hooked up to DC currentThat... won't give you AC...
Yeah, but hooking a transformer directly up to DC would be a great way to cast a fireball spell....
Back on topic.
Miss chance can be converted into a rough estimation of AC.
For example, if most of my opponents are hitting me on an 11+(50/50 chance or 10 out of 20), then a 20% miss chance is worth the same as roughly +2 AC. A 50% miss chance is worth +5 AC.
If my opponents are hitting me on a 2+(19 times out of 20), then a 20% miss chance is worth 3.8 AC, and a 50% miss chance is worth 9.5 AC.
Note, this rough estimation neglects that miss chance CAN negate a critical hit. That means miss chance is probably worth a little more than these numbers, but in general, the more often you are getting hit, the more valuable miss chance becomes.
AC scales with magic items(armor, ring of protection, amulet of NA), feats, and dexterity
To hit scales with magic items(weapons), buffs(haste, bless, bard song), feats, BAB from HD, and stats(strength or dex)
Magic items, buffs, feats, and stats generally cancel each other out. There is no AC component that scales like BAB. Thus as you get higher in level, you will find that you get hit more often. Thus, miss chance becomes more valuable at higher levels.
As a general guide the AC to aim for is 20 + your level.
My 20th level Paladin [AoW] has base AC of 42, that goes up to 46 with Divine Bond [+4 Defending] active or 50 vs. a Smite target [Cha +8]. So that's 54 vs. a Smite target using Divine Bond and 51 when Hasted. We also have access to the Spell Compendium and with Sacred Haven it's up to 53.
The best way to build up good AC is to use small bonuses from a lot of sources:
Armour with armour bonuses, or bracers of protection
Dodge bonuses (good because they stack) such as from Dodge, dexterity modifier, and other class-based sources
Deflection bonuses (rings of protection)
Natural armour bonuses (amulet of natural armour)
Shield bonus (never forget it's a separate bonus, and a ring of force shield does not count as a shield)
For your ranger, a mithral shirt kicks off with +4 armour bonus plus whatever it is enchanted with. Your gain in dexterity will help a lot as well ... but remember a +2 item generally costs four times what a +1 item does, so you are better off with four +1 items than one +2 item.
The rule of thumb I use is that
level + 10 = poor
level + 15 = good
level + 20 = excellent
I think the examples above are a bit high. Also, it's important to start layering defenses, including miss chances, mobility, and saving throws.
Level 5 means about 25 for decent, 30 for good.
Level 10 means about 36 for decent, 41 for good.
Level 15 means about 51 for decent, 56 for good.
Level 20 means about 66 for decent, 71 for good.
Where the heck are you getting these numbers from?
Your "decent" numbers are extremely good for your suggested levels and your "good" numbers are nigh unreachable for the suggested levels. The absolute highest I've been able to get in 20 levels (with non situational bonuses) is AC 60--and that took some creative interpretations (and a lot of Improved Natural Armor feats).
The highest attack bonus of any monster that I'm aware of is the Tarrasque with +37. He needs a natural 20 to hit anything with 57 armor class or higher!
Why, then is 66 decent and 71 good at 20th level (when the Tarrasque is supposedly meant to be fought by 25th-level characters).
Your numbers look WAY too inflated to me.