Saturday, 11th April 2015, 02:18 by tedric
The most general advice I have heard, that seems to make sense, is along the lines of "Go with whatever body armour gives you the highest combined AC+EV, and when the total is equivalent, go with the higher AC." Of course the "optimal" choice will also depend on species armor slot restrictions, aptitudes, size, etc. But in general high-AC/low-EV defenses are more reliable because even though you get hit more often, you take less damage per hit. Whereas with high-EV/low-AC, you get hit less, but when a blow does land it frakking hurts.
It is also true that HP is your best defense, so don't neglect to train Fighting. And when you're not clanking around in heavy armour, a little Stealth skill goes a long way.
From my experience 30/30 should be quite winnable. If you're struggling, the advice that will help is pretty much the same as the advice that will improve one's play in general -- especially if you're used to high-AC melee-focused builds that haven't required you to take much advantage of spells and other tools. There are spells that can boost AC temporarily, like Ozo's Armour and Stoneskin, which are relatively low-level so you should be able to get them castable even on species with poor apts (and note that "castable" does not mean 1% failure). If you are in the habit of using Enchant Armour scrolls to pump up your body armour, start by putting them into your aux armour slots instead (starting with hat/gloves/boots, then cloak, and only then body armour -- because the rarer armour types are less likely to be replaced later on). If you find a buckler and have a hand free, wear it and train 5 levels of Shields as soon as you can spare the skill points (even if you end up with a 2-handed weapon later, the investment is small and the extra defenses are welcome; but don't use ?EA unless your other slots are fully enchanted). Use evokables/ranged/conjurations to damage enemies from afar. Prepare to use more consumables, and more thoughtfully, than you might on a tank-y berzerker type. Try not fight where more than one enemy can damage you. Etc.
Wins (Does not include my GrEE^Veh 15-runer...stupid experimental branch)