Hi all. l have decided to gather my notes on ways to boost a wizards (and sorcerers) armor class,and figured l should post them here for all to see. (the following is based on the Wizard spell list,but most of this can be used by sorcerers,)
For spells,from the start,Mage armor and shield were literally made for this,and in some cases blur could be useful.
At later levels,you could cast haste on yourself,(but you will be useless on your next turn),use tiny hut or magic circle to avoid getting hit at all (though tiny hut will become less useful if the dm rules that "leaving its area" includes sticking your head/ hand out to attack).
Greater invisibility is usefull because it makes hitting you harder,but you can still cast spells without becoming visible again.
Polymorph is usefull for if you are in a pinch and are out of all other spells,and want to just beat the "tar" out of the enemy as a T-rex/mammoth,King Kong,ect. (or want to turn a enemy into a turtle)
resilient sphere could be used in a emergency to try to avoid a TPK (Dice willing) though l wouldn't get it cause it will be almost always useless. (IMO)
and many other higher level spells can be used to avoid getting hit. (like if you have a really chill DM,useing the wish spell to gain AC MIGHTbe possible,but l wouldn't count on it.)
For non magical means? unless you want to take the time/energy to learn how to wear armor or max con/dex,the best thing l can recommend is getting elven chain,because it adds to your AC,and because it makes you proficient with it,you can still cast spells. (And,Dm willing,a homebrew version can be made to give a +2 or +3.)
The best way is to have at least a 13 in wisdom and take a one level multiclass in cleric or a 13 in charisma and take a level of hexblade warlock. There is no better way to get a high AC with no resource expenditures than through multiclassing. One level of cleric also maintains the full spell slot progression so all that happens is that the spell selection runs one level behind. I personally like knowledge cleric 1 + X wizard since the character also picks up expertise in two knowledge related skills.
In the case of a sorcerer, the single level of hexblade warlock does the same thing and uses their main stat at the cost of the spell slot progression. Two levels of warlock gives agonizing blast which is useful for any sorcerer.
With a 14 dex, medium armor and a shield, AC goes to 19 (half-plate) without magic items or spells added to the mix. 24 with the shield spell. It can be further augmented with magic items (ring and cloak of protection for example) as well as magical armor and shields for an AC that can not be matched by any spells available to wizard/sorcerer. However, the character still has the option to cast things like greater invisibility or haste to further enhance their AC.
I have a level 10 character which is 1 knowledge cleric/9 evoker wizard and it has been fun to play and lagging one level of spells known hasn't been an issue.
Artificer also gives medium armor and shield proficiency and comstitution saves.
I'd argue that this is the superior choice for a Wizard. Further, there are several cantrips and 1st level spells on the Artificer list that are not present on the Wizard list, like Guidance and Cure Wounds, even Faerie Fire. This can give you some interesting utility options without slowing your main progression.
Multiclassing is not your only option, and frankly I hate it for the sake of getting AC. The character should maintain class levels within the construct of the character. Example: in my world, there is a group of archmages. Some are just wizards, others are multiclassed due to story purposes but let's talk just wizards for this one.
If you have a spellcaster who has ZERO armor proficiency you have a couple choices. I have a villain for a level 8 party who is a sorcerer with 16 Dexterity, im giving him mage armor, shield and the bracers of defense.
His natural AC = 13 (10 + dex)
Bracers of Defense = +2 to AC if you are not wearing armor or carrying a shield (don't debate me on this, jeremy crawford already addressed this item specifically does not count as armor)
Mage Armor takes base AC to 13 + Dex (3) = 16 THEN you add the bracers +2 which makes this sorcerer have a base AC of 18.
He can then use Shield to get to 23.
Hows that for not having to multiclass? I didnt even add any rings or cloaks of protection. This could go higher.. Or just have a 20 Dex mage.
This isn't necessarily pure AC-based, but I kind of accidentally made a character with above average AC and survivability just on race/background...
I created an Autognome, which starts with a built-in AC of 13+Dex (basically free Mage Armor), and also has resistance to Poison damage, for what that's worth. Then take the Wildspacer Background, which gives you the Tough Feat, which doesn't contribute to your AC, but does give a healthy boost to your HP pool. Autognomes can also heal themselves with the Mending cantrip, making them even more survivable. Then take the Abjuration school of wizardry, and on top of all that you get an Arcane Ward to absorb damage.
So not exactly anything crazy in terms of actual AC... a potential 18 AC isn't bad, but what madman is going to prioritize maxing out DEX on a Wizard? But it's a Wizard that would prove surprisingly hard to take down
I have a Shadar'kai Evocation Wizard I am currently playing in a campaign. I jumped into an existing game so I started at lvl 8. This limits my experience as he didn't start at lvl 1. Anyway, I multi-classed with Fighter. Just did a 2 lvl starting class dip. Chose Defense for his fighting style giving him +1 AC when wearing armor. And because of the armor/shield proficiencies, he's wearing scale male with 14 AC and holding a shield for 2 AC. That puts him at 17 AC. His Dex has a +3 modifier, so he gets the +2 Dex bonus with the armor. My guy has a total AC of 19. It's the same as the two full Fighters on the team. And the DM just gave him what has to be a homebrewed item called Ancient Bronze Dragon Armguard. Found it in a Hag's lair. It magically conforms to you shoulder so it doesn't get in the way of clothing or armor, and when activated it boosts my AC by 10 for 1 minute. This can be done once a tenday week. So, in big bad boss fights, he'll have a total of 29 AC for 6 rounds of fighting without using any spell slots/resources.
And I gotta say, I've got a very generous and fun DM. We have a full team of 6 players. And my first real event outside of them finding me stuck in a tomb, is this Hag lair. From within the lair, we freed several captives the Hag's had. This includes a Devil General, a quasit, a faerie dragon, a tressym, a displacer kitten, and a gremishka. Well, freeing the Devil led to other Devils that had problems with him showing up to kill him. The faerie dragon and gremishka ran very soon after being freed. But the other three stayed. My wizard now has a tressym familiar. The quasit is getting attached to the Hobgoblin fighter that hates him. And we're working on attaching the displacer kitten to our new ranger. And aside from the aforementioned Armguard, I also found a Cloak of the Bat. This has been one of the best days I've had since starting DnD.
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Hi all. l have decided to gather my notes on ways to boost a wizards (and sorcerers) armor class,and figured l should post them here for all to see. (the following is based on the Wizard spell list,but most of this can be used by sorcerers,)
For spells,from the start,Mage armor and shield were literally made for this,and in some cases blur could be useful.
At later levels,you could cast haste on yourself,(but you will be useless on your next turn),use tiny hut or magic circle to avoid getting hit at all (though tiny hut will become less useful if the dm rules that "leaving its area" includes sticking your head/ hand out to attack).
Greater invisibility is usefull because it makes hitting you harder,but you can still cast spells without becoming visible again.
Polymorph is usefull for if you are in a pinch and are out of all other spells,and want to just beat the "tar" out of the enemy as a T-rex/mammoth,King Kong,ect. (or want to turn a enemy into a turtle)
resilient sphere could be used in a emergency to try to avoid a TPK (Dice willing) though l wouldn't get it cause it will be almost always useless. (IMO)
and many other higher level spells can be used to avoid getting hit. (like if you have a really chill DM,useing the wish spell to gain AC MIGHT be possible,but l wouldn't count on it.)
For non magical means? unless you want to take the time/energy to learn how to wear armor or max con/dex,the best thing l can recommend is getting elven chain,because it adds to your AC,and because it makes you proficient with it,you can still cast spells. (And,Dm willing,a homebrew version can be made to give a +2 or +3.)
The ring of protection and bracers of protection are also a option,though they require a atunement slot each
Anyway,thats my findings. Did l miss anything? Comment down below if you have anything to add.
Edits: mountain dwarfs have a natural proficiency in light and med armor,so take that into consideration.
Also,l am aware that multiclassing is a option. This guide was made to give pure mages an AC boost.
And,if you choose draconic bloodline sorcerer,you get mage armor for free as natural armor.
Here is a example of what's possible: (a level one mountain dwarf sorcerer,wearing spiked armor with shield spell has a AC of 21) www.dndbeyond.com/profile/DnDNewper/characters/32116480
Tortles have a natural AC of 17, so thats something!
The best way is to have at least a 13 in wisdom and take a one level multiclass in cleric or a 13 in charisma and take a level of hexblade warlock. There is no better way to get a high AC with no resource expenditures than through multiclassing. One level of cleric also maintains the full spell slot progression so all that happens is that the spell selection runs one level behind. I personally like knowledge cleric 1 + X wizard since the character also picks up expertise in two knowledge related skills.
In the case of a sorcerer, the single level of hexblade warlock does the same thing and uses their main stat at the cost of the spell slot progression. Two levels of warlock gives agonizing blast which is useful for any sorcerer.
With a 14 dex, medium armor and a shield, AC goes to 19 (half-plate) without magic items or spells added to the mix. 24 with the shield spell. It can be further augmented with magic items (ring and cloak of protection for example) as well as magical armor and shields for an AC that can not be matched by any spells available to wizard/sorcerer. However, the character still has the option to cast things like greater invisibility or haste to further enhance their AC.
I have a level 10 character which is 1 knowledge cleric/9 evoker wizard and it has been fun to play and lagging one level of spells known hasn't been an issue.
Artificer also gives medium armor and shield proficiency and comstitution saves.
Attack: [roll]3d20dl2+6[/roll] Damage: [roll](if([roll:-1:critical], =0, 1d8, 2{1d8}.expand()))+4[/roll] Sneakattack: [roll](if([roll:-2:critical], =0, 2d6, 2{2d6}.expand()))[/roll]I'd argue that this is the superior choice for a Wizard. Further, there are several cantrips and 1st level spells on the Artificer list that are not present on the Wizard list, like Guidance and Cure Wounds, even Faerie Fire. This can give you some interesting utility options without slowing your main progression.
Cleric can give heavy if you take forge, nature, tempest, or war, though that's of dubious value unless you have higher strength.
Multiclassing is not your only option, and frankly I hate it for the sake of getting AC. The character should maintain class levels within the construct of the character. Example: in my world, there is a group of archmages. Some are just wizards, others are multiclassed due to story purposes but let's talk just wizards for this one.
If you have a spellcaster who has ZERO armor proficiency you have a couple choices. I have a villain for a level 8 party who is a sorcerer with 16 Dexterity, im giving him mage armor, shield and the bracers of defense.
His natural AC = 13 (10 + dex)
Bracers of Defense = +2 to AC if you are not wearing armor or carrying a shield (don't debate me on this, jeremy crawford already addressed this item specifically does not count as armor)
Mage Armor takes base AC to 13 + Dex (3) = 16 THEN you add the bracers +2 which makes this sorcerer have a base AC of 18.
He can then use Shield to get to 23.
Hows that for not having to multiclass? I didnt even add any rings or cloaks of protection. This could go higher.. Or just have a 20 Dex mage.
There are a lot of ways to play this game
This isn't necessarily pure AC-based, but I kind of accidentally made a character with above average AC and survivability just on race/background...
I created an Autognome, which starts with a built-in AC of 13+Dex (basically free Mage Armor), and also has resistance to Poison damage, for what that's worth. Then take the Wildspacer Background, which gives you the Tough Feat, which doesn't contribute to your AC, but does give a healthy boost to your HP pool. Autognomes can also heal themselves with the Mending cantrip, making them even more survivable. Then take the Abjuration school of wizardry, and on top of all that you get an Arcane Ward to absorb damage.
So not exactly anything crazy in terms of actual AC... a potential 18 AC isn't bad, but what madman is going to prioritize maxing out DEX on a Wizard? But it's a Wizard that would prove surprisingly hard to take down
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I have a Shadar'kai Evocation Wizard I am currently playing in a campaign. I jumped into an existing game so I started at lvl 8. This limits my experience as he didn't start at lvl 1. Anyway, I multi-classed with Fighter. Just did a 2 lvl starting class dip. Chose Defense for his fighting style giving him +1 AC when wearing armor. And because of the armor/shield proficiencies, he's wearing scale male with 14 AC and holding a shield for 2 AC. That puts him at 17 AC. His Dex has a +3 modifier, so he gets the +2 Dex bonus with the armor. My guy has a total AC of 19. It's the same as the two full Fighters on the team. And the DM just gave him what has to be a homebrewed item called Ancient Bronze Dragon Armguard. Found it in a Hag's lair. It magically conforms to you shoulder so it doesn't get in the way of clothing or armor, and when activated it boosts my AC by 10 for 1 minute. This can be done once a tenday week. So, in big bad boss fights, he'll have a total of 29 AC for 6 rounds of fighting without using any spell slots/resources.
And I gotta say, I've got a very generous and fun DM. We have a full team of 6 players. And my first real event outside of them finding me stuck in a tomb, is this Hag lair. From within the lair, we freed several captives the Hag's had. This includes a Devil General, a quasit, a faerie dragon, a tressym, a displacer kitten, and a gremishka. Well, freeing the Devil led to other Devils that had problems with him showing up to kill him. The faerie dragon and gremishka ran very soon after being freed. But the other three stayed. My wizard now has a tressym familiar. The quasit is getting attached to the Hobgoblin fighter that hates him. And we're working on attaching the displacer kitten to our new ranger. And aside from the aforementioned Armguard, I also found a Cloak of the Bat. This has been one of the best days I've had since starting DnD.