How does the Reaction Bonus help?

[Gorka]

Apparently Breeze has stated that he would answer this question some time on the crier when he gets to it... It's a question on the mind of most monks and thieves... How does the MAX_DEX reaction bonus help with class skills... Obviously players are wondering if the "investment" in MAX_DEX equipment is beneficial. Given the little that we know about this already... Also I wonder why the monk skill "counterattack" is conspicuously absent from the list provided, given the fact it shares common ground with the other skills listed.

help dex
DEX "STAT DEXTERITY" DEXTERITY
See Also: STRENGTH INTELLIGENCE WISDOM CONSTITUTION
See Also: STATS STAT ORDER MAX STAT

Dexterity (DEX) strongly affects many thief skills, and a high value
improves your AC (armor class).

Having a high dexterity helps Thieves hide, sneak, pick locks, doors, and traps. These skills, in turn,
help a Thief successfully finish a variety of skills such as backstab and circle.

Dex AC Move Bonus Reaction Bonus

12 -1
13 -1
14 -2 2
15 -2 4
16 -3 6 1
17 -3 8 2
18 -4.0 10 2
19 -4.5 12 3
20 -5.0 14 3
21 -5.5 16 4
22 -6.0 18 4
23 -6.5 20 4
24 -7.0 22 5
25 -7.5 24 5

The reaction bonus helps with things such as palming, squirm, stalk, deathgrip, wraithtouch, flurry,
dodge, focus, presage, prediction, evade capture, and deathtouch.

[*Breeze*]

its simply this...

on the skills where its used (i didn't check them one by one to see where its used!! there are too many!)
there is a 1dX roll to see if skill fails or not.

the reaction is subtracted from the roll before the fail comparison.

in essence, it helps you make a skill roll if you fail.

[Josiah]

That's a big deal for skills like deathtouch. You start with an 85% chance to touch:

if 1d100 < 85 then success

if 1d100 -5 < 85 then success is obviously much better!

Of course, you could still fail if your THAC0 check doesn't work out...