AC Booster Challenge GO!

[inexorabletruth]

I have 1760 gp left.

Shields are out, because swimming is important, so is heavy armor (for the same reason).

Current AC = 15
Current Armor = MW Sharkskin from Stormwrack pg. 106

Allowed books are:
Complete Adventurer, Complete Arcane, Complete Divine, Complete Warrior, PHB 2, Stormwrack, and Monster Manuals 1-3, as well as the 3.0 book Arms and Equipment Guide

You can do it, 3.5 Forum! You're the best around! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oomCIXGzsR0) NO one's ever gonna' get you down.

[Glimbur]

What is your character? Classes, feats, skills, etc.

A Darkwood Shield is only 257 gp, no armor check penalty, and it's a heavy wooden shield.

With such a small budget you can't get much in the way of magic. Maybe some potions or other consumable.s

[inexorabletruth]

Lvl 3 LG Orc Dragon Shaman of a Bronze Dragon.

Feats:
Skill Focus (Swim)
Improved Swimming

HP: 27

STR 20
DEX 14
CON 16
INT 12
WIS 12
CHA 12

Skills: +11 Climb, +4 Profession (Sailor), +14 Swim

I'm dual wielding punching daggers. I know that's a bad idea, but it's my character's way of emulating dragon claws, and I've got great stats, so I figure I can build for fluff and still contribute. But that also makes shields tricky. I wanted to take TWF and TWD as feats to help with that, but Dragon Shamans are feat starved, to say the least, and I don't quite have the INT for it anyway, and I don't think it's wise to take the hit in CON to get that extra bit of punchiness, since I'm going to be something of a beat stick.

Battle tactic:
My water-breathing orc sibling and I will swim from our boat to the enemy boat, climb aboard when nobody's looking, set the sails on fire, and hopefully leave before getting caught. However, in the event that I do get caught, I'm going to need enough HP to stay alive until I can make it back to my ship. I rolled crap for my HP, so I'm worried for my character's safety.

I was afraid that magic item choices would be limited, especially since MIC is banned. I've been wracking my brain trying to find a way, found Bracers of Armor, got all excited, then realized it's an armor bonus, so it doesn't stack. :smallfrown:

Time's running out. The character's approved, but I've got to get the equipment in pronto.

[Vladislav]

If you only need the good AC for a short mission, I suggest a potion. There are many potionable spells that enhance AC for a limited time (Shield of Faith, Barkskin, etc). As the previous poster mentioned, Darkwood shield has no ACP, so feel free to use that as well.

[Snowbluff]

Bracer of Armor or another +1 AC is 1kgp. Spreading out your AC among many items is the best way to increase AC.

[Xynphos]

I'm AFB right now, but I believe that Dastana from OA give a +1 Armor bonus to AC that stacks.

[Dexam]

Considering you've got access to Arms and Equipment Guide, I'd recommend Dastana (I'm away from books, so I can't provide a page reference). They're armor, but they provide a +1 armor bonus that specifically stacks with light armor (and only light armor).

Other than that, the aforemention potions of Barkskin or Shield of Faith are your best options. Or spend 1000gp to make your sharkskin armor +1 enchanted.

[ericgrau]

Agreed on darkwood shield for 2 AC. You don't have TWF right now anyway so you may as well. Even later TWF isn't that hot.

Potions of protection from evil are only 50 gp for +2 deflection AC and +2 to saves against evil foes, among other benefits. But you might not have time to down too many potions/elixirs. Especially if you're getting attacked rather than being the attacker. Still at 50 gp a pop it'd be crazy to not get at least a handful. Barkskin OTOH is too expensive.

A +1 enchantment on your armor is probably worth it too if you can squeeze in the 1k. Any single source of AC might only seem like a couple points and not a big deal, but all together those add up to 20 AC. At level 3 foes have a hard time hitting that.

If you want to free up a feat then elixirs of swimming +10 are 250 gp. A couple of those and you can delay skill focus(swim) until later until you can afford more elixirs and then the feat after that, unless every single fight requires swimming.

[JadePhoenix]

You're dual wielding without the Two Weapon Fighting feat?! :smallconfused:

[Thomasinx]

You're dual wielding without the Two Weapon Fighting feat?! :smallconfused:

This.

If you dont have the feat, then even with light weapons you have:
Primary -4, secondary -8.

At level 3, this comes out to not hitting much at all, even with your high STR.

Honestly, I'd grab something like a great-sword that can be two-handed, and just take advantage of the +5 to strength. This could be combined with a potion of shield of faith +3 (300 gp), for a some serious damage-dealing at level 3. Add barkskin +2 (300gp) for natural armor. I'd also suggest potion of cat's grace, for +4 dex (300 gp), for +2 more dodge to ac. Then wear a buckler for when you're not two handing. (+1 shield)

So a total of:
15 Base
+3 deflection (shield of faith)
+2 natural (barkskin)
+2 dodge (cat's grace).

=21. You're not gonna get hit at level 3. And all of these last minutes/level, so you can just start chugging before you begin the encounter by boarding the ships.

[inexorabletruth]

DM let me fix it.

I took two flaws, swapped CON for DEX and got TWF and TWD as well as Dodge to buff up my AC. I agree about spending the 1K on making my Sharkskin Armor magic, but was worried that adding a magic buff now meant I couldn't add one later. Someone else clarified that I could.

I eventually want to turn my armor into electric eel armor so that I can emit a shock burst and submit a retaliatory electric surge when someone hits me with a metal weapon. Gonna be sweet, but I'm going to have to save up for that.

Anyway, after doing that, I'm going to be a bit strapped for cash. What is Dastana? We're allowed to use the book, but I don't have it. Can anyone provide an excerpt?

For the rest, I'll prolly load up on potions. Thanks for the help!

@ Thomasinx: I can only use simple weapons. Dragon Shamans don't get nice things, so it's hard to put my STR to good use in combat. I'm there for the auras and the sail-burning sabotage. My partner in these missions actually has way better stats for damage dealing than I do. If I can get us to the deck, submit draconic auras, manage to stay alive and look cool doing it, then I've done my part. I'm TWF for the extra hits and the draconic imagery. The plan is to turn the katar into bleeding or shock weapons when I've got the money.