Probably enchanted armor and buckler if things like that are hard to come by and if you can manage that as a bundle.
Mask of stony demeanor gives amazing specific bonuses to lying and feints for 500gp
Any item that adds +1 ac of something (amulet of natural armor, ring of protection)
Cloak of resistance of course
cracked dusty rose prism ioun stone is good on all characters
also first level wands, really decent scrolls, and potions (do not suggest potions)
At 1800, the scabbard of vigor is a pretty cool item.
For 2000 you could probably get some magic armor for your Animal Companion
It depends on what item are you searching... as suggested by Jtibbs, items like handy haversack or hat of disguise are optimal choices for roleplay (also for combat if you play on illusion tricks...druid is not so good with illusions, but is all on how you play it and what your dm think about)
Druid make good character for summoning, so any object can help you do that will be fine...a rod of extend spell.. can make your summon natural allies last more..
some rods/wands of buff spell (like Bull's Strenght or Bear's Endurance) can help buff your animal companion...
If you could get 2500GP of 'market worth' I would say that a ring of sustenance is pretty nifty.
lowers your encumberence (no food or water needs), and it greatly accelerates HP regen when you sleep.
2 hours of sleep counts as 8 hours for hp regen. a full nights sleep is like 4 days of healing.
Handy Haversacks are always useful.
A Hat of Disguise at 1800 gp is very useful too in a lot of campaigns. At will disguise self is very useful.
You can guess that I'm real big into non-combat utility items.
ring of sustenance is required gear in non mythic games I've played/gm'd.
Feather step slippers, ignore all difficult terrain.
thanks...
its the Handy Haversack Vs
Hat of Disguise Vs
cloak of resistanse +1 & muleback cordsnarrwing it down nicely.
masterwork backpack of the muleback cords
-a baby with a strength of 1 could carry 100 pounds with this item.*later add continuous ant haul to the above item (3,050g total) and that baby will start being able to carry 300 pounds.
Boots of the Cat is a must have at my table - 1,000g: When you fall, are thrown, are dropped, etc.: always land on your feet taking minimum fall damage (maximum damage is from 210+ feet which is 20 damage).
Why not check here.
My vote goes to Handy Haversack though.
If you are a melee druid you might consider a +1 Dragonhide Breastplate. I would not go for a Handy Haversack, it will become obsolete since you will often be wild shaped and your companion will do better with saddlebags as it cannot make use of the Haversack's best ability and should have no issues with carrying capacity.
Pearls of power are great, if you can convince your DM to allow you to get a pair of 1st level ones. The Heavy load Belt and Cap of Buffering are pretty decent at 2000gp.
How come you may wield a scimtar?
It's less the encumbrance but retrieving items without provoking an AoO is just great (and will also last all campaign long)!
Ruyan.
Clearly, what you want is Manacles of Cooperation. As a druid, you can wild shape into some innocuous animal like a squirrel or cat. While in this innocent form, you then sneak into an enemy position and wait for nightfall. When your target is asleep (and thus helpless) you turn back and place the manacles on your target. Now the afflicted creature will never try to remove the manacles and will obey any request you make if it fails a DC11 will save. So just keep asking until it fails the save.
And it's available for the low low cost of exactly how much you have (2000 gold).