Armor Class

See also Tank Gear.

Armor Class is very important for fighting. This number indicates how good your overall armor is. This includes spells, all equipment worn, dexterity, and whether you're standing, resting, or sleeping.

The AC value shown by the identify spell is a positive rating for a piece of armor. The HIGHER this number is, the better. Modifiers on armor generally say something like: "modifies armor class by -20" or something similar. The LOWER this number, the better. That is, -30 to AC is better than -20 to AC.

When you reach a high enough level (25), you will see an AC rating on your score screen. This rating takes into account all spells, equipment worn, dexterity, etc to form a total AC. The LOWER this number, the better (ie, -300 is better than -50).

The levels of armor are as follows:

 WORSE than Naked         Armored                 Angelically Armored
 Defenseless              Well Armored            Divinely Armored
 Almost Defenseless       Greatly Armored         Invincibly Armored
 Barely Armored           Strongly Armored        Indestructibly Armored
 Slightly Armored         Heavily Armored         Impossibly Armored
 Somewhat Armored         Superbly Armored        Supremely Armored
 Sadly Armored            Terrifically Armored    Sniktly Armored
 Almost Armored           Heroically Armored      Ironhand Armored

Armor Class from Gear

Characters may wear gear to increase their armor class, which is commonly called "tank gear" because it is particularly useful to tanks. Most wearable objects are of type "armor" and, thus, have a certain "base armor class," which ranges from 0–2 AC for level-1 objects to 10–12 AC for level-51 objects (see Armor Values for more information on this subject). Characters who wear an object with a certain base armor class will usually find their total armor class improved (decreased) by at least this amount, if not by more (see table below for details). Furthermore, an object of any type (not just armor) may affect its wearer's total armor class by some additional amount, either for the better or for the worse—an affect that is completely independent from that of any base armor class that it may or may not have. Most prime tank gear, in fact, both (1) has a base armor class and (2) provides an additional armor-class-improving modifier.

Object Slot:         Object Improves AC by...       (with Armor Optimization)
<used as light>      (0.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (0.00 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on finger>     (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on finger>     (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn around neck>   (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn around neck>   (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on body>       (3.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (3.50 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on head>       (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.25 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on legs>       (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.25 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on feet>       (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on hands>      (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on arms>       (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.25 × base-AC) + modifier
<held in offhand>    (3.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (3.50 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn about body>    (2.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (2.25 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn about waist>   (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.25 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on wrist>      (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.10 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on wrist>      (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.10 × base-AC) + modifier
<wielded>            (0.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (0.00 × base-AC) + modifier
<held>               (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier

Armor Class from Spells

Here is a breakdown of how a full spellup will improve AC (using the easier-to-understand "positive is good" notation).

Foci           Fortitude          Awen           Misc
Shield     20  Body Brace     20  Armor      20  Concentrate 10
Stone Skin 40  Mental Barrier 20  Holy Armor 30  Barkskin    30
               Displacement   30  Holy Aura  40  Iron Skin   40
               Calcify Flesh  20  Frenzy    -70  Steel Skel  50
               Adrenaline     40                 Invinc     100
_______________________________________________________________
           60        40 dex + 90             20             230

Here is a comparison of how some of the more popular dieties will improve or worsen AC from spells. Note that the the (usually) 40 AC bonus from Adrenaline Pump is listed separately because dexterity AC is not worship-dependant.

                           Athiest  Shizaga Tul-Sith  Kra Gorn
3 Macros:              40 + 170 AC      -31      +31  +46  +62
2 Macros + Split Awen: 40 + 240 AC      -24      +24  +35  +48
Full spells w/o Frenz: 40 + 470 AC      -47      +47  +68  +94

Gods who give AC bonuses will reduce Frenzy's AC penalty, meaning that Tul-Sith Awen gives (90 * 1.1 - 70 * 0.9) = 36 AC, not (20 * 1.1) = 22 AC.

Armor Class Advice for Lowmort Tanks

Courtesy of the Ramko Pfile:

Level & Recommended AC(With Spells)

 20-30             -450
 30-40             -650
 40-45             -850
 45+               -1050

Armor Class Advice for Hero Tanks

Note: these numbers are heavily affected by both hp (the more hp you have, the more damage you can take, duh) and dexterity (dodge, shield block, other stuff is affected by dex).

Unspelled AC: Assessment

• -600: Ouch, hope you have a healer!
  
• -650: Hope you have a lot of fiery vials.
  
• -700: This is a decent starting point for non-monk tanks. With a healer, one can tank the smaller hero areas. Larger hero areas will drain HP quickly, making the run rather inefficient. With 2k+ hp you will probably be fine if you have good hitters.
  
• -750: This is a good first goal for ac; getting here won't be too hard on a rogue or a fast warrior. You'll still get hit (a lot) but a few double heal potions will help you through a run, and keep you alive.
  
• -800: At this point you won't be taking much damage, and you'll go through multiple fights without taking damage, but you're still vulnerable, especially when you're at lowhero and have small hp.
  
• -850: GOLD! At this point you don't get hurt much except from the big nasty mobs or from huge groups of mobs. Spells, like always, will be a problem, so like always, take a healer or stock up on quaffs.
  
• -900 and less: who cares? You're still going to get pounded by the nasty mobs, and you might want to think about tanking in hit gear.

Now you might ask, how do I get this ac? Well, it's pretty easy: wait. Yup, that's the secret. Fodder what you can, of course; with a mage, you'll have no problem getting Orosca's bracers, steel bracers and a chained steel collar, so there's a place to start. The shield of heroes is easy to get to, but it's a big mob, but it's right by a safe room, so death isn't terrible. Start enchanting this stuff, and start grabbing stuff in donation and trying it on to see if it's better. Every point counts, and you'll slowly build up your ac.