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General Tabletop Discussion
Character Builds & Optimization
Lore Bard Debuffer: Spell Selection and Choice of Dip
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<blockquote data-quote="Blue" data-source="post: 7478494" data-attributes="member: 20564"><p>As a low-AC caster I hope you are playing defensively so thy don't always have shots at you. Using cover, ducking fully beihind something, having the rest of the party between you and melee opponents. I'm sorry that you think use of terrain and teammates to protect the squishies is "not the standard", we'll just have to disagree about that and let others make up their own mind.</p><p></p><p>So, some rounds you may not be visible, etc. Some rounds melee foes would need to suck attacks of opportunity to close with you can chose not to, or don't have the movement to, or whatever. Great, those rounds no attacks either way.</p><p></p><p>With cover (even if just an ally), let's assume that bounded accuracy says we'll hit around half the time. While a mathematical oversimplification, that's about one attack that hits per two attacks made. So 2 attacks -> 1 hit. At this point Shield and Cutting Words can help. At 6th (when you could have shield), it can protect against a 4 point range, or about 40% assuming the 50/50 chance (10 points) to hit. Cutting Words at that point averages 4.5 point range, so it's already a touch better on average. 45% of the first hits will be stopped by it at that point. It will increase again at 10th and 15th.</p><p></p><p>So, at about four attacks (and, oversimplified) against you for those two hits is where shield gets better. Because it will help against the second hit while Cutting Worlds gave a better percentage of hits into missed, but only against one.</p><p></p><p>And now it goes back to the question: How often do you and your party let your known squishy full caster take a bunch of attacks against AC in the same round? Sure, the DM is going to force it occasionally, but that's not going to be the default position for every combat.</p><p></p><p>When there are few attacks, because there will be some natural misses, still favor Cutting Words since it is better at turning a single hit into a miss. In the rarer cases when you expect to be the target of lots of attacks then Shield is better.</p><p></p><p>Does that corner case happen enough to offset the opportunity cost of taking Shield as a magical secret? That really depends on your party dynamic and DM. So it really varies by table if the cost for Shield is worth it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Blue, post: 7478494, member: 20564"] As a low-AC caster I hope you are playing defensively so thy don't always have shots at you. Using cover, ducking fully beihind something, having the rest of the party between you and melee opponents. I'm sorry that you think use of terrain and teammates to protect the squishies is "not the standard", we'll just have to disagree about that and let others make up their own mind. So, some rounds you may not be visible, etc. Some rounds melee foes would need to suck attacks of opportunity to close with you can chose not to, or don't have the movement to, or whatever. Great, those rounds no attacks either way. With cover (even if just an ally), let's assume that bounded accuracy says we'll hit around half the time. While a mathematical oversimplification, that's about one attack that hits per two attacks made. So 2 attacks -> 1 hit. At this point Shield and Cutting Words can help. At 6th (when you could have shield), it can protect against a 4 point range, or about 40% assuming the 50/50 chance (10 points) to hit. Cutting Words at that point averages 4.5 point range, so it's already a touch better on average. 45% of the first hits will be stopped by it at that point. It will increase again at 10th and 15th. So, at about four attacks (and, oversimplified) against you for those two hits is where shield gets better. Because it will help against the second hit while Cutting Worlds gave a better percentage of hits into missed, but only against one. And now it goes back to the question: How often do you and your party let your known squishy full caster take a bunch of attacks against AC in the same round? Sure, the DM is going to force it occasionally, but that's not going to be the default position for every combat. When there are few attacks, because there will be some natural misses, still favor Cutting Words since it is better at turning a single hit into a miss. In the rarer cases when you expect to be the target of lots of attacks then Shield is better. Does that corner case happen enough to offset the opportunity cost of taking Shield as a magical secret? That really depends on your party dynamic and DM. So it really varies by table if the cost for Shield is worth it. [/QUOTE]
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