Last Updated on August 23, 2023
If you’re visiting this page, then you’re considering becoming an assassin maybe? Perhaps you’re a ranger looking for some added protection while you sneak around the forest at night.
Whatever the reason, you’ve come to the right place. The Medium Armor Master Feat is the perfect choice for anyone who likes to add a bit more stealth to their character.
How Does the Medium Armor Master Feat Work in DnD 5e?
The Medium Armor Master Feat allows you to add 3, rather than 2, to your AC if you have a Dexterity of 16 or higher.
This feat also makes it so that as long as you’re wearing Medium Armor, you don’t suffer from a disadvantage penalty on Dexterity (Stealth) checks.
Essentially, it grants you bonus AC and allows Medium Armor wearers to sneak around without having to wear Light Armor.
Prerequisite: Proficiency with medium armor
You have practiced moving in medium armor to gain the following benefits:
- Wearing medium armor doesn’t impose disadvantage on your Dexterity (Stealth) checks.
- When you wear medium armor, you can add 3, rather than 2, to your AC if you have a Dexterity of 16 or higher.
Source: Player’s Handbook
What’s a Feat?
Feats are an optional choice for all classes in DnD 5e.
(For a list of all the Feats in D&D 5e you can refer to our Feats List)
When your class has reached a certain level (which varies depending on your class), you may choose to take an ability score increase or you may choose to take a feat, and there are many to choose from, so be sure to read carefully.
Feats can provide numerous benefits, especially when you take ones that benefit each other.
Feats also provide a fun way to change the way you play your character, a great option if you feel like you need to liven things up in your gameplay.
Is Medium Armor Master a Good Choice?
Medium armor is a great choice if you have proficiency in Medium Armor to begin with, as that is the sole prerequisite in order to take this feat.
It’s especially good if you already have 16 or more Dexterity as it provides an additional AC (Up to +3) for Medium Armor wearers. It also sounds cool when you list off the feats you have at the DnD table.
For example, if you were to take Medium Armor Master and equip Half-Plate, then they’ll have an AC 18 (if your Dex stat is 16). They’ll also be able to use stealth without disadvantage.
For a Medium Armor user, that’s pretty good AC given that it only requires a minimum of 16 Dex to make the most of the feat.
There are a couple downsides to this feat; there are also better choices, such as Dual Wielder, which grants an additional AC if you’re dual wielding as well as bonus damage.
Of course, this won’t provide much benefit if you aren’t dual wielding, but it’s a better feat if you are. Dual Wielder also works well in combination with this feat, but we’ll get to that later.
“I’ve heard this feat is useless.” Well, let me break it down for you.
A character without proficiency in heavy armor, who has proficiency with medium armor (Such as a Ranger or some Clerics), with at least 16 Dexterity and low Strength.
You can pick up Heavily Armored with that same feat and wear plate armor, but that has a speed penalty if you have less than 15 Strength and still applies disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks.
Not to mention the increased price and the inevitable downside of wearing heavy armor when you fall into a lake.
With Half-Plate Armor and Medium Armor Master, you can have the AC of a person wearing plate armor but without a speed penalty or disadvantage on Stealth checks.
Half-Plate also looks cool, and who doesn’t want to look cool?
What Classes Should Take the Medium Armor Master Feat?
As mentioned before, this feat is extremely dependent on having a minimum Dex of at least 16 in order to get the full AC bonus from this feat, which means that classes or characters that have high Dex and are dependent on stealth would greatly benefit from this feat.
They include:
Ranger
A close-up melee ranger or the traditional bow ranger, this feat eliminates the disadvantage on stealth and grants you an additional AC since you most likely have high Dex already.
Might make hiding in the jungle easier for you. Plus, with Ranger, you’re already proficient with Medium Armor, so you meet the prerequisite to begin with.
Rogue
When we hear “medium armor,” most think of rogue right off the bat.
Granting additional AC and eliminating the disadvantage on stealth means more time alive, which means more sneak attacks – we all love the big damage rolls.
Cleric
Wait, a cleric with medium armor feats? Why would I even take this, you ask?
It would be really funny when you start blasting spells while hidden from your enemy and might make your buddies at the table chuckle if you land a nat 20 on a damage spell, and then proceed to go back to hiding.
Barbarian
Don’t like being naked all the time? Put some Medium Armor on, take this feat, and continue on raging till you’re blue in the face.
If you’re looking for other Feats, try these two:
Martial Adept Feat 5e
Metamagic Adept Feat 5e
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I played the game a lot as a kid, back in first edition. Over the past few years since 5e was released, I’ve really started getting back into it. Currently, I run a campaign online for some friends and my brothers, and we also play a side-sesh just to mix things up.
