What is the highest possible permanent AC at character creation?

Question

Assuming you are level 1 and have access to any item that you can afford at character creation rolling the maximum amount of starting gold, how high can your permanent AC become (permanently, not for any lesser set duration)?

Constraints:

• Only official material, Unearthed Arcana is not legal for this character creation.

• All common races listed are legal, all other races are illegal for character creation.

• Items are those that you can purchase.

• All skills, feats and abilities available to a player character are eligible.

• A sole player character has to achieve this AC on their own, without any help from allies (pet companions, PCs, NPCs etc.)

• Starting attributes can be rolled (that includes all 18s down the line) or achieved by point-buy. I have no preference for either.

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Heavily related: What is the highest possible temporary AC at level 1, without any help from others?

This linked question also includes temporary AC. My current question, however, is strictly about permanent AC.

Answer 1

22 AC

With the changes to the Warforged Integrated Protection racial trait (specifically the change to give you +1 AC, and a method to wear armor...meaning you also have a method to not wear armor), it is now possible to get an AC of 22 at character creation.

Option 1: The Plate Mail route

If you can manage to get a set of Plate Mail at level 1 (either by gift of a generous DM, or using the Inheritor method, of selling your incredibly valuable piece of jewelry [eg jeweled platinum ring] to buy a set of Plate Mail), then as a Warforged Fighter, with the Defense Fighting Style, or as a Warforged Forge Cleric you can get an AC of 22:

Calculation:

• Plate Armor
  • 18
• Shield
  • +2
• Warforged Integrated Protection Racial Trait

  • You gain a +1 bonus to Armor Class

• Blessing of the Forge or Defense Fighting Style
  • +1

For a total of 22.

Option 2: The Barbarian Route

Be a Warforged and either using the standard racial increases of +2 Constitution, +1 anything, or by using Tasha's alternative method for assigning racial ability score increases and choose +2 Dexterity and +1 Constitution instead, you can achieve an AC of 22.

Calculation:

• Unarmoured Defense
  • 10 (Base) + 5 (Con/Dex) + 4 (Dex/Con) = 19
• Shield
  • +2
• Warforged Integrated Protection Racial Trait

  • You gain a +1 bonus to Armor Class

For a total of 22.

Importantly for this build, the Integrated Protection bonus AC is explicitly not armor, just a result of your body's

built-in defensive layers, which can be enhanced with armor

Answer 2

21 with the stats you give

Absolute max - 21

• Race: Dwarf
• Class: Barbarian
• Equipment: Shield

Unarmed Defense means your AC is 10 + 4 (Dex 18) + 5 (Con 20) + 2 (Shield) = 21 AC

Note; this is not the only combination that can work. Any race capable of reaching +2 in either constitution or dexterity would have the same result.

Maximum armour based build - 20

• Race: Any with a +2 to Dex
• Class: Fighter
• Equipment: Studded Leather, Shield

You don't have enough gold at character creation to buy any decent armour. Therefore the best we can get is studded leather with a dexterity based build.

12 (Studded Leather) + 5 (Dex) + 2 (Shield) + 1 (Defensive Fighting style) = 20 AC

Answer 3

22 Armor Class

The best builds rely on rolling two 18s via rolled ability scores and assign them to Dexterity and Constitution. Then you will have to play a mountain dwarf and use the new Tasha's Cauldron of Everything option to modify ability score increases, increasing Dexterity instead of Strength:

If you’d like your character to follow their own path, you may ignore your Ability Score Increase trait and assign ability score increases tailored to your character. Here’s how to do it: take any ability score increase you gain in your race or subrace and apply it to an ability score of your choice.

This gives you a score of 20 in both Constitution and Dexterity. Finally, play a barbarian for Unarmored Defense:

The Calculation

Using this build here is how you get 22 AC:

• Unarmored Defense
  • Base: 10
  • Dexterity and Constitution: +5 each
• Shield
  • +2

Tortles

You can technically get a bit higher by playing a Tortle. While you sacrifice 1 AC from having a lesser Ability Score Increase, you get +4 AC while using Shell Defense:

You can withdraw into your shell as an action. Until you emerge, you gain a +4 bonus to AC, and you have advantage on Strength and Constitution saving throws.

This does yield you a permanent 23 AC (since you probably can't benefit from your shield), but it comes with a pretty major downside:

While in your shell, you are prone, your speed is 0 and can’t increase... you can’t take reactions, and the only action you can take is a bonus action to emerge from your shell.

As such, I neglected to include this option in my assessment, since adventuring virtually necessitates coming out of your shell.

Answer 4

20 AC (or 21 AC with a generous reading)

• Race: Warforged (any), from UA: Eberron Races
• Class: Fighter 1
• Equipment: Shield

This grants you 18 AC from the Warforged Heavy Plating (16+2 proficiency), plus 2 from the shield.

If you consider that Heavy Plating counts as wearing armor, which is debatable, you can also pick the Defense fighting style for +1 AC bringing the total up to 21.