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So I am working on a more complete wizard guide right now, and I would like some recommendations on any and all gear that a wizard would want aside from the usual pearls of power, INT gear, and so forth.
I have my own ideas, but I want to hear from you guys because I am bound to miss something.
I will be including a section on pimping out your familiar, and best use for your item Bond.
Gear-wise, are you restricted to Paizo only?
A mithril buckler. No armor check penalty or spell failure chance, and it's a permanent shield bonus to AC.
Backup spellbooks and spell component pouches, just on general principles.
Skip bracers of armor. Mage armor spells are mostly better.
Any spell you're always casting every combat... Have a wand of, unless caster level matters.
Staffs are situational. You need time to recharge them, but having extra high powered spells around can be very handy.
check the ion stones, many of them are very handy.
Have a discussion of what skills you want to associate with your INT headband.
Gear-wise, are you restricted to Paizo only?
Yes, it is a pathfinder guide.
A mithril buckler. No armor check penalty or spell failure chance, and it's a permanent shield bonus to AC.
Backup spellbooks and spell component pouches, just on general principles.
Skip bracers of armor. Mage armor spells are mostly better.
Any spell you're always casting every combat... Have a wand of, unless caster level matters.
Staffs are situational. You need time to recharge them, but having extra high powered spells around can be very handy.
check the ion stones, many of them are very handy.
Have a discussion of what skills you want to associate with your INT headband.
good idea about the skills associated with your headband. I think I will include that in my skills analysis section. Fly and UMD are actually pretty good choices with normak wealth since they are both skills you won't get as much mileage out of in the early levels.
Interesting thought about the shield too. I appreciate the response!
Armored Kilt. Efficient Quiver. Gloves of Storing.
I will definitely look at those. Especially the kilt.
Edit: that kilt must be made of cheese. Im assuming that we see saying you can "add" the kilt to your made armor right?
Is there anything that says I can't put an enhancement bonus on that kilt?
It's dm's discretion in terms of how often you can find them, but buying scrolls of a higher level are always nice to have. It's not a staple by any means but casting black tentacles at 3rd-4th level at a fairly easy check (DC7 if i'm not mistaken) and for 700gp is a great choice against a tough BBEG. At mid-higher levels, say between 9-12 buying an 8th level spell for 3,000 may seem steep for a one-shot, but the BBEG would certainly curse you for casting such a high level spell for a mere DC 15.
Just off the top of my head, I would say a wand or two of spells like mirror image, dimension door, or even invisibility. This way, you can activate the wand without risking an AoO. Wand of shocking grasp (CL5) or some other touch spell spell is also nice for the same reason.
Heightened Daylight wand or item to defeat deeper darkness type spells and abilities can be great.
It's dm's discretion in terms of how often you can find them, but buying scrolls of a higher level are always nice to have. It's not a staple by any means but casting black tentacles at 3rd-4th level at a fairly easy check (DC7 if i'm not mistaken) and for 700gp is a great choice against a tough BBEG. At mid-higher levels, say between 9-12 buying an 8th level spell for 3,000 may seem steep for a one-shot, but the BBEG would certainly curse you for casting such a high level spell for a mere DC 15.
I gave my players in a game I am running a scroll of time stop at level 8 as part of a random loot roll. I am still waiting to see if and how they will use it.
Just off the top of my head, I would say a wand or two of spells like mirror image, dimension door, or even invisibility. This way, you can activate the wand without risking an AoO. Wand of shocking grasp (CL5) or some other touch spell spell is also nice for the same reason.
Heightened Daylight wand or item to defeat deeper darkness type spells and abilities can be great.
These are also great things for your familiar to be doing with its UMD as well.
I gave my players in a game I am running a scroll of time stop at level 8 as part of a random loot roll. I am still waiting to see if and how they will use it.
Sounds as if it's going to be the "Elixer" of your standard RPG. You're not going to see them use that until end game or near death! Granted the moment they use it will be one ot remember.
I've saved a "polymorph any object" for a BBEG before and let's just say 20 minutes (The minimum) is plenty of time to setup impending doom.
I don't care for pearls of power at higher levels. They are expensive. I do like the bracers of armor because you can still put other effects on them. If you don't see any abilities you like then they can be skipped.
Lesser metamagic rod of silent spell so you can cast dispel magic when someone uses the silence spell against you.
If the GM is going to have a decent amount of downtime then craft wondrous items should be looked into.
Ring of Freedom of Movement. You really don't want to get grappled.
I gave my players in a game I am running a scroll of time stop at level 8 as part of a random loot roll. I am still waiting to see if and how they will use it.Sounds as if it's going to be the "Elixer" of your standard RPG. You're not going to see them use that until end game or near death! Granted the moment they use it will be one ot remember.
I've saved a "polymorph any object" for a BBEG before and let's just say 20 minutes (The minimum) is plenty of time to setup impending doom.
polymorph any object cracks me up. Paizo went to so much trouble to nerf all the other polymorph spells, INCLUDING Shape Change, and yet they basically left that spell alone.
I don't care for pearls of power at higher levels. They are expensive. I do like the bracers of armor because you can still put other effects on them. If you don't see any abilities you like then they can be skipped.
Lesser metamagic rod of silent spell so you can cast dispel magic when someone uses the silence spell against you.
If the GM is going to have a decent amount of downtime then craft wondrous items should be looked into.
Ring of Freedom of Movement. You really don't want to get grappled.
Grapple is really one of the wizards biggest weaknesses. Not so much a problem fire the conjurer (teleportation).
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A Lesser metamagic persistent rod is great for making spells more sticky and for extending the lifespan of your lower level spells.
Ultimate combat added no-spell-failure Eastern Armor: Haramaki or Silken Ceremonial Armor
Regarding pearls: I would take a first level pearl and possibly a second level pearl, and leave it at that.
wouldn't a darkwood buckler still have a 5% spell failure chance?
I didnt know wizards could use bucklers. I never thought to look.
Whats a "dino familiar"?
Wizards can use any type of shields, it's just that they're not proficient so suffer an armor check penalty andan arcane spell failure chance.
Masrerwork buckles don't have an armor check penalty.
Mithril buckles don't have an arcane spek, failure chance. And they're automatically masterwork.
They aren't magical, but spring-loaded wrist sheathes for wands (especially bonded ones).
Armoured Kilt: if you're any sort of sensible wizard, it will be useless since you're likely casting Mage Armour or have Bracers of Armour and armour bonuses don't stack.
Mithral buckler: Shield (the spell) gives 4 times the AC bonus, applies to incorporeal attacks, and a wand of it is cheaper than the buckler.
Ring of Freedom of Movement: Absolutely. You'll still be in a bad spot if an enemy gets into melee range, but at least you'll still be able to cast, and it makes you immune to spells like Web, Black Tentacles, Hold Person and the like.
I didnt know wizards could use bucklers. I never thought to look.
Whats a "dino familiar"?
There is a "Composaurus?" (I forget how it is spelled) in Beastiary 2 off the top of my head I think it is page 91? It has a poisonous Bite and it gives you +4 to your inititive, but I believe it requires you to have the improved familiar feat.
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The advantages to the armoured kilt is that they can be enchanted further. Initially I agree with you but once you have a decent amount of gold the above items will get you more AC than the spells will, in addition to any other special armor effects you may want.Armoured Kilt: if you're any sort of sensible wizard, it will be useless since you're likely casting Mage Armour or have Bracers of Armour and armour bonuses don't stack.
Mithral buckler: Shield (the spell) gives 4 times the AC bonus, applies to incorporeal attacks, and a wand of it is cheaper than the buckler.
Yea having the ability to nullify crits or even add SR or Energy Resistance is a great addition.
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The advantages to the armoured kilt is that they can be enchanted further. Initially I agree with you but once you have a decent amount of gold the above items will get you more AC than the spells will, in addition to any other special armor effects you may want.Armoured Kilt: if you're any sort of sensible wizard, it will be useless since you're likely casting Mage Armour or have Bracers of Armour and armour bonuses don't stack.
Mithral buckler: Shield (the spell) gives 4 times the AC bonus, applies to incorporeal attacks, and a wand of it is cheaper than the buckler.
This is where campaign parameters become important. A shorter or lower-level campaign will favor the shield spell, while a longer or higher-level campaign will favor an actual shield.
For instance, I have a fighter/wizard in PFS (caps at 12th) who uses a wand of shield almost every fight. That's about 10 charges per level, or about two and a half wands in his career. Three wands of shield cost a total of 2,250gp, which is a lot less than a +3 mithral buckler costs.
But if it was a campaign running from 6th to 20th with lots of fights per day? That might be a different story.
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The only real drawback to the mithril buckler is that if you use your shield hand for casting, you lose the AC bonus until your next turn. You could cast with your other hand, but then you don't threaten with a weapon. I'd just work around it by carrying a weapon in your shield hand. If you have to use your weapon (highly unlikely), then you lose the shield bonus and take a -1 penalty to hit -- but it's very unlikely you'll actually need to use that. So the mithral buckler strategy is still a great way to get the fortification armor property.
Some of the various gear that wizards like:
Rods: I prefer Piercing/Persistent Spell early and Dazing/Quicken Spell later.
Early on, the elemental gems are tremendous. They're a huge help in the early "oh crap" fights versus high SR and save bad guys (around level 3-6). The air elemental is preferred due to flying being an early bane to a party. They're expensive, but beating an early fight that would otherwise be impossible is worth every gold piece.
The main thing that I notice wizard players doing is failing to use the Scribe Scroll feat to its maximum effectiveness. No wizard worth his salt should be walking around without a bunch of scrolls. The PFS restriction on wizards not having Scribe Scroll is actually a pretty serious wizard nerf in my mind. The key early scrolls: magic weapon, protection from evil, obscuring mist, invisibility, levitate, alter self, etc.
I agree that Pearls of Power are ideal for buffs that benefit from being reapplied. . . my favorite use is for False Life.
Wands are OK, but honestly if your GM gives you enough craft time, scrolls are cheaper per use. Wands that don't have save-based spells are best. . . magic missile, scorching ray, haste (5 rounds of haste are usually enough to kill just about anything) are all really strong.
Ink, quills, a quill-sharpening set and a portable writing surface. And paper or parchment.
Clean underwear.
A specially made "saddle", so that your familiar can "ride" on your back or shoulder.
Muleback Cords.
A spare dagger.
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Ink, quills, a quill-sharpening set and a portable writing surface. And paper or parchment.
Check out the field scrivener's desk from the Pathfinder Society Field Guide.
Also, found a link to my aforementioned Dweomer's Essence.
The thing with shield is that it lasts one minute per level, so a standard wand of shield will protect you for one minute. This is good if you have time to buff before a fight. You don't always have time to do that, but a mithril buckler is always there and doesn't run out of duration.
I'd rather spend my incompatible actions doing something that helps end the fight faster.
Gauntlet or Cestus with the Dueling enchantment(+4 initiative)
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Metamagic Rods: Lesser Extend, Lesser Empower, Lesser (and Standard) Silent rods are fantastic. Relatively cheap, and having extended shield, haste, fly every day without upping their spell levels is great!
Wands: Unless you go the route of Staff Like Wand, combat spells off of wands just won't cut the mustard. If you DO use that discovery, though, get Craft Wand as well, and crank out cheap, lethal combat-wands like a boss!
Misc: Muleback Cords are great for overcoming your (generally) poor strength, as are Masterwork Backpacks (and they stack with each other, as well as ant haul.
Anything that will up your perception and/or initiative bonus is also nice. Eyes of the Eagle, Belt of Dex (eventually Con/Dex), and the like are great.
Ioun stone of +1 CL is key, especially for higher levels.
Finally, always carry scroll materials on hand. Even if its just enough for a few low level spells, if you have the downtime, and need a particular spell or want to have a spare (say, an extra mage armor for the monk, or what have you), nothing sucks more than not having those materials with you.
I'm surprised that back in 2012 the answer wasn't "I put on my robes and wizard hat"
This thread is 5 years old btw