Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Satori 02-18-07, 01:44 AM	I've been dwelling on the idea of creating an AC tank that serves no other purpose than to stand in the middle of an enemy swarm and giggle maniacally as he remains untouched by the masses. Alas, I think I may have something. Books: The Complete Series, Races of Faerun Feyri Fighter 2/Scout 3 Feats: Weapon Finesse, Exotic Wpn Prof: Broadblade Shortsword, Two Weapon Fighting, Two Weapon Defense Stats:Only a Dex of 18 (Racial Increase to 20) and an Int of 11 (Racial Increase to 13 are needed Necessary Equipment (around 3000 GP): Studded Leather +1, Ring of Protection + 1, --- The idea here is to combine Alter Self (Troglodyte), Dual Wielded Broadblade Shortswords (Dodge Bonuses Stack), Two Weapon Defense (Shield Bonus), and Fighting Defensively to create a fairly high AC for a relatively low level. Feyri was chosen because of their "Alter Self at Will" ability, which is used to get a +6 Natural Armor bonus (out of kindness to the DM, the Xill Outsider form wasn't chosen). I included the LA adjustment for RAW sake, but my DM would hack the LA and remove the Racial Flying and Special Abilities. 3 levels of wizard can substitute in a pinch. Overall, the breakdown is as such: (10 + Armor 4 + Dex 5 + Shield 2 + Natural 6 + Dodge 5 + Deflection 1 + Skirmish 1) AC: 34 (33 if you don't move 10') Attack Bonus remaining: +3 While certainly not record breaking, this essentially means that your average CR 5-7 critter will need a natural 20 to hit you. This is fairly huge at such a low level, and allows you to serve as an effective "Tank" while shying away from Full Plate/Tower Shield builds. Granted, your saves aren't spectacular (+8/+8/+3), and getting caught Flat Footed or Touch Attacked isn't fun...but for straight up, hack n slash melee combat, this build seems to do the trick. --- So, keeping within the rules (Complete Series, Races of Faerun), what improvements can be made upon this build? What are some future Prestige Classes you can see benefiting this build? Did I mess up anywhere in my math?
Arcane_surge 02-18-07, 02:02 AM	Your taking of Two weapon defense hurts my soul. Part of me wishes you'd just killed a kitten or something instead. Seriously though, if you're looking to optimize AC, take Combat Expertise instead. Assuming a Dex of 20, and a BAB of 4, that gives you a +9 to hit total. -2 for TWF for +7. With Expertise, rather than taking the -4 for fighting defensively, you can take a -2, get a +2 dodge bonus from your Expertise, and your Broadblade Shortsword bonuses will kick in. On top of this, if you really feel the need, you can remove more BAB for Expertise, and fight defensively, for an absolutely excessive AC of something like 37 (I think. Math is rough at 2am). That said, you'll be nigh untouchable by any CR 7 creature, unless they use touch attacks (In which case you're only moderately difficult to touch). The question I have is this: So what? With a +3 to +5 bonus to hit, you're not going to be hitting much at that level, and you'll be dishing out what looks like a maximum of 3d6 damage around. What's going to keep said creatures from walking around you and eating the faces of your softer party members? You'll laugh as you stand unscathed amongst the corpses of your allies, surrounded by low CR creatures that'll roll a 20 eventually, and whittle your hp down. Just something to keep in mind, I think. A friend and I tried this once with two fighters using Phalanx Fighting, Shield Wall, Shield Focus, and a few other feats. We were pretty untouchable by level 2, and what happened to us was pretty much what I described above.
Adolfo_Mondschein 02-19-07, 05:01 AM	Mitheral Chainshirt would be nice if you have the extra cash... But... Why would a scout stand still in the middle of battle and let enemies take shots at him? :) Also, if your aiming for scout... why two-weapon fighting? It's seriously eating up your feats and doesn't appear to be giving you many benefits... As Arcane_surge pointed out, combat expertise would be good, taking Dodge, using a +1 heavy shield instead, and of course total defense or fighting defensively will add to your AC. If you had a lot of wisdom, Monk would be a good option with Scout. (then again, I always consider adding Monk to Characters...) Other than that, yeah I'd have to agree that's still pretty good AC for a character of that level. As long as you remember to keep moving around...
Tektonik 02-19-07, 10:52 AM	Swordsage 2 and get mithril breastplate to add Wis to ac. Has the added bonus of helping your will save some more, you don't have wis as a dump stat do you? ;)
Kurama Youko 02-19-07, 11:16 AM	well if your using a primarily 3.0 source in the form of Races of Faerun anyway, might as well go all the way and using the Savage Species and play a Baleen Whale who has a natural armor of +9 but since its large it has a -1 to AC anyway. However the +4 dex they get is also pretty impressive. :)
M.E. Charm 02-19-07, 12:01 PM	A friend and I tried this once with two fighters using Phalanx Fighting, Shield Wall, Shield Focus, and a few other feats. We were pretty untouchable by level 2, and what happened to us was pretty much what I described above. There is the Goad feat if you have high Charisma, but only for melee combatents. You make a very good point! Like the OP I wanted to focus on defense too and stand between the baddies and the rest of the party, but I hadn't thought of this yet. Listen to the guy, Satori!