Yobai wrote on Mar 13
th, 2015 at 6:08pm:
wait what do you think "standard AC" for level 4 is?
It doesn't really matter. You gain between 15 and 21AC over and beyond the best at-level armor at level 4 (if you craft it to +2 with masterful). If you factor in a shield it's a bit more (an extra 8AC)
This doesn't make a
massive difference at that level, especially if you've got natural armor or protection bonuses already. Factor in epic past lives, and it becomes even more marginal.
If you have an AC of 25 means you are only hit 29% of the time by an average CR4 monster. This drops to 17% at 43AC with Planeforged plate.
Yes, you are being hit half as often, but out of 20 hits, You are only being hit two or three times less for all that AC, because you are being missed most of the time anyway.
If you add in past lives and protection/natural armor bonuses, it goes from 49AC to 64AC (that's being hit 15% of the time versus 11%) - you'll barely notice the difference unless surrounded.
Still, it takes almost no effort (disjuncting and crafting it once), so I still do it.