Level 2 Transmutation spell available to Druids and Rangers. Touch an ally and their Armour Class becomes 16 until a Long Rest, if it was lower. It is a floor, not a bonus, and that one word decides whether it is worth a slot.
Spell description: Touch a willing creature to toughen its skin and increase its Armour Class up to 16.
Spell properties
- Range: Melee: 1.5m (5ft)
- Duration: Long Rest
- Concentration spell
- Conditions applied: Armour Class is increased to 16.
- Cost: Action + Spell Slot
- Recharge: Per action
Spell upcasting
Casting Barkskin at higher levels provides no additional benefits.
How to obtain Barkskin
- Druid at Class level 3
- Ranger at Class level 5
Source items: Barkskin Armour, Scroll of Barkskin
BARKSKIN
Level 2 Transmutation SpellTouch a willing creature to toughen its skin and increase its Armour Class up to 16.
Range: Melee (1.5m)
Duration: Long Rest
CONDITION: BARKSKIN
Duration: Until Long Rest
Condition: Barkskin
- Armour Class is increased to 16 if it was lower.
- Does not stack with armour that already provides 16 or more.
- Persists through Wild Shape.
When to cast Barkskin
It sets Armour Class to 16. It does not add to it. Your Fighter in plate is already sitting on 18 and gets nothing. Your Wild Shaped Druid, your Monk in cloth, your Sorcerer in a dressing gown, all go straight to 16, which is a full set of medium armour for one spell slot.
The best target is the Druid casting it. Wild Shape forms have dreadful AC and Barkskin carries over into the animal, so a bear with 16 AC is a much healthier bear. Cast it in the morning, it lasts until Long Rest, and forget about it.
It is Concentration, which is a strange thing to attach to an all-day buff, and it means a Druid running Barkskin is not running Spike Growth or Moonbeam. If your caster has better things to concentrate on, the Barkskin Armour from Act 1 does the same job for free.
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