Items to get in the post-UE errata world

[Malaqai]

Hey Playgrounders, I'm coming to you guys today for help equipping a level 9 character such as to balance optimization but also fun/flavor. I'm used to building relatively low-level characters (3-5) and need help figuring out the best way to spend all this moolah.

Special Rules. All items must from CRB, APG, ARG, UM, or UC are allowed; ACG and UI is allowed on a case-by-case basis, and 3rd party sources are allowed only after being subjected to intense scrutiny (ie, try to keep it to core). Variant multiclassing (VMC) and variant advancement from PFUnchained have been adopted. All characters gain bonus feats as a Fighter would.

Character Concept and Build. Prinna Polendina is a Human CG Master of Many Styles 1/Dervish Dancer Bard 8 (not to be confused with Dawnflower Dervish) VMC Barbarian. Generally good natured and playful, she packs a real whollop when she's ticked off. She may have undiagnosed ADHD - her catchphrase is "TIME'S UP, LET'S DO THIS!". From a mechanics perspective, she leaps into the fray taking advantage of the Panther, Snake, and Dragon styles (cycling between them via the Combat Style Master feat), making up for a very low AC by maintaining a constant shroud of Mirror Images and trying to end her turns next to the enemy caster. At level 13, she gains the Dervish Dancer's Dance of Fury which allows her to combine a full round attack with a move action.

After level adjustment, her rolled stats are 18/16/12/10/16/12. She has spent 9 feats (+2 bonus feats, +9 feats from leveling, -2 feats from VMC) which have been invested into Snake Style (3 feats), Panther Style (2 feats), Dragon Style (2 feats), Combat Reflexes, Combat Style Master, as well as the free Unarmed Strike and Stunning Fist from the MoMS dip. She's rolled well on HP for a total of 63.

Items so Far. There are a handful of clear choices to be made to equip her: Belt of Might Strength +2 (4k), a +1 Amulet of Mighty Fists (Furious; 4k), an adamantine +1 cestus (5005gp) and a mithril cestus (505gp), a +1 Chainster of Brawling (4.1k), and probably a Ring of Counterspells to protect her Mirror Images (4k). Equipped like this and with Rage (10 rounds) and Inspire Courage going, she can get up to 9 +20 attacks in a round that do 1d4 + 17, 19-20x2. With some utility wands thrown in, these come out to about 24k, leaving 22k unspent!, and I'm of course open to changing up these items..

So Playgrounders, what items do I get from here, both to up her combat output as well as just generally fun utility items?

Changing my original post (hidden in the spoiler above) in order to not spam the forum: I'm building a level 9 character and am having a difficult time selecting wondrous items after the UE errata. Most slotted wondrous items seem fairly lackluster now, and I'm not sure what items to pick up. Any advice?

[Calthropstu]

Add flaming to her amulet of mighty fists, maybe see if you can use a custom magic item that will allow you to polymorph a few times per day to make her a hydra (can a hydra monk flurry with all its heads?) maybe get some potions and other expendables.

[Sayt]

If you're not using the automatic progression, you definately want a belt of giant strength, headband of inspiring charisma and a cloak of resistance. Other than that, you don't seem to have a way to fly, unless its on your spells known?

[Geddy2112]

Several of the items in UE needed eratta, namely quick runners shirt and the mask of stony demanor.

A handy haversack is still the go to for carrying your stuff around. A wand of CLW is good to keep the party topped off unless you are overflowing with extra healing ability. Traveler's any tool is dirt cheap and stupidly useful. Circlet of persuasion is probably the best head item for a CHA based class. Bracers of the glib entertainer don't help you as much as bards that have versatile performance, but still worth looking at. Dusty rose cracked prism ioun stone is 500gp for +1 initiative, can't beat it. If you don't take a ring of protection as your secondary ring, a ring of sustenance is always nice and affordable.

[Elder_Basilisk]

I'm not sure the ring of counterspells will actually protect your images. Generally they are treated as separate from you in as much as an enemy attacking you has a random chance to target you or one of your images. If they target an image with a magic missile, you don't take damage, the image just pops. I would expect the same thing to happen if you have a ring of counterspells (magic missile) or a brooch of shielding. Unless you (rather than an image) are targeted, the ring of counterspells doesn't counter and the brooch of shielding doesn't absorb the damage. If you are targeted with the magic missile, I guess the ring would counterspell the whole thing, but the brooch would only take the damage from the missile that targeted you. The images targeted would still pop.

So, I'm not sure what the ring would actually protect your mirror image from.

[Sayt]

I'm not sure the ring of counterspells will actually protect your images. Generally they are treated as separate from you in as much as an enemy attacking you has a random chance to target you or one of your images. If they target an image with a magic missile, you don't take damage, the image just pops. I would expect the same thing to happen if you have a ring of counterspells (magic missile) or a brooch of shielding. Unless you (rather than an image) are targeted, the ring of counterspells doesn't counter and the brooch of shielding doesn't absorb the damage. If you are targeted with the magic missile, I guess the ring would counterspell the whole thing, but the brooch would only take the damage from the missile that targeted you. The images targeted would still pop.

So, I'm not sure what the ring would actually protect your mirror image from.

I think it protects them from being dispelled?

[Elder_Basilisk]

I think it protects them from being dispelled?

The thing is I'm not sure how well it actually works.

If the dispel magic is targeted at the spell rather than the character, I don't think it's clear that it works. The ring protects from things targeted at the character.

If the dispel magic is targeted at the character, protection is not really necessary--odds are that the dispel magic will be hitting one of the images instead of the main character so the only thing that happens is an image pops.

Greater dispel magic (more of a concern due to the character's level) would be subject to the same "pick an image" problem if used in the targeted version so the danger is that the character would get tagged in the area version--and the ring of counterspells doesn't protect against area spells. (see FAQ http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/rings/ring-of-counterspells )

So, it doesn't seem like it offers very good protection against dispels.

[Hunter Noventa]

Agreed, the Ring of Counterspelling wouldn't protect the Mirror Images from anything but the spell placed into the ring, the Ring itself isn't very useful in general thanks to that limitation.

There's also some misconception about how Mirror Images (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/coreRulebook/spells/mirrorImage.html#mirror-image) are dispelled in this thread, it's only spells that require attack rolls or regular melee/ranged attacks that dispel them, and they can't be targeted. Area effects don't actually dispel images either.

If you're using a Targeted Dispel you're targeting the spell itself, no attack roll required. if the Dispel Succeeds, the entire spell ends, not a single image.

As for the OP's request, if you're that worried about your Mirror Images being dispelled, you'd likely be better off investing in a Wand of Mirror Image so you're not using your own slots to cast it. You also should invest in the usual suspects such as a Cloak of Resistance or Ring of Protection. Another option would be to bump your Belt up to a Belt of Physical Might to boost your Con or Dex alongside your Str, or a Belt of Physical perfection to bump all three.

[Elder_Basilisk]

Interesting. That's a big change from 3.5 (and all previous editions) that I hadn't noticed till now. It used to be that magic missile was one of the go to ways to get rid of images. Now it just hits you and the images stay.

That makes protecting against the targeted greater dispel magic a more worthwhile effort but since the ring will not protect against the area dispel, that makes it a questionable proposition if all you have to protect is the mirror image spell. If you typically have a lot of running buffs (heroism, greater magic weapon, magic vestment, hero's feast, resist energy, delay poison, freedom of movement, etc) then the ring still makes sense--but to protect the whole package, not just the mirror image.

[Malaqai]

Thanks for the replies. I'll definitely reconsider the Ring of Counterspells; I just feel that her AC is going to be so laughably low anyway (16 with rage running) that I might as well abandon mundane means of defense and look for ways to be a magical dodge tank. She can't afford to end her turn next to somebody who can full-attack her next turn which means she's going to be spending a lot of time hunting the other team's mages and archers with stunning fist. Any tips for increasing survivability? As a side note, Snake Style allows her to use her Sense Motive as an immediate action against one attack, and I've picked her up some Arrow Snaring Gloves so she's a little bit less archer bait.