How does your wizard subclass get a higher AC without any starting armor proficiencies? - Wizard - Class Forums - D&D Beyond Forums (2024)

Looking through the official 5e sources there isn't a single wizard subclass that starts with any armor proficiencies. This is a major setback for any class or subclass but doubly so for the wizard as it's one of the few that also has a d6 hit die. With all the benefits that a high INT, or even/also CON grants you there isn't much left over for DEX, maybe you can start with a +2 bonus so your base AC of 10 would get that +2 and you would have a total AC of 12. This is one of the main reasons wizards are considered squishy by some.

How do my fellow wizards offset this, or try to overcome it? What things such as race, feats... even backgrounds... or magical items (if you're lucky enough to find the specific ones that can help in this situation) do you use or think would help? It could even be a combination of things. In one game I'm currently playing I choose tortle for my race and managed to find some bracers of defense.

Strixhaven background, giving the strixhaven initiate feat. A couple versions give you a 1st level wizard spell 1/day for free. I picked mage armor. So I have a no slot use of mage armor every day, and can also cast with a slot if needed. Add in shield and I’m good. And then there’s misty step to get away, or shocking grasp.

As for subclasses, bladesinger doesn’t give armor proficiency, but it definitely boosts your AC. At least temporarily.

For items, elven chain is great. Can’t combine it with mage armor, but still a great item.

Mage armor and cover whenever possible. I tend not to take shield until at least 5th level since reliance on it at lower levels usually means not casting anything else but cantrips the rest of the day.

Legacy Hobgoblin. Grab the party rogue’s hand-me-down armors whenever they upgrade. Oh, and cover.
Tortle. ‘Nuff said. And don’t forget cover.

Cloak of protection / ring of protection and/or bracers of defense are great ifyou can get them. Especially when behind cover.

Mountain dwarf and a legacy version of githyanki start with armor prof. Or, some people take one level in cleric and then switch to wizard for armor. There is also elven chain.

War wizard (a reaction so does not stack with shield) and bladesinger have a bit of an AC boost.

Or, cast mage armor. Shield can help in battle and silvery barbs can help if someone gets a crit on you and you wnat the to reroll (it has other uses). Blur and mirror image can help vs attacks too.

There is also a half feat (lightly armored) that gives you light armor prof. I've never taken it.

There are plenty of ways to get some AC on a wizard. The obvious method is to use the wizard's built-in methods like mage armour, mirror image, and shield. Bladesingers get light armour proficiency and can add their Int modifier to their AC during their bladesong. War Magic wizardsalsoget Arcane Deflection andDurable Magic which each +2 AC when active.

If you want armour proficiency, there are a few ways you could get it. You could use a feat to get light armour proficiency, and another to get medium armour proficiency. IMO this feels like a waste of feats, but it's still doable. You could also multiclass into a class that gives you armour proficiency, such as fighter. Artificer is a particularly interesting class that can give you armour proficiency with minimal sacrifice to your spellcasting capabilities. Artificer gives you a larger pool of prepared spells with a couple of extra cantrips, and a single level doesn't slow your spell slot growth. You could also play a Mountain Dwarf because they get free light and medium armour proficiency.

If you want something else to give you AC, you can grab a race that has natural armour. As mentioned, Tortles have a flat 17 AC, which can be nice if you want to bump your constitutioninstead instead of dexterity. You could also play a race like Lizardfolk or Autognome that give you 13+dex ac, which is basically passive mage armour.Simic Hybrid and Warforged give +1 to your AC, which can be a nice little bump if you're using mage armour or armour proficiency. There's also the Loxodon, which has 12+Con AC, which is another race that encourages you to bump constitution instead of dexterity.

Hmm... I like the idea of a Loxodon Wizard! As you said you can prioritize CON over DEX (both are helpful for a wizard but you can't always get high numbers in both) but you also get the fun of playing an exotic and seldom used race.

I'm going to get to work on my next character, lol. Thank you for the inspiration!

Quote from Brian_Avery >>

Hmm... I like the idea of a Loxodon Wizard! As you said you can prioritize CON over DEX (both are helpful for a wizard but you can't always get high numbers in both) but you also get the fun of playing an exotic and seldom used race.

I'm going to get to work on my next character, lol. Thank you for the inspiration!

You're welcome. Yeah, I tried Loxodon as a wizard and Sorc in short campaigns or one shots. At high levels, when you have magic items in both hands (arcane grimoire, warcaster's wand, etc), but want a hand free for spellcasting, the trunk is helpful.Loxodon Serenity and natural armor are helpful.Keen Smell is helpful only if the DM works with you but he may make you have two seperate perception rolls.Powerful Build is helpful if you have really low strength and still want to carry a bunch of stuff. I never used the trunk as a snorkle or for grappling (this one doesn't make sense to me anyway since its not as strong as your arms).

Lately, I've been experimenting with reborn and flying races.

Rule 1: stay out of range as much as possible :)

And whenever possible, at the end of your turn, take cover or dodge.

Invest in DEX.

And invisibility, blur, displacement, misty step.

And all the other things mentioned

My wizard is actually a tank for the group. We are lvl 13 tho.

He’s a bladesinging symic hybrid. Without the campaign benefits, magic items and spells he has a base AC of 15. This is built up from studded leather armor + 2 dex and + 1 from the symic hybrid carapace. When Bladesong is active I get +4, so that puts me on AC 19.

For mitigating damage I can use shield, getting an AC of 24 untill my next turn. Or I use Absorb Elements or Song of Defense. All these methods take spell slots every round, so the downside is that your defense is temporary.

In our campaign I gained the Cloak of Protection but also a mutation on my carapache which has given me an extra +1 AC. My base AC is therefor 17, with bladesong 21(!) and with shield 26(!!!). I could buff it by losing the studded leather and cast Mage Armour. However that would be again a loss of a spell slot with just a bonus of 1 to AC currently. So I have chosen to just use the leather armor until I can raise the dexterity.

Quote from Brian_Avery >>

Looking through the official 5e sources there isn't a single wizard subclass that starts with any armor proficiencies.

Quote from Xalthu >>

As for subclasses, bladesinger doesn’t give armor proficiency, but it definitely boosts your AC. At least temporarily.

From Bladesinging, with emphasis by me:

Training in War and Song

2nd-level Bladesinging feature

You gain proficiency with light armor, and you gain proficiency with one type of one-handed melee weapon of your choice.

You also gain proficiency in thePerformanceskill if you don’t already have it.

I tend to prioritize dex over con for a variety of reasons. I always start with a +3 bonus. Mage armor if I choose to take it brings it up by another three. shield spell can punch it over 20 for short periods when necessary.

As pointed out though, bladesinger gives you light armor. Dwarf gives you medium armor. Legacy Hobgoblin gives you light armor. Legacy Githyanki gives you light and medium armor