The point of getting weapons with high CL?

[CyberThread]

So battlesmith and another prc have been poping up lately, what is the point of a really high CL for magical weapons?

[rollforeigninit]

From the SRD..... Creating a magic weapon has a special prerequisite: The creator’s caster level must be at least three times the enhancement bonus of the weapon. If an item has both an enhancement bonus and a special ability the higher of the two caster level requirements must be met.

That :smallsmile:

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Do note however that most weapon special abilities have no caster level requirement, as an item's default caster level is not a prerequisite for crafting it (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicItemBasics.htm#casterLevel).

[Emperor Tippy]

CL 20 items can't have their magic suppressed with a regular Dispel Magic spell and with magic Weapons and Armor the CL has no effect on the items price. Get a CL of 30 and even a Greater Dispel Magic can't negate your items.

A number of other individual items also have prices independent of CL.

[rollforeigninit]

Do note however that most weapon special abilities have no caster level requirement, as an item's default caster level is not a prerequisite for crafting it (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicItemBasics.htm#casterLevel).

Good point. It's mostly to get a higher cieing as far a actual magic item Plusses. In other words.... not too much given the standard "just cast GMW on it" mentality these days.

[nedz]

It can actually be advantageous to have items with low CL sometimes.

This happened to me in a game recently.

I had several spells cast on me with CL 16, some more at CL 9 and I was using a pair of Winged Boots for flying which are CL 5.

I got hit repeatedly with area Dispels, which preferentially targets spells with the highest CL. The opponent was flying. So I'd lose some buff or other, but I was still in the air and able to attack.

Of course a targeted Dispel would most likely have grounded me, but I don't get to choose my opponents tactics.

[Dairuga]

I got hit repeatedly with area Dispels, which preferentially targets spells with the highest CL. The opponent was flying. So I'd lose some buff or other, but I was still in the air and able to attack.

Of course a targeted Dispel would most likely have grounded me, but I don't get to choose my opponents tactics.

Note, Area dispels have this to say about your magic items.


For each creature within the area that is the subject of one or more spells, you make a dispel check against the spell with the highest caster level. If that check fails, you make dispel checks against progressively weaker spells until you dispel one spell (which discharges the dispel magic spell so far as that target is concerned) or until you fail all your checks. The creature’s magic items are not affected.

Even if your winged boots had been a higher CL, an area dispel would not have shut them off.

Also, in the future, if it ever becomes a problem; targeted dispels aimed at you does not shut off your items, so your Winged boots are safe, then too, should someone just aim a dispel at you to get your buffs away.
To shut off your winged boots, the perpetrator would have to specifically aim at your boots with a targeted dispel. And even then, it is only shut off for 1d4 rounds.

[nedz]

Ah, interesting. It seems we have been playing this wrong then :smallsigh:

[Spuddles]

Note that some magic items work by casting a spell on you, so in those cases, the effects of the magic item can be picked up an aoe dispel.