Pathfinder lets you stack bonuses to the sky if you know what you're doing, and is balanced around that possibility. 5e is much, much flatter, with a higher performance floor (i.e. fewer ways to totally fuck up) and a much lower performance ceiling. This makes 5e significantly more approachable to people who don't know the system super well, but it also makes it somewhat less fun for people who really enjoy mastering incredibly complicated systems as part of their RPG experience.
In Pathfinder WotR, my main character had over 100 AC by the end game (that's the number you need to beat after rolling a 20 sided die and adding in all your to-hit bonuses in order to damage someone in combat). 5e tops out at, like, 27 or so AC for demi-gods and very high level characters who are very focused on defense. It's just a much flatter curve.
Pathfinder lets you stack bonuses to the sky if you know what you're doing, and is balanced around that possibility. 5e is much, much flatter, with a higher performance floor (i.e. fewer ways to totally fuck up) and a much lower performance ceiling. This makes 5e significantly more approachable to people who don't know the system super well, but it also makes it somewhat less fun for people who really enjoy mastering incredibly complicated systems as part of their RPG experience.
In Pathfinder WotR, my main character had over 100 AC by the end game (that's the number you need to beat after rolling a 20 sided die and adding in all your to-hit bonuses in order to damage someone in combat). 5e tops out at, like, 27 or so AC for demi-gods and very high level characters who are very focused on defense. It's just a much flatter curve.