What doesn't count towards the Dodge cap?

[Rudolph]

On the NWN2 wiki, it says DEX bonus AC is "not technically Dodge AC", which made me wonder whether it counts towards the +20 Dodge AC cap. Some time ago, I also heard a rumour that the Tumble Dodge points aren't included. Hence my question: which, if any, dodgy seeming (or otherwise uncertainly typed) AC bonuses don't count towards the Dodge AC cap?

[chad878262]

No, Dexterity does not count toward the Dodge cap. Only Dodge AC counts to that cap. Examples of Dodge AC

- Boots
- Song/Chorus of Heroism
- Inspire Defense
- Tumble (note the Wiki specifies that even though Tumble is Dodge AC it does NOT count to the +20 cap. I haven't tested to confirm this.)
- (Greater) Heavy Armor Optimization
- dodge (feat, though some sources indicate the +1 AC against one opponent is actually not classified as dodge)
- Divine Shield

This is by no means a complete list, but as you could see a Bard/Cleric (or Blackguard) could for instance reach the cap using +4 Dodge Boots, Inspire Defense, Song of Heroism and Divine Shield. That would be 4 + 5 + 4 + 7 = 20. So one way to test would be with a B26/BG4 that has divine shield and 30 tumble. This would allow you to determine if Tumble included in the cap calculation or not.