Optimizing my AC as a Paladin (Wrath of the Righteous)

[Tobel]

Hi all!

Our group is in the midst of a WotR campaign just attaining level 8 (Mythic Tier 2). I believe we should be finishing book two coming up in our next session. I am a Shining Knight Paladin (strength based).

That being said, I am noticing some deficiencies with my character (and quite possibly my gameplay style) in terms of defense. Would love your opinions on what to do mechanically, and what to aim for if we can ever get more gold.

For information - Overall my gear value is under 10K (depending on how you value Radiance). I have purchased 5,000 worth of magic items, and have 2,000g on me.

Important items:
Radiance (in the form of a two handed warhammer)
+1 breastplate
+2 belt of giant str
+1 cloak of resistance

Our DM has been creative on customizing things for us, so since I was heavily into the RP side of the Paladin / Marshall role, I have a Foo Dragonne animal companion. This is super nifty from the RP standpoint, but not really holding up in a standup fight with the big bad.

So basically - I'm sitting at AC20. I realize I need to start picking up some simple things (ring of prot, possibly an animated shield), but is there anything I should be looking at feat or mythic wise to improve my AC situation? In our last fight, I basically was down in one round (mythic initiative bigbad) due to poor swift action economy (didn't get my smite off immediately, instead used mythic advance) and never really made a big impact. While I don't expect to be invincible, I hope to at least be in the face of the enemy long enough for my group to dish out some damage.

[Thunderlord]

I absolutely love this feat but the feat tax is taxing. In all seriousness, if you get a headband of intelligence and put your new ranks into bluff and take dodge, you can grab Osyluth Guile which adds your cha to ac against one target. Why do you not have heavy armor? With endurance and Mithral Fullplate, you can sleep in armor so I don't see what the problem is.

[Tobel]

Thunderlord wrote:

I absolutely love this feat but the feat tax is taxing. In all seriousness, if you get a headband of intelligence and put your new ranks into bluff and take dodge, you can grab Osyluth Guile which adds your cha to ac against one target. Why do you not have heavy armor? With endurance and Mithral Fullplate, you can sleep in armor so I don't see what the problem is.

That is one option moving forward. So far that hasn't happened primarily because I couldn't afford it at character creation, and Mithral Fullplate is 10k right now. As I mentioned, I don't think we've actually received near 10k in gold yet so far in this campaign.

I do have leadership, but we haven't really been afforded the opportunity to use cohort as magic item crafters, etc yet. Should this be something I am pushing for?

[Thunderlord]

Tobel wrote:

Thunderlord wrote:

I absolutely love this feat but the feat tax is taxing. In all seriousness, if you get a headband of intelligence and put your new ranks into bluff and take dodge, you can grab Osyluth Guile which adds your cha to ac against one target. Why do you not have heavy armor? With endurance and Mithral Fullplate, you can sleep in armor so I don't see what the problem is.

That is one option moving forward. So far that hasn't happened primarily because I couldn't afford it at character creation, and Mithral Fullplate is 10k right now. As I mentioned, I don't think we've actually received near 10k in gold yet so far in this campaign.

I do have leadership, but we haven't really been afforded the opportunity to use cohort as magic item crafters, etc yet. Should this be something I am pushing for?

I've never played WotR but I imagine mythic characters should be flushed with gold. I imagine the gold will come soon enough so I wouldn't put too much gold into the breastplate. Leadership could still be worth it because you'll have to eventually craft things.

[Keaya]

Have you considered dual-pathing at all? If AC and defence is what you're looking for, Guardian is right up your alley.
While it may not be an immediate solution,(I think the next tier up is after the end fight of the book) it's definitely worth looking into for getting more defensive abilities.

I do also believe there are some goodies around in the citadel if you're perceptive enough. (You didn't hear that from me though ;) )

[Trevor86]

These are the most common ac boosters I've come across for my paladin build. He isn't mythic, so there probably are mythic specific options for you not adressed here. One obvious advantage to mythic is that you get an additional 5 x 2 free stat points and can potentially use mythic feats to get even more free stat points (among a plethora of really broken abilities that are potentially better, but for paladins, 10 free points of charisma potentially equals 10 extra ac, 5 extra to hit and 5 extra to all saves and to targeted mercy save dc).

I will note right away though that focussing on AC above a certain point isn't the best way to further increase your survivability. What I would instead do is get things like the targeted mercy and options to cast powerful defensive buffs on top of your AC and free sanctuaries from your targeted mercy (like displacement). I do know from some basic research that I.E. displacement is fairly easy to get by selecting a legendary item/artefact as a mythic path ability, then give the artefact spellcasting as a trait a few times, so you get any chosen spell up to 3 times per day as a spell-like ability.

Anyway, to get the best basic AC, you need some strength for hitting things and to wear heavy armor (18 should do considering the path and your paladin abilities), 16 dex, everything else into charisma.

Mythril fullplate +x . Recommended: crusader armor enchant for +2 deflection vs smite evil targets.

Shield + x. If using a 2h weapon/version of radiance get the quickdraw feat and use a quickdraw shield after attacking.

Dodge and osiloth guile, 3 ranks into acrobatics to increase fighting defensively bonus. If you have 13 int you could also consider combat expertise.

-Basic ac other increasing items like amulet of natural armor, ring of protection (debatable), dusty rose Ioun stone.

If you then fight defensively against a target you can smite evil (virtually anyone in this module), you get 2 x your charisma mod in extra AC on top of what is basically the best AC gear available.

[Leitner]

As a couple of people above already mentioned. Some really easy armor improvements things like:

Grab a full plate instead of a breastplate
Amulet of natural armor
Ring of protection(depending on how reliable your smite has been)

These three should have been purchased prior to a belt of giant strength, but easy enough to grab later. Combat expertise is quite good. Specifically the mythic version of the feat is rather exceptional.

[GM Rednal]

Question: What's your GM's style for high-AC characters? If enemies think you're too hard to hit, they may try to bypass you in favor of striking at your less-defended comrades. Too much AC as a tank - if that's the role you're trying to play - can actually be a problem.

That said, you are definitely way lower than you should be. At Level 8, a defensive-type character should have 26-31 AC, with the range increasing at about one point per level afterwards. Going beyond that hits diminishing returns, so there's no real value to it. (Better to raise your other defenses instead.)

[Phntm888]

I'm a player in Wrath of the Righteous (we just finished Book 3), and we got a LOT more Wealth than 10k gold by the end of Book 2. I'd double check with whoever is keeping track of your loot. I know for a fact there at least a couple sets of full plate you can find in Book 2 that are definite upgrades over your breastplate - and some items that are worth 10K on their own.

You should have had some opportunities to sell some stuff at the end of Book 1, too, which should have gotten you more funds.