armor replacement spells - Quick Reference

[odigity]

Noobish, trying to wrap my head around all the options for using magic routinely in place of armor and shields (for my sorcerer/monk who has divine caster friends). Though I'd post my notes here for others to benefit from, since I didn't find anything like it so far.

{table=head]Spell|Level|Comp|Casting|Range/Target|Duration|Effect

Barkskin|Drd/Rgr 2|V,S,DF|Standard|Touch|10 min/lvl|+2 +1/3 lvls above 3rd (max +5 @ 12th) to NA [enhancement]

Dragonskin|Sor/Wiz 3|S,M|Standard|Personal|10 min/lvl|+1/2 lvls (max +5 @ 10th) to NA [enhancement]; energy resistance 10 (one type); +1 CL if sorcerer

Golden Dragonmail|Sor/Wiz 3|V,S,F|Standard|Personal|1 hr/lvl|+1 mithral full plate; fire resistance 10 if sorcerer

Mage Armor|Sor/Wiz 1|V,S,F|Standard|Touch|1 hr/lvl|+4 armor bonus [force]

Mage Armor, Greater|Sor/Wiz 3|V,S|Standard|Touch|1 hr/lvl|+6 armor bonus [force]

Mage Armor, Improved|Sor/Wiz 3|V,S,M|Standard|Touch|1 min/lvl|+3 +1/2 lvls (max +8 @ 10th) armor bonus [force]

Magic Vestment|Clr 3|V,S,DF|Standard|Touch|1 hr/lvl|+1/4 lvls (max +5 @ 20th) to armor [en]

Mailed Might of the Magelords|Sor/Wiz 5|V,S,M|Standard|Touch|1 min/lvl|+8 armor bonus [force]; DR5/magic; immune to <=2nd lvl Force spells

Shield|Sor/Wiz 1|V,S|Standard|Personal|1 min/lvl|+4 shield bonus [force]; negates magic missle

Shield of Faith|Clr 1|V,S,M|Standard|Touch|1 min/lvl|+2 +1/6 lvls (max +5 @ 18th) deflection bonus

Silver Dragonmail|Sor/Wiz 2|V,S,F|Standard|Personal|1 hr/lvl|+1 mithral breastplate; fire resistance 5 (if sorcerer)

[/table]

{table=head]CL|Barkskin|Dragonskin|Golden|Mage Armor|Mage Armor, G|Mage Armor, I|Mage Vestment|Mailed Might|Shield|Sh of Fth|Silver

1|-|-|-|+4 armor [fo]|-|-|-|-|+4 shield [fo]|+2 def|-

2|-|-|-|+4 armor [fo]|-|-|-|-|+4 shield [fo]|+2 def|-

3|+2 NA [en]|-|-|+4 armor [fo]|-|-|-|-|+4 shield [fo]|+2 def|+6 armor

4|+2 NA [en]|-|-|+4 armor [fo]|-|-|-|-|+4 shield [fo]|+2 def|+6 armor

5|+2 NA [en]|+2 NA [en], 10ER|+9 armor|+4 armor [fo]|+6 armor [fo]|+5 armor [fo]|+1 armor [en]|-|+4 shield [fo]|+2 def|+6 armor

6|+3 NA [en]|+3 NA [en], 10ER|+9 armor|+4 armor [fo]|+6 armor [fo]|+6 armor [fo]|+1 armor [en]|-|+4 shield [fo]|+3 def|+6 armor

7|+3 NA [en]|+3 NA [en], 10ER|+9 armor|+4 armor [fo]|+6 armor [fo]|+6 armor [fo]|+1 armor [en]|-|+4 shield [fo]|+3 def|+6 armor

8|+3 NA [en]|+4 NA [en], 10ER|+9 armor|+4 armor [fo]|+6 armor [fo]|+7 armor [fo]|+2 armor [en]|-|+4 shield [fo]|+3 def|+6 armor

9|+4 NA [en]|+4 NA [en], 10ER|+9 armor|+4 armor [fo]|+6 armor [fo]|+7 armor [fo]|+2 armor [en]|+8 armor [fo]|+4 shield [fo]|+3 def|+6 armor

10|+4 NA [en]|+5 NA [en], 20ER|+9 armor|+4 armor [fo]|+6 armor [fo]|+8 armor [fo]|+2 armor [en]|+8 armor [fo]|+4 shield [fo]|+3 def|+6 armor

11|+4 NA [en]|+5 NA [en], 20ER|+9 armor|+4 armor [fo]|+6 armor [fo]|+8 armor [fo]|+2 armor [en]|+8 armor [fo]|+4 shield [fo]|+3 def|+6 armor

12|+5 NA [en]|+5 NA [en], 20ER|+9 armor|+4 armor [fo]|+6 armor [fo]|+8 armor [fo]|+3 armor [en]|+8 armor [fo]|+4 shield [fo]|+4 def|+6 armor

13|+5 NA [en]|+5 NA [en], 20ER|+9 armor|+4 armor [fo]|+6 armor [fo]|+8 armor [fo]|+3 armor [en]|+8 armor [fo]|+4 shield [fo]|+4 def|+6 armor

14|+5 NA [en]|+5 NA [en], 20ER|+9 armor|+4 armor [fo]|+6 armor [fo]|+8 armor [fo]|+3 armor [en]|+8 armor [fo]|+4 shield [fo]|+4 def|+6 armor

15|+5 NA [en]|+5 NA [en], 20ER|+9 armor|+4 armor [fo]|+6 armor [fo]|+8 armor [fo]|+3 armor [en]|+8 armor [fo]|+4 shield [fo]|+4 def|+6 armor

16|+5 NA [en]|+5 NA [en], 20ER|+9 armor|+4 armor [fo]|+6 armor [fo]|+8 armor [fo]|+4 armor [en]|+8 armor [fo]|+4 shield [fo]|+4 def|+6 armor

17|+5 NA [en]|+5 NA [en], 20ER|+9 armor|+4 armor [fo]|+6 armor [fo]|+8 armor [fo]|+4 armor [en]|+8 armor [fo]|+4 shield [fo]|+4 def|+6 armor

18|+5 NA [en]|+5 NA [en], 20ER|+9 armor|+4 armor [fo]|+6 armor [fo]|+8 armor [fo]|+4 armor [en]|+8 armor [fo]|+4 shield [fo]|+5 def|+6 armor

19|+5 NA [en]|+5 NA [en], 20ER|+9 armor|+4 armor [fo]|+6 armor [fo]|+8 armor [fo]|+4 armor [en]|+8 armor [fo]|+4 shield [fo]|+5 def|+6 armor

20|+5 NA [en]|+5 NA [en], 20ER|+9 armor|+4 armor [fo]|+6 armor [fo]|+8 armor [fo]|+5 armor [en]|+8 armor [fo]|+4 shield [fo]|+5 def|+6 armor

[/table]

Questions:

Since Mage Armor gives you armor, and Magic Vestment gives you a bonus to armor, and the skins give you a bonus to natural armor, and Shield gives you a shield, all four should stack, right?

Still trying to sort out exactly how everything works... for example, armor and shields give you a bonus to AC, and when magical can be made of force (instead of mass like mundane equipment), in which case it protects you against incorporeal attacks. Natural armor is the third base "armor" category which gives you a bonus to AC. Everything else is a bonus that applies to your armor, shield, or natural armor bonus to AC, or a bonus directly to your AC (like Dodge) - and that's when you have to figure the types for resolving stacking.

Does force armor/shield also protect against touch attacks, or only deflection and dodge bonuses?

So, as an ideal routine, I'd cast Mage Armor on myself (probably 2/day), get my divine caster friends to cast Magic Vestment on me, and immediately before or at the beginning of combat (when the opportunity exists), cast Shield and/or a Skin spell.

[Emperor Tippy]

You can't cast Magic Vestment onto Mage Armor as MV has "armor or shield touched" as it's target and MA doesn't provide an armor or shield.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and Mailed Might of the Magelords (Lost Empires of Faerun page 32) is +8 armor, immunity to level 2 or lower spells with the force descriptor, and gives DR/5 magic.

Unfortunately it's only 1 minute/level.

[Jeraa]

Mage Armor and Greater mage armor won't stack with each other (both are armor bonuses).
Barkskin and Dragonskin won't stack with each other (both provide an enhancement bonus to natural armor).

Magic Vestment can not be used on Mage Armor (or the Shield spell). You must cast it on actual armor/shield, or normal clothes. If cast on normal clothes, those clothes effectively become magical armor (As they now provide an armor bonus), and so don't stack with Mage Armor.

When using spells, your best option isn't to raise your AC. Its miss chances. Why bother with boosting your AC when a single Displacement can negate 50% of all attacks against you (normal, and touch attacks)? Sure, AC is nice against the attacks that get through, but miss chances should be your primary focus. +8 to your AC is worthless when the monsters can still hit you when rolling a 2, while miss chances are always useful (Assuming the monster doesn't have a way to negate them).

[Rhatahema]

You might take a look at this thread: How to shove it to beatsticks - a caster resouce for not getting hit (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=331)

Champions of Valor has silver dragonmail and golden dragonmail. Unapproachable East has improved mage armor.

[odigity]

I didn't mean to suggest casting Magic Vestment on your Mage Armor, I was envisioning casting it on your clothes (the spell description allows it) in addition to casting Mage Armor on yourself.

[Rhatahema]

I think Jeraa's point was that an enhancement bonus is subsumed into either an armor bonus or a shield bonus. So if you apply a +1 enhancement bonus to a shirt through magic vestment, that shirt grants you a +1 armor bonus to armor class, not a floating enhancement bonus.

[Ernir]

This thread is in dire need of someone mentioning (Greater) Luminous Armor, from the Book of Exalted Deeds.

[Jeraa]

I think Jeraa's point was that an enhancement bonus is subsumed into either an armor bonus or a shield bonus. So if you apply a +1 enhancement bonus to a shirt through magic vestment, that shirt grants you a +1 armor bonus to armor class, not a floating enhancement bonus.

That is what I meant. When you apply an enhancement bonus to a suit of armor or a shield, that enhancement bonus increases the already existing armor or shield bonus. Its not its own separate bonus. For the purposes of Magic Vestment, normal clothing is considered armor with a +0 armor bonus to AC. So if magic vestment applied a +1 bonus, that improves normal clothings +0 armor bonus to +1 armor bonus.

[odigity]

I think Jeraa's point was that an enhancement bonus is subsumed into either an armor bonus or a shield bonus. So if you apply a +1 enhancement bonus to a shirt through magic vestment, that shirt grants you a +1 armor bonus to armor class, not a floating enhancement bonus.

Ah, I see - thanks for the clarification - and the link.

And I agree that miss chances are more important. However, the point of this thread was specifically to analyze options for AC. I'm working on miss chances, SR, saves, etc as separate studies. Have to compartmentalize or I'll go insane with all the information. :)

[Emperor Tippy]

This thread is in dire need of someone mentioning (Greater) Luminous Armor, from the Book of Exalted Deeds.

The only benefit it offers over Mailed Might of the Magelords is duration, and that comes at the cost of being a sanctified spell with a 1d3 strength sacrifice component.

[Starbuck_II]

The only benefit it offers over Mailed Might of the Magelords is duration, and that comes at the cost of being a sanctified spell with a 1d3 strength sacrifice component.

You pay at the end of those spells duration not when casting. So it is dealt with right before you sleeping usually.
Plus, the secondary benefit of -X to their hit rate vs you.

[odigity]

Updated the OP with Golden/Silver Dragonmail and Mailed Might of the Magelords. Thanks for the all clarifcations and suggestions - hope this is useful to others.

Still consfused about the touch AC thing - does force armor help? Or just dodge/deflection/Dex?

[Voyager_I]

I don't believe Barkskin and and Dragonskin will stack. They provide the same bonus (Enhancement) to the same type of armor (Natural), meaning only the highest applies. Since your character can't actually cast Barkskin for themselves, that's just one less thing to bug the Druid about.

Mage Armor and Greater Mage Armor similarly won't stack, as they both provide an ordinary armor bonus. The Greater Mage Armor would take priority, as it has the stronger effect.

Magic Vestment wouldn't stack with either of them, although the logic is a little tricky. It provides an enhancement bonus to the armor or shield touched. An enhancement bonus increases the AC bonus of the affected item without changing that type. For example, a +2 Chain Shirt provides a +6 Armor bonus, not a +4 Armor and a +2 Enhancement.

You can't put Magic Vestment on Mage Armor, because Mage Armor doesn't actually provide a tangible piece of armor to enhance. You could cast it on your shirt, but enhancing the shirt doesn't give you some kind of floating bonus; it causes the shirt to provide an Armor bonus. Because Mage Armor also provides an Armor bonus, the two of them wouldn't be able to stack.


So, in grand total, out of the spells listed, the best result you could achieve would be casting Dragonskin (provides an Enhancement bonus to your Natural Armor), Greater Mage Armor (provides an Armor bonus), and Shield (provides a Shield bonus), for a total of +15. Another easy source of AC would be a Deflection bonus, which comes from common items such as a Ring of Protection or the Divine spell Shield of Faith.

[odigity]

Magic Vestment wouldn't stack with either of them...

Magic Vestment would stack with Bark/Dragon-Skin, because armor bonus stacks with natural armor bonus.


So, in grand total, out of the spells listed, the best result you could achieve would be casting Dragonskin (provides an Enhancement bonus to your Natural Armor), Greater Mage Armor (provides an Armor bonus), and Shield (provides a Shield bonus), for a total of +15. Another easy source of AC would be a Deflection bonus, which comes from common items such as a Ring of Protection or the Divine spell Shield of Faith.

I'll go add Shield of Faith, might as well get the deflection spells in there, too.

So, to summarize, starting with a base AC of 10, choose 0-1 options from each category:

{table=head]AC Bonus Type|Options

Armor|physical armor (real or * Dragonmail), Mage Armor *, Mailed Might of the Dragonlords

-> Enhancement bonus to Armor* bonus|on physical armor (including clothing) only: crafted enchantment, Magic Vestment

Deflection|various magic items, Shield of Faith

Dexterity|your Dex modified

Dodge|various magic items, Dodge feat

Natural Armor|your epidermis

-> Enhancement bonus to Natural Armor bonus|various magic items, Barkskin, Dragonskin

Shield|a physical shield, Shield

-> Enhancement bonus to Shield* bonus|on physical shields only: crafted enchantment, Magic Vestment

[/table]

* enhancement applied to armor/shield if you have one, otherwise a clothing item (as in the case of Bracers of Armor)

There's probably also various insight, luck, sacred, etc bonuses that I've seen all over the place, but I haven't compiled notes on that yet.

PS-Just noticed you could put an armor crystal on Bracers of Armor. Woo hoo!

[Voyager_I]

Magic Vestment would stack with Bark/Dragon-Skin, because armor bonus stacks with natural armor bonus.

Yes. I was referring to the two variants of Mage Armor, but I didn't state it clearly.


So, to summarize, starting with a base AC of 10, choose 0-1 options from each category:

Dodge bonuses stack unless they specifically state otherwise, or you've managed to get multiple instances of a specific source.

[odigity]

Dodge bonuses stack unless they specifically state otherwise, or you've managed to get multiple instances of a specific source.

And I knew that, it's just daunting to keep remembering to document all the special cases! :)

Also, from the thread Rhatahema linked to:

Repelling Shield [CM.115] Sor/Wiz 3, V,S, Standard, Personal, 1 min/lvl - as Shield spell + foe pushed 5' away after successful melee attack (Ref negates)

AMAZING! Does that generate an AoO from you, since it's not a 5' step (it should be the equivalent to the movement resulting from a bull rush, no?), and you're not personally pushing him (the spell is)?