AC/EV/SH?

[thriftshopmusketeer]

I'm curious as to how, if at all, the respective defensive values stack/collaborate with each other. For example, is it better to have one value absurdly high with nothing in the other two, or is a more balanced spread more effective?

[crate]

They are good against different things. AC is the most consistent (it works against nearly everything, and unlike the others is not all-or-nothing) and is especially good against multiple weak attacks. EV works against most attacks and is better than AC against single strong attacks. SH works against the most limited number of attacks and is primarily good for stopping arrows and crossbow bolts and the like; it also decreases in effectiveness when you get attacked multiple times in one turn, unlike AC or EV.

In practice AC and EV are much more valuable than SH for most characters, and ideally you want both to be good because of the fact they work differently.

[XuaXua]

Does GDR count in the calculations?

[crate]

Does GDR count in the calculations?

GDR is really not very important (especially if you do not have high AC already) and mostly means that your AC is slightly better.

[giygas]

is a more balanced spread more effective?

I find that AC tends to be superior to EV in almost all circumstances, no matter what the strength and quantity of the attacks are. With high AC (and the GDR that comes with that AC), you can absorb that single strong attack and be certain that the attack will not hurt you to a certain degree, while with an over-reliance on EV, that single strong attack can kill you: you are at the mercy of the RNG.

It is good to have balance between them, although as crate said, SH only has a minor effect compared to the other two. Though it is always good to have as much of each as possible, it is usually best to most actively work on increasing your AC.

[KoboldLord]

If you die to one failed EV roll, you've either horribly, horribly botched your skill allotment, or you're fighting something crazy out-of-depth for your character. It is more likely that you went into the fight without a plan to recover from that first failed EV roll. Or your felid picked up some additional levels of frail, I suppose.

If you take an EV character and try to use it like an AC character, then yes you're going to die in short order. Changing up your main defense completely changes the level of threat you should assess from every strong enemy and most of the moderate-strength and weak enemies.

[Mankeli]

is a more balanced spread more effective?

I find that AC tends to be superior to EV in almost all circumstances, no matter what the strength and quantity of the attacks are. With high AC (and the GDR that comes with that AC), you can absorb that single strong attack and be certain that the attack will not hurt you to a certain degree, while with an over-reliance on EV, that single strong attack can kill you: you are at the mercy of the RNG.

Well, many characters that tend to have high EV (spriggans, kobolds) also have lowish HP so one blow can be dangerous if not fatal. This does not mean that AC is better in almost all circumstances: you can dodge with a HP-sack minotaur just fine.

[Patashu]

You don't want just super high AC or just super high EV, you want high one and decent the other (or high both).
If just your AC is really high, you'll be hit by the side effects of attacks quite often (for item destruction, poison, acid and soforth). Also, huge damage single hits (like from ettins, reapers and especially larger slime creatures) aren't stopped as well by AC as by EV.
If just your EV is really high, you'll get murderized when things DO hit. Also, some attacks (like fireballs) are undodgeable but resistable by AC.

[giygas]

You don't want just super high AC or just super high EV, you want high one and decent the other (or high both).
If just your AC is really high, you'll be hit by the side effects of attacks quite often (for item destruction, poison, acid and soforth). Also, huge damage single hits (like from ettins, reapers and especially larger slime creatures) aren't stopped as well by AC as by EV.
If just your EV is really high, you'll get murderized when things DO hit. Also, some attacks (like fireballs) are undodgeable but resistable by AC.

This is what I meant.

[Arkhan]

To help the OP out with a more layman's explanation (until they become familiar with the game and experience the things we've talked about in practice)- try for a sort of 50%AC 30%EV 20%SH layout. Armor and GDR are important, don't die in 2 hits to things you need to get close to kill. EV is important, because taking each and every single attack out of a round of a couple hundred should you be surrounded or something is unacceptable as well. SH is a good defensive stat, so don't completely ignore it if you're going to have the hand slot open- at the very least get the shield to min penalty, and you would be surprised how effective each "leap" in shield strength is from buckler at 5 to large at 5-15, and then a huge leap from 15-25- just don't replace good ole AC or EV with it. A really big mistake a new Fighter can make is looking at that shield they start with and going "Oh I'll just power shields to 15 from the start of the game." Nonono. You do have to kill things first.

Two handed weapons exist and people have beat the game with them, they're not impossible to use simply "because you can't use a shield" you just end up allocating those points into more AC, EV, and offensive power.

[cerebovssquire]

A really big mistake a new Fighter can make is looking at that shield they start with and going "Oh I'll just power shields to 15 from the start of the game."
Two handed weapons exist and people have beat the game with them, they're not impossible to use simply "because you can't use a shield" you just end up allocating those points into more AC, EV, and offensive power.

1) If your melee-focussed char is going to be using a bucker - "20% SH" whatever that arbitrary number implies (though it seems to contradict the shield/large shield part later in the post!?) - just use a two-hander instead because it's going to be a hell of a lot better providing you don't have some exceptional one-hander.

2) a really big mistake a new player can make is play a fighter, berserkers, healers and hunters exist for a reason

3) And not that you're wrong about two-handers, only your wording in places implies that they are harder and usually inferior for melee-focussed characters when the opposite is usually the case.