What is my AC?

[stenver]

So i really dont understand the AC system, so i just want to be sure.

1.
Dex 20 (+5 but +4 due to max dex)
chain shirt(4) +4
heavy shield(2) +3
Dodge feat (1)

So my AC is 28
Flat footed is 23 (no Dex and dodge)
Touch AC is 23? (no armor)

2.
chain shirt
Bracers of armor +5

AC 19
Flat footed 19
Touch 15



Did i get this correct?

[Golden-Esque]

So i really dont understand the AC system, so i just want to be sure.

1.
Dex 20 (+5 but +4 due to max dex)
chain shirt(4) +4
heavy shield(2) +3
Dodge feat (1)

So my AC is 28
Flat footed is 23 (no Dex and dodge)
Touch AC is 23? (no armor)

2.
chain shirt
Bracers of armor +5

AC 19
Flat footed 19
Touch 15



Did i get this correct?

It should looks something like:

Base (10) + Dex (+5) + Armor (+4) + Shield (+3) + Enhancement (+5 Bracers)

AC = 27
Flat-Foot = 22
Touch = 20

I don't know where you're getting this "Max Dexterity" bonus from, and Dodge is usually not considered part of the standard equation, since it only applies to one target at a time, and you have to specify that target at the start of your round.

[Mongoose87]

Dodge only applies against one target of your choice. You shouldn't consider it part of your static AC.

Unless the common "Dodge is +1 to AC" houserule applies.

[woodenbandman]

Bracers of Armor do not stack with Chain Shirt neither do they apply to touch AC. Your second one is AC 15, Flat Footed 15, Touch 10.

[Totally Guy]

1.
Dex 20 (+5 but +4 due to max dex)
chain shirt(4) +4
heavy shield(2) +3
Dodge feat (1)

So my AC is 28
Flat footed is 23 (no Dex and dodge)
Touch AC is 23? (no armor)

Base: 10
Dex mod: +4
Chain Shirt: +4
Heavy Shield: +3
Dodge: +1

I get AC: 22
Flat footed: 17 (No Dex + Dodge)
Touch: 18 (No Chain Shirt)

Does a shield aid touch AC?

[kamikasei]

Base (10) + Dex (+5) + Armor (+4) + Shield (+3) + Enhancement (+5 Bracers)

No.

Case 1: 10 + 4 (dex) + 4 (armor) + 3 (shield) + 1 (dodge).
Total: 22
Touch: 15 (10 + dex + dodge)
Flat-footed: 17 (10 + armor + shield)

Case 2: 10 + (4 (armor) / 5 (bracers)) (both grant an armor bonus)
Total: 15
Touch: 10
Flat-footed: 15

Does a shield aid touch AC?

Nope. There's a feat in PHB2 to let it do so.

[Mando Knight]

Does a shield aid touch AC?

No, but there's probably a feat or enchantment that makes it do so...

EDIT: Ninja'd by someone who knew what he was doing.

[Keshay]

I don't know where you're getting this "Max Dexterity" bonus from,

Its in the basic rules. All armors have a max dexterity bonus that can be gained while wearing the armor (at least they do in 3.5). For a chain shirt, the maximum bonus is +4.

From SRD:

Armor Qualities

Maximum Dex Bonus
This number is the maximum Dexterity bonus to AC that this type of armor allows. Heavier armors limit mobility, reducing the wearer’s ability to dodge blows. This restriction doesn’t affect any other Dexterity-related abilities.

Even if a character’s Dexterity bonus to AC drops to 0 because of armor, this situation does not count as losing a Dexterity bonus to AC.

Your character’s encumbrance (the amount of gear he or she carries) may also restrict the maximum Dexterity bonus that can be applied to his or her Armor Class.

[Totally Guy]

Nope. There's a feat in PHB2 to let it do so.

Never used shields. But I remembered that in 4th edition they give a bonus to Reflex defence.

[lsfreak]

Part of the confusion is coming from the OP's terminology.

1.
Dex 20 (+5 but +4 due to max dex)
chain shirt(4) +4
heavy shield(2) +3
Dodge feat (1)

What he meant was:
Dex 20 (effectively 18 due to max dex)
A +4 chain shirt
A +3 heavy shield
Dodge
So that would put AC at 27, touch at 14, and flat-footed at 23, I believe. With an extra +1 to AC and touch AC to one target because of Dodge.

[RagnaroksChosen]

Part of the confusion is coming from the OP's terminology.


What he meant was:
Dex 20 (effectively 18 due to max dex)
A +4 chain shirt
A +3 heavy shield
Dodge
So that would put AC at 27, touch at 14, and flat-footed at 23, I believe. With an extra +1 to AC and touch AC to one target because of Dodge.

How are you getting that?

AC would be
10+ 4(dex) +4 (chain) + 3(shield) +1 dodge = AC 22

Touch ac
10 + 4(dex) + 1 Dodge = Touch AC 15

Flat footed
10 + 4 (chain) + 3(shield) = 17

This is of course assuming the +1 dodge is static.

As for the bracers of armor scenario 2


AC would be
10+ 5(dex) +5(Bracers) + 3(shield) +1 dodge = AC 24

Touch ac
10 + 5(dex) + 1 Dodge = Touch AC 16

Flat footed
10 + 5(bracers) + 3(shield) = 18


Edit:
Remember bracers do not stack with normal armor but they do stack with shields as shields are a shield bonus rather then armor.

[bosssmiley]

Does a shield aid touch AC?

Doesn't. Should.

RAW says: "Touching their shield counts as touching them."
Common sense says: "Thereby wholly ignoring the point of carrying a shield."
Munchkin says: "I touch the floor they're standing on. They're touching it, so it counts as a touch attack."

[ericgrau]

armor = base armor bonus + enhancement bonus
shield = base shield bonus + enhancement bonus
natural armor = base racial natural armor (usually zero) + enhancement bonus

AC = 10 + armor + shield + natural armor + deflection bonus + dex bonus + dodge bonus
touch AC = 10 + deflection bonus + dex bonus + dodge bonus
flat-footed AC = AC - dex bonus - dodge bonus

Bonuses of the same type don't stack. So if you have an armor bonus from armor and an armor bonus from bracers of armor, you only use the higher of the two bonuses. Not both. The exceptions are dodge bonuses and untyped bonuses, which do stack with (add to) eachother.

[lsfreak]

-snip-

It's a +4 chain shirt, giving 8AC. And a +3 heavy shield, giving 5AC.

[Person_Man]

Armor Class: 10 (base) + Dexterity Bonus + Dodge AC Bonus + Armor AC Bonus + Shield AC Bonus + Natural AC Bonus + other AC bonuses.

No Dex Armor Class: 10 (base) + Armor AC Bonus + Shield AC Bonus + Natural AC Bonus + other AC bonuses.

Touch Armor Class: 10 (base) + Dexterity Bonus + Dodge AC Bonus + other AC bonuses.

When computing your three AC scores, you need to pay attention to the name of each bonus. There are two important rules for this.

1) With the exception of Dodge bonuses, named bonuses do not stack unless the rules explicitly say they do. For example, if you carry two heavy shields, you only get the Shield AC bonus from the highest Shield AC. If you have full plate and bracers of armor, each of them provides an Armor bonus, so you only get the AC from the highest of the two. And so on.

2) If your Armor or Shield has a magical enhancement, the enhancement bonus is added to your Armor AC or Shield AC bonus. They do not form a separate "enhancement bonus" pool.

[RagnaroksChosen]

It's a +4 chain shirt, giving 8AC. And a +3 heavy shield, giving 5AC.

Well that makes sense i assumed he was just listing off the AC's so then add 3 and 4 to my list.

[stenver]

Okey, thanks so its

1.
AC 27 (+1 dodge)
touch 14
flat footed 23

2.
AC 15
flat footed 15
touch 10

I didnt know bracers and armor do not stack. That makes bracers rather useless, now doesnt it?
Considering that you might as well take padded armor and some enchantment. Or are they made for spellcasters? and monk.

If shields dont aid touch AC, then i dont see much use for them either.

Thank you very much

[Keshay]

Yes, bracers are for casters, monks and anyone else who may not want to/be able to wear armor for whatever reason. (I once had Bracres of Armor made of bone for my Druid).

I'm not following you on the shields point. They still protect in general. Using an animated shield to free up hands is the route usually proscribed.

[Yora]

I have it as a house rule, that Shields always protect against touch, without requiring any special abilities.

[TheThan]

The bracers of armor don’t stack with your chain shirt. In order to get a right bonuses I would spring for either a Mithral chain shirt or magical studded leather. It’ll cost roughly the same for either so you’re good either way. After that get an amulet of natural armor +3 (18,000 gold) it stacks with your armor and is cheaper than the +5 bracers so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting them.

Either way, that should give you an AC of about 25.

Here’s how the equation looks:

25=10+5+4+2+3+1

Ten + dexterity + armor + shield + natural armor +dodge bonus

You can push this up higher with magic studded leather. Maybe even magical Mithral chain shirt but I don’t honestly know if you can do that or how much it’ll cost you.

Either way your touch AC is going to be 15. Touch attacks ignore armor, shields and natural armor. While your flat footed AC is going to be 20 (10+4+2+3+1).

[only1doug]

AC= 10 + Armour bonus + Shield + dex bonus + size modifier + Deflection bonus + natural armour + dodge bonus.

you have
Armour: chain shirt(4) +4 = 8
Shield: heavy shield(2) +3 = 5
Dex bonus: 20 (+5 but +4 due to max dex) = 4
size modifier: = 0
Deflection bonus: no item = 0
natural armour: no item = 0
dodge bonus: Dodge feat (1) = 1

AC= 10 + 8 + 5 + 4 + 0 + 0 + 1 = 28

So your AC is 28.

Flat footed AC= 10 + Armour bonus + Shield + size modifier + Deflection bonus + natural armour.

you have
Armour: chain shirt(4) +4 = 8
Shield: heavy shield(2) +3 = 5
size modifier: = 0
Deflection bonus: no item = 0
natural armour: no item = 0

Flat footed AC= 10 + 8 + 5 + 0 + 0 = 23

So your Flatfooted AC is 23

Touch AC= 10 + dex bonus + size modifier + Deflection bonus + dodge bonus.

you have
Dex bonus: 20 (+5 but +4 due to max dex) = 4
size modifier: = 0
Deflection bonus: no item = 0
dodge bonus: Dodge feat (1) = 1

Touch AC= 10 + 4 + 0 + 0 + 1 = 15

so your touch AC is 15

the biggest improvement to your touch ac is by adding a deflection bonus, there are many items that give this most common are rings or cloaks of protection.

natural armour will improve your Base and flatfooted AC.

the ???? shield feat from PHB2 will add your shield bonus to touch AC

[stenver]

thank you all

/thread