Core Druid: monks belt vs. wild armor

[Hiro Quester]

Playing a forest gnome druid with 8 strength. Just got to 5th level (wildshape finally!). Never played a druid before.

We just defeated a monk with a monk's belt. We split treasure by buying from the party items we find, at the reduced price we could sell them for.

Is a monk's belt (half price) better than saving for wild armor and shield?

With an 8 strength, I'm pretty much limited to leather armor (+1 leather right now). The ACP and encumbrance hurts with heavier armor. Eventually a dragon hide breastplate, perhaps.

A monks belt gives wisdom bonus +1 to AC (currently +6 then), no ACP, applies to touch AC, and when flat footed. We don't have wilding clasps, but belt can be retied to apply to wildshape forms.

My character mostly does battlefield control and buffing (and healer, mostly out of combat). But being a small gnome, now he can wildshape he's going to enjoy being a physically powerful bear or crocodile, and will want to step up and beat things once those jobs are done. And might stay in wildshape when he gets natural spell.

But wild armor and animated or wild shield can carry further enhancements. The overall AC could be higher with enhanced wild armor. But expensive.nand heavy. And carrying an armor check penalty, which eill hurt when not in wildshape.

The monk's belt's benefits of no ACP, no max dex, no weight, etc seem better.

And I suppose that I could buy our mage a wand of mage armor to cast on me, too. That would not count as wearing armor, that would deactivate the belt's bonus to AC right?

Plus the monk's belt makes my unarmed damage a d8. Bonus!

Is a monk's belt really as good as it seems?

[Urpriest]

Monk's belt is pretty good, but keep in mind it will merge with your form when you wild shape without either an additional item (like a Wilding Clasp) or a ruling from your DM that your allies can put the belt on you after you change shape. Didn't notice you addressed that in your post.

I'd say go for the belt now. You'll still want Wild Armor later, but it's expensive, and you probably won't get it soon. The two are arguably compatible, since you're just gaining the armor bonus from Wild Armor when you're Wild Shaped and not actually wearing the armor.

And yes, Mage Armor is compatible with the Monk's Belt.

[sleepyphoenixx]

If you're good you can also cast (Greater) Luminous Armor for your armor AC instead of Mage Armor. Monk's Belt stacks with that where armor doesn't.
A Monk's Belt also costs less than half of a Wild armor & shield combo, even with a Wilding Clasp (if you can get one).

In the end AC isn't that important, so i wouldn't want to spend too much of your wealth on it. The less you spend on getting your AC to "acceptable", the more you can spend on more interesting stuff like Metamagic Rods, Beads of Karma, Mantle of the Beast... and a Monk's Belt is usually enough for that, especially if you factor in the natural armor bonus most wild shapes get and that you'll be boosting your Wis anyway as you level, where better armor would just eat up more money.

If you want special armor abilities you can put those on Bracers of Armor +1 for the same price, so that shouldn't be a problem.

[Urpriest]

If you're good you can also cast (Greater) Luminous Armor for your armor AC instead of Mage Armor. Monk's Belt stacks with that where armor doesn't.
A Monk's Belt also costs less than half of a Wild armor & shield combo, even with a Wilding Clasp (if you can get one).

In the end AC isn't that important, so i wouldn't want to spend too much of your wealth on it. The less you spend on getting your AC to "acceptable", the more you can spend on more interesting stuff like Metamagic Rods, Beads of Karma, Mantle of the Beast... and a Monk's Belt is usually enough for that, especially if you factor in the natural armor bonus most wild shapes get and that you'll be boosting your Wis anyway as you level, where better armor would just eat up more money.

If you want special armor abilities you can put those on Bracers of Armor +1 for the same price, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Luminous Armor line and putting special abilities on Bracers of Armor aren't possible in Core-only.

[Hiro Quester]

Thanks, everyone. Monks belt it is.


Luminous Armor line and putting special abilities on Bracers of Armor aren't possible in Core-only.

This idea had me excited for a second. You can add armor enhancements (like fortification) to bracers in non-core? What books explain that? (We are mostly core. But reasonable requests might be entertained, if they are not too splat-book- ish.)

[Vhaidara]

This idea had me excited for a second. You can add armor enhancements (like fortification) to bracers in non-core? What books explain that? (We are mostly core. But reasonable requests might be entertained, if they are not too splat-book- ish.)

Arms and Equipment Guide. Might have been reprinted in the Magic Item Compendium.

[Snowbluff]

Monk's Belt, because you can cast Luminous Armor.

[ericgrau]

Or yes you can stack a mage armor with your monk's belt since this core.

[eggynack]

The only real benefit to the wild armor in this scenario is the special abilities thing, and there's nothing that's really all that great. Moreover, what is available would increase the price even further, pushing it way beyond acceptable limits both now and in the foreseeable future. There's no particularly good reason to swap out, especially because you're getting a discount.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Wild armor/shields have absolutely no effect except granting you an AC bonus when you wild shape. You do not retain its armor check penalty, its max dex bonus, speed if medium or heavy, and you're no longer counted as wearing armor when considering feats like Efficient Defender, because the only thing you keep is the AC bonus. If you're wearing wild armor/shield and you're wild shaped, you'll still benefit fully from a Monk's Belt.

[Hiro Quester]

Thanks, all.

No luminous armor (we're core(ish) and I'm neutral). But mage armor, since it will stack.

And thanks, Biff. I didn't notice that it's only the armor bonus and enhancement bonuses that stick in wildshape when in wildshape. That makes wild armor even less appealing. But the fact that ACP, Max Dex etc. don't apply is also worth noting.

The Monk's belt it is.