Can you get a general item bonus to saving throws without armor items?


Advice


I'm trying to build a monk. Normally at level 20 I would have 24 DEX (22 by starting at DEX18 and spending all possible ability boosts in DEX, +2 from anklets of alacrity). That's a +7 bonus to DEX, which limits the advantages of getting +3 bracers of armor/explorer's clothing (since both have a DEX cap of +5, they would only provide an effective bonus of +1 to AC, which might not be worth the cost).

So maybe I should use no armor items at all, but what about saving throws? I'm trying to see if I can get an item bonus to saving throws without using resilient runes/bracers of armor/mage armor (they all impose a DEX cap of +5), but can't seem to find a way. Am I missing something? Am I "forced" to get an armor item and accept the maximum DEX bonus to AC of +5? I feel this somehow limits the attractiveness of high DEX at higher levels, since improving it over 20 will do nothing for your AC.


Explorers armour can take runes but you count as unarmoured.


Malk_Content wrote:
Explorers armour can take runes but you count as unarmoured.

The table on pg 275 says that "No armor" gives no AC Bonus but no Dex Cap; however "Explorer's clothing" has a +5 Dex Cap.


oconnor0 wrote:
Malk_Content wrote:
Explorers armour can take runes but you count as unarmoured.
The table on pg 275 says that "No armor" gives no AC Bonus but no Dex Cap; however "Explorer's clothing" has a +5 Dex Cap.

But it lets you use your unarmored proficiency while also getting armor runes that boost your AC and saves.


Alyran wrote:
oconnor0 wrote:
Malk_Content wrote:
Explorers armour can take runes but you count as unarmoured.
The table on pg 275 says that "No armor" gives no AC Bonus but no Dex Cap; however "Explorer's clothing" has a +5 Dex Cap.
But it lets you use your unarmored proficiency while also getting armor runes that boost your AC and saves.

I understand, but with a DEX bonus of +7 (DEX 24 at level 20 with an Apex item), I might not be interested in paying for an armor with a potency rune because that also means limiting my DEX modifier to +5. With a +2 potency rune, total AC bonus is +7 in both cases (I win nothing). A +3 potency rune gets me to +8 total AC bonus (1 more point than with no armor whatsoever), but that's a lot of investment for such a small gain in AC.

My problem is that I would definitely want the item bonuses to saving throws, but I see no way of getting those without an armor (or bracers of armor/mage armor, both of which also cap the DEX bonus to AC at +5).

If this is the case, I would be "forced" to use one of those items/spells and cap my DEX bonus to AC at +5. That means getting DEX higher than 20 is not that attractive, since it won't improve my AC.


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Dex above 20 still increases your reflex save, acrobatics & stealth skills, as well as your attack bonus with finesse and ranged weapons. Even without the extra AC boost it's going to be worth it since Dex is a great stat.


Yeah, you need the explorer's clothes. But that's fine:

(1) it's a *very* late-game thing (lvl 17—20);

(2) it fits with the overall standardization of AC (+5 from clothes/light/medium, +6 from heavy), maintaining consistent game balance/design;

(3) and Dex does so darn much anyway, aka what Bardarok said

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