Armor Class Value [3.5]

[Temotei]

Is there a hard-cut value for AC? I know attack bonuses amount to about 2.5 damage each, but what are AC bonuses in terms of damage? I doubt they're equal to attack bonuses.

My best guess would be about 2 damage on average, but if the Playground has a better idea than "eyeball it," I'd like to hear see it.

[balistafreak]

I'm not sure what you mean by "hard value for AC". I mean, it's a point of AC, for all that means within the ruleset of D&D.

I'd like to know how you got about that number for attack bonus you presented, because just like AC it's extremely subjective.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you looking for some sort of empirical way to rate bonuses? Like you have the option of improving attack rolls, damage, saving throws, or AC (and so on) but can't decide which is better? I'll tell you right now that that's hopeless - comparing defense to offense is comparing apples to oranges. They're both within the ruleset (fruit) but can mean completely different things.

(Just to let you know, offense in D&D is almost always superior to defense.)

[Mongoose87]

The thing about AC is that it has no Power Attack. And, at very low levels (of AC), a small increase is meaningless. Miss chance is worth much more.

[Temotei]

I'm not sure what you mean by "hard value for AC". I mean, it's a point of AC, for all that means within the ruleset of D&D.

I'd like to know how you got about that number for attack bonus you presented, because just like AC it's extremely subjective.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you looking for some sort of empirical way to rate bonuses? Like you have the option of improving attack rolls, damage, saving throws, or AC (and so on) but can't decide which is better? I'll tell you right now that that's hopeless - comparing defense to offense is comparing apples to oranges. They're both within the ruleset (fruit) but can mean completely different things.

(Just to let you know, offense in D&D is almost always superior to defense.)

Eh. The attack bonus vs. damage number was pulled from some other old thread that I'll never find. I'm not sure if it's right, for the reason you've stated, but it seems fairly close in most cases.

I'm doing nothing but trying to find a somewhat hard-cut number to compare damage to AC.

The thing about AC is that it has no Power Attack. And, at very low levels (of AC), a small increase is meaningless. Miss chance is worth much more.

I suppose even with Improved Combat Expertise, the bonus isn't big enough to even compare to damage, but yeah, miss chance is just plain better.

I'll make my purpose clearer: I'm trying to compare damage to AC in a number format.

To get a solid number, I suppose you'd have to look at most equal-CR encounters and compare armor class, attack, and damage...huh. That's a lot of work.

[Milskidasith]

Even your attack value to damage is wrong; it depends on the *specific* amount of damage you are putting out. If you're dealing 200 damage per hit, then each point of attack between 5% and 95% success is 10 damage on average. If you're dealing 10 damage, each attack bonus would be a mere .5 damage.

AC is similarly based purely on your opponents damage; if they are dealing 200 damage, every AC point (that matters; AC past them only hitting on a 20 or before they miss on something other than a 1 is irrelevant) is 10 damage.