Need advice on two topics: Magic items & Class substitution suggestions

[Soultpp]

Okay first off, our current campaign has finally taken a massive jump in overall wealth. Up until this point we've been fighting with mostly starter gear. Now, after just reaching lv10, we've stumbled upon enough sudden wealth to allow for each character to get 70k GP. My problem is that I want to try to spend it as efficiently as possible, both for myself and as I'm usually the primary advisor to the others in the group of 'what is good'. In my case, I'm playing a pure class Warlock. For the others, we have a Paladin who will start into Blackguard as of Lv11, a Bard/Shadowdancer whose player is unpredictable, and the final one is a Tiefling Rogue/Dungeon Delver. There are a few magical items already:
a +3 Improved Vicious(3d6/1d6) Long Sword for Pal;
a +3 Shortbow of "Improved" Spellstoring (DM's decision to allow/make this, still have to clarify if its 5 total spell levels, or {insanely} 5 different spells) and a a +2 Flaming Short sword;
Skull earrings (protection from death effects I think);
Hand of the Mage;
And one or two that I'm still uncertain about.

So suggestions are all appreciated as to where to go from here with the 70k. Although for the most part I probably need to stick to our sources (in my sig) I MAY be able to argue bringing in an item from another source since the DM has started with home brew things.

As for the class substitution, I was reading through a few of the Iron Chef challenges, and I liked the idea of the pixie assassin character for something for use as a backup, partly because it looked to be the easiest to adapt. The problem is I don't have access to Tome of Battle, nor do I think I can get it, again see sig for sources available. If I were to run a similar build, what could be some alternate choices to replace Swordsage levels in that build? Also are there other ways to get crit/sneak dmg on un-crit-able nasties other than the suggested braces(Deathstrike bracers)? I would need to persuade the DM to allow those so having alternatives if he says no would be helpful.

For those who don't want to go looking, the basic levels were: pixie swashbuckler3/swordsage2/exotic weapon master1/assassin10

[Kayblis]

70k is a good amount for a lv 10 character. I'd suggest the usual +4 stat item(16k) along with a Mantle of Resistance +3~5(9~25k) for your saves. The rest depends on whether you're expecting to get more money on a regular basis, to fuel X-strike wands (VineStrike and the like) to deal Sneak Attack with. You should put a Wand Chamber(200, auto uses 1 charge on hit) on each weapon and buy some wands for critical use.

Other than that, skill items are pretty cheap. You should also get something special for the others, so ask them what they feel they're lacking.

Oh, and if someone's dipping Swordsage, it's probably because he's going for maneuvers and stances. They only exist in ToB.

[Soultpp]

Not sure if the DM will allow a wand chamber or not, but I can ask. He might consider it 'cheating' after all, but again, can ask. Still, wands are something I was going to look at regardless since my character will have free hands anyways.

+4 stat and +X Resistance sounds good though, couple of our group have ridiculously low Fort saves...

I'll ask of course, but usually they don't have a clue what they want so ask me what they SHOULD get. :smallbiggrin:
Skill items sounds like a good suggestion though, maybe I'll skim through the rings and wondrous lists again for specific suggestions.

And yeah, I kind of assumed it was for the maneuvers/stances that they took SwSg. I was just hoping there could be some, obviously lesser, option that I could switch to for my source in case I need it.

[sleepyphoenixx]

I'd suggest starting with the List of Necessary Magic items (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?187851-3-5-Lists-of-Necessary-Magic-Items). Mostly the "cheap" sections, but getting that stuff covered should be a priority.
The Scout's Headband, Shadow Cloak, Anklets of Translocation, Death Ward armor enhancement and Third Eye:Freedom in particular cover a lot of situations for 16,900gp.
If you find yourself having money left over at the end you can think about some of the better/more expensive solutions - particularly with regard to flight items, because all-day flight rocks.

After that you can check out Save Items: Items That Boost Saves (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=188).
I especially like the various armor crystals (Crystal of Mind Cloaking, Crystal of Lifekeeping) - even the least versions are helpful and everyone can afford those.
The Crystal Mask of Mindarmor is also worth a look, as is the Mindarmor armor enhancement, the Spellstrike weapon enhancement (put it on armor spikes or a gauntlet) and the Robe of the Vagabond.

If you still have money left over after that take a look at Shax's Indispensible Haversack (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?148101-3-x-Shax-s-Indispensible-Haversack-(Equipment-Handbook)).
The Type I version is definitely worth it for everyone, just for what i call the "i have an item for that"-syndrome. Something happens? Check your haversack, chances are there's something in there that helps.
It's definitely worth considering the upgrades if you've checked the entries on the first two lists and don't know where else to spend your money.

[haplot]

Do I take it theres no access to something like the Magic Item Compendium?

Would it be worth investing in it?

[Soultpp]

No, we have no access to the Magic Items Compendium and it is unlikely that we could. None of us could afford to buy it and the DM wouldn't likely want to use it anyways without being able to add it to the character generator program we use (eTools).

And the above basically eliminates 95% of that must-have list actually. We have what we have and that's mostly it I'm afraid. I've been looking for a while actually, hoping to find a copy of MIC, CSc, or DotU as datasets for eTools just so I could get the DM to allow for new source.