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nargbop
2008-04-12, 06:19 PM
I've just gained access to a Glowstone, from the Magic of Faerun. Its most interesting property is restoring charges to items it touches.
Now, the only reason I don't like to use staffs is because they run out of charges and generally have few charges when you find them. You blast or dominate or conjure a small number of times, and your very-valuble item is useless unless you've got a friendly DM who allows recharging. This Glowstone makes staffs useful.
There are other items with charges. Wands are limited to low-level spells, so they're out. The Belt of Battle is a game-breaking powerhouse if you can put charges back on it.
Thusly! Your help, good people. I'm looking for the best item with the following traits :
< 500,000 gold cost
non-psionic
any 3.0 or greater Wizards books allowed

Think of your own criteria for "best" - I'm playing an uberskillmonkey factotum with significant access to magic.

Azerian Kelimon
2008-04-12, 06:23 PM
If ANY charges count, Belt of Battle.

There. Won thread.

nargbop
2008-04-12, 06:24 PM
You win. What's the second-best?

RTGoodman
2008-04-12, 06:26 PM
Well, my first thought was definitely the Belt of Battle, but you've already mentioned it (in all of its broken, cheesy goodness). Some of the "3 charge/day" items in MIC are probably decent, too (Belt of Healing, etc.), but that just depends on what your character would need.

Also, take a look at the Eternal Wands from MIC. They can be used either two or three times a day, but I don't know if those are technically "charges" that could be refilled.

Here's a question from someone who doesn't buy FR books - how much is this Glowstone, and how many times per day can it "recharge" things?

Also, why hasn't the CharOp board gotten hold of this for those supernova Artificer builds that blow most of the charges from a wand to do 4 billion d6 damage or whatever it is they're up to now?

Azerian Kelimon
2008-04-12, 06:26 PM
A three charge item of wish would be a close second, right?

But more seriously, a Dorje of Timeless body. One round of immunity? Yes, baby! Come here!

Costly as hell? Yes. Best wand use ever? Yes again.

bugsysservant
2008-04-12, 06:33 PM
Isn't it 200,000 for an intelligent dedicated item that will resurrect its user once a month with true resurrection? I think it has to have a dedicated purpose, but if you're making it (or buying for that matter) I don't see why you can't pick a purpose that you agree with.

Other than that then, yes, I would say a ring of three wishes would be a very good candidate.

Chosen_of_Vecna
2008-04-12, 06:39 PM
Allow me to steal the win from this thread:

1) Belt of battle is mostly useless to a Factotum who can create standard actions at will.

2) You are a Factotum, why not just argue that inspiration is equivalent to charges, and that it provides you with more of that.

Azerian Kelimon
2008-04-12, 06:43 PM
Because it speaketh of ITEM charges.

And Belt of Battle is still the ultimate item, for a simple reason: Full attack. Load up the variables and apply rest to SA. There. I rewin. You do more damage than an ubercharger easily.

And if you want something for standard actions, the dorje is still the best item. You're immune to ANYTHING.

bugsysservant
2008-04-12, 06:45 PM
2) You are a Factotum, why not just argue that inspiration is equivalent to charges, and that it provides you with more of that.

But... you're not an item. That's like arguing that charm person should work on animals, because they're very similar to us. Only worse. Its more like arguing that you can us Mending to cure wounds.

Chosen_of_Vecna
2008-04-12, 07:20 PM
Because it speaketh of ITEM charges.

And Belt of Battle is still the ultimate item, for a simple reason: Full attack. Load up the variables and apply rest to SA. There. I rewin. You do more damage than an ubercharger easily.

So you full attack with 3 more SA dice then you otherwise would. Whoo, hoo.

And you can already do this four times a day by buying 4 belts of battle. So unless this Glowstone is an infinite use item that works 3 or more times a day and recharges all the belt of battle's charges, and costs less then 3 belts of battle, you are better off buying the belts.

Stop being so very 4chan about the whole thing.

As for damage, if you were entirely font of inspiration based, maybe, otherwise, no. And it doesn't really matter since 200 non-precision damage is better then 300 precision damage that you have to set up. It's dead either way, unless it's immune to Precision, which a lot of things are, in which case it's not dead.

Azerian Kelimon
2008-04-12, 07:30 PM
*Chuckle* I'M being 4chan? You're invoking a Godwin corollary, man.

And...WHAT factotum doesn't go full FoI, except for, maybe, Leadership? Not to mention a 'Totum can mimic penetrating strike and screw immunity. Which means the Belt of Battle lets you apply a killer combo of doom with ease.

And speaking of 4chan, I need a "You have been PWN'ED!" pic to hammer the point home that I'm not taking you seriously. Show me a better item than my suggestions, and I'll show you respect. 'Till then, you seem to be behaving a bit munchkinny about this, including refusing to accept you've been trounced.

nargbop
2008-04-13, 12:48 PM
Here's a question from someone who doesn't buy FR books - how much is this Glowstone, and how many times per day can it "recharge" things?

Also, why hasn't the CharOp board gotten hold of this for those supernova Artificer builds that blow most of the charges from a wand to do 4 billion d6 damage or whatever it is they're up to now?

It takes time. I know I can't put much detail up legally, so the short answer to the question is : it takes ten minutes to replace one charge. The Artificers would probably be better off just making another wand, although finding this artifact means they can blow 99% of the charges and save some serious folding money by not buying replacement wands.

FlyMolo
2008-04-13, 12:51 PM
10minutes/charge means 50 charges is basically overnight. A good deal, by jove.

Pick up a lightning lance, from LoM. Used by grells. In fact, pick up the Greater Lightning lance. 5d6 to two different targets if you make the attack roll. Fairly cheap, and if you keep the glowstone in the same pocket as the lance, you can use it 10+ times a day. It usually has 5/day charges, specifically charges.

Chosen_of_Vecna
2008-04-13, 01:33 PM
*Chuckle* I'M being 4chan? You're invoking a Godwin corollary, man.

Except that Godwin made his statement to discourage incorrect comparisons precisely because correct ones exist. Repeated exclamations of "I win the thread" are fairly 4chan-esque, especially since you "won" said thread by mentioning an item that was already mentioned by the original poster.


And...WHAT factotum doesn't go full FoI, except for, maybe, Leadership? Not to mention a 'Totum can mimic penetrating strike and screw immunity. Which means the Belt of Battle lets you apply a killer combo of doom with ease.

Any factotum that is being played in any game that is played at normal D&D power levels, instead of the theoretical levels that are discussed on forums.

And so now you are down to 150 non-precision damage instead of 200, and the Ubercharger can do it again next round.

And you can still apply the same combo by using 3 inspiration points to give yourself a standard action, and move next to your opponent or charge them, and follow that with a full round action attack anyway, all without a belt of battle.


And speaking of 4chan, I need a "You have been PWN'ED!" pic to hammer the point home that I'm not taking you seriously. Show me a better item than my suggestions, and I'll show you respect. 'Till then, you seem to be behaving a bit munchkinny about this, including refusing to accept you've been trounced.

So in order to prove your point that you aren't like 4chan, you would mimic 4chan? I'm behaving "munchkinny" by assuming that someone might have a factotum that is not full on FoI, and that you can accomplish the same thing without a using the widely regarded worst designed item in the game?

Here's a better item: Any Staff in the universe. Because charges that don't replenish automatically are worth more. Because per charge, they cost more then a Belt of Battle. Because a Factotum's natural abilities already supersede the Belt of Battles abilities and UMD as a class skill means that Staffs are incredibly useful for Factotums.

Azerian Kelimon
2008-04-13, 01:36 PM
And since WHEN staffs have good spells? They certainly are mostly un-spectacular.

Which reinforces the point, that the BoB is superior. Except to a dorje of timeless body, which IS, indeed, unbeatable, except by epic magic.

Douglas
2008-04-13, 02:00 PM
Which reinforces the point, that the BoB is superior. Except to a dorje of timeless body, which IS, indeed, unbeatable, except by epic magic.
Or someone with a buddy who can cast Greater Dispel Magic. Timeless Body doesn't provide any protection to itself, so it can be dispelled just as easily as any other spell. It also renders you immune to buffs and other helpful spells, too, so it's not always a good thing to have.

Chronos
2008-04-13, 02:03 PM
If you're using the Belt of Battle as a factotum, to save inspiration to use on Sneak Attack, why not just cut out the middleman? Get a wand of that spell that gives you more Sneak Attack (Hunter's Eye, I think?), and recharge that, instead.

Or get a wand of something higher than first level, or a staff of anything, or a Ring of Three Wishes (though I have to imagine that there's something in the item description that prevents it working with a Ring of Three Wishes... They couldn't have just failed to notice an exploit that huge).

Illiterate Scribe
2008-04-13, 02:16 PM
I disagree with the assertion that it's like 4chon. The proper means of signalling that a thread's come to an end there is to declare 'this thread is now about X', or begin sageing/deluging with furry stuff.

But I digress.

The best item with charges? Dorje of Time Regression. Yes, it's massively expensive. Yes, it's psionic, which disqualifies it from the OP's conditions. It also might well be the best item in the game, even without the glowstone.

See, Time Regression turns back time for everything except for your mind and body. It is, therefore, an immensely powerful ability. Except for its 1000 XP/round cost. However, make it into a dorje, that is, an item, then, when you use it, it regresses to before you expended the charge. Then, in the past, you use it again ... and again ... and again. All that you need to do then is to make it the size of a small car, paint it dark blue, and you're set - instant time machine.

Chosen_of_Vecna
2008-04-13, 02:24 PM
And since WHEN staffs have good spells? They certainly are mostly un-spectacular.

Since always, because 1) Some Staffs have good spells, 2) You can pick your own spells for staffs, 3) Battlefield Control Spells or save-or-dies at higher CLs and higher save DCs then Wizards, at the cost of money you don't even have to spend during which you can cast several hundred times in a row.

Here's an example: Get a staff with Fireball or something equally crappy, cast it over and over again, every casting costs you 3 inspiration points and does 10d6 damage. That's a better ratio then your SA. And the recharge at the end. And that's really bad spells, find anything decent and you can walk all over encounters better then your one super attack build doing more damage per inspiration to multiple enemies.


Which reinforces the point, that the BoB is superior.

The Belt of Battle is in every conceivable way inferior to anything that a Factotum can't do, because he can already do what the Belt of Battle does, but he can do it a more times per an encounter.

nargbop
2008-04-17, 05:02 PM
Woops! Hello , Chaos Diamond. I wonder if your uses per day are considered charges. Multiple uses of Word of Chaos ? Yes please.

AmberVael
2008-04-17, 05:53 PM
Okay, let me give a better description of a Glowstone for everyone.
A Glowstone is a minor artifact from Magic of Faerun. This means it is unlikely that you're going to find another one any time soon. It constantly emits a daylight effect that cancels out any darkness effect that is of 9th level or lower.
A Glowstone has a maximum of 1000 charges.
A Glowstone can be affixed to a magic item and it will recharge that magic item up to its maximum amount of charges at a rate of 1 charge per ten minutes. Each recharge drains 1 charge from the Glowstone.
A Glowstone can also be used to recharge something with uses per day, but restoring one use (which takes 10 minutes) drains 7 charges from the Glowstone.
You can recharge a Glowstone with another Glowstone- and interestingly, this process can cure whoever holds the Glowstones of diseases, poisons, and the like.
A divine caster can shoot beams of light out of a Glowstone that deal 6d6 damage. This drains one charge.
A destroyed Glowstone deals 10d10 damage in a 70ft radius as long as it has one charge left.
Once all of the charges are drained from a Glowstone, it becomes inert and has no magical properties left.