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Message: <blockquote data-quote="NotAYakk" data-source="post: 8137582" data-attributes="member: 72555">I don't want to make AC bounded accuracy problems worse.  So no?So, as mentioned above, this is an example of extreme cases.The thing is, 27 AC doesn't break things at that scale of game. You are hard to hit, but not impossible.  You are just wearing very rare armor and using attunement slots for less rare AC boosts.27 AC plus shield brings things to the brink.  Doing further AC optimization plus shield breaks things.What more, more modest AC boosting ... plus shield breaks things at earlier points in the game.  A level 1 character in plate+shield has 20 AC, high; add in the shield spell, and it breaks bounded accuracy at level 1.But at level 1 this is less of a problem, because spell slots are rare.By mid levels, you can pull off full tank AC, optimize even a little bit, and add shield, and it breaks bounded accuracy.  And by that point spell slots (low level ones at least) are a dime a dozen.And the DM adjust this by increasing the attack bonus of monsters was a problem I mentioned above and directly addressed, did I not?I mean, did I not address that?  Was it real life?  Or just a fantasy?  Caught in a landslide, No escape from reality.When the DM responds to AC optimization by scaling ATK bonuses, this is a problem.  You get, as I talked about above, a race between PCs to scale AC.  Gaining AC for the tank simply makes everyone else easier to hit, instead of making the tank harder to hit.I don't want that to happen.  Because I consider that to be dumb, leads to bad in-play experience, etc etc.I have seen the effects of a full on tank with modest AC investment plus shield, yes.  Have you?Again, the problem isn't that specific build.At almost every modest or higher level of optimization, a tank-like character using the shield spell breaks bounded accuracy.While the shield spell is expensive, this isn't much of a problem.  You get a miss.  But if you get a tank-like character with lots of spell slots,  you end up with basically unhittable character even when focus fired.An example does not define the problem.  An example illustrates the problem.  There are many, many ways to get AC that is high for the level, and when you do such a build plus have plenty of spell slots plus learn the shield spell, you break bounded accuracy.So I want the shield spell to be not as good in that case.  I want it to be about as good for a traditional cloth character, especially at low levels.  I am willing for it to be significantly better if a cloth character uses a higher level slot for it, and want it to be better than the 1st level slot.  I am willing for it to be slightly better if a tank character uses a higher level slot for it.Hence the design; limit the swing count of shield by the slot level, and make it reduce attack damage that gets through it.This makes using 1st level slots for tanks less useful, as they can get focused; so they nullify or blunt a blow or 2, but not every attack.If the tank-type burns a higher level slot to become nearly unhittable for a round, I am ok with that; higher level slots are much harder to get and generally rarer.For a cloth caster who gets the occasional blow, 1st level slots are almost as good.  If they get focused, they'll want to use a higher level slot.  The higher level slot gives better ROI than the original shield spell, because on a cloth caster shield doesn't make you super hard to hit, just harder to hit.  Half damage on the blows that do get through can be more valuable than the 5 points of AC.I have played casters without shield.  There are many uses for 1st level slots.  Not all of them are as amazingly good as absorb elements and shield, but they don't need to be.  They are 1st level slots.Shall I provide a list?[spoiler]Charm PersonDetect MagicFeather FallComprehend LanguagesFind FamiliarFloating DiskExpeditious RetreatDisguise SelfProtection from Evil and GoodUnseen ServantAlarmMage ArmorIdentifyLongstriderSnareCatapult[/spoiler]All of the above could be useful to cast as a 20 level wizard using 1st level slots.  Sometimes it just shaves 10 minutes of a ritual cast, sometimes it replaces gear, sometimes it is an emergency spell you might want to drop.Second, if you examine my changes, this doesn't make the shield spell a bunch worse for traditional cloth casters.  Because your miss chance isn't approaching 100%, the shield plus half damage on attacks that hit soaks as much or more damage than the shield spell does quite often.</blockquote>

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