AC build analysis

[emptysands]

Some number crunching on the AC path for the three standard AC builds. Main focus is a common layout for an easier side by side comparison. I've tried to assume reasonable item layouts.

Some comments:

• There is a -4AC swing for non-WF AC/evasion builds when going from Mithral Breastplate to Dragontouch Leather.
• Non-dwarf Paladin build suffers from a lack of Armour Mastery, and lack of Tower Shield Mastery at 20.
• Epic items will likely net at least another 2 AC points.
• Grind for an AC/evasion build is greater due to DEX in additional to the same Dodge/Insight crafting grind.
• Dwarf Paladin builds generally get peak AC at each level, but non-Paladin's will also get an additional AC boost if there is a Paladin close.

As part of this I'd like to collect some comments about the various low-water (not worth while) and high-water (hit only on 20) AC marks for each explorer areas and dungeons at normal/hard/elite. ie. Over 55 AC in Gianthold is high-water.

Notes

• Rock Candy build. Updated
• Cannon Fodder build
• Jaerlach and Valhelm builds.
• QuikNdirty
• The Definitive AC Bonus Thread

Additional AC sources

• +3 Halfling (5 min max)
• +4 Boost (20 sec action boost)
• +1 Air Guard (rare)
• +4 shield wand (10 minutes) if in TWF mode

[emptysands]

Summary:

Fighter

• 9 Fighter - 56/59(blocking) with 20DEX
• 16 Fighter - 70/74 with 20DEX
• 20 Fighter - 83/88 with 22DEX
• Epic Fighter - 87/92 with 28DEX

Paladin/Fighter

• 7 Paladin/2 Fighter - 56/59 with 16DEX
• 14 Paladin/2 Fighter - 69/73 with 14DEX
• 18 Paladin/2 Fighter - 83/88 with 16DEX
• Epic Paladin - 86/91 with 20DEX

Dwarf Paladin/Figher

• 7 Paladin/2 Fighter - 58/61 with 20DEX
• 14 Paladin/2 Fighter - 72/76 with 20DEX
• 18 Paladin/2 Fighter - 86/91 with 22DEX
• Epic Dwarf Paladin - 88/92 with 24DEX or +2 if Redscale and 26 DEX

Evasion WF Fighter/Rogue

• 7 Fighter/2 Rogue - 54/57 with 22DEX or can get 55/58 with 24DEX.
• 14 Figher/2 Rogue - 70/74 with 26DEX
• 18 Figher/2 Rogue - 83/88 with 28DEX
• Epic WF Fighter/Rogue - 86/91 with 28 DEX

[emptysands]

Level 9 Fighter

10 Base
13 Mithral Full Plate +5 (MDB: 3)
9 Mithral Tower Shield +5 (MDB: 4)
3 Protection +3
= 35

1 Stalwart Defender I
2 Stalwart Defender I stance
2 Chaosguard
5 CE
= 45

3 Barkskin
2 Recitation
1 Haste
= 51

5 MDB
= 56 AC at level 9
= 59 blocking


Armour MDB 3 + 2 (AM2) = 5
Tower MDB 4 + 1 (DS1) = 5
=> 20 DEX (base dex 15 +2 tome + 3 item )

===

Level 7 Paladin/2 Fighter


10 Base
13 Mithral Full Plate +5 (MDB: 3)
9 Mithral Tower Shield +5 (MDB: 4)
3 Protection +3
= 35

3 Paladin Bulwark of Good II
2 Defender of Siberys I stance
2 Chaosguard
5 CE
= 47

3 Barkskin
2 Recitation
1 Haste
= 53

3 MDB
= 56 AC at level 9
= 59 blocking

= 58/61 if dwarf


Armour MDB 3 (no armour mastery)
Tower MDB 4 + 1 (DS1) = 5

Armour MDB 3 + 2 (dwarf mastery 2) = 5
=> 20 DEX (base dex 15 +2 tome + 3 item )


===

Level 7 Figher/2 Rogue WF

10 Base
10 mithral body/Docent +5 (MDB: 5)
9 Mithral Tower Shield +5 (MDB: 4)
3 Protection +3
= 32

1 Stalwart Defender I
2 Stalwart Defender I stance
2 Chaosguard
5 CE
= 42

3 Barkskin
2 Recitation
1 Haste
= 48

6 MDB
= 54 AC at level 9 with evasion
= 57 if blocking

=55/58 with +5 DEX RR lvl 9

Armour MDB 5 + 1 (AM1) = 7
Tower MDB 4 + 1 (DS1) +2 (TS2) = 7
=> 22 DEX (base dex 16 +2 tome + 3 item +1 rogue)

[emptysands]

Level 16 Fighter

10 Base
15 Dragontouch Full Plate (MDB: 1)
9 Mithral Tower Shield +5 (MDB: 4)
5 Protection +5
= 39

2 Stalwart Defender II
3 Stalwart Defender II stance
2 Chaosguard
5 CE
= 51

5 Barkskin
2 Recitation
1 Haste
4 Insight +4
2 Alchemical
= 65

5 MDB
= 70 AC at level 16
= 74 blocking


Armour MDB 1 + 1 (DS2) + 3 (AM3) = 5
Tower MDB 4 + 2 (DS2) = 6
=> 20 DEX (base dex 12 +2 tome +6 item )

===

Level 14 Paladin/2 Fighter

10 Base
15 Dragontouch Full Plate (MDB: 1)
9 Mithral Tower Shield +5 (MDB: 4)
5 Protection +5
= 39

4 Paladin Bulwark of Good II
3 Defender of Siberys II stance
2 Chaosguard
5 CE
= 53

5 Barkskin
2 Recitation
1 Haste
4 Insight +4
2 Alchemical
= 67

2 MDB
= 69 AC at level 16
= 73 blocking

= 72/76 if dwarf

Armour MDB 1 + 1 (DS2) = 2
Tower MDB 4 + 2 (DS2) = 6
=> 14 DEX

Armour MDB 1 + 1 (DS2) + 2 (dwarf mastery 3) = 5
=> 20 DEX

===

Level 14 Figher/2 Rogue WF

10 Base
12 Mithral body/Dragontouch Docent (MDB: 5)
9 Mithral Tower Shield +5 (MDB: 4)
5 Protection +5
= 36

2 Stalwart Defender II
3 Stalwart Defender II stance
2 Chaosguard
5 CE
= 48

5 Barkskin
2 Recitation
1 Haste
4 Insight +4
2 Alchemical
= 62

8 MDB
= 70 AC at level 16 with evasion
= 74 if blocking


Armour MDB 5 + 3 (AM3) = 8
Tower MDB 4 + 2 (DS2) +2 (TS2) = 8
=> 26 DEX (base dex 16 +2 tome + 6 item +1 rogue +1 exceptional)

[emptysands]

Level 20 Fighter

10 Base
15 Dragontouch Full Plate (MDB: 1)
9 Mithral Tower Shield +5 (MDB: 4)
5 Protection +5
= 39

3 Stalwart Defender III
4 Stalwart Defender III stance
2 SD TOD Set
2 Chaosguard
5 CE
= 55

5 Barkskin
2 Recitation
1 Haste
4 Insight +4
2 Alchemical
3 Dodge +3
1 Dodge feat
4 Inspire Heroics
= 77

6 MDB
= 83 AC at level 20
= 88 blocking

= 85/90 if Dwarf with 26 DEX and DAM2+AM2+TSM1

Armour MDB 1 + 2 (DS3) + 3 (AM3) = 6
Tower MDB 4 + 3 (DS3) = 7
=> 22 DEX (base dex 14 +2 tome +6 item )

===
Level 18 Paladin/2 Fighter

10 Base
15 Dragontouch Full Plate (MDB: 1)
9 Mithral Tower Shield +5 (MDB: 4)
5 Protection +5
= 39

5 Paladin Bulwark of Good IV
1 Defender of Siberys III
4 Defender of Siberys II stance
2 SOD Set
2 Chaosguard
5 CE
= 58

5 Barkskin
2 Recitation
1 Haste
4 Insight +4
2 Alchemical
3 Dodge +3
1 Dodge feat
4 Inspire Heroics
= 80

3 MDB
= 83 AC at level 20
= 88 blocking

= 86/91 if dwarf

Armour MDB 1 + 2 (DS3) = 3
Tower MDB 4 + 3 (DS3) = 7
=> 16 DEX

Armour MDB 1 + 2 (DS3) + 3 (dwarf mastery 3) = 6
=> 22 DEX

===
Level 18 Figher/2 Rogue WF

10 Base
12 Mithral body/Dragontouch Docent (MDB: 5)
9 Mithral Tower Shield +5 (MDB: 4)
5 Protection +5
= 36

3 Stalwart Defender III
4 Stalwart Defender III stance
2 SD TOD Set
2 Chaosguard
5 CE
= 52

5 Barkskin
2 Recitation
1 Haste
4 Insight +4
2 Alchemical
3 Dodge +3
1 Dodge feat.
4 Inspire Heroics
=74

9 MDB
= 83 AC at level 20 with evasion
= 88 if blocking

Armour MDB 5 + 3 (AM3) +Fludity = 9
Tower MDB 4 + 3 (DS3) +2 (TS2) = 9
=> 28 DEX (base dex 16 +2 tome + 6 item +1 rogue +3 exceptional)

[emptysands]

Epic Level 20 Fighter

10 Base
16 Epic Red Dragon Scale Amour (MDB: 2)
9 Epic Kundarak Warding Shield +7 (MDB: -)
5 Protection +5
= 40

3 Stalwart Defender III
4 Stalwart Defender III stance
2 SD TOD Set
2 Chaosguard
5 CE
= 56

5 Barkskin
2 Recitation
1 Haste
4 Insight +4
2 Alchemical
3 Dodge +3
1 Dodge feat
4 Inspire Heroics
= 78

9 MDB
= 87 AC at epic
= 92 blocking

Armour MDB 2 + 2 (DS3) + 3 (AM3) +2 (blue epic) = 9
=> 28 DEX (base dex 16 +2 tome +7 item +3 exceptional)

===
Epic Level 18 Paladin/2 Fighter

10 Base
16 Epic Vambraces of Inner Light +7 (MDB: 1)
9 Epic Kundarak Warding Shield +7 (MDB: -)
5 Protection +5
= 40

5 Paladin Bulwark of Good IV
1 Defender of Siberys III
4 Defender of Siberys II stance
2 SOD Set
2 Chaosguard
5 CE
= 59

5 Barkskin
2 Recitation
1 Haste
4 Insight +4
2 Alchemical
3 Dodge +3
1 Dodge feat
4 Inspire Heroics
= 81

5 MDB
= 86 AC at epic
= 91 blocking

= 88/93 if dwarf +2 with Redscale and 26 DEX

Armour MDB 3 + 2 (DS3) = 5
=> 20 DEX (base dex 12 +2 tome + 6 item )

Armour MDB 1 + 2 (DS3) + 3 (dwarf mastery 3) = 7
=> 24 DEX (base dex 16 +2 tome +6 item)

===
Level 18 Figher/2 Rogue WF

10 Base
15 Mithral body/Epic Red Dragonscale Docent +7 (MDB: 5)
9 Epic Kundarak Warding Shield +7 (MDB: -)
5 Protection +5
= 39

3 Stalwart Defender III
4 Stalwart Defender III stance
2 SD TOD Set
2 Chaosguard
5 CE
= 55

5 Barkskin
2 Recitation
1 Haste
4 Insight +4
2 Alchemical
3 Dodge +3
1 Dodge feat.
4 Inspire Heroics
=77

9 MDB
= 86 AC at level epic with evasion
= 91 if blocking

Armour MDB 5 + 3 (AM3) +Fludity = 9
=> 28 DEX (base dex 16 +2 tome + 7 item +1 rogue +2 exceptional)

=> +2 AC if 32DEX with +2MDB (blue slot) and +3 tome or litany

[bunkerhugger]

Thanks for the number crunching.

[D'rin]

Does anyone know the high water marks for AC at the various levels?

[Gorby]

Just looking at your epic lvl 20 FTR breakdown, it's not possible to achieve all of those sources at the same time.

Ring 1 - Epic Ring of Silver Concord (Prot +6)
Ring 2 - Cinder's Band (Stalwart)
Ring 3 - Chattering Ring (Dodge +3)

You can put the dodge bonus on a sovereign rune but would have to lose the red scale plate AC.

[grodon9999]

Does anyone know the high water marks for AC at the various levels?

Typically, though this is NOT gospel, take a mobs CR rating an multiply it by two to get it's attack bonus. A CR15 would have a 30 AB, 95% effective AC (since a 20 always hits) is 50. There are some other factors such as the Bearded devils in Amrath have MUCH higher AB that the orthons (who hit harder). Both are CR19ish, a low 60s AC will keep you relatively safe from the Orthons on normal but the bearded Devils require mid-70s.

Effective ACs from my experience, and by effective I mean stops a decent amount of attacks, not invulnerable:

Gianthold: 40-45
Vale: 50ish
Amrath/IQ: 60-70
Epic: forget about it.

[D'rin]

Cool thanks for the info. That helps as I am lvling a AC intimidate tank and I am just getting ready to hit gianthold.

[grodon9999]

Cool thanks for the info. That helps as I am lvling a AC intimidate tank and I am just getting ready to hit gianthold.

An intimitank will need more. Who's your toon and what gear do you have?

[D'rin]

Basically it is the big rock candy mountain build. I have the chattering ring, DT docent with +5 protect GS ko0esh with insight etc... also past life ranger so self bark to +5.
The name is baragh but he is only lvl 12 currently. So some of the gear is not listed.

[Merlocke]

Epic: forget about it.

I have an AC toon that I hardly even play because its pretty much a waste of time atm.

[Steveohio]

I know it might derivate from the thread abit as this seems to be more intimitank oriented, but could we get a side by side comparision of an unarmored, monk/monk splash build using either dragontouched or icy raiments with the regular AC fixin's ?

[emptysands]

Just looking at your epic lvl 20 FTR breakdown, it's not possible to achieve all of those sources at the same time.

Ring 1 - Epic Ring of Silver Concord (Prot +6)
Ring 2 - Cinder's Band (Stalwart)
Ring 3 - Chattering Ring (Dodge +3)

You can put the dodge bonus on a sovereign rune but would have to lose the red scale plate AC.

Thanks! I missed that. The U5 Seal of Earth +6 Natural AC also won't be usable. It's a shame dodge isn't a epic slot upgrade option.

It's almost worth considering a neutral character with Light and Darkness. 8 (base) + 6 (protection) = same AC as epic version, but no epic upgrade slots. You do get +6 resists, but it means you need a +5 protection item when you are in dps mode.

As usual with DDO a lot come downs to what items you have. In part the above was done to make it easier to break down sources into a consistent side-by-side analysis to see what choices you need to make when doing these builds.

Since I've been leveling a modified Rock Candy build, I've also done some item slot vs ability score analysis. All work in progress.

[emptysands]

I know it might derivate from the thread abit as this seems to be more intimitank oriented, but could we get a side by side comparision of an unarmored, monk/monk splash build using either dragontouched or icy raiments with the regular AC fixin's ?

I haven't worked the numbers, but I'd be happy to edit them into the above if someone else did the work. I might do it later, but I'm not so interested in monk based AC builds at the moment.

[emptysands]

I have an AC toon that I hardly even play because its pretty much a waste of time atm.

Depends on your goal. DDO is a large game, with many options to fun play.

If you are a power gaming and run epics all the time, then sure. Even then, the new U5 rules seem to make AC build potential more useful.

I've found though that it is sometimes very cool to toss on a shield and stand there seeing "MISS", "MISS", ....; or using intimidate+block in an elite to keep control in a boss fight. This is possible even on a medium geared toon.

Even though the dps on the Rock Candy is pretty good, the new BtA epic rules means I can take my other alts in farming.

[Quikster]

Depends on your goal. DDO is a large game, with many options to fun play.

If you are a power gaming and run epics all the time, then sure. Even then, the new U5 rules seem to make AC build potential more useful.

I've found though that it is sometimes very cool to toss on a shield and stand there seeing "MISS", "MISS", ....; or using intimidate+block in an elite to keep control in a boss fight. This is possible even on a medium geared toon.

Even though the dps on the Rock Candy is pretty good, the new BtA epic rules means I can take my other alts in farming.

Ive run mine in a ton of epics and didnt feel like I was wasting time.

[Xyfiel]

Try this build, I have not updated it for Epic either

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=212701