Best Equip for a level 5 Paladin

[ZhanStrider]

Level 5 Paladin of Freedom, and I have 3000 GP what can I get that's worth getting! Inquisitor's Bracers are a must, but any items that help with Smite or Turn Undead or Lay on Hands would be amazing.

[Aleolus]

A cloak of Charisma I would say is a must. It helps with all those things!

[Darrin]

Set aside some money for a Shield of Mercy (2170 GP, MIC). At the end of the day, this lets you convert any unused Smites into healing for you or the rest of the party. Not much, but better than a poke in the eye.

[OldTrees1]

Do you have a magic weapon yet? (You are almost 6th level)
What about invisible foes and illusions? Scout's Headband[MiC] is only 3,400gp for True Seeing 1/day which can be a lifesaver.
After that I like to save for a Cloak of Cha(4,000gp) or Dimension Stride Boots[MiC](2,000gp)

[Elder_Basilisk]

More info required. What your build is and what you already have will determine what is the best way to spend the gold.

For my part, I would usually recommend armbands of might over inquisitor's bracers, but they're still not probably the first choice.

First choice is probably: +1 fullplate (assuming you're not a dex based build). Next item is vest of resistance +1. Followed by +1 weapon. Followed by +2 cloak of charisma. Armbands of might is probably next.

If you use a shield, +1 shield fits in there too (either before or after the weapon). If your party is well coordinated enough to plan on magic vestmenting your armor and shields up when your cleric hits 8th level, you can stop there, but if you won't be doing that, you should consider upping your armor and shield (if you wield one) to +2 each. 3000 gp per upgrade can make a big difference.

If you face a lot of incorporeal opponents, you may want to consider gauntlets of wraith fighting too. They're cheaper than a ghost touch weapon and traditional heavy armor paladins don't have a lot of long-term competitors for the hand slots (since you probably already maxed out the dex bonus of your fullplate, gloves of dex aren't as good as they are for other characters and gauntlets of ogre power are eclipsed by belts of giant strength).

[ZhanStrider]

Do you have a magic weapon yet? (You are almost 6th level)
What about invisible foes and illusions? Scout's Headband[MiC] is only 3,400gp for True Seeing 1/day which can be a lifesaver.
After that I like to save for a Cloak of Cha(4,000gp) or Dimension Stride Boots[MiC](2,000gp)

I have a shield that I can store 3 days worth of Lay on Hands heals in. I'm saving for a Holy Burst Scimitar. Scout Headband is hella good! thanks!

[ZhanStrider]

More info required. What your build is and what you already have will determine what is the best way to spend the gold.

For my part, I would usually recommend armbands of might over inquisitor's bracers, but they're still not probably the first choice.

First choice is probably: +1 fullplate (assuming you're not a dex based build). Next item is vest of resistance +1. Followed by +1 weapon. Followed by +2 cloak of charisma. Armbands of might is probably next.

If you use a shield, +1 shield fits in there too (either before or after the weapon). If your party is well coordinated enough to plan on magic vestmenting your armor and shields up when your cleric hits 8th level, you can stop there, but if you won't be doing that, you should consider upping your armor and shield (if you wield one) to +2 each. 3000 gp per upgrade can make a big difference.

If you face a lot of incorporeal opponents, you may want to consider gauntlets of wraith fighting too. They're cheaper than a ghost touch weapon and traditional heavy armor paladins don't have a lot of long-term competitors for the hand slots (since you probably already maxed out the dex bonus of your fullplate, gloves of dex aren't as good as they are for other characters and gauntlets of ogre power are eclipsed by belts of giant strength).

A lot of our stuff is temporary "we're going into X dungeon we need X equipment" which is where Incorporeal stuff comes in, but we won't have that dungeon for like, 4 more levels if the plot progresses properly (by word of DM).

I have a Shield and it's pretty great. It holds 3 full days worth of Lay on Hands healing which can be given out as healing or (Thanks to the Touch of Silver feat) Slammed into undead, werewolves, and devils for a boat load of damage. Main weapon is a scimitar, but that's going for upgrades later.

The Build is Str: 16 Dex: 14 Con: 12 Int: 12 Wis:19 Cha: 14

I wear scale mail or Full Plate, depending on what I need (We oddly run into many monsters that ignore metal armor. Go figure.)

[OldTrees1]

I have a shield that I can store 3 days worth of Lay on Hands heals in. I'm saving for a Holy Burst Scimitar. Scout Headband is hella good! thanks!

So your Scimitar is already a +1 scimitar then? I don't want you to be shadow chow due to only having masterwork weapons.

[sleepyphoenixx]

So your Scimitar is already a +1 scimitar then? I don't want you to be shadow chow due to only having masterwork weapons.

Unless you run into incorporeal enemies all the time just buy a few doses of Ghostblight (CAdv, 100gp) and a Weapon Capsule Retainer (CAdv, 100gp). Cheap, effective and also versatile enough if you run into other enemies. Even better if someone in your party has Craft:Alchemy - they're nonmagical, so you can get it at 1/3 of the book price.
Get the triple version (400gp), load it up with a mix of useful substances (Trollbane, Ghostblight & Quicksilver are my standard loadout) and spend the majority of your wealth on stuff that's always useful instead of dumping lots of gold into defenses against niche enemies.

Of course people will generally get a +1 weapon anyway just because they want other enhancements on it. But if your only concern for now is incorporeal enemies you don't really need to if there's something else you'd like to buy first.