Lvl 1 Bear Shaman AC a problem?

[mysticknight232]

I'm looking at playing a Bear Shaman for our next adventure. We'll likely be starting at lvl 1. Given that the build is a Wis/Con build, my Dex/Int likely won't be higher than 11 or 12, meaning that my lvl 1 AC with leather armor would be AC 12 or AC 13 at the most. Will this be a problem? The Shaman is obviously a ranged leader...but will I need to worry about my spirit companion getting hit so often that I'll start to take dmg several times during an encounter? Not to mention that many of the Shaman's ranged powers have a range of 5 (non spirit melee powers), which makes me afraid that a random mob will just break away from the pack and start to aim for me and/or ranged mobs as well.

I'm looking for opinions from anybody and everybody as well as from players that have or are playing a Bear Shaman. I do realize that if I gave myself a 13 Str, I could take Armor Proficiency Chainmail at lvl 1 which is tempting...but I'd rather spend that feat on a Shaman feat to enhance the healing. Thoughts?

Thanks, and happy hunting!

 

[Mort_Q]

Remember that the SC doesn't take damage per se. At that level, the baddies aren't going to be doing 10+ damage per attack that often.

 

[mysticknight232]

Remember that the SC doesn't take damage per se. At that level, the baddies aren't going to be doing 10+ damage per attack that often.

Yeah, that's definately one of my questions. I realize the SC will never die to a minion attack for example at that lvl...but can anybody tell me how often a SC will die during a lvl 1 encounter? I'm guessing it won't happen very often at all as dealing 10 points of dmg is hard for a mob...but Defense wins championships and an AC 12 or 13 is still pretty scary.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Eh, offense trumps defense mostly in 4e unless you're a defender, in which case you'd have adequate defense right off the bat anyway (AC at least). Still, an AC of 12 is pretty ugly.

Shaman are just plain squishy. They are probably the squishiest class in the game. Obviously its nice not to have to burn a feat on AC right off the bat. OTOH you can still do plenty of stuff and gaining a decent AC makes a lot of sense. Personally I think I'd go for chain. You'll get another feat at level 2 you can drop into expertise or one of the SC buffing feats.

As for the SC dying at level 1, its not all that likely. There are a few monsters that MIGHT be able to accomplish that, but chances are the DM isn't going to risk attacking the SC with them, he's more likely to go after something that will definitely feel the damage. Since the SC doesn't have to worry about AoEs of any kind you're actually pretty safe. I think I'd still want the AC, it really sucks to get focus fired on by a couple artillery monsters or ganked by a lurker.

 

[OnlineDM]

The party that I'm playing in has a level 1 shaman with an armor class of 13. We've only played through three encounters so far, but his defense hasn't been a problem. He's stayed out of combat with his spirit companion doing the dirty work of getting into the fray. The biggest damage the SC has taken so far is 8. He doesn't seem too concerned about taking a lot of damage.

Now, if we encountered some artillery baddies that wanted to focus on the shaman for some reason, that could spell trouble for him, but that's where the rest of the party is supposed to step up and take the artillery out (or at least draw its fire, stand in front of the shaman, etc.). I think it's fine for a PC who stays out of melee to have a low AC, at least at this level.

 

[chitzk0i]

In my book, 13 Strength for chain proficiency is a must for con shamans. I don't like my characters to be that vulnerable.

 

[Hejdun]

I wouldn't worry about it. Level appropriate monsters have high enough attack bonuses to basically auto-hit everything but a character's highest defense anyways. At best you're talking about getting hit only 70% of the time instead of 90%. If your defender is doing his job, you should have plenty of surges left over when the day is over.

 

[Jools]

Agreed, they really need that 13 Strength for chain. Which is a shame as it really doesnt fit well thematically and you have to waste points into str. The bear shaman doesn't appear to be any stronger than the other two builds (which are both excellent) but has an inexplicably lower AC.

 

[Herschel]

In one group we're at level 9 and the dwarf shaman hasn't tried to buff his AC and he's just fine, rarely going down regardless of teh group we have around him (a couple of characters have changed).

 

[Shin Okada]

Spirits Rarely die. Area and Close attacks don't damage the spirit. And the spirit does not provoke OA. Thus, the only attacks which may kill spirit is melee or ranged attacks directly target the spirit. And those attacks must inflict 11+ damage against a L1 Shaman's spirit to kill.

Putting Str 13 and taking 2 feats to increase your AC by, say, 3-4 and lowering your speed by 1 (in case of non-dwarf)? It seems to be a waste of feat slots.