Curse the wizard that created the first robe of the archmage! Now any whelp of a hedge conjurer or witless apprentice that finds one considers himself an archmage. Then these fools seek magic far above their station or grasp at power as if donning a robe made them royalty. What a blasted nuisance. I hesitate to count the number of "archmages" I've reduced to dust. Still, I've found that for wizards worthy of the title, a robe of the archmage can be a useful item.
-Mordenkainen, from his secret master copy of the Magnificent Emporium before he burned its pages and then disintegrated the ash
With the release of the Dungeon Master’s Guide, players have been drooling over some of the amazing magic items that it details. But with the good must also come the bad. Therefore, the purpose of this guide is rate magic items to help players decide what are the stars and what are the dogs.
The criteria for rating an item will be three-fold:
1.) How does an item stack up to similar magic items (eg. this shield vs. other shields)?
2.) What is the rarity? What’s the likelihood of selling it or being able to trade for it?
3.) Does it require attunement or not?
In regards to point 2, trading items is an AL play concern. Unfortunately, most of the items in the DMG are NOT legal to use in the current season. With that being said, it is important to note that players can only trade like-rarity items for other like-rarity items. So players can only trade a rare item for a rare item or a uncommon item for an uncommon item (ect, ect.) So if you find a legendary magic item, you're probably holding on to it for a while.
If you are playing in an a home campaign, and your DM allows you to sell magic items, depending on how rare the item is, you might not be able to find someone to sell the item to, which is problematic (DMG pg.129). Though in all honesty, if you find a rare magic item that does not require attunement, you’re not gonna want to sell it. You have what is known as a quality problem.
As far as point three, this is a serious concern for adventurers. In 5e, characters can only have three magic items attuned at a time (DMG pg 138). Therefore, unlike 4e, the number of magic item slots available to characters are very limited and magic items must be carefully considered. Naturally, items that are good and do not require attunement will be given greater consideration.
Important notes about attunement:
1.) If a player has just found a magic item and can't cast the identify spell, they must spend a short rest to determine what the magic item is. Potions are an exception, just a little taste of the potion is enough to tell you what the potion does.
2.) In order to attune an item a player must spend a short rest focusing only on that item to attune themselves to the item (it can’t be the same short rest used to learn the item’s properties). Whatever that means for your game depends on the DM. Some DMs may allow you to do other things while attuning, other DMs may not.
3.) A creatures attunement ends if the item has been more than 100 feet away from the creature for 24 hours, the creature dies, or another creature attunes the item. A creature can also voluntarily end attunement by spending another short rest focused on the item, unless the item is cursed.
The source materials used for this guide are abbreviated as follows:
DMG- D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide 5e
HotDQ- D&D Hoard of the Dragon Queen
LMoP- D&D Lost Mines of Phandelver
PHB- D&D Player’s Handbook 5e
RoT- D&D Rise of Tiamat
Any item that’s not in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, or in multiple sources, will be annotated as such in the item description. Otherwise, you can assume all items are in the DMG.
This guide will use the following color coding system:
Red- This is a trap. Don’t take this. There’s a better option or it isn’t worth the investment.
Purple- Is a substandard choice. It might be useful in corner-case situations, but overall it's not worth the investment.
Black- This item will not actively hurt your character, but there is probably a better option.
Green- Difficult to classify. Often used for utility instead of combat or is dependant on your character concept.
Blue- Good choice. You can’t really go wrong with taking this. Correct in the majority of cases.
Sky Blue- Indicates a fantastic choice, an option you should strongly consider against most others.
Gold- A rare rating. The best option out there hands down. This is mandatory to call yourself optimized.
without further ado….
Swords of Light, Luck, and Life stealing: Weapons of Heroes
Staves of Power, Rods of Might, Wands of Fear: Foci for the Feared
Attunement Items
Pipes of the Sewers- I feel like this should summon an Italian plumber or a bunch of turtles, but rats will have to do. The usefulness of the pipes will be directly linked to the number of cats in the area though, so hopefully you don’t find yourself in ancient egypt. [Uncommon] Rod of Alertness- Perception and initiative are both important checks, and having all the detection spells is nice too. You can even give you and your allies a boost to AC and saving throws once a day. If you've got it, use it. [Very Rare] Rod of Lordly Might- This might be the master of versatility. There's piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning damage, a ladder, a flametongue, and a few powerful daily effects with a decent DC. It's too bad there's no button for it to throw a kitchen sink. [Legendary] Rod of the Pact Keeper, +1, +2, +3- Better attack rolls and DCs on your spells is a strong effect, and getting back spell slots as well makes for quite a powerful combination. The potentail to stack this with a Wand of the War Mage makes it a very appealing option. [Uncommon, Rare, or Very Rare] Rod of Resurrection- Strong healing and resurrection on a stick is powerful, just make sure you bring people back sparingly, unless you want to risk trading it in for a pile of dust. [Legendary] Rod of Rulership- Once a day you get to a mass charm for everyone you can see within 120 feet. If you got to use it more often it'd be much better, but it's still no slouch. [Rare] Spider Staff (LMoP)- Adding 1d6 poison damage to melee attacks is good, but as there are a lot of creatures that are immune or resistant to poison it’s usefulness will be campaign dependent. It is adamantine, which gets around non-magical resistance, and there are some spells in it too. Spider climb and web can be useful, so it’s got a little something for everyone. [Rare] Staff of Charming- Charm person, command, and comprehend languages are nice effects and, in addition to scaling with your spell save DC, it lets you succeed a save that may be turned against your opponent. Enchantments are almost useless against you now, except for multi target ones. [Rare] Staff of Defense (LMoP)- Having another static modifier to add to your defence is nice, and having shield casts on a stick is very nice. With the right AC you could be almost unhittable. The only downside is needing to have the spell on your class’s spell list and attuning it. [Rare] Staff of Fire (DMG, HotDQ)- Fire resistance is good, and being able to cast fireball three times a day is a nice bonus. Ten charges is a bit limiting though, and the value of the spells will go down as you level up, the exception being your ability to decimate large groups of kobolds. [Very Rare] Staff of Frost- Resistance and cone of cold are a great combination, ice storm isn’t too bad either. It’d be great if there was a few more charges, but you can still get both of the better spells off in one day, so it’s still pretty strong. [Very Rare] Staff of Healing- Extra healing is nice to have, and mass healing on a stick is a great tool to have access to. There aren’t a lot of charges on this, but it gains most back each day. [Rare] Staff of Power- This has got a lot of options. You get a +2 bonus to AC, saving throws, spell attack rolls, attack rolls and damage rolls while getting the ability to cast spells and expend charges to deal extra damage while you’re swinging with it. Just be careful of domination effects, as you may end up breaking it and taking a few points of damage. [Very Rare] Staff of Striking- If you’ve always wanted a staff without spells to hit people with and you can’t hold the staff of power, look no further. It even lets you throw a bit of damage on top of each hit. [Very Rare] Staff of Swarming Insects- Being able to cast two decent spells is nice, but you only get one casting of insect plague with no risk per day. [Rare] Staff of the Adder- If you want a non-magical staff to attack with this is a decent option, but the staff can be attacked and destroyed relatively easily. [Uncommon] Staff of the Magi- If you’re able to use this staff you want to use it. It doesn’t disintegrate if the charges are expended, it can absorb spells to regain charges and negate single target effects. There’s 50 charges to use with over a dozen different spells. You even get advantage on spell saves and +2 to attack, damage and spell attack rolls. If you overcharge it, or decide to break it, there is a bit of fallout, but it’s pretty easy to avoid that. [Legendary] Staff of the Python- Snakes are interesting creatures, but they are a bit fragile. It can be fun to intimidate people with, or have a mount on demand though. [Uncommon] Staff of the Woodlands- Magic quarterstaffs that can be disguised as trees are hard to come by, and it comes with some interesting spells built in. Crazy hermits pretty much need one. [Rare] Staff of Thunder and Lightning- A +2 weapon is nice and there’s a bonus spell once a day. Seems like a good choice. [Very Rare] Staff of Withering- A magic quarterstaff with a little extra kick is nice. Although it’s not as good for those who already have shillelagh. [Rare] Talisman of Pure Good- This is the ultimate talisman for good clerics and paladins and there are a couple chances to eliminate a few bad apples. [Legendary] Talisman of Ultimate Evil- This is the ultimate talisman for evil clerics and paladins and there are a couple chances to eliminate a few good apples. [Legendary] Tentacle Rod- Hentai jokes aside, this can be useful to someone who wants to take down a tough enemy. [Rare] Wand of Binding- Hold person and hold monster are both great spells, but there aren’t many castings available per day. The bonus to avoid being grappled, restrained, or paralyzed is nice but it does cost a charge. [Rare] Wand of Enemy Detection- Having a variation on the paladin class feature is interesting, but is this really something you want to attune? [Rare] Wand of Fear- Limited use of command is good, and a mass fear effect is nice, but it’s no wand of fireballs. [Rare] Wand of Fireballs- Know what’s better than fireball? Extra castings of fireball for free. [Rare] Wand of Lightning Bolts- Lightning bolt is a good spell, but there are better options for wands. [Rare] Wand of Paralysis- If only there was a DC for this. It makes sense that it would be 15, but it does depend on your DM as it stands. Spell save aside, one minute of paralysis is very strong. [Rare] Wand of the War Mage +1, +2, +3- Spellcasters like landing their attack spells, and this is a great way to make sure that happens. If you’re a Warlock this becomes even better as you can stack it with Rod of the Pact Keeper. [Uncommon, Rare, Very Rare] Wand of Web- Extra spells per day are always nice to have, but there may be a limit to the number of times that web will be useful in a day, maybe. [Uncommon] Wand of Wonder- Is the wild magic sorcerer making you jealous with all his random magical effects? Are you a wild magic sorcerer who really wants to randomly cast a fireball that isn’t centered on you? Do you just like rolling percentile dice? If you said yes to any of these questions you’ve found your wand. If not, you can just pass on this. [Rare]
Wand of Polymorph- Polymorph is one of the best spells in the game, and this lets you cast it for free. Sign me up. [Very rare]
Plates of Adamantine, Chains of Mithral: Armors of the Protected
Bulwarks and Bracers: Wrist Guards of the Vanguard
Shawls Weaved with Stars: Capes, Cloaks, Robes
Attunement Items
Cloak of Displacement- I like this! Enemies take disadvantage to attack you. “If you take damage, this property ceases to function until the start of your next turn.” So what!? If you are a ranged character you shouldn’t be on the front lines anyway. And even if you are on the front lines, this is still pretty strong. Ostensibly this is a +5 to AC. [Very Rare] Cloak of Elvenkind- Essentially this is a poor man's Cloak of invisibility, since as long as you successfully make your stealth check, you are hidden anyway. Unfortunately it takes an action to hide, so it has limited usefulness in combat, unless you are a rogue with cunning action or something like that. Also, since it takes an action to put your hood up, you should simply keep your hood on all the time. It looks more badass anyway. [Uncommon] Cloak of Invisibility- This item is for all you rogues out there. Invisibility: check. Advantage on attack rolls: check. Carte blanche to steal mercilessly: check. [Legendary] Cloak of Protection- This item is very similar to it’s ring counterpart. Just as good too. [Uncommon] Mantle of Spell Resistance- This has the potential to stop a lot of damage. Always make Dex throws. Resist dominating Wis save effects. [Rare] Robe of Eyes- If you want to look like a strange Dali painting and have a great field of vision this is for you. Just make sure nobody you face can cast light or daylight. [Rare] Robe of Scintillating Colors- Making yourself hard to hit with a multi stun effect is hard to beat, until you consider the fact that your allies will be stunned as well. If you’re in a place where your allies can’t see you, or are more than thirty feet away when you activate it this robe can be very good. [Very Rare] Robe of Stars- Tactical retreats, magic missiles, and a bonus to saving throws. This is great for the adventurer who needs to make well timed trips to the astral sea a lot, and for everyone else, it's decent. [Very Rare] Robe of the Archmagi- A bump to spell save DCs, advantage saves against magic, and a better AC. Finally you don’t have to waste a spell slot on mage armor. [Legendary] Wings of Flying- An hour of 60 ft fly speed is good and the refractory period isn’t too long, but there is the issue of plummeting back to the ground at the end of an hour which holds this item back a bit. [Rare]
Cloak of the Bat- Advantage on stealth checks, a fly speed in dim light and darkness, and the ability to polymorph into a bat while retaining your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma once a day. This is pretty great. If you can cast darkness on yourself you have a poor man’s fly spell. Also, you can now start becoming the hero that the realms need. [Rare]
Headbands for the Brilliant, Helmets for the Brave: The Headwear to Wear
Talismans of the Ancients: Amulets and Necklaces
Bands of Platinum and Wishes: Rings of Legend
Gloves of Swimming, Snaring, and Stealing: Gauntlets and Gloves
Cinctures of Strength: How to keep your pants up like a dwarf
Footwear for Springing and Striding: Boots of the Rugged
Attunement Items
Candle of Invocation- This is a really hard item to rate. Depending on the circumstances it could be amazing or awful. Therefore, I’m simply gonna list some pros and cons for consideration. Pros Proper alignment allows advantage on attack rolls, saving throws and ability checks, Druids and Clerics get to cast spells for without expending spell slots, gate is a very powerful spell, it provides a light source Cons Not everyone in the party may be the correct alignment, it requires an action to light, you may find the wrong type of candle, you must pay the component costs for Gate, the DM has a lot of fiat over how effective your gate spell functions, takes 4 hours to burn down [Very Rare] Crystal Ball- This item comes in 3 types, all of which do different utility based things: read minds, communicate telepathically or spy on people. Seems ok. Attunement makes it a little more unwieldy. [Very Rare or Legendary] Cube of Force- Basically a portable barrier generator. The barrier is centered on you, moves with you, and lasts for 1 minute. It also takes an action to activate each face. 2-5 actions is a huge investment in a fight. If your DM lets you press the faces before the fight breaks out, it moves up to blue, otherwise its red. [Rare] Gem of Seeing- Invisible creatures giving you a hard time? Shapeshifters constantly messing with you? Want to automatically detect visual illusions and succeed on saving throws against them? Or maybe you just want to see into the Ethereal Plane? Well look no further (pun intended). [Rare] Ioun Stone (Absorption, Agility, Awareness, Fortitude, Greater Absorption, Insight, Intellect, Leadership, Mastery, Protection, Regeneration, Reserve, Strength, Sustenance)- Absorption- Free counterspells are pretty powerful. The only things holding this item back are that it uses your reaction to counter the spell and that the spell must target only you. Also it gets a little worse at higher levels. [Very Rare] Agility- Dexterity bumps are hard to come by. Rogues would kill for this (pun intended). [Very Rare] Awareness- I always hated getting surprised. Out of all the stones, this is one of the worst. [Rare] Fortitude- Yes I would like more hit points and better con saves. [Very Rare] Greater Absorption- The absorptions stone’s bigger, stronger brother. Wouldn’t want to run into this guy on the playground. A little better since it hits spells of almost every level. [Legendary] Insight- Clerics pray the the goddess Ioun for this. [Very Rare] Intellect- Wizards your research is done, you’ve found the droids you're looking for. [Very Rare] Leadership- Warlocks would sell their soul for this. And honestly, so would Paladins and Bards. [Very Rare] Mastery- Do you like to hit more consistently? Or maybe you like to do more damage? Or maybe you’re a skill monkey? Whatever the case, you want this item. [Legendary] Protection- Not exactly as good as the Ring of Protection, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. [Rare] Regeneration- “What are hit dice? I just use this floating stone here.” But seriously, this has the potential to regain 360 hit points per day. You don't even need to rest. Just walk around and heal for free. [Legendary] Reserve- For the layperson you can store 3 first level spells, 1 second level spell, or 1 third level spell. Other spellcasters can store their spells in the stone for you to use, but you must have a free spell slot of the equivalent level for you to cast that spell. So load it up with extra castings of shield. [Rare] Strength- This would also be rated more highly if not for certain belts. But its still good. [Very Rare] Sustenance- This IS the worst of the Ioun stones. I've never played in a campaign where the DM worries about your character’s meal plan. [Rare] Pearl of Power- Extra spells each day are very useful, and having the ability to choose which one you get is great. One use a day and attunement hold this item back a bit though. [Uncommon] Stone of Good Luck (Luckstone)- Bonuses to saving throws and ability checks is always nice, and you don’t even have to hold it. [Uncommon] Tome of the Stilled Tongue- Free slotless spellcasting is good, and spells as bonus actions is even better. You can also erase all your spells, if you feel like being secretive. The only downside, if you can call it that, is Vecna spying on you and leaving you messages. Isn’t Vecna always spying on important adventurers? If you use a spellbook it doesn’t get much better than this. [Legendary]
Magical Scrolls and Brews: Consumable items
Souls of the Ageless: Sentient weapons
Weapons Long-forgotten: Artifacts
Gifts from the Gods: Boons
Reserved
Rod of the Pact Keeper and Wand of the War Mage stack.
Flood dungeons with a Decanter of Endless Water.
Good call. I updated the guide.
Armor of Resistance as red and Plate Armor of Lightning Resistance as black seems contradictory. Aren't they really the same item with one set to only one type for the theme of the campaign?
I'd also like to thank you for writing this guide. I've linked to your guide in my Conjuration guide and instead of me rating all the items, I've just discussed there what is most important to that playstyle.
Bag of Devowering is better if you've access to Polymorph. Hello Dragon, hello Frog. Bag, meet Frog. Frog, Bag.
What would you rate a +1 weapon f you had to attune to it?
IxidorRS wrote:
IxidorRS wrote:
Yunru wrote:
HermanTheWize wrote:
Yunru wrote:
FallingIcicle wrote:
Some Weapon notes:
Attuned Weapons:
Dancing Sword - Sky Blue because there are a number of classes that don't get bonus action attacks and it is functionally a ranged bonus action attack. i.e. Barbarians and Fighters.
Dwarven Thrower - cool item, but requiring one to be a Dwarf makes it purple for most
Flame Tongue - +7 damage on average to everything should be higher.
Mace of Disruption - +7 damage to some very specific opponents, limited weapon choice, should be lower
Mace of Terror - don't think of it as a weapon. Think about it as an item that potentially makes all enemies in a 30' radius both lose their turns and provoke reactions up to 3 times in a day...
Sun Blade - feels more dark blue to me. The always on light source when weapon is activated can cause some action economy issues. And a glowing finesse weapon...
Sword of Answering - I'd ding it down to dark blue given the lack of feats for longswords.
Sword of Life Stealing - I'd give it purple. Someone who swings consistently with Advantage and/or has lots of attacks might be able to use it.
Sword of Sharpness - I'd give it purple. Functionally, 95% of the time, it is roughly the same as a Sword of Life Stealing - slightly more damage, but no temps.
Sword of Vengeance - Red. Not worth the trouble.
Sword of Wounding - Purple. Maybe Red. +2.5 damage later roughly equals +2 damage now and that's ignoring the +2 weapon's no need for attunement or that it gives a +2 to hit.
Vorpal Sword - I'd argue this is gold. A fighter with 3 attacks and advantage has a 26% chance of lopping off a target's head each round...
Weapon of Warning - wouldn't necessarily consider this a weapon. Every party should have one, though.
Non-attuned Weapons:
Dragon Slayer - would almost never take this over a +2 weapon. Should be purple ala am I playing Dragonlance
Giant Slayer - ditto. Am I going through the G series?
Hammer of Thunderbolts - adding +4 Str in effect makes it a +3 weapon that adds +2 to str checks. Also, you don't need to attune the gauntlets, just be wearing them. It isn't great, but not red. I'd call it black - probably want the +3 weapon instead, but the +4 Strength on top of a lesser Belt of Giant Strength in combo with the ranged stunning makes it interesting.
Mace of Smiting - I'd call it purple for roughly the same reasons as several others. Not needing to use a mace and having a +2 weapon is almost certainly a better rare option.
Some Implement Notes:
Rod of Lordly Might - basically a +3 weapon with a variety of options. I'd only call it Sky Blue.
Staff of Power - Gold. +2 to AC, spell attack rolls and saves when holding it in your off-hand?
Staff of the Adder - yuck - get to spend a bonus action to get a non-magical weapon that does some extra damage on a save? Seems more Purple.
Staff of the Magi - Gold. Adv on spell saves alone is worth a lot.
Wand of Secrets - automatic is good, especially if you're not good at perception checks...
Some Armor/Shield/Bracers/Cloak/Robe Notes:
Psychic Armor of Resistance covers the Bear Barbarian weak spot - i.e. resist everything, non-magical or magical, when raging.
Efreeti Armor is Chainmail +3, which is functionally Platemail +1.
Animated Shield needs a bonus action, which creates action economy issues.
Shield of Missile Attraction works against your allies, too. Can really gum up the party's archer choice of targets.
Continuing(very good guide btw, I'm not in disagreement with many ratings)
Hats, Helms, Goggles:
I'd put Helm of Brilliance here rather than under consumables. No rational player uses up the last gems of each category.
Helm of Telepathy - I think this should be rated much higher. It has a lot of very strong non-combat uses based on Detect Thoughts being at-will. Gagged, captured enemies will eventually fail that DC13 saving throw - "Where did you hide your treasure...Who are your allies...Where are they? What are your plans...what does this complex look like..." A non-caster(such as a Rogue) can cast Detect Thoughts and communicate with an ally without talking. Note the combo - Rogue KOs a guard, brings him back to consciousness, and then repeatedly casts Detect Thoughts to get the location of all the guards, where treasure is hidden, etc...and the guard can't even yell for help.
Necklaces:
Necklace of Adaptation = breathing underwater, too. I'd rate it as black given that it is basically a cap of water breathing with some extras, but attunement.
Periapt of Wound Closure = double the benefit of hit dice.
Necklace of Prayer Beads. Not a consumable. Also, note that the spells are bonus action. Most people are typically going to get a bonus action bless spell out of the necklace. That's really good.
Continuing to Rings, Belts(no comments), Boots, Consumables...
Rings of Elemental Command. If you don't kill an elemental at some point, they're not that good. But...fly at will? Move through solid rock? Immune to fire damage? Plus spells on charges? Air Elemental Command in particular ought to be Sky Blue for the fly at-will+hover.
Ring of Animal Influence. I'd rate this as Purple. Needs an action/charge to speak with animals and that only lasts 10 minutes? And this somehow made it to Item Table G? Yuck.
Boots of Levitation - spells cast from items requires no components unless the item's description says otherwise as per DMG 141
Boots of Speed - there are some PCs for whom this is crazy good, such as Monks. Moving 90' in a round and stunning multiple targets.
Slippers of Spider Climbing - I'd give this a Dark Blue. There are a lot of times that melee PCs are going to want to climb a cliff or ranged PCs want to duck out of range of a melee enemy coming after them.
Brooch of Shielding is a resist item.
Candle of Invocation does not spend components when casting Gate
Cube of Force - I'd rate it Blue. There are a number of ways to use it to negate a creature's action if they're in the right location, or make things really difficult. Example - boss caster, you're a saving throw specialist, and you move up next to him and then click face 5. Or you're facing a melee enemy in a party of casters or a caster in a party of archers.
Tome of the Stilled Tongue. Bonus Action Wish. Sigh...
Broom/Carpet of Flying - you can be knocked off of them
Cubic Gate - no components
Driftglobe - found on charts other than F-I, so I'd rate it Black or Green.
Horn of Blasting - um, it blows up 20% of the time...
Iron Bands of Bilarro - Hexed creatures are at disadvantage to one ability check...
Iron Flask - at-will take an extraplanar creature out of a fight? Then make them fight for you in the next combat(s)? That's Sky Blue, especially if you can somehow capture a creature without knocking its hit points down, then repeatedly try to force them into the Flask. Especially at the point where you're likely to find such an item.
Rope of Climbing - on magic item table B. I'd call it green.
Rope of Entanglement - DC 15 at-will isn't that bad. Purple.
Sphere of Annihilation - I'd call it Green or Red. DC 13 Legendary item isn't going to result in a lot of things happening.
Scarab of Protection - wouldn't really call this a consumable.
Sentinent Items/Artifacts - I'd consider many of these unratable as conflict or the detrimental effects can really have some wacky effects for many PCs. Disadvantage on all spell saving throws? Vulnerability to all damage? Changing alignment?
Boons - I'd consider most of these unratable as well as they really only take effect at the end of a campaign.
Anyway, again, great job on the list. Thanks for doing this!
great work. ButI think you underestimate the spellcaster item.
But Robe of the Archmagi and staff of the Magi should be Gold.
together they offer +4 to your spell DC (this is insane)
together they give +4 to spell attack (also very powerfull)
advantage against all spell? thank you very much, defense against one of the few thing actually able to kill a well build/play mage at high level
Absorb thsoe spell to fuel that staff and cast more spell... Fireball being castable more often then your own cantrip? hell yes no question about it.
Same goes for the boon of high magic, a second spell levle 9, slot level 9 can be uses for wish, but it also can be uses for a scorching ray lvl 9 (average of 140 damage for fire dragon sorcerer and evocator wizard and 175 damage if they diped 1 warlock level for Hex? this is golden just because platinium is not an real rating
Skyblue on those item for a arcane caster (wizard, sorcerer, warlock) is an insult, it like calling the holy avenger a toothpick in front of a paladin 
Pearl of Power do not require to argu with your DM that you can have more then one, they don't require attunement and give you extra spell level 3. Once you get the staff og Magi this become obsolete, but untill you get the staff, you should be collecting them, put them on a string and cast fireball like cantrips.
About Hazirawn, yes it's s typo and it have been confirm by Cawford ( I believe). Also has the weapon is written it's lacking a personallity and a goal, so it's not "sentient", but DM are welcom to create stats and goals for the sword making it sentient. and even non-evil greatsword master can use it very well. I talked with the sword during my first short rest and explained to it that if it didn't help me in my mission, it would become a dragon toothpick or even worse, collect rust in Tiamat treasure hoard. and if he decide to betray me, the Harper will be more then happy to lock the sword away and study it, or I'm sure a volcanic bath would help him msee the error of his way. So my CG caracter and Hazirawn workd in team to defeat Tiamat and we dealt around 300damage in a single round to that dragon.
Horn of blasting should be RED, no red is too good for that item, if we create the new platinium rating, maybe we shoudl create a new rating to illustrate how bad this item is.. Seriously, an item alerting the entire dungeon of your presence? and you have 1/5 chance (20%) that it will blow in your face. at low level this explosion might very well KILL you (not just unconsious but kill you by bringing you to negative max HP) Go get a necklace of fire ball if you want AoE damage on demand. This item does not even have the excuse of being cursed.
Then for Adventure League player, because of the rule saying the player with the least magical item get priority, and because you can never lose a permanent item (you can trade them, for item of the same rarity, but who will trade an leather armor +1 in exchange of a usefull item?), an leather armor +1 should be red (so does padded +2, splintmail+1 etc...), since a mundane armor (a padded armor +2 and a leather amor +1 offer the same bonus as a mundane studded armor)will offer the same AC but won't make it harder to get the interesting magical item that he will find. Yes I know rust monster can eat your full plate, but cannot eat a splintmail+1, but I never saw many rust monster up to now, so I am willing to risk a mundane armor to a monster that is rarely encounter, rather then loosing my chance to roll on a usefull item that I will encounter in the next few week for sure.
Then item that can break easily (like a horn of blasting) even after it explose keep counting against your permanent magic item count, making thsoe item even worse then in home games. the staff and wand, yes they can be broken and they will still count, but to break them it require the player to be willing to risk loosing it (it's hard to use that last charge unwillingly, and even if you do you only have 5% chance to break the item, compare to the horn where you get 20% every time you use it. But in AL, I consider staff to only hold 9 charge instead of 10 and wand to hold 6 instead of 7, making them still very usefull, compare to a horn of blasting which have 20% chacne to break on it's first use AND alert the entire dungeon, AND still count as a magical item even once broken. In Adventure League the Horn of Blasting is what I call a real trap AND a griefing item. A Player who want to grief his group can simply use that item at a bad time and force the DM to cause a TPK ( or the DM can fudge everything and remove any danger from the adventure, making the adventure loose it's challenge, loose the thrill of danger, since we now know we can do anything and we won'T have consequences.
Awesome guide! Good work!
Yunru wrote:
robsonline wrote:
Would you rather have a displacer cloak or a claok of protection as a Half-Orc Barbarian.
Stats:
Str - 16
Dex - 14
Con - 16
Int - 8
Wis - 12
Cha - 8
HermanTheWize wrote:
MasterNamer wrote:
HermanTheWize wrote:
mellored wrote: