Thanks Jegpeg - I think I might keep a tally at our next game!
I can't say for sure at the moment, but at our last game our characters were attacked pretty evenly (they usually are). However, my character only took one miss from the first of 14 attacks, and the miss was a 19 to hit (luckily my broken cloak had upped my armour class to 20 on our previous long rest!), every hit after that was 20+. At the end of the first fight we had, two of the characters had taken no damage, two had lost less than 10 hit points each, and my poor sod had lost 74 hit points and was looking very ragged! :D
It's difficult to say, really. Our DM rolls behind the screen, and I don't think he uses different sets of dice for each us, I think he just has the one set for everything. But I'm definitely going to try the floaty-trick on my own dice because it sounds fascinating! :D
I have a level 10 paladin who has an armour class of 19 or 20 (she has a cloak of protection but it's broken, so only does either the saving throws or armour class at dawn, not both) and currently 94 hit points.
However, attacks hit her 90-95% of the time. I've tried using Shield of Faith but she still gets hit, even with an AC of 21 or 22. In our last 11 games, she's been knocked unconscious 13 times.
Does anyone have any suggestions of what I can do to protect her a bit? I totally get that she's a melee fighter and is in the thick of the action whenever a fight starts, but when an animated halberd (that's been missing everyone else with a roll of between 7 and 13) hits her with an attack of 22, I can't help but think something is wrong with how I've built her.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
StC
At level 10 ac of 19-20 isn’t as impressive as you think.
prof mod plus str/dex mod is usually 4+4 for most things you encounter there at a minimum. That’s not factoring in higher str/dex mods, or magic weapons, etc.
AC really is more of a low level and mid level impacting thing. Around level 7, it has more to do with how much HP you have than AC in terms of taking hits. 94 hits points at level 10. Is basically average HP with a con of 16. So not a lot of HP.
Is your char designed to be a tank? Or not designed to be one? Ac of 19-20 to me says either you don’t have plate armor, or a shield. At level 10. You shouldn’t have issues affording either.
what is your paladin fighting style?
getting hit 90% of time, does seem bad luck/dice fudging by the DM, but at level 10 I’d still expect to be hit around 50% of the time with that AC.
edit:
what are you doing with your 50 hp Lay on hands pool? What spells do you typically prepare? What Oath are you?
edit2: also, do you find yourself in situations a lot more than the others where an enemy has advantage on their attacks vs you? I know flanking isn’t an official thing anymore but many DMs use it.
She's an Oath of Devotion paladin, with the dueling fighting style as she always uses a shield. She still has chainmail - we're playing Curse of Strahd and there just aren't any places to buy armour in Barovia - but she also has a broken cloak that can grant her +1 AC, as well as a blessing associated with the story that grants another +1 AC. She's not particularly tank-y, but she has the highest AC of our party (we have an AC19 Cleric, and everyone else is AC 17), and the second highest number of hit points next to the Barbarian.
She usually has utility spells, buff spells and a couple of smites prepared (she prefers divine smite due to all the undead in Barovia!) and tends not to use her Lay On Hands Pool while she's fighting. Perhaps she should, but it always seems more important to finish off the enemy first!
I don't know the precise details about how your encounters are going, but perhaps a bit more tactical maneuvering would be helpful? Try fighting in doorways, narrow corridors, or other choke points to limit the number of enemies that can physically surround you while retreating to these chokes if need be when a fight breaks out. If the entire encounter is beating on you, better make sure to take the dodge action, A LOT. Wait until either the encounter is thinned out a bit by your team or you lose aggro, then start attacking. If you are taking a lot of ranged fire, drop prone and hide behind cover for a round or two and see what your DM's monsters do.
Also, you could use a suit of platemail it seems. Plate + shield gives a base AC of 20, 21 if you set the cloak to AC at dawn. Having platemail +1 or a shield +1 would bump that number up 1 more from there, and both of those are perfectly reasonable magic items to have at your level. Any way to get your hands on it?
And, is there anyone in your party that can off-tank for you? If you get low on HP it would be helpful if there is someone that can take over for a round or two as you disengage and heal up.
I currently have chainmail (AC16), a shield and a bonus effect granted by the adventure. The broken cloak has a roll at dawn to determine whether it will be a +1 to AC or a +1 to saving throws, but we're playing Curse of Strahd and decent armour isn't that easy to come by in Barovia. All the armour we've found so far has been old and rusted, and there aren't any armour shops! Maybe Strahd has one I could pinch... :D
Our DM is pretty fair when it comes to attacking characters and we all usually get attacked equally. It's just that while some of the attacks do miss the other characters, my poor character always seems to get the really high dice rolls that hit her most of the time. Me and the Barbarian are the most tanky - he has an AC of 17 - but attacks miss him about 50% of the time, compared to 5-10% for me. Still, we do tag team a lot as we're both melee characters.
I'm going to try some of the tactical playing, defintely. I'll hang back for a round or so buffing the other players before diving in, I think!
I wonder if there's some kind of curse on your character? Maybe you should look into that; it would explain a lot.
Aside from that, have you considered using a reach weapon? A halberd or a glaive might not be hard to find. Then you could attack your foes at a safe distance; maybe even from behind one of your allies.
She did turn evil once, thanks to a cursed mirror, but the other characters managed to restore her lawful good alignment before she broke her oaths. She's also accepted a couple of dark gifts from the amber temple, so has a couple of flaws. But the unlucky rolls have been happening since before either of these things happened, so I don't think it can be that.
A reach weapon might be a good idea, though - thanks JackOfAllTirades!
While not a direct answer to your question, the chances of your PC being hit would also be affected by how the other characters are playing. Do you have any Sorcerers, Druids, or Wizards in your party? If you're being struck that often, talk to them about using some of their spells to take the heat off of the melee characters. That would benefit the Barbarian as well. Against missile fire, Wind Wall (3rd level) is pretty effective, as is the lowly Fog Cloud. Slow is a powerful spell to reduce the total number of attacks. Wall of Fire (4th level) could take some of the heat off you by putting it on your foes; not to mention Wall of Stone, but that's getting into 5th level spells. Your Cleric can cast Spirit Guardians and stay close to you, thereby hitting and lowering movement speed of enemies that attack either of you.
As a 5th level Paladin, keep in mind that you also have access to Aura of Vitality, a 3rd level spell that lets you and nearby companions gain 2d6 hp every round.
Thanks so much for the advice - in answer to your question, it's not so much that I get attacked any more than anyone else (we all get attacked pretty evenly), it's just that when it comes to being hit, the rolls for me are usually 20+ to hit. We do have a sorcerer (he's a fire mage), and we have a ranger who's just got Wind Wall, so they're really good at ranged attacks. Our Cleric does use Spirit Guardians so that's a good idea for me to stay inside it's AoE. And yes, Aura of Vitality is good - the trouble is, because the attacks on me hit so often and it's a concentration spell, I keep losing the saving throw to keep it going! :D
Thanks so much for the advice - in answer to your question, it's not so much that I get attacked any more than anyone else (we all get attacked pretty evenly), it's just that when it comes to being hit, the rolls for me are usually 20+ to hit. We do have a sorcerer (he's a fire mage), and we have a ranger who's just got Wind Wall, so they're really good at ranged attacks. Our Cleric does use Spirit Guardians so that's a good idea for me to stay inside it's AoE. And yes, Aura of Vitality is good - the trouble is, because the attacks on me hit so often and it's a concentration spell, I keep losing the saving throw to keep it going! :D
You're welcome. I could also mention that Resilient: CON or Warcaster are must-have feats for a frontline caster. I'm guessing that you have one of them already?
Also, make sure that your Cleric casts Bless before any big foreseeable battle. That should also improve your CON saves. It's a 1d4, so it stacks with advantage and the CHA modifier's worth of Aura of Protection that you already have (and which you would be sharing with your Cleric who would be Spirit Guardian-ing you both).
Honestly? I don't have either - I foregoed feats in favour of stat increases, but probably should have gone with War Caster as it looks very handy. I'll know for next time, or if we get to level 12!
For future reference, if the DM you're playing w/ allows multi-classing, it's hard to go wrong starting with 1 lvl of Fighter. You get the equivalent of Resilient: Con for 1 level instead of 1 ASI, plus you get a fighting style.
That's great advice. I have a stand-by character that I created in case this one snuffs it, and I did just that - added two levels of Fighter and eight levels of Druid. It means she gets the benefits of Second Wind too. :)
Thanks Jegpeg - I think I might keep a tally at our next game!
I can't say for sure at the moment, but at our last game our characters were attacked pretty evenly (they usually are). However, my character only took one miss from the first of 14 attacks, and the miss was a 19 to hit (luckily my broken cloak had upped my armour class to 20 on our previous long rest!), every hit after that was 20+. At the end of the first fight we had, two of the characters had taken no damage, two had lost less than 10 hit points each, and my poor sod had lost 74 hit points and was looking very ragged! :D
Thanks Sigred!
It's difficult to say, really. Our DM rolls behind the screen, and I don't think he uses different sets of dice for each us, I think he just has the one set for everything. But I'm definitely going to try the floaty-trick on my own dice because it sounds fascinating! :D
At level 10 ac of 19-20 isn’t as impressive as you think.
prof mod plus str/dex mod is usually 4+4 for most things you encounter there at a minimum. That’s not factoring in higher str/dex mods, or magic weapons, etc.
AC really is more of a low level and mid level impacting thing. Around level 7, it has more to do with how much HP you have than AC in terms of taking hits. 94 hits points at level 10. Is basically average HP with a con of 16. So not a lot of HP.
Is your char designed to be a tank? Or not designed to be one? Ac of 19-20 to me says either you don’t have plate armor, or a shield. At level 10. You shouldn’t have issues affording either.
what is your paladin fighting style?
getting hit 90% of time, does seem bad luck/dice fudging by the DM, but at level 10 I’d still expect to be hit around 50% of the time with that AC.
edit:
what are you doing with your 50 hp Lay on hands pool? What spells do you typically prepare? What Oath are you?
edit2: also, do you find yourself in situations a lot more than the others where an enemy has advantage on their attacks vs you? I know flanking isn’t an official thing anymore but many DMs use it.
Blank
Thanks EightPackKilla!
She's an Oath of Devotion paladin, with the dueling fighting style as she always uses a shield. She still has chainmail - we're playing Curse of Strahd and there just aren't any places to buy armour in Barovia - but she also has a broken cloak that can grant her +1 AC, as well as a blessing associated with the story that grants another +1 AC. She's not particularly tank-y, but she has the highest AC of our party (we have an AC19 Cleric, and everyone else is AC 17), and the second highest number of hit points next to the Barbarian.
She usually has utility spells, buff spells and a couple of smites prepared (she prefers divine smite due to all the undead in Barovia!) and tends not to use her Lay On Hands Pool while she's fighting. Perhaps she should, but it always seems more important to finish off the enemy first!
Periodically if you think you need to heal. It sucks to burn turns... but you can sanctuary yourself 1turn. And then
lay on hands heal the next, and drop sanctuary when ready to attack again.
Blank
Worth a try, thank you!
*unintended side effect* barbarian gets to use his HP tank and rage damage resistance for once taking your hits from sanctuary redirecting.
but. Barbarians are tough. They’ll live.
Blank
I don't know the precise details about how your encounters are going, but perhaps a bit more tactical maneuvering would be helpful? Try fighting in doorways, narrow corridors, or other choke points to limit the number of enemies that can physically surround you while retreating to these chokes if need be when a fight breaks out. If the entire encounter is beating on you, better make sure to take the dodge action, A LOT. Wait until either the encounter is thinned out a bit by your team or you lose aggro, then start attacking. If you are taking a lot of ranged fire, drop prone and hide behind cover for a round or two and see what your DM's monsters do.
Also, you could use a suit of platemail it seems. Plate + shield gives a base AC of 20, 21 if you set the cloak to AC at dawn. Having platemail +1 or a shield +1 would bump that number up 1 more from there, and both of those are perfectly reasonable magic items to have at your level. Any way to get your hands on it?
And, is there anyone in your party that can off-tank for you? If you get low on HP it would be helpful if there is someone that can take over for a round or two as you disengage and heal up.
Thanks SireSamuel, all good stuff!
I currently have chainmail (AC16), a shield and a bonus effect granted by the adventure. The broken cloak has a roll at dawn to determine whether it will be a +1 to AC or a +1 to saving throws, but we're playing Curse of Strahd and decent armour isn't that easy to come by in Barovia. All the armour we've found so far has been old and rusted, and there aren't any armour shops! Maybe Strahd has one I could pinch... :D
Our DM is pretty fair when it comes to attacking characters and we all usually get attacked equally. It's just that while some of the attacks do miss the other characters, my poor character always seems to get the really high dice rolls that hit her most of the time. Me and the Barbarian are the most tanky - he has an AC of 17 - but attacks miss him about 50% of the time, compared to 5-10% for me. Still, we do tag team a lot as we're both melee characters.
I'm going to try some of the tactical playing, defintely. I'll hang back for a round or so buffing the other players before diving in, I think!
I hope there's some perception bias in there, because there's no other way those percentages make sense without some DM shenanigans.
I think she's just really unlucky. Our DM is a lovely chap who wouldn't fiddle dice rolls!
I wonder if there's some kind of curse on your character? Maybe you should look into that; it would explain a lot.
Aside from that, have you considered using a reach weapon? A halberd or a glaive might not be hard to find. Then you could attack your foes at a safe distance; maybe even from behind one of your allies.
DICE FALL, EVERYONE ROCKS!
She did turn evil once, thanks to a cursed mirror, but the other characters managed to restore her lawful good alignment before she broke her oaths. She's also accepted a couple of dark gifts from the amber temple, so has a couple of flaws. But the unlucky rolls have been happening since before either of these things happened, so I don't think it can be that.
A reach weapon might be a good idea, though - thanks JackOfAllTirades!
While not a direct answer to your question, the chances of your PC being hit would also be affected by how the other characters are playing. Do you have any Sorcerers, Druids, or Wizards in your party? If you're being struck that often, talk to them about using some of their spells to take the heat off of the melee characters. That would benefit the Barbarian as well. Against missile fire, Wind Wall (3rd level) is pretty effective, as is the lowly Fog Cloud. Slow is a powerful spell to reduce the total number of attacks. Wall of Fire (4th level) could take some of the heat off you by putting it on your foes; not to mention Wall of Stone, but that's getting into 5th level spells. Your Cleric can cast Spirit Guardians and stay close to you, thereby hitting and lowering movement speed of enemies that attack either of you.
As a 5th level Paladin, keep in mind that you also have access to Aura of Vitality, a 3rd level spell that lets you and nearby companions gain 2d6 hp every round.
Hey Song_of_Blues!
Thanks so much for the advice - in answer to your question, it's not so much that I get attacked any more than anyone else (we all get attacked pretty evenly), it's just that when it comes to being hit, the rolls for me are usually 20+ to hit. We do have a sorcerer (he's a fire mage), and we have a ranger who's just got Wind Wall, so they're really good at ranged attacks. Our Cleric does use Spirit Guardians so that's a good idea for me to stay inside it's AoE. And yes, Aura of Vitality is good - the trouble is, because the attacks on me hit so often and it's a concentration spell, I keep losing the saving throw to keep it going! :D
You're welcome. I could also mention that Resilient: CON or Warcaster are must-have feats for a frontline caster. I'm guessing that you have one of them already?
Also, make sure that your Cleric casts Bless before any big foreseeable battle. That should also improve your CON saves. It's a 1d4, so it stacks with advantage and the CHA modifier's worth of Aura of Protection that you already have (and which you would be sharing with your Cleric who would be Spirit Guardian-ing you both).
Honestly? I don't have either - I foregoed feats in favour of stat increases, but probably should have gone with War Caster as it looks very handy. I'll know for next time, or if we get to level 12!
For future reference, if the DM you're playing w/ allows multi-classing, it's hard to go wrong starting with 1 lvl of Fighter. You get the equivalent of Resilient: Con for 1 level instead of 1 ASI, plus you get a fighting style.
That's great advice. I have a stand-by character that I created in case this one snuffs it, and I did just that - added two levels of Fighter and eight levels of Druid. It means she gets the benefits of Second Wind too. :)
Not knowing CoS, I call shenanigans on not finding/being able buy heavier armor at that high a level. Sounds like a DM “stealth nerf.”