Does anyone know exactly what is the ability of the Cold Iron Alchemical Reagent from the Alchemy Manual?
It says it grants +1 caster level for the purpose of caster level and dispel checks, but further on another item, Myrrh, appears to provide the exact same bonus for less gold. The difference is that Myrrh points specifically to caster level CHECKS, while the cold iron is missing the "checks".
So, does Cold Iron apply to general caster level? Or just to caster level checks?
Any advice is welcome. Thanks.
Yes, it's only for caster level checks.
"Put candy sprinkles on top of strawberry and banana milkshakes." In this sentence, am I putting candy sprinkles on two flavors of milkshakes, or just on banana milkshakes and on actual strawberries?
Likewise, in the text you quoted, it grants +1 caster level for two kinds of checks.
Not all items are made equal. Cold iron seems to be more expensive than myrrh without actually being any better.