PART I-Armor Class Lessons

One of the most complex things in this game I believe is what all makes up Armor Class aka AC. These lessons will help you understand most of the factors that build the AC number on your toons. Different classes and races will be able to achieve different results due to feats and enhancements. AC isn't something that just happens, it has to be carefully planned and worked for as there are requirements to some items, feats, enhancements, etc.


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First of all, every character starts with a base AC of Ten(10), after that every toon adds the Dexterity bonus to that. So if we have a toon with a 22 dexterity, their bonus will be +6. So without anything thing else to consider, the AC of that character will be 16.

At this point we are only going to look at dexterity bonus as we put armor on our character. WIKI Armor Summary is a good place to start understanding the complexities of armor, there are many nice charts there. Concerning AC and Armor, there are three numbers to look at:



So what you're asking yourself at this point is...then how do people get to 99,000 AC???!! Well, the answer is easy, it gets more complicated...rofl. There are ways to modify the MDB (Maximum Dex Bonus). Fighter classes have an enhancement that increases the MDB of any armor put on, its called Fighter Armor Mastery. You can increase your MDB by 3 through enhancements. There is also, *hears angelic music* the MITRHAL armor family. It is so coveted because instead of the usual MDB, you recieve +2 for the lighter material known as Mitral. Therefore, our clunky FP that had a MDB of 1, now enjoys an MDB of 3. As you can now see, if you also add the FTR armor mastery of 3, you can then benefit from your total DEX bonus, thus adding the full +6 bonus.

With FTR armor master III, & +5 Mithral FP your total AC is now:


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PART II-Armor Class Lessons

Armor Class bonuses are somewhat tricky in that some stack no matter how many items you have with that same type of bonus, and most don't. Remembering which ones do is how you can get you're AC up even higher. So Part II is about defining every type of item feat, etc. that can add to your AC total.

Dexterity Bonus--You know this one already, but it is based off of your Dexterity Stat Bonus. Some characters can get very high bonuses here, like +11 if your Dexterity is high enough. Remember that armor and shields can reduce this bonus! This bonus does not stack with another dexterity bonus.

Natural Armor Bonus--Natural Armor bonuses do not stack with themselves, but do stack with the plain old "Armor & Shild bonuses." Yes, this is confusing, but if you pay attention, you'll soon see the mild difference in the titles.



Armor Bonus--Armor bonuses do not stack with themselves and are found on armor, armored bracers, rings, etc., and Docents. Remember that Armor itself has a dex bonus modifier (MDB).



Sheild Bonus--These do not stack with themselves, and also have an MDB number that you need to pay attention too.



Deflection Bonus--These do not stack with themselves, you get benefit from the highest one that you are using which is why everyone wants a +5 protection ring...lol.



Dodge Bonus--Hear the fighter's music ringing~DODGE BONUSES STACK!! Yes, finally something that stacks. So begin your run, fight, and knock down to get these items and a place on your fighter to put them.


* Race: Halfling (+1)[/indent]

Insight Bonus--Relatively new to the game, you can now craft weapons that include this bonus so that while you are wielding these weapons you have this bonus added to your AC. It is not stackable with itself, so you will receive benefit from the highest insight bonus only.
* Weapon enhancement: Parrying~ +1 Insight bonus.

Misc Bonus--This will need some updating as I try to get this caught up to new enhancements, but for now this is a quick summary:



So, an example of what a decked out AC might look like:

For a High Level Fighter



Total AC: 66--However, there are many more combinations. Also, you wouldn't want to leave combat expertise on for long. A good "standing" AC is 42-52 since we don't all have a private ranger and bard following us everywhere...lol.

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PART III-Armor Class Lessons

This will be about the fine tuning of Armor Class, plus what other things are beneficial if you can not have the ideal AC for your fighter type.

Incoming Guide Links Beginners Guide

Easy Link BBCode Link: [guide=AC]Grizzy's Armor Class 101[/guide] URL: http://aga.dkpsystem.com/guide/AC

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