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I hate armor
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<blockquote data-quote="Njall" data-source="post: 4905487" data-attributes="member: 54719"><p>Well, to be fair, you could address the problem keeping your dex score high and equipping a pair of bracers of armor.</p><p>On the other hand, stacking magic items never gave me the idea that my character was skilled at something <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></p><p>So, as far as 3e goes, here are a couple of ways to play a "skilled swordsman". </p><p>Keep in mind that they're not optimized by a long shot, and that in many cases, they give up a lot to achieve their high AC.</p><p>Anyway: Duelists are one of your best bets. Take Einhander (PHB2), Deadly defense, a couple of levels as a monk, Carmedine Monk (Champions of Valor) and you're set: 35+ AC when fighting defensively at higher levels, before magic. I played a monk 2(cobra strike variant)/Swashbuckler 1/Fighter 2/Scout 4/Ranger 2/Duelist 10 in a high level one-shot game a couple of years ago. He was pretty much untouchable ( 78 AC when fighting defensively, without combat expertise, IIRC).</p><p></p><p>If you're not going the Duelist route, two weapon fighting is your friend.</p><p>Two Weapon Defense ( and relative chain ) are terribad as far as optimization goes, but they're pretty flavorful and not that bad coupled with certain classes. For example, the TWD chain, 4 levels as a thief-acrobat and 5 levels as a Tempest net you +8 AC when fighting with 2 weapons, and another +7 AC when fighting defensively. </p><p>Dervishes are even better ( and TWD is not such a bad idea for them to take, since they can't use shields, so Improved Buckler Defense is out): a dual wielding Scout 4/Ranger 2/Tempest 5/Dervish 9 with Swift Hunter and Improved Skirmish can easily reach AC 40 without magic items, whenever he moves 40+ ft during his turn ( Expeditious Dodge (RotW), +2 Skirmish, +2 Improved Skirmish, Elaborate Parry, Two Weapon Defense...) while still dealing a decent amount of damage. </p><p>Other options to increase your AC include Improved Combat Expertise ( CW), Armor of God (Complete Champion), Swift Ambusher and Daring Outlaw ( Rogue 12/Swash 3/Scout 3 deals a ton of skirmish/sneak attack damage, and stacks the Swashbuckler's dodge bonus with the Scout's Skirmish bonus ), Invisible Blade ( a cheesed out monk/invisible blade/duelist adds his Int bonus x3 to his AC with Carmedine Monk )...</p><p></p><p>In the end, playing a character that's good at defending himself in 3.x is not impossible, just pretty hard and not really the best choice from an optimization standpoint <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Njall, post: 4905487, member: 54719"] Well, to be fair, you could address the problem keeping your dex score high and equipping a pair of bracers of armor. On the other hand, stacking magic items never gave me the idea that my character was skilled at something :D So, as far as 3e goes, here are a couple of ways to play a "skilled swordsman". Keep in mind that they're not optimized by a long shot, and that in many cases, they give up a lot to achieve their high AC. Anyway: Duelists are one of your best bets. Take Einhander (PHB2), Deadly defense, a couple of levels as a monk, Carmedine Monk (Champions of Valor) and you're set: 35+ AC when fighting defensively at higher levels, before magic. I played a monk 2(cobra strike variant)/Swashbuckler 1/Fighter 2/Scout 4/Ranger 2/Duelist 10 in a high level one-shot game a couple of years ago. He was pretty much untouchable ( 78 AC when fighting defensively, without combat expertise, IIRC). If you're not going the Duelist route, two weapon fighting is your friend. Two Weapon Defense ( and relative chain ) are terribad as far as optimization goes, but they're pretty flavorful and not that bad coupled with certain classes. For example, the TWD chain, 4 levels as a thief-acrobat and 5 levels as a Tempest net you +8 AC when fighting with 2 weapons, and another +7 AC when fighting defensively. Dervishes are even better ( and TWD is not such a bad idea for them to take, since they can't use shields, so Improved Buckler Defense is out): a dual wielding Scout 4/Ranger 2/Tempest 5/Dervish 9 with Swift Hunter and Improved Skirmish can easily reach AC 40 without magic items, whenever he moves 40+ ft during his turn ( Expeditious Dodge (RotW), +2 Skirmish, +2 Improved Skirmish, Elaborate Parry, Two Weapon Defense...) while still dealing a decent amount of damage. Other options to increase your AC include Improved Combat Expertise ( CW), Armor of God (Complete Champion), Swift Ambusher and Daring Outlaw ( Rogue 12/Swash 3/Scout 3 deals a ton of skirmish/sneak attack damage, and stacks the Swashbuckler's dodge bonus with the Scout's Skirmish bonus ), Invisible Blade ( a cheesed out monk/invisible blade/duelist adds his Int bonus x3 to his AC with Carmedine Monk )... In the end, playing a character that's good at defending himself in 3.x is not impossible, just pretty hard and not really the best choice from an optimization standpoint :) [/QUOTE]
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