The entire concept of the character was, to "whore for armor class" (pardon the expression).
What, you think we object to whores?
IMHO, if we start including one-shot items in the discussion, it just gets silly. For that matter, I could claim that I know an 80th-level Wizard who's researched a custom 16th-level spell that he cast on me before the fight that makes me utterly invincible. I mean, it's situational, and as long as the DM approved it it's okay, because there's nothing in the core books that says that spell isn't allowed.
50/50, assuming 8 hours of sleep.
Actually, 62.5/37.5. One of the four hours he misses will be the hour of meditation after he wakes up. And you'd better believe THAT one can be used against you.
Or he could have just cast Extended Mage Armor the day before and have it last 40 hours. Extended twice (ooh, a 3rd-level spell), it lasts two and a half days!
Which means, in an encoutner while the adventurers are encamped, there is a 50/50 chance the wizard or sorceror hasn't recovered the spell, and, the duration wore out. Thus, it's not an absolutely guaranteed benefit.
The difference here, besides the fact that attacks while sleeping are far less common than attacks while awake (since most adventurers are looking for trouble) is the course of action it leads to. If I get ambushed while sleeping, my first instinct is to get away. Clear out, regroup, come back when I'm better prepared. Admittedly, a good AC will help you survive until the Teleport goes off, but it's not the same sort of priority. Same goes for fighters caught without their armor.
The main point was to separate spells/effects into "long duration" (I have plenty of time to cast it before combats, and even if I'm caught by surprise I'll be likely to have it up) and "short duration" (I'll only have it up if I was expecting immediate combat, or I'll have to cast it in the first round of combat).
Persistent Spell Metamagicks; Shield was -made- for it (and a potion of Persistent Shield would cost between 4500gp and 5000gp 
). Drinking a potion of Shield, is no rougher than the Wizard casting the spell, in terms of time used.
Clearly you think so, but the Sage answer I saw, the list of which potions can be made, and the general rules for decision-making spells in items seem to disagree. It's one of those things that's still vague, and I wish they'd errata it once and for all, but they're slow on erratas for one simple reason: they only update them when they're ready to do another printing of the book. Since the PHB and DMG have been out so long, and demand has died down a bit, they're understandably slow. The last DMG errata was 8/20/01.
OK, I missed that bit (their grammar DOES need work! ). And ... it doesn't agree with the "Fighting defensively" entry (PHB page 124), which does not specify you must be in melee to do so.
They're two different things, which is why they stack. Gotta love the stacking rules.
I interpret things differently; while D&D does not include facings for issues of AC and the like, there is no reason not to refer to facings when describing effects or events.
As far as I know, there's no such thing as facing, anywhere in the core rules. Can you find anything that involves facing?
Actually, notice I also revised the shield to +1, Medium Fortification, Speed. I think that may only be a +9 shield (Medium Fort is +3, right?), but that at least wrings more benefits form the buckler. Or else just go "+1 of Speed".
Yes, medium fort is +3. Personally, if you wanted to stick with the +10 price tag, go +1 Arrow Deflection Animated shield of Speed. Frees up an extra hand, so no -1 buckler penalty, and arrow deflection can be fun. Although how you get Haste from a shield floating in front of you, I can't figure.
At top penalty, which is -8 (-5 Expertise, -1 Buckler-and-off-weapon, -2 TWF/Ambidex and light weapons), the Duellist will still have an attack of +23/+18/+13/+8. Not astounding, but quite useful nonetheless.
You didn't include fighting defensively (another -4); we ARE going for max AC, right?
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I think for these sort of discussions we need to agree on some sort of guidelines. Ever read the Sultans of Smack thread? It gets a bit ridiculous at times. Remember, the original point of this thread was that someone was trying to get a general idea of what sort of AC he should reasonably have at a given level (in his case, 14).
How's this sound:
> Level 15 (Why? Because I like that level. You haven't topped out your Prestige Class yet, you haven't used Wish to gain +5 to every stat, and your assets are exactly 200k, not enough to get all +6 items and +10 weapons)
> No custom Feats, Spells, Items, or Prestige Classes; only official WotC material is allowed. That means PHB, DMG, MM (templates), PsiHB, MotP, the official splatbooks, that sort of thing. Dragon Magazine materials or anything involving the Forgotten Realms may only used with an explicit disclaimer. Anyone who uses Monte Cook's Ranger gets slapped silly.
> Standard assets: 200k gp. No single item may be worth more than 50k. All items must be explicitly listed in official source material (see above).
(No asking for an item that casts Cure Light Wounds at will for 1800 gp, for example. See also Potion of Shield.)
> No Wishes, either directly or through the Manuals. What Wizard in his right mind would spend 25 THOUSAND XP (that's more than a level, you know) to give a stranger some stat increases? The market value (137.5) may seem impressive, but it's still less than 20% of his assets at that level, and he could make far more money just enchanting some armor. These things should be really rare, not the sort of thing you can buy a few of. Too many characters end up being "Oh, I'll take a +5 to that stat, and a +5 to that one too...".
I'm tempted to make them Minor Artifacts IMC just to get players to stop asking for them.
(Okay, this one isn't a problem if you use level 15, but every level 20 discussion I've seen involved two or more +5 Manuals per person)
So, we want three different ACs:
Nearly Naked: Items only. Items with charges may only be counted if they renew each day (Boots of Speed for exampel)
Long-Haul: ...and spells lasting at least 1 hour/level, and any bonuses due to combat actions (like Expertise)
Anti-Tarrasque (hey, you named it): ...and any short-term I can cast on myself, including one-shot items I bought as part of my assets, X/day special abilities like Barbarian Rage/Defensive Stance, etc.
Also of interest: each of these when flat-footed, against touch spells, or against incorporeal attacks
