Legendary (30+) Monster Defenses and all the Balancing You Guys Are Doing...

[Certon]

So.

About the ridiculous AC legendary monsters have. You think you guys can balance that out too? I mean you've balanced everything else down.

Why should you do that?

Because legendary AC is unfair to melee classes. They get a penalty, but casters can just damage away with no issues. It's still a big deal. it takes away procs, stuns, trips... all sorts of melee abilities. But a caster throws out Power Word, Stun or Otto's, and the monster is locked down.

This needs fixed.

[Wizard1406]

So AC is too high as well (haven't played a 30 melee / ranged in U51 yet) ? At which rolls do you get glancing blows?

Your comment that casters can do damage away with no issues is not true, mob saves are very high. So at a gear level that a melee/range gets lots glancing blows, casters would do half damage due to saves, or no damage because of evasion and have to use other spells which are lower damage.

[droid327]

Also spell res is pretty much just ac for casting

[archest]

Also spell res is pretty much just ac for casting

Spell Resistance
Spell Resistance (SR) is a special anti-spell defense possessed by some creatures. Spell Resistance is an additional layer of defense against most non-damaging magical attacks, in that it adds an extra roll that the caster has to make for his magic to "land" on that target.

Spell Resistance only matters if the spell's target creature actually has it, and the spell being cast is one that can be stopped by Spell Resistance. In DDO, spells that focus purely on dealing damage largely ignore Spell Resistance.

The most common creatures with Spell Resistance will be Drow, Duergar, Devils, anything with "Fiendish" in the name and some bosses. (Anticipate spell Resistance to be at least CR plus 10 for regular monsters. Red and purple named bosses tend to have a much higher CR, and generally have spell resistance within 0-5 points of their CR.)

To affect a creature that has Spell Resistance, you must make a caster level check at least equal to the creature's Spell Resistance:

1d20+caster level+spell penetration bonuses (Includes Feats, Enhancements, Epic Destinies, and Items.)

Spell Resistance and Saving throws are separate mechanics. A spell that gets past Spell Resistance may still be saved against.

Caster Level checks do not automatically succeed on a 20, nor do they automatically fail on a 1.

[Gralhota]

So.

About the ridiculous AC legendary monsters have. You think you guys can balance that out too? I mean you've balanced everything else down.

Why should you do that?

Because legendary AC is unfair to melee classes. They get a penalty, but casters can just damage away with no issues. It's still a big deal. it takes away procs, stuns, trips... all sorts of melee abilities. But a caster throws out Power Word, Stun or Otto's, and the monster is locked down.

This needs fixed.



Dude, there's something wrong with your build. My skellie, although still making mistakes, has been hitting more often after the last update.

[Certon]

Dude, there's something wrong with your build. My skellie, although still making mistakes, has been hitting more often after the last update.

With a +96 to hit I still get glancing blows on a roll of 12 on LE. I can't even figure out how to get my to-hit much higher. Got a LOTTA stacked bonuses and my BaB is my character level, so it's not that either.

anyway...

I just mean if, at level 29 against level 29 mobs you're hitting 95% of the time, you shouldn't hit 40% of the time one level up, against level 30 mobs. It is out of balance, and that was one of the things they were talking about... smoothing the level curve. Well, they missed that.

[GramercyRiff]

You can get your to hit much higher than +96 but I do agree this game has issues with legendary content. The game needs to be easier for casuals and new people at the elite level at 30+. Ramp it up in reaper by all means, but elite needs to be entry level so people have a decent shot at getting decent gear...gear they might have paid actual in real life money for.

[Wizard1406]

+1

Yes, I think it would be a good solution, lower mob saves and AC in elite (nerfs to elite spills over to low reaper) and scale up high reaper more.

Then both would be happy, casuals because elite and low reaper are more accessible, and hardcore because R10 is a challenge.

[magaiti]

With a +96 to hit I still get glancing blows on a roll of 12 on LE. I can't even figure out how to get my to-hit much higher. Got a LOTTA stacked bonuses and my BaB is my character level, so it's not that either.

anyway...

I just mean if, at level 29 against level 29 mobs you're hitting 95% of the time, you shouldn't hit 40% of the time one level up, against level 30 mobs. It is out of balance, and that was one of the things they were talking about... smoothing the level curve. Well, they missed that.

A dedicated build should aim for 140+ to-hit.

Here's a breakdown:
30 BAB (full bonus from an enhancement or Tenser's Transformation scroll)
35+ Main stat mod (assuming main stat 80+)
15 Weapon
20 accuracy item / augment
10 insightful accuracy item / Divine Might
4 Greater Heroism (scroll / clickie / passive item effect)
4 Reaper Enhancements: Dread Adversary Cores 1, 2, 4
2 LD Core 2 (Weaponmaster)
6 Ancient Power EPL (3 stacks)
3 Enchant Weapon EPLs (3 stacks)
3 Past Life: Fighter (3 stacks)
3 Shattered Device Filigree Set 2 pieces bonus
2 Tactical Training Room (Guild Ship Amenity)
2 Scion of Arborea

Other optional/recommended to-hit sources:
Feats: Weapon Focus / Child of Faith / Beloved of Faith
Racial Enhancements (Orcish Weapon Training and the like)
Class Enhancements (Kensei Weapon Group Specialization and the like)

Recommended To-Hit Percentage increases:
5% Precision (arguably better that PA at endgame content, unless you are using true rage like barb)
6% Elf / Wood Elf cores.