Question on the Tumble skill

[Mandragoran]

I have 8 ranks in tumble, but when I wear heavy armor it drops down to 2. When I take my armor off, it shoots up to 8. From my understanding, 10 ranks is an AC increase of +1. If I level up and get it to rank 10, will my AC still increase +1 even if I wear heavy armor? Because by the time my tumble (base) is +10, it will still be +2 or +3 max with heavy armor on. Anyone know exactly how this works?

[chad878262]

AC is based on ranks, not modified skill. If u have 10 ranks spent on tumble you'll get +1 AC.

[Mandragoran]

Then I didn't waste my skill points. Thanks.

[Hawke]

While you will still enjoy the +AC but your total tumble points will go down when you make your rolls while moving through combat while wearing armor and using a shield. That means you still can have free attacks of opportunity made on you.