Hi guys, I'm actually playing an Hardcore Campaign based on Undeads.
I'm the support of the party that sometimes needs to go meelee (we are only 3 players), but since I don't have lot of HP (long story) i need a good AC to be able to avoid most of the damage from attacks.
Stats/Race/Class/Mystery can't be changed, but I actually have:
16 STR (20) - 10 COS (14) - 16 DEX (20) - 12 INT (12) - 8 WIS (8) - 22 CHA (26) - [Level 10] - [Half-Orc]
My AC is: 10 + 5 (Dex) + 8 (Ascetic Armor) + 4 (Shield+2) + 8 (I have access to smite Evil, long story again) + 2 (Natural Armor) + 1 (Dodge Feat) = 38
- EagleSoul can give me +2 Sacred bonus = 40 (I have it from Paladin list, so 4th level only)
- Ironskin can give me +4 Natural Armor= 44
Touch AC should be: 24 (If i have done math correctly)
Now i know that it seems a lot, but campaign bosses have lot of way to buff themselves or touch Attacks, so I was wandering if there was a way to go beyond this.
I'm looking forward to take osyluth guile at 11 for an extra +8(actually +10, since i'm not fighting defensively RN) versus bosses, that would take me up to 48/34.
I don't think Shield Focus is worth, since it's a feat for a +1 only for normal AC, and I'm looking mostly to boost touch AC.
I always have hands occupied, so Crane Style feat chain is out of league rn.
I was thinking about taking Combat Expertise at 13, since I will be able to pump INT to 13 at 12.
Asap I will buy the ioun stone that gives +1 insight bonus to CA.
I already have Cassock of the Black Monk, but long story short, I cannot take its bonus since i made my God mad and my redemption has just started.
Every Spell/Item/Feat that can stack with my actual AC is welcomed.
Also Every spell that could lower Hit Chance of UNDEAD enemies.
I could also buy a Wand since I have UMD as class skill.
I could also consider traits, since I can still take a drawback for it.
Not the least you should look at buffs that don't involve increasing AC. Such as blur, which gives a 20% miss-chance on top of whatever AC you actually have. Yes, that likely requires teamwork but... it's well worth it.
I take it you're a Paladin/Oracle.
I want to mention that you are a divine styled fighter/support build and not a pure damage dealing machine. You may find yourself the last man standing and have to act as a backup Cleric.
consult the PF1 Class Build Guides at ZG.
Hopefully you'll find what you need there.
Also Items that can save you thread and consider the slow regen and +Con vs death ioun stones. Talismans, Aegis of Recovery...
Just buffing AC isn't gonna cut it but it looks good. Armor bonuses are half the cost of weapon bonuses. There are different bonuses like Dex, deflection, dodge, so review your magic items.
Keeping saves high is another line of defense against spells and abilities. As a Paladin with Oracle your Cha should be decent.
Wands - your class spell lists allow you to use those wands without UMD. So consider what you need. Divine lists have a lot of protections. The skill ranks may be better elsewhere.
On weapons, Special Materials like cryptstone, weapon qualities like ghost touch(+1), bane(+1), holy(+2). Oil of Bless Weapon. Weapon Blanch(s). etc.
If you are playing a paladin and can somehow manage to take an archetype Oath vs Undeath can be really helpful. At 3rd level the paladin’s armor is treated as if it had the ghost tough property. At 9th level it applies to his shield. If the retraining rules are allowed, you might be able to gain the archetype even though the character is not 1st level. You also gain searing light as a 3rd level paladin spell.
Mysterious Stranger wrote: If you are playing a paladin and can somehow manage to take an archetype Oath vs Undeath can be really helpful. At 3rd level the paladin’s armor is treated as if it had the ghost tough property. At 9th level it applies to his shield. If the retraining rules are allowed, you might be able to gain the archetype even though the character is not 1st level. You also gain searing light as a 3rd level paladin spell. 1)I'm not a paladin, but my GM allowed me to pick up 2 spells from the paladin list to add to my oracle list (it's related to my BG) as if I was a Samsaran and Smite Abomination has been reworked to function as a normal Smite (oracle levels count as half Paladin levels for the extra damage)
2) The world is rotting too quickly, we have no time for retraining unluckily
3)As I said I'm not interested in changing class, I would lose about 80% of the PC concept.
Anguish wrote: Not the least you should look at buffs that don't involve increasing AC. Such as blur, which gives a 20% miss-chance on top of whatever AC you actually have. Yes, that likely requires teamwork but... it's well worth it. I'm not used to arcane spellcasting, so if you have suggestions for those spells, write them all down so I can compare them and see which wand will fit the best for me.
Teamworks feat are a bit hard to fit in our builds since we're only 3, but I could consider them if you have suggestions
i don't see any deflection bonus. ring of protection +1 is 2,000 gp (and if you got cash can get up to +5).
it would be good to know your class\es and caster level.
but if you have caster level of at least 8 then the ironskin spell you mentioned is already at +5 not +4 -remember it goes up by 1 every 4 levels beyond 4th, until +7 at level 16 (the spell has a mistype saying at 15).
Azothath wrote: I take it you're a Paladin/Oracle.
I want to mention that you are a divine styled fighter/support build and not a pure damage dealing machine. You may find yourself the last man standing and have to act as a backup Cleric.
consult the PF1 Class Build Guides at ZG.
Hopefully you'll find what you need there.
Also Items that can save you thread and consider the slow regen and +Con vs death ioun stones. Talismans, Aegis of Recovery...
Just buffing AC isn't gonna cut it but it looks good. Armor bonuses are half the cost of weapon bonuses. There are different bonuses like Dex, deflection, dodge, so review your magic items.
Keeping saves high is another line of defense against spells and abilities. As a Paladin with Oracle your Cha should be decent.
Wands - your class spell lists allow you to use those wands without UMD. So consider what you need. Divine lists have a lot of protections. The skill ranks may be better elsewhere.
On weapons, Special Materials like cryptstone, weapon qualities like ghost touch(+1), bane(+1), holy(+2). Oil of Bless Weapon. Weapon Blanch(s). etc.
1)As I said I'm the support of the team and the backup frontline for our Gunslinger, some of the creature that we fight are attracted to magic. Sometimes I'm getting focused sometimes not. I'm just looking ways to be untouchable (mostly).
2)I will check later
3)Those could be helpful, I'll check them rn.
4) Armor bonus: I have +8, no dex restrictions,I won't find a better solution for cheap price
Deflection bonus: Don't stack with the +8 of Smite Undead
Natural Armor: I will upgrade my amulet of natural armor as soon as I find a blacksmith
Sacred bonus: Eaglesoul
Dodge: Stacks with EVERYTHING. That's what I'm looking for.
Insight: the only thing I could think of, was the ioun stone, but it gives only a +1 (very good for a slotless item)
5)I have a clock of resistance +3
6)I'm not used to arcane spellcasting, so every spell that could help me is a very appreciated advice.
7)I'm not interested in raising my damage output since most of my action are used for buffing/healing.
zza ni wrote: i don't see any deflection bonus. ring of protection +1 is 2,000 gp (and if you got cash can get up to +5).
it would be good to know your class\es and caster level.
but if you have caster level of at least 8 then the ironskin spell you mentioned is already at +5 not +4 -remember it goes up by 1 every 4 levels beyond 4th, until +7 at level 16 (the spell has a mistype saying at 15).
My bad, I really forgot to mention the class, I'm a level 10 ascetic oracle.
So yes Ironskin is already +5, I didn't remember that.
Ring of protection doesn't stack with Deflection bonus from Smite Evil (Smite Abomination spell has been reworked)
Don’t discount deflections bonuses because of smite. Smite is highly limited so it may still be worth having a lesser deflection bonus for when you are not smiting or when being attacked by something that else when you are smiting.
Displacement gives a 50% miss chance. Mirror Image does not give an actual miss chance but can still help avoid being hit. Mage armor only gives you a +4 armor bonus to AC, but it is a force effect so applies vs attacks by incorporeal creatures. Haste gives you a +1 dodge bonus to AC. Extreme Flexibility gives you a +1 dodge bonus. Polymorph spells can give you a size bonus to DEX which will stack with enchantment bonus to DEX. Being small will also give you a size bonus to AC so changing form can give a decent boost to AC. Use Alter self to change into a goblin for a +2 AC.
Fog Cutting Lenses and the Obscuring Mist spell work wonders at preventing incoming damage. Ranged attackers can't target you at all, and everything else has a miss chance.
If you are at 40 AC at level 10, you are already ahead of the curb on optimized AC. At this point you really should be looking at other forms of defense. Miss chances are indispensable, if you can get one do it… a pair of Haunted Boots will give you a 1/day 20%miss chance for 1min which can be highly useful against bosses…
If you are being hit regularly by random mooks then your DM is playing a power game and/or fudging numbers and your AC doesn’t actually matter anymore… to put it into perspective at level 10, most enemies have between +15-20 to hit, this means the majority of them have to nat 20 to hit you and will almost never confirm their crits.
Touch AC is your weakness, but there unfortunately isnt a whole lot that you can do about this… the simplest solution to your touch AC would be a 1 level dip into Scaled Fist Monk… but you said no to class changes and multiclassing…
If you need defensive spells, here's the list of Oracle spells on AoN. Defending against BBEGs though takes a lot of different forms.
1. Pump up your AC: typical defensive buffs for AC are Armor, Deflection, Dex, Dodge, Natural Armor, Shield and Size. Most strictly defensive spells or items that improve AC hit one of those types, so they make good search terms on AoN
2. Don't be there: can you pick up Use Magic Device as a Class skill and max out the ranks? At L10 with a 26 Cha that's UMD +21 meaning you auto-succeed at using wands. A Wand of Windy Escape lets you use a Swift action to turn into a gas and avoid 1 successful attack against you. There's also Acrobatics to tumble away, picking up Mobility and Spring Attack so that you can leap out of melee combat, or similar spells/magic items
3. Pump up your HP: Bear's Endurance will give you +20 HP; False Life is another 1d10+ CL though you'll need a wand of it. Instead you could use Aid for slightly less. Shield Other, cast by someone else on you, will let them take half your HP and give you a +1 Deflection bonus to boot
4. limit/penalize the BBEG's attacks: Blinded, Entangled, Grappled, Pinned, Prone and others will keep your foes from using their full potential on you in a combat round. Consecrate will ensure all Undead in a 20' radius suffer a -1 on all attacks, no save, no SR. Also, before you talk about no class switches, an Unchained Rogue can Sneak Attack an Undead and in the process can deliver Bewildered; the damaged enemy is -2 to attack for 1 round; -4 to attack the rogue that damaged them.
Here at L10 you have access to L5 spells right? Angelic Aspect gives you the effect of Protection from Evil (+2 Deflection bonus, +2 Resistance bonus), along with Low-Light Vision, 60' Darkvision, Resist Acid 10, Cold 10, DR 5/Evil and 30' Fly speed with Average maneuverability. If you can manage a DC 15 Fly check you can hover above your enemies gaining a Higher Ground bonus (+1 to attacks) as well. Not a bad use of a Standard action, but if you can throw it on a scroll and cast it from that instead that'd be great.
Undead typically have a "Good" Will save unfortunately, which means the average CR10 Undead has a +13 Will save and your L5 spells with a 26 Cha have a 23 DC; your enemies will save against your Will save spells over half the time. Even still it can't hurt to have spells like Halt Undead or Sanctuary to use against the minions so they might not be able to target you. Of course, Hide From Undead, Greater feels like a must for this PC.
Again, foes need to make a Will save to detect you which stinks, but any that fail or non-intelligent undead have no means to detect you or your allies under the effect of the spell for 10 minutes/level. With that Greater version you can make attacks, channel energy and so on without breaking the spell, so go nuts!
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