Highest AC at lvl 1

[Setharious]

So lets start with some rules.

1. No Unearthed Arcana.

2. Use Point Buy.

3. You have a starting gold of 100.

4. The AC has to be constant, so things like the Defensive Duelist feat, transformations or any other form of temporary magic do not count.

5. You are a variant human or another race without natural armor. So no Tortles or warforges. (Though if you want to mention a natural armor race too, go for it! It just isn't what I am looking for right now, but I would still like to see the different builds!)

6. No disadvantage on stealth. We want high AC without sacrificing too much of our stealthiness.

The best I have come up with is medium armor master, scale male with 16 dex, fighter with the defense fighting style, and a shield for an AC of 20 if I counted correctly.

Runners up were defense fighting style fighter, 16 dex studded leather and a shield, 18, and 16 dex 16 con barbarian with a shield, for also 18.

Show me all your tankiest builds! I am very curious to see what everyone comes up with.

[Man_Over_Game]

If Mage Armor is on the table (lasts 8 hours), Magic Initiate on something like a Fighter would net you 17 AC plus a shield.

[stoutstien]

V human Forge cleric. 22 AC with shield of Faith up.

[jas61292]

Not an ideal all around build, but if you are Human or a race like Stout Halfling, you could start with 16s in Dex and Con, go Barbarian, use your unarmored defense and pick up a shield for a starting AC of 18. Leaves you with a Maximum of 15 Str (if you dump everything else), unless you are a normal Human (which could start with 16/16/16/9/9/9), which is not typically ideal for a barbarian, but if you don't care too much about optimizing other stuff, or feel ok playing a less offensive Dex barbarian, it can work.

Not necessarily thre highest option, but probably tankier than most due to barbarian and Con focus.

Alternatively, you could do the variant human medium armor master with shield and 16 Dex for 19 AC, which also lets you actually invest in Str. Though I personally prefer maxing out Con for a tank.

[Man_Over_Game]

V human Forge cleric. 22 AC with shield of Faith up.

Erm:


4. The AC has to be constant, so things like the Defensive Duelist feat, transformations or any other form of temporary magic do not count.

And:


Duration: Conc. Up to 10 minutes

[stoutstien]

Still has 20 AC prior to SoF 😀. Unless blessings of the forge is concerned temporary.

[JNAProductions]

Mage Armor: 13 Base
16 Dex: +3
Shield (the item, not the spell): +2
Defensive Fighting Style (iffy-does your DM count Mage Armor as armor? Or can you wear leather armor underneath it to gain the effects with it?): +1
Total AC: 19

The main issue is that, to my knowledge, the only way to gain Mage Armor and the Defensive Fighting Style is being a Fighter with Magic Initiate. So it only lasts 8 hours a day, which run afoul of the "Permanent" clause in the OP.

If that's too short, then probably 18 is your best-Studded Leather gets you 12, +3 for Dex, +2 for Shield, +1 for Defensive.


Still has 20 AC prior to SoF 😀. Unless blessings of the forge is concerned temporary.

100 GP spending limit. And no Stealth disadvantage.

[Setharious]

I don't really count 8 hours as temporary. I just didn't want sudden bursts of AC that I had to constantly keep track of. Mage Armor is a pretty 'set it and forget it' kind of thing, so it is perfectly viable in my opinion!

[JNAProductions]

I don't really count 8 hours as temporary. I just didn't want sudden bursts of AC that I had to constantly keep track of. Mage Armor is a pretty 'set it and forget it' kind of thing, so it is perfectly viable in my opinion!

So get your DM's ruling on Mage Armor (plus/minus armor underneath it) and Defensive Fighting Style.

[stoutstien]

Scale mail+ medium armor master+ blessings of forge+ shield is 20 AC unless I missed something.

[JNAProductions]

Fair. Didn't realize how you were getting that AC.

Edit: Though it does require taking MAM, which is just icky. :P

[stoutstien]

Fair. Didn't realize how you were getting that AC.

Edit: Though it does require taking MAM, which is just icky. :P

Lots of parameters from OP so I figured it would be worth it. To bad still no fighting style feat in print yet.

[JNAProductions]

Lots of parameters from OP so I figured it would be worth it. To bad still no fighting style feat in print yet.

It wouldn't affect the AC anyway. You gain a point from Defensive, but lose one from MAM. Could let you drop Dex, but then you have Stealth disadvantage...

[stoutstien]

It wouldn't affect the AC anyway. You gain a point from Defensive, but lose one from MAM. Could let you drop Dex, but then you have Stealth disadvantage...
Was thinking more of just as a general build feat past lv 1.