Best Use of Runestaves

[AutumnLotus]

As the title states, what do you consider the best use for a Runestaff from the Magic Item Compendium? Specifically what class would best benefit from one? Also if one could be custom made what spells would be the best choices?

[Chronos]

Beguilers love them: UMD to activate it, and you can get spells not on your list.

[NeoPhoenix0]

That's a tough question. On the one hand spontaneous casters can add a lot of versatility to their list. on the other hand prepared casters can use them to apply metamagic spontaneously or to hold their main spells for them and fill their list full of more situational spells.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Get Ancestral Relic (BoED) and make it a custom Runestaff and you can freely designate what spells it contains, and even switch what spells it gives you. It's extremely useful on a Sorcerer, but Bards can benefit from this as well, especially with Sublime Chord. Prepared casters can use one to get spontaneous access to certain spells, but it's not circumventing the class's biggest drawback like it does for spontaneous casters with (normally) limited spells known. As an Ancestral Relic, if you switch out one spell for another of equal level, if the change in the item's price is zero then the time it takes to switch it gets multiplied by zero, so it's less than a free action to change what spells it gives you in this case. Make it project a continuous effect of Sanctify and you can even do this during combat.

[Daftendirekt]

Duskblades could also like them, IIRC.

[Chronos]

You seem to be quite fond of that trick, Biffoniacus, but I don't think that you're allowed to remove properties from an Ancestral Relic to make room for new ones.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

You seem to be quite fond of that trick, Biffoniacus, but I don't think that you're allowed to remove properties from an Ancestral Relic to make room for new ones.

Each time you meditate to change what it has, you determine everything it has at that time, regardless of what it may have had before. It becomes the item you wish it to be, and the feat contains no restriction on retaining properties.

[DR27]

For me, Runestaves as Ancestral Relics is a bit above the level of optimization that I'm comfortable with - just too much darn flexibility, turning every spellcaster into a Batman Wizard with every spell possible. And also, kinda boring.

I'd feel much more comfortable with a custom Legacy Item that is a Runestaff - gaining new spells as you level up (and other abilities if the player wanted them) - similar idea and flavor without the madness of "how will my item give me an 'easy button' today?"

So, that - a Runestaff that is a legacy item, growing in power with a character.

Oh, you wanted to know how to best use them in terms of personal power? Sink a bunch of super useful, not often used or worth a spell known spells into a custom rune staff to get you through anything unexpected.

[Pickford]

As the title states, what do you consider the best use for a Runestaff from the Magic Item Compendium? Specifically what class would best benefit from one? Also if one could be custom made what spells would be the best choices?

I picked up the Runestaff of Evocation for my Sorcerer because he doesn't have to have any of those spells now. Essentially I would pick a staff that fills a niche you never really want to invest in in terms of spells.

[Jeff the Green]

Beguilers love them: UMD to activate it, and you can get spells not on your list.

Warmages and dread necromancers as well, though to a lesser degree since UMD isn't a class skill for them. However, they have Charisma dependency to begin with and by my reading you only have to make the UMD check in the morning when you attune to it, so it's not as big of a deal as it might be.

[MirddinEmris]

Each type of runestaves compliments some type of caster more and some less. For example runestaff with utility spell are very good for casters with restricted spell selection.

Anyway, i usually go with +1 Eager Warning Runestaff of Divination for practically every arcane caster i play ))

[TiaC]

Sell them, buy candles of invocation, go nuts. Alternatively, firewood.

Seriously, they're awesome for the full-list spontaneous casters.

[Lactantius]

Runestaves are overlooked as viable wizardry staves.
They enable situational and niche spells to be available anytime. Or, place a daily used spell into it which you assume to need it more than once per day, like teleport, dispel magic and so on.

MIC allows to customize your own runestaves.
If you want to get the real thing, then take the runestaff of power as template.
For 38,300gp, you can create a +2/mwk staff with smite, a +2 luck bonus and 10 spells working that way:
1/day: 2x 1st, 2x 2nd, 2x 3rd, 1x 4th, 3x 5th.
From the 5th level spells, I would even go so far and keep the hemispherical wall of force, cause it's unique and useful.
Have fun and go wild.