Best AC / Damage build

[MrWizard]

Okay, without all the uber loot, what would be the best race and class to get the best unbuffed AC?

There are a few feats that deal with AC, though not many.
Halflings get the size bonus to ac against some foes..

Dex bonus, armor, etc...

At end game, 14th level, what race/class would have the highest possible unbuffed AC, if built for it.

I imagine a fighter with the extra feats may be able to grab some ac feats..


THis is best AC before buffing and not counting those little 10 or 20 second enhancements. This is the 'always on AC' without uber stuff.

Though if you want to add that in an example, that is cool, like chaos guards.

edit:

oh yea...and with that fine ac I was thinking of specializing the few remaining feats/enhances into one uber area of damage of some kind.

[sigtrent]

Generaly: A dwarven fighter paladin (more paladin than fighter, 7/7 or 3/11 would be my guess on the split) is probably the best AC possible for long term numbers. You can find lots of examples of this kind of build through the fighter and palaidn forums.

You might be able to gear up an elven ranger to be competative if you had all the right gear for it.

[Skeeby]

There is no way to compare them without at least taking available armor into account. Assuming equal gear a Dwarven fighter with 3 lvls of pally can get the highest "always on" AC at the moment. At higher lvls a max dex build will pull ahead unless more enhancements or feats are added. Also Lawful Good alignment is necessary for chaosguard bracers. (2 dodge ac that cannot currently be replaced any other way)

Max Dex build:

10 Base
13 Dex (36 dex 20starting+5 enhancements+3lvl+6 item+2 tome)
7 AC bracers
7 +5 Heavy Shield
-----------------
37 AC (eventually AC bracers will go up to +10 and you will get +2 more dex bonus due to lvl ups and +5 tomes for another +5 or an AC of 42)




Dwarf Fighter: non dwarfs would get -1 due to being limited by dex enhancements

10 Base
13 +5 mithril FP
9 +5 mithril Tower Shield
7 Dex bonus-requires 24 dex (mithril tower shield limits dex bonus to +4 then add 3 fighter enhancments to make it 7. MFP is 3 then add 3 fighter enhancment and one dwarven enhancement to get to 7)
-----------------------
39 AC -at higher lvls? who knows, it all depends on what turbine does with enhancements/feats ect. but will more than likely fall behind a Max dex build.



Chain shirts and Breastplates generally lag behind these two scenarios a little bit but can get close. The high dex fighter is probably the easiest to build and still keep enough str to do good damage and not gimp the rest of the character. You would only need to start with a 16dex and add a +6 item and a +2 tome.

Dwarf 11 fighter/3 Pally

10 Base
13 +5 Mithril FP
9 +5 Mithril Tower Shield
7 Dex bonus from 24 dex and shield/armor enhancmets
5 +5 protection item
5 Combat Expertise feat
2 Pally Aura + lvl3 enhancment
2 Chaos Guards (+2 dodge bonus)
1 Dodge Feat
2 Ring of Balance from invaders (+2 natural armor bonus)
--------------------------
56 "always on" AC

High lvl pallys with say 3 lvls of fighter can get to around 55AC I think and is the build I prefer, but lag behind when the mainly fighter build has a full pally aura nearby. I would rather have higher saves, 30 point resists and much better healing ability than an extra couple AC but thats just me.

[Skeeby]

Forgot to add that a halfling 11fighter/3pally could equal the dwarf in AC due to the Halfling racial bonus to ac, but would probaby do less damage due to the dwarven axe enhancements. A halfling would also have less HPs, but I think it would still be a fun build. A Halfling Max dex build would equal a dwarf fighter right now, and would probably be a fun build too.