Which of these items should I buy for my Cleric of Mystra?

Question

I'm playing a FR campaign as a level 7 Cleric of Mystra. I have the possibility of buying one of these two magic items:

1. +2 Wisdom necklace
2. A ring that gives a) nobody can see my alignment; b) evasion; c) +2 saving fortitude

Having evasion would be helpful, but +2 in Wisdom is also great.

Additional information that might be helpful in making a decision:

• My alignment is neutral good. I do not fear showing it as I do not fear saying I am a cleric of Mystra.
• My stats are 14str/10dex/16con/10int/17wis/16cha, and the only item currently improving my stats is a pair of Ogre Power Gloves.
• I don't always talk for the rest of group, even if I have the highest Diplomacy skill, as there is a Bard.
• The Wizard does not have Craft Wondrous, and when we are in cities the DM generally gives us the possibility of buying any item with a maximum gold amount (which is currently 12k gp).
• As a zealous follower of Mystra, I spend all of my havings in Magic items tradings. My actual items currently have a total value of around 10k gp, but I'm not sure about this.

Which one should I buy?

Answer 1

To sum up: Buy the hilariously underpriced ring of evasion and save boosting and nondetection for a party member who will benefit more for as much as they're willing to spend on it. If you can't pool funds or have no high-dex/reflex sneaky characters who would benefit, get the much more generic periapt of wisdom

Let's look at this from an abstract perspective first:

A periapt of wisdom is worth 4000 gp.

A ring of evasion is worth 25,000 gp + a ring of nondetection (less the immunity to detect thoughts , so we'll price it as a custom item) of 3*2*2000*1.5 (because it's extra) or 18000 gp (which is amazingly overpriced compared to the ring of mind shielding + a ring of fort +2 estimated at 4000 gp * 1.5 * 1.5 (fortitude boosts don't go on the ring slot.) or 9000 gp for a grand total of 52000 gp.

Thus, if you have reason to suspect that a periapt of wisdom will be available more cheaply in the future, this will inform your choice.

However. To a cleric, wisdom is all. Wisdom is all. Evasion only works if you pass a reflex save. At level 7 with a 10 dex, you have a wonderful +2 to your reflex. (selling this ring to your thief-like character on the other hand for improved evasion should allow you to arbitrage a rather inefficient market.)

+2 to fortitude is your only "real" bonus from the ring, considering how useful the rest of the suite is to your specific capabilities. (again, if you can sell it to other characters, do so for as much as they're willing to spend up to 52,000 gp).

Looking at bonus spells per day, the tradeoff is this. How often is your character targetted by save-or-lose fortitude effects versus how much would you like a +1 dc to all spells and an extra 4th level spell per day and a bonus +1 to your will save?

The answer will vary by campaign, but it would be hard to be more persuasive by the wisdom boost, save if the cost was such that market arbitrage could provide for the same bonus, later, for less expenditure.