AC for WF Adamanatine fighter is hard to come by

[SUPERCREWJOHN]

I am struggling with the AC on a Adamantine WF fighter RIPNTerror on Kyber

It seems like Protection items and Chaosguards are in short supply these days and even so those arent really useful until about level 8 or 9.

Unbuffed I current have an AC of 26 on a 7/1 Fighter/Wizzy I have invested some points into increase the DR from 2DR to 3 DR. I havent taken either Combat expertise or dodge just yet. I have a 16 dex and have one level of Armor Mastery so I get 2 Dex bonus and I have a +1 Protection ring and a +5 Docent and a +5 Mithril Heavy Shield for use when I go S&B( which i do only when shield blocking is needed)

My stats currently are

STR 22
Dex 16
CON 18
IT 13
WIS 6
Ch 8

At level 8 I currently have 187 HP as I have invested heavily in toughness enhancements

I fight THF with great axes, and have had the fotune of finding several stoneskin wands and tend to cast Shield on myself before charging to the front which that helps some.

My questions are:
1. should I swap out my adamantine feat for mithril?
2. What AC type feats should I take if any because my AC will never really be high enough to be relevant?
3. What are some common items that I should find to help my AC to at least get into the 30's un buffed.

[aiastelmon]

Well, I'm level 8 as well, 7 Fighter/1 Wizard.

My standing AC is 35 without CE up. When I use tower shield it goes to 37.

I get it by:

+10 base
+8 Admant Body
+2 from Dex (14 dex, 1 level armour mastery)
+5 Docent
+1 Insight bonus to AC (I use a bastard sword of parrying)
+1 Natural armour bonus (amulet from being a pre-buyer)
+6 Shield (Heavy wooden shield +4)
+2 Stability AC bonus from shield (i'm true neutral)

I focus on DR, so I'm at 6 standing DR from body, feats, and enhancements.

To increase DPS a bit I switch to a +4 sword and use the regular shield, to go all defense I use Tower shield and CE. But for a nice mix I usually run around with the 35 AC setup above.

I'm sure I've somehow screwed myself for some endgame stuff, but I play once a week, I'll never get there!

As an aside, I don't think rings of protection stack with the Docent +5 armour bonus, do they? And you should be at 32 AC I would think with the setup you've described (including shield). If you want to be 2H primarily I would think you could do full DR like I did, and you will still have a few feats left over for the improved THF stuff. Combined with a moderate fortification item, you won't get critted, and the DR is very helpful when combined with full fortification. I've chosen to use up a feat for Bastard sword because it's extra damage with a shield out, and no one else does, so I can get a lot of good b. swords for cheap. I'm poor, since this is my highest toon : (

-B

[Club'in]

Protection rings are a "deflection" armor bonus, so they do stack with your docent. It is the same bonus that is used for the divine spell (or potion) "Shield of Faith". Armor bracers will not help, since those are the "armor" bonus, same as the docent.

[aiastelmon]

Oh ok that's right, protection items don't stack with my stability AC bonus which is also deflection. I knew they didn't help me is all!

-B

[Red_Knight]

Not entirely true, if you can get a Ring of Protection +5 that will improve your AC by 3.

[Baahb3]

Keep your Armor Mastery enhancments up to date to take advantage of your dex score.

Barkskin potions, the +3 variety found in various places, give you boost to AC for about 5 min at a time i think. I usually buy them in Feather Fall Apothecary in House J, but I know they are sold olther places as well.

You should be able to upgrade your protection item. +2 is available at level 7, +3 at 9, +4 at 11 and +5 at 13.

There are other high end gear that can add to AC, a Shroud crafted item can add +4 Insight to AC, Chattering Ring from the Titan raid can add +3 Dodge bonus to AC.

Dragon Touched Docent from the Reaver Refuge will give you a +7 armor bonus as opposed to +5 from a normal +5 docent. You then can use ruins to add additional AC effects to the Docent.

The shield wand is very nice for THF or TWF, try to get a 5th or 10th level wand of it so that the effect lasts longer.

If you are going a lot of levels of fighter you will probably have feats to spare on Dodge or Combat Expertise should you wish. You probably run around with Power Attack on but in those situations where shield blocking is needed it is nice to 'turtle' up with Combat Expertise on.

[SUPERCREWJOHN]

Thank you all for the good insight. I did find a +3 Protection ring and the Chaosguards so that has helped quite a bit, and my standing AC is 32. I have also found a couple of wands of Stoneskin and purchased some +3 Barkskin potions. What a difference that makes. With the barkskin, and shield I can stand there with an AC of 39 and put out a good wacking with a +4 Holy Great Axe with little fear of any type of fleshies that doenst cast spells.

I have since added some DR to now have a DR 4-Adamantine and that has helped.
I also found a nice +4 con item in the threnal ruins which boosted my HP. I am currently a 9/1 Fighter wizzy with 236 HP

I wanted to find out more about the Dragon Docent that you mentioned from the Reaver. You made reference to adding some additional affects to it from the ruins.

My question is which ruins, and what do I need to do?

[Jay203]

here you go
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=162707

oh, and for a Addy wf ac
10 base
8 addy body
2 dex
7 dt docen
5 protection
9 +5 tower shield
1 dodge feat
2 chaosgarde
-----
44
1 armor ritual
1 shield ritual
5 combat expertise
4 dt docent insight ac upgrade
3 chattering ring
------
58 ac
5 full ranger barkskin
5 full pally aura
----
68 ac + whatever extra dex bonus you can bring up from having shield and armor mastery enhancement