Appropriate PC AC by Level

[Torx]

What should PC's Armor Class be at what levels? I know the whole BAB vs. AC rules system makes AC almost pointless at certain levels, but what AC would be best to counteract that flaw in the system?

Also, what would be the best way to get the best AC at various levels (low, mid, high)? I realize some classes will have an advantage due to extra feats and armor, but assuming core classes with character wealth by level according to the DMG, what are some realistic means to get higher AC?

Any input would help. Thanks!

 

[frankthedm]

the magic item value per level REALLY makes figuring this difficult this for PCs,

best way to try is take NPCs gear values % on defence and then increase to PC level and buy more defencive items in purportion to offencive items.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Very hard to say.

A wizard 1 could have an AC of 11, or, for a short while, 23 (halfling wizard with dex 18 and shield and mage armour spells).

A fighter 1 could afford a medium armor and shield somewhere between level 1 and 2, and could get 19 easily that way. Or, he could go for leather and no shield and have only 15.

On later levels, they have a lot of choices not only in mundane equipment, but also in magical stuff, which can differ, too (whether they put more money into AC or into weapons, whether they invest all magical armour enhancement into +es or special abilities, whether they have a spellcaster buffing them, and so on....)

 

[Pyrex]

It depends on the character. The average in my games has been on the order of 12(wizards)-20(tank) + Lvl*1.3 or so.

 

[mikebr99]

Well, you could follow along in the dmg., starting on page 113. There are 1st through 20th level (charted) NPC's for all of the phb classes. With AC by level, and examples of magic items to get that AC etc.


Mike

 

[kenobi65]

Also, what would be the best way to get the best AC at various levels (low, mid, high)? I realize some classes will have an advantage due to extra feats and armor, but assuming core classes with character wealth by level according to the DMG, what are some realistic means to get higher AC?

If you include all the OGL sources, there'd be about 1.34 gazillion ways. Including just stuff in the DMG:

Regardless of what armor a PC chooses to (or not to) wear, rings of protection and amulets of natural armor will help, especially since they stack with armor, and each other. Get +1 versions as soon as you can, and upgrade them as you gain the cash to do so.

If your character has a high Dex score (and can wear armor without hampering other abilities), then get a suit of light armor (leather, studded leather, chain shirt) +1 -- this'll let you apply most, if not all, of your Dex bonus to AC. If you have a fighter with an 18 Dex, you'd have a better AC in a chain shirt than in half-plate, and be more mobile to boot. Even better is buying a mithral shirt (with a maximum Dex bonus of +6, and no armor check penalty); it's not magical of itself, but you can then get it enhanced magically.

If your character is a low-Dex tank, get the heaviest armor you can. If you don't use a two-handed weapon, get a heavy shield. And get both magically enhanced -- armor / shield is less expensive to magically enhance than many other protective items, so it's a good bang for your buck, if it fits your character concept.

If you're playing a wizard or sorcerer, or really want to max out your Dexterity (and its bonus to your AC), Bracers of Armor are the way to go. Again, start with +1 or +2 at low level, and upgrade them as you get the cash. As with armor, they're a relatively cheap enhancement, and they're about the only protective item that can have a "plus" greater than +5.

Gloves of Dexterity help your AC by improving Dex, but may not help those characters wearing heavy armor very much, due to the low maximum Dex bonus to AC that heavier armors have. Once again, get a pair of Gloves +2, and upgrade 'em.

The dusty rose ioun stone (+1 insight bonus to AC) will stack with just about anything, and doesn't take a body slot, but at 5000gp for that +1, it's not a great early choice.

Hope this helps.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

What should PC's Armor Class be at what levels? I know the whole BAB vs. AC rules system makes AC almost pointless at certain levels, but what AC would be best to counteract that flaw in the system?

I am not sure what you are driving at. There is a gradual shift from level 1 from "mostly miss" to "mostly hit" when we speak of primary attacks for the best fighterish combatants. But even they miss regularly with the followup iterative or secondary attacks.

To "never" get hit is difficult to achieve at all levels. Nonetheless AC makes a huge difference in how much damage you take on an average round, at all levels if your DM likes mooks.

 

[taliesin15]

Since it is relatively cheap, light, and gives good armor bonuses, I would have to think that many 1st level characters would go with the Chain Shirt option--I've been GMing a 1st level game using 3.0 and every character without armor restrictions (PC and NPC) has Chain Shirt

I would suggest that Chain Shirt and Large Wooden Shield is going to be the standard for 1st level characters.

 

[bweenie]

I run into this question too, especially with powerfull monsters. My party recently fought a Young Adult Red dragon: HD 19, CR 13...granted they were relatively low level (~7) and I gave them LOTS of magic and an artifact to pump themselves up. But the main thing I noticed is the dragon had guaranteed hits against even the most heavily armored of them, with attack bonus ~+29/+24 (if I remember correctly). It seems that at level 13, the AC of characters isn't going to improve that much, so that this dragon wouldn't hit them almost every time. is a dragon supposed to be able to get nearly every hit be succesful? Is that the point, and why they're scary? Sure, I can accept that, but there does seem to be a strange imbalance in the way that monster/character BAB improve similarly, but AC doesn't, esp as regards natural armor.

 

[Marimmar@Home]

For preparing my games and comparing characters I just use level+13 for an average AC number that monsters and characters should be able to hit about 50% of the time. I based it on what average level 1 PCs in a party can hit and surprisingly it still works at early 10+ levels.

BTW IMHO AC is never useless; at least from a DM's POV using a lot of monsters with Power Attack makes every single point of AC worth it. The last time I used a dragon against the party it was not able to Power Attack because of very high AC on the PC's side. Thus reducing the amount of damage dealt considerably. This is also true for PCs vs Monsters where iterative attacks have an increasingly hard time of hitting high AC monsters.

~Marimmar