Required AB per fighting type

[Zanniej]

I thought I read a forum post somewhere about the needed AB (but it could've been AC) for sneaks, but I can't find it.

So my question is: How much AB does every type of toon need?
The types that come to mind are:
Archer
Sneak
Fighter
Caster (does that even matter?)
Cleric/Bard/Druid etc.

[metaquad4]

*These values do not include items or buffs!*
Archer: 46~ (The higher the better, manyshot knocks off 8 from your AB)
Sneak: 30-36
Fighter: 42-45
Casters: N/A
Gish: 30-38
Cleric/Favored Soul: 29-36
Bard: 32-36
Druid: N/A, you should be shifting most of your time, so your AB will be fine. I'd throw this into the "caster" cluster.

Remember, in all cases (Save Casters/Druids), the higher you can get, the better.

[Deathgrowl]

Archer: High AB, certainly, but don't let your damage suffer too much because of it. Strength is good for Mighty properies. You'll likely do fine with around 45 AB including equipment (but not buffs). And that's fairly easy to get with an archer. As a side note, if you go OOBI, you won't even need that much, but it's nice to have anyways!

Sneak: My rogue's nwn2db representation says 30 as highest attack. She has like 37-40 with her equipment and heroism and such. And that is definitely enough. But I'd also factor in damage, here: Rogues hit very, very hard. If it's a non-rogue sneak, you may want to get in more attacks in order to do the same kind of damage. Rangers come to mind, for instance.

Fighter: Depends a bit on your particular kind of build. If you're a dwarven defender with epic DR and stuff, you're not likely to have as high AB as a wm/fb. You can't be excellent at both defense, AB and damage at the same time (unless you're an FS...). But 40-50 is a good range to be in. Using power attack/improved power attack means it's good to have high AB.

Caster: It matters, but not much. Most mobs have very low touch AC, so you'll be fine with pretty low AB.

Cleric/FS: Doesn't matter. They have Divine Power. Seriously.

Druid: Well, you don't actually have much choice here. You will end up at roughly 40 AB with dragon form and all the spells on. Which is fine. Especially when you also have 30/adamantine DR (and 15/- dr when that disappears), 60ish AC and gigantic saves.

Gishes: Gishes tend to have a lot of spells to help their AB. You probably want to end up somewhere near what a soloing fighter will have. Through buffs you will have a bonus of +5 (gmw) + 4 (greater heroism) + 2 (bull's strength). And then you have some short term buffs giving you a bit more. Haste gives +1, tenser's transformation gives LEVEL - BAB (so, say you are level 30 and have 22 bab, you get +8 ab). I'd say you'd want your nwn2db representation to say at least ~34.

Bard: There is a build on the nwn2db that explains how a solo bard purely doing melee is actually better than a solo fighter. Can't find it at the moment, but the thing is: Bard can get similar AB and damage to fighter with buffs (and especially inspiration). But if you put a fighter in the bard's party and give him buffs, the fighter will outshine the bard as far as melee goes. Bard has other tricks.

[Thorsson]

Archers with HiPS can get away with less AB, but I still like lots, because it's nice if all the first flurry attacks hit.

Other than that Monks can get away with a bit less due to the extra flurried attacks (including the bugged one) at maximum AB.

Lots of people say xxAB is fine, where xx is rather lower than is said here. This ignores the fact that there is an attack sequence - it's not just about hitting once. More hits per round is important; so of course is damage per hit, not getting hit, being able to take damage and making Saves, but don't believe those who say 36AB is fine on a Fighter - compared to one with 46AB you'll hit twice a round less on most fights. That might be once versus three times against the hardest to hit foes.