How much armor class should a monk have?

[CaimDark]

I'm sure the answer is as much as possible lol, but I don't know the maximum values or what values are considered good, I'm far more familiar with Baldur's Gate 2nd edition rules. Currently my level 10 monk has 24 AC. He could have 28 if I replaced the robe of the old order with robe of the shining hand +2 and Daelan's necklace (+3 strength) with amulet of natural armor +2.

For now I'm keeping those AC items around in case I feel I need them. Should I use them and focus more on AC? At what point can I be confident that I have enough AC to not be hit often?

[wendigo211]

24 probably is too low, most enemies probably have 30-40% chance to hit you and the tougher enemies are over 50%.

The way AC works in NWN is there are 6 types of AC:

1. Base. Every character gets a base 10 AC, the AC bonus from every 5 base ranks of Tumble you have gets added here. IIRC a Monk's Wisdom bonus to AC is considered this type of AC as well, as is the AC boost from Combat Expertise.
   
2. Dodge. This includes your dexterity bonus and the AC bonus from boots (like Boots of the Sun Soul), this type of AC stacks to a maximum of +20. Dodge is used to defend against all types of attacks but it can be lost if you are caught flat-footed. Uncanny Dodge will let you keep your dex bonus to AC if you're flat-footed but not any other dodge armor you might have.
   
3. Deflection. This is the AC bonus from rings and cloaks of protection. It also defends against all types of attacks. It does not stack, you get the highest bonus from the equipment/spells you have.
   
4. Natural. You get this AC bonus from spells like barskin and amulets. There are two subtypes (base and enchantment), you get the highest bonus of each type. Some creatures and shifted forms have base natural armor bonuses, but for the most part that only applies to creatures. Natural armor is lost against touch attacks.
   
5. Armor. You get this AC from armor. There are two subtypes (base and enchantment), you get the highest bonus of each type. Armor AC is lost against touch attacks.
   
6. Shield. You get this AC from shields. There are two subtypes (base and enchantment), you get the highest bonus of each type. Shield AC is lost against touch attacks.

Now that the basics are out of the way, it should be pretty clear that, unless you're a spell caster, AC is gear dependent and AB is level dependent. That is to say, a character can't really improve his AC that much outside of your equipment. As a Monk you can increase your AC by raising your DEX and/or your WIS (The former is preferable since you can get some AB as well with weapon finesse). Beyond that you're dependant on what you wear.

If you're fighting a level 10 3/4 opponent, you can probably assume he has a BAB of 7, and probably another 3 or 4 points from attributes or gear. So he probably has a 10 or 11 AB for his primary attack. A full AB opponent probably has a 14 or 15 AB for his primary attack. So if you're looking at tanking a group of them, you probably need a 32-35 AC (you want to make them roll a 20 to a hit you and they get a +2 bonus if they flank you). If you're just want to go mano-e-mano, then a 27+ would be fine.

Monks are a tough class to play in NWN since they're dependent on multiple attributes, and they're a 3/4 instead of a full AB class. The best pure Monk I've found would probably be an Elf with 14 STR, 18 DEX, 12 CON, 10 INT, 14 WIS, 8 CHA). That Monk then increases DEX every level up, takes Luck of Heroes at level 1, Weapon finesse at level 3, and then starts picking up the two-weapon fighting and kama feats. By level 10 that Monk would have a Naked AC of 22, with +4 dex from items, robes of Shining Hand +2, Boots of Sun Soul +2, Ring of Protection +2 and Amulet of Natural Armor +2 that AC would rise to 32 which should be fine for most defensive purposes.

[CaimDark]

Thank you for the detailed explanation.

[jonnin]

I think one of the tips in HOTU is that 'players with less than 30 ac will die, often' . That is a level 20 adventure. What he said, monks are very itemized if you go pure. Not going pure is insanely powerful though. A bit of cleric can give you tons of defense and AC and the occasional heal. But IMHO very few classes are as powerful as a sorc1/RDD10/monk20+ one or two sorc spells like mage armor, RDD ac bonus and massive str, fire immune and more... sorc gets you some lockpicking & trap removal early game with a pixie too. You can also use arcane scrolls and wands and staves, which can even up tough fights.

If you go cleric, pick up enough buffs and healing to cast level 5 spells (heal if took heal domain) is enough to beat pretty much anythign and you can put on heavy gear if you face a specific annoying enemy that isnt working as a monk.