Continuous Collar of Umbral Metamorphosis

[NeoSeraphi]

Okay, so I was reading the Mailman's Handbook (go DeAnno, fantastic guide, I highly recommend it) and noticed he mentioned the Collar of Umbral Metamorphosis. Now, I have recently come into possession of a copy of Tome of Magic, so I decided to check this item out, and...whoa.

For 22,000 gp, you get +8 Hide, +6 Move Silently, +10' to all forms of your movement, resist cold 10, darkvision 60', superior low-light vision, and the Hide in Plain Sight ability while not in daylight.

A ring of minor cold energy resistance, which grants you resist cold 10, costs 12,000 gp. So...what the hell?

Yes, Hide in Plain Sight is not nearly as good an ability when you do not have the Camouflage ability, but it's still pretty freaking useful. Those skill bonuses alone are enough to make me scratch my head, but a continuous +10' of movement to all modes, and it's not even an enhancement bonus, it's untyped?! That is worth way more than 10,000 gp by itself, in my opinion.

So...am I the only one who thinks this item is comically underpriced? (Not suggesting I change it, just that it seems pretty ridiculously out-of-line with the pricing system WotC had been using up until that point).

[Aegis013]

Many many players recognize it as a great purchase for the coin. It was a mentioned in the "Best Magic Items" thread awhile ago.
It's an excellent item for the price.
Edit: It being the collar. Just for clarification.

[Flickerdart]

Au contraire. 10 points of energy resistance is not worth 12k.

[sonofzeal]

Au contraire. 10 points of energy resistance is not worth 12k.
Agreed. However, by D&D pricings I can't imagine it being worth less than 8k. Umbral Metamorphosis is still ludicrously underpriced.

[DeAnno]

Energy Resistance 10 is actually a pretty triumphantly worthless ability, when you think about it. Most forms of energy damage come in large, lethal or nearly lethal doses, with the only exceptions being few and far between (rider damage from some weapons, pieces of scorching ray, random environmental stuff). To name a random fairly priced item, I'd buy a Ring of Deflection +2 for 8k long before a Ring of Fire Resistance 10 for 8k. I'm not even sure I'd buy a Ring of Fire and Cold Resistance 10 for 8k.

The Collar is still pretty BS though, you're essentially getting a middlingly decent +1 LA template for 22k. I'd still prioritize it as any moderately sneaky character at twice the price.

[sonofzeal]

Energy Resistance 10 is actually a pretty triumphantly worthless ability, when you think about it. Most forms of energy damage come in large, lethal or nearly lethal doses, with the only exceptions being few and far between (rider damage from some weapons, pieces of scorching ray, random environmental stuff). To name a random fairly priced item, I'd buy a Ring of Deflection +2 for 8k long before a Ring of Fire Resistance 10 for 8k. I'm not even sure I'd buy a Ring of Fire and Cold Resistance 10 for 8k.
Well, the thing about items granting energy resistance is that you often know well in advance that you're going to be facing a lot of one particular element. And Resist Cold 10 will help a lot against, say, a Frost Worm or pack of Winter Wolves.

It's not a great item for that price. Rings of Protection are one of the standard go-to items for most characters unless you're absolutely dumping AC, up there with Cloaks of Resistance and +X Ability Score items. Rings of Energy Resistance shouldn't be vying for that type of fame, because they're not that type of item. They're a situational defence that you invest in because you know you're likely to be in that situation soon. "Oh, we're marching up the Spine of the World to fight the Aurilites? Hold on, let me go grab something first." That sort of thing.

I still might not buy it for 8k, even if I was going into a situation like that. But it would be worth considering at that price, depending on the level. Negate the smaller hits, and take some of the edge off the big ones so they aren't quite as lethal, so you can survive and get patched up later. It won't save you from metamagic-reduced Orbs of Cold blasting you with four digits of damage, but if your DM is throwing stuff like that at you then you've got bigger problems to worry about.