I propose changing the AC type of Divine Shield to an AC type other than dodge, perhaps making it a sacred or natural AC bonus. Why? The feat is already capped to both Charisma bonus and divine class levels along with taking up a round to activate. I feel characters that wish to invest their points into Charisma and this feat should not be limited to the +20 dodge cap. They're already giving up a lot to get those high digits, whether it be spell DCs, AB/Dmg, or spell caster levels for bard/sorc mixes.

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Mai'yr Baequi'arnith

Absolutely not - the fact that it contributes to the +20 cap is the only reason it's remotely balanced. You give up basically nothing to get +8 to +10 for the equal number of rounds, and can run it almost an entire rest non stop easily.

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Davion Telemos - Monk of the Four Winds
Korthan Isharnos - Dragon Shaman of Thunder Spirit Zamasham

+8/10 is easy to get and requires little investment considering the gear you can get on this server. If you have a base +5 Cha (20 Cha) mod with +6 Cha mod from gear you can cap it already with +5 boots and haste. Changing the AC type only really affects characters that make Cha a focus who are giving up benefits in other areas.

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Mai'yr Baequi'arnith

There is absolutely no way that Divine Shield should be uncapped.

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Whomst've'll'd'mn't I play:
Salema Nefahri :: A penny for your thots
Zrae'a'stra'fryn :: That which nightmares are made of
Khasir :: From the East a storm is coming

Could you provide some logic as to why? Maybe I'll see something that I'm missing.

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Mai'yr Baequi'arnith

The theoretical no loss 8 cha mod blackguard or paladin goes up to ~74AC with it, with no issues. If you're making cha a focus, your benefit is that you max your dodge cap with the push of a button. That is a massive benefit.

AC already massive outstrips AB in epic. Adding another source of uncapped Ac is only going to widen the gulf between sTr characters, and dex characters and buffing melee characters even more, rendering paladins, BGs, clerics and dexers even more powerful.

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Davion Telemos - Monk of the Four Winds
Korthan Isharnos - Dragon Shaman of Thunder Spirit Zamasham

I don't think uncapping it would be a great idea either. As it is, you need to be kinda creative with a +8 CHA mod to max out your dodge bonus anyway, right? +5 from boots, +8 from a hypothetical charisma mod on a paladin or blackguard in this exaple, +1 from ioun I think, +4 from haste? That's +18. I guess I can see you maxxing it out with higher CHA but I don't really see it as an issue.

Your AC would only go up by a few points with this change, and it's already quite high in most builds that have this feat, so I'm not sure what the need for uncapping it comes from.

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Osiris Masud

It's just the whole concept of it being a divine feat yet being flatfoot can strip you of its benefits. Even the wording of it, "Divine Shield" not "Holy Dodge" or something. You know, using your faith to shield you from harm and not necessarily avoid it. That and the fact that AC levels wouldn't change without a greater investment in Cha which weakens these builds in other areas.

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Mai'yr Baequi'arnith

Well, the naming and lore issues aside (because this is primarily a balance issue in this instance,) honestly a CHA-focused paladin can be awesome.

Paladin/DC/rogue is a great build, bard/blackguard is pretty great, both have big CHA; they both have various buffs, including bonuses to saves and smites and AC and damage from their CHA.

Paladin/DC/rogue with great smiting and huge CHA can actually reach insane levels of smite damage, decent consistent damage because of the Purge Infidel and Divine Might feats, big AC from divine shield and tumble, and I don't remember the exact saves my particular build had but it was over 35 for all 3, and it has UMD and evasion too. No real glaring weaknesses except if you fight a neutral character; but even then, purge infidel and divine might still work. Also, divine wrath for even moar damage and stuff.

Personally I think a barbarian/blackguard/DC might be kinda neat to toy with for a divine shield/might/wrath and smiting barbarian of Garagos or something, but I haven't planned such a build so it could be a bit lackluster. But it sounds pretty neat.

I really don't feel this is a balance concern overall.

As far as lore goes, well... You've got me. But really, balance and fun gameplay > lore, if they are ever at odds with each other, IMO.

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Osiris Masud

Most common use of divine shield is 18 Base Cha + 12 from gear = 30 CHA (10 CHA Mod)

10 Divine Shield AC + 5 Boots AC + 4 Haste + 1 Mage Armor = 20 Dodge AC

Definaltly doesn't need a buff, and im someone that has divine shield as a keystone of their characters build (AKA Snow)

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Active
Levexal
Techsmith Tokas Tokersun - http://amiaworld.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=88661

Divine Shield would break any sense of balance if it weren't dodge ac. It stacks up to +20 and that's as far as it needs to go. I managed to get 70 AC on my blackguard and that's pretty disgusting.

Edit: Baring in mind that I'm casting two hour per level buffs with about a 45 or 46 ab and doing weapon master levels of damage. It's not a one trick thing, it's pretty significant.

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Gerald Edmund
Discord: Metal Viking Guy #5433

DC taxation is theft!