Stop hitting me!

[Darmanicus]

Having just recently lost my wizard to a concentrated fireball bombardment I opted to play a fighter type next as we have another wizard in the party anyway, (well at least that's what he calls himself but that's another story!), and we were somewhat lacking in the fistycuffs dept.

I decided on an Arabianish paladin type with a big wickedly curved blade, namely a falchion,(think of Kevin Costners cohort who no doubt someone will point out was a Moor, I think, but who cares.....you get the picture).

I've started at 9th but the problem is that my tight-fisted DM would only let me start with 1/2 the normal allowance in GP so I've managed a suit of full plate as you do and a few stat boosting items so my AC is 20 at the moment.

THEY KEEP ON HITTING ME THOUGH AND IT HURTS!!!

Could you lot all get your heads together and think of a few cool ways to bump my AC up even if it is for just a few rounds/day!? Oh yeah, I'm not made of money at the moment.

I have a few ideas such as:

1. Animated Tower Shield - Can't quite form an image in me mind re this one that doesn't look stupid!

2. Ring of Mirror Imaging 1-3/day - How much?

3. Potions - ??????

The rest is up to you folks...............

 

[MerakSpielman]

Fight defensively, or resort to full defense if things are going badly. Anybody can do this, without gold or feats.

Expertise. Not sure if it works with a falchion, though.

Duel-wielding spiked shields? (kidding)

 

[0-hr]

Best solution is to make friends with some casters who will help you out. Barkskin, Shield of Faith, Magic Vestment, that sort of thing. (And Stone Skin if you can manage it

If you could scrape up the money, a Ring of Spell Storing would be perfect. That would let your friends charge it up with some spells on their "off days" so you were not a burden during the adventure. Better yet, it would let you cast "personal" spells on yourself (like Shield, or Alter Self for natural armor).

For a cheaper option, I guess I'd buy a wand of Alter Self and spend my time as a lizard man. With one cross-class rank in Use Magic Device, you can even use it on your self (so long as you have the time to waste on retries before you need that half-hour of scaly goodness). That would cost 4500gp.

 

[Keith]

As a 9th level fighter type, your big defensive advantage is the pile of hit points you have, rather than a better AC than, say, a similar character at 6th level. Use them! Let them hit you- you can take a lot of “damage” before needing to worry about it. That is a decent enough AC to mix it up. Other than that advice, I think it is true that getting somebody to cast spells on you is the primary answer.

Cheers

 

[the_mighty_agrippa]

Ring of Force Shield

 

[apsuman]

as a ninth level paladin you get 1 (modified by WIS) level 1 spell per day.

How about Protection from Evil?

 

[thebitdnd]

I'm not absolutely positive without the DMG in front of me, but I'm pretty sure you cannot use the 'animate' property on a tower shield. I think the description states you can only animate a light or heavy shield. The cost for a +1 animated medium heavy shield is 9000gp. That's a whole lotta gold for just a +3 bonus to AC, but it does keep that second hand free for the falchion.

I'd suggest gloves of dexterity +2 (4000gp) if you're natural dex bonus doesn't already eat up the Max dex bonus of your armor. It's fairly cheap and helps not only your AC, but skills, missile weapons, etc.

I'd also suggest an amulet of natural armor +1 (2000gp). Pretty cheap.

 

[Tilla the Hun (work)]

Funnily enough - see if you can get ahold of an item of 'reduce person'

Surprisingly, being reduced isn't going to hurt you as a fighter (small) vs. a fighter (medium) _if_ you focus on your critical hits (keen falchion, imp crit, etc. whatever you can do).

Falchion at 18-20 will go to 16-20 with any one of those (lower in 3.0), assuming 3.5 rules.

Reduced fighter gains +2 Dex and +1 AC for a total of +2 AC and +1 to hit with weapon finesse weapons.

That's one option.

Second option - plate mail is nice armor - horrible to your dex. If you have a decent dex modifier, go with something lighter. Quicker speed, lower check penalty, and more dex to your AC.

Third option:
Forget plate mail entirely (ac 8) and use items of mage armor and the like - you can match the AC of plate mail, or better it, fairly easily (as mentioned, easier if you have spell casting buddies)

Fourth option:
Use tactics. You can legally advance to the first threatened square and ready an action to hit something if it hits you (this would then include both the weapon or the creature when triggered). After the first such action goes off, ready an action to hit creature and 5' adjust. This works best with reach weapons, of course, but similar variations with swords also work.

Other tips:

Use cover/concealment. Force that miss chance vs you. Buy incense, carry lamp, smoke the area and force miss chances. An item of darkness works great in 3.5 if you are an elf, or the like. hide behind trees, bushes, rocks, other characters, whatever works.

At 9th level with an AC of 20, you are going to get hit. Period. Any fighter of 9th level will have a +9-+18 to hit range. That'll hit you 50% to 90% of the time. If you 'accept' that and build a wrestler type - let 'em hit, then grapple.

A diffferent concept - look up Karmic Strike in the Complete Warrior. If they hit you, you hit them as an AoO. You can trip or grapple on an AoO. With CR, you could trip them on a hit, trip them when they stand etc.


Personally, I'd dual wield Falchions with Imp Crit, 2 wpn fighting, imp 2 won fighting, 2 wpn style, 2 wpn defense (FRCS feats), combat expertise, and an item of reduce person.

Assuming plate + no dex or even chain shirt with +4 dex, you can hit 24-25 AC fighting defensively, or better. With imp crit and a 16-20 crit range on your 4 attacks, you stand decent odds of doing similar damage as you are currently. Possibly better if your GM will allow Wpn Finesse on Falchion...

Take one level of rogue and bluff, or max out intimidate and shake your opponents to get either SA +1d6 or +2 AC (shaken = -2 to attacks and saves) vs a single target.

IMO anyway

 

[Tatsukun]

Well, first ask why the DM has unbalanced the game so badly. The classes are balanced (more or less) assuming the book level of magic items / money to buy them.

At mid to high levels, fighter types are MUCH more dependant on gear. Casters get more and more spells to protect them and help them do damage. Fighters are assumed to have more and more gear to do the same.

If you take away gear, you have to lower the spells too or the game favors casters (and monks) horribly. A 9th level fighter without magic armor is like a 9th level mage with only second level spells. He’s mid level, but he can’t deal damage / protect himself as a 9th level PC should.

If your DM really is set on nerfing fighters, I would have to go Vow of Poverty (fight imbalance with imbalance). After he let’s in VoP, take forsaker. That’ll teach him!

If all else fails, I recommend the craft route. Take a few ranks in craft (armorsmithing) and get the DM to let you ‘have made’ a suite of armor (half price). Maybe even the craft wondrous item feat to make stuff cheap (or better yet, craft weapons and armor when you can take it). If you don’t have gear, you’re going to die if you aren’t a caster, monk, or forsaker (maybe others).

-Tatsu

 

[Scion]

Why didnt you ask during character creation??

Adamantine full plate is good, DR 3/-. Unless you are in 3.0?

cloak of displacement, either minor or major as you can afford them. A flat 20% miss chance is just too good to pass up.

There are several feats from various sources which will grant AC or DR, both of these should help.

You might also want to check out divine shield. Power up your shield every now and then for a pretty good bonus to AC.