Hey, friend! Want to support the channel and help me produce more quality content? Then please consider becoming a Channel Member! th-cam.com/users/cRPGBrojoin Depending on the tier you choose, you'll be able to request personal videos about topics you want me to talk about like unique builds, and even have a direct say in what RPG I play next! Also, want another way of supporting the channel and even get started on Pathfinder tabletop with the official 2E Book? Then click here: amzn.to/32SrUbc You don't even need to buy Pathfinder content, ANYTHING else you buy with the link above in a 24h period will also help support the channel through my Amazon Affiliate. Thank you!
Thank you! I figure it's best to have these General Guides, not only as simple ways for people to know about the important mechanics like stacking AB & Defense, but also as to not have to repeat every time on build videos which can be tiresome for the viewers, I think.
Instead of casting Protection from Evil: Communal, you can use a spontaneous caster to cast the level 1 Protection from Evil with Greater Enduring Spells to get a 24h version of it. Very useful.
Thank you 😀 I also have a Buff Type & Buff Stacking Guide here to complement this one with most common sources of buff types: th-cam.com/video/fmO5ENUIi1g/w-d-xo.html
One additional stacking AC bonus is the protection judgement, which a judge can use to give the whole party up to a +5 sacred AC bonus. I tend to multiclass Lann or Endaug into a judge and move them into pure party support. They can also take community/madness as impossible domains, so you can get all of the important cleric domain buffs along with the judgements on one character.
Thank you for the tip! Party wide Judgment does indeed sound very tasty, I often have Lann go into Divine Hound, but I'll be sure to try a new run with him as Judge now.
Because of you I used bubblebuff mod. but then I got those two angel spells that just buffs your entire team with everything, so I turned off the mod for my angel run. Will definitely turn on bubblebuff mod again on other non-angel run
The Mass Angel buff spell is certainly a life saver. However, even then, there's still loads of spells you want to cast individually on almost all your characters like Death Ward, Barkskin, Crusader's Edge, Aid and so on. Bubble Buffs can help even then!
Nice! Always glad to be of help. Pathfinder is a game that really improves once you start learning how the mechanics work and the synergy between them, and this is one of my favorite parts about the game!
@@cRPGBro when the game clicks it feels great. managed to convince 3 people to give the game a try and then kingmaker became free on epic so i hope they like it. also looking forward to the nenio build when you drop it i like ember but i miss the one shot spooky ghost magic lady
One thing I noticed is that you didn't seem to mention Seelah's shielding friend ability. You only get it in Act 5 if you get her good story ending (which might be you chose not to mention it) but it lets you apply her charisma modifier as shield AC to the entire party for a duration equal to to her caster level. It only uses a single use of her lay on hands. This usually gets me around +8 to 10 so just slightly beating out an angel (and extremely helpful on non angel runs)
That does seem very useful indeed! And honestly, I actually really forgot about it, considering it's very unique conditions and late game acquisition. It's a massive boost - Shield AC is often capped to +4 or so. Talk about a nice buff. This is what I really like about Pathfinder - always more to learn!
Not sure if it a bug or not, but frightful aspect stacks with dragon form both spell and dragon mythic. You will get dragon form bonuses to ac and strengh as polymorph and then aspect bonuses as size.
The best defence is destroying/crowd controlling your enemies before they'll be able to hit you) A few things worth mentioning Blur and Displacement, mirror image and greater invis are great. Probably better than stacking AC. However, on Hard and Unfair later on half of your enemies will have prebuffed True Seeing, making those buffs obsolete. Or you can try using Greater Dispel on enemies if you need it. Protective luck is exceptionally good. Especially considering that most of your enemies multiattack. But you will rarely want to spend your turn on protective luck. It's better to cast right before charging into combat, with Cackle (so that you'll have 18 sec to use it). Good Domain ability (Sociel's default) gives a sacred bonus on attacks, skills and saves. Can be used to pass exorbitant DCs of some bosses. Use as a swift action with Domain zealot mythic ability. Although I used it only to compensate for the lack of Divine Power on some characters. Glory Domain's ability buffs your charisma temporarily, thus boosting your AC for Scaled fist, Oracle or Paladin (great with Bestow Grace). This ability works in unintended ways and how much CHA it provides is probably a bug or something. I think Fighting Defensively and Crane Style feats tree should be an honourable mention in terms of boosting AC and survivability.
Hi there, I show it all on my Guide on How to Stack Bonuses of all Types: th-cam.com/video/fmO5ENUIi1g/w-d-xo.html Including bonuses like Cooking and such so we can achieve such a high CHA.
Hey, watched all your Videos! nice work! but i am asking myself.... which classes are bringing the pets with your main party? The horse is from the Paladin....but the others? It would be very nice if you can answer my question :)
Hi there and thank you for the support! Pet distribution is like this: 1. Seelah with Animal Bond from Paladin 2. Daeran with Animal Companion Revelation from Nature Mystery 3. Sosiel with Impossible Domain: Animal 4. Camellia with Second Spirit: Nature, but this pet will only come at level 16+
@@cRPGBro Thank you for your fast reply! i want to build a party like: Camellia, Paladin Main, Skald, Lann with Pet, Cleric with Animal Domain and a BrownFur. - Trickster Path- all according to your Videos for unfair. Do you think thats "too much buff characters" ? Or do you think that would suit well? Thanks in advance for your reply!
@@stimpack7275This party can certainly work just fine! The buffs are actually a necessity, especially on Unfair. You have all the bases covered, Hexes, Mark of Justice, Skald and both Divine and Arcane buffs/debuffs.
hey do ur guides only work with pets and if i have chosen characters who buff, so only a specific line/build of main character and specific builds of companion characters?
Hi there, my Guides work for any Difficulty and as far as companion guides, for any Mythic Path. The specific builds for Main Characters always have a Mythic Path associated with them in the build description, but you are free to change them for something else, it's just the way I find the most optimal. As for pets, they make a really big difference but you can certainly do without them on let's say Core. The difference is you'll have to devote a human companion to tanking, as I tend to leave tanking for my pets because of how easy it is to do it with them.
Hi, I love your videos. I am starting a Trickster run following your builds with those members MC Sword Saint, Seelah Skald, Camellia Sosiel Wenduag and Nenio but I Have few questions. Look likes you never use Crane line feats and Shatter defense + demonstration or Dirge Doom combo. Any reason?
Hi there, and thank you for the comment! I don't tend to use Crane line feats as I often leave tanking to my pets. You can, however, get them on a high DEX high AC pet like Leopard, but all other pets that have enough DEX for Crane Style also work such as Dog & Wolf. Shatter Defenses is something that I often only bother picking at level ~15+. Personally, I don't like how it takes 2 feats, including Dazzling Display which I never use and find disappointing because it takes a full round action - I would rather attack or cast spells with my characters. Remember that starting from level 15, you can use the Frightful Aspect buff for permanent Shaken aura against all enemies not immune to fear. If your main character is a merged Lich or Angel, you can get this spell as soon as Chapter 3 for great synergy with Shatter Defenses.
Good guide. What does and does not stack is infuriating for anyone new to the system and it can result in them just using a load of spells that are basically the same spell. They should pin this video and the AB one on the reddit
You are correct, it can be troubling for a new player to figure out the stacking mechanics, especially when they are confronted with the stacking Natural AC bonuses which may or may not stack depending on source! And thank you for the support as always.
That's because of the CL boost from Angel Merge. Angels can get up to 30 CL, and that does increase the power of some spells, despite what the descriptions might tell you, they aren't really capped.
Hello mate, me again. I am having a bit of trouble in midnight fane with ac and effects. I am only playing on daring even smaller enemies like succubus sharpshooter have something like 30 - 34 ac cant member off top of my head and like 30 - 40 spell resistance so i am struggling with them nevermind the even harder enemies, like the cultists who turn into big monsters and they all cast mirror image, i cant seem to hit them much.
Hello again! Midnight Fane can be a tough area. I suggest you follow my how to stack defenses guide - so you can maximize multiple defensive layers and not just AC, to easily take the hits from these enemies: th-cam.com/video/3EfIhFEJaNk/w-d-xo.html Protective Luck Hex will make for a great buff as well - remember you have infinite uses of it so can always catch before each tough battle! As for Mirror Images, you can cast the spell True Seeing Communal - this will let your entire party bypass enemy mirror image & most concealment effects. I also recommend you look at my AB stacking Guide here if you are having issues hitting their AC: th-cam.com/video/8-epQ9sPRtU/w-d-xo.html Hope I helped, mate!
@@jmcc2k10 Mirror Image can be completely bypassed by True Seeing Communal. With the proper buffs, you can hit them for sure at that point, but having a Skald/Bard for example helps a lot. Same for proper Teamwork Feats such as Outflank. If you are finding it very difficult, remember you can always use Fortune Hex + extend it as I explain here so you can reroll ALL your attacks then pick the best result, which will really help hitting them: th-cam.com/video/6FG-OpJxuPw/w-d-xo.html
Are you still able to make archmage armors as of latest patch? My nenio doesnt seem to be able to make one and just make the regular mage armor scroll. Or maybe I just read an outdated guide somewhere.
You can only craft Scrolls of Mage Armor, but I'm pretty sure so long as you have the Archmage Armor Mythic Ability, the extra bonus will also be applied if you cast the spell from a scroll.
Only if it's one of your main camp areas like the tavern in Chapter 1 or Drezen. But considering how many times you'll rest in Drezen in Chapter 3 & 5, you can certainly have her keep scribing scrolls for you there.
I didn't know anything about infusion and paladins bestow grace abilities works like this, jesus not another restart please I already find out I have missed secret ending today :'/
Well, one of the good things about Pathfinder is that there's always more to learn and to try which really helps increase the replay value. Don't feel bad about missing the Secret Ending, it has some of the most obtuse checklists possible to the point it's pretty much impossible to do it without a guide on your first run.
Other games: "pick this skill to decrease enemy hit chance by 5%" This game: "are you ready to do tax return before combat? because combat itself is just about as foregone conclusion as auto resolve"
So Magical Vestment seems to be useless now? It doesn't do anything at all anymore. I guess they overdid the nerfing on this one. It's a waste of spell slot now.
It can work if the character already has armor like Seelah with a Full Plate +1, but yeah, it was way better for unarmored or robe characters like pets or DEX tanks before the nerf.
It goes to ~115 during battle actually because of some more bonuses like Seamantle that only show in combat. Best part is that it's also a pure classed character, just goes to show how OP Angel Oracle is!
@@AlacrityTW I prefer default Skald because my parties tend to be melee focused. Court Poet can certainly help with DC or classes that engage in multiple CHA/WIS to AC shenanigans, though.
It can be, but remember, you can use the BubbleBuffs mods as I explain here to have all your buffs in one click: th-cam.com/video/dAdtKjo8kKs/w-d-xo.html
There are only a handful of fights in the game where you would need this level of buffs, at least on core difficulty or lower. But this is a good summary of how to layer defenses for those few really tough fights. Worth noting though that some of these buff spells wont stack with items... for example not only will multiple spells that buff deflection bonus (as in Shield of faith & Protection from xxx) not stack, but they also wont stack with a ring of protection on any characters that have one. For that reason I tend to have alternate rings I carry around with me. For running around killing trash MOBS, I will not bother buffing and wear rings of prot, but on boss fights where im going to fully buff, I will swap those rings out for something else (ring of evasion, etc) so as not to get stack nerfed. Another common case of stack nerfing is Belts/Headbands that increase stats are almost uniformly Enhancement bonuses to abilities, which means for example a belt that gives bonus to Dex wont stack with Cat's Grace.
Hey, friend! Want to support the channel and help me produce more quality content? Then please consider becoming a Channel Member!
th-cam.com/users/cRPGBrojoin
Depending on the tier you choose, you'll be able to request personal videos about topics you want me to talk about like unique builds, and even have a direct say in what RPG I play next!
Also, want another way of supporting the channel and even get started on Pathfinder tabletop with the official 2E Book? Then click here:
amzn.to/32SrUbc
You don't even need to buy Pathfinder content, ANYTHING else you buy with the link above in a 24h period will also help support the channel through my Amazon Affiliate.
Thank you!
I love your build videos but the more generalized videos about optimizing actual gameplay are fantastic as well!
Thank you!
I figure it's best to have these General Guides, not only as simple ways for people to know about the important mechanics like stacking AB & Defense, but also as to not have to repeat every time on build videos which can be tiresome for the viewers, I think.
Instead of casting Protection from Evil: Communal, you can use a spontaneous caster to cast the level 1 Protection from Evil with Greater Enduring Spells to get a 24h version of it. Very useful.
You are correct, I often use it that way with my Greater Enduring casters like Daeran too!
Bro 😎 you are great, one of the most in dept guides on TH-cam, keep it up!!
Thank you 😀
I also have a Buff Type & Buff Stacking Guide here to complement this one with most common sources of buff types:
th-cam.com/video/fmO5ENUIi1g/w-d-xo.html
One additional stacking AC bonus is the protection judgement, which a judge can use to give the whole party up to a +5 sacred AC bonus. I tend to multiclass Lann or Endaug into a judge and move them into pure party support. They can also take community/madness as impossible domains, so you can get all of the important cleric domain buffs along with the judgements on one character.
Thank you for the tip!
Party wide Judgment does indeed sound very tasty, I often have Lann go into Divine Hound, but I'll be sure to try a new run with him as Judge now.
Because of you I used bubblebuff mod.
but then I got those two angel spells that just buffs your entire team with everything, so I turned off the mod for my angel run.
Will definitely turn on bubblebuff mod again on other non-angel run
The Mass Angel buff spell is certainly a life saver.
However, even then, there's still loads of spells you want to cast individually on almost all your characters like Death Ward, Barkskin, Crusader's Edge, Aid and so on. Bubble Buffs can help even then!
Your vids have turned me from crying on normal to beating core
Nice! Always glad to be of help.
Pathfinder is a game that really improves once you start learning how the mechanics work and the synergy between them, and this is one of my favorite parts about the game!
@@cRPGBro when the game clicks it feels great. managed to convince 3 people to give the game a try and then kingmaker became free on epic so i hope they like it. also looking forward to the nenio build when you drop it i like ember but i miss the one shot spooky ghost magic lady
One thing I noticed is that you didn't seem to mention Seelah's shielding friend ability. You only get it in Act 5 if you get her good story ending (which might be you chose not to mention it) but it lets you apply her charisma modifier as shield AC to the entire party for a duration equal to to her caster level. It only uses a single use of her lay on hands. This usually gets me around +8 to 10 so just slightly beating out an angel (and extremely helpful on non angel runs)
That does seem very useful indeed!
And honestly, I actually really forgot about it, considering it's very unique conditions and late game acquisition.
It's a massive boost - Shield AC is often capped to +4 or so. Talk about a nice buff.
This is what I really like about Pathfinder - always more to learn!
Not sure if it a bug or not, but frightful aspect stacks with dragon form both spell and dragon mythic. You will get dragon form bonuses to ac and strengh as polymorph and then aspect bonuses as size.
Nice to know! Natural armor bonuses sometimes stack in weird ways.
The best defence is destroying/crowd controlling your enemies before they'll be able to hit you) A few things worth mentioning
Blur and Displacement, mirror image and greater invis are great. Probably better than stacking AC. However, on Hard and Unfair later on half of your enemies will have prebuffed True Seeing, making those buffs obsolete. Or you can try using Greater Dispel on enemies if you need it.
Protective luck is exceptionally good. Especially considering that most of your enemies multiattack. But you will rarely want to spend your turn on protective luck. It's better to cast right before charging into combat, with Cackle (so that you'll have 18 sec to use it).
Good Domain ability (Sociel's default) gives a sacred bonus on attacks, skills and saves. Can be used to pass exorbitant DCs of some bosses. Use as a swift action with Domain zealot mythic ability. Although I used it only to compensate for the lack of Divine Power on some characters.
Glory Domain's ability buffs your charisma temporarily, thus boosting your AC for Scaled fist, Oracle or Paladin (great with Bestow Grace). This ability works in unintended ways and how much CHA it provides is probably a bug or something.
I think Fighting Defensively and Crane Style feats tree should be an honourable mention in terms of boosting AC and survivability.
Nice guide!
Thank you!
Nice guide
Thank you!
On the Angel how did you get your Charisma so high to take advantage of the Oracle dex to cha for AC?
Hi there, I show it all on my Guide on How to Stack Bonuses of all Types:
th-cam.com/video/fmO5ENUIi1g/w-d-xo.html
Including bonuses like Cooking and such so we can achieve such a high CHA.
Hey, watched all your Videos! nice work! but i am asking myself.... which classes are bringing the pets with your main party? The horse is from the Paladin....but the others? It would be very nice if you can answer my question :)
Hi there and thank you for the support!
Pet distribution is like this:
1. Seelah with Animal Bond from Paladin
2. Daeran with Animal Companion Revelation from Nature Mystery
3. Sosiel with Impossible Domain: Animal
4. Camellia with Second Spirit: Nature, but this pet will only come at level 16+
@@cRPGBro Thank you for your fast reply! i want to build a party like: Camellia, Paladin Main, Skald, Lann with Pet, Cleric with Animal Domain and a BrownFur. - Trickster Path- all according to your Videos for unfair. Do you think thats "too much buff characters" ? Or do you think that would suit well? Thanks in advance for your reply!
@@stimpack7275This party can certainly work just fine!
The buffs are actually a necessity, especially on Unfair.
You have all the bases covered, Hexes, Mark of Justice, Skald and both Divine and Arcane buffs/debuffs.
hey do ur guides only work with pets and if i have chosen characters who buff, so only a specific line/build of main character and specific builds of companion characters?
Hi there, my Guides work for any Difficulty and as far as companion guides, for any Mythic Path.
The specific builds for Main Characters always have a Mythic Path associated with them in the build description, but you are free to change them for something else, it's just the way I find the most optimal.
As for pets, they make a really big difference but you can certainly do without them on let's say Core. The difference is you'll have to devote a human companion to tanking, as I tend to leave tanking for my pets because of how easy it is to do it with them.
@@cRPGBro thanks for the reply. : )
Hi, I love your videos. I am starting a Trickster run following your builds with those members MC Sword Saint, Seelah Skald, Camellia Sosiel Wenduag and Nenio but I Have few questions. Look likes you never use Crane line feats and Shatter defense + demonstration or Dirge Doom combo. Any reason?
Hi there, and thank you for the comment!
I don't tend to use Crane line feats as I often leave tanking to my pets. You can, however, get them on a high DEX high AC pet like Leopard, but all other pets that have enough DEX for Crane Style also work such as Dog & Wolf.
Shatter Defenses is something that I often only bother picking at level ~15+. Personally, I don't like how it takes 2 feats, including Dazzling Display which I never use and find disappointing because it takes a full round action - I would rather attack or cast spells with my characters.
Remember that starting from level 15, you can use the Frightful Aspect buff for permanent Shaken aura against all enemies not immune to fear.
If your main character is a merged Lich or Angel, you can get this spell as soon as Chapter 3 for great synergy with Shatter Defenses.
@@cRPGBro Thinks very much ! Waiting for new content :)
Good guide. What does and does not stack is infuriating for anyone new to the system and it can result in them just using a load of spells that are basically the same spell. They should pin this video and the AB one on the reddit
You are correct, it can be troubling for a new player to figure out the stacking mechanics, especially when they are confronted with the stacking Natural AC bonuses which may or may not stack depending on source!
And thank you for the support as always.
Title should have been how to buff up like Ainz ooal Gown, LOL.
Would probably have gotten more views, hah!
How come you can get magical vestment to +7 instead of capping at +5? and shield of faith to + 6.
That's because of the CL boost from Angel Merge.
Angels can get up to 30 CL, and that does increase the power of some spells, despite what the descriptions might tell you, they aren't really capped.
Hello mate, me again. I am having a bit of trouble in midnight fane with ac and effects. I am only playing on daring even smaller enemies like succubus sharpshooter have something like 30 - 34 ac cant member off top of my head and like 30 - 40 spell resistance so i am struggling with them nevermind the even harder enemies, like the cultists who turn into big monsters and they all cast mirror image, i cant seem to hit them much.
Hello again!
Midnight Fane can be a tough area.
I suggest you follow my how to stack defenses guide - so you can maximize multiple defensive layers and not just AC, to easily take the hits from these enemies:
th-cam.com/video/3EfIhFEJaNk/w-d-xo.html
Protective Luck Hex will make for a great buff as well - remember you have infinite uses of it so can always catch before each tough battle!
As for Mirror Images, you can cast the spell True Seeing Communal - this will let your entire party bypass enemy mirror image & most concealment effects.
I also recommend you look at my AB stacking Guide here if you are having issues hitting their AC:
th-cam.com/video/8-epQ9sPRtU/w-d-xo.html
Hope I helped, mate!
@@cRPGBro Been trying all the buffs, the glabrexu conqueror has ac46, it just seems far too high and they just spam mirror image
@@jmcc2k10 Mirror Image can be completely bypassed by True Seeing Communal.
With the proper buffs, you can hit them for sure at that point, but having a Skald/Bard for example helps a lot.
Same for proper Teamwork Feats such as Outflank.
If you are finding it very difficult, remember you can always use Fortune Hex + extend it as I explain here so you can reroll ALL your attacks then pick the best result, which will really help hitting them:
th-cam.com/video/6FG-OpJxuPw/w-d-xo.html
Are you still able to make archmage armors as of latest patch? My nenio doesnt seem to be able to make one and just make the regular mage armor scroll. Or maybe I just read an outdated guide somewhere.
You can only craft Scrolls of Mage Armor, but I'm pretty sure so long as you have the Archmage Armor Mythic Ability, the extra bonus will also be applied if you cast the spell from a scroll.
Can you have Nenio scribe for you even if she isn't in the party?
Only if it's one of your main camp areas like the tavern in Chapter 1 or Drezen.
But considering how many times you'll rest in Drezen in Chapter 3 & 5, you can certainly have her keep scribing scrolls for you there.
How did you get +18 dex bonus with 22 dexterity that provides only a +6 bonus?
Please check my How to Stack Buffs guide here where I cover how to achieve really high Ability Score amounts: th-cam.com/video/fmO5ENUIi1g/w-d-xo.html
I possibly missed that part, but how is your dexterity bonus +18 with dex 22?
It's the CHA modifier (Nature's whispers), he explains it in the beginning
Nature's Whisper Oracle Revelation which adds CHA to AC instead of DEX.
However, it's still displayed as if it was a "DEX" bonus on the sheet.
how do you get that high of charisma on MC?
I have a guide here for stacking all sorts of different bonuses, including ability bonuses :
th-cam.com/video/fmO5ENUIi1g/w-d-xo.html
I didn't know anything about infusion and paladins bestow grace abilities works like this, jesus not another restart please I already find out I have missed secret ending today :'/
Well, one of the good things about Pathfinder is that there's always more to learn and to try which really helps increase the replay value.
Don't feel bad about missing the Secret Ending, it has some of the most obtuse checklists possible to the point it's pretty much impossible to do it without a guide on your first run.
Hi, and how to get sosiel's dex to +6, already get the relic boots for +8 dex enchantment, can only boost his dex to 20 for +5
Conflagrant Taco food Recipe for +4 Cooking to all stats.
You can also cast Reduce Person on him if you want for an extra +2.
Other games: "pick this skill to decrease enemy hit chance by 5%"
This game: "are you ready to do tax return before combat? because combat itself is just about as foregone conclusion as auto resolve"
Mirror image?
It can be very useful, especially as enemies with True Seeing aren't that common, even late game.
So Magical Vestment seems to be useless now? It doesn't do anything at all anymore. I guess they overdid the nerfing on this one. It's a waste of spell slot now.
It can work if the character already has armor like Seelah with a Full Plate +1, but yeah, it was way better for unarmored or robe characters like pets or DEX tanks before the nerf.
Wow 105 is the hightest AC I've seen, and that's not taking into account fighting defensively and crane feats
It goes to ~115 during battle actually because of some more bonuses like Seamantle that only show in combat.
Best part is that it's also a pure classed character, just goes to show how OP Angel Oracle is!
@@cRPGBro I need to think whether Skald or Court Poet gives more AC. Beast totem gives pounce too so that's another benefit.
@@AlacrityTW I prefer default Skald because my parties tend to be melee focused.
Court Poet can certainly help with DC or classes that engage in multiple CHA/WIS to AC shenanigans, though.
this both makes this game interesting and annoying AF. Because casting this buffs on your party before every major battle is exhausting.
It can be, but remember, you can use the BubbleBuffs mods as I explain here to have all your buffs in one click:
th-cam.com/video/dAdtKjo8kKs/w-d-xo.html
There are only a handful of fights in the game where you would need this level of buffs, at least on core difficulty or lower. But this is a good summary of how to layer defenses for those few really tough fights. Worth noting though that some of these buff spells wont stack with items... for example not only will multiple spells that buff deflection bonus (as in Shield of faith & Protection from xxx) not stack, but they also wont stack with a ring of protection on any characters that have one. For that reason I tend to have alternate rings I carry around with me. For running around killing trash MOBS, I will not bother buffing and wear rings of prot, but on boss fights where im going to fully buff, I will swap those rings out for something else (ring of evasion, etc) so as not to get stack nerfed. Another common case of stack nerfing is Belts/Headbands that increase stats are almost uniformly Enhancement bonuses to abilities, which means for example a belt that gives bonus to Dex wont stack with Cat's Grace.