Glass jaw of PC defenses

[Khanedur]

Hi guys,

I have had a great deal of trouble trying to make a character that has an average Non AC defense that is 2 less than his AC (without shortchanging the AC of course)

Is this intentional? Do we have an explanation for this? I just feel that with all of the vs ref and vs fort powers that the wrong monster group will wreck a party. Especially since most of those are encounter powers.

I haven't yet played enough games to have a good sense. Is it a problem?

 

[ac_noj]

The gap gets bigger too. Both AC and other defenses get a +6 enhancement bonus and up to +5 from stats, but AC gets an additional +2 from improving armor materials. The only way to keep up is to take Iron Will, Great Fortitude and Lightning Reflexes.

Worse, only two of your three other defenses can get the stat boost and for some classes you wont even get that.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Feature, not bug, IMO. It means that every character has an Achilli's Heel. But since every class has a different one, nobody's going to womped--or shine--in every combat.

 

[Runestar]

Seems more like a bug when at higher lvs, a monster would be able to overcome your worst defense on a roll of 2 or higher...

 

[Syrsuro]

Seems more like a bug when at higher lvs, a monster would be able to overcome your worst defense on a roll of 2 or higher...

Where do you come up with that 'statistic'?

Carl

 

[Family]

L30 Brute (Tarrasque) Attacks: 34 vs AC, 32 vs Fortitude, 33 vs Reflex.
L30 Rogue (my build) Defences: 43 AC, 34 Fortitude, 44 Reflex.

I generally see that at all levels it's supposed to be a 50/50 chance of hitting each other's AC, and one of the defences is a weak spot.

The trick is to be slightly ahead of the curve.

 

[greyscale1]

Family has it right. His rogue is good but not savagely optimized either, and from what I've seen, that is basically how it looks with relatively well put together characters.

If you went from 1-30 with so many chances to remake yourself you really should be able to figure something out

 

[Runestar]

Where do you come up with that 'statistic'?

Carl

Observation?

Lets say that stat has a mod of +1 or +2 at most (as may be the case for a heavy armour fighter who dumped dex and int). At lv30, with a +6 cloak, you have a defense score of 10+15+6+2, or +33. Any lv30 foe will have an attack bonus of at least that figure, meaning that if said attack happens to target your weakest defense, it will never miss.

It is actually quite simple. Your defenses increase by +1 every 2 lvs, while monsters' attack rolls improve by +1 every lv. Simple math tells you that unless you put a lot of effort into really boosting the relevant stats/defense, the monster's attack rolls will eventually surpass said defense value.

AC is an anomaly, since every PC will eventually end up with more or less the same figure. So yeah, every PC will have at least one weakness an astute DM can take advantage of. Bug or feature? You decide.

 

[firesnakearies]

It seems to me that the same principle works in the reverse, to the PCs favor, as well. The Tarrasque's Will defense is *ELEVEN* points lower than its AC, for example.

 

[Mengu]

Low level or high level doesn't seem to matter that much. At 1st level, a fighter is not going to have much more than a 12 Will defense.The controllers you are facing at 1st level can easily be around 3rd, like the Goblin Hexer, who with a +7 attack vs Will, hits the fighter 80% of the time with his encounter power.

I'm guessing the balancing factor there is the fact that there are a lot more monster who regularly attack AC, than there are who attack other defenses. And these are typically Controllers, which you are not supposed to face more than 1 or 2 at a time.