Twentieth level barbarian gets a bonus to CON effective to an increase of +2 to the ability modifier. This gives their maximum unarmored defense with 20 DEX and 24 CON a 22 AC
Twentieth level barbarian gets a bonus to CON effective to an increase of +2 to the ability modifier. This gives their maximum unarmored defense with 20 DEX and 24 CON a 22 AC
And a shield would bring them up to 24 AC.
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"Halt your wagging and wag your halters, for I am mastercryomancer!"
I'm just going to go all out here with the published materials assuming you want max AC for a single attack, though if you have 39 or more even the Tarrasque needs a nat 20 to hit you (Not Warforged). This is ignoring Cover or Multiattack Defense which can get crazy for a Ranger if each attack keeps hitting, but that isn't what you want. Here we go: Level 6 Cleric in Forge Domain, Level 1 Fighter, Level 3 Monk Way of the Kensei, Level 10 Bard College of Swords, Defensive Duelist, Shield of Faith, Haste, +3 Plate, +3 Shield, Defender Shortsword, Ring of Protection, and Cloak of Protection. This will assume maximum on dice rolls.
21 (+3 Plate)
26 (+3 Shield)
27 (Ring of Protection)
28 (Cloak of Protection)
29 (Soul of the Forge)
30 (Defense Fighting Style)
33 (Defender Attack)
43 (10 on d10 Bard Inspiration for Defensive Flourish)
45 (Unarmed Strike for Agile Parry, Second Attack from Bard Extra Attack)
51 (Defensive Duelist +6 with combined levels of 20)
53 (Shield of Faith)
55 (Haste)
Without spells and active abilities, passive AC is
I'm just going to go all out here with the published materials assuming you want max AC for a single attack, though if you have 39 or more even the Tarrasque needs a nat 20 to hit you (Not Warforged). This is ignoring Cover or Multiattack Defense which can get crazy for a Ranger if each attack keeps hitting, but that isn't what you want. Here we go: Level 6 Cleric in Forge Domain, Level 1 Fighter, Level 3 Monk Way of the Kensei, Level 10 Bard College of Swords, Defensive Duelist, Shield of Faith, Haste, +3 Plate, +3 Shield, Defender Shortsword, Ring of Protection, and Cloak of Protection. This will assume maximum on dice rolls.
21 (+3 Plate)
26 (+3 Shield)
27 (Ring of Protection)
28 (Cloak of Protection)
29 (Soul of the Forge)
30 (Defense Fighting Style)
33 (Defender Attack)
43 (10 on d10 Bard Inspiration for Defensive Flourish)
45 (Unarmed Strike for Agile Parry, Second Attack from Bard Extra Attack)
51 (Defensive Duelist +6 with combined levels of 20)
53 (Shield of Faith)
55 (Haste)
Without spells and active abilities, passive AC is
21 (+3 Plate)
26 (+3 Shield)
27 (Ring of Protection)
28 (Cloak of Protection)
29 (Soul of the Forge)
30 (Defense Fighting Style)
This still does not come close to the 37 AC that would be put forward by the build I mentioned in post #30
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"Halt your wagging and wag your halters, for I am mastercryomancer!"
I forgot the marriage bonus and lycan bonus so the max single attack defense bonus would be 58 with (+2 from Ceremony and +1 from Hybrid form) I did include the Defensive Duelist, but I considered it an active move. Without action though I am saying that you can reach 30 AC without spells or using your reaction or taking any actions. The 58 would be the maximum you can get from a single attack. You missed my above calculations.
Yep, Warforged makes it much higher, but I presumed Forgotten Realms, also you can one more out of the Lycan form (assuming you can be a Lycan Warforged) remember so you would have 52 with Warforged. Still, we wouldn't need higher than 39 to become nigh on invincible to the Tarrasque bar crits.
But, if we assume those aren't in play, then you could go with 17 levels of Bladesinger using shapechange. We assume 20 INT. Marilith has a base AC of 18, so for a Bladesinger that's 23. When an attack is incoming, cast shield. That's 28. Mariliths are reactive, so the next attack after that made on a different turn can get the benefit of a 12 from a College of Valor inspiration die, bringing us to 40. Haste and shield of faith add +2 each, bringing it to 44. Ceremony gets us to 46. Dual Wielder gets another +1, bringing us to 47. Three levels of College of Swords gets us defensive flourish, for an extra 6, bringing us to 53.
Your game stats are replaced by the Marilith so you would not get your bladesinging actions nor your bardic inspiration or Duel Wielder. However, if we do add a Level 15 Bard College of Valor to buff you my maximum goes up.
18 (Plate)
20 (Shield)
21 (Soul of the Forge)
22 (Blessing of the Forge to make +1 Plate)
23 (Defense Fighting Style)
33 (10 on d10 Bard Inspiration for Defensive Flourish)
35 (Unarmed Strike for Agile Parry, Second Attack from Bard Extra Attack)
37 (Shield of Faith)
39 (Haste)
41 (Ceremony)
42 (Lycan Form)
54 (Level 15 Bard 12 on d12 Bard Inspiration for Combat Inspiration)
Without Magic items that means we get 54 and with magic items we get 64.
Edit: I realized the Bardic Inspiration from Combat Inspiration is a reaction so you cut out Defensive Duelist and -6 (results are above).
If we consider the epic boon stats then things change because a Monk or Barbarian gets a higher AC. Let's now go with a Level 15 Bard College of Swords and level 3 Monk Way of the Kensei, Level 2 Barbarian
20 (+10 with 30 Dexterity Score)
30 (+10 with Barbarian unarmored defense & 30 Constitution Score)
32 (Shield)
44 (12 on d12 Bard Inspiration for Defensive Flourish)
46 (Unarmed Strike for Agile Parry, Second Attack from Bard Extra Attack)
48 (Shield of Faith)
50 (Haste)
52 (Ceremony)
53 (Lycan Form)
65 (Level 15 Bard 12 on d12 Bard Inspiration for Combat Inspiration)
No Magic Items it is a total of 65. With Magic Items such as the Bracers of Defense, Defender, +3 Shield, and Ring of Protection you gain and additional 9 AC giving a total of 74
Edit: I realized the Bardic Inspiration from Combat Inspiration is a reaction so you cut out Defensive Duelist and -6 (results are above).
Well assuming the best possible situation, having a Bladesinger Wizard and a Barbarian: which would allow 10 + dex (5) + con (5) + int (5) + haste (2) + shield (5) = 32 AC. And the Bladesinger does only say that it adds your int modifier to your ac so it does stack with unarmored defence.
You would not get +5 from the shield. The master post stated no magic items.
They're referring to Shield spell. You get the unarmoured defense with but a single level of Barbarian. At level 18 wizard you can choose a 1st level (and 2nd level) spell you can cast at will. If you chose Shield then that's basically permanent +5 AC.
Given a 20 Wis, Int, Dex (rough, I know). Buffed by Haste (which you took with Magical Secrets right?).
Forget the shield spell, take Defensive Duelist and add your proficiency bonus (+6) as a reaction instead, EVERY SINGLE ROUND. forever. At no resource cost (but only against 1 attack).
Also take Dual wield and, you know dual wield those monk long swords that use dex for attack and damage.
AC = 10 + 5 (Wis) + 5 (Dex) + 5 (Int) + 2 (Agile Parry) + 1d6/1d12 (Defensive Flourish) + 2 haste + 6 (Defensive Duelist) + 1 (Dual Wielder) == AC 37-48 (depending on flourish roll) - and roll in butt-naked with a pair of long swords (which are monk weapons). To put a cherry on top, use your bonus action to dodge for 1 Ki to give them disadvantage. Good luck beating average 40+ AC with both rolls.
FWIW, not AL legal because two sourcebooks. You could do Kensai + Swords in that environment, though, for 5 less AC. This (with max roll) would put you 1 AC higher than the aforementioned bladesinger/swords bard (which is also not AL legal) - and also you have the monk's dodge.
Also: looking for something else I can stack on this in exchange maybe for bard levels. The level 14 flourish is nice so you get +1d6 AC without using up inspiration, but the whole rest of the kit comes way before level 20.
Twentieth level barbarian gets a bonus to CON effective to an increase of +2 to the ability modifier. This gives their maximum unarmored defense with 20 DEX and 24 CON a 22 AC
And a shield would bring them up to 24 AC.
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I'm just going to go all out here with the published materials assuming you want max AC for a single attack, though if you have 39 or more even the Tarrasque needs a nat 20 to hit you (Not Warforged). This is ignoring Cover or Multiattack Defense which can get crazy for a Ranger if each attack keeps hitting, but that isn't what you want. Here we go: Level 6 Cleric in Forge Domain, Level 1 Fighter, Level 3 Monk Way of the Kensei, Level 10 Bard College of Swords, Defensive Duelist, Shield of Faith, Haste, +3 Plate, +3 Shield, Defender Shortsword, Ring of Protection, and Cloak of Protection. This will assume maximum on dice rolls.
Without spells and active abilities, passive AC is
Unclear how a +3 Shield takes you from 21 to 26?
A shield gives you +2 on it's own. So if it's +3, then it's 2+3=5.
Yeah, makes sense, just wasn’t thinking clearly
Doesn't change the fact that it's using magic items, which were declared off limits in the title of the post.
This still does not come close to the 37 AC that would be put forward by the build I mentioned in post #30
"Halt your wagging and wag your halters, for I am mastercryomancer!"
Check out my Expanded Signature
I forgot the marriage bonus and lycan bonus so the max single attack defense bonus would be 58 with (+2 from Ceremony and +1 from Hybrid form) I did include the Defensive Duelist, but I considered it an active move. Without action though I am saying that you can reach 30 AC without spells or using your reaction or taking any actions. The 58 would be the maximum you can get from a single attack. You missed my above calculations.
Sorry I missed that part in the title post. Let me recalculate.
Without Magic Items it is 48, With Magic Items it is 58.
Using your method, let's start with a Warforged
Yep, Warforged makes it much higher, but I presumed Forgotten Realms, also you can one more out of the Lycan form (assuming you can be a Lycan Warforged) remember so you would have 52 with Warforged. Still, we wouldn't need higher than 39 to become nigh on invincible to the Tarrasque bar crits.
With Epic Boons stats can go all the way to 30.
But, if we assume those aren't in play, then you could go with 17 levels of Bladesinger using shapechange. We assume 20 INT. Marilith has a base AC of 18, so for a Bladesinger that's 23. When an attack is incoming, cast shield. That's 28. Mariliths are reactive, so the next attack after that made on a different turn can get the benefit of a 12 from a College of Valor inspiration die, bringing us to 40. Haste and shield of faith add +2 each, bringing it to 44. Ceremony gets us to 46. Dual Wielder gets another +1, bringing us to 47. Three levels of College of Swords gets us defensive flourish, for an extra 6, bringing us to 53.
Your game stats are replaced by the Marilith so you would not get your bladesinging actions nor your bardic inspiration or Duel Wielder. However, if we do add a Level 15 Bard College of Valor to buff you my maximum goes up.
Without Magic items that means we get 54 and with magic items we get 64.
Edit: I realized the Bardic Inspiration from Combat Inspiration is a reaction so you cut out Defensive Duelist and -6 (results are above).
If we consider the epic boon stats then things change because a Monk or Barbarian gets a higher AC. Let's now go with a Level 15 Bard College of Swords and level 3 Monk Way of the Kensei, Level 2 Barbarian
No Magic Items it is a total of 65. With Magic Items such as the Bracers of Defense, Defender, +3 Shield, and Ring of Protection you gain and additional 9 AC giving a total of 74
Edit: I realized the Bardic Inspiration from Combat Inspiration is a reaction so you cut out Defensive Duelist and -6 (results are above).
Well assuming the best possible situation, having a Bladesinger Wizard and a Barbarian: which would allow 10 + dex (5) + con (5) + int (5) + haste (2) + shield (5) = 32 AC. And the Bladesinger does only say that it adds your int modifier to your ac so it does stack with unarmored defence.
You would not get +5 from the shield. The master post stated no magic items.
They're referring to Shield spell. You get the unarmoured defense with but a single level of Barbarian. At level 18 wizard you can choose a 1st level (and 2nd level) spell you can cast at will. If you chose Shield then that's basically permanent +5 AC.
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Ah thanks for the clarification. The original post was not clear where the numbers came from.
Kensai Monk-3, Bladedancer-2, Swords Bard-15:
Given a 20 Wis, Int, Dex (rough, I know). Buffed by Haste (which you took with Magical Secrets right?).
Forget the shield spell, take Defensive Duelist and add your proficiency bonus (+6) as a reaction instead, EVERY SINGLE ROUND. forever. At no resource cost (but only against 1 attack).
Also take Dual wield and, you know dual wield those monk long swords that use dex for attack and damage.
AC = 10 + 5 (Wis) + 5 (Dex) + 5 (Int) + 2 (Agile Parry) + 1d6/1d12 (Defensive Flourish) + 2 haste + 6 (Defensive Duelist) + 1 (Dual Wielder) == AC 37-48 (depending on flourish roll) - and roll in butt-naked with a pair of long swords (which are monk weapons). To put a cherry on top, use your bonus action to dodge for 1 Ki to give them disadvantage. Good luck beating average 40+ AC with both rolls.
FWIW, not AL legal because two sourcebooks. You could do Kensai + Swords in that environment, though, for 5 less AC. This (with max roll) would put you 1 AC higher than the aforementioned bladesinger/swords bard (which is also not AL legal) - and also you have the monk's dodge.
Also: looking for something else I can stack on this in exchange maybe for bard levels. The level 14 flourish is nice so you get +1d6 AC without using up inspiration, but the whole rest of the kit comes way before level 20.