On live, there was an AC hardcap and it was in fact based on your level.
During Velious, it was changed to a softcap and no longer based on your level.
Here is a quote from an original EQ developer that worked on core mechanics (Kavhok):
Quote:
Your AC cap was lowered. That was absolutely and unequivocally a nerf. I didn't mean in any way to imply otherwise.
Let me give a more full explanation of what happened, though. Here's how the AC formula used to work before the patch immediately preceding PoP:
The AC from your items was added up, but the value used for it was hard capped based on your level. This was the same for all classes. Once you had 289 raw AC from items (or 385 as a cloth class, since they get less effect from item AC), that was it. More AC from items wouldn't do anything.
After this, it added your class bonuses (including the monk bonus, which is equivalent to your level + 5 in raw item AC), defense skill bonus, agility bonus, and the AC from spell buffs.
Total AC at this point was capped again, this time based on class. In the Kunark-era code, this was a hard cap, but sometime during Velious it was changed to a soft cap for melee classes only. The return was fairly small, though.
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10-21-2016, 01:06 PM
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