Studded Leather Armor
Light armor: AC 12 + DEX. No stealth penalty. Best light armor — with 20 DEX, provides AC 17 matching heavy armors.
Studded Leather Armor (Light)
Studded leather is reinforced with metal rivets, offering the best protection among light armors.
Stats:
Don/doff time: 1 minute to don, 1 minute to doff.
Assessment: Studded leather is the gold standard for light armor users. With a high Dexterity (+5 modifier at 20 DEX), it provides AC 17 — matching splint armor without stealth disadvantage or Strength requirements. This makes it the endgame armor for Rogues, Rangers, DEX-based Fighters, and any character who relies on Dexterity.
Comparison: At 20 DEX, studded leather (AC 17) beats half plate (AC 17) because half plate imposes stealth disadvantage and caps the DEX bonus at +2. For characters with DEX 14 or lower, medium armor is typically better.
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 ("SRD 5.2.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.