Which is more valuable: 1AC, +2 to dexterity saves & checks, or 10 movement?

[Merudo]

I'm trying to decide what armor I should use for my character (a life Cleric)

It seems to me that 3 options are competitive:

A) Put points in strength & wear heavy armor for best AC
B) Put points in dexterity & wear medium armor for -1AC, but good dexterity
C) Put points in dexterity & wear heavy armor for best AC & good dexterity, but -10 to movement speed

Right now I'm thinking C) might be the best, most Cleric spells are ranged and movement is not that helpful once enemies have engaged at close range.

Note that my character is not expected to make it to level 8 so Divine Strike is irrelevant.

[LordEntrails]

No point in B, what are you going to be using Dex for?
-10 movement is a big deal, in many situations. Depends on your campaign.

[KorvinStarmast]

Maybe A, but here's a point or two for B.
a. Dex saves and initiative slightly better worked for my tempest cleric.
Heavy armor? We are never a quiet party.
Medium armor? (Like a breast plate?) we are, as a party, sometimes sneaky.

Who Else Is In This Party? What classes are they? If there are a couple of clankers and clunkers, maybe heavy armor is the way to go.

Movement: don't undersell its tactical use.

[tieren]

D. Be a dwarf

[Merudo]

No point in B, what are you going to be using Dex for?


Dex saves, initiative, and dex skills (stealth, sleight of hand, and acrobatics).

With Point Buy & Variant human I can either start with 10/14/16/8/16/8 or 15/8/16/8/16/8.

The first option has a +3 dexterity bonus above the second one, which is quite substantial. It's essentially equivalent to proficiency in dexterity save + proficiency in all dexterity skills + bonus to initiative 3/5 as big as the Alert feat.

[LudicSavant]

Which is more valuable: 1AC, +2 to dexterity saves & checks, or 10 movement?

First of all, it's very important to understand that the value of all of the options in the topic title depend on other variables. For example, the value of going from 10 movement to 20 movement is different from the value of going from 200 movement to 210 movement.

The same goes for AC and saving throws. In fact, against "save negates" type effects, your effective hp relative to saving throw bonus looks like this. The AC curve is pretty similar (though tilted slightly by crits).

https://i.postimg.cc/QtnWqqF6/Arcane_Trickster5save_HP.png

To understand why this is:
To double your effective durability, you need to reduce your enemy's hit chance from 100% to 50%. To double it again, you only need to reduce it from 50% to 25%. To double it again, you only need to reduce it from 25% to 12.5%. And so on and so forth. It's an exponential curve.


I'm trying to decide what armor I should use for my character (a life Cleric)

It seems to me that 3 options are competitive:

A) Put points in strength & wear heavy armor for best AC
B) Put points in dexterity & wear medium armor for -1AC, but good dexterity
C) Put points in dexterity & wear heavy armor for best AC & good dexterity, but -10 to movement speed

Right now I'm thinking C) might be the best, most Cleric spells are ranged and movement is not that helpful once enemies have engaged at close range.

Note that my character is not expected to make it to level 8 so Divine Strike is irrelevant.

D) Something relevant for a campaign that doesn't break level 8 is that half-plate+a Cloak of Protection is hundreds of gp cheaper than full plate, grants the same AC, and gives a +1 to all saves besides. If it's possible to get your hands on magic items, do that instead of any of the options you listed.

[Merudo]

D) Something relevant for a campaign that doesn't break level 8 is that half-plate+a Cloak of Protection is hundreds of gp cheaper than full plate, grants the same AC, and gives a +1 to all saves besides. If it's possible to get your hands on magic items, do that instead of any of the options you listed.

We use a system close to the Sane Magical Item Prices (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?424243-Sane-Magic-Item-Prices) homebrew.

So a Half-Plate is 750gp, Half-Plate +1 is 2250gp, Full Plate is 1500gp, Full Plate +1 is 3000gp, and Cloak of Protection is 3500gp.

[Angelalex242]

Just go A.


Full Plate is meant for Str characters. Dex and full plate is mismanaged resources.

[PeteNutButter]

We use a system close to the Sane Magical Item Prices (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?424243-Sane-Magic-Item-Prices) homebrew.

So a Half-Plate is 750gp, Half-Plate +1 is 2250gp, Full Plate is 1500gp, Full Plate +1 is 3000gp, and Cloak of Protection is 3500gp.

Or you could go the strength route buy splint and have the same AC for 550 gold cheaper, AND still eventually get the high AC.


Just go A.


Full Plate is meant for Str characters. Dex and full plate is mismanaged resources.

Agreed.

Unless your whole party is stealthy or something, go strength. Another point, at various levels you actually deal more damage with melee attacks than a cantrip. Toll the Dead screws this in the cantrips favor, but there are a fair amount of enemies that are either not damaged yet or resistant to necrotic. That’s mostly for life domain though as the others give all martial weapons or shillelagh.

It’s worth noting that I’m biased towards AC so every point counts the higher you go. If you plan on using spirit guardians (and you should) you want all the AC you can get.