Standard Tank AC Boosting

[esoitl]

I have never really tanked before as I don't find it a whole lot of fun to be honest but pulling so many nice weapons and such has lead me to start one. Of course the early levels and quests were cake and I rarley if ever got hit but as I'm getting myself up my AC just isn't changing at all and I can tell now that with another 2 or so I'll be punked out and slain by every mob imaginable as everything they throw will be hits.

So I ask, what kind of equip should I be looking at grabbing(feats/enhances) as well to get AC up.
As it stands with the equip I have, if I make it granted, I can have a 33 unbuffed with shield at lvl 12. This I realize is too low and since it is more of a THF build it will be unfortunately in the 29ish range which is just plain bad.

What do people use to get 34s+ unbuffed even at lvl 9 and 10?

[derja]

I have never really tanked before as I don't find it a whole lot of fun to be honest but pulling so many nice weapons and such has lead me to start one. Of course the early levels and quests were cake and I rarley if ever got hit but as I'm getting myself up my AC just isn't changing at all and I can tell now that with another 2 or so I'll be punked out and slain by every mob imaginable as everything they throw will be hits.

So I ask, what kind of equip should I be looking at grabbing(feats/enhances) as well to get AC up.
As it stands with the equip I have, if I make it granted, I can have a 33 unbuffed with shield at lvl 12. This I realize is too low and since it is more of a THF build it will be unfortunately in the 29ish range which is just plain bad.

What do people use to get 34s+ unbuffed even at lvl 9 and 10?

one thing you should focus on is what kind of equipment your going to use you say twf build so does thamt mean your a fighter or a ranger/fighter or what classes/and or race are you a 32 point build or 28 drow what did you min/max if your a cross class is it a fighter at first level for the extra feats and how much hpp are you looking at these are some questions i had reading your post you can pm me with the answers or post them here others ca help you build i fine tank just as a note i have 8 tanks and 1 caster and the caster is only level 4 so lol i know tanks

[Obitus]

If it's a THF build, your options are somewhat limited, but you can achieve fairly decent AC with some lucky pulls/trades and some raiding.

First priority, for me, would be to find as many Shield clickies as you can (I use four items each with three charges on my TWF build, and I find that that's usually plenty). It ain't fun clicking them on every minute or so, but it does add +4 to AC and the items aren't that hard to find or expensive to buy.

Second priority would be to find the best possible armor for your build. I can't say what that armor is for you, because I don't know what your DEX is, or whether you're trying to use Evasion, but generally it's going to be a set of +5 Mithral Full Plate or a Mithral Breast Plate (or if you're fortunate, the Kundarak Delving Suit from the Dragon raid). Neither of those is exactly cheap if you're looking to buy them on the Auction House, but it's worth mentioning that, if your DEX is high enough, the Breastplate is much, much cheaper than the Mithral Full Plate.

Alternatively (if you're sporting a relatively low DEX score or are too poor for the aforementioned options), you could just wear some +5 Full Plate and make good use of the Fighter's Armor Mastery enhancements, which cap out at +3 (18 modified DEX will fill that out for you).

Thirdly, you could look for Chaosgarde from the Xorian Cipher quest, which adds +2 stackable bonus to AC. If you're really high-end, you can raid for a Chattering Ring for another +3.

A +5 Protection Cloak or ring is obvious as well.

You could also try to find a good weapon with the "of Parrying" suffix on it. I just picked up a +5 Acid Dwarven Axe of Parrying at the vendor in House D the other day, so there are good deals to be found if you look hard enough.

+3 Barkskin potions are relatively cheap, too. I always carry a stack of these on all of my melee characters.

Finally, there's the Dodge feat, or if you're really really desperate, you could even splash a couple of levels of Paladin to pick up the incidental aura bonuses. I don't recommend this if you're heart is set on THFing; it's a big investment that could go counter to your whole build's focus. Likewise, I don't recommend taking Combat Expertise, because if you're going to turn off Power Attack anyway, you almost might as well switch to a shield for that battle.

The bottom line with THFing, though, is that you should try to pick up whatever slack in your AC with hitpoints. Dwarves and Warforged are popular choices for that reason (they have racial Toughness enhancements). And of course, Stoneskin and Displacement buffs from your friendly mage friends are a huge help. Oh, and make sure to find an item with Fortification on it -- Heavy Fort if possible, but definitely Moderate Fort if you can't find Heavy.

All told, in theory, a THF build could have self-buffed AC of:

+10 base
+13 Mithral Full Plate (+5)
+6 (DEX bonus w/ Fighter's Armor Mastery III)
+1 Dodge feat
+5 Protection item
+2 Chaosgarde
+3 Chattering Ring
+4 Shield clicky
+3 Barkskin potion
+1 "of Parrying" weapon

48 total, which is very respectable, if not truly mind-blowing.

[derja]

also as a side note a good heavy fort item and gives a boost to hp is the minos legens not hard to obtain as the shreds are fairly common and it is a helm with toughness feat and heavy fort also you can get a pair of ethereal bracers instead of chaos gaurds still get a point of ac as opposed to 2 points but you get the ability of haveing all weopons ghost toch

[esoitl]

cool, thanks a bunch

i'm unfortunately not rich enough for the MFP but i have a +5 adFP and with armour mastery and a dex item i would be able to get about the same result with only a few points less plus dmg reduction albeit that may be useless come higher lvls
i planned on grabbing the tap helm unless i could find another HF on the way

i've been running for the Chaosgarde although no luck so far, i'll try and run for the Chattering Ring and K Plate too when i get there


cheers on the suggestions

[Emili]

As pointe out there are a number of items and such which add to your ac... plus someone brought up fortification - minimum is med but heavy is prefered. It are crits and saves which really kill melee imo.... Nightforged necklace (lvl 9) and Minos helm (lvl 11) are easy to get items to aquire heavy fort. Top of with a balance of decent AC, HP and saves and a toon does fine.

Also in terms of armour... even a +4 mith fp will outdo a straight +5 should you have the dex to fill it.