Gaining Darkvision

[Silvarelion]

I have an elven scout that I want to spec into being able to hide anywhere. I think as part of this, he should be able to see in the dark (for those times when Low-light vision just doesn't cut it) and I was wondering if there was any way of gaining darkvision fairly quickly (i'm lvl 6).

Is there a spell or an item that will give this to me, or allow me to see in the dark?

What other ways would I be able to gain darkvision, if I were to start from scratch with all sources allowed?

[HamsterOfTheGod]

I have an elven scout that I want to spec into being able to hide anywhere. I think as part of this, he should be able to see in the dark (for those times when Low-light vision just doesn't cut it) and I was wondering if there was any way of gaining darkvision fairly quickly (i'm lvl 6).

Is there a spell or an item that will give this to me, or allow me to see in the dark?

What other ways would I be able to gain darkvision, if I were to start from scratch with all sources allowed?

Goggles on Night or Shadowdancer level 2 or Horizon Walker level 1 with underground terrain.

[Zaq]

Darkvision is a second-level Sorcerer spell (or 3rd level Ranger) found in the PHB. It lasts hours/level, so even a basic Eternal Wand of it (CL 3, 2/day) would be a total of 6 hours of darkvision per day.

[AmberVael]

A single level of Warlock will can give you the See the Unseen, or Devil's Sight invocations, both of which will allow you Darkvision (the former gives you see invisibility as well, while the other gives you the ability to see through magic darkness).

[Duke of URL]

Several LA +1 templates offer darkvision, if you're willing to lose the level (or have access to LA buyback).

[Silvarelion]

And for those spells, would I be able to buy something like "Goggles of Darkvision" or something similar that would let me have darkvision all night?

[Xan_Kriegor]

I'm somewhat surprised no one mentioned the Belt of Dwarvenkind yet. It is a bit expensive (a little more than your total WBL at level 6 ) but it gives 60-ft. darkvision, among a ton of other features. Ask your DM if you can get (some of) the extras cut to reduce the price.

[Keld Denar]

You mean...like this?

[herrhauptmann]

Stoneblessed from Races of Stone.
Gain darkvision, classskills appropriate to gnomes, dwarves or goliaths. As well as combat techniques that go along with the chosen race and the ability to enter into PrC's that are race specific.
Like a half-ogre dwarven defender :)

[J.Gellert]

The Otherwordly feat (from Player's Guide to Faerun) gives you darkvision (among other awesome things which you probably won't need being an elven scout).

[Emy]

See this thread. Ctrl-F for Darkvision.

or just look at this spoiler block, which a copy+paste of the Darkvision section of Surreal's wonderful resource.

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Darkvision
Dwarf, 60'
Half-Orc, Orc, 60'
Horizon Walker 1, ecl 6 - 60' or 120'
Barbarian 5, class variant, Complete Champion, limited use, see text
Paladin 5, class variant, complete Champion, see text
Hellbred (spirit aspect), race, Fiendish Codex II, 30'+
Shadowdancer 2, ecl 9, range = normal vision

Devil's Sight, least warlock invocation, Complete Arcane, 30' also works in magical darkness
Acolyte of the Skin 1, ecl 6, 60' (120' at 5th level)
Elemental Savant 6, ecl 11, Complete Arcane, 60'
Greenstar Adept 4, ecl 9, Complete Arcane, 60'
Pale Master 3, ecl 8, Libris Mortis, 60 feet
Divine Crusader 7, ecl 14, Complete Divine, 60'
Nightcloak 2, ecl 7, Complete Divine Web Enhancement, 60', can also see through magical darkness 10'
Sun Soul Monk 8, ecl 13, City of Splendors: Waterdeep (FR), 60'
Green Star Adept 4, ecl 9, Complete Arcane
Dungeon Delver 1, ecl 8, Complete Adventurer, 60' or adds 30'
Dark Hunter 2, ecl 7, Complete Warrior, 30 feet or adds 30 feet, plus an extra 30' at level 4
Darkwood Stalker 4, ecl 9, Complete Warrior, 30 feet, 60' at level 7
Deepvision, feat, Complete Psionic, +30' while psionically focused
Sunlight Eyes, reserve feat, Complete Mage, works in magical darkness, limited duration, see text
Light and Darkness, mantle, Complete Psionic, 60' or +30', see text
Umbral Shroud, reserve feat, Complete Champion, 10' or +10'

Disciple of the Eye 3, ecl 8, Races of the Dragon, 120 feet
Dawncaller 1, ecl 7, Races of Stone, 60 feet
Deep Vision, psionic feat, Races of Stone - +30'
Dragon Devotee 5, ecl 10, Races of the Dragon, 60 feet

Exorcist of the Silver Flame 3, ecl 18, Eberron Campaign Setting, 30' (60' at level 6)
Eldeen Ranger 3 (Gatekeepers), ecl 8, Eberron Campaign Setting, 60 feet or +30'
Shadow Hunter 4, ecl 8, Eberron: Dragonmarked, 60' works in magical darkness, see text
Dream of Perception, dreamtouched feat, Eberron: Secrets of Sarlona, 60'
Monocle of the Ebon Hunter, item, Eberorn: Explorer's Handbook, 60', also improves ranged attacks
Telflammar Shadowlord 1, ecl ???, FR: Unapproachable East - can also see through magical darkness
Monk 3 (Dark Moon Disciple substitution level), FR: Champions of Valor web enhancement
Night Mask Deathbringer 7, ecl 12, FR: Champions of Ruin, 60'
Shade Hunter 5, ecl 10, FR: Champions of Ruin, +60'
Drow Eyes, feat, Races of Faerun, 120', half-drow elf only
Cavestalker 3, ecl 8, Drow of the Underdark, 120' or +60'
Cavelord 2, ecl 6, FR: Underdark, 120'

Darkrunner 2, 4, 6, 8, 10/10, ecl 6, Lords of Madness, +10' each time
Fleshwarper 10, ecl 17, Lords of Madness, 60'
Inhuman Vision, aberrant feat, Lords of Madness, +5' per abberant feat
Darksight Eyes, Illithid Graft, Lords of Madness, 60'
Shadow Creature, +2 LA template, Lords of Madness - 60'
Dracolyte 7, ecl 12, Draconomicon, 60'
Hoardstealer 1, 5, 9/10, ecl 6, Draconomicon, +30' each
Initiate of the Draconic Mysteries 3, ecl 8, Draconomicon, 60'
Talon of Tiamat 8, ecl 12, Draconomicon, 60'
Incarnate 1 (Tiefling substitution level), Magic of Incarnum - also works in magical darkness, see text
Basilist Mask, soulmeld, Magic of Incarnum, 30'/essentia
Truthseeker Goggles, soulmeld, Magic of Incarnum, 60'
Amon, vestige, ecl 1, Tome of Magic
Geryon, vestige, ecl 10, Tome of Magic - range = normal vision, can see through even magical darkness
Tenebrous, vestige, ecl 7, Tome of Magic - range = normal vision, can see through even magical darkness
Shadowcaster 3, Tome of Magic - 30' (60' at level 11)
Shadowblade 7, ecl 12, Tome of Magic - range = normal vision, can see through even magical darkness
Planar Touchstone (The Unseen Path), feat, Planar Handbook - range not specified
Planar Touchstone (The Blinding Tower), feat, Planar Handbook - 60' or +30'
Dragonfire Mask, soulmeld, Dragon Magic - 60' or +30'
Fiendish Skin, fiendish graft, Fiend Folio - 60'
Dragonfire Mask, soulmeld, Dragon Magic - 60' or +30'
Draconic Senses, draconic feat, Dragon Magic, 60' only if you have 3 or more draconic feats
Eyes of the Abyss, abyssal heritor feat, Fiendish Codex I - 30' plus bonus to search and spot
Winterhaunt of Iborighu 10, ecl 15, Frostburn, 60', become an evil elemental
Devil's Sight, feat, Fiendish Codex II, 60' or +60', can also gain blindsight
Vassal of Bahamut 1, ecl 8, Book of Exalted Deeds, 120'
Ebonmar Infiltrator 9, ecl 14, Cityscape, 30'

[Person_Man]

I suggest a level of Warlock for this build as well. Here's why (long repost from a very old thread):

Blinky the Ninja

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Chaotic Good Ghost Whisper Gnome Warlock 3/Swordsage 2/Shadow Sun Ninja 4

Start with the Ghost template class (variable LA) for a variety of useful abilities and the undead type. When used correctly its ridiculously powerful, and if you go to LA +3 for Rejuvenation then under the right circumstances you can never be permanently destroyed. Alternatively, you can pick up Necropolitan from Libris Mortis (+1ish LA), which also makes you undead, but has fewer special abilities.

You now have a host of immunities, and are now healed by Negative energy. Neither template has any effect on your alignment, and both templates have fluff that specifically support the balance/struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, which fits perfectly with the Setting Sun Ninja fluff.

Shadow Sun Ninja (Tome of Battle) gives you the Touch of the Shadow Sun ability. As a Standard action, you can deal Negative Energy damage (to heal yourself or damage a non-undead enemy) and the round afterward, you can deal the same amount of Positive Energy (to heal the living or damage undead) as a Standard action. Congratulations, because you now have infinite healing for your entire party.

Take the Blend into Shadows feat (Drow of the Underdark). It allows Warlocks to Hide in Plain Site as a Swift Action every round as long as you're within an area of magical darkness. Invest heavily in Hide and boost it via magic items. Remember, rolling a natural 20 doesn't automatically pass a Skill check. So unless an enemy has a ridiculously high Spot, you can't be targeted by anything except for area of effect attacks.

Cast your Darkness invocation individually on multiple pieces of ammunition (shuriken, arrows, bolts, whatever). Darkness lasts for 10 minutes per level, and you can cast Invocations unlimited times per day, so duration isn't an issue. Keep one in your hand at all times. The rest are a free action to draw when you attack with them. Alternatively, you can take Quickdraw and just cast Darkness on any assortment of hand held items that you can easily draw and drop as you move around the battlefield. Basically, you just want backups spread throughout the battlefield in case someone casts Dispel Magic on you.

Buy a Wand of Ebon Eyes (Spell Compendium), and cast it on all of your friends. Now your friends don't have to worry about the 20% miss chance from your magical Darkness. Or they can take At Home in the Deep, Pierce Magical Concealment, or find some other feat, spell, or item. Or you can just screw your friends - you don't need them with this build, and if you invest in the Devil's Sight invocation you're not effected by the miss chance from magical Darkness.

Take the Darkstalker feat (Lords of Madness) which allows you to Hide from things with Scent, Tremorsense, See Invisibility, and similar abilities. You can now Hide in Plain Site against literally everything.

Shadow Sun Ninja also gives you the Light within Darkness special ability. After you successfully Hide and make a melee attack, all opponents (not everyone, just opponents) within 60 feet who failed to detect you must make a Fort Save or be Blinded for one round.

Take Frightful Presence (Draconomicon). When you attack, all opponents within 30 feet who have fewer hit dice then you must Save or be Shaken. Remember that effects from the same ability do not stack, so if an enemy fails his Save vs your Frightful Presence more then once, it just extends the duration. So you'll need to invest in other Fear effects to make it work well.

So, buy armor with the Fearsome armor enhancement from Drow of the Underdark. It allows you to use Intimidate to Demoralize an enemy as a Move action (normally it's a Standard action). Buy the Crystal Mask of Dread from the Magic Item Compendium (buffs Intimidate). Take the Beguiling Influence Invocation (buffs Intimidate). Take Imperious Command from Drow of the Underdark - now whenever you successfully use Intimidate to Demoralize a foe, it Cowers for 1 round and Shaken the next. And Fear effects from different sources stack, so if they failed their Save vs Frightful Presence, they're Frightened. Use the Never Outnumbered Skill Trick from Complete Scoundrel so that you can Intimidate everyone within 10 feet.

Use Standard Action ToB maneuvers or Ghost abilities to make melee attacks.


The full combo put together:

Round 1: Attack with your ranged weapon(s), spreading Darkness throughout the battlefield. Enemies within range of you must make a Will Save vs. Fear. Then Hide in Plain Site as a Swift Action. Move if you feel paranoid about being targeted by area of effect attacks. Use Intimidate to Demoralize your opponents before you make your Hide check if you don't.

Round 2: Make melee attack (you are now no longer hidden). Enemies within range must make a Will Save vs. Fear. Enemies who failed their Spot check must Save or be Blinded for 1 round. Hide in Plain Site as a Swift Action. Move if you feel paranoid about being targeted by area of effect attacks. Use Intimidate to Demoralize your opponents before you make your Hide check if you don't.

Repeat Round 2 until all enemies are dead.

The end result - Blind, Frightened, and/or Cowering enemies. The attack power of a few ToB maneuvers. The versatility of Use Magic Device. The invulnerability of not being targeted, the undead type, etherealness, Rejuvenation, infinite healing, immunity to tons of things, and possibly Evasion (buy a ring) and high AC (if your Wis and Dex are strong, but this isn't important). And you have excellent social Skills for roleplaying fun. I also suggest 3-4 levels of Paladin of Freedom for immunity to compulsion effects and Divine Grace, but it's strictly optional.