Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback The D&D experience: Armor Class

I didn't play many games in my life, but I don't recall any that looked like this. It's not just about variety of visuals, it's also about utility. This can be used as a clear, unambiguous cue for players which will be instinctively understood by them. That would make the game truly stand out, if only in this one aspect.

Cues that are instinctively understandable are quite rare in games. As an example, I can recall that in Incubation, the soldiers' voices became progressively more gruffy / broody as they were wounded, eventually going to the point of sounding almost hysterical. This little aspect contributed enormously to the overall immersion.

I just hope they won't overdo it, like it was in Planescape:Torment. In there, due to your companions being unique (and having pretty much unique weapons, as well), they all had their own individual animations. As an example, the tiefling rogue (forgot her name) used claw weapons, but she also used an animation of kicking with her feet in a jump. Technically, it was believable, but to me it looked a bit over the top.

There is no priority on Heavy Armor as it stands. No +1 Heavy Armor is available yet, but +1 Light and +1 Medium exists in abundance and specialty Light/Mediums with effects.

You can only get a specialty Heavy Armor at the end of EA, when it is essentially useless, through Grymforge.

Is it tho?

It seems like just matter of perspective:
Your oponent blocked >> you didnt hit >> you missed.
Your oponent parried >> you didnt hit >> you missed.
Your oponent armor blocked >> you didnt hit *him* >> you missed.
etc.

It just matter of flavour, dont get me wrong i like it, and i would also like to have it implemented properly.
But lets not make it biger topic than it actualy is.

Yes it is flavour, but it can be made meaningful.

I concur that my initial idea of having no defence animation for bad misses (i.e. far too low rolls to hit the target's AC) is not a good one. So, to visually distinguish easy fights from difficult fights, characters can dodge low-roll attacks regardless of armour. This way, if you see your tank dodging all the time, it tells you that this encounter is a piece of cake; and when they block / parry all the time, you need to actually pay attention to enemies' attack rolls - maybe you need to add some extra defence.

I mean, in 5e, shields don't serve any function other than AC bumps.

In PF2e, shields serve an additional purpose by giving you the ability to share damage with your shields. They might break, but they break in order to keep you from possibly dying. It's less taxing on your team's resources to repair a shield after a fight, than to repair a person mid-fight.

More accurate:

Pathfinder Player: Yo please block

Shield: Okay. Oh snap, it beat our AC by 8.

Pathfinder Player: Saved me from a crit at least. Wait, Shielda, what are you doing?

"Shielda" (dives in the way of hit): LOOK OUT, MR. PRESIDENT! (is broken by large hit)

PF Player: SHIELDA! NOOOOOO! I'll fix you! I swear!

Party Dwarf: We can rebuild her, we have the technology (Million Dollar Man theme plays)

DnD Player: Oh no it got past your AC boost!

Shield: Yo, that's your problem.

Alternatively:

DM: Okay, the blacksmith offers to enchant your shield with a magical effect, turning it into one of the magic shields listed here of your choice.

5e Player: Wait I have a shield?




Sources: Reddit