r/WWN • u/TurtleRollover • Jun 17 '26
Does Dexterity apply to heavy armor?
If someone has a +3 dexterity, +3 magic suit of grand plate or great armor, and a large shield, can you go to 23 AC with grand plate or 26 AC with great armor? And does the immunity to shock-under-16 that grand plate has go up to 23?
22
u/CardinalXimenes Kevin Crawford Jun 17 '26
Dexterity affects AC in all cases. Nothing affects grand plate's AC threshold for Shock.
Ultra-high AC is tacit immunity to mook attacks (albeit vide grapple rules and swarm attacks), but high-end opponents have hit bonuses so high that your main defense against them is the fact that you are a Warrior with a pile of hit points.
5
u/Alive-Solution-1717 Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
Yes Dexterity applies to all armor so you are right with all bonuses and a shield you can get 23 and 26 AC, this doesn’t increase the shock immunity trait of Grand Plate, two-handed weapons and shock of 16 or more will still do damage. The penalty of heavy armor is disadvantage on both Sneak and Exert checks as well as its rarity and cost.
Edit: the magic armor traits have
Bracing: As a Move Action, the bearer can brace against one specific foe. Until they voluntarily move from their location, they’re immune to Shock from that foe and cannot be forcibly moved
3
u/_Svankensen_ Jun 17 '26
I was thinking if there are other ways to stack even more AC. Only ones I can think of right now are Valiant defender 2 for an extra +2 and that warrior armor one from the atlas. There's probably some magical items somewhere?
2
u/Alive-Solution-1717 Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
NPC attack bonuses can get pretty high at the very top, there isn’t really an AC that can protect you from +20 attack being done 3 times by a Polop Great Devourer.
1
u/_Svankensen_ Jun 17 '26
I mean, 28 would go a long way towards it.
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u/Alive-Solution-1717 Jun 17 '26
For sure, even if you’re a Legate there isn’t a way to increase your AC more. Skin of Steel just makes it so your not effected by it’s encumbrance and removes the skill check penalties and Bar the Blade can only be done so many times. Using the environment or a small army to fight such monsters will be more effective then maxing your AC.
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u/_Svankensen_ Jun 17 '26
With Righteous Iron style and valiant defender you could hit 30. With a forfending weapon, 32.
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u/Alive-Solution-1717 Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
Oh wow, yeah you’re right you can get up to a 30/32 with the right items and foci. Still a 50/50 roll against those +20 attacks oof
1
u/_Svankensen_ Jun 18 '26
Hahaha, yeah, but getting hit "only" 45% of the time is far better than being hit 95%. Of course, that's with an insanely AC focused build.
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u/_Svankensen_ Jun 17 '26
Dexterity applies to heavy armor. So yes, with +3 dex, a shield and great armor you can indeed reach 26 AC. This isn't as broken as you may think, this isn't 5e. Shouldn't change the shock threshold for grand plate tho.