how much gold do you have?
From my experience, a wizard shouldn't depend on AC. You *could* use a dex belt, rings and whatnot, but that wouldn't be very useful.
At level 10, you should have a boatload of spells that would help you more than mere AC. Greater invisibility, fly, mirror image (or even obscuring mist and other fog spells) are all spells that should help you out. Why would you want AC when you could be flying way out of reach while invisible ?
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You have several options available. How much money do you have to spend?
Armor Bonus: I'm assuming that robe is an armor bonus. Otherwise, invest in Silken Ceremonial Armor, which gives a +1 AC and no spell failure. Crank up the enhancement bonus.
Shield Bonus: Mithril Buckler: No Arcane Spell Failure, no Armor Check Penalty. A wizard can wield this without many problems. Crank up the enhancement bonus.
Deflection Bonus: Ring of Protection. You can probably afford a +1 Ring, so another +1 to AC.
Natural Armor Bonus: Amulet of Natural Armor. Again, you can probably afford a +1.
Insight Bonus: Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone.
Gloves of Dexterity: Also helps your initiative and reflex saves.
Assuming your robe is an armor bonus, you could get a total of 24 AC (+2 Mithril Buckler, Ring of Prot +1, Amulet of NA +1, Gloves of Dex +2, Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone) for 18,165 gold.
Still, shield is +4. even a +1 darkwood buckler is a easy +2 AC for 1000gp. With 9000 gp you can get a +4.
Ringo of protection depending on how much money you have, ioun stone for AC (don't remember the color), amulet of natural armor.
After that, belt of dexterity is useful but pricey.
All this will cost you quite a lot and still leave you with a not very impressive AC.
At the beginning of the combat elemental body should let you get a lot more AC at no cost, since as far as I know you can still cast. If you do this a lot you may want to spend less on the amulet of nat armor and more on other stuff.
At this point you should have reasonable AC but monster will still hit you quiet often.
Mirror image is the best defense against monster who do not get to ignore it. I believe you can empower it.
False life is not AC but is handy: empower this too.
EDIT: ninjaed.
Also look for ablative barrier, this one is crazy ;)
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When using greater invisibility, always shoot and move, never move and shoot. If you can't be seen, make sure you aren't standing (or flying) where the blast or other effect originated from. This will make any counterattacks much less effective.
If your AC bonus from your robe isn't an armor bonus, then cast mage armor. That's +4 to your AC for 10 hours for a 1st level spell.
If you don't have a mithral buckler, cast shield, for another +4 bonus to AC.
Rely on spells like displacement or mirror image to provide you with a miss chance (which will help you far more than additional AC will).
Don't make the mistake of spending four or five rounds buffing yourself, either. Your friends will hate you, and you won't contribute nearly as much towards taking down the bad guys. Pick the right buff for the situation, or buff yourself when there's warning of an impending fight.
Also, the time to be a smartass is after you've already got a mirror image up.
I find it helpful to think about where I am on the board. Is there a clear charge lane, do I have cover, am I close to (and protected by) the fighter?
One of my friends feels that the first job of a wizard is to move to safety, and that the second is to contribute. And he's very effective.
If I were you, I'd consider overland flight, non detection, and Mage armor, all of which are good for 10 hours a day. You can fly around all day, and turn invisible when needed. The non detection spell will give you a chance against some of the methods for finding the invisible.
If you're going to smart off make sure you're invisible in the corner with an illusion of yourself communicating/smarting off. Then when they attack the illusion you leave.
Wizards have a huge INT, and its one of the reasons I really like the Combat Expertise feat. Yeah, I'll take some negatives on to hit in combat for some more AC.
Doesn't work (well, it *could* work but the trade-off is huge):
You can increase your defense at the expense of your accuracy.
Prerequisite: Int 13.
Benefit: You can choose to take a –1 penalty on melee attack rolls and combat maneuver checks to gain a +1 dodge bonus to your Armor Class. When your base attack bonus reaches +4, and every +4 thereafter, the penalty increases by –1 and the dodge bonus increases by +1. You can only choose to use this feat when you declare that you are making an attack or a full-attack action with a melee weapon. The effects of this feat last until your next turn.
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Hmm, AC question twice in three days.
Key point: Your robe of +5 to AC is worth 25,000 gp.
A Mage Armor Spell is +4 to AC. Add 25,000 gp of AC boosting goodies and you get way more then +5 to AC.
According to the table below, you should be using: +4 Mage Armor; +2 Ring of Prot, +1 Nat AC; +3 Mithral Buckler; +2 Dex booster. Cost, 24k, AC is now 24 before any spellcasting. Mirror Image and Blur are your friends.
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A sample reference for Armor Class costs
AC comes, at a fundamental level, in the following forms which are easy to gain: Dex Bonus; Armor Bonus; Natural Armor Bonus; Deflection Bonus; and potentially a Shield Bonus. Yes, there are Insight, Sacred, Profane, Competence, Dodge and all sorts of other bonuses, but the above bonuses are the ones that are easy to pay gold for and retain.
This is a simple basic guide to maximizing AC for gold.
Two builds are presented here – With Shield, and without Shield. Additionally, there is a third build here using Defender to accentuate your AC via an off-hand weapon, or on a shield.
First is going to be choice of armor.
The optimal types of armor are: Light Armor (all varieties add up to +8 Armor/Dex allowed); Breastplate (Medium armor, +6 AC/+3 Dex = +9); and Full Plate (+9 AC, +1 Dex = +10).
Note: Celestial Armor completely borks this table if you have the Dex to top it off, coming in at +13!!
First thing to point out is that Mithral is only a viable AC option if you have the Dex to max it out, OR you need your armor to be lighter for movement purposes.
Classes that are going to get exceedingly high Dex scores are actually better off with lighter armor that allows them to maximize use of their Dexterity at later levels. The exception to this is the Fighter; because Armor Training expands the maximum Dex bonus, Fighters typically aren’t going to need Mithral armor until very late levels, when their Dex scores exceed either 20 or 24 (Full Plate/Breastplate).
Maximizing AC is based on costs to gain an extra point of AC. These costs are:
+1 Armor bonus: 1000 gp, +3000 gp; +5000 Gp; +7000 gp; +9000 gp.
+1 Shield bonus: As +1 Armor
+1 Natural Armor: 2000 gp; +6000 gp; +10000 gp; +14000 gp; +18000 gp.
+1 Deflection bonus: As Amulet of Natural Armor
+1 Dexterity bonus: 4000 gp (Dex +2); +12000 gp (Dex +4); +20,000 gp (Dex+6)
Mithral Armor (Total bonus +2): Light, +1000 gp, Medium Armor +4000 gp, Heavy armor +9000 gp:
+1 Defender on Weapon used for defense: 8000 gp; +10,000 gp; +14,000 gp; +18,000 gp; +22,000 gp. (ending at +5 Defender)
Now, we simply take them and add them on in series.
If your starting Dex is 20 and you wear light armor; Immediately buy a chain shirt.
If your starting Dex is 17 and you can wear Medium Armor, buy a breastplate.
If your Starting Dex is 13 or lower, buy Full Plate.
Note that if you are a Fighter, you need to increase the minimum Dex for Mithral by your Armor Training bonus.
Base:
Chain Shirt, 19 Dex = +8 AC
Breastplate, 17 Dex = +9 AC
Full Plate, 13 Dex = +10 AC
Bonuses are listed in the order you add them, with Defender bonuses last as an optional (you should take them before similar items if possible). Basically, you want Deflection before anything; Dexterity next; and Nat Armor and Armor Enhancements equally. This is because the prior two affect your Touch AC (so does Defender) and the latter do not.
Add Cost AC Total GP Total
Mithral Light Armor 1000 (+2) (+1000)
+1 Armor Enhance 1000 +1 1000
+1 Ring of Prot 2000 +2 3000
+1 Natural Armor 2000 +3 5000
Mithral Medium Armor 4000 (+2) (+4000, Dex 20)
+2 Armor Enhance 3000 +4 8000
+2 Dex Gaunts 4000 +5 12000
Mithral Heavy Armor 9000 (+2) +9000, Dex 17+
+3 Armor Enhance 5000 +6 17000
+2 Ring/Prot 6000 +7 23000
+2 Natural Armor 6000 +8 29000
+4 Armor Enhance 7000 +9 36000
(+1 Defender) (+8000) (+1*)
+5 Armor Enhance 9000 +10 45000
+3 Ring/Prot 10000 +11 55000
+3 Natural Armor 10000 +12 65000
(+2 Defender) 10000 (+18000) (+2*)
+4 Dex booster 12000 +13 77000
+4 Ring of Prot 14000 +14 91000
+4 Natural Armor 14000 +15 105000
(+3 Defender) 14000 (+32000) (+3*)
+5 Ring of Prot 18000 +16 123000
+5 Natural Armor 18000 +17 141000
(+4 Defender) 18000 (+50000) (+4*)
+6 Dex Booster 20000 +18 161000
(+5 Defender) 22000 (+72000) (+5*)
Totals: Light Armor: Mithril Studded Leather +5, Dex 24 = AC 36, 162k
Medium Armor: Mithral Breastplate+5, Dex 20 = AC 36, 165k
Full Plate: M. Full Plate, Dex 16 = AC 37, 170k
Fighter Armor Training +4
Note: Needs +5 Dex (level/inherent) on all!
Mithral Chain Shirt, Dex 30. AC 40.
Mithral BP, Dex 28, AC 41
Mithral Full Plate, Dex 24, AC 42
Mithral is basically needed to max out Dex bonus for Dex builds. For fighters, Armor Training basically means their Dex will seldom be high enough to max out their armor.
Using an off-hand weapon as a Defender adds 72,000 gp to the defense cost, but the +5 AC is significant.
For Shield builds, the cost is negligible (+25000 gp for a +5) and the AC is significant (+6 or 7), resulting in a much quicker rise in AC.
ADD Add’l COST AC TOTAL TOTAL COST
+1 Armor Enhance 1000 +1 1000
+1 Shield Enhance 1000 +2 2000
+1 Ring of Prot 2000 +3 4000
+1 Natural Armor 2000 +4 6000
+2 Armor Enhance 3000 +5 9000
+2 Shield Enhance 3000 +6 12000
+2 Dex Gaunts 4000 +7 16000
+3 Armor Enhance 5000 +8 21000
+3 Shield Enhance 5000 +9 26000
+2 Ring/Prot 6000 +10 32000
+2 Natural Armor 6000 +11 38000
+4 Armor Enhance 7000 +12 45000
+4 Shield Enhance 7000 +13 52000
+5 Armor Enhance 9000 +14 61000
+5 Shield Enhance 9000 +15 70000
+3 Ring/Prot 10000 +16 80000
+3 Natural Armor 10000 +17 90000
+4 Dex booster 12000 +18 102000
+4 Ring of Prot 14000 +19 116000
+4 Natural Armor 14000 +20 130000
+5 Ring of Prot 18000 +21 148000
+5 Natural Armor 18000 +22 166000
+6 Dex Booster 20000 +23 186000
Assuming use of a Heavy Shield for +2 AC, at 12k layout you’re +3 AC ahead of the Shield-less build. At 50k you are +4 ahead. At 100k you are +5 ahead, at 150k you are +6 ahead, and you max out at +7 ahead.
Note that if you put Defender on your shield, and simply don’t attack with it, the numbers can look something like this:
Light Armor: AC 47, 52 with Defender
Medium Armor: AC 48, 53 with Defender
Heavy Armor: AC 49, 54 with Defender.
And all this is before Dodge, Shield Specialization, and incidental bonuses from spells, templates, defensive fighting, and whatnot. Note that to max Dex from Armor Training, any fighter is going to need Inherent bonuses to his Dex, unless he raises Dex instead of Str.
If he does both, then he probably wants a lighter grade of armor to max out the Dodge-based bonus of Dex, which is more effective against touch/ranged touch attacks.
Have you tried assuming the form of a Troglodyte? It gives you a +6 Natural Armor bonus and still lets you cast spells.
My alchemist, at 4th level, buffs himself with Alterself (Troglodyte), Shield, aside his mutagen (+4 Dex and +2 Natural Armor), going to a crazy AC 30 (DEX 6 + Armor 2 + Shield 4 + Natural Armor 8)!
You sure that you're looking at the Pathfinder version of Alter Self there, Venshad?
It's changed considerably since the 3.5 days.
You sure that you're looking at the Pathfinder version of Alter Self there, Venshad?
It's changed considerably since the 3.5 days.
I've looked at the Polymorph subschool at http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic#TOC-Transmutation and couldn't see your point. Could you be more specific in what I may be wrong?
Axebeard,
Can you point me one spell that states that you gain the AC bonus for being transmutated?
Thanks
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Axebeard,
Can you point me one spell that states that you gain the AC bonus for being transmutated?
Thanks
Basically nothing actually gives you the creature you turn into's natural armor bonus. The Beast Shape spell line gives you a Natural Armor bonus of it's own, so do the Elemental Body, Form of the Dragon, and Monstrous Physique spell lines.
Axebeard,
Can you point me one spell that states that you gain the AC bonus for being transmutated?
Thanks
beast shape (X) and all the other shapes as well as polymorph and greater polymorph when you link to the correct shape form for the spell. it shows up in the second about the stat bonuses you gain for the size of the form you take, ie beast shape 2 into a large animal gives you +4 str -2 dex and +4 natural armour.
you should be using: +4 Mage Armor; +2 Ring of Prot, +1 Nat AC; +3 Mithral Buckler; +2 Dex booster. Cost, 24k, AC is now 24 before any spellcasting. Mirror Image and Blur are your friends.
I'd say that the buckler is optional. Everything else on the list is good stuff.
/ side note - you're a Wizard, why do you need AC? You have so many other tools at your disposal. I politely submit that if your Wizard is taking damage regularly, then you're doing it wrong. :)
A neat 1st level spell that I found in a compatible book, 1001 spells, is called something like sheild. Anyways it gives you +20 deflection to next attack on you for 1 hr per level! The spells in the book are a little overpowered, but talk with your gm. (The spell is one and done, like inverse true strike). Also giants and rocks, prot from arrows.
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When using greater invisibility, always shoot and move, never move and shoot. If you can't be seen, make sure you aren't standing (or flying) where the blast or other effect originated from. This will make any counterattacks much less effective.
If your AC bonus from your robe isn't an armor bonus, then cast mage armor. That's +4 to your AC for 10 hours for a 1st level spell.
If you don't have a mithral buckler, cast shield, for another +4 bonus to AC.
Rely on spells like displacement or mirror image to provide you with a miss chance (which will help you far more than additional AC will).
Don't make the mistake of spending four or five rounds buffing yourself, either. Your friends will hate you, and you won't contribute nearly as much towards taking down the bad guys. Pick the right buff for the situation, or buff yourself when there's warning of an impending fight.
Also, the time to be a smartass is after you've already got a mirror image up.
On the topic of buffing, for a "reasonable" amount of money you can create an intelligent magic item, like a ring or amulet, which in addition to its normal ability (deflection or what not.) have the ability to cast a 1st or 2nd level spell 3 times per day. Intelligent items don't use your action to activate their ability, so having Mirror Image, Mage Armor or Shield on your magic item lets them cast it on your first round saving you a spell slot and an action. It gets expensive once you go beyond second level, but it is a fun trick.
Correct. A defending weapon must be used to attack with.
A lenient GM will probably let you use it whenever you are in an attack mode, so, for instance, the bonus applies against archers even if you are not yet engaged. Basically, it should work whenever Defensive Fighting applies...and you don't get that unless you are taking an attack action, even if you are not actually attacking.
==Aelryinth
I hear a lot the notion that "wizards do not need AC".
That may be true at high levels when you go in a dungeon prepared. There are a lot of times in which you get surprised and you can't get away without abandoning combat and in those AC helps. The BBEG will probably hit anyway, but his minion may not and that will be enough.
I should point out that +1 Silk Ceremonial Armor/Haramki is useful not for the armor bonus but to give wizards a slot to hang energy and critical resistances on. Same goes for bracers.