Is it worth it to try for greater AC?

[Barstro]

I've grown tired of my Inquisitor being a glass cannon. In the interest of actually being interesting and having fights last more than the two rounds necessary for him own the battlefield, I'm considering changing his build.

Right now, he can have AC as follows;
10 - Base
9 – Celestial Armor
8 – Dex
4 – Shield +3 Buckler (Assuming Magic Vestments works that way)
So, he now is at 31.

He could, in addition, gain;
3 – Sacred bonus (Protection Judgment)
2 – +2 to Shield Bonus (Shield Wall Feat)
4 – Deflection (Shield of Faith)
5 – Natural Armor; Barkskin (I can get a Ring of Spellstoring and have our Shaman store it)

This would give him AC of 45 if my math and understanding are correct.

Is there any way to get more without spending a lot of gp?

Is this good enough for levels 13-16ish?

[Geddy2112]

31 is decent for level 13, but a bit weak by level 16; AC 45 is good at level 16. The thing is, you are at the level where AC is really a losing game. The only AC that really matters is your touch AC to protect against magic and other nasty touch attacks. Boosting the other stuff will help you stay in the fray, but melee is not the danger at this point, it is high powered magic.

AC 40+ won't stop much at this level, including full attacks from melee monsters. It is meant to deter the less BAB multiple attacks and stray blows here and there. However, none of that matters when casters are simply rearranging reality at their whims.

[Florian]

Is this good enough for levels 13-16ish?

Compare that to a regular CR 14 Red Dragon with +25 to hit.

[Barstro]

It's a shame I have no good way to get miss chances. At least the saving throws are high.

If we start worrying about casters, then there isn't much downside to taking the AC enhancements and going to the front line since hiding isn't going to stop the spells anyway.

[Barstro]

Compare that to a regular CR 14 Red Dragon with +25 to hit.

Then the dragon needs a natural 20 to hit. I'm good with that.:smallwink:

[Spore]

Then the dragon needs a natural 20 to hit. I'm good with that.:smallwink:

As long as AC isn't your only defense. If you can pair it with good saves, enough HP to last more than a full attack, resistances and a decent offense (be it battlefield control, damage, summons, buffs, ANYTHING that gives you what a TGC player would call 'tempo').

[vorpalvolta]

It's a shame I have no good way to get miss chances. At least the saving throws are high.

If we start worrying about casters, then there isn't much downside to taking the AC enhancements and going to the front line since hiding isn't going to stop the spells anyway.

Is there no arcane caster in your party?

[Zanos]

Sometimes I feel like people intentionally pull the wool over their eyes to stick to the "AC is useless" narrative.

Unless you're playing in a pretty high optimization environment, most of the damage you're going to take is going to be from getting attacked, and AC does a great job preventing that. According to the optimization by the numbers charts from 3.5, the average CR 13 monster has a to-hit bonus of 14.42, so 31 AC should actually be decent unless your DM frequently puts you against heavily buffed or homebrew monsters and doesn't increase their CR to compensate.

On characters where I make use of AC, I like to aim for 10+2*Level. 31 isn't great by that metric, so you might want a couple of the options that don't require investment of build resources, like spells. I wouldn't spend a feat on +2 AC.

[Barstro]

Is there no arcane caster in your party?

Shaman is the closest we have.

Back to the side question; any other cheap ways to increase AC?

[tiercel]

Dodge bonuses, unlike others, stack.

The most immediately available is fighting defensively, which works better with a few ranks in Acrobatics. (You do need to be taking an Attack or Full Attack action.) Also, potentially, Combat Expertise.

Haste, in addition to its general party-buffing goodness, include +1 dodge AC.

I tend to think of dodge bonuses being more a function of feats and racial abilities than spells or items, but it's worth a consideration.

At the same time, you don't want to worry about AC so much that you neglect other defenses. (I don't buy into the "AC is worthless" optimization conventional wisdom -- if nothing else, because iterative attacks and Power Attack exist -- but you don't want to get owned by energy damage, battlefield control, or save-or-dies either.)

Low-cost AC boosting is generally a worthy aim, though, unless you exist in a campaign where everyone has given up on (non-touch) attack rolls.

[Barstro]

Hmm. Not sure I care for the cost of Defensive Fighting. I'll have to run some numbers.

[Sayt]

With the right build, Defensive fighting can be very strong, but it isn't cheap. The Crane style line gives you good dodge AC and reduces the cost of defensive fighting (combine with a madu to eliminate the attack penalty for fighting defensively, 3 ranks in acrobatics gives a bonus to defensive fighting, Osyluth Guile gives you Cha to AC as dodge when defensive. Dipping into Soulknife for two levels can grab you the focused defense blade skill, which gives you wis to AC as dodge when focused.

And high AC can be very, very nice to have, and at high levels. When you're going up against a Balor or Thulgant Qlippoth, you can dramatically extend your lifespan if it only has a 10-15% chance to hit.

But AC is not a sole defence. You need to have good saves, You want DR, you want Temporary HP, and you want a miss chance. High level melee monsters do dumptrucks of damage while having quite a lot of HP on their own, and if you're fighting in melee, you need damage mitigation.

[meschlum]

A level 2 Pearl of Power lets your ally recover Barkskin for 4,000 gp, once per day. Much cheaper than a ring of spell storing, so long as the shaman is willing to dedicate one spell a day to Barkskin in the first place. Get multiples, and you can have Barkskin on everyone, or more often, or recover any other 2nd level spell.

You've got all the traditional AC bonus types (plus Sacred), but you could consider replacing your Deflection bonus with an item - a Ring of Protection +4 costs 32,000 gp, so with the Pearl of Power it's still cheaper than the Ring of Spell Storing. That's mostly to win some buffing time, though.

Your Shield AC can be boosted further - a darkwood heavy shield is +2 base AC (and another +3 from Magic Vestment if cast by a level 12 shaman) and gives minimal penalties. Or if you want to invest feats and have access to Psionics, Inertial Barrier is +4 shield AC, 4/times a day for 2 feats.

You might dumpster dive for other bonus types (Luck and Insight are the most likely), or look for a way to add another attribute to your AC (typically Charisma as a Deflection bonus, often instead of armor so it's uncertain). Or possibly reduce your size for a bonus to AC and penalty to damage... Alter Self gets you size and dexterity, so it might be worth looking at.

Consider a Cloak of Displacement. An always on 20% miss chance is nothing to sneeze at! The major cloak is not necessarily better - only 15 rounds per day.

And if you really want to hack the system, become a Lycanthrope (or Animal Lord). You get your animal form's physical attributes (or more), its natural armor (+2), and other benefits. That's an easy +6-10 or so, and better combat skills across the board.

[Barstro]

Looks like I have been a bit incorrect about bucklers; my character will not get any shield bonus during a round in which he uses his bow.

I interpreted the buckler description differently, but the online consensus seems to be that using a bow is using a two handed weapon.

This alters my numbers quite a bit.

[Spore]

You could argue that a shield ring (AC +2) even works with a bow.

[Barstro]

You could argue that a shield ring (AC +2) even works with a bow.

I think I'll just animate the buckler.

[Willie the Duck]

If you're going to use an animated shield, why not go tower shield? AC is 3 pts higher, and it is the same as using a animated heavy shield and putting 2 pts into combat expertise but without spending the feat (and you can put defensive fighting or combat expertise on top of it).

[Barstro]

If you're going to use an animated shield, why not go tower shield? AC is 3 pts higher, and it is the same as using a animated heavy shield and putting 2 pts into combat expertise but without spending the feat (and you can put defensive fighting or combat expertise on top of it).


A character with an animated shield still takes any penalties associated with shield use, such as armor check penalty, arcane spell failure chance, and nonproficiency. If the wielder who loosed it has an unoccupied hand, she can grasp it to end its animation as a free action. Once a shield has been retrieved, it cannot be animated again for at least 4 rounds. This special ability cannot be added to a tower shield.

Plus, I already think that Animated Shield is cheesy enough.

[Willie the Duck]

Ah ha! My DM must have house-ruled one in and I didn't even realize.

[Psyren]

One of my favorite parts of Unchained is that it included a "generic monster calculator" that tells you what an average combat monster's attack bonus should be at each CR. See the Combatant Attack Statistics (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/unchained/monsters/step1.html) table and just look at CR 13-16, or perhaps go up a CR or two for more challenging/boss monsters.

[Florian]

@Barstro:

Let´s see where we end up with. My go-to choice for Inquisitor is Sacred Tattoo H-Orc with the Fate´s Favored and Opportunistic Gambler traits, so I use that as a basis. I´m not averse to having basic items whose boni can be overwritten by stronger spells when needed.

Check with your GM if custom items/upgrading specific or named items is an option. There´re some very good specific items that sadly don´t really scale all too well but are still indispensable, like the ubiquitous Bracer´s of Falcons Aim for archers.

Interesting Spells:
Stunning Barrier, Greater. +2 deflection to AC and +2 resistance to saves, along with a save or stun vs. melee attacks.
Anticipate Thoughts: +2 insight to AC/to hit vs. designated target. Stacks up by +1 (up to +5) each time the target misses you.
Wrath: We know and love that spell. The 12th level cap is what we aim for here, finally rendering the already mentioned bracers obsolete. Best of all, it´s a morale bonus. See "Courageous" enhancement here.

A note on fighting defensively:
Dodge boni stack. Period. The moment you ramp up your to-hit high enough to reach auto-hit values on your iterative attacks, you can opt to fight defensively on a regular basis. Three ranks in Acrobatics raise that to a +3, nothing to scoff at.

Interesting items:
- Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier. +1 Luck to AC
- Boots of the Mastodon/Pauldron of the Serpent: Dodge boni against various attacks and on CMD
- Rod of Balance: Ramps of your Fighting Defensively Dodge bonus from +2 to +4 when held in your off-hand (or if Tiefling, Prehensile Tail)
- Bracers of the Avenging Knight: Gives or upgrades an existing Smite attack, either Smite Evil or Destruction domain. Mostly upgrades your to-hit, but see later.
- Ring of Protection/Amulett of Natural Armor/Dusty Rose Ioun Stone: "Always On" boni that can be overwritten by stronger spells. Reasonably cheap and no fuss to manage.
- Courageous enhancement: You want that on your bow for the Wrath spell.
- Ring of Force Shield: It´s a wall of force. You keep your hands free.
- Luck Blade (0 Wishes): This is your back-up weapon of choice.
- Arrow Splitter: This will be your endgame bow of choice.
- +X "Courageous" Composite Longbow (+X): Your go-to weapon until you can afford Arrow Splitter.

Thoughts on Custom Items:
- Put the "Animated" enhancement on a Celestial Shield. Completes the mini set.
- Put the "Champion" and "Defiant" (When in a thematically tight campaign) on your Celestial Chainmail to work with the Bracers of the Avenging Knight and/or Destruction Domain.
- Put "Courageous" on Arrow Splitter. Very Expensive, but more than worth it.

All things considered, it will be easy to bring AC and to-hit high enough at the same time to be relevant.

10 - Base
8 - DEX
9 - Celestial Chainmail
1 - (Luck) Jingasa (or 2 with Fate´s Favored)
3 - (Natural) Amulett of Natural Armor +3
2 - (Deflection) Greater Stun Barrier / Ring of Protection +2
2 - (Shield) Ring of Force Shield or 4 (Shield) Animated Celestial Shield
3 - (Dodge) Fighting Defensively with 3 ranks in Acrobatics
2 - (Dodge) Rod of Balance while Fighting Defensively
2 - (Sacred) Champion vs. Smite target
2 - (Untyped) Defiant vs. target.
2 - (Insight) (or 5 Insight) spell.
Nets you AC 46 to AC 51 in one simple package w/o sacrificing any offensive potential. Note that your to-hit and dmg values also break any charts along the way.

Edit - Personal Opinion: I do think that Celestial Armor will turn into a trap if relied upon too much. It provides a good defense for those who actually don´t need it, but beyond a certain level, it simply can´t hold up.

[FocusWolf413]

It might be worth it, but you really need to know your DM. If he throws magic at you more than melee/ranged monsters, you need higher saves, immunities, and concealment. If he doesn't, you should still get those, but AC becomes more important.

[Barstro]

Nets you AC 46 to AC 51 in one simple package w/o sacrificing any offensive potential. Note that your to-hit and dmg values also break any charts along the way.

Very nice info. Some of those items are out of my price range and others are not thematically cohesive for my character. All in all, some things to consider.

[Florian]

Very nice info. Some of those items are out of my price range and others are not thematically cohesive for my character. All in all, some things to consider.

*shrugs* You did not provide any info on your actual character, so this was done on a blank sheet.

[Barstro]

*shrugs* You did not provide any info on your actual character, so this was done on a blank sheet.

And I greatly appreciate it. Some of it won't work for this character, but I'll keep it in mind for one in the future.

[Florian]

And I greatly appreciate it. Some of it won't work for this character, but I'll keep it in mind for one in the future.

Now you´re being selfish.
As I see it, Inquisitor and Magus are the most complex as well as the most rewarding classes to play as you have to juggle a lot of class features and spells to make them work, and when they work, they simply rock. Hard.
That´s why we should talk about every aspect of those classes, including full builds, in this kinds of threads so others can have the same experience.

[rockdeworld]

Compare that to a regular CR 14 Red Dragon with +25 to hit.
Do not. Dragons have the unwritten CR [Awesome] tag, meaning their stats/abilities are higher than they should be for their CR. The purpose being to make them memorable encounters because of their difficulty.

Psyren's link is the sort of thing you want, because it allows you to see what you need. I personally prefer a player-compiled version like the one here (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E2-s8weiulPoBQjdI05LBzOUToyoZIdSsLKxHAvf8F8/edit#gid=3), because it has more information (except for damage).

You can use this formula to determine damage per round:
Hit_Chance*Base_Damage*(1+Crit_Chance*Crit_Multipl ier)

Where:
-Hit_Chance = min(max((21-(AC-Attack_Bonus))/20, 0.05), 0.95)
-Base_Damage is the average damage per hit (e.g. 1d8+1 would become 5.5)
-Crit_Chance is 0.05 * the crit range of a weapon (e.g. a longsword's 19-20 range would become 0.1)
-Crit_Multiplier is e.g. 2 for a longsword.

Now here's some results at various ACs.
You face an average +21.8/+16.8/+11.8 attack bonus. That roughly translates to the "High" section of the official Pathfinder table, so I'll use that. Now we can calculate how much damage you'll take each round, on average.


If your AC is
You'll take


29
56


30
50


31
43


32
37


33
33


Against a monster with class levels. (I rounded the averages to the nearest integer). Note that you might not usually take this much damage because you don't fight monsters 1-on-1 (or at all if you play a back-liner like an archer). But tanks should expect this.

And against a monster with 3 natural attacks (+22 (44)/+17 (22)/+17 (22)):


If your AC is
You'll take


29
56


30
51


31
46


32
41


33
36



Now assume you have some form of miss chance, like a Cloak of Minor Displacement, so that the enemies miss 20% of the time. Against a monster with class levels:


If your AC is
You'll take


27
55


28
50


29
45


30
40


31
35


32
30


33
27



And against a monster with 3 natural attacks:


If your AC is
You'll take


27
52


28
48


29
45


30
41


31
37


32
33


33
29



The upshot is that at this level, for these AC values, a Cloak of Minor Displacement is worth about +2 AC, except it's also 20% miss chance for touch attacks. And it's cheaper than animating your +3 shield, or turning a +1 Animated shield into a +3 Animated shield. I think that answers the topic of this thread by telling you that "it's worth it to a point, but after that point non-AC forms of defense are more cost-effective than more AC."

And the other result is that you'll need a lot of HP to tank with only 31 AC (a good general number is level+20). But if you only expect to expose yourself to this CR once or twice in an encounter, you'll be fine.

For brevity, I'll only look at monsters with natural attacks here. Most others probably cast spells anyway. You face 1 attack at +26 (59 damage), 2 at +21 (30 damage). Here's your damage per round:


If your AC is
You'll take
With displacement you'll take


35
62
50


36
55
44


37
49
39


38
42
34


39
36
29


40
29
23


41*
23
18


42
20
16


43
16
13


44
13
10


45
10
8


*secondary attacks can no longer hit the target AC

The upshot is that 45 AC is way more than you need at this level.

Now you might say "I don't want to take 30 damage per round! My level 13 inquisitor only has 88 HP, and we do more than 3 rounds of combat!" Or maybe you'll say "that doesn't seem right." Don't forget what I hinted at in the level 13 section: the only player who should expect to take this much damage is a 1-on-1 fighter going mano-a-mano with a monster (like the eponymous Fighter). Every round your party can distract/stun/kill an enemy is a round it's not dealing damage to you. Debuffing them means they don't deal as much. These are just the raw numbers to give you an idea of what to expect.

[Barstro]

Now you´re being selfish.
As I see it, Inquisitor and Magus are the most complex as well as the most rewarding classes to play as you have to juggle a lot of class features and spells to make them work, and when they work, they simply rock. Hard.
That´s why we should talk about every aspect of those classes, including full builds, in this kinds of threads so others can have the same experience.

Since I am not attempting to min/max, I fail to see how the specifics of my build can be relevant to a discussion about inexpensive ways to increase AC. Relatedly, I do not copy other people's builds (in fact, I word questions specifically so that I can get THEORY instead of IDEAS so that I do not copy) and would rather people not copy mine; it can be hard to form a tie to a PC if it is just a copy of someone else. But, since you seem to insist;

Human Inquisitor 13
In the Mummy's Mask campaign
Final Rest Inquisition (rather useless, even in an undead-heavy campaign (for an archer, at least). I suggest others just get an animal campanion)
STR 14
DEX 27
CON 10
INT 9
WIS 16
CHA 7

HP 76

Fort 10
Ref 14
Will 13

BAB 9
+1 Seeking, Adaptive Darkwood Composite Longbow
Celestial Armor
Buckler

Traits
Mummy Cursed (+2 to some saves)
Deadeye Bowman (Ignore -4 to enemies with cover from allies)

Feats
Point Blank Shot
Rapid Shot
Precise Shote
Deadly Aim
Weapon Focus (Bow)
Snap Shot
Combat Reflexes
Improved Snap Shot (Grandfathered/Houseruled to 15')

Teamwork Feats
Coordinated Shot
Shake it Off
Paired Opportunists
Ally Shield (ha ha)

Current Equipment
Dex +6
Wis +2
Amulet that takes a curse for me
Ring of Featherfall
Cloak of Resistance +2
Bracers of Falcon
Iuon stones (+1 Initiative, Light, +2 STR)

My party has members coming and going. The front-line fighter will be leaving soon. My use of Improved Snap Shot and Combat Reflexes will help the party avoid being overwhelmed in fights.

[Seward]

He could, in addition, gain;
3 – Sacred bonus (Protection Judgment)
2 – +2 to Shield Bonus (Shield Wall Feat)
4 – Deflection (Shield of Faith)
5 – Natural Armor; Barkskin (I can get a Ring of Spellstoring and have our Shaman store it)


my suggestions for a cheap AC boosts

2750gp for +4 Shield Bonus that works when shooting your bow
1. Wand of Shield and Cracked vibrant Blue Prism (1 level of spell storing). Somebody in the party must have UMD by now. If not, get a +2 int item with UMD as the skill to max the ranks. You only need about +5 to UMD to fizzle-cast the wand into the ioun stone between fights.
The best way to use this item is just before "kicking down the door" or teleporting in for a scry-and-fry. The standard action cost makes it problematic to use in a fight, but you can just use your buckler+melee weapon if you are cornered and in trouble without it if that seems like a better action.

1000gp for pearl of power 1 (Shield of Faith, should be +4ish by now)
This will last 10-15 minutes, so it's good for several fights if you're doing a dungeon crawl or something like storming a castle. Investing in a cheap deflection item (eg ring+2) will help for general use, just as your buckler does now.

4000gp for pearl of power 2 (barkskin, should be +5 by now)
amulet of mighty fist are for suckers if somebody can cast barkskin. This defense will be up for over 2 hours when cast, which is long enough
for anything but ambush situations or overland travel (and you're still doing that at your level? Not wind-walking or teleporting or some such)?

5000gp Jingusa of the Fortunate Soldier (+1 Luck to AC, and negates one critical hit/day with an immediate action)

5000gp Dusty Rose Prism Ioun stone (+1 insight to AC)
with a 500gp wayfinder adds an additional +2 to CMD and the stupid thing isn't buzzing around your head.

Magic vestment will eventually improve your celestial armor to +4 then +5.

So heres what you get for about 18k and no feats invested in AC

Always On (you can boost this a bit with amulet nat armor/ring protection)
10 - Base
9 – Celestial Armor
8 – Dex
1 - Luck (Jingusa)
1 - Insight (Ioun Stone)
--
29

With a couple hours notice:
34 (barkskin+5)

With 10-15 minutes notice:
38 (shield of faith+4)

kicking down the door or emergencies
42 -( 4 – Shield from ioun stone spell storing)

At any time you can boost these numbers by 3 simply by fighting defensively with acrobatics, by 2 more for judging for defense. Don't knock fighting defensively - if you are hitting easily but getting pummeled it's a sign to switch over. To-Hit is wasted if it's too high, and AC is much more effective for every point you move the needle toward "hitting on a 20".

You will notice a significant difference between high 20s AC and low 40s at your level. You aren't a "charge in the middle of the scrum and tank" character but you won't be pummeled by everything under the sun either. Your touch AC and CMD will also be 2-6 better than it is now, +3-5 more if you fight defensively and judge for defense. As you get more cash simply buying a ring of protection will seem worthwhile compared to shield of faith, just because it's up more. There isn't a good solution to make a shield spell last, short of somehow getting it on your spell list, but your buckler WILL help if you get surprised or are flatfooted or are spellcasting instead of shooting your bow, so getting magic vestment daily on your buckler is still worthwhile.

Just to make it clear, that dragon with +25 to hit would hit be hitting your pretty much every attack with your current AC (27), and could power attack and only reduce its chances from about 95% to about 70% on each swing. By contrast if you invested 10k in jingusa/ioun stone and had barkskin up your AC would be 34 - he is now only hitting 60% of the time, 35% with power attack. Fight defensively the round he has a full attack and you are only getting hit 45% of the time, 20% with power attack.

If you're actually prepared to fight that dragon, you're rocking 38-42 AC (shield of faith and maybe shield spell) - if the dragon power attacks he'll whiff his full attack and without power attack he's only hitting 20-40% of the time, 15% less if you fight defensively. Judge defensive and fight defensive and he'll whiff entirly.

At this point in your career, feats are less likely to be effective for helping AC than spending cash. The cash is going to start to roll in at ever increasing levels, well beyond what you're used to in the L1-12 game. The 18k investment I suggested is about 12% of your current wealth, and may seem like a lot, but you should be earning about 45k between level 13 and 14. It's the same as buying a 1.8k Efficient Quiver in the level 4-5 range

You will want to remember to spend cash keeping your saves up, and on things to ensure you have an answer to battlefield control, but you're an Inquisitor, you have tools. As a general rule of thumb, a tank will spend about half his cash on defense of various kinds and about half on either offense or stuff that allows him to do offense (eg, a flight item, a way to see invisible targets etc). An offense-oriented character, by contrast, tends to spend most of his cash on offense and maybe 1/4 to 1/3 on defense split roughly evenly between AC and saving throws. (if you don't have a +5 resistance cloak at your level, you should be planning to upgrade to that level soon. After that, you're looking at enhancement or inherent bonuses to dex/con/wis, things like luckstones or ioun stones to squeeze out a bit more).

I don't try to keep up with the tanks on most characters, but having the ability to become a focus-fire target for a round or eat a full attack from a high-end melee monster and still be standing (and with enough hitpoints/tricks to escape that situation without help) is a worthwhile goal. It is possible to play a character that entirely dumps AC, but it is tactically challenging and there are some options in combat simply not available to you that a tougher character could endure (like unloading a full attack on the strong melee monster threatening you if there's any chance it'll survive to hit back). Typically an AC-dump character needs more battlefield control support from the casters to get all of its offense online. Which I think is something you're experiencing now, and thus your interest in re-investing in AC.

[Seward]

Looking at your inquisitor build, your hitpoints and fort save are both dangerously low for level 13. This is relevant because AC is only a part of the overall "be tough in melee" equation. Hitpoints are also important. High AC lets you get away with fewer hitpoints, and very high hitpoints gives you more options when AC is dumped but a weakness in both is usually cheaper to address if you spend some cash on both, than trying to make one strong while the other is weak.

You should have a long term goal of converting your belt to a +6 con/+6 dex item, but that's not cheap, so in the short run
an 8k constitution ioun stone will help a bit, and it might be worthwhile to instead consider a 4.5kgp wand of bear endurance and just
have the shaman tap you every 3 minutes when you're doing a dungeon crawl or expecting a fight soon. Another 26 hp and +2 to
fort save will go a long way to making your AC seem better (high AC and low hp will get you into trouble when the GM dice get hot.
Hitpoints are always there for you, and also work against spells, etc).

Your cloak of resistance could also use some love, but your native will and reflex saves are adequate for now.

I don't know how free you are to buy anything you want, or to upgrade existing items without selling off the old one.

If you have a crafter, your cloak could go up to +4 for a mere 6k, if you can get it upgraded it's 12k, if you have to sell off the old
cloak, it's 14k. I think your constitution/fort save and AC weaknesses are larger than your overall save weaknesses at the moment,
(you are worried about dirt-naps from physical damage, not spells, in your original post. Trust that instinct).

Normally I'd say your bow could use a bit of love too, but your archery feats are solid and Inquisitors get good stuff in the offense department and from your descriptions the problem isn't hitting/killing your opposition, it is staying standing long enough to do so.

[Seward]

Other thoughts....

You have shield of faith on your spell list. 1k means that if it isn't already a spell known it can be (Page of Spell Knowledge). Cast the damn thing yourself. If you get quicken spell you could even bring it up as a swift action (burns a L5 slot, but might sometimes be worth it).

Each of these costs 4k to learn via page of spell knowledge if you don't already know them. A lesser rod of extend (3k) helps a lot with limited inquisitor spell slots.

Aid gets you temporary hitpoints (1d8+10) and a "bless" bonus to hit.
Delay poison lasts all day and means your weak fort save won't be tested by poison.
Litany of Defense is a swift action that'll crank your AC by 3 (enh bonus of armor) for a round. Just as good as fighting defensive with no lost offense, stacks with everything and scales at level 16/20 when magic vestment gets better. (or sooner if your GM lets you upgrade your celestial armor to +5 for ~16k)


Circle of Prot Evil is probably worthwhile as a 375gp scroll. +2 deflection vs evil in a Mummy campaign and immunity to evil mind control for 50 minutes (scroll) or over 2 hr (known) for not just you, but anybody near you is pretty worthwhile if you don't think you can maintain shield of faith reliably. (keep in mind 50 minutes is only 4 castings of shield of faith). As a bonus it keeps summoned critters away, if they're evil.

For L4 spells, stoneskin is expensive but it is effectively a bunch of extra hp vs a lot of enemies. Judgement Light (Protection) gives +2 sacred extra AC to everybody in the party and is a pretty good spell in general, although using a std action for spellcasting in combat doesn't sound like it is usually your thing.

When you get improved precise shot, that's the time to upgrade your bow. You won't need seeking anymore and you'll likely have shored up your other weaknesses by then (L15 I assume).

[Denomar]

I've heard it said that a relevant ac per level is usually equated at (levelx2)+10. I really don't recall where I heard that before though.

[danddbard]

i think so. higher levels for monsters mean greater BAB, so you are going to get hit more often unless you can boost that ac

[Florian]

Thank you for the details. Now that is something to work with, especially knowing the AP you´re in.

First, you gonna have to work on that belt slot item and get rid of the Ioun stone. Changing from a Belt of Incredible Dexterity +6 over to a Belt of Physical Perfection +4 will actually work well with your WBL.

Second, work on that bow. Get rid of Adaptive/Seeking and the special material for a very simple +4 bow (Comp. Logbow +4) and be done with it. Invest the difference in a effing Bane Baldric and have your offensive covered.

[Barstro]

Looking at your inquisitor build, your hitpoints and fort save are both dangerously low for level 13.
The HP is low, but party makeup allows for another character to take a hit or two for me, so I'm not overly worried there.

My saves are improved by;
Shake it Off (usually +1 or +2)
Judgement when fighting (+3)
And I think that other character can take a failed save for me too.



problem isn't hitting/killing your opposition, it is staying standing long enough to do so.
It hasn't been a problem yet. But now that I can assist the party with lots of AoO, I'd prefer to take a more dangerous position in fights (and likewise not end them so damn quickly).

[rockdeworld]

I've grown tired of my Inquisitor being a glass cannon.

Looking at your inquisitor build, your hitpoints... are dangerously low

The HP is low, but party makeup allows for another character to take a hit or two for me, so I'm not overly worried there.
You seem to be contradicting yourself Barstro. With your current HP and AC, you'll die to a single full-attack from an equal-CR opponent - using the 3-natural-attacks stats, it'd be 86 damage if you count the buckler, and 89 if you don't.

That's fine for a glass cannon, who only needs to worry about a hit or two over the course of an encounter - which can be blocked by your allies - but it doesn't work for anyone else. That's why I second Seward's opinion of your hitpoints, and why I suspect he voiced it in the first place.

tl/dr: I'd recommend getting an Amulet of Health +4 before anything else.

*Disclaimer: Actual stats may vary. Advice for a general campaign may or may not be fully applicable to your campaign. Ask your DM if these monster stats apply for you. Void where prohibited. See stores for details.

[Seward]

The difficulty with the amulet of health idea is he's playing Pathfinder, not 3.5 D&D and has a +6 Dex belt. Barring the GM allowing custom magic items, here are his choices:

His constitution items are:

Ioun stone of constitution +2 (8000gp open market)
Upgrade his belt to +6 Con/+6 Dex. This has Three possible costs.
1. Party has a crafter and is allowed to upgrade the belt (90k-36k)/2 = 27kgp or must sell the old belt and craft a new one from scratch (90/2) - (36/2) = 45-18 = 27kgp
2. Party has can pay a third party crafter to upgrade the belt (90-36) = 54k gp
3. Party must sell the old belt and buy an entirely new belt (90-36/2) = 72k gp

None of these options are cheap, except maybe the ioun stone.

Alternatively he can buy a wand of bear's endurance (4.5kgp) and behave like a back-ranker when the bear endurance isn't running, but be more aggressive once his con has boosted his hitpoint total. That's likely what I'd do while I sorted out the relatively cheap (<20k total for all improvements) AC options he has on the table.

Then when my AC was ok and if I'm still happy with putting off upgrading my bow, cough up the scratch for a +6 dex/+6 constitution belt. Hopefully encourage a party member to take Craft Wondrous item or alternately do a big-ass favor for some high level NPC so you can get a price break.

[Florian]

I rather think that it´s a trap situation.
There´s already that +STR Ioun Stone there. Adding another Ioun Stone is just paying through your nose for a slotless item you don´t need.
It might actually be better to ditch all of that and go for a straight Belt of Physical Perfection +4, downgrading DEX a bit, exchanging the Celestial Armor for a regular +5 model.

[Seward]

Selling stuff in most campaigns is ruinous to your wealth by level. Also the character is an archer, his dex item is also his attack mod item, and as he has snap shot+combat reflexes it also affects how many opponents he gets to punish for provoking an AOO near him. I don't advocate a solution that involves weakening his most expensive current item on his most important stat.

It usually works out better to upgrade your way out of trouble, if upgrades are allowed. So much depends on how loot is handled on a campaign-by-campaign basis it is hard to give precise advice (for example, if most PC wealth comes from monster drops instead of converting loot to cash and having things crafted to order, the option to get a con item might not exist at all, and you have to fall back on maybe asking the Shaman to prep Bear Endurance for when you know a tough fight might happen soon, or maybe commission a few scrolls)

[Florian]

Seward, we´re talking about a character in a very specific AP here. Unless the DM is not modifying it in any way, something that has not been mentioned so far, it is easy to look up the stats and intended CR.
I´ve run that AP myself and the enemies as presented are more on the easy side for experienced players, nothing that really calls for having certain stats or fail.
The levels we talk about should be fitting to the "Slave Trenches" part of that AP and none of the real interesting NPC come close to the values we talk about here. Heck, Tef-Naju is CR 17 and comes with AC 34 and +28 to hit if not modified further.

[Seward]

Not being familiar with the adventure path, what are the options for purchasing gear? Is it an AP that provides appropriate wealth?

AP's I've played have been highly variable. As an example, Dragon's Demand takes you from level 1-5 while stuck in a small town, so all the items beyond what can normally be purchased in such a town is looted until a special event, and even then you at best get a choice of items that may or may not be helpful. As a result my size small character was very restricted in her options to improve armor class or weapons for most of the series.

[Florian]

Not being familiar with the adventure path, what are the options for purchasing gear? Is it an AP that provides appropriate wealth?

AP's I've played have been highly variable. As an example, Dragon's Demand takes you from level 1-5 while stuck in a small town, so all the items beyond what can normally be purchased in such a town is looted until a special event, and even then you at best get a choice of items that may or may not be helpful. As a result my size small character was very restricted in her options to improve armor class or weapons for most of the series.

Tricky to answer. This AP goes hand in hand with People of the Sand to fill in the blanks. In itself, you have no shopping options, but find some rather nice artifacts for your use. It simply is expected that you teleport to a good location (people of the sands) when you´re not under any time-pressure and do business then. Besides that, the sheer number of items you get your hands on is a bit overwhelming, the named ones actually being good and interesting. Once you can shop, you rock.

(And I strongly assume Barstro went shopping. None of the items his characters has can be found and his character wears none of the items that actually can be found...)

[Barstro]

(And I strongly assume Barstro went shopping. None of the items his characters has can be found and his character wears none of the items that actually can be found...)

Yes, we get to shop about once every other level. So far, the DMs have allowed full access to reasonable items.

Thanks for the ideas. I'll look into ways to get more Con. As Seward pointed out, Dex does a lot for my character and plays into his roll as front-line (being able to punish up to eight enemies per round for daring to step forward), so I have hesitant to do anything that would lower it.