AC of your 10th lvl character?

[Endur]

Sorry, nope, I didn't do any of these to get an AC higher than your estimated value from 22-29.

It is interesting to see that people who had AC above my listed value either:

1) used highly controversial official material (Vow of Poverty)
2) had more wealth than what is recommended by the DMG (significantly more, in some cases)
3) invested a disproportionate amount of wealth into defensive items
4) used homebrew rules and equipment

AC, like all other things, greatly varies depending on the type of campaign. However, going out of one's way to create an invincible (AC-wise) character does nothing except irk the DM and force him to metagame to be able to challenge one character without completely obliterating the rest of the party.

The game is not about the DM challenging characters. The game is about telling a story.

 

[Endur]

I don't think I've ever seen a halfling fighter in full-plate and with a tower shield. By the time he gets to melee, the combat is long over. It's a highly sub-optimal character (low speed, -2 Str penalty), so while you didn't spend an unreasonable amount of money on defense, the character is fairly useless. Nobody will be able to hit him, but I seriously doubt anybody would even bother to. If you drop the tower shield and use a ranged weapon, it gets better, but then there goes that beautiful +6 bonus...

Tower Shields are a little too bulky to be of general use to adventurers.

On the other hand, though, just because you are a slow-moving character does not mean that the combat will be over before you get there. You can simply refuse to move and let the enemies come to you. If the enemies hang back, let your spell casters and archers destroy them at range. If you stand inbetween the enemies and the spell casters, the enemies have to engage you or suffer defeat from your spell casters.

 

[Zog]

My general theory is that a Melee character wants to have a minimum AC of 15 at level 1, and roughly a +1 to that for each level to remain as a viable melee character. So, level 10, AC: 25 would be minimum for fighter-types. AC:30 would be around the high end for full-time AC - spells and the like could boost it higher for a tough fight or two, but 25-30 is the range of usefulness. To low, you get hit all the time, and the cleric spend all of their time healing you, instead of flamestriking or buffing, etc. Too high, your offense probably suffers, bad guys ignore you for the other targets.

Seeing the other responses, I'm pleased that my general theory seems to be held up by the evidence from existing PCs.

 

[Warbringer]

The game is not about the DM challenging characters. The game is about telling a story.

The game is about challenging the palyers with the context of the story.

My experience is that around 10th we are in the mid to high 20s for the tanks, low 20s for the rogue and mage. No-one has ever taken tower shield, though.

We don't adventure all the time, so we have living expenses, especially when the mage is building a small wizard school, the fighter is tithing 10% so she can become a paladin or cleric (hasn't decided), and the rogue has an addiction and a debt problem with the guild. Throw in paying for training for new feats, spells and classes and you are left with a much smaller disposable income to have lots of toys.

DMG Suggests (for NPCs)

Fighter AC 24
Cleric AC 22
Wizard AC 15
Rogue AC 19

Yes, they are NPCs, so, I'd add +2 to all the above.

That's me, my campaign and how I plan for adventures in the story arch

 

[I'm A Banana]

"Somewhere in the 20's" seems about right.

Thinking about it, usually a given melee attack from a tank is considered to have about a 50% chance to hit another tank. The idea is to keep that percentage the same over the course of 20+ levels. So at level 10, with a +10 to it, we're thinking an AC of at least 20, and that's assuming no magical buffs or ability bonuses at all, just straight d20 rolls. For every +1 Strength, you shuold have a +1 Dexterity (or other armor bonus). For every magic sword, you shuold have magic armor. Assuming that, an AC in the mid-20's seems pretty normal. 27-30 may be on the high end, 20-22 maybe on the low end.

 

[Lamoni]

My character has an AC of 12. Currently at level 13, but had the same AC since day 1.
Base (10)
dex 12 (+1)
small size (+1)

try and beat that! This thread seems to be all about people who have focused on their AC to get it as high as they can within their budget. Assuming your focus is only split between hitting and not getting hit this might be reasonable. However, if you split it between hitting, not getting hit, offensive magic (wands), healing magic (wands, potions), contingency items (scrolls of restoration), boosting saving throws (cloak of resistance), increasing mobility(flying, boots of haste), improving skills(elven cloak or boots), elemental resistance(fire), and nice party items(flying carpet), plus any number of fun items in the DMG with limited combat use, you can easily end up with a much lower AC and still be a formidable character.

Average AC across all classes at level 10, I would put closer to 22. Any class who is trying to fill the role of tank I would bump up to an average of 28. A min/maxer or munchkin can get much higher, but getting as high as 31-32 is still accounted for in the 28 average. Of course you can get higher, but usually not without the help of spells and/or much higher wealth.

edit: the funny thing about my AC 12 character is that he has the second highest amount of HP (just under the barbarian). Not bad for a sorcerer... he can usually survive a single round of combat just fine (he just tries not to stay there for a second). Instead of AC, he relies on miss chances from displacement, invisibility, etc. Just as effective as AC and much cheaper

 

[Rystil Arden]

My character has an AC of 12. Currently at level 13, but had the same AC since day 1.
Base (10)
dex 12 (+1)
small size (+1)

How many hit points does he have? More than 148? If not, a CR 13 Storm Giant will kill him in one round on average with his Greatsword by using full Power Attack (63 + 16/20*63 + 11/20*63)

Edit: Typed this up before your edit.

 

[Sammael]

The game is not about the DM challenging characters. The game is about telling a story.

This is a highly subjective preference. There was a poll on ENworld about this a while ago, and, believe it or not, the majority of people voted that they do not, in fact, play D&D to tell a story, but to have fun and overcome challenges set up by the DM.

If the DM doesn't challenge characters, the game grows stale and falls apart. This has been my experience with every single system I've played or GMed. Yes, even storyteller systems like WoD.

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

My character is an Athasian human (+1 ecl) Scout 5/Swashbuckler 3/Dervish 2.

Base AC 25:
10
+5 +3 leather armor
+6 Dexterity (17 base, +2 racial bonus, +2 gloves, +2 levels = 23 total)
+2 amulet of natural armor +2
+2 ring of protection +2

As an Athasian human, I have inborn psionic powers, one of which is force screen. That adds a +4 shield bonus for 1 minute/level.

My scout levels add a +1 dodge bonus if I move more than 10 feet per round.

I have Expeditious Dodge, which adds 2 more if I move more than 40 feet per round.

If I choose to use full Combat Expertise and fight defensively, I could add another +8, in exchange for a -9 to my attack roll.

So, my AC could range anywhere from 25 to 40, depending on my actions for the round.

 

[Sammael]

Actually a 31 AC will still get hit a lot at 10th lvl. Consider one of the more melee-oriented CR 10 creatures, like a fire giant (+20/15/10 to hit) or a tough CR 9 like a greater earth elemental (2 slams at +23 to hit). An NPC fighter or barbarian will have similar attack bonuses, esp. when buffed.

Giant and elemental CR is lower than it should really be, because the game's assumption is that giants will be dealt with by magic and elementals will be dealt with by banishment. Entering melee with a giant or an elemental of CR equal to your level is suicidal for most characters, high AC or not. Most giants and elementals can mop the floor in melee even with characters 2-3 levels above their CR.

Equal level NPCs do not have the money to purchase gear that can make them achieve those numbers. A 10th level DMG NPC fighter has an attack of +14/+11. He can buy a Str buff item +2, so that's +15/+10. That means that he can hit a character with AC 29 35% of the time with his primary attack, and 10% of the time with his secondary attack. Once our PC gets to AC 32-33, he becomes virtually untouchable by the NPC. Besides, the NPC has horrible saves (no money for a cloak of resistance), so he is a lot more susceptable to magic than the PC.