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| #1Justin2166Mar 16, 2015 22:45:50 | Hi folks. I'm playing a wizard and was glancing through the DMG at magic items. I know in 5th edition its left more to the DM to determine what items you recieve and there is less of a chance to buy specific items. But if you could, what do you prioritize? It seems a lot more straight forward for non-casting classes.
So what do you usually strive to find? AC boosting items like bracers of defense, ring of protection and such? Staves and wands with rechargable spells? War wizard's wand for attack bonus? Spell storing or recharging equipment like pearl of power?
If you DM, what do you usually give your spellcasters? |
| #2QwertyAzertyMar 17, 2015 6:04:20 | If you often use spell attack (firebolt, shockign grasp, scorching ray, etc... first priority for me woul dbe a wand of war magic adding +1/+2/+3 to your spell attack roll (like with scorching ray) (Rod of the pact keeper for a warlock or you can ask your DM for a Wizard version of the same rod)
Rod of Absorption is very cool, allowing you to absorbe spell then allowing you to gain more spell per day.
Staff of the Magi, bassically it,s a wand of war magic and a rod of absorption and a staff all in one. CHOOSE ONE between the wand/rod and staff since they require you to be attune so having all 3 will prevent you from getting attune to anythign else, but as long that you have less then 3 item you can use 2 of those at the same time (you have 2 hand)
Robe of the Archmagi is a most have, it's better then some artifact for a spellcaster. Need to be attune)
The next item is an other one that is not in the DMG but a very similar item is in the DMG: in the DMG you got a belt of giant strenght giving you 21/23/25/27/29 strenght. you can ask you DM to get a head band of X intellect giving you 21/23/25/27/29 Intellect. This item require attunement but if you manage to find one giving you 25+ take it. untill you get the item giving you 25+ you can bring your Intellect to 20 with your ASI and with a tome of clear thought (+2 Intellect +2 Max Intellect score consumable item that do not require attunement)
In the Best case scenario, My spellcaster will be attune to Staff og Magi, Robe of the Archmagi and Headband of Intellect/wisdom or Charisma 29.
Untill you get those 3 BIS the wand of war magi, Rod of Absorption, many other staff (easy to find low level magic item staff of defense is GREAT) can be good alternative etc... Some ring of protectiong, bracer of defense, can also be interesting as temporary item.
Ring of Spell storing seem like a good idea, but personally I prefer to give the ring to the fighter/barbarian/rogue in the group (the party member without any magical power) and before a long rest I'll give them my left over spells. A fighter who already got 22 AC and can now cast shield become a very good meat shield. The rogue who get in troble and can cast Invisibility by himself is very usefull. and they even use your own spell DC, so you can even give the rogue a fireball level 5 spell and send him scout ahead position himself and cast fireball on the enemies.
Now for item that do not requrie attunement:
Pearl of power are alway great, giving you additional spell per day, and you can never have too many pearl of power, they don't take a item slot or anything, no need to be attune.
Wand of Magic missile at low level is very usefull Wand of magic detection: free detect magic allow you to save your spell slot for other things.
Tome of Dexterity will increase your Dex by 2 so better Initiative, better Dex save, better AC Tome of Constitution will increase your Consitution by 2 more HP and better Constitution save (better concentration save) But I would leave the rogue take the tome of Dex since it allow him to reach 22 dex, but if he already got his glove of dexterity 25+ then go for it. Same for the Toem of Constitution, the Barbarian might really like getting it instead of you.
If your DM allow you to get a shirt +1 (a non armor with a +1 AC bonus similar to the +1AC bonus on a light armor) can be a non attunement that is interesting. if you have a +2 Dex, then an elven shirt (13+dex (max2) +1 could be a good alternative, but it won't stack with mage armor, bracer of armor, dragon resilience (from the sorcerer)
Boot of Elvenkind, giving you advantage on your stealth check without attunement (contrary to the cloak of elvenkind) Broom/Carpet of flying, fly ability without attunement Cloak of Monteback give you dimension door once/day without attunement Cloak of wather breathing/Manta ray allow you to breath underwater and/or swim without attunement
Daern Instant fortress is super usefull, giving you good protection and great vintage point to attack your opponent with spells without any attunement required.
Goggle of night increasing your darkvision by 60ft (so if your a human you gain darkvision 60ft, if your en elf, your darkvision become 120ft, if your a drow your darkvision become 180ft) considering that many of your spell have a reach longer then 60ft it's still usefull for an elf, and doesn't require attunement
Dagger of venom will give you a a melee option using your dex and doesn't require attunement and allwo you do do decent damage with the poison coating, if you are force to fight in melee.
There is many other usefull item that give cool bonuses without requiring attunement, including many consummables. Just remember you can only be attune to 3 items, so those are the most important to choose. Yes you cna alway dismiss an attune item, but then it become useless untill you attune to it again.
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| #3Matau99Mar 17, 2015 8:28:26 | In a low-level game, I'd want a Deck of Illusions. It only lasts 1d20-1 times, but the illusions are pretty awesome. Also, I play an illusionist, so there could be fun synergy there. |
| #4Justin2166Mar 17, 2015 10:39:22 | QwertyAzerty, thanks very much! I'm currently level 6 and I have a War Wizard's Wand +1 and Bracers of Defense. I'm doing pretty well, but trying to figure out if I should go for something like a ring of protection, cloak of protection and such to boost my AC and saving throws, or if I should try to find something to increase my number of spells (like a wand, ring or storing, or staff). Your post was very helpful!
Matau99, I'm also playing an illusionist! I've mainly been focusing on control effects in combat, along with trying to come up with creative uses for minor illusion and other illusion spells. Have you come up with any fun combat uses for minor illusion or any other illusion spells? Last session we were ambushed by some roguish characters in an alleyway and I started combat off with creating a minor illusion of a guard behind one of them with a pike held right behind his back and hollering out to other guards. The DM allowed this to grant advantage to the monk who engaged from the other side, and then the next few rounds another rogue with a crossbow wasted several turns attacking it until a bolt went straight through the illusion.
The deck of illusions sounds pretty fun. I was thinking conjurations spells would go rather nicely with illusions. Summon a creature, then next turn create an illusion as if you summoned another. |
| #5Matau99Mar 17, 2015 10:59:04 | You're level 6? Get major image NOW. Cast it in the middle of combat, and you can use it as a cantrip for the duration thanks to Malleable Illusions.
Also, I've used Phantasmal Force to just terrifying effect. I crept up on BBEGs while they was sleeping [we're doing HotDQ and I used this on Rezmir, Cyanwrath, and Frulam] and made them all have extremely realistic dreams about Tiamat commanding them to go to Greenest without their armies. They complied (if they fail a save they don't know anything happened, so goodbye Legendary Resistance!) and ended up captured.
It was beautiful.
Also, Hypnotic Pattern is like Fireball + Sleep, it's sooooooooo good. |
| (Reply to #5)Justin2166 |
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| #7Matau99Mar 17, 2015 11:34:35 | Use it to do stuff you can't actually do--web an ogre because he'd break out, burn a red dragon with lava to make her think you've removed her immunity to fire somehow (that might even just cause the dragon to flee), or generally screw with enemies. All of those "I create an attractive member of the species" tricks work even better, because now the target completely believes your trick is real!
Nitpick: Phantasmal Force doesn't have a save ends. It has an Investigation check. This is important because only if the creature is specifically examining it will it ever believe that it's not real! There's no automatic save--only if it suspects something is amiss will it make that check!
One more diabolical trick--minor illusion over a torch to "extinguish" it. If you tell your party, they'll see it as illusory. You and your party are fighting in light, and your enemies are fighting in darkness. It's so cheesy, but great. |
| #8Justin2166Mar 17, 2015 11:44:37 | Oh man, I like that one. I assumed it was a save each turn, but this is so much better. I love the creativity this spell gives you too. |
| #9Matau99Mar 17, 2015 12:27:55 | In fact, almost every illusion spell is not a save, but an Investigation check--and just about no monster is proficient. If you 1-level dip into Rogue or Knowledge Cleric, get expertise in Arcana (for scrolls) and Investigation (against other illusionists, and just to be Sherlock Holmes.) You'll love them. |
| #10Matau99Mar 17, 2015 18:07:15 | In fact, illusionists are kind of like grapplers. They both work on axes that most monsters just aren't built to fight on. Normally it's AC vs attack bonus and save DC vs proficiency/legendary resistance. But for these two builds, it's spell save DCs (illusionists) and Athletics checks (grapplers) vs... Investigation checks (illusionists) and Acrobatics/Strength checks (grapplers)? Both are nasty conditions, both can just plain dominate a fight, and almost no monster is good at either.
Now I've got the idea of an Illusionist Grapple Wizard who specializes on finding weaknesses almost every monster has, whether that be targetting Int and Str saves, Investigation checks, Athletics/Acrobatics checks... it'd just be so much fun to always have something to pull out to make a monster's day suck. |
| #11ppaladin123Mar 17, 2015 19:36:21 |
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| #12CaliburnMar 18, 2015 4:24:14 | There is a VERY good reason Belt's of Giant Strengtharen't mirrored for the other stats...
... they really shouldn't be introduced as house rules to a campaign unless it is very high power and very high magic - it further throws bounded accuracy and save balance completely out of the window.
DMs beware! |
| #13QwertyAzertyMar 18, 2015 5:15:32 |
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| #14NamelessHeroMar 18, 2015 7:22:16 | 1. Staff of the magi 2. Robe of the Archmagi 3. Ring of three wishes
Thats in a dream situation. Also, here is a link to a guide which discusses magic items and may help answer some of your questions: |
| (Reply to #7)QwertyAzerty |
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| #16draegnMar 18, 2015 8:27:13 | Our game is different than the standard DMG/PHB. As a player I try to gain items that increase slots/spell points. As a DM I tailor items to my players. Currently my 5 arcane casters have between them:
1 a ring of armor that grants the equivalent of chainmail, but covers the wearing in a shimmering blue light. 2 a dagger of acid 3 silver flute of mass charming (single use, save or suck all beings within 60 feet) 4 ring of succubus control (save or suck for a single summoned succubus) 5 wand of avian (mundane birds only) control 6 astrolobe of comets (casts fireball 3x a day)
They've had a few other items that were pawned off/ traded due to being cursed or deemed to large to travel with. |
| (Reply to #12)QwertyAzerty |
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