I’m with Overgeeked on this one. It can be much harder to ‘just have a serious conversation with’ or ‘kick to the cub’ someone who is a long time friend or someone’s partner.
Players who optimize usually have no problem spamming such effective tactics. While I as a DM have no desire to spam a solution. I’m trying to facilitate interesting experiences and spamming anything is anathema to that. Sure one encounter in 5 or 6 might have an area of effect that ignores an obscenely high AC. However I don’t want to exclude 70% of creatures in a game by focusing on these.
It has also been suggested that a way round a high AC is to target other players. This has the effect of rewarding the optimizer who gains even thicker plot armour as enemies divert around them like a train’s snow plough. Targeting PCs that haven’t optimized. This is unsatisfactory for me.
It is not satisfying to feel overshadowed. There is a big difference between what a character using an action, bonus action, multiple attacks and a reaction can do in a round vs a character that casts one spell or makes one attack. A big part of optimization involves making all these options hit hard. We know there can be problems with sentinel, polearm mastery, shield spells, some of the battlemaster techniques. Now it has also been suggested that multiclassing or feats be banned. Stopping everyone to else using things that are fun because some people combine them in the most efficient way possible and then spam that is not satisfactory either.
My piece of advice is to speak to one of the players in question out of game and say, that you aren’t enjoying the experience of DMing because of the optimization. Ask them to DM. Let them have the challenge of picking monsters and maintaining the balance of difficulty. Let them see the faces and reactions of the players when they feel overshadowed. Let them struggle to come up with reasonable reactions on an ongoing basis. Even if it’s for a couple of sessions it might open their eyes.
You never know, they may be great at it, if they apply all that ingenuity to something more supportive. If it doesn’t, well at least you tried. It’s then a question of bad gaming or no gaming. Time is precious. If it really can’t be resolved play Lords of Waterdeep instead and save the aggro.
PS. This is a genuine question to
@Ruin Explorer how is Plate Armour and a shield AC 19?
PPS. The shield of faith can be cast as a bonus action and lasts all combat.
@Horwath it doesn’t need to be used in every encounter, only needs to be used where the enemy is tougher or in big numbers. Enemies already struggle to hit AC 20+. The same applies for
shield. You only need to use it in the 5-10% of hits that penetrate regular AC. This kind of Plan B casting where protection comes at little action economy cost and can be used as needed is extremely efficient (and optimized).
PPS. Really disappointed to see how personal things got at Overgeeked for sharing an opinion... particularly one that while debatable, isn’t extreme or even unusual. Seeing the reactions to my apparently ‘weak’ example of high AC, I can understand them not wanting to give their own adding fuel to the fire.
