- Type
- Wondrous Items
- Rarity
- Rare
- Attunement
- Required
- Price (2014)
- 501–5,000 gp (DMG value range)
- Price (2024)
- 4,000 gp
While wearing these bracers, you gain a +2 bonus to AC if you are wearing no armor and using no shield.
Bracers of Defense 5e magic item
Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement) · 2024 version below
How Bracers of Defense play
While you wear them, you get +2 to AC, as long as you’re wearing no armor and using no shield. That’s the whole item. It’s rare and requires attunement.
The condition is what matters. The bracers are made for characters who never wear armor anyway: monks, wizards, sorcerers and anyone relying on Mage Armor or Unarmored Defense. A +2 on those characters is the same as a +2 shield they don’t have to hold.
Who should wear them
- Monks. Unarmored Defense (10 + Dexterity + Wisdom) works with the bracers, and monks can’t use shields without losing their features anyway.
- Wizards and sorcerers, especially with Mage Armor running: 13 + Dexterity + 2.
- Barbarians only if they’ve given up their shield for a two-handed weapon. Unarmored Defense allows a shield, but the bracers don’t.
Common questions
Do Bracers of Defense work with Mage Armor?
Yes. Mage Armor’s target isn’t wearing armor, and the spell isn’t armor, so the bracers’ +2 applies on top of its 13 + your Dexterity modifier.
Do they work with a monk’s or barbarian’s Unarmored Defense?
Yes, as long as you carry no shield. A barbarian using Unarmored Defense with a shield loses the bracers’ bonus while the shield is in hand.
Do Bracers of Defense stack with Ring of Protection or Cloak of Protection?
Yes. Neither is armor or a shield, so a monk can wear all three for +4 AC, at the cost of every attunement slot.
Do they work with the Robe of the Archmagi?
Yes. The robe sets your base AC when you’re not wearing armor, and it isn’t armor itself, so the +2 applies.
Does a shield spell turn them off?
No. The Shield spell is a spell, not a shield you’re using, so you keep the +2 and add its +5.
How much are Bracers of Defense worth?
They’re rare. The Dungeon Master’s Guide puts rare items at 501 to 5,000 gp, and the builder’s Standard Conversion prices them at 5,000 gp.
Bracers of Defense compared with similar items
| Item | How it compares |
|---|---|
| Cloak of Protection | Uncommon: +1 AC and +1 to saves, with any armor. Half the AC, but it helps saves too. |
| Ring of Protection | Rare: the same +1 AC and saves as the cloak, in a ring. |
| Armor, +1, +2 or +3 | Rare to legendary: a bonus on armor you wear. For characters the bracers can’t help. |
| Robe of the Archmagi | Legendary: base AC 15 + Dexterity, advantage on saves against magic and +2 to spell DCs. Stacks with the bracers. |
| Mage Armor | 1st-level spell: base AC 13 + Dexterity for 8 hours. The usual partner for the bracers. |
Bracers of Defense in the 2024 rules
The 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide revised the magic items, and the SRD 5.2 carries the new text. What changed:
Same rarity and attunement; the text is reworded for the 2024 rules glossary.
- Type
- Wondrous Item
- Rarity
- Rare
- Attunement
- Required
While wearing these bracers, you gain a +2 bonus to Armor Class if you are wearing no armor and using no Shield.
Other rare wondrous items
- Amulet of Health
- Bag of Beans
- Bead of Force
- Belt of Dwarvenkind
- Boots of Levitation
- Boots of Speed
- Bowl of Commanding Water Elementals
- Brazier of Commanding Fire Elementals
- Cape of the Mountebank
- Censer of Controlling Air Elementals
- Chime of Opening
- Cloak of Displacement
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