The "I'm going to get hit no matter what my AC is" philosphy

[Ao the Overkitty]

I didn't want to hijack the "IS Dragonhide too cheap" thread, so I'm creating a new one.

A lot of folks are of the opinion that full plate isn't much better than a chain shirt (in some ways worse), and I certainly see many characters with heavy armor proficiency opting to stick with light.

I can attest to this. I'm the tank of the party and I have the second lowest AC of the group (which becomes the lowest once the Sorcerer gets her shield spell up).

Of course, I'm walking around with +1 Full-plate and MW Large Darkwood shield for AC at 11th level (and generally weild a greatsword, so that knocks the shield out of the equation). My AC is either 19 or 21, while everyone else's is between 25 and 28.

Since the DM throws things in that can hit the others regularly, I've adopted the philosophy that I'm going to get hit no matter what my AC is. So, I pretty much just stick to my Greatsword and rely on my hit points to get me through the night.

From what I've seen, there comes a point where the Attack bonuses of the things you face far outstrips a group's ability boost their ACs. It seems to start around the 7th or 8th level for us.

I'm wondering if others have found this to be true.

 

[blackshirt5]

Nope, I've found the opposite problem; my PCs end up with truly hideous ACs, so I have to modify the monsters extensively to be able to hit. On the other hand, it does give that anime feel that I like of the heroes tearing up the ranks of the mooks.

 

[Zappo]

Even if a monster is capable of hitting you almost certainly with his first attack, there are secondary attacks to consider as well. Especially with classed enemies with iterative attacks; there's a big difference between being hit twice and being hit four times.

 

[Gez]

Well, I've experienced it.

Me: "Yay! Now that I've found this ring of protection, my AC is 24! 25 against dodged opponents! Woot! At least I'll manage to evade some blows from time to time now!"

DM: "The ogre rolls 32 on his attack."

 

[tetsujin28]

This always happens if your DM is stingy with magic items: +1 full plate at 11th level is pretty pathetic. And I don't mean he/she is being stingy in bad way: I prefer low-magic item settings, myself. But the rules are set up for you to be walking around in at least +3 armour and shield at your level. And attack bonuses, even without magic, will out-strip non-magical armour by c. 4th level or so.

My recommendation would be to talk to your Dm and see if he's willing to add in the Defense bonuses from SW/d20M. They can be a bit of a leveler, should your DM prefer to keep magic items at a premium.

Hope that helps!

 

[Ao the Overkitty]

This is true, Zappo

Thoug, in my experience, the initial attacks frequently are hitting ACs in the high thirties and the tertiary attacks are hitting in the low to mid twenties. Course, this could just be the DM's dice. There have been nights where he can't roll above 5. Of course, those attacks usually (but not always) hit me on the first strike anyway.

 

[Malcolm]

Zappo's pretty much summed it up.

A quick glance at the 3.0 DMG comparing the Fighter's AC vs. her Bonus to Attack shows that the first hit will almost always hit.

this is without buffs, extra AC feats, etc. thrown in the way.


Ao,
Are you looking to increase your AC without adding more gear or just making an accurate observation?

 

[Zappo]

Initial attacks frequently hitting the high thirties at CR 11 is something that only happens with the real melee powerhouses - giants (+22), elementals (+26?), that sort of creatures. Maybe your DM is using lots of tough meleers. Fiends, for example, at that CR only have a to-hit bonus in the mid-high teens.

 

[wally]

What does the reverse look like?

Are you and your fellow players able to hit the enemy a lot, a little or not at all?

-wally

 

[Ao the Overkitty]

I would not say he's stingy with treasure. Far from it. There is just generally nothing in it I want and we're not really in a situation where I can easily get better armor that fits my requirements.

My Full-plate is +1 Glamoured because in the area our game is set in, it is considered quite wussy to be a Noble (which all of our characters are) and wear full-plate. As head of the clan, it would reflect rather negatively upon our image, which we are desperately trying to improve. So, it's more to say that more glamoured fullplate hasn't shown up. We've had a few suits of fullplate come into our possession, it's just a problem of sacrificing some family honor for a better AC (something I'm not willing to do).

We do have an armorer in the family now (a cohort of one of the players), but have not had a chance to improve or create anything. Also, we have to deal with taxes in the region of 50-60 thousand gold each year, so we try to be as stingy with our gold as possible.

We do have a setup for trading in XP for gold at a rate of 2xp per 1 gold (I believe) to reduce cost of crafting items, but we still need some cash for that and most of it is going into curative products (since our only clerics are non-adventuring cohorts) and household defenses.

And Malcolm, I am just trying to make an accurate assumption.

Oh, and Zeppo, we fight a lot of Devils with levels, Undead (mostly likely with levels), and Dragons (some with levels) and other things with class levels (like we recently fought Doppleganger Warshappers).