Spells to improve touch AC

[NewJeffCT]

I have the PHB, but not a lot of the complete books. What other spells are there besides Mage Armor & Shield that can improve a mage's touch AC? Or, anybody's touch AC?

These can be higher than 1st or 2nd level spells as well.

I can get access to the Complete Books, if necessary.

Thanks!

 

[Lopke_Quasath]

Mage Armor and Shield don't help with Touch AC.

They are armor and shield bonuses, respectively. Nothing for Touch regular attacks.

Mage Armor and Shield do help with incorporeal touch attacks, though.

My best advice to increase Touch AC is Cat's Grace. +4 to Dex means +2 to AC, including Touch.

 

[Runestar]

If your character has a lot of NA (or can access NA somehow), spell compendium has the scintillating scales spell, which converts your NA into deflection AC bonus.

You could use heroics to access the wall of blades maneuver (tome of battle), which lets you sub an attack roll as AC (and this would apply to touch AC as well). Not sure if this is feasible due to the wizard's low bab and limited ways of boosting his attack rolls though. This is probably more worth it for a gish.

Alternatively, you could resort to miss chances (eg: blur/displacement) or mirror image/greater to bear the brunt of attacks instead.

What sort of touch attacks are you trying to defend against?

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Good advice so far.

Reduce Person: +2 touch AC (size and dex)
Haste: +1 touch AC (among other things...)
Polymorph: Any form with lots of dex
Shapechange: As polymorph, but now you also get qualities. Wil'o wisp isn't bad for core monsters.

Not a spell, but Shield Ward feat (PH2) adds your shield's AC bonus to touch AC. You specify the type of shield, and it requires Shield Specialization (+1 shield AC) first. If you need it to be spell-based, ask the DM if you can take it for the shield spell. I'd allow it.

 

[NewJeffCT]

Mage Armor and Shield don't help with Touch AC.

They are armor and shield bonuses, respectively. Nothing for Touch regular attacks.

Mage Armor and Shield do help with incorporeal touch attacks, though.

My best advice to increase Touch AC is Cat's Grace. +4 to Dex means +2 to AC, including Touch.

You're right, I must have read the descriptor too fast on Shield, as it only helps against incorporeal touch attacks.

 

[NewJeffCT]

If your character has a lot of NA (or can access NA somehow), spell compendium has the scintillating scales spell, which converts your NA into deflection AC bonus.

You could use heroics to access the wall of blades maneuver (tome of battle), which lets you sub an attack roll as AC (and this would apply to touch AC as well). Not sure if this is feasible due to the wizard's low bab and limited ways of boosting his attack rolls though. This is probably more worth it for a gish.

Alternatively, you could resort to miss chances (eg: blur/displacement) or mirror image/greater to bear the brunt of attacks instead.

What sort of touch attacks are you trying to defend against?

I'm thinking both for Natural Armor creatures, and also regular wizards or clerics. Scintillating Scales sounds like it would work great for a dragon with a Touch AC of 6 or 8 or similar, but high natural armor... but, for a human wizard, it would do nothing.

I'm thinking of ranged touch spells. A level 12 wizard has a +6 BAB. Add in a DEX bonus of 2 or 3 and they have a +8 or +9 to their ranged touch attack. If they have Weapon Focus: Ranged Touch, then it adds another +1.

If the person or creature getting attacked only has a Touch AC of 12 or 13 - which is common - then the wizard is only missing on a 1-4 or 1-5, or 1-3/1-4 with Weapon Focus.

 

[irdeggman]

I'm thinking of ranged touch spells. A level 12 wizard has a +6 BAB. Add in a DEX bonus of 2 or 3 and they have a +8 or +9 to their ranged touch attack. If they have Weapon Focus: Ranged Touch, then it adds another +1.

If the person or creature getting attacked only has a Touch AC of 12 or 13 - which is common - then the wizard is only missing on a 1-4 or 1-5, or 1-3/1-4 with Weapon Focus.

How often would a 12th level fighter be missing with a melee attack?

Use that as a better comparison, the fighter is probably still hitting more often (and doing more damage since he gets mutiple attacks per round).

Remember that a nat 20 always hits and a nat 1 always misses regardless of the actual number needed.

Also Dodge bonuses still apply and they always stack with other dodge bonuses.

Oh and don't forget the soft cover (+4 to AC) and firing into melee penalties (-4 to attack roll) when making ranged touch attacks - these "stack" by the way so shooting through a swuare that is occupied at a character who is in melee has an effective -8 on the attack roll. I was running a couple of warlocks and those get to be real pesky issues if you are not careful.

 

[Runestar]

While not a spell, PHB2 does have the melee evasion feat. Its key use seems to be vs attacks which are made as touch attacks, so a fighter could designate the enemy wizard as the target of his dodge feat. 1d20+bab should be able to stand up to 1/2bab+dex mod.

 

[Starbuck_II]

I have the PHB, but not a lot of the complete books. What other spells are there besides Mage Armor & Shield that can improve a mage's touch AC? Or, anybody's touch AC?

These can be higher than 1st or 2nd level spells as well.

I can get access to the Complete Books, if necessary.

Thanks!

Too bad you only wany spells: there are a couple Psionic powers that would help.
Back to spells: Anything that raises Deflection, Insight, Dex, etc count.
Though more Divine natured: Sacred also counts.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

I'm thinking of ranged touch spells. A level 12 wizard has a +6 BAB. Add in a DEX bonus of 2 or 3 and they have a +8 or +9 to their ranged touch attack. If they have Weapon Focus: Ranged Touch, then it adds another +1.

Levle 4 spell in SpC, Ray Deflection, will automatically stop any ray attacks on the target. Might be useful to you, though only stops rays, so the orb spells, for example, would still work. Not sure if you want to use that spell, though. It kinda bothers me, personally.