When is AC too much?

[SangoProduction]

I recently made a whirlwind build that had 95% miss chance vs equal CR creatures...completely unrelated to the actual build. And that got me thinking...."Could I do even better?" Because apparently, my only skill is to take rules on a freaking game and see how far I can stretch them, without misrepresenting the actual rules.

As always, 10 level build. And just because Sage is the one truly OP class in Spheres (also, I already had a build layout from the previous one to work on), I'll use it.

(Also, yes, I'm not making mention of offensive capacity, though you could easily fit some in (even without getting rid of the existing bonuses to AC). I am only looking at how optimized I can get the AC.)

Also, for reference, here's the official numbers for target stats by CR. I'll be using this table though.

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Levels 1-10 as Sage class. Start with 18 Wisdom and 14 Dex. 62,000 gp purchasing limit.

Spoiler: Stat bumps

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Leveling: +2 Wisdom
Grippli: +2 Dex and Wisdom Meh, make that Wyvaran: +2 Dex and Wisdom
Sage Enhancer: +8 Dex
Sage Mental Escalation: +8 Wisdom
Tome of Understanding: +2 Wisdom

Enhancement sphere: +4 Enhancement to Wisdom and Dex
Size Change (diminutive): +6 Dex (+4 size bonus to AC)

So far, AC is 10 (base) + 12 Dex + 13 Wisdom + 2 Dodge (Wyvaran) + 2 (Sage) +4 Size= 42 AC
It would take the mean creature being CR 27 to get a 50% hit rate on first attack. Not bad. But not impervious, especially since the best strikers reach 50% hit rate at only CR 15. (There's an anomaly at CR 13 that can also do that, but whatever.)

So, move on to spells. Sage picks up 5 talents to spend.

Spoiler: Sphere Casting

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Sphere Specific Drawbacks.

• Alteration
  
  1. Lycanthropic
  2. Beast Soul
  3. Unnatural Transformation
  
  
• Divination
  
  1. Limited Divination (Sense only)
  2. Hidden Magic
  
  
• Enhancement
  
  1. Bodily Enhancement
  2. Consciousness Linked
  3. Delinquent Enhancements
  
  
• Life
  
  1. Regenerate
  2. Limited Restoration (Only Cure/Invigoration)
  
  
• Protection
  
  1. Limited Protection (Aegis only)
  2. Protected Soul

Alteration Sphere

1. Base Sphere: 3 traits + 1 form
2. Size Change: reduce size by 3. (Already calculated.)
   
   Bonuses from Drawbacks
   
   1. Agile Transformation: +2 Dodge as a trait (even explicitly stacks, as though Dodge didn't implicitly do so)
   2. Plant Transformation: +2 improvement to Natural Armor as trait. Also 6 base NA as form.
   3. Construct Transformation: Spell Resistance 20 as a trait. (Also alternative base 6 NA as a form.)

Divination Sphere

1. Base Sphere:
2. (Bought as a feat) Blindfolded Oracle: 30 ft blindsense
   
   Bonuses from Drawbacks
   
   1. Foreshadow: +2 dodge to AC
   2. Scent: "Blindness is no impairment against a smelly foe." -Lee Sin

Enhancement Sphere

1. (No talents spent here, it's purely bonuses)
   
   Bonuses from Drawbacks + Enhancer Training
   
   1. Physical Enhancement. +4 Dex (already calculated)
   2. Mental Enhancement. +4 Wisdom (already calculate)
   3. Base Sphere: +3 Enhancement bonus to arms/armor
   4. Natural Enhancement: Lets base sphere work on natural armor.
   5. Greater Enhancement: Improve Enhancement bonus to natural armor by 1

Life Sphere

1. Base Sphere: Cure damage, or grant temp hp.
   
   Bonuses from Drawbacks
   
   1. Sustaining Vitality: +4 circumstance bonus to AC and save
   2. Fount of Healing: efficient use of healing spell points.

Protection Sphere

1. Base Sphere: +3 Deflection bonus to AC [The +4 ring costs slightly more than half WBL, so can't be bought anyway.]
   
   Bonuses from Drawbacks
   
   1. Armored Magic +5 armor bonus, and +3 shield bonus. Unfortunately, can't be enhanced by Enhancement sphere.
   2. Luck: Reroll save as immediate action

New AC total: 42 Previous + 2 Dodge (agile) +2 Dodge (foreshadow) + 8 natural armor + 4 enhancement to natural armor + 5 Armor + 3 Shield +3 Deflection +4 Circumstance = 73
That alone is 22 above even the best CR 30's first hit.

But wait, there's more!

Spoiler: Feats

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There are 5 feats to use.

1. Extra Magic Talent (Blindfolded Oracle)
2. Precognicient Protection: +3 insight to AC with all 3 senses active.
3. Combat Expertise: +2 Dodge to AC
4. Dodge: +1 Dodge bonus to AC
5. Improved Natural Armor: improves NA by +1

New AC: 73 previous +3 insight + 3 dodge + 1 natural armor = 80.
Now it's 29 above the best CR 30's first hit, just in case the character was caught at an inopportune moment, or face touch attacks.

But wait, there's more! Call in now, and get combat talents for free!

Spoiler: Combat talents.

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1. Athletics (Run, Leap)
2. Tumbling Recovery: +5 dodge bonus to AC as a free action.
3. Beastmastery: tame 10 HD of creatures
4. Defensive Teamwork: +2 AC

Final AC: 80 previous + 5 dodge + 2 aid another = 87. Oh, sage can also spend a ki point to increase that by +4 dodge for 1 round.

For completeness sake, here's the magic items:
Cloak of Resistance +5 (to make sure it's hard to throw off the Vitality talent). 25k gp
Tome of Understanding +2; 27.5k gp
left: 9.5k

[Hal0Badger]

You should really mark your threads about Spheres system to avoid confusion.

[TalonOfAnathrax]

You should really mark your threads about Spheres system to avoid confusion.

Yeah, I came here expecting something about Abjurant Champion and people yelling that AC is pointless and that miss chances are God...