18 normal, 16 AC while clumsy 2, it doesn't reduce dex directly, but gives status penalty straight up in the dexterity checks and DC.
The conditions have been simplified in PF2 so there's no recalculating stats from the ground up. This is one reason the wording isn't that it's Dex damage or a Dex penalty, therefore these other stats are changed. Rather it's a penalty directly to those Dex-based stats. Done.
Technically, your Dex remains the same (which could matter if you now wouldn't have qualified for some feats, like an MCD!)
So Clumsy 2 has the same effect on targets regardless of armor. No need to extrapolate beyond the rules given.
Overly simple perhaps, yet also balanced in its way.
The Clumsy condition is already worded to where it doesn't reduce your Dexterity as an attribute, but rather applies a penalty to checks and DCs involving Dexterity instead.
Your movements become clumsy and inexact. Clumsy always includes a value. You take a status penalty equal to the condition value to Dexterity-based checks and DCs, including AC, Reflex saves, ranged attack rolls, and skill checks using Acrobatics, Stealth, and Thievery.
So regardless of what your Dexterity cap is and what other bonuses you might get (such as wearing Full Plate and using the Bulwark trait in place of your base Dexterity modifier for damaging Reflex saves), you will still reduce the relevant checks and DCs by the amount given from the condition.
Assuming a trained level 1 character with 16 Dexterity is wearing a Breastplate, they will have 18 AC. If they are affected by Clumsy 2, the AC is reduced to 16, as even if the Dexterity modifier exceeds the Max Dex cap by the Clumsy value, the condition applies a penalty to it equal to the value simply because Dexterity as an attribute is factored into the equation. The amount of Dexterity you receive as a bonus to your check or DC (whether it's modified or not) does not matter.
The conditions have been simplified in PF2 so there's no recalculating stats from the ground up. This is one reason the wording isn't that it's Dex damage or a Dex penalty, therefore these other stats are changed. Rather it's a penalty directly to those Dex-based stats. Done.
Technically, your Dex remains the same (which could matter if you now wouldn't have qualified for some feats, like an MCD!)So Clumsy 2 has the same effect on targets regardless of armor. No need to extrapolate beyond the rules given.
Overly simple perhaps, yet also balanced in its way.This is not a change in Pathfinder 2nd edition. The details have changed, but ability damage and penalties in PF1 also worked directly on the derived values, not to the ability score itself.
"For every 2 points of damage you take to a single ability, apply a –1 penalty to skills and statistics listed with the relevant ability."
"Dexterity: Damage to your Dexterity score causes you to take penalties on Dexterity-based skill checks, ranged attack rolls, initiative checks, and Reflex saving throws. The penalty also applies to your Armor Class, your Combat Maneuver Bonus (if you are Tiny or smaller), and to your Combat Maneuver Defense."
That's incomplete. Not wrong, just incomplete.
The Conditions linked to stats in PF2 stand in for both damage & drain from PF1. Prolonged drain could cut off a character's access to feats. Some people even argued this could cut off Prestige Class abilities if the PC couldn't meet a prereq. I think that was a holdover from 3.X. In PF1, technically you didn't lose the feat, just the ability to use it, and Paizo worked to take away stat prereqs for PrCs (even if the feats themselves had such).Also, Paizo devs verified that the rules you cited were the shorthand version of stat damage for ease of play, but not the whole picture. For example, some players would assert that encumbrance didn't change w/ Str damage since it's not listed. The devs said nope, all stats derived from the damage/drained stat should be changed, including encumbrance. Paizo thought it impossible to make an exhaustive list, and of scant value, so they hadn't. Officially, like in PFS, you could follow the shorthand rules or the full ramifications. The difference came up seldom, other than for encumbrance, where I did witness some scuffles. I'm pretty sure not all the Paizo staff or PFS leaders even knew this. *shrug*
I was not referring to temporary ability bonuses.
Odd you would make a statement on my behalf instead of asking.
You may say that things that were in the game and unlisted should not be affected. There's an element of fairness to that. Yet Paizo staff disagreed with you, saying explicitly that encumbrance (et al) should be affected as well as x1.5 weapon damage (an important example I'd forgotten about). I accept you may not accept that since it's not in print, yet they did consider it part of the impact from the beginning. (Perhaps much like visible Spell Emanations!)
Languages & spell slots* are interesting cases since then we're moving away from calculations, so I'd think they'd fall more in the realm of Drain, like feats do. Damage definitely did not deprive you of feats or their use, and Drain only cut you off from using them, not having them (which was important for prereqs). I believe that was after 24 hours (much like it took 24 hours for a temp ability bonus to act permanent), though that memory's a bit faded.
PF1 Damage & Drain show up in PF2 as Conditions either way. Given that we agree on PF1 Drain (it seems), then it's valid for me to inform people that their stats are unaffected in PF2. You correcting me on that is what sparked this side conversation.
*I'm reminded of a PFS scenario where it's likely that PCs have to strip off all their magic gear. Taking off stat items did empty some of the casters' bonus slots, and early on before they've spent many if any. I don't even think the writer intended that attrition.