D&D 3E/3.5 Best Way to Improve a Wizard's AC

[blargney the second]

Improved Initiative is the ultimate boost to AC.

 

[Rystil Arden]

- alter self -- Very flexible. Troglodyte and Lizardfolk are your best two forms; roughly comparable, since Trog gives +6 NA but -2 Dex, and LF gives +5 NA with no Dex adjustment. Trog gives Multiattack, so if you plan on doing that, your decision is done. LF gives +2 Str, which is nice if you want to escape a grapple... anyway. Roughly comparable.

Hmmm...

You retain your own ability scores.

You acquire the physical qualities of the new form while retaining your own mind. Physical qualities include natural size, mundane movement capabilities (such as burrowing, climbing, walking, swimming, and flight with wings, to a maximum speed of 120 feet for flying or 60 feet for nonflying movement), natural armor bonus, natural weapons (such as claws, bite, and so on), racial skill bonuses, racial bonus feats, and any gross physical qualities (presence or absence of wings, number of extremities, and so forth). A body with extra limbs does not allow you to make more attacks (or more advantageous two-weapon attacks) than normal.

I'm fairly certain that you do not take any Dex penalty for going Trog.

 

[Darklone]

I would not forget about False Life and Mirror Image. Putting a lot of resources into spells and items that raise your AC may seem fine, but IMX there are two cases of opponents:
* First ones hit you anyhow, therefore you need hp!
* Second ones don't hit you but grapple and other stuff... so you need to be away!

False Life and Mirror Image helps against both or at least buys you time to get away. With DimDoor.

 

[Gerion of Mercadia]

No, it doesn't require you to be proficient. If you're non-proficient, you can use it but have to apply its armor check penalty to many things. Since the mithral buckler has an armor check penalty of 0, that's not a problem.

Darn... I missed THAT cheese;
And I thought I was a hell of a powergamer.

 

[shilsen]

Darn... I missed THAT cheese;
And I thought I was a hell of a powergamer.

You have much to learn, young grasshopper

 

[Plane Sailing]

At the moment I am thinking that casting Greater Mage Armor (+6 Armor Bonus, Spell Compendium)

What spell level is greater mage armour?

 

[mikebr99]

What spell level is greater mage armour?

3rd

Mike

 

[Plane Sailing]

3rd

Mike

Thanks, that's interesting.

It maps perfectly onto a home-grown metamagic feat I designed which is analogous to empower (lets call it 'enhance' or something) which adds 50% to the effectiveness of non-variable effects from a spell at +2 spell levels. thus an enhanced mage armour at 3rd level would be +6 armour, an enhanced protection from evil at 3rd level would be +3 resistance and deflection, and so on, which suggests I was in the right ballpark with my estimate of the appropriate spell level adjustment.

(n.b. this 'enhance' would only work on static non variable effects - so anything which varies by caster level couldn't be 'enhanced')

Cheers

 

[mikebr99]

Thanks, that's interesting.

It maps perfectly onto a home-grown metamagic feat I designed which is analogous to empower (lets call it 'enhance' or something) which adds 50% to the effectiveness of non-variable effects from a spell at +2 spell levels. thus an enhanced mage armour at 3rd level would be +6 armour, an enhanced protection from evil at 3rd level would be +3 resistance and deflection, and so on, which suggests I was in the right ballpark with my estimate of the appropriate spell level adjustment.

(n.b. this 'enhance' would only work on static non variable effects - so anything which varies by caster level couldn't be 'enhanced')

Cheers

Good Feat PS... it'll also work on the stat enhancing spells... cat's grace etc.?

Mike

 

[Klaus]

+3 Mithral Buckler (10,000 gp) = +4 shield bonus to AC.

If are human and take a level of Fighter, you can take Shield Specialization (buckler) and Shield Ward. That way you get +5 to AC and to touch AC.