I have an opportunity to level my wizard to epic level.

[Magic Myrmidon]

Or at least level 20. Now, I didn't do the best job of making him in the first... 9 levels or so. Some of the feats weren't the best to take. For instance... I took craft magical item and point blank shot. In my defense, it was my first wizard, but the point stands.

For the next 10 levels, I was going to take mage of the arcane order, since there is little reason to continue in wizard levels, and the requirements are not excruciating.

The main thing I need help with is gold. I have 1,500,000 gold to spend, and I don't really know where to start. He's a grey elf with no banned schools of magic, if that makes a difference. The real catch here is that the magic item compendium is banned, so... yeah. I'm more limited here.

So... basically, anyone know of any great places to start with the MIC banned?

[The Glyphstone]

What books are you allowed? Losing the MIC hurts, but a lot of it can be replaced.

[Furnok]

Raise an army $1.5 mil will buy you a **** ton of troops.

[Magic Myrmidon]

Uhm... I can't think of anything else he's banned. I have most of the books, but no Dragon Magazine (or whatever it was called.)

[The Glyphstone]

Then you're rolling in dough...that's twice the WBL for level 20.

A +6 Con amulet for 36,000.
A +6 Int headband for 36,000.
+6 Dex gloves for 36,000.
A metamagic rod of Greater Quicken or two (170,000 each).
Orange Ioun Stone for 30,000.

That's pretty much all the useful stuff out of Core. Now start pulling nice stuff out of splatbooks.

[Lysander]

How about picking up some good defensive items, such as a Cloak of Resistance +5 and a Ring of Freedom of Movement?

[Ernir]

One thing about PrCs and levelling into epic - sometimes, it's best to just stick with the base class. Bonus Epic Feats can be ridiculously powerful stuff.

Also, on spending your WBL - buy spells. Lots of spells (like, every spell you have ever dreamed of). Blessed Books (a core item) help here.

[Defiant]

One thing about PrCs and levelling into epic - sometimes, it's best to just stick with the base class. Bonus Epic Feats can be ridiculously powerful stuff.

You still get those if you take all levels of a 10-level PrC and then take its "epic" continuation.

[jiriku]

1. Yah, high-level spells are better than almost any gear you can buy. Get lots of them.
2. Gear-wise, your three most important character areas to improve are Defense, Defense, and Defense. You can use your spells to attack and solve problems. Use your gear to make yourself as impossible to kill as you can manage.
3. Consider getting a +5 twilight githcraft mithral chain shirt and a +5 mithril buckler. That's +15 to your AC that requires no proficiency, inflicts no spell failure chance or armor check penalty, and can't be dispelled. Stack a ring of protection +5 and assume you've got a Dex of at least 20 after enhancements, and you're looking at AC 35, before any defensive spells. It won't stop any horrible epic beasties, but it will ensure that masses of mooks can't hurt you.
4. You definitely want a +5 cloak of resistance, unless you're planning to rely on superior resistance.
5. Greater metamagic rods are handy. I'm fond of rods providing quicken, chain, and maximize (maximized time stop owns).
6. If you plan to shapechange or polymorph much, wilding clasps for your critical pieces of gear and wild armor are helpful.
7. Also pick up items that grant blanket immunities to attacks. Immunity to blindness, curses, death effects, mind control, energy drain, poison, fatigue/exhaustion, stunning, disease, these are things you want to have, because epic monsters throw around special attacks and debuffs like rice at a wedding.

Edit: Your feats can be good choices, depending on your build. Point-Blank Shot will qualify you for Precise Shot, which is a solid choice for ray-focused wizards. Craft Wondrous Items can be used to stretch your WBL, and also is necessary to make a phylactery if you want to become a lich.

[Magic Myrmidon]

Some great suggestions here. Thank you. So far, I'm definitely going to be buying at least 1 blessed book, tons of scrolls, and some metamagic rods. Probably that armor mentioned in the above post, too.

Uhm... I do have one more request. I remember a feat that let you use 2 lower level spells for a spell one level higher, but I can't remember the name to check whether or not I really want it. Does anybody know it off the top of their head? Or... any other can't miss feats? I've found that building an epic character is no small... feat. >.>

[The Glyphstone]

Versatile Spellcaster. I think it only works for Spontaneous casters though.

[Eronai_Jantig]

It's not being a spontaneous caster, it's the ability to cast spontaneous spells. Can anyone scream "Spontaneous Divination" fast enough? Some standard Wizard prestiges to look into include: Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil and Incantrix. Something to maybe consider is Dark Chaos Shuffling those feats around, or just using the normal, PHB 2 rules to fix them, that way you aren't stuck with new player decisions for the rest of the character's life.

[oblivion6]

is your wizard 4e?

[The Glyphstone]

is your wizard 4e?

"Grey Elf", "Magic Item Compendium", "Mage of the Arcane Order", "banned schools of magic".

He's 3.5, there's too much 3.5-specific terminology for him to be 4E. Also, I think 1.5million gold would be under-wealth for a 20th level 4E character, just as it's vastly overwealth for a 20th level 3.5 character.

[Tinydwarfman]

With that much money, you can afford a really big Tome of Int, which is very nice for a wizard.

[Endarire]

Mind blank, death ward, and freedom of movement have now become essential. Get them continually or expect to suffer.

Also, snuggle up with Treantmonk.

Besides this, I recommend a build like this:

Conjurer5/Incantatrix3/Master Conjurer1/Incantatrix+1/Spellguard of Silverymoon5/Archmage3/Incantatrix+2

Dragonborn Gray Elf

Start with max INT and CON. STR and DEX are barely useful at this level if you have polymorph et al.

1: {Aggressive}, {Murky-Eyed}, {Noncombatant}, {Passionate}
1: [Abrupt Jaunt], [Improved Initiative]
1: Chain Spell, Extend Spell, Ocular Spell
3: Cloudy Conjuration, [Iron Will from O Hole]
5: [Storm Bolt]
6: [Persistent Spell], School Focus: Conjuration
7: [COOPERATIVE METAMAGIC!]
8: [METAMAGIC EFFECT!]
9: Combat Casting, [Skill Focus: Spellcraft]
10: [@METAMAGIC FEAT@]
11:
12: Martial Study: White Raven Tactics, [@METAMAGIC FEAT@]
13: [Selective Spell: 1 Creature (Sub)Type]
14: [SPELLGUARD! - Touchify Personal HP/Save/AC Spells]
15: [Spell Power (Spellguard)], School Focus: Illusion
16: [Mastery of Shaping OR Spell Power]
17: [Spell-like Ability: time stop]
18: [Mastery of Shaping OR Spell Power], #FEAT#
19: [Metamagic Spell Trigger]
20: [Seize Concentration]

Analysis: You can buff your party for 24 hours, sometimes even with personal spells. Doing so costs additional spell slot levels.

Incantatrix10 makes you epic-ready. What you do with your millions of gold is up to you, but I advise buying a demiplane. Go ahead and fill it with platinum, a naturally-occuring metal.

[Milskidasith]

With that much money, you can afford a really big Tome of Int, which is very nice for a wizard.

I'm pretty sure those things are capped at +5. Likewise, epic enhancement bonuses take at least a third of his cash, and that's assuming he buys a +7 item (+10 is two thirds his cash).

[fryplink]

As previously said filling out your spell book is your biggest concern, then I'd go with metamagic rods (as said previously)

picking up lesser metamagic rods of quicken (they are cheaper than the greater ones, so pick up a few lessers and a greater or two) work wonders with true strike even at higher levels (pair that with a ray, and you're good to go)

Also decide which wizard you are going to play. (ie: orb-based, ray-based, batman, god, polymorpher {followed by your DM killing you})

If treantmonk isn't to your taste I present (a repost of) the original batman wizard: The Logic Ninja's Batman guide

IIRC the ninja's guide is a fair bit shorter than treantmonks, meaning that batman's guide is a taster while god is deeper.

[Lysander]

A few more useful items you can get (not necessarily wizard specific, just nice to have and very affordable at your wealth):

Handy Haversack (basic utility item)
Hand Of Glory (lets you wear a third magic ring. with your wealth you can afford three)
Stat Enhancing Manuals (137,500gp for a +5 bonus. This is an inherent bonus, not an enhancement bonus so it stacks with enhancement bonus items. Expensive, so only get these if there's nothing else you want more. Might just want to get it for INT)
A ring of wizardry (of some level)
Ring of blinking (50% miss chance from all physical attacks? sounds pretty good)

[Icewraith]

How do you get 10 levels of incantatrix with only 6 class levels in the build? Most +Caster level prestige class abilities specifically don't advance other prestige class features including abilities and bonus feats (UR-Priest and whatnot can be used to accelerate spell progression due to the way their spell progressions are written but IIRC still don't grant class features from other prestige classes)

[Keld Denar]

Go ahead and fill it with platinum, a naturally-occuring metal.

Or Jacinth. You know...cause you can never have enough material components for Astral Projection. Why endanger yourself when you can fight all your battles by proxy?