PDA

View Full Version : AC and Money Guide?



Margon84
2009-01-25, 10:50 PM
Is there a guide out there that has a list of what equipment grants the most AC/gold at each level?

For example, if I have 16,000 gp at 8th level is it best to spend 9000gp on a +1 Animated Shield (+3 ac) or spread that 9000 over several cheaper items with just +1 or +2 enhancement (i.e. Amulet of Natural Armor, Bracers of Armor, Mithril Breastplate).

I realize sword and board is most efficient way to stack AC, but my character is a reach tripper, and I don't wanna go with the shield until I can afford animated.

Starbuck_II
2009-01-25, 11:11 PM
Is there a guide out there that has a list of what equipment grants the most AC/gold at each level?

For example, if I have 16,000 gp at 8th level is it best to spend 9000gp on a +1 Animated Shield (+3 ac) or spread that 9000 over several cheaper items with just +1 or +2 enhancement (i.e. Amulet of Natural Armor, Bracers of Armor, Mithril Breastplate).

I realize sword and board is most efficient way to stack AC, but my character is a reach tripper, and I don't wanna go with the shield until I can afford animated.

Go for the other cheap ones first (Amulet of NA, Iuon Sone Insight +1, Ring) then go Shield.

Keld Denar
2009-01-25, 11:27 PM
No no no, sword and board is bad, so you are safe. Tripping generally isn't the strongest, but its not terrible, especially if you fight mostly medium sized humanoids.

So....per point, assuming you want to stay in light armor. Bracers of Armor don't stack with regular armor. If you are really worried about your touch AC, get your mage to cast Mage Armor on you. It won't stack with your armor normally, but will remain effective against things that bypass your regular armor.

+1 Mith BP is a +6 AC for ~5400g. Thats 900 g per plus. If you have a cleric in your party, you should NEVER pay for more than a +1 enhancement bonus, due to the presence of Magic Vestaments. More on this later.
+1 Animated Heavy Shield is 9000g for +3, thats 3000g per plus, but can be enhanced for free the same as the armor, so it really gets cheaper/plus as you and your cleric level up.

1000g Amulet of NA +1
2000g Ring of Prot +1
4000g Amulet of NA+2
4000g Gloves of Dex +2
5000g IWIN Stone +1
8000g Ring of Prot +2
9000g Amulet of NA +3
16000g Ring of Prot +3
16000g Amulet of NA +4
16000g Gloves of Dex +4
25000g Amulet of NA +5
32000g Ring of Prot +4
36000g Gloves of Dex +6
50000g Ring of Prot +5

So, you can see, past a Ring of Prot +2 and an Amulet of NA +3, you really aren't gaining much for the gold spent. Also, your Ring and Amulet slots are really useful, especially for Con and Freedom of Movement and other things. You'd be better off spending the cash on things that increase your damage output and opposed str checks, since those will reduce damage more than the gold spent maxing your AC.

As for what I mentioned earlier with the cleric. Magic Vestaments is an amazing spell. Its the Greater Magic Weapon for armor. Unfortunately, they screwed up when they wrote it and made it a touch spell, so it can't be chained with out rather dodgy rules of stacking Reach Spell and then Chaining. So, your cleric is probably gonna have to suck it up and buff you. BUT, your cleric wants to memorize Divine Power 6 times? Well, it IS his character, but there is something else you can do. A Pearl of Power IV costs 16,000g. Compare that in cost to the Amulet of NA +4 or the Ring of Prot +3. Now if you convince the cleric to memorize 1 for his own armor, you can bump him with the PoP IV and have him cast on you. Pick up 2, and drop one on your armor AND shield for instant +5 gear. CL is easy to mess with as a cleric, simple things like a Strand of Prayer Beads and the Divine Spell Power feat mean that a cleric can get to CL20 by level 11 or 12. This is much more solid than burning a bunch of cash on a high level Ring of Prot or such. You can still buy the low level ones cheap and keep the +5 armor from the MV. It gets better. If that cleric has the Strength domain, he gets MV as a 3rd level DOMAIN slot. Blamo, a Pearl of Power III only costs 9000g, which means you can get 2 for slightly more than it would have cost you before.

Hope all this info was helpful. It all comes down to the fact that at higher levels, things are gonna hit you whether you want them to or not. You are better off killing them faster than trying to "tank" them. Pick up some kind of displacement, it'll protect you much better.

Margon84
2009-01-25, 11:48 PM
Tripping generally isn't the strongest, but its not terrible, especially if you fight mostly medium sized humanoids.

I am actually Cleric 1 with strength domain for Enlarge, so I can trip nasties larger than medium and/or non humanoids more easily.



+1 Mith BP is a +6 AC for ~5400g. Thats 900 g per plus. If you have a cleric in your party, you should NEVER pay for more than a +1 enhancement bonus, due to the presence of Magic Vestaments. More on this later.
+1 Animated Heavy Shield is 9000g for +3, thats 3000g per plus, but can be enhanced for free the same as the armor, so it really gets cheaper/plus as you and your cleric level up.

I sort of assumed it was obvious that I'd be wearing armor with some sort of enhancement bonus, since you get +1 AC for 1000gp and +2 for 4000, which is pretty efficientcompared to the costs of the various wondrous items. I'll have to read up on Magic Vestment and Pearls of Power to nail this trick down, but it sounds great. We actually have a Favored Soul instead of a Cleric, would that work?



1000g Amulet of NA +1
2000g Ring of Prot +1
4000g Amulet of NA+2
4000g Gloves of Dex +2
5000g IWIN Stone +1
8000g Ring of Prot +2
9000g Amulet of NA +3
16000g Ring of Prot +3
16000g Amulet of NA +4
16000g Gloves of Dex +4
25000g Amulet of NA +5
32000g Ring of Prot +4
36000g Gloves of Dex +6
50000g Ring of Prot +5

Hope all this info was helpful. It all comes down to the fact that at higher levels, things are gonna hit you whether you want them to or not. You are better off killing them faster than trying to "tank" them. Pick up some kind of displacement, it'll protect you much better.

Amulet of NA follows the same formula as ring of prot for advancement so its actually 8000gp at +2, so it goes bad even faster. Anyway, this is pretty much exactly what I had in mind, a list that breaks down all the items that give AC into AC/gp, thanks.

One more question if I have a +1 Animated Shield and want a +2 Animated Shield, is it more cost effective to have the same shield upgraded, or must I sell the old one and buy a new one entirely? I can't remember where the rules for upgrading magic items are.

Keld Denar
2009-01-26, 12:09 AM
No, since Favored Souls are spontaneous casters, they can't use Pearls of Power. They can use Momento Magica, though I forgot the sources of them. I do know that they cost DOUBLE what a Pearl of Power. It does help that a FS has a greater number of spells/day than a cleric, though, since you could probably get the MV cast when you need it. Sadly, FS also don't get Turn Undead, which is used to fuel Divine Spell Power, one of the easiest tricks to bump your CL higher to get a better bonus for your Magic Vestaments. They can still get the Bead of Karma from the Necklace of Prayer Beads, but that sucker costs 20,000 by itself.

My bad on the Amulet, I thought it had the same price progression as a Cloak of Resistance, which IS an item worth upgrading all the way to +5 ASAP.

As far as upgrading, you need to know an Item Crafter. This can be an NPC or another PC in your group. They can upgrade if for the difference in cost between +1 and +2 (or +3 and +4 in the case of an Animated Shield). The DMG mentions that anyone can contribute to the crafting process, so you can donate the gold and xp to the crafter, and the only the the crafter need to is have the feat and spend the time.

Eldariel
2009-01-26, 01:34 AM
Note that these things change a lot if your party's Divine Caster knows Magic Vestment. In that case, I'd get Animated Shield turn 8 or later immediately, since Magic Vestment makes +1 Animated Shield equal to +2 on level 8, +3 on 12, etc. Also, don't worry, Tripping is about as optimal as it gets in coreish sitiuation.

TK-Squared
2009-01-26, 11:35 AM
They can use Momento Magica, though I forgot the sources of them.

Magic Item Compendium.

When in doubt, claim MiC (Which it actually is).