MIC and Magic Weapons

[Cyrion]

I'm puzzled by the random magic tables in the Magic Item Compendium. On those tables +1 armor doesn't show up until their 5th level table, and +1 weapons don't show up until their 7th level table. On the other hand, the scrolls that show up on the tables seem relatively overpowered; chain lightning shows up somewhere between levels 3 and 5 IIRC, and disintegrate is in there somewhere early, too. Granted, they're one use, but still...

So why the great delay in providing magic weapons and armor?

[Hunter Noventa]

I don't have my MIC on me, but those are likely the item levels, which are based on cost. Using the random generation tables, you have a chance of getting items of a certain item level for a given encounter. I do not recall where those start showing up on those tables though.

[Cyrion]

Sure, but the practical outcome is that you aren't likely to see a magic weapon until somewhere in the neighborhood of level 4 or 5 when you start seeing CR7s and rolling high on the treasure tables to get a 7th level item.

[Kosjsjach]

an item’s level also provides a useful guideline to the DM as to when such an item becomes appropriate for the PCs. In general, PCs should own items of their own character level or lower. Small exceptions to this general guideline exist—a 12th-level magic item is okay in the hands of a 10th-level PC—but straying too far can cause trouble.
Et voila. It's not that a PC can't have a higher-level item, it's just that it's out-of-reach for the standard casual buyer.

[Cyrion]

And thus my surprise at finding disintegrate and chain lightning at a low level. I still don't understand why a +1 weapon is considered so valuable/powerful that it's shuffled off to this level.

I guess part of my problem is that I'm an old first edition player and am used to this sort of thing starting to show up around level 2 or 3.

[erhnamdj]

I think the idea is that they'll sell whatever they get, so they can buy that sword they want. Casters are more powerful, and therefore more commonly played than those who would want a +1 weapon (at least in my experience), and at those low levels it is more difficult to find items to appease the casters. I think that's why they put more emphasis on giving them things they'll almost certainly sell: so any character will get what they want (albeit in the most roundabout way).