AC, Worth it?

[Deathlos]

Well, i've come back to the game after a long break*around 2years*, found that my previous monk didnt quite cut it, and rerolled into the new AC build using mountain stance.

But as i level, and looking at my endbuild, im starting to wonder if its even worth it and should i reroll as soon as i get back to 20 and farm anther true heart.

Currently, while leveling im looking at 70% mis chance for the most part, i believe the lowest ive had for a few levels is a 67% miss chance, highest being 74%. and i believe im getting hit alot more then only 30% of the time, and that excludes a 11% dodge chance, a 20% blurry from Zephyrs cloak, and 25% incorporeal from shadow stance.
Now maybe it just seems like im getting hit alot since im not really tanking a single person, but rather several mobs at once. so id thought id ask the people who've continued to play.

Is Building primarily AC worth it anymore? looking at my build right now, at lvl 25 just need to grab a few more augments and ill be looking at about 100AC self buffed without ship buffs, which once agin is around 70% misschance.

Any help appreciated.

[sebastianosmith]

Is Building primarily AC worth it anymore?

On a pure monk - No. The AC revamp in U14 was done to make armor class more useful across a wider range of values. In doing so it was rendered more difficult if not impossible to achieve that magical "untouchable" number. It basically changed from a linear to logarithmic calculation making the top end a product of diminishing returns. To supplement this change, new PRR (Physical Resistance Rating) and Dodge systems were put into place.

Having several monks and monk variants, I can tell you that maximizing Dodge and PRR are the best damage mitigation options for the class. An AC in the 70 to 80 range - easily achievable - is about all the AC you'll want if you can get Dodge to 20+ and a PRR in the 40 - 50 range which is also fairly easy to attain with feats, stances, gear and Epic Destinies. You are still going to get hit more frequently than you once did, but PRR will soak up a bit of that damage. Straight DR is also still quite useful and can be found on a wider variety of items than it once was. And remember; stunned mobs don't hit back so, crack 'em and whack 'em for the least damage possible.

Best of luck!

[Postumus]

Well, i've come back to the game after a long break*around 2years*, found that my previous monk didnt quite cut it, and rerolled into the new AC build using mountain stance.

But as i level, and looking at my endbuild, im starting to wonder if its even worth it and should i reroll as soon as i get back to 20 and farm anther true heart.

Currently, while leveling im looking at 70% mis chance for the most part, i believe the lowest ive had for a few levels is a 67% miss chance, highest being 74%. and i believe im getting hit alot more then only 30% of the time, and that excludes a 11% dodge chance, a 20% blurry from Zephyrs cloak, and 25% incorporeal from shadow stance.
Now maybe it just seems like im getting hit alot since im not really tanking a single person, but rather several mobs at once. so id thought id ask the people who've continued to play.

Is Building primarily AC worth it anymore? looking at my build right now, at lvl 25 just need to grab a few more augments and ill be looking at about 100AC self buffed without ship buffs, which once agin is around 70% misschance.

Any help appreciated.

It depends on your definition of 'worth it.' If you subscribe to the old 'all or nothing' definition, then it probably is not worth it to focus on AC much unless you are a Defender of Syberis or Stalward Defender.


If you subscribe to the '+5% chance to be missed is better than +0% chance' (like me) then it is fairly easy to have a very viable (i.e. useful) AC throughout heroic levels. When you hit epics, PRR plays a more important role since you get hit a lot more (or always if you play EE).

PRR is also much more important in epics than AC (although I find it hard to get a high PRR without a high AC).


My L 25 monk has somewhere between a 70 to 85 AC depending on his stance but his PRR is quite low since I focus on air and water stances. He has a 22% dodge, incorporeal, and blur and he still gets hit a lot. The only thing that keeps him from taking a ton of damage is stunning blow. That said he still seems to get hit a good 15-20% less than the rest of my party who only have AC in the 50s and 60s.


My L25 paladin easily hit 110 AC and 100 PRR and could take five times the physical punishment my monk can ever take.

[Teh_Troll]

In heroic yes. Pays off well. it's not as good as it used to be but still worth pursuing.

In Epic . . . not for elite. EN/EH the useful bars for AC are so low you'll hit it anyway and for EE it ain't gonna happen unless you're a stalwart/DOS. PRR and dodge are better here.

Craft yourself 5 tier 2 shroud displacement clickies and thank me later.