Armor Class Question

CaptRory

It's been a looooooooooong time since I dug into the mechanics of Baldur's Gate (Either with or without Tutu) so I have a question:

My paladin has the Girdle of Piercing, Boots of Avoidance, and that blurring cloak you buy in Ulgoth's Beard. Does the vs. piercing AC stack with the vs. Missile AC because all the missiles do piercing damage? I could see this one going either way, so I wanted to ask. I knew this answer before but for the life if me can't recall.

GoodSteve

Not all missiles will do piercing damage. Sling Bullets deal bludgeoning damage. Other projectiles such as throwing axes will also not deal piercing damage but I'm not sure if a throwing axe is considered a "missile" in the game mechanics.

As far as I know these bonuses should stack but I'm not 100% sure on this.

CaptRory

Well, I checked earlier and it said my bullets, arrows, and bolts all did piercing. I always remembered Bullets as being bludgeoning though. So, whatever. XD

Not like my paladin needs them to stack, he has so much anti-missile AC I don't know if he could be hit even in Throne of Bhaal XD

I was just curious as to how it all went together.

TJ_Hooker

Yeah from what I remember all missile weapons in BG1+2 do piercing, except for the one throwing hammer in BG2. And the AC will stack. So with girdle of piercing and boots of avoidance, you'll get a total of -3 vs piercing and -8 vs missiles. I believe this appears correctly in the AC adjustments section of the character sheet.

Demivrgvs

GoodSteve said:

Not all missiles will do piercing damage. Sling Bullets deal bludgeoning damage. Other projectiles such as throwing axes will also not deal piercing damage but I'm not sure if a throwing axe is considered a "missile" in the game mechanics.

As far as I know these bonuses should stack but I'm not 100% sure on this.

@GoodSteve sorry but these infos are wrong.

@CaptRory All missile weapons deal 'missile damage' not 'piercing damage', even throwing axes. "AC vs. missile" and "missile damage resistance" are completely separated from "AC vs. piercing" and "piercing damage resistance"

Brude

Demivrgvs said:

@CaptRory All missile weapons deal 'missile damage' not 'piercing damage', even throwing axes. "AC vs. missile" and "missile damage resistance" are completely separated from "AC vs. piercing" and "piercing damage resistance"

That's a bit counter intuitive -- any insight as to why the in-game descriptions for ammo specifically mentions 'piercing' too?

And why leather armor gives you penalties to both missile and piercing?

Demivrgvs

Brude said:

Demivrgvs said:

@CaptRory All missile weapons deal 'missile damage' not 'piercing damage', even throwing axes. "AC vs. missile" and "missile damage resistance" are completely separated from "AC vs. piercing" and "piercing damage resistance"

That's a bit counter intuitive -- any insight as to why the in-game descriptions for ammo specifically mentions 'piercing' too?

And why leather armor gives you penalties to both missile and piercing?

In most cases missile and piercing would coincide (e.g. arrows/bolts/darts), but in certain cases it does not (e.g. spear). They have creatured two separta dmg type to allow for various game mechanics, such as Large Shields offering greater protection against piercing missiles, but not against a piercing spear or short sword.

Leather armor is weak against piercing weapons, and all missiles are assumed dealing piercing dmg (not always true, but that's the best generalization the engine can handle).

I understand it's a bit counter intuitive, but if you think about it they have done an acceptable job. I hope I've been clear, if not let me know and I'll try to explain it better.

jolly_bb

How that does relate to arrows not hurting golems while sling bullets do so?

I guess that in BG1 the damage type was common for projectiles, but it's not the case in BG2?

Just thinking outloud

Brude

@Demivrgvs Ahhhhhh, that makes more sense. I never considered piercing melee weapons like spears against the mitigation of large shields.

Thank you for the explanation!

Quartz

TJ_Hooker said:

Yeah from what I remember all missile weapons in BG1+2 do piercing, except for the one throwing hammer in BG2. And the AC will stack. So with girdle of piercing and boots of avoidance, you'll get a total of -3 vs piercing and -8 vs missiles. I believe this appears correctly in the AC adjustments section of the character sheet.

TJ_Hooker has it.

CaptRory

Cool. Thanks guys. Currently my AC vs. Missiles is -15. And that's without using a shield.

Quartz

CaptRory said:

Cool. Thanks guys. Currently my AC vs. Missiles is -15. And that's without using a shield.

haha awesome, I think I got Yeslick to -18 once with a shield. :P

CaptRory

Hehe, nice. I'm gearing up for my paladin to solo those stupid ruins you can't maneuver in. He has 80% Fire Resistance too. Those fire arrows won't even tickle.