Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Highest Possible 5E AC
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Illithidbix" data-source="post: 6795725" data-attributes="member: 12283"><p>OK this ended up being quite long:</p><p></p><p>The important rule is: "Some spells and class features give you a different way to calculate your AC. If you have multiple features that give you different ways to calculate your AC, you choose which one to use."</p><p></p><p>DEX focused Barbarian or using +3 Plate or Half Plate armour.</p><p></p><p>Barbarian at level 20 gets Primal Might (+4 STR and CON, raises the cap to 24), so can have 24 CON.</p><p>So Unarmored Defence with DEX 20 (+5), CON 24 (+7) = 10+5+7 = AC:22 base</p><p>OR </p><p>+3 Magical Plate armour and Defense fighting Style = AC: 18, +1 Defense Fighting Style, +3 Plate) = AC:22</p><p>OR</p><p>+3 Magical Half Plate armour, Medium Armour Mastery Feat, DEX 16 or more = AC: 15, +1 from Defense Fighting Style, +3 from DEX with Medium Armor Mastery Feat, +3 magical Half Plate) = AC:22</p><p></p><p>(+3 magic armor is a legendary item that does not require attunement)</p><p></p><p>Using a +3 magical shield</p><p>+2 from shield, </p><p>+3 from it being a Magic Shield +3. (+3 shield is a very rare item does not require attunement)</p><p>= AC: 27.</p><p></p><p>The +3 Shield doesn't require attunement.</p><p></p><p>Then:</p><p>Ioun Stone of Protection- +1 AC (Rare item that requires attunement)</p><p>Cloak of Protection +1 AC (Uncommon item that requires attunement)</p><p>Ring of Protection +1 AC (Rare item that requires attunement)</p><p>= +3 AC</p><p>= AC:30 (AC 35 in 3/4 cover)</p><p></p><p>If you replace one of the items with a Defender (Legendary item that requires attunment) and use it's full bonus then it goes to +3, +1, +1</p><p>= AC: 32 (AC: 37 in 3/4 cover) </p><p></p><p>Contrary to initial assumptions, there are no enchantment bonus or similar anti-stacking mechanic. I believe the semi-official tweets confirm it's ok to stack AC from magic items if the DM lets you get hold of them.</p><p></p><p>Then someone casts Shield of Faith on them for +2 more AC. And SOMEONE ELSE casts Haste on them (they're both concentration spells) for another +2 AC</p><p></p><p>= AC:36, (AC:41 in 3/4 Cover) with shield of Faith and haste.</p><p>(See using Defensive Duelist below...)</p><p></p><p>For *spike* AC:</p><p>Level 17 Hunter Ranger DEX 20, Medium Armour Master and Defensive Duelist Feats and the Multi Attack Defense Hunter feature. <em>Edit: Yes "Defense" fighting style *is* in the Ranger list, I got confused with Protection that isn't."</em></p><p>AC: 22 with +1 Defensive Fighting Style, +3 Magic Half Plate, +3 DEX (Medium Armour Master). (Does not require attunement)</p><p>AC: 27 with +3 Shield (Does not require attunement)</p><p></p><p>+1 AC from Cloak of Protection (Requires Attunement)</p><p>+1 AC from Ring of Protection (Requires Attunement)</p><p>+3 AC from Defender (Requires Attunement)</p><p>= AC: 32 (AC: 36 in 3/4 cover)</p><p></p><p>+2 AC from Shield of Faith = AC: 34 (AC 40 in 3/4 Cover)</p><p>+2 AC from Haste</p><p>= AC: 36 (AC 40 in 3/4 Cover)</p><p></p><p>Defensive Duelist (When you are wielding a finesse weapon with which you are proficient and another creature hits you with an a melee attack, you can use your reaction to add your proficiency bonus to your AC for that attack, potentially causing the Attack to miss you. Then as a Reaction after (somehow) being hit by a melee, can increase AC against that single hit by Proficiency bonus: so +6 at levels 17+ putting it at:</p><p>= AC: 42 (47 in 3/4 Cover.)</p><p>(Shield spell also uses your reaction and grants +5 but lasts until the end of your turn and it's just melee. +6 AC due to proficiency.)</p><p></p><p>And if somehow you had been hit in the turn (and didn't use your reaction to stop it...)</p><p>Multi Attack defense (When a creature hits you with an attack you gain a +4 bonus to AC against all subsequent attacks made by that creature for the rest of the turn.)</p><p>So AC: 46 (AC 51 in 3/4 Cover)</p><p></p><p>So AC 51... against a single hit, whilst in 3/4 cover, after being hit by an earlier attack in that turn and using your reaction...</p><p> </p><p>I Had a look at the Battlemaster using Superiority Dice, I think you can add +D12 to your AC using Evasive Footwork but the phrasing is (When you move, you can expand one superiority dice, rolling the dice and adding the number rolled to your AC until you stop moving)</p><p>Which could be (Defense fighting style, +3 plate armor, +3 shield, Defender, ring and cloak, shield of faith and cloak etc)</p><p>= AC: 36 + D12</p><p></p><p>AC: 41+D12 if you're in 3/4 Cover (as you move...) and use your reaction to activate "Defensive Duelist" upon actually being hit....</p><p></p><p>The Tarrasque (and apparently so does Tiamat) has +19 vs AC attack...</p><p></p><p>That's using the core PHB and DMG.</p><p></p><p>I've missed out: Using Manual of Bodily Health and Manual of Quickness of Action, Epic Boons or Artifacts.</p><p></p><p><em>(EDIT, yeah apparently add +1 AC for being war forged >>. Thanks CCS...)</em></p><p><em>(EDIT, I confused Defense fighting style (+1 AC whilst wearing armour) with Protection Fighting style)</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Illithidbix, post: 6795725, member: 12283"] OK this ended up being quite long: The important rule is: "Some spells and class features give you a different way to calculate your AC. If you have multiple features that give you different ways to calculate your AC, you choose which one to use." DEX focused Barbarian or using +3 Plate or Half Plate armour. Barbarian at level 20 gets Primal Might (+4 STR and CON, raises the cap to 24), so can have 24 CON. So Unarmored Defence with DEX 20 (+5), CON 24 (+7) = 10+5+7 = AC:22 base OR +3 Magical Plate armour and Defense fighting Style = AC: 18, +1 Defense Fighting Style, +3 Plate) = AC:22 OR +3 Magical Half Plate armour, Medium Armour Mastery Feat, DEX 16 or more = AC: 15, +1 from Defense Fighting Style, +3 from DEX with Medium Armor Mastery Feat, +3 magical Half Plate) = AC:22 (+3 magic armor is a legendary item that does not require attunement) Using a +3 magical shield +2 from shield, +3 from it being a Magic Shield +3. (+3 shield is a very rare item does not require attunement) = AC: 27. The +3 Shield doesn't require attunement. Then: Ioun Stone of Protection- +1 AC (Rare item that requires attunement) Cloak of Protection +1 AC (Uncommon item that requires attunement) Ring of Protection +1 AC (Rare item that requires attunement) = +3 AC = AC:30 (AC 35 in 3/4 cover) If you replace one of the items with a Defender (Legendary item that requires attunment) and use it's full bonus then it goes to +3, +1, +1 = AC: 32 (AC: 37 in 3/4 cover) Contrary to initial assumptions, there are no enchantment bonus or similar anti-stacking mechanic. I believe the semi-official tweets confirm it's ok to stack AC from magic items if the DM lets you get hold of them. Then someone casts Shield of Faith on them for +2 more AC. And SOMEONE ELSE casts Haste on them (they're both concentration spells) for another +2 AC = AC:36, (AC:41 in 3/4 Cover) with shield of Faith and haste. (See using Defensive Duelist below...) For *spike* AC: Level 17 Hunter Ranger DEX 20, Medium Armour Master and Defensive Duelist Feats and the Multi Attack Defense Hunter feature. [i]Edit: Yes "Defense" fighting style *is* in the Ranger list, I got confused with Protection that isn't."[/i] AC: 22 with +1 Defensive Fighting Style, +3 Magic Half Plate, +3 DEX (Medium Armour Master). (Does not require attunement) AC: 27 with +3 Shield (Does not require attunement) +1 AC from Cloak of Protection (Requires Attunement) +1 AC from Ring of Protection (Requires Attunement) +3 AC from Defender (Requires Attunement) = AC: 32 (AC: 36 in 3/4 cover) +2 AC from Shield of Faith = AC: 34 (AC 40 in 3/4 Cover) +2 AC from Haste = AC: 36 (AC 40 in 3/4 Cover) Defensive Duelist (When you are wielding a finesse weapon with which you are proficient and another creature hits you with an a melee attack, you can use your reaction to add your proficiency bonus to your AC for that attack, potentially causing the Attack to miss you. Then as a Reaction after (somehow) being hit by a melee, can increase AC against that single hit by Proficiency bonus: so +6 at levels 17+ putting it at: = AC: 42 (47 in 3/4 Cover.) (Shield spell also uses your reaction and grants +5 but lasts until the end of your turn and it's just melee. +6 AC due to proficiency.) And if somehow you had been hit in the turn (and didn't use your reaction to stop it...) Multi Attack defense (When a creature hits you with an attack you gain a +4 bonus to AC against all subsequent attacks made by that creature for the rest of the turn.) So AC: 46 (AC 51 in 3/4 Cover) So AC 51... against a single hit, whilst in 3/4 cover, after being hit by an earlier attack in that turn and using your reaction... I Had a look at the Battlemaster using Superiority Dice, I think you can add +D12 to your AC using Evasive Footwork but the phrasing is (When you move, you can expand one superiority dice, rolling the dice and adding the number rolled to your AC until you stop moving) Which could be (Defense fighting style, +3 plate armor, +3 shield, Defender, ring and cloak, shield of faith and cloak etc) = AC: 36 + D12 AC: 41+D12 if you're in 3/4 Cover (as you move...) and use your reaction to activate "Defensive Duelist" upon actually being hit.... The Tarrasque (and apparently so does Tiamat) has +19 vs AC attack... That's using the core PHB and DMG. I've missed out: Using Manual of Bodily Health and Manual of Quickness of Action, Epic Boons or Artifacts. [i](EDIT, yeah apparently add +1 AC for being war forged >>. Thanks CCS...) (EDIT, I confused Defense fighting style (+1 AC whilst wearing armour) with Protection Fighting style)[/i] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Highest Possible 5E AC
Top