Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Brendal 11-29-07, 11:06 PM	I am curious if anyone here knows how to build a good armor class for a fighter/cleric. Would appreciate your help.
The_Wild_King 11-29-07, 11:17 PM	Rings of protection, amulet of natural armor, Full plate, and a heavy shield should put your AC up nicely
wizarddog 11-29-07, 11:40 PM	Her are some AC aiding Feats that may help. They are fighter feats as well. Dodge: +1 Dodge AC vs 1 foe Combat Expertise: Improved Combat Expertise: (CW) when you hit 6th level Shield Specialization (PHB 2 adds +1 shield bonus to your shield so a heavy shield is +3 shield bonus) Additional notes: 5 ranks in tumble will give you an addition +1 to dodge when fighting defensively (Fighting defenesily also stacks with combat expertise) Master work Full plate (+8) +2 DX (if you have it) Heavy Shield (+3)=23 +1 with dodge= 24 Options: Fighting defensively (+2 or +3 with 5 ranks tumble) with combat expertise (+1-5) = +3-8 Giving you a total AC @2tnd level without magic items to about 28 should you need it.;)
Amon_V 11-30-07, 03:13 AM	Mithral Full Plate counts as Medium Armor, and gives you +4 Dex to AC, I believe. Counts as +8 from that. (+8) -Armor Tower Shield (+4) -Shield Dex 18 (+4) -Dex Expertise (+5) -Expertise Fighting Defensively (+2, at -4 to attack) -Dodge Amulet of Natural Armor (+X) depends on how much you want to spend. -Natural Ring of Protection (+Y), also a financial concern. -Deflection Alter Self into Troglodyte (+6) -Natural Disease: Vile Rigidity (+1/day, need to cast lesser restoration to avoid losing Dex). -Deformity Protection from Alignment, +2 Deflection bonus to AC Some of these Overlap, but I think these are the beginnings to some very effective means to gain AC. You might want to consider dropping the armor and going the super-dex route for even more AC.
cinnamonator 11-30-07, 05:48 AM	Better Question: Why go fighter/cleric? Outside of bonus feats, which I'll admit count for a lot, once you get Righteous Might a cleric is just as good of a fighter as a...well, a fighter. Righteous Might + Enlarge + Greater Magic/Spiritual Weapon + Bless + blah blah blah = Kick ass tank of divine ass-kickery. In my opinion switching from fighter to cleric or cleric to fighter is simply hobbling your character's abilities mid-build. I'm not really one for min/maxing, I prefer to just have fun, but I know a shoddy deal when I see one. I'd say pick one class and stick with it. Either go fighter and use those bonus feats to do something cool. Or go cleric and work it with the divine mojo.
DrMorganes 11-30-07, 10:54 AM	Of course, the cleric needs 3+ rounds to buff before achieving said "ass-kickery", whereas the fighter has already been kicking ass for 3+ rounds. The fight may be over by the time the cleric ramps up...
The_Wild_King 11-30-07, 10:57 AM	grab a level of fighter to start out with and you get the bonus feats and a higher hd (max health at first level). After that, just go cleric
sn0rb 11-30-07, 11:18 AM	Let's see what I can come up with for a human fighter/cleric (assuming you have enough gold to play around with. Actual mileage may vary.) 10 Base AC +5 Mithril Chain Shirt (26100 GP, +9 Armor AC, +6 Max Dex, +0 Chk) Mwk Dastana (175 GP, +1 Armor AC, stacks with Chain Shirt) Mwk Chahar-Aina (225 GP, +1 Armor AC, also stacks with Chain Shirt) +5 Mithril Heavy Shield (26020 GP, +7 Shield AC) +6 Dex modifier (assuming you either buy Dex up to 22 every four levels or a decent pair of Gloves of Dexterity) Ring of Protection +5 (50000 GP, +5 Deflection AC, RHand slot) Amulet of Natural Armor +5 (50000 GP, +5 Natural AC, Neck slot) Shield Specialization (Heavy Shields) Feat: Improves selected shield's AC bonus by one. Let's see... 10 + 11 Armor + 8 Shield + 6 Dex + 5 Nat + 5 Def + 0 Sz = 45 AC, Flat 39, Touch 21. Not bad for (nearly) core-only ^_^ Plus, unlike the Mithril Full Plate and Tower Shield combo, you can sleep and swim in this armor! Shield Specialization is from Player's Handbook II, and the Dastana and Chahar-Aina are from Oriental Adventures.
The_Wild_King 11-30-07, 01:03 PM	Let's see what I can come up with for a human fighter/cleric (assuming you have enough gold to play around with. Actual mileage may vary.) 10 Base AC +5 Mithril Chain Shirt (26100 GP, +9 Armor AC, +6 Max Dex, +0 Chk) Mwk Dastana (175 GP, +1 Armor AC, stacks with Chain Shirt) Mwk Chahar-Aina (225 GP, +1 Armor AC, also stacks with Chain Shirt) +5 Mithril Heavy Shield (26020 GP, +7 Shield AC) +6 Dex modifier (assuming you either buy Dex up to 22 every four levels or a decent pair of Gloves of Dexterity) Ring of Protection +5 (50000 GP, +5 Deflection AC, RHand slot) Amulet of Natural Armor +5 (50000 GP, +5 Natural AC, Neck slot) Shield Specialization (Heavy Shields) Feat: Improves selected shield's AC bonus by one. Let's see... 10 + 11 Armor + 8 Shield + 6 Dex + 5 Nat + 5 Def + 0 Sz = 45 AC, Flat 39, Touch 21. Not bad for (nearly) core-only ^_^ Plus, unlike the Mithril Full Plate and Tower Shield combo, you can sleep and swim in this armor! Shield Specialization is from Player's Handbook II, and the Dastana and Chahar-Aina are from Oriental Adventures. um, damn, enjoy not buying anything else :P
Merestil Haye 11-30-07, 07:26 PM	I'd focus on cleric, and take fighter only for a feat or two, and never at first level. The 2hp you lose is more than compensated for by being able to apply your first level skill points to the cleric's skill list instead of the fighter's (which is the second worst skill list in the whole game. Only the Warrior is worse). Focussing on cleric means that you have a higher priority for your ability increases than Dexterity - namely Wisdom. Consequently, in order to achieve Sn0rb's target of 22, you have to invest heavily in equipment. You need a +6 enhancement item and a Manual of Quickness of Action sufficient to raise your Dex to 16. Assuming a 13 starting ability. that's a +3 tome, costing 82,500gp. (Investing 1 ability increase reduces this to a +2 Tome.) Sn0rb's equipment total runs out to 271k. That's a lot, but you should be able to buy it all and have an effective weapon plus other gear by 18th level. At 20th, this is about one third of his equipment budget - a pretty reasonable level of expenditure. Also, as a cleric there is hot competition for the neck slot. If you buy an amulet of natural armour, where's the Wis enhancer going to go? You can come out somewhat below that but (imo) have a more effective armour class with around the same amount of money as follows. Assuming as starting Wis of 16 and Dex of 10, and investing all five ability increase points into Wisdom gives you a base of 21. To this add a +5 Tome of Understanding (137,500), a +6 Periapt of Wisdom (36,000), Bracers of Armour +8 (64,000), a Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone (5,000gp) a Ring of Protection +5 (50,000gp) and a Monk's Belt (13,000gp). Total armour class is 36 (+5 Deflection, +1 Insight, +12 Wisdom, +8 Armour) touch 28 flat-footed 36. Total cost is 305,500. This is more effective for three reasons. Firstly, your AC is in no way dependant on your Dex bonus, which can be denied in several ways (although you obviously need to have ways to neuter sneak attacks as well). Secondly, your touch AC is seven points higher, and touch attacks are often more deadly than attacks against regular AC. Thirdly (and most importantly) 173,500 of that money is actually spent to increase your spellcasting ability. We have raised it to 32, which gives you three bonuses of up to 3rd level, two of level 4 to 7 and 1 each of level 8 and 9. Your spell save DC is 21 plus spell level with no other adjustments. You can easily get caster level 20 for Greater Magic Weapon and Magic Vestment (for armour wearers in the party, not you). There are feats to help AC; I'd look at Combat Expertise. With Divine Power getting you a fighter's BAB and +6 Strength, you can often spare a few points for a Dodge bonus. Take Quicken Spell and you can Divine Power and Righteous Might in one round of preparation. (Righteous Might gives you a net +3 to AC at the cost of one point of touch AC because you grow one size category. But you get reach, more Str, more hp and DR as well.)