After a long time stockpiling, he can finally shop. Hooray for teleporting! Anyway, I could really use some advice on what to buy.
20,000 gp to spend, preferably in quanta of 8,000 or less (more requires Gather Info rolls) Core + Completes + MIC
I'm buying a lot of spells already, this is over and above.
Other than upgrading my int hat to +6 (20,000 exactly), I'm stuck. I can find some stuff (PoP 1) but nothing that really "jumps out" at me.
Suggestions?
Really hard to think of anything without more information though pfooti. No real leaping out suggestions.
He's an abrupt jaunter, so the anklets of translocatoin might not be all too useful.
There's more info about the character here. This campaign got delayed quite a bit due to RL issues, but we're back again.
So far on my list are:
Pearl of Power 1 (always handy, especially with sculpt spell as a UM-enhancement)
Metamagic Rod, Lesser Extend (all-day mage armor)
I'm thinking about gloves of fortunate striking, his attack bonus is somewhat low, and some of his spells are ranged touch, so that's good. I'm also considering a circlet of rapid casting, but while it would be relatively easy to add "fortunate striking" to my gloves of the starry sky using MIC item rules, adding a 12,000 cost thing to the int hat is not easy. What I should do at some point, is sell the +4 int hat, and buy a headband of conscious effort and add int to that instead.
The party has a wondrous item crafter, and the DM allows us to spend our own XP, but we're getting into the area where the items are taking a long time to create, and we're still in a hurry. Two days for a jaunt to sasserine and back is one thing, twenty days for some crafting is another.
Are there any items that improve summoned monsters? As a focused conjurer, I could cast a lot of them, but since I'm a level behind optimal due to the beguiler level, and I don't have augment summoning, I haven't been doing that all too often. I've been thinking more about the uses of summoned monsters lately, though. Anyone know of any "3/day, embeefinate a summoned monster" items in the MIC? Or better yet, "3/day summon a monster as a standard action instead of a full-round one"? I've already sacrificed my familiar for abrupt jaunt, so I can't get rapid summoning, unless it's a feat or something (I recall it being an ACF somewhere).
Are there any items that improve summoned monsters?
Only thing that crops to mind is the ring of the beast - and that only works on SNA. Drawing a blank apart from that.
There is a Metamagic in the PHB2 that lets you buff your summoned monster as you summon it. I don't think it's that good but might be worth your while.
The Spelldeath crossbow from Arms and equipment if it's available can hold 2 wands for you. Maybe the ringsword from the same book as that gives you an extra ring slot.
Another option would be just to save the gold. My character is skilling up in UMD, so with a skill-boosting item, he could probably hit the 20 DC to activate a runestaff pretty soon. Runestaff of Evocation would come in pretty handy in that case, since it's a good collection of blasting spells. The problem with runestaffs is, they're really expensive, and if you can craft them yourself, you've already got all the spells, so it's not really as useful to you. Plus, unless you did some retraining tricks, you took "craft staff" just to make a runestaff, and you can only use one at a time. If runestaffs were rods instead, the feat could be worth it, and maybe you could collaborate with another caster to provide the spells, and then keep the feat for also making metamagic rods.
I found two other things for summoning: ring of mighty summons and summoner's totem. The former gives your summons maximized HP at the expense of them lasting half as long. The latter lets you cast a buff spell on your summoned critter as a swift action the turn it comes out, which is okay, I guess, but it only works on SNA, not SM spells (bleh). The ring isn't all that good - IMO the problem with summoned creatures is that they're not much of a threat anyway, with low AB for the rough CR they're fighting in, so upping their HP isn't as important as upping their STR.
Personally, I'd recommend a Rod of Extend (11,000), or the Ring and a Rod of Lesser extend (or two! I can never get enough myself :P)
There is a feat to make SM spells rapid, it's Rapid Spell in Complete Divine (+1 Metamagic). If you have Metamagic School Specialization from Comp Mage, that's 3/day standard action casts for +0 level total.
@Saragon - was that ring reprinted anywhere else? My DM is a bit of a stickler, I might not be able to pick that up, although it sounds awesome. I'll try and beg for it.
@Vicen_Korel, I really don't like Imbued Summoning, since one of the big things you'd want to do with a "3rd-level, touch-range" spell is cast Bull's Strength on your summoned creature. But you can't, since Augment Summoning gives your critter a +4 enhancement bonus to STR anyway. I'll check out the wand / ring stuff, though. I wonder if you could use eternal wands in those situations. One of the reasons I've got so much gold to spend is that I'm a miser: I hate using charged items (I only ever buy scrolls to copy them into my spellbook, even).
+4 Con neck would be recommended first. 16,000
Mantle of 2nd Chances is 6k in the DMGII or 12k in the MIC depending on which source you use. Luck reroll 1x/day is very nice.
+1 Deathward Mithril Buckler is 0% ASF, -0 ACF, +2 AC and 1/day ignore a negative energy or death effect, all for about 5k gold. Can't beat that. Tack on another 12k to that and upgrade to Energy Immunity for 1/d reactive immunity to the elemental flavor of your choice for a whole minute. Great vs dragons and a REAL lifesaver.
+1 Twilight Deathward Mithril Chain Shirt is another 1/day ignore death effect. A little steeper because you need the Twilight, but coming in at a nice round 17kish, something to keep on the shopping list for later.
Anklets of Translocation. I know you said you have Abrupt Jaunt, but 2 extra uses of "get out of jail free" is nothing to skoff, especially for the price.
Something to have crafted when you are able is an Orange IWIN Stone. The extra CL give you lots of nice benefits, add it to the shopping list for later.
What do you think about the talisman of undying fortitude? It'd get him out of a lot of troubles when facing annoying leveldraining and death-dealing undead, but it's proactive instead of reactive.
As it happens, there's a +1 mithral shirt in the party "pile", so I can get the base for that really cheap, since we just pay the 50% sale price we'd get for selling it to the party funds. Getting a Twilight enhancement put on it means it's wearable right away, and I can save up for the death ward.
I agree on the death ward thing, my other character has death ward on both pieces of armor. I can get the buckler and the chainshirt upgrade for about the same price as the talisman, which seems like a good deal. I will have to keep an eye on his load, but since he's flying around with Overland Flight & Heart of Air all day, his move speed isn't such an issue, as long as he can actually move, heh.
A +4 amulet of constitution would only cost 8k and some XP to get made, I'll talk to the party crafter and see how many craft points he's got left.
Cheers,
Pryor
Spellguard Rings (if you have a combatant in your party whom you want able to ignore your BC spells, to wade in and wreck havoc). 4,000 gp.
It is situational, but my own Conjurer is finding his magic constantly dispelled (multiple castings of Dispel Magic in an encounter), and so I'm considering picking up a Ring of Enduring Arcana (6,000 gp) for him. Might not be as useful for you, depending on how your game is run.
Cheers,
Pryor
The Robe of Mysterious Conjuration (10,000 gp, MIC, p.130) will allow you to (3 times per day) spontaneously convert a prepared spell into a Summon Monster spell of equal or lower level, and it only takes a Standard Action to do so - resulting in the equivalent of 3 Rapid Summonings per day, and freeing up your memorizations for other options.
Cheers,
Pryor
Prior gets
Perfect, just what I was looking for. And considering Virgil just learned SMV, he can get this puppy crafted for just 5k gold (actually a bit more, since I still want the tunic of steady spellcasting's +5 concentration, but MIC item stacking rules are actually usable, rather than the DMG's lousy ones). That's exactly what I needed! That, and some mithral armor and metamagic rods, and some scrolls of spells he hasn't learned yet, and I think we have a shopping spree! Woot.
Got a necklace of adaptation (9,000gp), Ring of Sustance (2,500gp), or Haward's Handy Haversack (2,000gp) yet? I tend to use those as standard items to shoot for.
Cheers,
Pryor
Further thoughts on potentially useful equipment:
Spellguard Rings (if you have a combatant in your party whom you want able to ignore your BC spells, to wade in and wreck havoc). 4,000 gp.
The problem is, most conjouration type BC spells are SR:No, and the way Spellguard Rings work is that the spell has to allow for SR. My friend plays a Shadowcraft Mage and all his "conjourations" are actually illusions that DO allow SR, so this is a great item for him.
It is situational, but my own Conjurer is finding his magic constantly dispelled (multiple castings of Dispel Magic in an encounter), and so I'm considering picking up a Ring of Enduring Arcana (6,000 gp) for him. Might not be as useful for you, depending on how your game is run.
+1
We really don't run into many opposing casters in our campaign, and the ones we do see are more offensive than dispelling. Otherwise Enduring Arcana would be pretty hot. I'll keep it on the list though, to make sure I buy it in the event my DM starts getting dispel-happy.
I'd never even thought about a necklace of adaptation until just now. That looks awfully handy, especially since with evocation banned, Virgil can't cast gust of wind to clear out those annoying cloud spells.
I've gone from "wow, I can't spend all this gold, unless I just buy a headband of intellect +6" to "wow, I need another 20k gold to spend on stuff!" Thanks, CO board!
Through these recommendations I get to vicariously experience the wonders of actually having a tailored selection of magic items, something that may simply never be an option for my character. Sigh
Cheers,
Pryor
Heh, all I can say about that is: make sure your first L5 spell is teleport. Then teleport the heck back to your homebase and buy some stuff. Because it really is a pain to not have the gear you want. Of course, being able to craft your gear is even better, the price markdown is significant.
Even Teleport is not going to solve our isolation-related difficulties... we're adventuring in a primitive archipelago some 1,500+ miles from any major landmass or friendly civilization. With a side quest we might be able to find some small island half-way between our location and our home base, to act as a sort of Teleport Relay, but until we do, we're stuck with ship-based travel - and not much time for long voyages available due to a fast-paced plotline.
For the time being, we're just going to have to suck it up and make use of the items we find through adventuring.
Had I realized that this was the nature of the campaign, I would have chosen a less gear/money/time dependent class than a Wizard. But then again, Wizards are just so much fun to play
Enjoy those new items of yours, and be grateful that you're able to make use of the full range of options available to Wizards. One tends not to notice such things until they cease to be an option.
Cheers,
Pryor
Cheers,
Pryor
lol no home made Ring of Combined Wizardry 1,2,3? Had a wizards campaign where I got our crafter to make that for my Ulti Magus. The DM saw my spells per day and his chin dropped.
This is a good time to point out my "pink elephant" thread.
Ring of Wizardry I and II are a huge waste of money, even for an ultimate magus. You only double your base spells, not your bonus ones. You can get 20 pearls of power for 20k gold, or 14 memento magicas (which are PoPs for spontaneous casters). RoW IV is a better cost/benefit ratio, but the low level ones are way overcosted.
Well, once I started in on the armor, I'm coming in overbudget. The twilight mithral chain shirt really wants a lesser crystal of arrow deflection since (despite the name) that also makes you harder to hit with ranged touch attacks, and I thought about sticking a lesser lifekeeping crystal on the buckler. Toss in the rapidly-escalating gold I'll have to spend on learning some useful level 3 and 4 spells (I wish I could have taken collegiate wizard), and I'm about 5k over all told. Time to trim some stuff.
On the RoW 1-3 I didn't need 4 becuase most of my metamagics where covered by 1-3, and I really didn't want to haul around all those PoP's or Memento's. Even though the are good.
If you don't mind a 5% ASF rate, Mithral Chain Shirt with a Thistledown Suit is ACP - 1 and ASF 5%, for only 1,350 gp.
On the RoW 1-3 I didn't need 4 becuase most of my metamagics where covered by 1-3, and I really didn't want to haul around all those PoP's or Memento's. Even though the are good.
Make it Feycraft or Githcraft and it'll get rid of the last 5% ASF.
Basically gives you 1 free quickened spell (any level) per day - even full action spells can be made swift - no kidding.
Belt gets 3 charges per day, activated as a swift action:
1 charge: Get a move action (meh)
2 charges: Get a standar action (Woohoo!!!)
3 charges: Get a full round action (Wow!)
I'm a little shocked nobody mentioned Belt of Battle (MiC - 12,000 gp)
Basically gives you 1 free quickened spell (any level) per day - even full action spells can be made swift - no kidding.
Belt gets 3 charges per day, activated as a swift action:
1 charge: Get a move action (meh)
2 charges: Get a standar action (Woohoo!!!)
3 charges: Get a full round action (Wow!)
Don't forget about the continual 1/2 power Improved Initiative feat you get just for wearing it!
I didn't think of it because where I come from, Belts of Battle fall under the Gentleman's Agreement. Players don't use them, DMs don't use them. Same thing with Frenzied Berzerkers and a few other select pieces of cheese. I perfer it this way, but it sometimes makes me forget about certain items that are a little.....over the top.