High level Items

[HC Rainbow]

So, As I read on and on in these forums it only proves to me what little I know about anything in regards to items and gear.

So, Giants, What gear should high level characters have? Not a full listing of top to bottom but a general idea of what items they should be having.

The party is as follows.

Barbarian14
Cleric14
Rogue13
Duskblade13
Psion14

Example of what I am looking for...

Barbarians Axe? What should it be? What enchantments are good for them?

Clerics? Not really sure what they should have other than wisdom and charisma pumps...

Rogue? Daggers? Crossbows? What?

Duskblade? No idea..

Psion? Intelligence pumpers and some random things that do random things?

I am too lost for words.

EDIT: The boks I've allowed in this campaign were PHB, PHBII and Expanded Psionics. However in regards to items... Don't really care, If they can make it and munchkin themselves then so be it.

[Karnith]

Well, as a general guide, you may want to consult the List of Necessary Magic Items (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187851), which provide guidelines for what high-level characters should have (i.e. items that grant flight, mind blank, true seeing).

[HC Rainbow]

Well, as a general guide, you may want to consult the List of Necessary Magic Items (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187851), which provide guidelines for what high-level characters should have (i.e. items that grant flight, mind blank, true seeing).

Yes yes, but I mean more in regards to their armor, their weapons, I'm hardly sure what I mean. But I'm almost certain a lvl 14 barbarian shouldnt be running around with a simple +3 Greathammer. It seems... lackluster.

[Dusk Eclipse]

+1 valorous shadow striking X is an awesome +5 equivalent weapon, it doubles damage on a charge and automatically bypasses the DR of the creature you strike.

[The Trickster]

A lot also depends on the game being run. Is this more of a "go out and kill lots of baddies" kinda game, or a "lets talk about our issues" kinda game? Do you know the type of setting the game is in? Are there undead running around "Night of the Living Dead" style? What kind of barbarian, wo handed or dual wielding? This can alter item builds, so any extra information would be helpful. :)

I don't have a DMG in front of me, but for your level, I think 100,000 goldish is about right (I may be off a bit). To be generic as possible, stat boosting items (barbarian with gaunlets of ogre strength, Cleric with wisdom enchants, etc) are a smart investment. If you are in a undead game, Nightstick Rod (Libris Mortis, 7,500gp) gives you 4 extra turn attempts per day. A nice combo for a good price could be Rod of Defiance (Libris Mortis, 13,000gp), which makes all undead within 30 ft get -4 to their turn resistance, and the Phylactery of Undead Turning (DMG, 11,000 gp), whih raises your level by 4 for the purposes of turning.

I'll get back to you about the others after class. :)

[HC Rainbow]

As Requested here is more details on their current Campaign and classes.

Barbarian is a 2 handed leap attack charge smash things because potato kinda gal.

Duskblade tries to fill in the blanks where other classes cant, more or less becoming a secondary to everything. She helps find traps (With an intelligent dagger she happened to find), has good spot, listen, Greatswording, etc.

Rogue likes to run around and sneak attack with crossbows. Thats it. Sadly.

Psion is a blaster, has a couple of tricks up her sleeve but other than that, Just blasts everything and everyone.

Cleric is pretty much a healbro for right now. Occasionally casts searing light and inflicts, hold persons, but more or less just prepares for the worst and helps everyone stay alive.



The campaign setting theyre now in, well, I sent them to the tomb of horrors and laughed as they all died. but this weekend I'm going to have them all resurrected a few hundred years into the future to a point where all of the gods but two have passed, Pelor, and Nerull. Pelor has brought them back to help reclaim the world from abyssal and infernal hands, and they have to reconquer cities from the clutches of evil and bring life back into the world.

They'll be fighting everything still, I'll find ways to toss kobolds in there, goblins, orcs, giants, more abyssal than before, undead. etc.

Basically I just feel like the barbarians weapon should have a MUCH bigger impact on her damage,

The cleric should have some things to just sorta, play around with, he has a set of prayer beads. but thats it..

Rogue should have something fun to toy around with.

Duskblade I really dont care, they enjoy coming and sharing in the game time but never really notice how much they help.

and the Psion manages without things, kind of.




Heres what I'm meaning.

Their armorclass is low. Like, Low for that level. aka Psion has maybe an AC of 15? Yeah.

Duskblades got like, a whopping 22 on her shoulders? Woohoo?

Barbarians at like, 16.

Rogue is at 23, Lol.

Cleric is at 21.

They need to hit harder, get hit way less. They have items that pump up their ability scores, but thats really... it.. A couple of misc. things lying around. If you want the details on those things let me know.

[Shining Wrath]

Let the Rule of Cool apply. Yes, different things give you more or less min-max if that's what you're after.

For example, Keen doubles your threat range. Numerically it is not optimal because of the difficulty of confirming criticals against level-appropriate foes. But your Barbarian may still want it because an occasional critical hit by a raging barbarian can do hilarious amounts of damage. I like it when I add up all my damage and the DM says "The Elite Emerald Claw soldier ... was never there. Everyone is wondering why you attacked an empty square".

Your cleric, for similar reasons, may want Disrupting. Probably won't hit too many undead who fail a DC 14 check at your level; but the idea of the cleric smacking an undead and it goes *POOF* might be appealing.

Rogue should definitely have something to grant Greater Invisibility. Invisible rogues backstabbing the enemy = epic win.

Given that Duskblades transmit spells via weapon strikes, upping the to-hit chances seems like the goal. The Light Saber (Brilliant Energy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#brilliantEnergy)) weapon seems ideal. All attacks are "touch-ish".

[Karnith]

If your characters have really low ACs, miss chances are the way to go (I mean, they are anyway, but especially if their armor classes are that low). You may want to let them know about smoking weapons, which is a +1 weapon enhancement that provides concealment on command. Alternatively, (minor) cloaks of displacement, gleaming armor, shadow siblings, and some other items would work well.

Your barbarian should really have a valorous weapon (equivalent to a +1 bonus, doubles damage on a charge), and berserker (equivalent to a +1 bonus, the weapon's enhancement bonus increases by +2 while the wielder is raging) would probably also be good.

[Curmudgeon]

Rogue likes to run around and sneak attack with crossbows. Thats it. Sadly.
...
Cleric is pretty much a healbro for right now.
There's nothing wrong with that Rogue tactic, if they're effective at it. The right feats (Crossbow Sniper, Telling Blow, Craven, Knowledge Devotion) will make the damage significant. The Cleric can easily help the Rogue to be more effective, with only a minor dip into their daily spells.

Gear for the Rogue should include the following:

crossbow with Quick Loading enhancement (Magic Item Compendium, pages 41-42) and splitting enhancement (Champions of Ruin, page 42); this will be at least a +5 cost weapon with the +1 minimum numeric enhancement
wand of Keen Edge to spiff up 50 bolts per charge with Use Magic Device
armor (probably a mithral chain shirt) with Shadow Moves, Greater to boost Hide checks

Is this a Wilderness Rogue (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#rogueVariantWilderness Rogue) variant with Camouflage and Hide in Plain Sight? If so, they're set up to be stealthy and dish out a lot of sneak attack damage. If not, it's fairly important to get some support in being stealthy. The Cleric can easily provide useful support to the Rogue. An easy aid is an occasional casting of Deeper Darkness on the tip of a dagger the Rogue normally keeps sheathed; draw that (free during a regular move) and there will be concealment. Add to that a few castings (say 5 to span the adventuring day) of Ebon Eyes on the Rogue, and that concealment will enable the Rogue to Hide without disabling sneak attack. So the Rogue should budget for 4 level 1 Pearls of Power to let the Cleric prepare only a single casting of Ebon Eyes, but actually cast the spell on the Rogue 5 times a day. The Cleric can also supply one casting daily of Greater Magic Weapon to make the Rogue's crossbow +3 instead of +1. (If the Cleric wants to help out the whole party, adding Chain Spell metamagic will allow enhancing 14 weapons at once.)

If the Rogue has stupid feats (like Rapid Reload instead of buying the Quick Loading weapon enhancement), use the feat retraining rules in Player's Handbook II to smarten them up. (Note: Most feats are stupid choices for a Rogue. Feats are too precious to this class to squander on any but the few best choices.) At level 13 (if they haven't gone the Wilderness Rogue (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#rogueVariantWilderness Rogue) route to get Camouflage and Hide in Plain Sight) the Rogue should have the Crippling Strike and Skill Mastery special abilities, and the Savvy Rogue feat to make those more effective (2 points of STR damage per hit even to sneak-immune foes, and "take 12" on all mastered skills). If the Rogue has made poor choices here, repeat the advice about retraining (PH2).

[HC Rainbow]

There's nothing wrong with that Rogue tactic, if they're effective at it. The right feats (Crossbow Sniper, Telling Blow, Craven, Knowledge Devotion) will make the damage significant. The Cleric can easily help the Rogue to be more effective, with only a minor dip into their daily spells.

Gear for the Rogue should include the following:

crossbow with Quick Loading enhancement (Magic Item Compendium, pages 41-42) and splitting enhancement (Champions of Ruin, page 42); this will be at least a +5 cost weapon with the +1 minimum numeric enhancement
wand of Keen Edge to spiff up 50 bolts per charge with Use Magic Device
armor (probably a mithral chain shirt) with Shadow Moves, Greater to boost Hide checks

Is this a Wilderness Rogue (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#rogueVariantWilderness Rogue) variant with Camouflage and Hide in Plain Sight? If so, they're set up to be stealthy and dish out a lot of sneak attack damage. If not, it's fairly important to get some support in being stealthy. The Cleric can easily provide useful support to the Rogue. An easy aid is an occasional casting of Deeper Darkness on the tip of a dagger the Rogue normally keeps sheathed; draw that (free during a regular move) and there will be concealment. Add to that a few castings (say 5 to span the adventuring day) of Ebon Eyes on the Rogue, and that concealment will enable the Rogue to Hide without disabling sneak attack. So the Rogue should budget for 4 level 1 Pearls of Power to let the Cleric prepare only a single casting of Ebon Eyes, but actually cast the spell on the Rogue 5 times a day. The Cleric can also supply one casting daily of Greater Magic Weapon to make the Rogue's crossbow +3 instead of +1. (If the Cleric wants to help out the whole party, adding Chain Spell metamagic will allow enhancing 14 weapons at once.)

If the Rogue has stupid feats (like Rapid Reload instead of buying the Quick Loading weapon enhancement), use the feat retraining rules in Player's Handbook II to smarten them up. (Note: Most feats are stupid choices for a Rogue. Feats are too precious to this class to squander on any but the few best choices.) At level 13 (if they haven't gone the Wilderness Rogue (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#rogueVariantWilderness Rogue) route to get Camouflage and Hide in Plain Sight) the Rogue should have the Crippling Strike and Skill Mastery special abilities, and the Savvy Rogue feat to make those more effective (2 points of STR damage per hit even to sneak-immune foes, and "take 12" on all mastered skills). If the Rogue has made poor choices here, repeat the advice about retraining (PH2).

I will definitely let him know these things, Thats a lot of things I didnt know or even think of. Thanks!!