Stealthily climbing down the lord’s manse, a rakish warrior makes his way down the treasury, only to have a crossbow bolt half sink into his ribcage, narrowly killing him on the spot.

Amidst the clamor of battle, the fearsome commander of an urban militia leads the charge, her armor a mix of plate and leather as she deflects and shrugs off blows with nimble moves.

Within the frozen wastes, beyond the graveyard of drakes, a savage one protects itself from the cold thanks to the thick hide of dragon scales covering its body.

What these three adventurers have in common is their choice of protective equipment.

A decent compromise between sturdy protection and freedom of movement, medium armor has proven to be the best choice for those who like to move around a lot while charging into the field of battle.

Of Scales and Plates.

In the 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons, medium armor is one of the three types of protective wear player characters can equip to shrug off the attacks of beasts, demons, and dragon-kidnapping princesses.

Since all medium armors allow some degree of dexterous movement, characters with 12 to 14 Dexterity will benefit the most from them.

From hiding to breastplates, Half-Plate, and chain shirts, it can be difficult to wrap your mind around which mystical piece of mail to butter up your dungeon master for, but worry not, we’ll help you make that choice!

Tan your leathers, hammer up your plates, and we’ll go on a quest to find the top 5 best medium armors for your DnD adventurer.

1. Breastplate.

Usually sold at around 400 gold pieces, this armor consists of a fitted metal chest piece worn with supple leather.

Besides being a fantastic choice of fashion that can be worn over most clothing, it leaves you unencumbered enough to sneak around unimpeded without sacrificing an ounce of protection.

While not magical, the reason Breastplates are worth mentioning is because they are the best medium armor when measuring defense and utility. It only has 1 less AC than the half-plate, but it costs much less, weighs half as much, and doesn’t give disadvantage on stealth.

Why the Breastplay Is Great:

• As medium armor, it offers good protection while leaving you unencumbered.
• If progressing normally, it becomes accessible for characters of 3rd level or higher.

Breastplate details:  https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Breastplate#h-Breastplate

2. Adamantine Armor.

Adamantine is a rare metal famed for its hardness and durability, sought by famous blacksmiths to fashion weapons and armors out of it.

Any medium armor (except hide) can be made out of adamantine, thus we recommend you get yourself a breastplate of it.

What makes adamantine armor earn its place on this list is the fact that while wearing it, any critical hit scored against you becomes a normal hit, potentially saving you from imminent death.

Why Adamantine Armor Is Great:

• Mathematically, players receive more critical hits than enemies, since adventurers tend to fight against insurmountable odds. This means that wearing Adamantine Armor will become a saving grace.
• While magical in the eyes of some scholars, Adamantine Armor does not require attunement, so you can get its benefits while leaving your attunement slots free for other items.

Adamantine Armor details: https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/adamantine-armor

3. Armor of Resistance.

Fire kissed volcanoes, bone freezing tundras and lighting plagued storms. Adventurers are forced to trek through supernatural terrain and face off against fire-breathing monsters and spell-casters.

Any armor can be the armor of resistance, and, simply put, while wearing it you gain resistance to one type of damage determined at the armor’s creation.

Since resistance halves all damage taken from one source, wearing this armor against a foe who deals a plethora of damage from its resisted type can mitigate so much damage it turns into a godsend.

Why the Armor of Resistance is Great:

• Elemental damage is one of the most common ways in which monsters, spell-casters, and the weather itself can harm you, thus becoming resistant to at least one of them can save your life.
• Since it's magical, it means it can’t be destroyed by normal means.

Armor of Resistance details: https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/armor-of-resistance

4. Dragon Scale Mail.

As the name suggests, this set of scale mail is made out of the hide of the most iconic creature in fantasy literature: A dragon.

Aesthetic, powerful, expensive, and grossly magical, this +1 set of Scale Mail grants the user advantage on saving throws against dragon fear and breath weapons as well as having resistance as one damage type associated with the dragon whose scales were used.

Why Dragon Scale Mail is Great:

• Dragons are one of D&D’s more threatening foes, their breaths can reduce a building to ashes after all. This kind of protection not only grants you a good Armor Class but also reduces the danger a dragon’s main weapons pose.
• Additionally, you can use the armor to locate dragons of the same type as the armor, serving as both protection and guide in dragon-centric adventures.

Dragon Scale Mail details: https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/dragon-scale-mail

5. Elven Chain.

Glimmering like a waterfall of interlocking silver rings, this +1 chain shirt was fashioned by wise elven blacksmiths who imbued it with the weightlessness and finesse of their art.

Highly sought by squishy, unarmored characters like wizards and sorcerers, Elven Chain gets its spot for not only offering good protection but because you are considered proficient with this armor even if you lack proficiency with Medium Armor.

Why Elven Chain is great:

• Since it’s a +1 Chainmail, it offers a base AC of 14, this makes it superior to most non-magical light and medium armors.
• Anyone can wear it. From your squishy mage to your sneaky, ring-bearing rogue, it will certainly be a great defensive boost for the less armored members of the party.

Elven Chain details: https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Elven%20Chain#content

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