So ONCE and for all.. noobish question about MOBILITY...

[tigersag]

My simple and noobish question is...

If I have a character with UNCANNY DODGE and put him in SCALE ARMOR which only allows +2 DEX bonus does he loose the DODGE bonus?

[BENGALI]

you only get the DEX AC bonus, regardless. Contrary to its name, uncanny dodge does not allow a character to retain dodge bonuses to AC when flat-footed, only the dexterity bonus.

[tigersag]

So if my character has +5 DEX bonus from his base stats, is wearing a chain shirt which allows +4 dex bonus and has uncanny dodge or even improved uncanny dodge he still only gets a dodge bonus of +4???

If that's true then what's the whole point to getting that feat at all. I'm even more confused now because I thought the dodge bonus stacked with dexterity bonus against the current opponent that the character is facing.

[Darth Cannabis]

Well the whole point of uncanny dodge is to avoid being caught flatfooted, which protects you from ambush essentially. Normally if attacked by an invisible or hidden enemy, your general dodge (this includes any value added thru dex) is simply not calculated, meaning the attack always hits. Uncanny dodge simply lets you avoid this effect of being ambushed. It has nothing to do with armor, or your dex limit due to it.

Now mobility, gives you a AC bonus to dodge, but it won't increase limits set thru armor. If you are wearing armor that only allows a +4 dex bonus, than that's that. You can never have a higher dex bonus, unless you change to a lighter armor. If you have a +5 dex bonus or more, then you should preference leather armor.

So the point of uncanny dodge is to avoid ambush. If you want to increase it further thou and focus on dex bonuses (improved uncanny dodge) , you need lighter armor. Basically uncanny dodge does no good if you don't already have potential to dodge. If your in heavy armors and only have a slim chance of dodging to start with, then of course gaining a chance to dodge if ambushed is pointless. You'd get hit anyway.

The point of mobility, would then be to get the most dodge from lighter armor, without as much need for the dex, leaving more room to grow the intelligence side of rouge skills. Remember that intelligence for skill points to spend on sneak, disarming traps, etc. is also an important part of rouge skill sets. This makes it more useful early on, but eventually your natural dex overtakes it. After that point thou, it is still a prerequisite for more advanced skills. The only reason for heavier armored characters, to get mobility would be as a requirement for spring attack. (Most likely as a result of need a fighter would have for weapon master).

So the point of mobility, can be varied depending on class. If your making a rouge trickster or another mage/rouge hybrid, it can make up for not being able to put as much into dex as a purist. If your an advanced style fighter, it could simply be a needed prerequisite.

[tigersag]

@Darth Cannabis.. ahh that makes sense then. Thanks...

[jimbobslimbob]

Bear in mind that uncanny dodge is a broken feat that will only work with mods and/or the nwnx plugin.

[tigersag]

@yes I was looking into the fix but it looked a bit complicated..