Tips for fighting enemy with high AC?

[LArc7thHeaven]

As title said, most player had difficulty fighting enemy with ridiculously high AC especially fey with their stupid AC bonus. Mind to share some tips to help ppl. Thank you

[Mork]

Mostly buffs.. Heroism, goodhope, greater heroism, heroic invocation, bard song inspire competence....

There are some teamfeat like Outflank that are really good for melee.

[LArc7thHeaven]

Any spells that can help disable them?

[Mork]

A fey? Ice prison if she have low reflex, stinking cloud for low fortitude or even hold monster is sure to disable her. I cannot think of a spell that only lower AC.

Something like trip(grease work), shatter defence...

[Miteychimp]

I like to blind them, with alchemist bombs or dirty trick, both bypass spell immunity. Blind will strip their dex bonus so you can hit them. True strike will ensure it lands, then you can go to work. True strike on your burst damage guy works nicely too. I used choking bombs on the head fey lady in the DLC this afternoon, it worked well.

If they have spell immunity your options are limited. If you can protect against their damage, you can wear them out rolling 20s.

[Miteychimp]

summons, preferably hasted, will drastically increase the number of dice you are rolling if you go that route

[Miteychimp]

Oh and the pit spells don't care about AC or spell resistance. Or your party lol. You'll never see Harrim again if he falls in. But those things solve a ton of problems. Anyone smaller than a mature dragon giving you problems, put them in time out. If you're fancy, you can put yourself in one if you need some time to think.

[LArc7thHeaven]

Thanks for the input guys, really appreciate all of 'em

[Dixon Sider]

I love grease. You get it early, but with heighten magic, its an incredible spell all game. It gives the enemy a -4 AC to mele, but +4 AC to ranged

Also sleep will give the enemy -8AC to mele, and you can coup de grace

True strike wands are actually incredible. IDK if the spell works this way, but if you use a true strike wand, you still get attacks in that same round.

Also precient attack (magus) is amazing, and if you use it in between casting your touch attack spell and the first swing with the touch attack, you wont waste any swings with it.

[Blood Flowers]

Originally posted by Mork:

I cannot think of a spell that only lower AC.

I always get the two mixed up, but either Overwhelming Grief or Crushing Despair denies the enemy their Dexterity bonus to AC if it fails a Will save.

Originally posted by LArc7thHeaven:

stupid AC bonus.

Options:
-Target touch AC (bombs, ranged touch attacks, melee touch attacks, Kineticist stuff, etc)
-Use spells that don't require attack rolls (spells that require a reflex save)
-Deny the enemy AC through debuffs such as blind, paralyze, etc
-Buff your characters' AB (make sure to get all types of buffs such as Sacred, Morale, Luck, Competence, etc)
-Attempt to roll Natural 20s through sheer number of attacks (apply Haste, get a bunch of strong summons, have everyone target the same enemy, etc)

[Nightbringer]

Originally posted by Mork:

A fey? Ice prison if she have low reflex, stinking cloud for low fortitude or even hold monster is sure to disable her. I cannot think of a spell that only lower AC.

Something like trip(grease work), shatter defence...

Fey have low fortitude. Stinking Cloud will disable them.

A more class specific suggestion would be an earth kineticist with Deadly Earth. It does not require a to-hit roll, is not subject to spell resistance, and does not allow a saving throw.

[Nightbringer]

Originally posted by Miteychimp:

Oh and the pit spells don't care about AC or spell resistance. Or your party lol. You'll never see Harrim again if he falls in. But those things solve a ton of problems. Anyone smaller than a mature dragon giving you problems, put them in time out. If you're fancy, you can put yourself in one if you need some time to think.

Fey tend to have high reflex saves. Pit spells are not very efficient.

[ELVIS]

Alchemist bombs are best vs. high AC. They ignore armor (including the Mage armor spell), shields (including the Shield spell) and Natural Armor (the most common source of monster AC). On top of all that they ignore Spell Resistance and the target doesn't have to be flanked, flatfooted or denied their Dex bonus (requirements for Sneak Attacks).

[deuxhero]

Touch attacks and spells that target saves.

[Pink Eye]

Originally posted by ELVIS:

Alchemist bombs are best vs. high AC. They ignore armor (including the Mage armor spell), shields (including the Shield spell) and Natural Armor (the most common source of monster AC). On top of all that they ignore Spell Resistance and the target doesn't have to be flanked, flatfooted or denied their Dex bonus (requirements for Sneak Attacks).

Is the best answer. If you don't have an alchemist, get a necromancer.

[haplok]

Originally posted by Nightbringer:

Originally posted by Mork:

A fey? Ice prison if she have low reflex, stinking cloud for low fortitude or even hold monster is sure to disable her. I cannot think of a spell that only lower AC.

Something like trip(grease work), shatter defence...

Fey have low fortitude. Stinking Cloud will disable them.

Yes, that's the best answer (other then Kineticist/Alchemist cheese - that works too, of course).

I'm actually amazed to see people recommend Reflex-based attacks, like Grease, Pits, Ice Prison. The only Reflex based spell worth using, that I personally dislike, but it rolls frequently enough and is very nasty is Sirocco.

Fey also tend to have strong Will saves, so I'd definitely not go for Enchantments, like Hold Monster, Overwhelming Grief, Crushing Despair. Also Spell Resistance adds additional protection layer versus those.

Other then Stinking Cloud (and other Fortitude-based debuffs/nukes, like BoneShatter, Killing Cloud), Shatter Defenses on martial characters does wonders vs most living enemies in this game, including fey. You just need to make the enemies Shaken first (to name a few effective application methods: Bard Dirge of Doom, martial Dazzling Display/Dreadful Carnage with high Intimidate, caster Frightful Aspect).