Armor Enhancement Bonus Question [Archive] - Wizards Community

Armor Enhancement Bonus Question [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
darkwarlock1114
06-05-04, 12:59 PM Do the enhancement bonuses of armor and shields stack? For example: You have a +1 Chain Shirt and a +2 Light Steel Shield, would your armor bonus be 17 or 18?
astute1
06-05-04, 01:01 PM Yes, they stack. The 'enhancement' bonus, enhances the 'armor' or 'shield' bonus, respectively. You can also have an 'enhancement' bonus to natural armor, which also stacks with the armor and shield bonuses.
Automagical
06-05-04, 01:04 PM I believe that they would stack.
The +1 from the chain shirt is an enhancement bonus to your armour bonus, while the +2 from the light steel shield would be an enhancement to your shield bonus.
And armour bonus and shield bonus stack.
Fixxxer
06-05-04, 06:32 PM Also, if you're playing 3.0, there is no shield bonus, but shields are an exception to the rule that armor types don't stack.
hfolkense
06-06-04, 02:11 AM A Q, does bracers of armor stack with other armor?
Raynard the Black
06-06-04, 02:31 AM Originally posted by hfolkense
A Q, does bracers of armor stack with other armor?

No. Both Bracers of Armor and sets of Armor are armor bonuses and therefore do not stack. Only different types of bonuses stack in most cases (ie Shield + Armor + Deflection Bonus + etc...). Dodge bonuses are the main exception to this rule. All dodge bonuses stack.

Hope this helps.
UZI
06-06-04, 07:44 AM Bracers don't stack, but they still have their uses even if you wear armor. Obviously if you don't wear armor, bracers are a good way to get the armor bonus to AC (apart from preparing and casting Mage Armor).

Bracers are good for sleeping with a high AC (so you can fight in the middle of the night without fighting in your pajamas) without becoming fatigued the next day.

...and...

Bracers provide protection against incorporeal "touch" attacks (should be called "incorporeal slam attacks"), since they are a force effect.
april151978
06-06-04, 01:41 PM Originally posted by UZI
Bracers don't stack, but they still have their uses even if you wear armor. Obviously if you don't wear armor, bracers are a good way to get the armor bonus to AC (apart from preparing and casting Mage Armor).

Bracers are good for sleeping with a high AC (so you can fight in the middle of the night without fighting in your pajamas) without becoming fatigued the next day.

...and...

Bracers provide protection against incorporeal "touch" attacks (should be called "incorporeal slam attacks"), since they are a force effect.

Ah yes UZI, I see I am not the only one to think of that... I caught a party off guard with that one when they sneaked up on another party in the night, and they still had good ACs... The look on thier face, priceless... :)
damsel in distress
06-06-04, 01:48 PM does anyone know why the spells magic armor and magic weapon provides a +1 bonus / 4 levels and a caster with the correct feat can create an armor/weapon with +1/ 3 levels ?
It´s not in the official errata, but perhaps its a leftover from 3.0 where the spells where +1 / 3 levels ?
It seems a bit strange that you can create a permanent weapon that is more powerfull than the non-permanent spell.........:confused:
DrMorganes
06-06-04, 01:51 PM Actually, that makes perfect sense. Your choices are a less powerful non-permanent spell which requires minimal cost (if any) to cast vs. a more powerful permanent item which requires the wizard to burn a Feat, fork over a large amount of money, AND burn XP.

Pretty balanced trade-off in my opinion.
hfolkense
06-06-04, 10:46 PM I was thinking of giving bracers of armor +1 to a werewolf fighter 1, as i wanted to complete his treachure, but when i saw that armor wont stack i thought how he could use them?

I was thinking about using the bracers as armor for when he transforms to wolf form so he gets armor protection when he retreats... can this be possible? it would be nice to see his armor skyrocket from 16 to 20 when his hp runs low, as now in animal form he has all dex+nat+armor and adding to this his dr 5/alchemical silver, would make his retreat easy for making him return later for vengeance.

Can i do this?
Fixxxer
06-06-04, 10:55 PM Originally posted by hfolkense
Can i do this?

I don't see why not. Bracers of Armor provide an "armor" bonus to armor, so they stack with a high dexterity, which provides a "dexterity" bonus to armor and with natural armor, which provides a "natural" bonus to armor, but not with armor, which provides an "armor" bonus to armor. Except for dodge bonuses, bonuses of the same name don't stack unless the description specifically states that they do.
hfolkense
06-06-04, 11:01 PM I made the question as sometimes creatures polymorphed loose the ability to use certain stuff like for example armor they were wearing, so i was in doubt that the bracers got polypmorphed into the animal form, but with this info now i have a better chance to save my BBEG from death :D, next feat he'll take will be improved saves.
obrysii
06-10-04, 02:01 PM Originally posted by Fixxxer
Also, if you're playing 3.0, there is no shield bonus, but shields are an exception to the rule that armor types don't stack.

No shield bonus in 3.0? What're you talking about?
Fixxxer
06-10-04, 08:36 PM Originally posted by obrysii
No shield bonus in 3.0? What're you talking about?

Unless I'm simply remembering incorrectly (and I don't think that I am), shields didn't provide a "shield bonus" to AC in 3.0. They provided an "armor bonus" to AC that was a specific exception to the rule that like bonuses do not stack. It still amounted to the same thing in the end, though, I suppose.
obrysii
06-12-04, 02:26 PM Originally posted by Fixxxer
Unless I'm simply remembering incorrectly (and I don't think that I am), shields didn't provide a "shield bonus" to AC in 3.0. They provided an "armor bonus" to AC that was a specific exception to the rule that like bonuses do not stack. It still amounted to the same thing in the end, though, I suppose.

There's a shield bonus on the Character sheets...so I'd reckon there is a shield bonus to AC.

Unless we've been mistakenly using the 3.5 sheets, but I doubt it.
Fixxxer
06-12-04, 08:33 PM Originally posted by obrysii
There's a shield bonus on the Character sheets...so I'd reckon there is a shield bonus to AC.

No, there's a "bonus to AC from your shield" section on the character sheets. It's abbreviated "Shield Bonus." That's not what we're talking about, though. What we're talking about is that as far as named bonuses to AC go (such as armor bonus, competence bonus, dodge bonus, etc), "shield bonus" didn't exist in 3.0. In 3.5, shields provide a "shield bonus" to AC, as does the shield spell. In 3.0, shields provided an "armor bonus" to AC.
obrysii
06-12-04, 11:11 PM Originally posted by Fixxxer
No, there's a "bonus to AC from your shield" section on the character sheets. It's abbreviated "Shield Bonus." That's not what we're talking about, though. What we're talking about is that as far as named bonuses to AC go (such as armor bonus, competence bonus, dodge bonus, etc), "shield bonus" didn't exist in 3.0. In 3.5, shields provide a "shield bonus" to AC, as does the shield spell. In 3.0, shields provided an "armor bonus" to AC.

Ohhh, I get it. Totally didn't know that before. I assumed it was it's own bonus. How 'bout that. Thank you for clearing it up.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
darkwarlock1114 06-05-04, 12:59 PM	Do the enhancement bonuses of armor and shields stack? For example: You have a +1 Chain Shirt and a +2 Light Steel Shield, would your armor bonus be 17 or 18?
astute1 06-05-04, 01:01 PM	Yes, they stack. The 'enhancement' bonus, enhances the 'armor' or 'shield' bonus, respectively. You can also have an 'enhancement' bonus to natural armor, which also stacks with the armor and shield bonuses.
Automagical 06-05-04, 01:04 PM	I believe that they would stack. The +1 from the chain shirt is an enhancement bonus to your armour bonus, while the +2 from the light steel shield would be an enhancement to your shield bonus. And armour bonus and shield bonus stack.
Fixxxer 06-05-04, 06:32 PM	Also, if you're playing 3.0, there is no shield bonus, but shields are an exception to the rule that armor types don't stack.
hfolkense 06-06-04, 02:11 AM	A Q, does bracers of armor stack with other armor?
Raynard the Black 06-06-04, 02:31 AM	Originally posted by hfolkense A Q, does bracers of armor stack with other armor? No. Both Bracers of Armor and sets of Armor are armor bonuses and therefore do not stack. Only different types of bonuses stack in most cases (ie Shield + Armor + Deflection Bonus + etc...). Dodge bonuses are the main exception to this rule. All dodge bonuses stack. Hope this helps.
UZI 06-06-04, 07:44 AM	Bracers don't stack, but they still have their uses even if you wear armor. Obviously if you don't wear armor, bracers are a good way to get the armor bonus to AC (apart from preparing and casting Mage Armor). Bracers are good for sleeping with a high AC (so you can fight in the middle of the night without fighting in your pajamas) without becoming fatigued the next day. ...and... Bracers provide protection against incorporeal "touch" attacks (should be called "incorporeal slam attacks"), since they are a force effect.
april151978 06-06-04, 01:41 PM	Originally posted by UZI Bracers don't stack, but they still have their uses even if you wear armor. Obviously if you don't wear armor, bracers are a good way to get the armor bonus to AC (apart from preparing and casting Mage Armor). Bracers are good for sleeping with a high AC (so you can fight in the middle of the night without fighting in your pajamas) without becoming fatigued the next day. ...and... Bracers provide protection against incorporeal "touch" attacks (should be called "incorporeal slam attacks"), since they are a force effect. Ah yes UZI, I see I am not the only one to think of that... I caught a party off guard with that one when they sneaked up on another party in the night, and they still had good ACs... The look on thier face, priceless... :)
damsel in distress 06-06-04, 01:48 PM	does anyone know why the spells magic armor and magic weapon provides a +1 bonus / 4 levels and a caster with the correct feat can create an armor/weapon with +1/ 3 levels ? It´s not in the official errata, but perhaps its a leftover from 3.0 where the spells where +1 / 3 levels ? It seems a bit strange that you can create a permanent weapon that is more powerfull than the non-permanent spell.........:confused:
DrMorganes 06-06-04, 01:51 PM	Actually, that makes perfect sense. Your choices are a less powerful non-permanent spell which requires minimal cost (if any) to cast vs. a more powerful permanent item which requires the wizard to burn a Feat, fork over a large amount of money, AND burn XP. Pretty balanced trade-off in my opinion.
hfolkense 06-06-04, 10:46 PM	I was thinking of giving bracers of armor +1 to a werewolf fighter 1, as i wanted to complete his treachure, but when i saw that armor wont stack i thought how he could use them? I was thinking about using the bracers as armor for when he transforms to wolf form so he gets armor protection when he retreats... can this be possible? it would be nice to see his armor skyrocket from 16 to 20 when his hp runs low, as now in animal form he has all dex+nat+armor and adding to this his dr 5/alchemical silver, would make his retreat easy for making him return later for vengeance. Can i do this?
Fixxxer 06-06-04, 10:55 PM	Originally posted by hfolkense Can i do this? I don't see why not. Bracers of Armor provide an "armor" bonus to armor, so they stack with a high dexterity, which provides a "dexterity" bonus to armor and with natural armor, which provides a "natural" bonus to armor, but not with armor, which provides an "armor" bonus to armor. Except for dodge bonuses, bonuses of the same name don't stack unless the description specifically states that they do.
hfolkense 06-06-04, 11:01 PM	I made the question as sometimes creatures polymorphed loose the ability to use certain stuff like for example armor they were wearing, so i was in doubt that the bracers got polypmorphed into the animal form, but with this info now i have a better chance to save my BBEG from death :D, next feat he'll take will be improved saves.
obrysii 06-10-04, 02:01 PM	Originally posted by Fixxxer Also, if you're playing 3.0, there is no shield bonus, but shields are an exception to the rule that armor types don't stack. No shield bonus in 3.0? What're you talking about?
Fixxxer 06-10-04, 08:36 PM	Originally posted by obrysii No shield bonus in 3.0? What're you talking about? Unless I'm simply remembering incorrectly (and I don't think that I am), shields didn't provide a "shield bonus" to AC in 3.0. They provided an "armor bonus" to AC that was a specific exception to the rule that like bonuses do not stack. It still amounted to the same thing in the end, though, I suppose.
obrysii 06-12-04, 02:26 PM	Originally posted by Fixxxer Unless I'm simply remembering incorrectly (and I don't think that I am), shields didn't provide a "shield bonus" to AC in 3.0. They provided an "armor bonus" to AC that was a specific exception to the rule that like bonuses do not stack. It still amounted to the same thing in the end, though, I suppose. There's a shield bonus on the Character sheets...so I'd reckon there is a shield bonus to AC. Unless we've been mistakenly using the 3.5 sheets, but I doubt it.
Fixxxer 06-12-04, 08:33 PM	Originally posted by obrysii There's a shield bonus on the Character sheets...so I'd reckon there is a shield bonus to AC. No, there's a "bonus to AC from your shield" section on the character sheets. It's abbreviated "Shield Bonus." That's not what we're talking about, though. What we're talking about is that as far as named bonuses to AC go (such as armor bonus, competence bonus, dodge bonus, etc), "shield bonus" didn't exist in 3.0. In 3.5, shields provide a "shield bonus" to AC, as does the shield spell. In 3.0, shields provided an "armor bonus" to AC.
obrysii 06-12-04, 11:11 PM	Originally posted by Fixxxer No, there's a "bonus to AC from your shield" section on the character sheets. It's abbreviated "Shield Bonus." That's not what we're talking about, though. What we're talking about is that as far as named bonuses to AC go (such as armor bonus, competence bonus, dodge bonus, etc), "shield bonus" didn't exist in 3.0. In 3.5, shields provide a "shield bonus" to AC, as does the shield spell. In 3.0, shields provided an "armor bonus" to AC. Ohhh, I get it. Totally didn't know that before. I assumed it was it's own bonus. How 'bout that. Thank you for clearing it up.