Armour Class

Jess · Post by **Jess** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 8:26 am

I've been wandering around for a while with most of my characters' ACs down around -12, but I hear that the game doesn't count anything below -10. Is this true? There are a few items that I could make better use of if that were the case, y'see.

nephtu · Post by **nephtu** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 11:33 am

Well..

I'm not sure about the engine, but practically speaking, I don't think anything in SoA has a THAC0 below -10 (actually, I don't think outside of Tactics, anything has an AC below -5), so you're probably into overkill. Even in ToB, precious few creatures have THAC0s below -10, so probably that's a good guideline for maximum useful AC>

Zelgadis · Post by **Zelgadis** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 11:38 am

If you have only SOA, then it won't count anything lower than -10, but if you have TOB it will

Bruce Lee · Post by **Bruce Lee** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 4:15 pm

On regular AC -24 is the lowest you can get, -26 if you pick a certain route in hell. In my game it counts, I have ToB but as I recall it I played a swash/fighter using a shield once when I only had SoA and he got down to -20 or so in AC and it counted aswell. Don't forget about the modifiers from armour and belts either. Gorgons plate for instance has a very good modifier against slashing damage.
Dragons have thac0 around -12 so with a supe low AC they will hit you half the time. I think it is worth it but then again I like the swashbuckler and blade classes.

fable · Post by **fable** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 4:59 pm

I don't think Jess is asking how low the AC can appear to be for any given character or creature, but how low it actually is in fact. He's querying whether the game engine can track and mathematically calculate ACs below -10.

Numinor · Post by **Numinor** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 5:16 pm

I read somwhere the game doesn't recognize AC below -10 (for SoA) and below -20 (for ToB). Although the AC appears in the chracacter screen as -22 for example the game only calculates with -20 (or -10 if you have a SoA-only-installation)

Bruce Lee · Post by **Bruce Lee** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 6:05 pm

Yes and in my game the engine recognizes the number that is given as my AC. I am quite sure it also correctly counts the modifiers even below AC -26. I'll run some tests just to check it out.

Bruce Lee · Post by **Bruce Lee** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 6:47 pm

I just checked. The game engine counts down to -30. The lowest regular AC you can get is -26... possibly -28 if you take the evil path in hell and have two points in single weapon style. SIngle weapon style is what gets it down to -26. With a shield the lowest is -24. Then there are the modifiers to slashing, blunt, piercing and missile- AC. Missile AC for instance is modified by sword and shield style, belt of piercing, cloak of displacemnt etc. You can easily get more than -10 in the missile modifier. However lower than total of -30 is useless. (you put the two together, AC -10 and modifier -3 against slashing means effective AC -13 against slashing)
There are a few, atleast one, enemy in the game with thac0 -20 but if your effective AC is -30 that will still be a miss 50% of the time so low AC can be very good, especially combined with regenerating equipment.
Monks probably get down to -30 against missiles at the cap for instance.
I feel that with the lowest possible AC you dont get hit very often, even by bosses. Being hit not only damages you and disrupts spellcasting but it also disrupts attacking so it is a good idea to not get hit

I say try to get as low AC as possible for your frontliners.

Jess · Post by **Jess** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 4:27 am

-30?
Hum. I forgot about the other modifiers, belts and shields and such... I think I'll leave everyone the way they are for the moment.

Bruce Lee · Post by **Bruce Lee** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 6:42 am

It is useful to have the attackrolls showing. That way you can see at what roll you hit and at what roll the enemy hit. If the enemy is hitting you on rolls of 2 and 3 you might want to drop your shield and go two weapon fighting. If you hit on 2s and 3s you dont have to care about having points in two weapon fighting you can still reap the rewards. IMO it is a bit of a waste to put three points in dual wielding, the benefit is only 2 better thac0 with the off hand. Can be useful if you know exactly what weapons you will use though.
But read the battle text and equip weapons and shield accordingly. Remember that armour can't be switched during battle though.
It seems only logical that if you are in a fight and your shield isn't helping you, you'd through at your enemy and pick up another sword