Better druid armor [Archive] - Wizards Community

Better druid armor [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
sublime
05-21-05, 10:38 PM I've got a lvl 4 druid. What type of armor works best with druids?

I've heard dragonhide is good but i can't find the cost/stats of it.
Illithid Tentacles
05-21-05, 11:04 PM In general, leather is. Leather only gives a +2 to AC, but doesn't slow you down. Hide, on the other hand, gives +3 the AC, is 10 pounds heavier, slows you down, and gives you a 3 point Armor Check Penalty. Plus, you can sleep in leather armor with no penalty.

If you're looking for something better, there's Bracers of Armor, the Mage Armor spell, which you can get by taking a single level of Sorcerer, rings of preotection, amulet of natural armor, and once you can wildshape, there are various forms with high Dex scores and good natural armor bonuses. Ape, Brown Bear, Boar, Riding Dog, Giant Octopus, Rhinocerous, and various snakes all have decent ACs for relatively low-level characters. There are also any number of buffing spells you can cast on yourself. Once you're high enough level, you can Wood Shape a wooden breastplate (druids are proficient with Medium armor) and cast Ironwood on it, which lasts 1 day/level. You can also buy, find, or make an enchanted wooden shield.

Druids are casters. In general, they aren't going to have great ACs. Your primary function should be to support with your spells against the really nasty stuff while the party fighters/barbarians/paladins/summoned monsters (and to a lesser extent, rangers, rogues, and bards) keep it busy in melee. You can melee the weak stuff on the way to the nasty stuff decently, but again, that's primarily the job of the close-combat classes. Stick 'em a few times and try not to expose yourself to too much danger- you don't want to use too many spells healing yourself when you may need them for the BBEG later on. Think of your weapons and armor as kind of an emergency line of self defense, not your primary combat method.
BladeDrinker
05-22-05, 12:21 AM Dragonhide is the same as normal armor, it just isn't made out of metal so a druid can wear a suit of it without penalty.

Dragonhide: Armorsmiths can work with the hides of dragons to produce armor or shields of masterwork quality. One dragon produces enough hide for a single suit of masterwork hide armor for a creature one size category smaller than the dragon. By selecting only choice scales and bits of hide, an armorsmith can produce one suit of masterwork banded mail for a creature two sizes smaller, one suit of masterwork half-plate for a creature three sizes smaller, or one masterwork breastplate or suit of full plate for a creature four sizes smaller. In each case, enough hide is available to produce a small or large masterwork shield in addition to the armor, provided that the dragon is Large or larger.
Because dragonhide armor isn’t made of metal, druids can wear it without penalty.
Dragonhide armor costs double what masterwork armor of that type ordinarily costs, but it takes no longer to make than ordinary armor of that type.
Dragonhide has 10 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 10.

It depends on what your focus in combat is. If your character is a half-orc druid and the party expects you to serve on the front lines of battle, medium armor is the way to go. If you are an elven druid with a longbow, use light armor.
sublime
05-22-05, 03:53 PM thanks
BladeDrinker
05-22-05, 07:14 PM On an unrelated note, hide armor isn't very good. So I would go with either a heavy dragonhide armor for a tanking druid or a light armor for a support druid.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
sublime 05-21-05, 10:38 PM	I've got a lvl 4 druid. What type of armor works best with druids? I've heard dragonhide is good but i can't find the cost/stats of it.
Illithid Tentacles 05-21-05, 11:04 PM	In general, leather is. Leather only gives a +2 to AC, but doesn't slow you down. Hide, on the other hand, gives +3 the AC, is 10 pounds heavier, slows you down, and gives you a 3 point Armor Check Penalty. Plus, you can sleep in leather armor with no penalty. If you're looking for something better, there's Bracers of Armor, the Mage Armor spell, which you can get by taking a single level of Sorcerer, rings of preotection, amulet of natural armor, and once you can wildshape, there are various forms with high Dex scores and good natural armor bonuses. Ape, Brown Bear, Boar, Riding Dog, Giant Octopus, Rhinocerous, and various snakes all have decent ACs for relatively low-level characters. There are also any number of buffing spells you can cast on yourself. Once you're high enough level, you can Wood Shape a wooden breastplate (druids are proficient with Medium armor) and cast Ironwood on it, which lasts 1 day/level. You can also buy, find, or make an enchanted wooden shield. Druids are casters. In general, they aren't going to have great ACs. Your primary function should be to support with your spells against the really nasty stuff while the party fighters/barbarians/paladins/summoned monsters (and to a lesser extent, rangers, rogues, and bards) keep it busy in melee. You can melee the weak stuff on the way to the nasty stuff decently, but again, that's primarily the job of the close-combat classes. Stick 'em a few times and try not to expose yourself to too much danger- you don't want to use too many spells healing yourself when you may need them for the BBEG later on. Think of your weapons and armor as kind of an emergency line of self defense, not your primary combat method.
BladeDrinker 05-22-05, 12:21 AM	Dragonhide is the same as normal armor, it just isn't made out of metal so a druid can wear a suit of it without penalty. Dragonhide: Armorsmiths can work with the hides of dragons to produce armor or shields of masterwork quality. One dragon produces enough hide for a single suit of masterwork hide armor for a creature one size category smaller than the dragon. By selecting only choice scales and bits of hide, an armorsmith can produce one suit of masterwork banded mail for a creature two sizes smaller, one suit of masterwork half-plate for a creature three sizes smaller, or one masterwork breastplate or suit of full plate for a creature four sizes smaller. In each case, enough hide is available to produce a small or large masterwork shield in addition to the armor, provided that the dragon is Large or larger. Because dragonhide armor isn’t made of metal, druids can wear it without penalty. Dragonhide armor costs double what masterwork armor of that type ordinarily costs, but it takes no longer to make than ordinary armor of that type. Dragonhide has 10 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 10. It depends on what your focus in combat is. If your character is a half-orc druid and the party expects you to serve on the front lines of battle, medium armor is the way to go. If you are an elven druid with a longbow, use light armor.
sublime 05-22-05, 03:53 PM	thanks
BladeDrinker 05-22-05, 07:14 PM	On an unrelated note, hide armor isn't very good. So I would go with either a heavy dragonhide armor for a tanking druid or a light armor for a support druid.