Say you had a swashbuckler wearing equipment giving basic -20 AC. A maximum dexterity bonus would reduce that by 6. Full plate provides an adjustment against slashing of -4, a belt another -3 and the staff of the Woodlands provides pfe for another -2. That provides an undispellable effective AC of -35. Given you will have regeneration from the Ring of Gaxx as well you're unlikely to need to use magic to counter physical attacks (magical attacks may be a different issue).
-20 should be easy. I played around for a few minutes and got my kensai / fighter to -21 fairly easy. I think a drow full plate +5 and ring of Gaxx would have given it a few more.
Hm. It appears there's a hardcap at AC -26. With this setup I should be at -28. If I add or remove the cloak of sewers or Dak'kon's Zerth Blade the AC stays at -26
@naggert I think the hard cap is at -20, but there are some adjustments that ignore the cap as set out earlier in the thread (they include dexterity which is why you get to -26 above).
Here's an illustration with a test character I rolled up. The AC from the various adjustments should be -29, but it's restricted to -28, which is made up of the cap at -20, -6 for dexterity and -2 for single weapon proficiency.
Demogorgon uses a crushing weapon. Drink a Potion of Absorption for -10 AC vs. crushing damage. The bonus ignores the AC cap and stacks. Even a completely unarmored character with no items and 10 DEX can force Demogorgon to roll critical hits if he or she drinks 4 Potions of Absorption.
Or just use Soul Reaver, assuming you can reliably hit Demgorgon's -16 AC. Soul Reaver's -2 THAC0 penalty stacks, bypasses Demogorgon's massive 90% magic resistance, and lasts for 20 rounds per hit.
@naggert I think the hard cap is at -20, but there are some adjustments that ignore the cap as set out earlier in the thread (they include dexterity which is why you get to -26 above).
Here's an illustration with a test character I rolled up. The AC from the various adjustments should be -29, but it's restricted to -28, which is made up of the cap at -20, -6 for dexterity and -2 for single weapon proficiency.
@Grond0 I just found this while browsing the Swashbuckler article in the Baldur's Gate wiki. I quote it exactly as it was given: "Please note that -24 AC is a hard in-game cap in Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition for non-warrior classes (-26 for warrior classes)."
That must be why @naggert could not go beyond -26.
Though I can't explain how you got to -28. Maybe single weapon proficiency gave an additional -2.
@naggert I think the hard cap is at -20, but there are some adjustments that ignore the cap as set out earlier in the thread (they include dexterity which is why you get to -26 above).
Here's an illustration with a test character I rolled up. The AC from the various adjustments should be -29, but it's restricted to -28, which is made up of the cap at -20, -6 for dexterity and -2 for single weapon proficiency.
@Grond0 I just found this while browsing the Swashbuckler article in the Baldur's Gate wiki. I quote it exactly as it was given: "Please note that -24 AC is a hard in-game cap in Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition for non-warrior classes (-26 for warrior classes)."
That must be why @naggert could not go beyond -26.
Though I can't explain how you got to -28. Maybe single weapon proficiency gave an additional -2.
Well the wikia would be wrong then. The hardcap is definitely at - 20, +dex bonus (up to - 6), +single weapon style bonus (up to - 2) (+specific AC) so if you have 25 dex and 2 pips in single weapon style you may indeed reach - 28 (before specific AC is taken into account).
Demogorgon uses a crushing weapon. Drink a Potion of Absorption for -10 AC vs. crushing damage. The bonus ignores the AC cap and stacks. Even a completely unarmored character with no items and 10 DEX can force Demogorgon to roll critical hits if he or she drinks 4 Potions of Absorption.
Or just use Soul Reaver, assuming you can reliably hit Demgorgon's -16 AC. Soul Reaver's -2 THAC0 penalty stacks, bypasses Demogorgon's massive 90% magic resistance, and lasts for 20 rounds per hit.
This, or alternatively you may also get immunity to crushing damage using Roranach's Horn. Yes, I do mean that helmet you get for killing Gromnir that no one has ever used except to upgrade Staff of the Ram It gives 50% resistance to crushing damage. Add Hardiness in, +Defender of Easthaven/Armor of Faith/Barbarian resistances and you get immunity to crushing damage. Pretty handy with those fire giants too.
Well the wikia would be wrong then. The hardcap is definitely at - 20, +dex bonus (up to - 6), +single weapon style bonus (up to - 2) (+specific AC) so if you have 25 dex and 2 pips in single weapon style you may indeed reach - 28 (before specific AC is taken into account).
Yes. I suspect someone testing AC for the Wiki used a non-warrior with a -4 dexterity bonus and a warrior with a -6 dexterity bonus (or possibly a -2 single weapon bonus) and assumed the difference was due to the class rather than some adjustments ignoring the cap.
Okay I think the cap is set at 24 for non-warrior classes as the wiki says. My toon have the -2 AC reward from hell, ending up with -26.
Also, there should be an undocumented feature of the AC cap where the -2 bonus from proficiency points in single weapon style allows you to go over the -24 cap, up to -26... Or 28 with the Hell Bonus... @Grond0 did you add the -2 AC from Hell trials to your test-character? That would explain the AC of -28.
Okay I think the cap is set at 24 for non-warrior classes as the wiki says. My toon have the -2 AC reward from hell, ending up with -26.
Also, there should be an undocumented feature of the AC cap where the -2 bonus from proficiency points in single weapon style allows you to go over the -24 cap, up to -26... Or 28 with the Hell Bonus... @Grond0 did you add the -2 AC from Hell trials to your test-character? That would explain the AC of -28.
@naggert the cap is at -20 and not affected by character class. My test character above was created in Jon's dungeon and removing the benefits from dexterity and single weapon proficiency brings his AC down to -20 (it would be -21 except for the cap).
You can confirm the position for yourself on your own character: - reduce dexterity to 14 or below using EEkeeper - add equipment that should give AC better than -20 and note that it's restricted to -20 - add back dexterity of 25 to see AC improve to -26 (and single weapon if you want to get to -28) - I suspect that the hell trial bonus comes within the -20 cap, but you can confirm whether that's the case if you run this test
the cap is at -20 and not affected by character class
Hm so it would appear. So a softcap at -20 and hard around -30 depending on the hell trial?
The -20 cap applies to every class (and includes the hell trial bonus). In the unmodded game all classes except wizard slayers can get to dexterity 25 using potions, pushing AC down to -26. Some classes can't get a single weapon bonus at all and some can only put one pip in this. Classes that are able to put 2 pips in it can get to the best possible basic AC of -28. After that of course you can apply specific weapon adjustments as well as various spell effects to improve things further.
Bear in mind that while Roranach's Horn gives 50% crushing resistance and the Defender of Easthaven (which cannot hit Demogorgon) grants 20% damage resistance, a Swashbuckler would not have access to Hardiness to grant full immunity to crushing damage. Also remember that most of Demogorgon's damage output is lingering disease damage, not crushing damage, so the Ring of Gaxx is extremely important, and not just for the AC.
If you're a mage, you can also use Wish to impose intoxication on the entire map, which gives everyone a -12 luck penalty. It bypasses magic resistance, so Demogorgon will have no defense against it, but you can block it using MGOI and cure it using Heal and also, depending on your install, Slow Poison, Neutralize Poison, Greater Restoration, and Elixirs of Health.
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I think a drow full plate +5 and ring of Gaxx would have given it a few more.
If I add or remove the cloak of sewers or Dak'kon's Zerth Blade the AC stays at -26
Here's an illustration with a test character I rolled up. The AC from the various adjustments should be -29, but it's restricted to -28, which is made up of the cap at -20, -6 for dexterity and -2 for single weapon proficiency.
Or just use Soul Reaver, assuming you can reliably hit Demgorgon's -16 AC. Soul Reaver's -2 THAC0 penalty stacks, bypasses Demogorgon's massive 90% magic resistance, and lasts for 20 rounds per hit.
That must be why @naggert could not go beyond -26.
Though I can't explain how you got to -28. Maybe single weapon proficiency gave an additional -2.
The hardcap is definitely at - 20, +dex bonus (up to - 6), +single weapon style bonus (up to - 2) (+specific AC) so if you have 25 dex and 2 pips in single weapon style you may indeed reach - 28 (before specific AC is taken into account). This, or alternatively you may also get immunity to crushing damage using Roranach's Horn. Yes, I do mean that helmet you get for killing Gromnir that no one has ever used except to upgrade Staff of the Ram
It gives 50% resistance to crushing damage. Add Hardiness in, +Defender of Easthaven/Armor of Faith/Barbarian resistances and you get immunity to crushing damage. Pretty handy with those fire giants too.
Also, there should be an undocumented feature of the AC cap where the -2 bonus from proficiency points in single weapon style allows you to go over the -24 cap, up to -26... Or 28 with the Hell Bonus...
@Grond0 did you add the -2 AC from Hell trials to your test-character? That would explain the AC of -28.
You can confirm the position for yourself on your own character:
- reduce dexterity to 14 or below using EEkeeper
- add equipment that should give AC better than -20 and note that it's restricted to -20
- add back dexterity of 25 to see AC improve to -26 (and single weapon if you want to get to -28)
- I suspect that the hell trial bonus comes within the -20 cap, but you can confirm whether that's the case if you run this test
Indeed this, and every single source of AC except dexterity, single weapon style and specific AC, counts towards the - 20 cap
If you're a mage, you can also use Wish to impose intoxication on the entire map, which gives everyone a -12 luck penalty. It bypasses magic resistance, so Demogorgon will have no defense against it, but you can block it using MGOI and cure it using Heal and also, depending on your install, Slow Poison, Neutralize Poison, Greater Restoration, and Elixirs of Health.