# Best values in Magic Item Compendium



## Cheiromancer (Mar 25, 2007)

Now that folks have had a chance to look through the MIC, what are the best values in it?  The items (or enhancements) that are most useful for their cost?

My favorite so far is the *everbright* weapon enhancement.  Not so much for the 2/day blinding effect, but for making the weapon immune to acid damage and rusting effects.  Oozes and rust monsters beware!  Best of all, it is only 2000 gp, so at mid to high levels can be added to virtually any weapon.

What do you think are the best values in the MIC?


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## Jack of Shadows (Mar 25, 2007)

Divine Wrath

Of course I'm playing a 15th level Paladin with a 24 Charisma in the Age of Worms Adventure Path.

Jack


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## helium3 (Mar 25, 2007)

The gems you attach to magic weapons to improve them. They're hideously undercosted when you compare them to enchanting a weapon to do the same thing.


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## Jondor_Battlehammer (Mar 25, 2007)

Eternal wands. Twice per day you can create a bane weapon of your choice, at least in Eberron. Worth it and affordable at low levels, especially for an archer.


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## Mistwell (Mar 25, 2007)

From Magic Item Compendium  (thanks to NinjaDebugger  and Domenic from the WOTC Optimization board for this list).  A note of caution though - NinjaDebugger is exagerating some of these items a bit I think.  For example, all those artifacts he mentions?  I would ignore them.  You cannot just make one, nor can you just buy one.  They are more DM tools than PC tools, and the prices are there not for cost estimates, but just as a guideline for the DM to weigh along with RP considerations:

Armor:
Greater Blurring (MIC, +2) - A +2 synergy that stacks on Blurring, it upgrades the distinctly lackluster Blurring property into an unlimited use, swift action, 10-minute duration Hide in Plain Sight, since the Blur spell grants Concealment. This is absolutely amazing for anybody stealthy.

Magic Eating (MIC, 10k)- Totally revamped, this ability is actually useful. For a flat 10k, you can regain HP equal to the spell's level whenever you make a save against a spell that targets you.

Quickness (MIC, +5k)- +5 grand for +5' speed, with no other restrictions. Sounds good to me.

Crystal of Adaptation (MIC, 3k or less)- This is the new star of every Planescape campaign. A cumulative crystal (each step up includes the last step's powers), it grants Endure Elements / Immunity to planar alignment traits / Immunity to Positive/Negative Dominant traits. At only 3 grand for a Greater, this is absolutely stellar. If you're going off the Prime, don't leave home without it.

Crystal of Aquatic Action (MIC, 3k or less)- Remember what I said about Deepdweller armor, above? The Greater crystal here is 3k for no armor check penalty, a Swim speed of half your Land speed (and all associated bennies), and then water breathing and immunity to the movement/attack penalties of being in water. Unless you've got a crystal you like better, don't go sailing without this.

Iron Ward Diamond (MIC, 6k or less)- At DR 1/-, 3/-, and 5/- *stacking with all other similar DR*, these crystals are absolutely worth the money, even with the limitations. It's no longer automatic that a tank will have mithral full plate. Now, it's entirely likely he'll grab Adamantine Full Plate, because this DR stacks, and the Greater crystal only works with Heavy armor. The Lesser works with Medium or higher, and the Least with any armor. Of course, that's still way too good for most any price, so they tacked on a 10/30/50 points of absorption per day, but at 8k for the Greater, every tank should have at least one.

Restful Crystal (MIC, 500 GP)- 500 GP, modular, to sleep in your armor without penalty. Don't go adventuring without it, peeps.

Weapons:
Binding (MIC, +1)- Ever get tired of BBEGs teleporting away at the last second? Frustrated with Contingency -> Teleport stupidity? For just a +1 bonus, you can spend your swift action twice a day to nail the next sucker you hit with a no-save Dimensional Anchor! If you're going wizard hunting, don't leave home without it!

Divine Wrath (MIC, +1)- If you're an undead hunting paladin, you cannot possibly get better than Divine Wrath. For just +1, turn those mostly useless turn attempts into 1d6 points of damage vs undead... PER POINT OF CHARISMA BONUS YOU HAVE.

Eager (MIC, +1)- At +1 for +2 nameless bonus to initiative, this was good. On top of that, free-action draw and +2 damage per hit (nameless!) during the surprise round and first round of combat, and it's just plain wonderful.

Warning (MIC, +1)- +1 enhancement for +5 Insight to init? gimme gimme, one for every party member, I GUARANTEE IT

Whirling (MIC, +1)- +1 enhancement for a 3/day Whirlwind Attack that affects all enemies in -reach- instead of 5'? Good backup weapon fodder, right there, ladies, gents, and assorted beasties.

Raptor Arrows (MIC, 6k) - At six grand a pop, these are the last arrows you'll ever need. Ehlonna for the win, because they're not destroyed when fired, and they automatically return to you the round after they're fired, and that's -before- the relic power. With the relic power kicked in, you get Bane as a freebie vs whatever you're targeting with the arrow. You seriously cannot beat these.

Warlock's Scepter (MIC, 8k) - This item has gotten immeasurably better. Instead of 50 charges with max of 5/day, it's just five charges per day, period. It got dropped to a +1 light mace, but it also grants a +1 profane bonus on ranged touch attack rolls, and only costs 8 grand. IMMEASURABLY better.

Crystal of Life Drinking (MIC, 6k or less) - An absolutely stellar crystal, easily on par with the DR crystal for armor, it's essentially exactly the inverse. Each hit you make with the weapon, you gain 1/3/5 HP, to a max of 10/30/50 per day. Absolutely amazing.

Demolition Crystal (MIC, 6k or less) - Cumulative +1d6 damage vs Constructs / adamatine for construct DR / can deliver sneaks/crits to constructs. No rogue should be without two of these. Period. Do not pass go, do not collect 200bux.

Truedeath (MIC, 6k or less) - See that crystal above, the one that hoses golems? Do the EXACT same thing, except instead of adamantine, you get Ghost Touch. Keep -six- of these around, just in case they decide to disarm or sunder you.

Clothing:
Amulet of Second Chances (MIC, 40k) - At 40,000 GP, it's not an impulse buy, but once per day being able to reset the game to the start of your turn is definitely not a bad safety net for when you want to do stupid things and not have to worry about insane consequences.

Blindfold of True Darkness (MIC, 9k) - Nine thousand gee pees for 30' blindsight and 100% immunity to gaze attacks? Sure, you're blind to everything beyond 30', but it totally doesn't matter. Combine with an Eversmoking Bottle for the lulz. This supersedes the version already in this thread, from A&EG

Counterstrike Bracers (MIC, 2500) - At only 2500 GP, a twice per day free shot against someone who attacks you and misses is good.

Horned Helm (MIC, 8k) - A secondary natural attack at a d8+1/2 Str is nothing to sneeze at, not for only 8k.

Mindvault (MIC, 8k) - The absolutely essential equipment for any fighter with a crappy will save, for only 8k, once per day as an immediate action, you get to nosell a mind-affecting effect in exchange for being dazed for a round. At only 8k, this is beyond bargain material.

Ring of Communication (MIC, 2k) - At only two grand a pop, and freely expandable as a set, AND unlimited free action activation, these are basically the new standard for people who don't want to burn spells on Telepathic Bond. They're not quite as good as telepathy, but they're the next best thing, fo sho.

Ring of the Darkhidden (MIC, 2k) - Still every bit as good as when it was first printed in Living City, unlimited constant invisibility to Darkvision is THE thing to have when fighting in no-light areas, no doubt. A bargain at 2k.

Ring of Entropic Deflection (MIC, 8k) - Essential gear for ranger/scouts, it's also no slouch for swordsages who like to move about a lot. Only 8k for a 20% (or 50%) miss chance vs ranged attacks. Delicious.

Ring of Silent Spells (MIC, 2k) - If you ever really, REALLY wanted to spend 2000 GP to utterly and completely own a spellcasting baddie while you're low to low-mid level, this is how you'd do it. Once a day, a five round Silence centered on you, and you get to cast spells of level 3 and lower as if they were Silent. For a swift activation, that doesn't get much better, until you realize that -you don't have to be a caster to use it.-

Ring of Spell Battle (MIC, 12k) - Still a bargain at 12k, an automatic spellcraft to identify all spellcasting within 60' AND a once a day retargeting of a spell, you seriously shouldn't be without this at high level. In fact, get one for everybody. Two or three, actually, since there's no attunement time like many 1/day items.

Scarab of Stabilization (MIC, 20k) - At 20k to automatically stabilize, this is a decidedly lackluster item. Its REAL power is that it's a oneshot 1-UP, stopping your HP at -9 and stabilizing you one time that you'd normally die. At high levels, if you're not using your throat slot for something else, don't be caught without one.

Steadfast Boots (MIC, 1400) - For only 1400 GP, having your two handed weapon automatically and constantly readied and set against charge vs someone charging you is a steal. This applies -even if the weapon can't normally be set vs charge.- The +4 on checks to avoid bull rush, overrun, and trip is just gravy.

Tabard of the Disembodied Voice (MIC, 6k) - Have you ever wanted a priest or mage of Nerull to utterly own a party? This is how. For a 7th level divine slot or the True Believer feat, weighing in at only 6,000 GP, this tabard lets you hop onto the Ethereal plane for 10 rounds... but your spells still affect the material plane normally. HELLOOOOOOOOOOO NURSE!

Tabard of the Great Crusade (MIC, 5500) - Another amazing relic, I think they're on to something here. 5500 GP for +1 morale bonus on all saves for all Lawful types within 20', a relic bond (level 8 spell or true believer) gives you DR 5/evil and lets an ally grasp the hem once per day to get a 20th level Heal spell as a Move(Manipulation) action.

Torc of Power Preservation (MIC, 4k) - Even MORE absurd now that it only costs 4000 GP!

Vest of the Archmagi (MIC, 200k) - Even at its market price of 200,000 GP, this vest is beyond a steal, so much so that they tell you it's mythical and since it's mythical, it can't be made. Of course, they provide market price and creation prereqs and cost anyway, so. 200,000 GP for +8 Armor bonus to AC, +5 Resistance to saves, +2 enhancement to spell penetration, swift action Pearl of Power recalling up to 3 spells of level 9 or lower, and swift action unlimited use ability to sacrifice a spell of any level to heal yourself of damage equal to 5x Spell Level in HP. A -bargain- at 200,000 GP.

Blast Disk (MIC, 900)- At only 900 GP for what amounts to a 5d6 time bomb/demolition charge/portable trap, grab a bunch of these and use them as warning on your backtrail, or just to blow up obstacles like recalcitrant doors.

Blessed Bandage (MIC, 10) - At 10 GP a pop, all low level characters should carry at least one for emergencies, because screwing up that DC 15 Heal check is a real pain.

Censer of the Last Breath (MIC, 2500) - At 2500 GP and burning 10 GP of incense a pop, a relic that lets a generally NE person have a 20' Obscuring Mist that you can see through is boss. With relic connection powers going from level 9 (250 GP a pop) up to level 15 (2,000 GP a pop) for Solid Fog, Cloudkill, Acid Fog, and Incendiary Cloud, all surrounding you, and all of which don't affect you, this is so far beyond a steal that it's not possible to adequately describe its awesomeness.

Dove's Harp (MIC, 12k) - Um, I think they forgot to list the uses per day limit on this one. I smell errata coming, because an unlimited use Fast Healing 3 for all allies within 60', triggered by you playing it while using bardic music, is probably busted. I think they -intended- it to be "spend a use of bardic music", but that's definitely not what it says, and if nothing else, Inspire Courage has no maximum duration. The absolute worst you can do with this thing is full-healing the entire party for 1 use of bardsong.

Enveloping Pit (MIC, 3400) - An evil-only 10' diameter, 50' deep Portable Hole? For only 3400 GP? AND if you've got a l5 divine slot or true believer, you can use it as a DC 22 reflex pit trap from up to 60' away? Sounds great to me. Especially for anybody who's got the UMD to emulate evil alignment.

Glyph Seal (and Greater version thereof) (MIC, 4000 or less) - At 1000 and 4000 GP, turning spells of level up to 2 (or 5) into portable traps as per Glyph of Warding is definitely no slouch of an item, sir.

Infinite Scrollcase (MIC, 2800) - Well, it's not as infinite as the name implies, but for 2800 GP, holding 50 scrolls and allowing retrieval as part of a move action, AND a +4 bonus to cast the scroll defensively, this is a decent item for any mage making use of scrolls. And since there's a certain feat and item in Complete Mage that makes scrolls MUCH more appealing, this one's a winner.

Sphere of Awakening (MIC, 1800) - Tired of getting owned by exhaustion effects? For only 1800 GP, you can get a one use per day, swift action activated burst that wakes up your entire party, dispels existing fatigue and exhausion, and makes you immune to sleep, fatigue, and exhausion for ten minutes. Exhaustion is NOT something you want to have to deal with in extremis. Keep one on hand.

Talisman of the Disk (MIC, 500) - Only 500 GP for a continuous use Tenser's Floating Disk (3 hours at a time, max)? AND if you have a strength boost item, the disk can hold an extra 100 pounds per point of strength bonus? Get two.

SOME ADDITIONAL ITEMS:

Gloves of spell disruption---any melee attack you make against a creature while it is casting a spell adds +5 to the Concentration check DC!! Best part... ONLY 1000 gp!

Gauntlets of throwing: 3/day add the throwing and returning properties to your weapon. Perfect for giving a melee fighter that extra ranged boost. 2000 gp.

Gauntlets of weaponry arcane: any weapon (even nonmetallic ones) act as magic and silvered for DR purposes. 6000 gp.

Ghost shroud (body slot: body): +1 deflection to AC, AND all melee attacks act as if you had a ghost touch weapon. 5000 gp!

Healing belt: +2 competence on Heal checks, plus 3 charges that you can spend to heal (n+1)d8 points of damage, touch range (where n is the number of charges spent). Charges, of course, renew at dawn. And for 750 gp, this will save you lots on potions of healing!

Heartseeking amulet: 3/day your next melee attack counts as a touch attack. 3000 gp.


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## Hypersmurf (Mar 25, 2007)

Mistwell said:
			
		

> From Magic Item Compendium  (thanks to NinjaDebugger  and Domenic from the WOTC Optimization board for this list):
> 
> Whirling (MIC, +1)- +1 enhancement for a 3/day Whirlwind Attack that affects all enemies in -reach- instead of 5'? Good backup weapon fodder, right there, ladies, gents, and assorted beasties.




You know, I'd have though the CO Board people would know that Whirlwind Attack has affected all opponents in reach ever since 3.5 came out...?  The 5' limit was in 3E.

-Hyp.


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## Mistwell (Mar 25, 2007)

Hypersmurf said:
			
		

> You know, I'd have though the CO Board people would know that Whirlwind Attack has affected all opponents in reach ever since 3.5 came out...?  The 5' limit was in 3E.
> 
> -Hyp.




Indeed.  Again, I think the guy I was copying from is exaggerating here and there, and sometimes just off.  But, I figured it was better to post a so-so list than no list


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## blargney the second (Mar 25, 2007)

I can't wait to get mine in the mail.


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## hong (Mar 26, 2007)

Mistwell said:
			
		

> Armor:
> Greater Blurring (MIC, +2) - A +2 synergy that stacks on Blurring, it upgrades the distinctly lackluster Blurring property into an unlimited use, swift action, 10-minute duration Hide in Plain Sight, since the Blur spell grants Concealment. This is absolutely amazing for anybody stealthy.




I'm not sure where he gets that blur is like hide in plain sight. Even if you get concealment, you still can't hide if you're being observed, unless you actually have the HiPS ability.


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## Stalker0 (Mar 26, 2007)

Let me say that while I think most of the new abilities are pretty good, divine wrath is broken. High level paladins throwing out an extra +10d6 damage, yes please.

I'll also put out a vote for death ward. 1/day automatically negating a negative energy attack or death effect is definately worth the +1, especially for low fort save casters.


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## Hypersmurf (Mar 26, 2007)

hong said:
			
		

> I'm not sure where he gets that blur is like hide in plain sight. Even if you get concealment, you still can't hide if you're being observed, unless you actually have the HiPS ability.




True.  But there's always the Bluff check option.

-Hyp.


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## MerricB (Mar 26, 2007)

Vest of the Archmagi!

It doesn't exist! But it might! 

Cheers!


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## Stalker0 (Mar 26, 2007)

Let me add to the list the amulet of retributive healing and the amulet of tears.

The big thing about these is they are insanely cheap for out of combat use. With the first one I can play a melee cleric and heal myself up by taking care of my buddies. For the 2nd, who doesn't want 24 temp hitpoints for 10 minutes?

This also some of the huge benefits to many of the "charged" items given. You burn out an item and then swap it for another one. The crystals are like that for many of them, burn through the DR crystal and then swap it for something else, etc.


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## James McMurray (Mar 26, 2007)

The Amulet of Retributive Healing is first on my cleric's list of things to buy. It makes me wish I was an Initiate of Ilmater instead of Mystra. 

I like the attunement crystals for cheap boosts. Tons of really good 3 charges per day items as well.


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## Cheiromancer (Mar 27, 2007)

The Millennial Chainmail is awesome!  It's a relic, so you need to be a 7th level cleric or have True Believer or something (Corellon Larethian), but you get fast healing 3 as long as you are in brighter than shadowy illumination.

A fourth level spell and a _continual light_ to get fast healing 3 all day?  That seems incredibly good.

Only 8,150 gp, and it works like +1 mithral chainmail.


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## brehobit (Mar 27, 2007)

Cheiromancer said:
			
		

> The Millennial Chainmail is awesome!  It's a relic, so you need to be a 7th level cleric or have True Believer or something (Corellon Larethian), but you get fast healing 3 as long as you are in brighter than shadowy illumination.
> 
> A fourth level spell and a _continual light_ to get fast healing 3 all day?  That seems incredibly good.
> 
> Only 8,150 gp, and it works like +1 mithral chainmail.



Wow.  It was a lot more in Complete Divine as I recall.  But yes, it rocked even there...


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