Comprehensive AC breakdown please.

[CrimsonEagle]

I was wondering if someone could give me a breakdown or point me to a link that has the breakdowns on reaching a respectable ac on my monk.

This is the my first character build where I am attempting to get a respectable ac and I basicly have no idea where to get the items, what they do, or where they are worn.

Up till this point I have held off on grinding the raids so I will have to do some work to get up there, I realize that. I just need a breakdown of the what and where. Right now the only thing I have out of the ordinary is a set of chaosguards and after doing some research I find that for my monk this might not be optimal.

Thank you in advance for any reply.

Crimson.

[Strykersz]

10 base
6 armor bracers
5 Icy Raiments(4 dodge, 1 alchemical)
5 protection item
3 barskin pot
12 dex(18 base + 4 levelups + 2 race enhancement + 6 item + 3 air stance + 1 tome = 34)
7 wisdom (14 base + 3 enhancement + 6 item + 1 tome = 24)
3 ac bonus(monk 5, 10, 15)
5 combat expertise
1 dodge feat
----------------
57(58 as a halfling) attainable by anyone

3 Titan Ring
4 Green steel insight bonus
1 (+2 wisdom tome)
1 (+3 dex tome)
4 shield(from wands)
2 (8 armor bracers)
-------------
72(73 halfling) raid gear + umd

4 bard song
2 recitation
2 bark(from a ranger)
-----------
80(81 halfling) raid buffs

5 paladin
-----
85(86 halfling) pocket paladin

edit: Note that you can get +14 armor, dodge, insight, alchemical from a dragontouched robe, wear the chaosguardes and get +16 if you lack any of titan ring, a gs wep, or icy raiments.

edit2: Also note that you only lose 4 ac off the total if you go 15 rogue/1 monk and use kamas or 5 ac if you use other weapons but you gain a substantial amount of dps if you don't have aggro, the ability to spike your ac with uncanny dodge, and umd/intimidate as class skills.

[Lithic]

To get a real nice ac you need to start with at least 14 dex and wisdom, and likely put your level ups into one or the other.

Then add a +6 wisdom and a +6 dex item, as well as dex and wisdom tomes.
Later, get a +5 protection item, icy raiments robe, +4 insight AC greensteel Kama, barkskin (+3) potions, and you are doing great.

For more grinding options, you can also aim to get the chattering ring from the titan raid. Get all this, and your ac will be quite respectable.

[Impaqt]

To get a real nice ac you need to start with at least 14 dex and wisdom, and likely put your level ups into one or the other.



Really? so the 78+ I can acheive with a 12 Base Dex and 8 Base Wisdom isnt "Real Nice"?

[Leyoni]

One thing to consider is the number of build points put into DEX vs WIS. This is important because both add to your AC. Taking 18 DEX and 14 WIS gives the same AC as taking 16 DEX and 16 WIS -- but the 18/14 choice uses 2 more build points unless you are elf, halfling or drow.

Also, my monk splash characters always get a "centered" bonus to AC once they pick up their 2d monk level. I don't think that was counted in the earlier post.

Lastly, from the 85+ maximum AC suggested earlier you can deduct 1 AC for every 2 point decrease in WIS and DEX. So, it is possible to still hit high 70's AC with much lower DEX and WIS. The question for you has to be, "How much AC do I really want/need?" If you are happy with 76 AC you could easily figure back from that and drop WIS and DEX back considerably.

Why would you do that? Well, if you wanted to push STR or CON higher would be one reason. Or, if you chose to go with warforged, dwarf or human might be another. Remember that racial choice will be important because of the racial stat increases. The earlier post assumes halfling, elf or drow.

Lastly, keep in mind that some of the AC being discussed depends on outside factors (pocket paladins, etc.). If you want the AC w/o those then you need to drop those things from the calculations.

[Lithic]

Really? so the 78+ I can acheive with a 12 Base Dex and 8 Base Wisdom isnt "Real Nice"?

Nope. 78 is nice. 80+ is "real nice"

[CrimsonEagle]

Exactly the information I was looking for. Thank you very much.

Crimson

[Amabel]

edit2: Also note that you only lose 4 ac off the total if you go 15 rogue/1 monk and use kamas or 5 ac if you use other weapons but you gain a substantial amount of dps if you don't have aggro, the ability to spike your ac with uncanny dodge, and umd/intimidate as class skills.

This is important. You will have massively, massively better DPS and open up intimidate (which let's face it, is GREAT on an AC build) and UMD.

Moreover, I would suggest the AC isn't that different for practical purposes. With moderate UMD you will be using 10 minute shield wands. Without UMD, you will be hitting shield clickies every 60 seconds (which turns off combat expertise). So in most circumstances a ranger or rogue with a splash of monk will for all intents and purposes have an AC almost as good as the monk's, but also bring plenty more to the table.

Don't get me wrong, monks do other stuff, but if it's one of your first AC builds don't disregard rogue or ranger with a splash of monk.

[Ezzee]

Now, my question is with the 70-80 ac, are you any good at actually hitting something?

[CrimsonEagle]

This is important. You will have massively, massively better DPS and open up intimidate (which let's face it, is GREAT on an AC build) and UMD.

Moreover, I would suggest the AC isn't that different for practical purposes. With moderate UMD you will be using 10 minute shield wands. Without UMD, you will be hitting shield clickies every 60 seconds (which turns off combat expertise). So in most circumstances a ranger or rogue with a splash of monk will for all intents and purposes have an AC almost as good as the monk's, but also bring plenty more to the table.

Don't get me wrong, monks do other stuff, but if it's one of your first AC builds don't disregard rogue or ranger with a splash of monk.


Naw, I'll be staying pure monk.

The way they have allowed the splash class with monk to work is about as broken as the old evasion in heavy armor used to be. For now I will stay pure because I have learned the hard way just how devestating the nerf bat can be. By staying pure, I may not be the best of the moment, but I will have a better chance of my character remaining safe.

[Junts]

Naw, I'll be staying pure monk.

The way they have allowed the splash class with monk to work is about as broken as the old evasion in heavy armor used to be. For now I will stay pure because I have learned the hard way just how devestating the nerf bat can be. By staying pure, I may not be the best of the moment, but I will have a better chance of my character remaining safe.


you're right, sir, but its the 2 monk splash that is broken and in danger- splashing 2 levels onto an 18 monk isnt going to be nerfed, because ddo doesn't design classes to be played pure.


18/2 monk/rogue is safe

18/2 rogue/monk is probably not

[Leyoni]

I disagree with the assessment in the previous 2 posts.

AD&D permits multiclassing and that includes PnP characters of the 14/2 whatever/monk type. The criteria in PnP is that once a player stops being a monk then there is no further progress allowed. This is where DDO differs from PnP because monk, like paladin, does not need to be taken all at one time. IMO that is a minor issue when discussing monk splashes because most builds place the monk levels together.

There is nothing at all broken about the ranger/monk or similar builds. They work exactly as they are designed to work. The only thing that is broken is the PrE for other character classes. That is because they don't yet exist.

A look at the official announcements on the barbarian and fighter forums shows that there will be a whole lot more multiclassing going on once the level cap goes up and the new PrEs are introduced. Depending on the final form of those PrEs the current ranger/rogue multiclass may end up as just another used-to-be.

FWIW, tempest AC should not be a shield bonus. It should be the same unspecified type as the current two-weapon defense bonus. That bonus works correctly so that it is not applied when a shield is used or when fighting with two-handed weapons. Shield bonuses do not stack. Making tempest AC a shield type will make shield spells useless. That is not the correct solution to the problem. Making it of the same, stacking, unspecified type as the TWD feat will resolve the problem.

[Thrudh]

Really? so the 78+ I can acheive with a 12 Base Dex and 8 Base Wisdom isnt "Real Nice"?


Break it down please.

[Strykersz]

Now, my question is with the 70-80 ac, are you any good at actually hitting something?

You will lose 4.2dmg/swing starting with a 12 str and not putting your level ups into str. You lose a bit more because you're out of fire stance(1-2 dmg + crit additions). In exchange, you're untouchable(except by suulo elite). Your to hit bonus will be close to the same.

[Leyoni]

You will lose 4.2dmg/swing starting with a 12 str and not putting your level ups into str. You lose a bit more because you're out of fire stance(1-2 dmg + crit additions). In exchange, you're untouchable(except by suulo elite). Your to hit bonus will be close to the same.

For many players this being "untouchable" more than compensates for needing a couple extra rounds of combat. Because there are virtually no situations where players need to beat the timer and a few seconds really do matter taking a bit more time when you can be "untouchable" is worth every bit of the AC over DPS.