Armor Class is a core feature in Baldur’s Gate 3, and it’s important to know what it is. It’s fair to say that there are a lot of confusing concepts in Baldur’s Gate for someone who hasn’t played similar games before.
So, let’s go through what armor class is in Baldur’s Gate, how it affects the game, and why it is important. What is AC in Baldur’s Gate 3?
In Baldur’s Gate 3, armor class (“AC”) is a numerical value that determines the difficulty of hitting characters with spells or attacks. The majority of characters in BG3 have a base AC of 10 + their Dexterity modifier. For example, a character with a +2 Dex modifier has 12 in base AC. When equipping a piece of gear, you add that gear’s fixed AC to your dexterity modifier.
It’s also important to mention that this does not apply to Heavy armor, such as plate or chain mail. When donning heavy armor, your character’s AC is simply equal to that gear’s AC.
So, in practice, what does this all mean? We can conclude that a character’s AC is a numerical value, and the higher that value, the harder that character is to hit. To understand this fully, we’ll need to dive a bit further into the game mechanics of Baldur’s Gate 3.
Below, I’ll be going through what AC is, how it works in practice, and surrounding concepts that you’ll need to be aware of. It’s not all that complicated once you understand the basics. Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about armor class in Baldur’s Gate 3.
What Is Armor Class in Baldur’s Gate 3?
As I mentioned earlier, armor class is, simply put, a number attached to a character. That number represents how hard it is to hit that character. In order to entirely grasp this, you’ll need to know how hits and misses are calculated.
When trying to cast a spell or attack another character, you roll a “d20” (a 20-sided die). This die is cast to see if you hit or miss your opponent. To hit with your attack or spell, you will need to match or exceed the opponent’s AC.
For example, if a character has an AC of 15, your “attack roll” will need to be 15 or higher to succeed. If you roll a 20 on your attack roll (a “natural 20”), you crit, and your attack hits, no matter the mitigating circumstances or the defending player’s defensive options.
That’s pretty much it for the fundamental basics of armor class in BG3. There are other things that you should know as well, however. For example, can any character wear any armor?
Related Article: How Does Armor Class Work in D&D 5e?
Armor Proficiency in Baldur’s Gate 3
Well, the answer to that question is no. To wear armor, you need to have so-called “proficiency” in that armor type. For example, Scale Mail Armor is a medium armor that has 14 in armor class, plus your dexterity modifier.
To wear this armor, you need to be proficient in Medium armor. Wearing armor that you aren’t proficient in will come with a lot of negative effects. For example, you get disadvantage on saving throws, attack rolls, and ability checks. Furthermore, bonuses from other gear pieces do not apply if you are wearing armor that you aren’t proficient in.
So, to sum it up: Don’t wear armor that your character isn’t proficient in. This goes for all types of armor — different classes are proficient in different types of armor.
Armor proficiencies are basically a way of telling the player what armor they can and can’t wear, but since Baldur’s Gate places a great deal of emphasis on player freedom, you can wear armor that you aren’t proficient in. It’s just not a very good idea.
For your convenience, here’s a list of all the classes starting armor proficiencies in Baldur’s Gate 3:
- Barbarian – Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shields, and access to the passive trait Unarmored Defense: Constitution modifier + Dexterity modifier + 10 = Barbarian armor class (without armor, does not stack with armor)
- Druid – Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shields
- Fighter – Light Armor, Medium Armor, Heavy Armor, Shields
- Monk – No starting armor proficiencies, but access to the passive trait Unarmored Defense: Wisdom modifier + Dexterity modifier + 10 = Monk armor class
- Sorcerer – No starting armor proficiencies
- Wizard – No starting armor proficiencies
- Bard – Light Armor
- Rogue – Light Armor
- Warlock – Light Armor
- Cleric – Light Armor, Medium Armor
- Ranger – Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shields
- Paladin – Light Armor, Medium Armor, Heavy Armor, Shields
Remember, starting armor proficiencies aren’t the be-all and end-all for what your character can efficiently equip. I said earlier that Baldur’s Gate 3 places a great deal of emphasis on player freedom, and that certainly holds true in this case. So, how can you improve a character’s armor class?
Improving a Character’s AC in Baldur’s Gate 3
When leveling up in Baldur’s Gate 3, you unlock new abilities, stats, and much more. When reaching certain levels, you can choose to acquire new feats.
Feats include a wide variety of things, but they can be summed up as unique talents and areas of specialization that can grant characters permanent positive benefits.
Some of these feats can grant you access to proficiency in armor types. This is one of the ways that you can improve a character’s AC: select a feat that grants you proficiency in an armor class that you aren’t proficient in.
If you have a high Dexterity modifier, for example, but aren’t proficient in medium armor, getting the Moderately Armored trait can be a good idea. If you have a low Dexterity modifier you can get the Heavily Armored trait instead, since Heavy Armor doesn’t care about Dexterity modifiers.
For your convenience, here’s a list of all the traits that can help improve your AC in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Feats that unlock armor-type proficiency:
- Heavily Armored – You gain Armor Proficiency with Heavy Armor and your Strength increases by 1, to a maximum of 20.
- Moderately Armored – You gain Armor Proficiency with Medium Armor and shields, and your Strength or Dexterity increases by 1, to a maximum of 20.
- Lightly Armored – You gain Armor Proficiency with Light Armor and your Strength or Dexterity increases by 1, to a maximum of 20.
Feats that benefit your armor class:
- Defensive Duellist – When attacked while wielding a Finesse Weapon you’re Proficient with, you can use a reaction to add your Proficiency Bonus to your Armor Class, possibly causing the attack to miss.
- Heavy Armor Master – Your Strength increases by 1, to a maximum of 20. Incoming damage from non-magical attacks also decreases by 3 while you’re wearing heavy armor.
- Medium Armor Master – When you wear Medium Armor, it doesn’t impose Disadvantage on Stealth Checks. The bonus to Armor Class you gain from your Dexterity Modifier also becomes +3 instead of +2.
- Dual Wielder – You can use Two-Weapon fighting even if your weapons aren’t Light, and you gain a +1 bonus to Armor Class while wielding a melee weapon in each hand. You cannot dual-wield Heavy weapons.
As you can see, there are plenty of options when it comes to traits if you want to increase your armor class in BG3. However, you can improve your AC in other ways as well, primarily by increasing your Dexterity modifier.
To understand this, you’ll need to know how stat modifiers work. It’s quite simple. The higher the stat score, the higher the modifier. For example, a Dexterity score of 18 will grant a Dexterity modifier of +4. Donning a medium-type armor that grants 14 AC + Dex modifier will then give you a total of 18 AC (14 + 4 = 18).
Check the list below for specifics regarding stat modifiers in Baldur’s Gate 3:
| Main Stat (insert any of the 6) | Modifier |
| 1 | − 5 |
| 2 – 3 | − 4 |
| 4 – 5 | − 3 |
| 6 – 7 | − 2 |
| 8 – 9 | − 1 |
| 10 – 11 | + 0 |
| 12 – 13 | + 1 |
| 14 – 15 | + 2 |
| 16 – 17 | + 3 |
| 18 – 19 | + 4 |
| 20 – 21 | + 5 |
| 22 – 23 | + 6 |
| 24 – 25 | + 7 |
| 26 – 27 | + 8 |
| 28 – 29 | + 9 |
| 30 | + 10 |
So, to increase your AC you’ll simply need to improve your Dexterity score. Do this by either equipping gear that boosts your Dex, pumping points into Dex when leveling or choosing a Feat that buffs your Dex when leveling up. There are plenty of ways to go about this, as you tell. Whether or not it’s worth doing is up to you, of course. You will need to sacrifice other potential benefits to pump your Dexterity.