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Author Topic: Beefing up Dubbel  (Read 823 times)

Pen N Popper

Beefing up Dubbel
« on: March 28, 2012, 07:58:35 am »
Dubbel is currently wearing platinum full plate and has an adamantium tower shield. Is there anything else that would increase his AC, both naturally for the no-magic areas, as well as against the "mad men?" He's 16th level.

I soloed him East out of the crossroads yesterday and it was... awesome! Fortunately he took one baddie at a time but didn't have a break between them. After the third or fourth went down and he got a chance to breathe he was one hit away from dead. As exciting as that was, I'd rather improve his fighting capabilities. Help!
 

Pibemanden

Re: Beefing up Dubbel
« Reply #1 on: March 28, 2012, 08:10:43 am »
I would firstly suggest looking into DR items like brawler belts etc. These would remove the tip of the damage done to you. In the end you will have to rely more on that than you do on AC, since his AC would probably never reach the levels where things only hit on 20s.
 

gilshem ironstone

Re: Beefing up Dubbel
« Reply #2 on: March 28, 2012, 08:23:13 am »
Definitely an adamantium helm and some gargoyle boots are necessary.
 

Guardian 452

Re: Beefing up Dubbel
« Reply #3 on: March 28, 2012, 09:11:15 am »
I agree with Pibemanden all 3 of the DR belts slash, blunt and pierce. It doesnt seem like much but 5 damage guaranteed not hitting each time is big. Swap out the belts as you learn what baddies have what for weapons. The gargoyle boots are nice... so are the series of ones that have +1 AC and some element DR. What Dot ended up doing was adding a element resist to her gargoyle boots (which raises their level limit of course).
 

s0ulz

Re: Beefing up Dubbel
« Reply #4 on: March 28, 2012, 09:27:52 am »
Having played a defensively built melee character myself but being inactive, I can't give you advice for specific items, but I can give you advice for the basics of focusing on defense.

For me, it has always come down to 5 basic elements of making a character more defensive/survivable. The order is arguably regressive - the higher up it is, the more it helps:
    • Prevention
    • Concealment
    • Avoidance
    • Mitigation
    • Health[/B]
    These 5 elements cover most of the defensive measures you can emphasize and some are more efficient for certain types of characters than others. For example, while health is the lowest on the list, you should always have as much of it as possible, but you shouldn't choose it over other more efficient ways of increasing survivability.

    Prevention - This should include possible counter-measures, tactics and target selection you can employ in order to make the engagement more favorable for yourself. Some examples would include stealth, focus-fire, luring, kiting and most importantly for fighter types - knockdown. Basically whatever you can do to decrease the amount of hit rolls attempted by the target. Against magical effects, you should always try and get as many immunities as you can for yourself. Try and leave as little to the dice rolls as possible.

    Concealment - For your target this is his % to miss you before AC calculation. It involves everything that increases the chance that once a hit roll is made it will be discarded pre-AC comparison. In game it is any type of concealment you can get like improved invisibility or actual concealment either through items, spells or feats. You can also look into concealment through reverse conditions such as blinding the target or using darkness.

    Avoidance - This is where you have done everything you could to avoid being hit, but the hit attempt could not be prevented and it is now up to your AC to determine whether the hit roll was successful or not. When increasing AC you should be as efficient as possible - be mindful that some types of AC stack (especially dodge AC) and some don't (only the highest number gets added to your AC). Also be aware that the AC number on your character sheet is not the final number used on many occasions, so numbers from combat logs should be taken as a basis when considering what to upgrade. In general, boost that dodge AC, maximize every other type of AC and use AC boosting spells for those high AB foes to provide a defensive burst. For fighter types, never neglect base tumble, every rank of 5 boosts your AC no matter what armor you wear. But keep in mind, no matter how high your AC is , never underestimate the threat of natural 20s in a large bunch of foes - only concealment helps against that.

    Mitigation - So you were like the wind but the foe still managed to hit you, boosting mitigation helps decrease the damage you actually take. When stacking mitigation, you should know that there are three types of mitigation - damage immunity, damage resistance and damage reduction. The three sources are applied to the damage you will suffer in that specific order and while mitigation within a source type does not generally stack (rare exceptions apply), the three sources themselves do stack.

    Damage immunity removes a portion of damage from your damage taken roll as percentage of the sum of damage. Usually damage immunities are rare, but they still help because they are more common against magic damage which can spike very hard and at the worst, it removes 1 damage taken, so anything helps.

    Damage resistance is a flat out number of damage you remove from the amount you would've initially taken, so naturally you'd want as many different types of resistance as possible and as high a number as possible, because it's a flat number is a very efficient way of mitigating damage that doesn't spike very hard as it is applied to every bit of damage taken (very helpful against particle spells and dual-wielders).

    Damage reduction acts in a similar way to resistance, however it is dependant on the enhancement bonus of the weapon your target is hitting you with. Damage reduction, as a rule of thumb, gets outleveled very fast and mostly on helps with weaker foes, but once again, every little bit helps.

    Health - After the previous four, you've done all you could to minimize the damage you take over time, so now you have to buy yourself time to finish your target. This comes through investing into health. This can be as simple as stacking constitution or buffering your HP through spells. Health restoration falls under this category as well, as it is in effect additional health. Having a high health pool is great, but you should try and keep it at a reasonable number as it is a very inefficient way of boosting survivability, especially against tougher foes or on bad dice roll days.

    So, it's not too specific, I can help you with specifics if you want, but if you follow the above and try and maximize everything while working down the list, you should see significant improvement.

    Cheers,
     

    gilshem ironstone

    Re: Beefing up Dubbel
    « Reply #5 on: March 28, 2012, 10:37:29 am »
    S0ulz did not mention that you can stack Damage Resistance and Damage Reduction.  So a Brawler's Belt combined with Gargoyle Boots' Stoneskin gives a really nice reduction on the damage taken.
     

    miltonyorkcastle

    Re: Beefing up Dubbel
    « Reply #6 on: March 28, 2012, 11:32:42 am »
    soulz is pretty much right on with his assessment. I could not have explained it better myself. Hardiness Boots are also nice, as an alternative to the Gargoyle boots, though the former is harder to find.

    One thing I would mention as part of the avoidance/mitigation sections is the increasing of saves. I know you are specifically looking to boost your melee survivability, but saves are like your AC vs magic. If you can't get an immunity, then increase your saves. Anything you can get to boost saves is worth getting, from cloaks of resistance to mithril amulets. Even the best DR and AC won't save you from being blinded, stunned, paralyzed, or outright killed by magic.
     

    Chazzler

    Re: Beefing up Dubbel
    « Reply #7 on: March 28, 2012, 12:49:34 pm »
    Yet remember, that Stoneskin cast from a Wand, Scroll or the Gargoyle Boots is Only 5/+1, meaning anything more oomph than a copper/bronze weapon will merely waltz through the stoneskin.
     

    davidhoff

    Re: Beefing up Dubbel
    « Reply #8 on: March 28, 2012, 04:34:13 pm »
    Some good info in here so far.  The physical damage resistance (blud, piercing and slashing) is important but at your level you may find it difficult to cover all three.  The archer belt with your platty armor will cover slashing, piercing and slashing/piercing and is a great set up.  Note, there are weapons out there that are slashing/piercing and they require you to have both slashing and piercing resist on at the same time to get the resistance (ie, double axes, greatswords, longswords, etc).  Not sure how you would get bludgeoning, although I think there is a cloak that provides bludgeoning; or you could just switch to a brawlers belt when the hammer guy comes swinging.

    I know you asked about defense, but a good offense really can't be left out of the equasion.  If you're doing lots of damage and killing your enemies quickly you don't need to worry about them hitting you.  Make sure your strength is up and any spells to boost damage output are used.  Also, make sure you are using a weapon with the highest enchantment possible.  There is a chart that will tell you at what level you can put a 1d8 fire on an addy longsword, etc.  If you have a bludgeoning or peircing weapon, throw on a silver or titanium enchant as well for deaders and outsiders, respectively.
     

    s0ulz

    Re: Beefing up Dubbel
    « Reply #9 on: March 29, 2012, 02:14:40 am »
    Quote from: gilshem ironstone
    S0ulz did not mention that you can stack Damage Resistance and Damage Reduction.  So a Brawler's Belt combined with Gargoyle Boots' Stoneskin gives a really nice reduction on the damage taken.


    Actually I did briefly mention that the three mitigation sources stack with one-another, but none-the-less, your suggestion is exactly what I was talking about. Static resistance with even a temporary reduction can boost survivability immensely in the short-term.

    Regarding saves, I didn't go into these, because it's rather obvious that every character benefits from higher saves, some more than others, but there will come a point where you'll have to make a choice when gearing up as to what you want to stack or diversify. Meta-gaming helps here, but if you want to remain true to the cause, immunities are the most efficient and other than that it usually helps if you identify your weakest save and try and immunize most threats for that. Again though, this is very character and build dependant.
     

    Alatriel

    Re: Beefing up Dubbel
    « Reply #10 on: March 29, 2012, 07:08:31 am »
    Quote from: s0ulz
    Some examples would include stealth, focus-fire, luring, kiting and most importantly for fighter types - knockdown.


    Please remember that luring and kiting are against server rules.  Thanks!
     

    s0ulz

    Re: Beefing up Dubbel
    « Reply #11 on: March 29, 2012, 08:12:30 am »
    Quote from: Alatriel
    Please remember that luring and kiting are against server rules.  Thanks!


    Naturally I wasn't implying that anyone should abuse the AI. By luring I meant pulling packs, not separating foes one by one or abusing the fact that AI doesn't call for help. Pulling packs to a location more favorable for yourself (for example back to the wall or in a funnel) is perfectly fine in my opinion as long as you don't abuse the AI. I don't want start an arguement over that though, as it has been done so many times already.

    By kiting I meant putting distance between yourself and your target. For example archers or weaker character should never be expected to stand there and get pummeled. Of course, once again, it should be done within reason (not pulling over area transitions etc) and without abusing the AI, but running in circles, shooting at the target with a bow shouldn't be considered abusive in my opinion.
     

    gilshem ironstone

    Re: Beefing up Dubbel
    « Reply #12 on: March 29, 2012, 08:22:33 am »
    Sorry S0ulz. I totally missed the part where you mention stacking. I will bow out and let the experts talk then. *sheepish grin*
     

    Alatriel

    Re: Beefing up Dubbel
    « Reply #13 on: March 29, 2012, 09:07:33 am »
    Quote from: s0ulz
    Naturally I wasn't implying that anyone should abuse the AI.


    Thanks for the clarification s0ulz, mostly just to avoid confusion of others that might read it and not understand what your intention was to begin with.  Carry on!
     

    Pen N Popper

    Re: Beefing up Dubbel
    « Reply #14 on: March 29, 2012, 05:44:50 pm »
    Posted a short shopping list in Trade&Market. While I'm sure he could waltz (with a large negative modifier) into any of the player-run shops, it would be great to drag some RP out of this personal quest.

    He's not terribly picky as to who he works for or what the work entails. There are probably uber-level PCs out there with old gear kicking about in their trunks that could get some mileage out of having a halfgiant lacky.

    Remember, coins are virtual in Layonara but RP lasts a lifetime!
     

    Pen N Popper

    Re: Beefing up Dubbel
    « Reply #15 on: March 31, 2012, 05:27:57 pm »
    Do dire bear gloves really give attack bonus +3? When I put them on the stats don't change on character.
     

    Guardian 452

    Re: Beefing up Dubbel
    « Reply #16 on: March 31, 2012, 05:34:18 pm »
    If you arent holding anything (ie monks)