One of the more common questions I see is, “How do I increase my AC” or “How do I most affordably increase my AC?” Another is essentially the same, but about saves. There are, of course, a ton of ways to increase one’s AC. There’s everything from the Dodge feat to a Paladin’s smite ability, but let’s focus on options that are available to nearly everyone: armor, shields, and wondrous items. I am assuming one is allowed to pay ‘upgrade costs’, or the difference between a higher level version of an item’s cost and the version you already have.

I don’t intend to dwell too long on the differences between various armors and shields, just try to find something that can accommodate your full Dex bonus while granting as much protection itself as possible. The most commonly chosen options I see are chain shirts, breastplates, and full-plate armor, as well as the mithral versions of all of these. As far as shields go, there’s not much reason to have a light shield. Either get the higher AC bonus from heavy, or have a buckler. A sword-and-board TWF build will want a light shield, but that’s about it. It’s also worth noting that even casters inhibited by arcane spell failure can get some mileage out of shields and armor. A mithral buckler has no arcane spell failure chance, and grants you some AC bonus when you don’t have the prep time to cast shield. Once its enhanced to +3, it grants the same AC bonus, and can get 2 higher once enhanced to +5. There is also the Haramaki, which is similar for the armor slot. It grants a measly +1 on its own, but has no ACP. Once enhanced past +3, it’s better than mage armor, and until then it’s at least something when you’re not pre-buffed. If you’re willing to brave a mere 5% ACP, your options open up considerably. Darkleaf cloth will reduce many light armor options down to 5%, some of which grant as much as a +3 armor bonus by default. This can eventually make your Wizard a lot more durable, for a pretty minor penalty.

AC items in ascending order of expense:

Enhance Armor/Shield to +1 | 1,000 gp each

Ring of Protection/Amulet of Natural Armor +1 | 2,000 each – If you don’t mind spending the slots, these can be had by level 5-6 without missing out on other gear entirely.

Upgrade armor/shield to +2 | 3,000 each

Belt of Dexterity | 4,000 – Obviously, this one will not be a wise purchase for those characters who are primarily based in a non-Dex physical stat. For anyone else (including mental stat based characters) this is a phenomenal purchase. In addition to the touch AC boost, you’ll get initiative, Reflex save, and a boost to some of the nicer combat skills.

Dusty Rose Ioun Stone | 5,000 – This one is an insight bonus to AC, and therefore stacks with everything else that most character’s have and applies to both flat-footed and touch ACs.

Upgrade Shield/Armor to +3 | 5,000 each

Upgrade Ring/Amulet to +2| 6,000

Upgrade Shield/Armor to +4| 7,000

Upgrade Shield/Armor to +5 | 9,000 gp

Upgrade Ring/Amulet to +3 | 10,000 gp

Upgrade belt of Dexterity to +4 | 12,000 gp

This is not an exhaustive list of items that can increase AC, but I can’t think of many more notable entries. Most characters can leverage these items, and even with no other sources of AC a Cleric could swing a 38 AC by using these items. It would take a high level character to afford them all, but you purchase them incrementally throughout your career to keep a competitive AC. In fact, you could get up to 5 higher just by continuing to upgrade the ring/amulet and dex belt, though it becomes extremely costly.

A small note for casters: if you very frequently pre-buff with something like barkskin or shield of faith, it likely won’t make sense for you to drop gold and a slot on a wondrous item that grants the same bonus type. My tank Cleric does not have a ring of protection, for example, and similarly a Druid might elect not to invest in an amulet of natural armor.

For saves, the order of increasingly expensive items is as follows:

Cloak of Resistance +1 | 1,000 gp – Probably the most commonly purchased wondrous item in the Pathfinder RPG, few characters can afford to go without this ttrpg staple.

Upgrade Cloak to +2 | 3,000 gp

Four Leafed Clover | 3,750 gp – This grants a +2 luck bonus on three saves, skill checks, or ability checks daily. It’s cheaper than a lucky horseshoe, and grants a larger bonus to a more diverse array of things, but the daily usage limit makes it a tough call on which to eventually purchase.

Pale Green Cracked Ioun Stone | 4,000 gp – One of the very few non-resistance bonuses you can get to saves, this grants a competence bonus instead. It also has a version for attack rolls, which many martial character’s will be interested in.

Upgrade Cloak to +3 | 5,000 gp

Lucky Horseshoe | 6,800 gp – Grants another non-resistance bonus, predictably its luck. It grants a +1 at all times, and once a day can grant a +4 instead. As a small note, characters with the Fate’s Favored trait will get an additional +1 from any luck bonuses, which increases the value of this item enough that it should probably be purchased after upgrading the cloak to +2, as it costs less than the pale green cracked and +3 upgrade combined.

Upgrade Cloak to +4 | 7,000 gp

Upgrade Cloak to +5 | 9,000 gp

There aren’t as many options for increasing saves reliably, but we can still get a steady +7 from items. If your character is reliant on a save dependency stat, you’ll obviously be helped by headbands and belts to increase that attribute.