What 5e got wrong

[TheCosmicKid]

...armors which are effectively the same from leather to plate.

What on earth are you talking about?

 

[Nagol]

What on earth are you talking about?

Maximum achievable AC.

It's really studded to splint. The maximum AC achievable when wearing armour is 17. Plate actually gets one higher. A couple of light armours get one lower and a slew of medium armours pretty much suck.

 

[Imaro]

Maximum achievable AC.

It's really studded to splint. The maximum AC achievable when wearing armour is 17. Plate actually gets one higher. A couple of light armours get one lower and a slew of medium armours pretty much suck.

I'm still unclear on this... how is the maximum achievable armor class for everything from studded to splint 17?

 

[Nagol]

I'm still unclear on this... how is the maximum achievable armor class for everything from studded to splint 17?

Type           AC                       Max AC

Studded        12 + Dex mod             17

Hide           12 + Dex mod (max 2)     14
Chain shirt    13 + Dex mod (max 2)     15
Scale          14 + Dex mod (max 2)     16
Breastplate    14 + Dex mod (max 2)     16
Half-plate     15 + Dex mod (max 2)     17

Ring mail      14                       14
Chain mail     16                       16
Splint         17                       17

 

[TheCosmicKid]

So you pick different armor depending on your Dexterity. I don't see how that makes armor "effectively the same". What's more, I don't see how it's a 5E or bounded accuracy problem, since 3E did pretty much exactly the same thing without bounded accuracy.

 

[Nagol]

So you pick different armor depending on your Dexterity. I don't see how that makes armor "effectively the same". What's more, I don't see how it's a 5E or bounded accuracy problem, since 3E did pretty much exactly the same thing without bounded accuracy.

The problem exists (and was complained about) in 3.X, it is true. 5e made it worse. In 3.5, the max Dex modifier ranges from +0 to +8 and some heavy armour has a positive modifier. All armours have a maximum Dex mod.

In 3.X, light armour is demonstrably different than heavy armour in that (1) Dex mod could be (and often was) negated from AC and (2) Touch AC is a thing.

 

[I'm A Banana]

In combat healing is not generally worth the cost of the action compared to anything else.

About the biggest issue would be healing and 5e doesn't really need in-combat healing that often.

Yeah, it only becomes something that is a significant concern when a party member is actively making death saves (and you're losing out on their actions in the action economy), and even then, you usually have someone who can hang on for the few rounds it might take you to mop up the enemies. And that's what healing potions - standard equipment, made by herbalists, not involving magic - are basically there for. Even without 'em, it's only slightly worse than being hit with some disabling effect (a net, hold person, whatever) for a few rounds.

I think it's worth harping on this a bit because it's very different from 4e, where the combats almost required healing to get through.

 

[Imaro]

Type           AC                       Max AC

Studded        12 + Dex mod             17

Hide           12 + Dex mod (max 2)     14
Chain shirt    13 + Dex mod (max 2)     15
Scale          14 + Dex mod (max 2)     16
Breastplate    14 + Dex mod (max 2)     16
Half-plate     15 + Dex mod (max 2)     17

Ring mail      14                       14
Chain mail     16                       16
Splint         17                       17

Okay I thought you were saying that all of those armors maxed out (somehow) at 17 (thus being effectively the same)... so what's the problem with the armor? You select it based on Dex, whether you want to be stealthy, what you can afford and what's available...

 

[Sacrosanct]

Yeah, I'm playing a cleric, and I've found myself many times thinking, "If we can just make it past this combat, I'll do Prayer of Healing then. A few d8 ain't gonna do much in combat when I could use that same slot to thunderclap or something."

Which is too bad, really. Unless you're a life cleric, with they way HP and damage scale, even if you spend an upper slot, you're not curing nearly as much damage as what is coming your way.

In all fairness, I am playing a tempest cleric, so I'm sort of built to be using my spells to sling lightning/thunder damage, rather than a healer. I'm finding that the best use of my spells is for buffing or direct damage (destructive wave is one of my favorite spells. Holy cow).

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Yeah, I'm playing a cleric, and I've found myself many times thinking, "If we can just make it past this combat, I'll do Prayer of Healing then. A few d8 ain't gonna do much in combat when I could use that same slot to thunderclap or something."

Which is too bad, really. Unless you're a life cleric, with they way HP and damage scale, even if you spend an upper slot, you're not curing nearly as much damage as what is coming your way.

In all fairness, I am playing a tempest cleric, so I'm sort of built to be using my spells to sling lightning/thunder damage, rather than a healer. I'm finding that the best use of my spells is for buffing or direct damage (destructive wave is one of my favorite spells. Holy cow).

I think the "healing not mandatory" model is a huge step forward, and makes low- and non-magical parties a much more viable option.