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<blockquote data-quote="theNater" data-source="post: 4349337" data-attributes="member: 62560">Okay, things to consider:1. AC needs to be higher than others, because AC is probably more likely to be targeted and attacks targeting AC usually have higher bonuses.2. Reflex can be increased by a shield, so we don't need to spend as many ability points on dex or int if we have heavy armor and a good shield.3. We're not interested in anything but defenses, so we can do strange builds.Let's try a paladin, plate armor and heavy shield, and give him high stats from the fort and will pairs.&nbsp; Using a 16, 16, 12, 10, 10 array gives us(with the 12 boosting ref):AC 20ref 14fort 14will 14Very well rounded, and a human can turn those 14s into two 15s and a 16.&nbsp; Nice and solid.But we might be able to squeeze some more points out of it by taking a class that focuses on one defense.&nbsp; We can't beat 20 for a starting AC, and doing it with hide requires a 20 dex or 20 int, which costs us too many ability points.&nbsp; So let's try fighter.&nbsp; We'll get a +2 to fort instead of +1 to everything, so we don't need as much fort from abilities.&nbsp; To balance defenses, we'll use an 18, 12, 12, 10, 10, 10 array.&nbsp; With the 18 on will and the 12s on fort and ref, we get:AC 19ref 13fort 13will 14Ouch.&nbsp; Ouch ouch ouch.&nbsp; Not getting the class bonus spread out meant we needed to increase one of our abilities too much to make up for not having a class bonus there.&nbsp; 'Course, a fighter who goes from a 14, 14, 14, 12, 12, 11 array gets:AC 19ref 14fort 14will 12which isn't any better.Yeah, I'm not seeing anything better than a human paladin.&nbsp; Which I find heartening, because it means that to get the best defenses just take the race with the best racial defense bonuses and the class with the best class defense bonuses and you're done!&nbsp; If that's actually how it works, I approve.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="theNater, post: 4349337, member: 62560"] Okay, things to consider: 1. AC needs to be higher than others, because AC is probably more likely to be targeted and attacks targeting AC usually have higher bonuses. 2. Reflex can be increased by a shield, so we don't need to spend as many ability points on dex or int if we have heavy armor and a good shield. 3. We're not interested in anything but defenses, so we can do strange builds. Let's try a paladin, plate armor and heavy shield, and give him high stats from the fort and will pairs. Using a 16, 16, 12, 10, 10 array gives us(with the 12 boosting ref): AC 20 ref 14 fort 14 will 14 Very well rounded, and a human can turn those 14s into two 15s and a 16. Nice and solid. But we might be able to squeeze some more points out of it by taking a class that focuses on one defense. We can't beat 20 for a starting AC, and doing it with hide requires a 20 dex or 20 int, which costs us too many ability points. So let's try fighter. We'll get a +2 to fort instead of +1 to everything, so we don't need as much fort from abilities. To balance defenses, we'll use an 18, 12, 12, 10, 10, 10 array. With the 18 on will and the 12s on fort and ref, we get: AC 19 ref 13 fort 13 will 14 Ouch. Ouch ouch ouch. Not getting the class bonus spread out meant we needed to increase one of our abilities too much to make up for not having a class bonus there. 'Course, a fighter who goes from a 14, 14, 14, 12, 12, 11 array gets: AC 19 ref 14 fort 14 will 12 which isn't any better. Yeah, I'm not seeing anything better than a human paladin. Which I find heartening, because it means that to get the best defenses just take the race with the best racial defense bonuses and the class with the best class defense bonuses and you're done! If that's actually how it works, I approve. [/QUOTE]

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