AC vs. Dmg Reduction

[Gailin Iceheart]

I am currently testing a Kender in the mod and I came up with 2 pretty decent builds.
I managed to get SC 3 and also managed to get my con up to 21 for DR at 41-42 whenever it comes up.
My question is this....should I forgo the Dmg Reduction for a higher dex, or stick with what I have...
Currently, both builds have an AC of 30-31, with 450 hp, BA of mid 40's, and saves ranging in the high 30's @ lvl 40.

[starlandra]

well you don't wanna try and do too much I think. Many will say take the DR but I usually wont (three feats to get /9 damage?) unless I am making a DD and it all stacks up. I think you might have done too much going 21 con as it is. Might as well add one more con for the hitpoints now and leave it be after that.

[Gailin Iceheart]

Oddly enough, the con stats were already pretty high, I only had to add a few to get there......racially motivated?

[unnone]

The question about ac vs dr depends on what type of build you are making. For a dexer, AC and conceal are your best defense. For a soaking type, as much soak as you can find is your friend. It sounds like you're building a dexer, so I'd drop the dr in favor of SC5 and more dex if possible.

Honestly, Dwarven Defenders don't really need the additional 9/- except in deep layers of hell. They almost always are taking much more elemental than phys damage.

[Gailin Iceheart]

Hmm, sry, I should have been more specific.
I have intentions of this being a rogue toon...hafling/kender.
I was thinking of a monk 5/rogue 25/COT 10 not necessarily in that order. My other alternative was ftr/monk/rogue.

My main objective is to make a rogue that can handle going on runs without having to be pulled along or dragged in later. No offense to anyone, but I really hate doing DB only to find out no one can open chests.
Since there is a limited amount of build info on Kenders, I thought I would take a stab at making something notable.
Thanx....

[Raj]

the 9/ dr that comes from epic damage reduction feats stacks with innate dr ( barbarian/dd ) and damage resistance from items ( like, 20/slashing ), but doesn't stack with soak spells/items ( like stoneskin)
I'd never take those feats because many burs and hell set loot ( and some urs too ) have a 10/+15 dr that works vs many hell critters and in nearly all legendary areas; if you go monk then there're 10/+20 torches, one of them being a common set drop in the Ssitrak Run ( you might need a high level rogue in order to get it, it's hidden, ask for hints in game ), and there're always those items with epic warding ( many are set drop in legendary areas, and you don't need to be a caster to use them; some umd might help )
Those 3 feats ( and the 21 con req that can be hard to achieve on some dexters ) aren't worth it.

[Gailin Iceheart]

Getting the con to 21 wasn't all that hard to do.
maybe I am overlooking something? IMO the 3 pts to dex or con is a small price to pay for the DR, and it also seems worthwhile to have the hps it adds as well.
I am just curious since it seems to take 2 pts of dex to get 1 pt of AC, that taking the con would be more beneficial.

[starlandra]

your ab will be horrible... and so will your damage output. Really every tank (not shifters etc lol) needs to have at the least 5 lvl of wm to be a viable damage producing tank. fighter rogue wm is very common for a good reason... makes a dang fine tank. My handles the hells quite well.

and to this

the 3 pts to dex or con is a small price to pay for the DR, and it also seems worthwhile to have the hps it adds as well.

is not accurate. The 3 points of con, and then the three feats you use to get that pitiful /9 damage soak is a high price indeed. 3 points to dex could equal 2 ab 2 ac, rogue skill points (if you take rogue) and the 3 feats could be epic prow epic weap focus LLAB which is another +6 I think ab... sure you could still take those feats somehow, but you are probably not makes a pure fighter which means that what feats you get will be few and precious.

[unnone]

It's also not only the 3 points boost allocated to con, but the points you spend getting your starting con to 18.