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My Sylph Mythic Champion 1/Fighter 7 (using the Mutation Warrior archetype) is having trouble deciding on good magical items to help them survive coming up on level 10 and high-end content. This is an extremely high-magic realm (dragons flying through the sky occasionally and GM specified high-stat rolls). I feel like my build has pure damage-dealing covered, but I know that DPS isn't the key to survival at higher levels. I'm primarily looking for items that add versatility to a martial class in non-combat encounters.

The campaign doesn't have ridiculous RP requirements, but I'd like to be able to do something other than hack n slash. The ability to mimic spellcasting could be useful, as well as skill bonuses and other magic effects that increase my ability in conversations and other things a Fighter would struggle with.

What magic items (Wondrous and otherwise) will help my character survive?

My build is:

  • Medium STR, High DEX, Medium CON, High INT, Medium WIS, Low CHA
  • Mutation Warrior Discoveries: 2 Vestigial Arms (one from level 7, one from Extra Discovery Feat)
  • Multiweapon Fighting replaces TWF. (This was also GM OK'd to allow Imp/Greater Multiweapon)
  • Weapon Finesse and Dervish Dance. I'm multiweilding Scimitars.
  • Other functionality feats such as Power Attack (because Scimitars don't use Pihranna) and Maneuvers to taste
  • High Acrobatics and Perform Dance skills (for movement and moneymaking) Weapon Finesse
  • Heavy Blades focus for fighter weapon abilities
  • The level 20 concept is using Mythic Champion and Step Up feat tree to approach and full attack for 13+ swings with high crit and automatic confirms from Fighter 20.
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  • \$\begingroup\$ @ David Sloboda For survival, our DM has a diverse portfolio of everything from trolls, spellcasters and traps to NPC's that are just dangerous to talk to the wrong way. Anything that gives a general boost to my ability to shrug off magic effect would be the most useful. Also if there's something that allows me to remove 'debuffs' after I've failed a save. I know of cloak of resistance and Ioun stones offer +saves, so other ideas if you know something. Access to ways to remove myself from bad situations is also a good idea. Thanks again everyone. \$\endgroup\$
    – Ifusaso
    Apr 23, 2016 at 10:02
  • \$\begingroup\$ OK, I removed the AC/defenses part of this (feel free and ask a second question focusing on that) to get this narrow enough to really be answerable and edited your comment responses into the question. It's still a bit broad, but ideally people's experience with what things really contribute to high-level survivability other than combat stats will help focus it in the answers. \$\endgroup\$
    – mxyzplk
    Apr 23, 2016 at 16:51

3 Answers 3

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A long-running Pathfinder campaign in which I was involved that ended when characters were level 14 included—at one point or another—a half-orc inquisitor, a human barbarian, a human cleric, and a vanara druid. The campaign had the PCs as police detectives in the Magic: The Gatering setting Innistrad. Adventures involved a great deal of investigation and mundane legwork plus plenty of we've-discovered-your-evil-plot-so-it's-over! sort-of reveals in addition to beating the crap out of a lot of evil outsiders and undead.

This list is in no way comprehensive and instead limited to items I've seen used in play in an 18-month-long campaign that had a significant combat encounter only about every other session. I've further limited the list to only the items a fighter could employ.

  • The half-orc inquisitor wore the bracers of the falcon's aim (4,000 gp; 1 lb.) that grants a +3 competence bonus on Perception skill checks in addition to other effects; the jingasa of the fortunate soldier (5,000 gp; 3 lbs.) which, while a combat item, I'd be remiss were I not to recommend; and the mushroom vest (500 gp; 3 lbs.) that lets the wearer treat falls as 20 ft. shorter, which, admittedly, isn't the boots of the cat (1,000 gp; 1 lb.), but the boots slot is premium real estate in Pathfinder. When needed, he'd doff the vest and don a robe of infinite twine (1,000 gp; 1 lb.). I'm pretty sure he also wore the heavyload belt (2,000 gp; 3 lbs.) and the muleback cords (1,000 gp; 0.25 lb.) so that the weight he could lift, drag, or push was measured in tons. At later levels, he discovered the gloves of reconnaissance (2,000 gp; 0 lbs.) and cried a little, regretting he'd not been wearing them all along, then never took them off.
  • The human barbarian with the drunken rager archetype had several utility magic items so that, despite not casting spells, he could feel useful during investigative portions of the session. These included the cloak of the hedge wizard (transmutation) (2,500 gp; 1 lb.) that cost 50% more because it was combined with his cloak of resistance +3 (4,500 gp; 1 lb.), a wayfinder (500 gp; 0 lbs.) with an ioun stone (clear spindle) (4,000 gp; 0 lbs.) so that together they resonated with an immunity to mental control as per the spell protection from evil, the ioun stone (eastern star) (4,000 gp; 0 lbs.) so as to be able to read and understand all languages, the noble's vigilant pillbox (3,600 gp; 0 lbs.) because of its detection abilities, the ring of the sophisticate (11,000 gp; 0 lbs.) so he could find a bar anywhere, and, later in the game, the expensive drinking horn of bottomless valor (24,000 gp; 2 lbs.) that was useful also as a source of endless booze so as to freely liquor up suspects and witnesses to get them to talk.1
  • The human cleric's player's first big purchase for any of his characters is almost always the hat of disguise (1,800 gp; 0 lbs.), which is probably near the top of almost anybody's Versatile Magic Items list. Looking back, I would suggest now that he buy first—and later pay the extra 50% to combine the hat with—a cap of human guise (800 gp; 0 lbs.) because it's cool, too.
  • The vanara druid's elephant animal companion wore a belt of the weasel (10,000 gp; 1 lb.) so that the elephant could more easily enter people's homes during investigations. (Shockingly, folks were still uncomfortable having an elephant in their homes.) However, the party soon realized the belt's utility value, and the belt ended up as often on a party member as the elephant. If the belt seems overpriced, then reread the universal monster ability compression that the belt also grants: it's awesome ("You can squeeze through a space how little exactly?"). The vanara druid herself wore a ring of eloquence (3,500 gp; 0 lbs.) but custom made so as to include, instead of its typical languages, the four elemental languages so that she could communicate with her summoned allies.

In retrospect, we weren't using several items that we probably should've been using. In addition to several ioun stones (cracked orange prism) (1,000 gp; 0 lbs.) each for the casters because more 0-level spells is incredible, I'd want now, for instance, the headband of intuition (7,000 gp; 1 lb.), at least one insistent doorknocker2 (5,000 gp; 2 lbs.), and the treasure hunter's goggles (6,400 gp; 0 lbs.).


1 The drinking horn supplemented his low-level purchase, the tengu drinking jug (1,000 gp; 2 lbs.). He'd tired of the one gallon of sake or plum liquor ("Tastes like pruno") the jug could create each day, even though it was sort of free.
2 Two doorknockers are better so that you can make a door then make another door on the other side to recover the first doorknocker, but even just one's great for a case of the lookarounds.

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A truism of 3e+ D&D is that the best way to get versatility is to get spellcasting ability. Out of combat (heck, even in combat), movement/bypassing abilities (fly, ddoor, teleport, passwall, freedom of movement...), social (from charisma buffs to charm to dominate), illusions, etc. are all super helpful.

You could take a magic item to get one or two of these, but it might be a better investment to try to get a broad span of it. Either get a follower that can cast spells (easy with the Mythic rules, or just plain Leadership feat) or get a good Use Magic Device skill (perhaps with Magical Aptitude and Mythic Magical Aptitude; then even if your skill bonus isn't high you can succeed when you want to by spending a mythic point) and then a mess of scrolls and wands gets you huge amounts of flexibility.

Now, you could just get flying from the Wings of Air sylph racial feat, but that ends up costing two feats, so a magic item becomes tempting - but a wand of fly is a lot cheaper and more versatile than boots of flying. And a set of wands of fly, invisibility, charm person, protection from evil, and minor image don't cost as much as a single top tier magic item but get you a huge range of options. So investing in UMD and then using wands/scrolls is your best bet for true versatility. Stay away from things that require saves as your DC won't be high (or make sure and target those that are really bad, like giants' Will saves).

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You do not mention ranged weapons. You could get a Longbow of Speed or something similar. The versatility would help you counter-attack and survive an opponent that attacks at range. If you really don't want a ranged weapon, a pair of throwing axes or short spears could also offer versatility.

It would help to have something that allows you to close to melee range: Boots of Teleportation, Wings of Flying....

If you want to shrug off stuff that your opponents throw at you, adding Spell Resistance to your shield or armor would provide defense against targeted spells. Some DMs do not allow a Ring of Spell Storing to be used by non-spellcasters; my interpretation from the 3.5 rules (which were not all Open Game Content so did not get copied into Pathfinder) is that anyone can cast a spell out of a Ring of Spell Storing. So your spellcaster friend puts Remove Curse or Freedom of Movement in a ring (or both, if the ring is high enough). This gives you an ace in the hole to help against specific attacks. It still won't give you Lesser Restoration if you are hit by a Ray of Exhaustion for example.

Since you are planning to be in melee, you are planning on taking damage. A Ring of Regeneration would ease the healing requirements from your party cleric. Maybe the pearly white ioun stone is more your style.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks for the input! I actually do have an Adaptive Composite Longbow for situations like that. I'll look into the boots/wings because alternate movement does help. \$\endgroup\$
    – Ifusaso
    Apr 23, 2016 at 9:55

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