Bracers of armor don't work for a wildshaped druid?

[prototype00]

I was just reading the guide to wildshaping and it was mentioned that bracers of armor do not function when polymorphed. Is this true? The reading is slightly ambiguous.

Cheers,

prototype00

[LazarX]

That's correct. they suffer the same fate as other forms of armor... Unless they have the "wild" enchant on them.

[prototype00]

Well, good to know. I think I had a mistaken assumption about that in a couple of my druid builds.

prototype00

[Quatar]

Well...
you could wildshape and THEN put the bracers on, they would work then. But then you can just wear barding, which is alot cheaper.

[blackbloodtroll]

Better to just have some Wild Dragonhide Fullplate.

[prototype00]

True enough, but I had been thinking of the bracers recently for my monk/druid build.

prototype00

[Tinalles]

The cheapest possible Wild Dragonhide armor would be a +1 Wild Dragonhide Hide Armor, whose pricing works out to 16,330 gp.

A set of +1 Wild Dragonhide Full Plate costs 19,300 gp, which is not THAT much more expensive, until you realize that druids lack proficiency with heavy armor and would therefore apply its armor check penalty to all attack rolls (-5 for mwk full plate). So you have to blow a feat on it too.

If you've got the gold, Wild armor is cool. But at lower levels, you're just not going to be able to afford it. At that point, your best bets are:

1) Barkskin. It stacks with natural armor bonuses from wild shaping (or other sources), lasts a reasonably long time, and you can cast it yourself at level 3.

2) Mage Armor. Cut a deal with the party wizard, or get some potions, or a wand if you care to invest skill points in Use Magic Device. It's +4 to your AC that persists across any form you care to take, and by the time you reach mid-levels one casting in the morning should last effectively all day.

3) Ring of Protection. The deflection bonus to AC works fine in wildshape, it's just armor and shield bonuses that don't. It also adds to your touch and flat-footed AC. It's moderately expensive, but fairly common villain gear -- so you stand a decent chance of finding one in the course of your adventures.

[LazarX]

Quatar wrote:

Well...

you could wildshape and THEN put the bracers on, they would work then.

Getting the bracers to FIT on your form might be problematic. Or for that matter even picking them up to put them on may well be impossible. Not that many animals can get past the lack of opposable thumbs.

Try putting on a glove backwards and see what I mean.