Your biggest priority in D&D is staying alive, so you'll want a decent armor class to ensure that happens.

When engaging in combat in Dungeons & Dragons, there are many mechanics that players need to keep track of in addition to their character's ability scores and various class features. Whether a character is level one or level twenty, a character's Armor Class (or AC for short) is an important defensive element. Reflecting how well-armored or evasive a character is, a character's AC is the total number another creature needs to roll to hit a character with an attack.

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This means that the higher a character's AC, the more difficult they will be to hit. For this reason, it's a great idea for players to be conscious of their characters' AC and work to increase it over the course of a campaign. So we're going to examine the various ways that players can go about improving their character's AC in Dungeons & Dragons.

Perhaps the most straightforward means of improving nearly any character's AC is to improve your Dexterity ability score. For those not wearing armor or for those wearing light or medium armor, a character adds their Dexterity Ability Score modifier to their AC. This means that a wide range of characters can reliably improve their AC by simply improving their Dexterity as part of level-ups.

It's important to note that a character wearing medium armor can only add this modifier to a maximum of +2 unless they have the Medium Armor Master feat that raises this cap to +3 instead. This option, unfortunately, doesn't pertain to those utilizing heavy armor, as characters wearing such armor are unable to add their Dexterity modifier to their armor class.

As one of the most common sources of an AC improvement is from a character's armor, obtaining better armor or upgrading armor a character already has can be a straightforward means of improving AC. Characters with proficiency in heavy armor often start with chainmail, so obtaining the superior full plate is often a great step to getting a higher AC. Similarly, for those utilizing light armor, going from leather to studded leather is an affordable and worthwhile upgrade.

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Once a character is equipped with their optimal armor type, the clear path to obtaining yet even better armor is to attempt to get +1, +2, or +3 armor of those types. Providing an additional AC bonus of the respective number, these superior forms of armor are technically magical. The accessibility of such armor ranges greatly from DM to DM, as some will allow players to pay gold to have their armor upgraded into these superior forms, while others may have +1, +2, and +3 armors be a rarity that must be worked for.

One trait found between various martial classes such as Fighters and Paladins is the ability to gain a fighting style. Fighting styles are possible benefits that can offer anything from a bonus to hit with a certain type of weapon or even access to cantrips in the case of Paladins and Rangers. While one of the most straightforward fighting styles, the Defense FIghting style states that as long as the character at hand is armored, they gain +1 to their AC.

While this fighting style can be gained with ease for most martial characters, thanks to the Fighting Initiate feat, a character of any class is capable of learning a fighting style. This means that if a character wants to focus on improving their AC, they can essentially spend a feat to improve their AC by +1.

In addition to your armor, other equipment such as magic items can be used to improve a character's AC. While a character only has access to three attunement slots (with the exception of Artificers), there are several great magic items that can help bolster your defenses. Firstly, the Bracers of Defense are an attunable Rare magic item that can improve a character's AC by +2 as long as they aren't wearing armor.

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This makes them a stellar choice for a character such as a Monk or Barbarian with the Unarmored defense ability, or a Wizard or Sorcerer that lacks armor proficiency. Additionally, another Rare magic item, the Ring of Protection, can provide a +1 to a character's AC with no strings attached.

While not an option for those already underway with a campaign, there are various options available to players in the midst of character creation that can offer a character an improved AC. For those looking for specific subclasses that can offer an improvement to one's AC, the Forge Domain Cleric and Armorer Artificer each have means of improving their AC through the use of specialized traits.

For those looking to gain the benefit of natural armor through your race, potentially subverting the need for armor altogether, the following races provide a character with natural armor:

In addition to the races above, Shifters of the Beasthide variety gain access to a +1 bonus to their AC when shifted. Unlike the natural armor abilities of the previously mentioned races, this Beasthide AC bonus is even applied if the character at hand is wearing armor.

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Staff Writer, Paul DiSalvo is a writer, comic creator, animation lover, and game design enthusiast currently residing in Boston, Massachusetts. He has studied creative writing at The New Hampshire Institute of Art and Otis College of Art and Design, and currently writes for TheGamer. In addition to writing, he directs and produces the podcast, "How Ya Dyin'?" He enjoys collecting comics, records, and wins in Magic: The Gathering.