How to have High AC on 3.5e DnD with Limited GP?

[EdenNotRaven]

Hey Guys, I'm new on DnD 3.5e, And I want to build my next Character but I have no clue how to do it.
So first at all, I played ORC, with AC of 22... Yeah, It's very low... and guess what? He died, Even he was Barbarian with 105 HP Level 8.
So... Then next character is Elf Ranger lv2 and Rogue lv6, It's interesting only because my mission I need to complete.
But what if this character will die, or complete his mission?
So I decided to looking for my next character to be really better.
Next character I want is ORC (Again) But! a Rage Mage.
And I want him to be like... Barbarian lv2, War mage lv4, Rage Mage lv3.
Now... he will be level 9 I think, So I want him to have the best AC he can.
With Buffs and without.
The limit GP is 36,000
And I want to use Double Sided AXE - Orc Axe.
Please help me to build the best equipment to have high AC and good weapon without any homebrew features, only from original books \ d20srd or the official dnd 3.5e wiki.

Thank you,
Best Regards!
Eden Not Raven

 

[James Gasik]

The best way to do this is get as many low cost bonuses to AC as you can.

BTW, I know you didn't ask for this advice, but I'd feel remiss not mentioning this: I really don't suggest going Warmage unless you have incredible stats. You need Charisma for casting, but your Warmage's Edge is based on Intelligence, and you're already wanting Str/Dex/Con, especially if you want to use Two-Weapon Fighting. While it's true you can wear armor as a Warmage, the spell list has very few useful defense buffs- you're going to want Shield, which is the most efficient way to get a Shield bonus to AC on this build. You can get a +1 Shield bonus from Two-Weapon Defense, but I do need to point out your Base Attack Bonus is only +6 as a 9th level character- you are -3 compared to a straight Barbarian without spending any Feats, and you'll be at +4 when using Two-Weapon Fighting. Even using Rage only brings you up to a +6 again, and you take a -2 penalty to AC, and it seems like AC is the problem you are having.

In addition, you only have 4 Feats, and 2 of them are going to be spent on Two-Weapon Fighting and Combat Casting already.

Armor: +2 enhancement bonus for 4000 gp-
Deflection: Ring of Protection +1 for 2000 gp.
Natural Armor: Amulet of Natural Armor +1 for 2000 gp.
Insight: Ioun Stone, Dusty Rose Prism +1 for 5000 gp.

A Double Weapon requires you to enchant both sides, so just a +2/+2 double axe is going to cost you 60 gp (base) + masterwork on both ends (+2000 gp) + enhancement bonus (+2/+2; 12,000 gp) 18,060 gp.
This leaves you just enough gp for gear and a +2 enhancement bonus to an ability score (Strength in this case, due to Gauntlets of Ogre Power).

So even if you have a 22 base Strength as an Orc, raise it to 24 with level up bonuses, and then apply the Gauntlets, your attack bonus is +16/+11 or +14/+14/+9 with Two-Weapon Fighting while raging. That might seem decent, but now you have an AC of 18 (+2 breastplate, +1 ring of protection, +1 natural armor, +1 insight, -2 Rage) before we take Dexterity into account.

You can take Dodge and Two-Weapon Defense to bring this up by 2, but that's all your Feats. And the benefit to all this is you can cast 2nd level Warmage spells at 9th level.

 

[EdenNotRaven]

The best way to do this is get as many low cost bonuses to AC as you can.

BTW, I know you didn't ask for this advice, but I'd feel remiss not mentioning this: I really don't suggest going Warmage unless you have incredible stats. You need Charisma for casting, but your Warmage's Edge is based on Intelligence, and you're already wanting Str/Dex/Con, especially if you want to use Two-Weapon Fighting. While it's true you can wear armor as a Warmage, the spell list has very few useful defense buffs- you're going to want Shield, which is the most efficient way to get a Shield bonus to AC on this build. You can get a +1 Shield bonus from Two-Weapon Defense, but I do need to point out your Base Attack Bonus is only +6 as a 9th level character- you are -3 compared to a straight Barbarian without spending any Feats, and you'll be at +4 when using Two-Weapon Fighting. Even using Rage only brings you up to a +6 again, and you take a -2 penalty to AC, and it seems like AC is the problem you are having.

In addition, you only have 4 Feats, and 2 of them are going to be spent on Two-Weapon Fighting and Combat Casting already.

Armor: +2 enhancement bonus for 4000 gp-
Deflection: Ring of Protection +1 for 2000 gp.
Natural Armor: Amulet of Natural Armor +1 for 2000 gp.
Insight: Ioun Stone, Dusty Rose Prism +1 for 5000 gp.

A Double Weapon requires you to enchant both sides, so just a +2/+2 double axe is going to cost you 60 gp (base) + masterwork on both ends (+2000 gp) + enhancement bonus (+2/+2; 12,000 gp) 18,060 gp.
This leaves you just enough gp for gear and a +2 enhancement bonus to an ability score (Strength in this case, due to Gauntlets of Ogre Power).

So even if you have a 22 base Strength as an Orc, raise it to 24 with level up bonuses, and then apply the Gauntlets, your attack bonus is +16/+11 or +14/+14/+9 with Two-Weapon Fighting while raging. That might seem decent, but now you have an AC of 18 (+2 breastplate, +1 ring of protection, +1 natural armor, +1 insight, -2 Rage) before we take Dexterity into account.

You can take Dodge and Two-Weapon Defense to bring this up by 2, but that's all your Feats. And the benefit to all this is you can cast 2nd level Warmage spells at 9th level.

Hey! First at all, Thank you very much for this useful comment!
So if you don't you don't think Warmage will go good with rage mage, what else can be good?
And... I got 18 AC only? Holy Moly... This is not good at all.

Btw!
It's not double weapon, It's double side weapon.

SRD:Orc Double Axe - D&D Wiki

www.dandwiki.com

 

[James Gasik]

It's description literally says "An orc double axe is a double weapon. You can fight with it as if fighting with two weapons, but if you do, you incur all the normal attack penalties associated with fighting with two weapons, just as if you were using a one-handed weapon and a light weapon.

A creature wielding an orc double axe in one hand can’t use it as a double weapon—only one end of the weapon can be used in any given round."

Unless there's some other weapon in your campaign by a similar name?

As for Rage Mage, the problem with the prestige class is that it only advances your caster level every other level, and much of the prestige class is devoted to letting you cast spells while raging. The benefits for casting in rage don't make up for the lack of spell access.

This might be a better path to pursue, but generally, I wouldn't combine Rage with a low AC build unless you have more money to work with, a Race with better defenses, or a dedicated Magic Item Crafter to help you cheat Wealth By Level.

Runescarred Berserker – Class – D&D Tools

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dnd.arkalseif.info

 

[EdenNotRaven]

It's description literally says "An orc double axe is a double weapon. You can fight with it as if fighting with two weapons, but if you do, you incur all the normal attack penalties associated with fighting with two weapons, just as if you were using a one-handed weapon and a light weapon.

A creature wielding an orc double axe in one hand can’t use it as a double weapon—only one end of the weapon can be used in any given round."

Unless there's some other weapon in your campaign by a similar name?

As for Rage Mage, the problem with the prestige class is that it only advances your caster level every other level, and much of the prestige class is devoted to letting you cast spells while raging. The benefits for casting in rage don't make up for the lack of spell access.

This might be a better path to pursue, but generally, I wouldn't combine Rage with a low AC build unless you have more money to work with, a Race with better defenses, or a dedicated Magic Item Crafter to help you cheat Wealth By Level.

Runescarred Berserker – Class – D&D Tools

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First! Thanks for explanation, This is very helpful!

But right now, I get it... I tell you what.
What I wanted, Is to play something that similar to Gul'dan on DnD 3.5, My DM said everything on the DnD 3.5 books are fine and approved... but it will need to be checked before approved as new character.
Can you please help me create something similar to Gul'dan mechanically...?
Attacks, Classes, Race, Equips and etc...

Gul'dan

Gul'dan, Darkness Incarnate, is a Ranged Assassin Hero from the Warcraft franchise. Abandoning the ways of Shamanism, Gul'dan entered a pact with the demon lord Kil'jaeden and betrayed his people in exchange for limitless power. With the Orcish Horde under his master's thrall, both Draenor and...

heroesofthestorm.fandom.com

This is my will.
My DM said it's not possible to take Fighter and Warlock, And she said I can go Rage Mage but I see it's not the best.
So any way to make him?
Thank you,
Best Regards!
Eden

 

[James Gasik]

If you want to inflict a lot of damage as a spellcaster, while being somewhat tanky, your issue is that magic spells are not really great at dealing damage in 3.5. You can build to being a powerful caster, but, like in every pursuit, you really have to specialize to do so.

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, at 9th level, your best damaging spell is probably still fireball; cone of cold is now available, but it doesn't do any more damage, just has a larger area.

These spells do 9d6 damage, and half on a save. That means you have an average damage of roughly 32, or 16 on a save. That's not a lot of damage when you consider the average Owlbear (a challenge rating 4 enemy) has 52 hit points. Where spellcasters shine is in increasing the abilities of their allies by casting spells such as haste, locking down enemies with spells like sleet storm, web, or evard's black tentacles, or making enemies drastically weaker, with spells like ray of enfeeblement, slow, or stinking cloud.

Does your DM disallow Warlock entirely? It might be a decent class for what you want to do; it doesn't do the best damage, but it can blast enemies with magical damage every round, all day long, and can wear some armor.

 

[EdenNotRaven]

If you want to inflict a lot of damage as a spellcaster, while being somewhat tanky, your issue is that magic spells are not really great at dealing damage in 3.5. You can build to being a powerful caster, but, like in every pursuit, you really have to specialize to do so.

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, at 9th level, your best damaging spell is probably still fireball; cone of cold is now available, but it doesn't do any more damage, just has a larger area.

These spells do 9d6 damage, and half on a save. That means you have an average damage of roughly 32, or 16 on a save. That's not a lot of damage when you consider the average Owlbear (a challenge rating 4 enemy) has 52 hit points. Where spellcasters shine is in increasing the abilities of their allies by casting spells such as haste, locking down enemies with spells like sleet storm, web, or evard's black tentacles, or making enemies drastically weaker, with spells like ray of enfeeblement, slow, or stinking cloud.

Does your DM disallow Warlock entirely? It might be a decent class for what you want to do; it doesn't do the best damage, but it can blast enemies with magical damage every round, all day long, and can wear some armor.

Thank you for taking me seriously, I'm really new to this kind of game (dnd) and never played it before half year.
So... Yes, my DM said Warlock is cool, But I cannot fusion it with other classes... But maybe she mistake.
I really want to build something like Gul'dan.
He's my favorite Orc, And I want to feel what he feels.
To be Evil, To be something else, Because I play always Natural good \ Lawful good.
I want to try the evil side, the selfish, ugly side.

What I need to do, On level 9, to be like him.
What classes I need to play or fuse to have this powers?
the AC, I'll go as you teach me, Armor +2, Ring +1, Amulet +2, Feats and stuff.
But to play as him, What I need to do?
Thank you for help me out! I don't know what I was do without you!
Best Regards!
Eden

 

[James Gasik]

Go ahead and look at Warlock, and see if it looks good to you. At 9th level, Eldritch Blast does 5d6 damage every round, and you have access to invocations that can let you do things like raise some undead minions, see in all darkness, or make your eldritch blast do other things.

Technically there is an improved Warlock, the Dragonfire Adept, but instead of an energy blast, they breath like a dragon on their enemies.

If you do go Warlock, you'll want the Feats Point-Blank Shot and Precise Shot to avoid taking a -4 penalty to hit someone in combat.

The life drain ability, sadly, isn't a common thing in D&D, there is a spell Vampiric Touch that works along those lines.

 

[Voadam]

I would suggest going orcish cleric 9. Choose an evil god/demon lord as your patron. You will get heavy armor proficiency that you can cast in so plate as the base. Split the gp among the different defensive items as suggested above.

Cleric gives you full casting and they have a couple area of effect higher level spells like flame strike. If you start at level 9 you can do that from day one. Zaps for damage are not the cleric's big thing but they can do them.

Lots of zaps are x damage per level so having a full caster level is pretty big for a build.

If you want to focus on damaging zaps over AC I would suggest a sorcerer or warlock build focusing on defensive AC. A warlock gets at will eldritch blast for decent zapping damage and can focus on their defense, while a sorcerer can spend one known spell on fireball and throw out a lot of 9d6 20' radius fire bombs every day while spending most of their build on bulking up their weak defenses. Orc stats cut against warlocks and sorcerers though because the orc has a charisma penalty and charisma affects saves for both warlock and sorcerer magic. It can be done and still be effective and fun, but it is annoying to get a penalty from your chosen race when doing your chosen class.

 

[James Gasik]

You can cut the penalty by going Half-Orc, though not all Warlock Invocations have saving throws. Cleric is a decent idea, but you'd have to choose your Domains carefully, since it sounded like you wanted more arcane magic. You can get at-will blasts from a Reserve Feat like Fiery Burst, a favorite of mine.

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