Did you know ... ?

[Dalvyn]

Please do not post in this thread... if you have questions, feel free to open another thread though!

... how to protect yourself?

I'm not talking about protecting you from magic or practical matters, but only about protecting you from incoming blows. You know ... like the pointed ends of spears, the blunt edges of warhammers and the sharp sides of long swords.

Well, if you did not know - or if you want a memory refresher -, there are 6 ways to improve your protection.

1. Move out of the way of incoming blows

To dodge blows, you need to be quick, and you need to be nimble. You need to see the opponent that is getting ready to hit you, and you need to be fast enough to move out of the way of the incoming blow. The more dexterous you are, the easier it will be to avoid being hit.

Watch out for what you are wearing though ... for, no matter how nimble you are, if you can yourself in a heavy thick metallic armour, you won't be able to move quickly enough. That's a trade-off of course... because that heavy armour will protect you too. More about that later.

Some people are born nimble, others are not. There's nothing wrong about it. Some people decide to invest time into physical exercises to get more dexterous ... others spend their time on other occupations. It's up to you to know what's good for you.

2. Be small!

Granted ... there's not much you can do about it. Either you are lucky enough to be born a gnome, halfling or dwarf ... or you're not. The smaller you are, the harder it is for others to hit you.

But you've already noticed that: it's easier to smash a club in a huge ogre's face than to thwap a bee with it.

3. Wear protective armour

I've already mentioned that above: heavier, thicker armour made of metal will protect you better than supple leathers or just plain clothes. But, at the same time, the heavier the armour is, the less you can move and dodge.

There's no good and bad solution here... you have to find the right armour for you. If you're the nimble kind, you'd be better off with leathes, or maybe even plain clothes. If you're not very dexterous though, get yourself a heavy full plate armour: it won't prevent you from dodging... since you're not good at it anyway.

4. Use a shield

If you place some sort of screen between you and your opponent, it will be harder for him to hit you. That's what a shield is for. A shield means that you can't hold a two-handed weapon and that you can't use your off-hand to attack, of course ... that's another choice that is up to you.

5. Have a thick skin

It's a bit like size. There's not much you can do about it here. Unless you're the son of a troll and have inherited your mother's or father's thick skin, or the son of a dragon and have inherited your sire's scaly hide, or the spawn of a bubear with thick hair ... you'll just have a smooth, easy-to-cut, easy-to-bruise skin.

Tough luck... though you might find a magical amulet that toughens your skin, or have a ranger or druid friend who can turn your skin to bark.

6. Plain ol' magic

Get one of those magic rings that deflect incoming arrows and other incoming hits. I couldn't tell you how that works exactly... that's magic is all I can say. It makes it so that what should hurt you does not, and that's enough for me to know.

*. Don't over do...

I gave you 6 ways to better protect yourself: nimbleness, size, armour, shield, tough skin, magic deflection. You'll get a better result if you use the six of them. If you focus on just one of them, you'll waste most of your effort.

Say you focus only on armour and decide to wear a full plate, with a shirt over it, and then leather vest. The shirt and the vest are useless... they won't add protection. Whatever blow the cloth or the leather is going to absorb will also be absorbed by the plate mail. One armour is enough, a second won't help.

Same with shields. Holding two shields won't help over using one.

I have also been told that the same holds for thick skin and magic deflection. Take a troll and a fair-skinned elven maiden. The troll's skill is thicker than the elf's (well, for most elven maidens at least). If you have someone turn their skin to bark, they'll have skins as thick as each other: the troll won't be thicker than the elf (skin-wise at least). The troll might have had a thicker skin at the beginning, but it does not matter anymore.

And for magic... no need to wear two rings ... for only the most powerful of the two will matter, really.

*. And what about spells?

Tough matter. It's something that wizards can explain better ... some spells create armour around you, others create magical shields in front of you. Others thicken your skin, and others still help deflect incoming blows.

The "Don't overdo" rule still applies... if a spell creates a magical armour around you, it won't help you much if you are already wearing a full plate. It might help if you are wearing only leathers (if the magical armour is stronger), but then the leathers are not needed anymore.

Also, if a spell creates a magical shield in front of you, holding a shield yourself won't improve the situation.

You'd have to know exactly what each spell does to see if they combine well with other spells or an armour, or a shield, or a magical necklace, or a magical ring, or whatever ... But if you want to know more about it, seek one of those bookworms.

[Dalvyn]

Technically... those six sources that contribute to your "Armour Class" are called:
1. Dexterity Modifier
2. Size
3. Armour
4. Shield
5. Natural Armour
6. Deflection

As noted above, only the best sources from each kind really matters: if you use 2 sources (spells or objects - more on magic objects later - for example) that contribute in the same way, only the best one matter.

Note that, if you cannot see your opponent (because they are invisible, or you are blind, or you are sleeping), your Dexterity does not help. Some might take advantage of not being seen ... but more on this and other things later.

Also of note, each spell and magical object that increases your Armour Class does it in some way (i.e., Armour, Shield, Natural Armour, or Deflection) and the way in which it does it (i.e., the "type" of the bonus to AC) determines whether it will combine/stack with another bonus or not. Read the help file carefully and/or examines what the spell does (read the echoes) to determine what kind of bonus each spell gives.

[Dalvyn]

... why you should keep your eyes open when rogues are around?

Rogues. Thieves. No matter how you call them. They are adept at striking exactly where it hurts the most. Of course, precisely aiming an attack so that it hurts as much as possible is only possible when your opponent allows you to do so.

Give me one rogue, have him stand in front of me, allow me to concentrate on him, and I'll prevent him from hurting me much any time.

But if the rogue comes out of the shadow and strikes me out of the blue, or if I can't concentrate on my defence against him... then it'll hurt. Badly.

Do not let let rogues surprise you!

That's the number 1 rule. If you are sleeping, make sure that someone is watching over you. If you are blinded, get your trusted cleric friend (you have one, right? and you never adventure without him, right?) to cure your blindness. If your rogue opponent is invisible, get your trusted wizard friend (you have one, right? and you never adventure without him, right?) to dispel the invisibility!

If a rogue manages to attack you while you can't see him, you won't be able to defend yourself against the attack, and you'll give that bastard the opportunity to aim precisely.

I've heard that some people managed to develop techniques that allow them to sense incoming attacks, even when they can't see their opponents. Some call it Blindfighting, others call it Uncanny Dodge. If you know it, you're lucky. If you're not, make sure you have those trusty friends with you - oh, and a meat shield too, for good measure.

Do not let an enemy rogue and his friend pair up!

Making sure that you can see your rogue enemy is not enough... you also need to pay attention to how the rogue and his friends are manoeuvring. If a rogue and a friend of his both attack you at the same time, you won't be able to defend you efficiently ... and, once again, you'll let the thief strike where it hurts!

There's no secret solution to this... this time, you need your fighter friend to help you. Have him take on one of your opponents! Ask him to put himself between you and either the thief or his friend. (rescue) Then you can concentrate on your defence against one of them only.

Some have developed techniques that allow them to keep paying attention to all the opponents who are fighting them at the same time. They call it Improved Uncanny Dodge, but I know that this is not a perfect technique. It helps them against most thieves, but the more experienced ones still manage to strike with precision.

Oh... you're a rogue?

Of course, if you're a rogue yourself, you'll want to put everything that I've said upside down...

Strike from the shadows, make sure that your opponents can't see you coming. Pair up with friends and attack the same target.

[Dalvyn]

Rogues can perform sneak attacks. Sneak attacks are attacks that deal more damage than normal attacks. Those can be dealt only when at least one of the following conditions is satisfied:

(1) The victim can't dodge out of the way (i.e., the victim's Dexterity does not improve her Armour Class).

(2) The rogue and someone else are flanking the victim.

Situation (1) happens when the victim can't see the rogue (because the victim is blind, or sleeping, or the rogue is invisible for example). Experienced rogues and barbarians have honed their senses in such a way that they are able to "sense" those attacks (that's the Uncanny Dodge ability). Similarly, for characters with the Blindfight feat, not being able to see the rogue is not enough to warrant a sneak attack.

Situation (2) happens every time the rogue and one of his companions are fighting (with melee weapons) the same target and stand on opposite sides of that target. [The second condition is replaced with a random check on FK, since we do not have precise placement.] Experienced rogues and barbarians have developed fighting techniques (Improved Uncanny Dodge) that allow them to negate the ability for rogues to flank them. Note that Improved Uncanny Dodge does not work against rogues that are much more experienced than the defender (i.e., a level 40 thief will still manage to flank a level 20 barbarian for example).

Last thing to note is that sneak attacks are attacks aimed where it hurts. Some creatures do not have any locations that hurt more than others. Undead, golem-like creatures (constructs), oozes (puddles, jellies, slimes), and plant-like creatures for example cannot be sneak-attacked.

[Dalvyn]

Check the 'DEFENCE' new command.

[Dalvyn]

With the revision to AC, each location has a "local" AC. I'm not going into details here, but here's more or less how it is computed ...

It considers
- your general "natural armour" (natural armour is not localized, that is, it works for all location)
- your general "deflection armour" (deflection armour is not localized either, that is, it works for all location)
- your general "shield armour" (shield armour is not localized either, that is, it works for all location)
- the "armour AC" associated to that location (see below).
- your size
- your Dexterity [*]
- the combatmodes you have activated

Note that there are two kinds of "armour" AC: the local one and the general one.

- the local "armour AC" depends on what you wear on that location, including the magical bonuses of that piece of armour. If you have magical boots, the magical bonus to AC set on the boots applies only for your feet.
- the general "armour AC" comes from objects that are not pieces of armour, but are magically enchanted to work like armour. The typical example is "bracelets of defense", often worn by wizards. Those bracelets work like armour, but for all locations.

Only the best amongst the localized and the general armour is taken into consideration.

[*] Note that your Dexterity modifier might be capped by the armour you wear in that location, as well as by your load (how much you are carrying).[/i]

Please remember to ask questions in another thread.