Best way to increase X?

[Talbot]

As someone who isn't much of an optimizer, I was wondering what the Playground thinks are the best/coolest/easiest ways to increase:

AC?

Fort?

Will?


Also, is there any good way to extra skill points besides high Int? Any way to get extra feats besides flaws?

[Sstoopidtallkid]

AC is usually too expensive to increase, but if you decide to increase it instead of miss chances, you'll want armor and a shield, Magic Vestments on both, multiple stats to AC(preferably one stat multiple times), Natural Armor, small or smaller size, and items granting the varied bonuses(Deflection, enhancement to NA, Luck, Dodge, Insight, etc). The problem is that some monsters and all humanoid opponents can still hit you.

For saves, get multiple stats to saves(Cha being the easiest, and able to go to AC repeatedly as well), Superior Resistance, and a couple of the other modifiers. Saves don't require as much boosting as AC to be relevant.

If you want all of them, Cleric is really good at it. Prestige Paladin+Serenity for Wis to saves, Superior Resistance, Heavy Armor and Shield Prof, Divine feats like Divine Shield, 2 good saves, and spellcasting for things like magic Vestments.

[Thrice Dead Cat]

AC?

Miss chances In all seriousness, it would be easier to get displacement, (greater) mirror image, blur, (improved) invisibility and the like instead of actual AC.

However, to actually answer the question, getting Con to AC via Fist of the Forest and/or Something-stone something (Dwarf-only prestige class, Races of Stone) to get Con to AC does wonders for most big guys. Getting +5* Armor, +5* Animated Heavy Shield, and +5* Armor Spikes helps. Barkskin, if available, is great, too.

Things can get silly with (Greater) Luminous Armor, Shield, Abjurant Champion, and War Weaver all thrown together. +13 (+17, in melee) from Armor and +9 Shield for the entire party? Yes, please


*Use magic vestment and Greater Magic Weapon (and caster level boosts) to get them to +5 instead of buying them as +5. Saves loads of cash.

Fort?

Moar Con is moar better. A Cloak of resistance +X also does wonders. If you're a caster (and you should be), I also recommend Superior Resistance for a delicious +6 bonus to all saves. A belt of Dwarven Kind also helps, in that you gain the dorfy goodness of being more resistant to magic, IIRC.

If you've got essentia and love incarnum (and you should), there is a feat that boosts fort based on the amount of essentia invested into it. It also gives a free point of essentia. There are some ways to fill incarnum receptacles completely for a while, but I can't think of them at the moment.

Will?

For the most part, Mind Blank. Most of the advice given for fort applies here, too. You can also buy Iron Will through a magical location in Complete Scoundrel.

Also, is there any good way to extra skill points besides high Int? Any way to get extra feats besides flaws?

Feats can be gained via Heroics (Fighter only, 10min/level), Dark Chaos Shuffle, and the mirror move speel. Extra skill points can be gained through Open Minded (5 a pop, I believe), Favored (from Cityscape, applies only to one skill, free skill rank that can break the normal level cap), and I think the extra HD gained from Bardic music.

[Talbot]

And the best way to increase miss chances?

[Sstoopidtallkid]

And the best way to increase miss chances?

Be an Arcane caster. Blurring Armor(MIC, +1, Swift to activate, 3 encounters per day) is 20%, Greater Mirror Image(PHBII, level 4, Immediate, max 8 images). Assuming 5 images, the 2 combine to give them a 16% chance of hitting. Something like Blink on top of it basically makes AC irrelevant.