how important is ac and is ac 20 important

[Night Eternal]

Hi

im an lvl 4 ek

okay after much deliberation and research I have centered a character around defense. I have defense style which gives an ac +1. My dex is 18 with a mod of 4 and im working on getting studded leather. Trying to talk my dm into it. ( I have leather right now) so if I do that puts me at 12+4+1=17 and if I add my shield it brings it to 19.

should I use the asi at lvl 6 to lvl the dex to 20 so get 20 ac. or Can that way to later lvls I have the shield spell I don't know if that factors in. all of my cantrips are close combat

[kaoskonfety]

AC 19 is quite respectable and should serve you rather well. Between that, fighter HP, a decent Con score and EK spell tricks, survival should not be an issue in your Day to day.

Whether to get the dex to 20 is a more complex question as it will boost both your defense and offence (I assume you are a Dex warrior?), you will hit more and harder - and shortening fights is also good for your defense. This would be contrasted with say +2 Con or one of several decent feat choices I assume?

In a vacuum I'd probably grab the Dex "and be done with it" first and look into cool tricks with your next few ASI's to cover off any weaknesses you are encountering.

[NewDM]

If you take Shield then you don't need to go further on AC. You can use shield when something would hit you (AC 19 to 23) and turn it into a miss. It won't happen often til mid to high levels.

I have a Blade Singer that does nearly the same thing.

[JNAProductions]

Spell slots are highly limited.

[GWJ_DanyBoy]

Whether to get the dex to 20 is a more complex question as it will boost both your defense and offence (I assume you are a Dex warrior?), you will hit more and harder - and shortening fights is also good for your defense.

This. Why not max your primary stat? Better saves, attacks, initiative and defense. It's got a lot going for it. I personally would only delay it if you really want a specific feat to make your build sing in it's party role, like Sharpshooter, crossbow expert, shield master, sentinel or warcaster. And even then, it would become the next thing on my to-do list.

[Zman]

Assuming you are a Dex Based Fighter and using a finesse weapon making Dex your primary stat, I'd definitely pick up the +2 Dex as soon as you can. Now, whether you want say +2 Dex or Warcaster, that is trickier. Also, given your level you should be able to purchase Studded Leather, it isn't a very rare armor and should be on many NPCs you encounter.

As 5e has bounded accuracy AC does indeed matter more for the life of a character, unlike previous editions. Being that it is bounded accuracy each additional increase to AC becomes even more valuable.

Being relatively low level and having AC20 is awesome, having the shield spell at the ready(requires warcaster as you have sword and board and no free hand) you'll be able to hit AC25 when needed. That is simply pretty awesome.

[Foxhound438]

if you want to spend some early ASI's on upping your casting stat early, you (maybe) can get half plate to have 19 AC, wear that until later on when you have ASI's free and you can then max out dex and switch to studded leather for the lower weight and no disadvantage on stealth.

[Gtdead]

Thing with AC is that it is subtle. It's easy to think that 1 AC is abysmal, but it has a huge impact on averages. Of course in the end of the day it's a d20 roll, and all sorts of wrong can happen, like maximizing your AC and still take 3 natural 20s in a row, but generally speaking, it's super important for any character that will spend some time in the front line. Also defensive bonuses have great synergy. They aren't linear. The more you have the better they stack.

In most battles, Shield spell is going to be more than enough for your defensive needs. However, once the fights shift from swarms to strong bosses, one or two extra turns means life or death. (Of course this is DM dependant, but it's usually safe to assume that bosses will have better saves and dpr, so most of the time, someone will have to stop that damage with his face, unless the wizard rolls something nice on his save-or-lose spell.

Personally with a dex fighter, I'd try to go for medium armor master. Possibly shield master too.