A Guide to

Weapons, Armor, Equipment, Alchemical & Magic Items

By: Lokotor
Books Used: Core, UE, UC, UM, ARG, APG, and several others.
Reference Material Available on http://www.d20pfsrd.com/ and archivesofnethys.com
Published 7/24/2017

Link to Reddit Thread for Discussion

Table of Contents
Foreword

Part I
Mundane Equipment
1. Adventuring Gear
2. Weapons & Armor
3. Cargo & Beasts
4. Alchemical Concoctions
5. Special Materials
6. The Ultimate Adventurer’s Kit

Part II
Enhancements
1. Weapon Enchantments
2. Armor Enchantments
3. Automatic Bonus Progression

Part III
Magic Items
1. The Common Core
2. Specific Weapons & Ammo
3. Specific Armor & Shields
4. Wondrous Items

Part IV
Consumables of Note
Potions/Oils
Wands
Scrolls
Trinkets

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 FOREWORD
This guide is an attempt to create a reasonably comprehensive guide discussing
the equipment available in the Pathfinder RPG. Goals of the guide include explanations
of some of the equipment rules, discussion of the game mechanics, and helping to
design a functional kit for your character, regardless of class. It will not discuss every
piece of equipment available in the game as that would be somewhat impossible to
cover effectively. However, I will touch upon both magical and non-magical equipment in
their respective sections and attempt to provide insight into most of the useful items to
be had.

The guide can also be used as a tool for DMs looking to give their players
relevant and exciting loot, rather than just giving gold to their players. It is difficult to
accommodate every build or playstyle and giving straight gold to the players is a good
way to avoid having them just sell off all the loot you created for them in the first place.
However, none of the gear on this list will be straight jank and you may find it a
convenient resource for treasure generation.

There will be no particular need for color formatting or ratings in the guide
(Though the author does have a fondness for the typical Best Good Meh Worst
scheme.) as this guide is omitting gear which is less likely to be purchased. Items are
not typically omitted because they are “bad”, but rather because they are too niche of an
item, or possibly an item which has a comparable function provided by another item.
Items which are not versatile enough or not relevant enough to see the average player’s
interest. A belt of dwarvenkind is a neat item and I’m sure many players would find it
useful, but the typical adventurer is more likely to want a different piece of equipment.

Part I
Mundane Equipment

Adventuring Gear

Many DMs go with a policy similar to “as long as you have some food and
camping stuff on your sheet you’re just assumed to be fine.” meaning that you could
probably get away with 5 rations, flint, and a bedroll.

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 However, there are actually some mundane items which, perhaps infrequently,
will be useful to you and I will briefly highlight some which I find notable.

Whatever Class you are has a Kit with your essentials that you can buy at level 1

Trail Rations: The default adventure food. 5sp, 1Lb of preserved food described as a
day’s worth of bland dried food which can last months without spoiling.

Halfling Ration: 2gp for 1/2Lb of food. Which for a ½ sized person makes sense, but
as we know, a certain elevensies and second breakfast loving race usually eats at least
as much as a full grown man in a day. And this is true of the ration as well. Not only that
but it sounds much more appealing too. “sweetened dried fruit, aged sausage, hard
sharp cheese, honey cakes, and a mixture of roasted grains, nuts, and molasses.”

Wandermeal: Another useful Halfling food invention. 1cp ½Lb. Lasts months without
going bad, is ultra cheap, and is lightweight. Weighs ¼Lb if made for a small creature.
You just have to eat one “regular meal” once a week to avoid constipation.

Canteen: It holds water or other liquids. It’s made of metal, compared to the water
skin’s leather, so you can potentially get more use from it and it weighs 4x less at only
1Lb. As such it’s a little more expensive. Carry two so you have a day’s worth of water.

Mess Kit: Skewered meat is great and all but sometimes you want to cook your food a
little …. Nicer.

Fishing Line & Hooks: Can be used for fishing, or trap setting, or keeping something
suspended from a tree, or in setting up a campsite perimeter. Tons of uses for this if you
are creative.

Bells: At 1gp each these seem a little unrealistic. Maybe 1sp each would be reasonable
in my opinion. They’re essentially just Jingle bells. But they have a lot of uses as well for
the creative type. You could string some up to fishing line and set up a perimeter around
your camp (see also). Give everyone who’s sleeping a bonus to hear the ambush
coming. And from what direction. Or you could tie one to an arrow and shoot the baddie
before he can turn invisible.

Rope: There are a million and one uses for this doodad.
Hemp: This is Heavy, I mean really heavy. 50’ = 10Lbs. But it is cheap. 1g=50’

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 Silk: Half the weight, 10x the price.
Spider silk: 10x more expensive than silk! But weighs a little bit less. 50’=4lbs
Contracting Rope: For quick climbing

Weapon Cords: Never lose your primary weapon. Good for hybrid bow/melee
characters

Manacles: If you need to take a captive these will work better than rope.

Mirror: Use it to look around corners, to reflect laser beams, or just to see how pretty
you are.

Magnet: Tie it to the end of a string and use it to grab that key from the bottom of a well.
Use it to attach a dagger to the back of your armor, or any number of other possible
uses.

Gauntlet Magnet: There is no downside to using this item. It’s just a free +2 vs Disarm.
Similar uses to the above.

Compass: helpful for not getting lost

Winter Blanket: Sometimes it’s chilly

Bedroll: Your basic Sleeping bag. Can be used as a sack in a pinch.

Tent: There are a few sizes available, but typically you’ll probably go for the large tent
as it fits 4. Break it up and have everyone carry part of it so you each only have to hold
10Lbs of tent. Also consider a hanging tent if you expect to be in a location with little
suitable ground to pitch a tent (swamp, cliffs, etc)

Hammock: it costs 1sp and weighs 3 Lbs. Keeps you off the ground and if the weather
is good it should be more than suitable. Quick to set up too. Pair it with a Tent Cover for
some rain protection

Soap: Stinky adventurers begone!

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Pomander: RAW this gives a +2 to all Fortitude saves vs Nausea/Sickened (some of
the most common and worst debuffs, in an AoE no less) though RAI it almost certainly
is supposed to only apply to smell based sources of those conditions. It’s only 12gp and
slotless!

Chalk: Use it to mark where you’ve been in a labyrinth. Or you could use it for setting
up some nice Demonic Rituals

Charcoal: Similar uses to above, can also make rubbings with it and write on paper.

Notebook/Paper & ink/pen: Draw a map, write a contract, Sometimes you gotta write
down stuff. Especially when your int score isn’t the best.

Powder: This is basically just flour or some other such similar dust, use it to detect
invisible enemies or to help get your cart out of the mud. Creativity my dear readers.

Earplugs: Resist seductive siren songs or sonic attacks like the dwarf’s snoring.

Flint & Steel: Start a Fire

Tindertwig: Should probably be in the alchemical section, but it’s just a match. So for
you lazy types who don’t want to hassle with a flint every night this is for you. Could also
light a barrel of oil or a trail of gunpowder much faster

Fuel Pellet: These are relatively cheap at 3sp/10 and provide a smokeless flame to
cook with or use for other purposes.

Torch: 20’ of normal Light and another 20’ of dim light. Don’t forget to have a couple on
hand since being lost in the dark is no fun. Last 1hr each. Can also help vs trolls and
other flammable things.

Founderflame Torch: Interestingly this “everburning” torch variant gives off heat.

Candles: They provide a 1 step increase in light level in a 5’ radius. They are
weightless, cost 1cp, and are a good source of backup light or as a way you can see
without drawing too much attention to yourself. They also last 1 hr and can totally be
used in those demonic rituals we talked about earlier.

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Hooded Lantern: 30’ Normal + 30’Dim and lasts 6 hrs. Provides better light than a
torch.

Bullseye Lantern: This Lamp provides excellent illumination, albeit only in one
direction. 60’ of Normal light and another 60’ of dim light in a 120’ cone. Now that’s
some range.
-Miners Lantern: As above but 30’ normal + 30’dim and can be mounted on a helmet

Lantern Oil: 1s/pint. 6hrs/pint. You can also use it to start a fire. Soak the bad guy in it,
toss it into a pit full of rats, grease up some gears, so on.

Note: You can get a continual flame enchantment on a lantern for 75g

Sunrod: 2gp for a 6hr glowstick. Works in wind, rain, snow, vacuum, under water, etc.
creates light as a hooded lantern.

Candlerod: light as a candle for 12hrs. Same benefits as a sun rod. Great duration for
1gp

Gloomstick: This is like an anti Sun Rod. There are many benefits to creating low light.
Partial cover being one of the biggest. Great vs archers and helpful for rogues.

Grappling arrow: A Grappling Arrow is preferable to a Grappling Hook as it is lighter

and has a longer range. It can itself be thrown if no bow is available. Though it does
require silk rope. (I personally would rule that silk rope is only for use in a bow, and that
hemp is fine when thrown)

Caltrops: I would probably just leave these in your group’s cart or in a pouch or two on
your horse. Good to drop them behind you in a chase, but less practical in combat.

Signal Whistle: If you get separated from your group this is a good way to alert them to
your location.

Sling: Always good to have one of these as an emergency backup weapon.

Skeleton Key: let's you make a Disable Device Check Untrained at +10. I’d wager that
it’s much faster than a typical Disable Device check too, though it is unspecified. (I’d say
a move action would be appropriate)

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Swarmsuit: technically you can just wear this with everything since it’s “clothing” though
it’s a bit bulky at 10Lbs

Spring Loaded Wrist Sheath/Scroll Case: These cheap items are pretty much a must
for any class. You can make use of a swift action no matter what you’re playing. If you’re
a martial you can put a potion or weapon in one to get a pseudo quick draw. If you’re a
caster you can have scrolls at the ready for a moment’s notice. Definitely pick them up.
You can have 1 on each wrist and seemingly any number of scroll cases. (put 8 of them
on your bandoleer why not!)

Weapons & Armor

Weapons
There are certain things to keep in mind as they apply to certain builds: Crit Range,
Base Damage Dice, and special qualities like Reach are the primary factors that affect
weapon choice.

Base damage is generally not important unless you’re making a vital strike build or
some large weapon build. Ultimately the vast majority of your damage is going to come
from static bonuses from things like power attack, strength mod, enchantments, etc..

Crit range/multiplier comes into play primarily when you have either a high crit range or
a high bonus damage.

Special qualities like reach or trip or monk will vary based on your needs and wants, so I
will not touch on them other than to briefly cover reach as it is used fairly commonly.
Reach allows you to make melee attacks at creatures which are non-adjacent to you at
a range indicated by the weapon’s description, usually 10’.

The moral of the story is that you should pick any weapon you want and you will do fine.
Ultimately the math works out to show that damage dice and crit range differences
among weapons amount to only small changes in average damage. If you want to learn
about the specifics for min/max reasons there are several guides/threads on the
subject. But for most purposes the difference between a club and a mace is going to be
minor. Pick whatever you want!

Armor
In all three categories of armor (Light, Medium, Heavy) you’ll see pretty much the same
thing. Armor Bonus + Maximum Dex are roughly equivalent in every category and
overall are roughly 8 across the board for all the most common types of armor.
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 Armor Class + Max Dex Totals
Heavy Medium Light

Full Plate = 10 Breast Plate = 9 Chain Shirt = 8

Field Plate = 8 Chainmail = 8 Studded Leather = 8

Half Plate = 8 Scale Mail = 8 Leather = 8

Banded Mail = 8 Hide = 8 Padded = 9

So assuming we always have our maximum possible Dex Mod and can wear any armor
we choose we see that obviously the best armor is Full Plate at +10AC and the rest of
them are pretty much all the same with Breastplate and Padded Armor being the runner
ups at 9AC.

So Why are there so many different armors if they’re all basically giving the same total
AC to us?

Well we have Regular AC, Touch AC, and Flat Foot AC. This is where the Armor
Bonus:Dex ratio comes into play. The higher the Armor Bonus the Lower the Dex
Bonus. So the Higher our Flat Foot AC the lower our Touch AC and vice versa. If you
expect to be caught Flat Foot often or just have low Dex in general then you want to
have heavier armor. No brainer. But what about the reverse? If I have high Dex does it
matter if I wear Heavy Armor? I’ll still have the same total AC in the end right? Well
that’s true, but you might need touch AC and/or Flat Foot AC in a variety of situations
and since you Can have a higher value in both then why not increase the average
rather than focusing only on Flat Foot or only on Touch.

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It’s best to Spread your AC as best you can between Flat Foot and Touch unless you
know that there will be a trend to one over the other. Ex: A lot of wizards casting ray of
frost at you (Touch) or a lot of rogues trying to sneak up on you (Flat).

This means that in reality the “best” armor is probably the Breastplate as it has one of
the highest total AC values along with a good spread, assuming you can make use of
the Dex portion. Even more so if you have Mithral to boost the Max Dex to +5 making it
the best spread between Touch and Flat Foot.

The last thing to consider when choosing armor is Armor Check Penalty.

ACP is a penalty which applies to your Dex and Str based Skills when wearing armor. If
you are planning to be a mobile fighter or a scout or general Rogue-ish person then you
want to have lighter armor so that you can avoid that penalty.

For example Chainmail has ACP -5. This means that the armor is restrictive or heavy
and will impede you from being able to sneak, pick locks, climb, swim, etc....and -5 is a
pretty heavy penalty for some of those skills.

Armor has three factors. Touch AC, Flat Foot AC, and Skill Check Penalties.

You will have to find a balance between these three factors to choose the right armor for
you.

Cargo & Beasts

For a great many of you the various horses and carts and such are largely unneeded.
Many DMs waive carrying capacity and similarly handwave the practicalities of looting in
general. For those of you who need it though I have a brief overview of some cargo
options.

Donkey/Mule: For 8gp you can get an extra ~200 Lbs. of carrying capacity
Slap a pair of muleback cords on it to boost that to ~500Lbs

Pony: For 30gp A pony can be ridden by a small creature as well as being able to carry
some equipment similar to a donkey.

Heavy/Light Horse: 75gp Can be ridden by a Medium creature and similar to a Pony
can accommodate some additional gear.

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Raven: Not technically a cargo animal, but for 2gp these can be trained to help you spot
ambushes on the road. It also can deliver messages for you and is a generally good
animal to have along for your travels. Good use of the Handle Animal Skill.

Animal feed: 5cp/day

Animal Training Kit: 15gp comes with the misc. Supplies needed.

Light Wagon: 50gp Requires 1 Large or 2 Medium creatures to pull it and holds
1,000Lbs. of cargo.

Medium Wagon: 75gp Requires 4 Medium or 2 Large creatures and holds 1 Ton of
cargo.

Alchemical Concoctions
Alchemical Power Components: an optional system you can use when casting spells
is to enhance the spell with an alchemical item as a material component. I have linked
rules info on it here.

Duct Tape: it’s cheap and literally fixes anything

Alchemist’s Fire: This is primarily going to be something that you’ll want to carry
around in the early levels. After that you may find it is a bit underwhelming, but i’ve
always made a point to have a couple doses on hand at every level. Great against
swarms and if needed can use it to start a fire. 20g

Alkali Flask: Functions as an Acid flask normally and does double damage against
oozes etc. could also use this to melt steel beams or locks. Similar to Alchemist’s fire.

Bone Burn: This splash weapon does A Lotta Damage to undead and especially
skeletons. As a cheap alchemical item to craft or buy it’s very handy to have at lower
(and maybe even mid) levels.

Aquemir: It can be used on alchemist extracts and there’s certainly many creative uses
for time delayed extracts.

Liquid Ice: As Alchemist’s Fire, but cold damage.

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Exemplar Weapon Salve This is slightly cheaper (10g) than having someone cast
Masterwork Transformation on your weapon and may be easier to find than a
spellcaster sometimes. If nothing else, it’s alchemical, so you can use it in low magic
settings maybe if your GM rolls like that.

Bottled Lightning: This is not quite the same as alchemist’s fire. It is actually a 20’ line
attack which deals 1d8 electric dmg to the target and 1 sonic dmg to anything in the
line, including the target. 40g

Holy Water: Good to have on hand to deal with the occasional ghost or other
incorporeal. And again at lower levels this will be most effective, but you never know
when having some around could save your butt. Can be used in an aspergillum.

Pellet Grenade: this item is lit as a move action and explodes in 1d3 rounds. (if you
have craft (alchemy) 2 ranks you can shorten the fuse so that it detonates at the end of
your turn) it deals 3d6 dmg (1d6 fire, 1d6 piercing, 1d6 bludgeoning) in a 10’ radius
burst and the pellets inside can be replaced with special metals like cold iron,
adamantine, or silver. For 50g the basic model is a little more than twice the price of
alchemists fire, but it does a lot of damage in a good area.

Air Crystals: These pop rocks are good for an emergency minute of air when the room
fills with water.

Blood Boiling Pill: +2 Initiative & +2 to saves vs cold effects with minimal downside.
Lasts 8hrs. Good to take at the beginning of the day.

Mellowroot: a cheap way to boost your saves vs Fear

Bottled Sunlight: This is a pretty specific Item for this guide, but since it creates
“Natural Sunlight” I figure it’s worth mentioning as that is a pretty specific and worthwhile
effect which is hard to find.

Weapon Blanch: These are low cost alternatives to having an entire weapon made of a
special material, but will yield the same result, temporarily. Silver Blanch 5g, Cold Iron
20g, Adamantine 100g, Ghost salt 20g, and Holy 30g. You can apply these to 1 weapon
or 10 arrows. I recommend the later as they only last for one hit on a weapon. Your
party’s archer can be in charge of ghost busting with these salves. (note: The holy

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blanch deals 2d4 holy damage and an additional 1d4 holy dmg the next round if the
target fails a save. It can also provide a ghost touch effect. Definitely pick up a dose.)

Sovereign Glue: This stuff permanently bonds two objects in one round. “If the glue is
allowed to set, then attempting to separate the two bonded objects has no effect.” Put it
on a door you don’t want anyone to follow you through, tons of uses here, but it comes
at a hefty price of 2,400g.

Universal solvent: This is much more affordable at only 50g and it is the only thing
capable of dissolving sovereign glue, as well as any other adhesive. Throw it at the glue
monster. I’m sure you’ll face some challenge this can help with at some point. Even if
it’s just a spider web.

Anti-plague: This cheap item gives +5 to disease saves for 1 hr and gives extra saves
to cure an already contracted disease. A good way to help stop a common problem.

Anti-Toxin: As Anti-Plague for Poison. Both run for 50g. (It is unclear if anti-toxin must
be keyed to a specific poison, or if it functions generically.)

Soothe Syrup: As above but Sickness/Nausea

Stillgut: ^^

Essence of Independence: +4 vs any ongoing Mind Affecting Effect with a fresh save
is a life saver

Troll Styptic: This is an expensive means of granting a healing effect at 100g per dose,
but if you are in a low magic game this is your best bet. Grants fast healing 2 for 2d4
rounds and requires a DC15 Fort save to not become sickened by it. again, this is only
really useful if you’re in a game without “magic.” (alchemy =/= magic)

Allnight: This Item eliminates the effects of fatigue for 8 hours. (good for barbarians
and night watchmen.) 75g a pop.

Ink of Stolen Secrets: For some reason this is not a magical item, but you can use it to
facilitate extremely cheap long range communication which is a huge boon.

Smoke pellet: this is your ninja vanish smoke bomb. Creates a 5’ cloud of smoke for 1
round. Just enough time to re-roll your stealth check and set up a sneak attack for next
round.

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 See also
Smog Pellet: as a way to reveal invisible creatures so long as you can correctly guess
what square they are in.

Smoke Stick: Creates a 10’ cube of smoke when burned. See if you can get it in colors
to use as signal markers, otherwise it makes a good diversion and provides
concealment.

Tanglefoot bag: This thrown weapon can entangle enemies in it’s sticky glue. Causing
some significant debuffs and severely hampering if not negating movement.

Thunderstone: A good loud diversion which is very loud, and possibly deafens those
too close to it. Did i mention that it is very loud?

Liquid Blade: This is a nifty item. The size of a potion flask which looks like it is filled
with tonic water. You can, as a move action empty the contents and use it as a short
sword for 10 minutes. After that it evaporates leaving no evidence behind except for a
small vial. A good smuggling weapon 40gp.

Angel Quill Arrowhead: These arrows not only penetrate DR but also lower it by up to
5. A good way to help your team get through some DR if you’re the team’s archer. You
do full damage and then buff everyone else by +5 damage a hit.

Shard Gel: Can use this similarly to Caltrops and it does some damage on impact.
Covers a 15’ area in rough terrain.

Coral Boulder: They’re weightless normally, and the create water cantrip is a
convenient way to enable them. I’m not sure what you’ll do with them, but having a giant
avalanche of boulders ready to drop on someone at a moment’s notice seems useful.

Venombane Lozenge: Cheaper than Anti-toxin/venom/dote and functions against any

poison, though it is shorter in duration.

Tinctures

These one off “potion” like remedies grant a variety of useful effects and can be crafted
with Craft: Alchemy, making them a decent downtime investment.

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Nimble Nectar: Relatively benign downside for most PCs.

Sorcerer’s Spirits: you probably weren’t going to pass the Fort & Ref Saves anyway, but
+2CL can be a big swing.

Stalker’s Oil: very cheap with no downside.

Herbalism
From Ultimate Wilderness these are cheap, non magical, plant based items which give
a variety of useful effects on the cheap.

Dragon’s Rose: being able to bypass DR magic at low levels can be a lifesaver.

Special Materials
Interestingly enough special materials on weapons become less relevant towards the
later portions of the game as static weapon bonuses allow you to overcome DR. +1=
Magic +3 = Cold Iron/Silver +4 = Adamantine. However these materials always remain
useful on armor, and through most of the game they will be useful on weapons unless
you sink a very large percent of your wealth into your weapon. A +4 bonus = 32,000gp
so if you put nearly all of your gold into your weapon, then by lvl 8 you can get a +4
sword. However, that means you have bought nothing else except for perhaps a handful
of cure light wounds potions and are likely very far behind your other group members in
terms of being alive. As such, it is a wise expenditure to invest in at least a backup
weapon made of a special material. Do see the alchemical section above however for a
cheap, though temporary, alternative option.

Adamantine: at +3,000gp per weapon this is fairly expensive, however it will allow you
to literally cut through steel, so that is a plus. It makes sundering or attacking objects
much easier as it bypasses Hardness <20. Bad guy locks you behind an iron gate?
Chop chop. Let’s go.
Adamantine is a fun feature on a weapon, but a much more useful material for
armor. Adamantine armor grants DR/-. Thats right DR penetrated by Nothing
Light= 1/-, Medium= 2/-, Heavy= 3/-. However it is quite expensive, as one would
imagine.

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Mithral: This metal provides no special benefit when placed on a weapon except for
allowing it to count as silver. Mithral’s real function is, like most of the materials here, for
making armor. Mithral reduces the weight of all items by half, resulting in the armor
being considered one category lighter. (ex. Heavy Armor counts as Medium Armor, but
still needs heavy armor proficiency.) additionally it increases maximum dex bonus by 2,
reduces ACP by 3 & Spell failure by 10%.
This means that ranged/Dex characters and spell casters can benefit from the
material greatly. A Mithral Buckler has 0% Spell fail and 0 ACP meaning wizards can
use it without issue.

Darkleaf: This is essentially Mithral for non-metal armors. Though it unfortunately has a
minimum spell failure of 5%. Still good for those who want to wear leather armors etc.
such as druids.

Bone: This is a good option for a druid’s armor as metal armors can be made from it. A
+1 Bone breastplate is almost as good as a regular +1 breastplate made of steel, with
only 1 less point of AC.

The Ultimate Adventurer’s Kit

The following is an assortment of gear which you may feel free to copy paste into
your character sheets. This list of primarily mundane equipment is made up of low cost
items which your character will likely find some use for during the game and should
suffice to cover most of your campaign needs.

Wandermeal (12), Halfling-Ration (2), Canteen (2), Candles (10), Fishing Line & Hooks,
Bells (5), Magnet, Compass, Winter Blanket, Bedroll, Mirror, Silk Rope (50’), Powder,
Chalk, Earplugs, Notebook, Ink/pen, Charcoal, Flint & Steel, Tindertwig (5), Oil, Bullseye
Lantern, Mess Kit, Soap, Grappling Arrow(or hook),Signal Whistle, Sling, Deck of
Cards, ¼ of a Large Tent, Bandolier, Belt Pouch, Masterwork Backpack

Traveler’s Any-Tool, Holy Water (2), Alchemist’s Fire (3), Alkali (2), Tanglefoot Bag (1),
Potion of Endure Elements (1), Oil of Create Water (1), Potion of Lesser Restoration (1),
Potion of Delay Poison (1), Oil of Purify Food & Drink (1), Ioun Torch (heighten it to lvl 4
for 350gp total), Liquid Blade (1), Caltrop Bead, Silver Battle Aspergillum, Cold Iron
Dagger, Durable Adamantine Arrow

Weight: 47Lbs or with Magic Items 67Lbs

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Cost: 1,017gp, 7s, 8c Cost without Magical Items: 132g, 7s, 8c

As a gift to you I grant you a 17g, 7s, 8c discount on this special package. Tell your GM
I said so.

-Reduced Cost Options: Remove Compass, use regular backpack, no bells (or get
cheaper bells), use Hemp Rope, no Tindertwigs, No Ink/Pen, No Mirror, Replace
Bullseye Lantern with 5x Torches.
Total Cost Reduction = -119gp, No Weight Change
New Price for Non-Magic Kit = 13g, 8s, 3c

Grab a Minor Bag of Holding (Holds 50 Lbs, Cost 1000gp, weighs 3Lb) to keep this stuff
in. You can cut the weight down to fit everything in this bag by: cut the Tent and Bedroll,
use a hammock. (-12Lbs), Drop the Mess Kit (-1Lb),remove Tanglefoot Bag (-4Lbs) that
Reduces the Weight to 50Lbs. Otherwise you’ll have to keep a few items in the belt
pouch and bandolier that are included in the kit.

Part II
Enhancement
Enhancing your weapon is, usually done to increase damage output, but how do
we go about this in the most effective way? What are the benefits of enhancing my
weapon? How do I do it?

In Pathfinder you may purchase (or find) a magical weapon. This magic can
either be a static bonus (+1-+5) or it can be some type of effect, like Flaming, Keen,
Holy, Vorpal, etc. A weapon may have no more than +5 as a static Bonus and no more
than +10 as a total enhancement modifier.

These numbers sound contradictory at first, however the total enhancement

bonus and static bonuses are not synonymous. The weapon’s total modifier is dictated
by the weapon special properties as well as by the static bonus. For example a +2
Static bonus is worth 2/10 points to the total enhancement, and the Holy special
property is also worth 2/10 points.

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 A weapon special property can not be added to a weapon unless that weapon
already has a +1 static bonus. This means that a Flaming Longsword must actually be a
+1 Flaming Longsword, thereby having a total modifier of 2/10 and a value of 8,000g
(+weapon cost) as seen on the Weapon Pricing by Bonus table.

ENCHANTMENTS TO CONSIDER

Weapons
+1: This is the most fundamentally basic enchantment.

You will need to get this at least once if you intend to get anything else and you
would be wise to pick it a few times at least. Not only does it increase your damage, but
more importantly it also increases your chance to hit! As you get higher in level you will
also see enemies begin to have Damage Reduction (DR). this DR is notated DR /X that
means that the DR is overcome, or negated, by the “X”. An important thing to know
about this particular enchantment is that it can help overcome certain DR.

+1 = DR /magic
+3 = DR /Silver and DR /Cold Iron
+4 = DR /Adamantine
+5 = DR /Alignment

Flaming/Frost/Shock/Corrosive: This adds +1d6 of the relevant damage type to your

hits. It is a decent way to up your damage, adding an average of 3.5 damage per hit.
However you should also be aware that many enemies have resistances (and
weaknesses) to elemental damage.
You may be thinking to yourself “what element is best?” the answer is whichever
you think you’ll like the best. On average ~27% of creatures have resistance/immunity
to Fire, ~25% to Cold, ~22% to Electricity, ~21% Acid. So the numbers are really pretty
even. Some campaigns might deal with only one type of damage though. So if you’re in
a ‘fight the frost giants’ game frost might not be for you.

Keen: Double your Critical Threat range. If you are using an 18-20 weapon this is the
enchantment for you. Critting more often is always a good thing.
This Enchantment is typically something you choose if you are going for a critical
hit focused build, otherwise it is generally ignored. I would not recommend it on
weapons with only a 20 x2 range. Also if you are a fighter, skip it and take the feat.
20 -> 19-20

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19-20 -> 17-20
18-20 -> 15-20

Agile: Are you a Dex based melee character? This is basically mandatory for you. It
makes your damage Dex based instead of Str based. For only the cost of a +1 bonus!
(unchained rogues and most swashbucklers don’t need this though.)

Conductive: lets you send your daily powers like corrupting touch and similar through
it. Can be a good way to get some nice damage or debuffs in if you have those abilities.
Could also use it with things like stunning fist and ect.

Ghost Touch: If you expect to be in a campaign against a lot of ghosties then you will
surely need this as it lets you negate the 50% DR of incorporeal creatures. If you are a
bow user it may be worthwhile to have it placed on a few arrows just in case, but at
8,000g for 50 Arrows you might want to look for a cheaper, (cough) alchemical,
alternative.

Grayflame: Are you a Paladin? Or maybe a battle focused Cleric? Then this is a good
choice for you. Providing both +1 to hit and Damage, as well as +1d6 Damage for the
cost of only a +1 bonus and one use of your Channel Energy Ability it’s a great damage
boost. Plus it makes the weapon bypass some DR. Probably pick this up a little later in
the game if you are going to, that way your channels per day are more abundant.

Guardian: This enchantment provides the option to convert weapon enhancement

bonus into Save bonus. For spell casters, who do not particularly need a weapon, but
who have the extra cash, this is a good option. It’s a +5 dagger when you need to stab
someone and an extra cloak of resistance the rest of the time. And it stacks with
everything.

Spell Storing: Have your Caster Friend put anything up to 3rd lvl in here and then you
can hit the bad guy with it later on. Great utility and I’m sure you can come up with
plenty of good ideas here. A couple good ones are Slow, Aboleth Lung, Vampiric Touch,
Blindness, etc..

Bane: This enchantment is somewhat tricky. If you can reliably and accurately predict
what enemy type you will be primarily facing throughout your campaign then this is
without a doubt the BEST enchantment you can get for your money. +2 to attack and
damage and +2d6 dmg for only a +1 Bonus. Later on in the game it is very worthwhile
to grab a dagger or something with this on it as you should have a feel for who the

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primary antagonists are and 8,000g for a +3 dagger that probably does a minimum of 20
Damage Per Round is actually quite a good value.

Called: This enchantment could be useful if you can key several weapons to the same
callback trigger. (get GM approval) Then if you are a thrown weapon user you can get
around the need to pick up all your weapons every round, and it is better than a
returning enchantment because they always come directly to your hand regardless of if
you move or not.

Planar: If you are going to be fighting a lot of outsiders (demons etc.) then this +1
enchantment will help you by negating 5 points of that creature's DR. It’s like having the
weapon do an additional 5 dmg per hit.

Alignment: Holy, Axiomatic, Anarchic, Unholy, these all are +2 bonus equivalent and
have the same effect. +2d6 damage vs their respective alignments, as well as getting
through alignment based DR. +7 dmg on average per hit is pretty good. Holy will usually
be your go to for this group.

Adaptive: This 1,000gp enchantment makes it so that your composite bow always
works with your current strength modifier. Must have.

Seeking: This enchantment functions similarly to the Improved Precise Shot feat, but it
will work even on enemies with total concealment, so long as you know the square they
are in.

Armor

Glamered: This enchantment merely costs gold, and it allows you to make your armor
look like anything you want. Be it a potato sack or the most amazing glorious suit of
golden armor, or just the enemy soldiers’ uniform.

Burdenless: This nifty Enchantment will let you get around needing the classic
Heavyload Belt by boosting your carrying capacity.

Shadow: This armor quality grants a strong bonus to stealth and has leser, normal, and
greater versions, all of which cost straight gold. The bonuses range from +5 to +15

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Rallying: for 5,000gp you can gain a paladin’s aura of courage, or enhance your own
aura of courage to +6 and it’s everyone within 30’ compared to the normal 10’ range.
Also works for bards etc. more bonuses for your team are always a good thing.

Locksmith: Lets you ignore the ACP for Disable Device and get a bonus to the checks
for just gold. Also counts as a set of masterwork tools and they’re difficult to notice.
Great way to be a better sneaky sneak.

Comfort: Lets you sleep in Heavier Armors without penalty, along with a few other
bonuses, notably ACP -1 which is pretty nice for a gold only enchantment.

Restful: Also lets you sleep in armor but you only need to get 2hrs so you can keep
your night watch rotations going strong.

Hosteling: Personally I pretty much never go for an animal companion or mount, but if
you do then this armor allows you to store the creature inside it temporarily. Could be
useful for getting through small spaces, or just so you don’t have to worry about leaving
it behind when you suddenly leave someplace.

Energy Resistant: Comes in 10, 20, & 30 point resistance. It’s pretty expensive, but if
you know you’re going to be fighting a lot of fire dragons or something it’s not a bad
investment. I’d avoid buying it “just in case” though since it’s not cheap, but it does only
cost gold. This is a plan ahead enchantment.

Champion: Paladins sign here. +2AC vs the target of your smite. Sacred bonuses are
tough to come by so this is likely to stack with everything else you have.

Defiant: This is essentially Bane for Armor. Vs a specific enemy type your
Enhancement is +2 better and grants DR 2/-. Same caveats and considerations as
Bane.

Spell Storing: Same as a weapon. Spell up to lvl 3 is cast when you are hit. Things like
shocking grasp, bungle, blindness, etc.. are good options.

Spell Resistance: There are some more cost effective ways to gain SR, which is itself
slightly overrated, but considering you may not have much better to do with your armor
this could be useful. Comes in 13, 15, 17, & 19 point varieties. Making the enemy waste
spells is always a good outcome.

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Delving: This neat armor enchantment gives you a 10’ burrow speed through any kind
of soil but not solid stone. There are many potential uses for this. And it’s a flat 10,000g

Determination: 1/day save your butt. Casts a Breath of Life Spell on you if your HP
drops below 1. That’s 5d8+10 HP (~30HP) to get you back up on your feet and able to
spam healing spells. At 30,000gp it is very pricy, but compared to death it’s not so bad.
Though for a little over 5,000gp you can get a contingent heal spell cast on you that will
last 18 days and automatically heals 150HP. Which you can do at least five times for
less money. Assuming your DM lets you buy CL18 scrolls or hire lvl 18 caster services.

Part III
Magic Items

The Common Core

There are some “essential” items typically referred to as “The Big Six” which you
will routinely see listed throughout other guides and across the internet. These are the
items which the game pretty much assumes that you have when it determines the CR
for various monsters. These items are quite good and typically will be the ones you want
in their respective slots, however as we will discuss there are a few alternatives for
some of these items.

Ring of Protection: This is probably the best slotted Item in the common core.
Potentially +5 AC to all three categories is pretty good, and it is a pretty critical boost for
many classes.

Amulet of Natural Armor: This Item is Similar to the above, but it Grants up to +5
Natural Armor, which doesn’t help Touch AC, but not much does.

Cloak of Resistance: This grants a very nice, uniform Bonus of up to +5 to all Saves.
Everyone but the Paladin could probably use the boost, but there are a couple of other
choices out there for this effect.

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Your S.P.E.C.I.A.L item: This will be either a Belt or Headband slot item (or both) which
grants a static bonus to one or more attributes up to +6

Weapon: This should be obvious. If you need to hit things then you use this. See Part II
for specifics

Armor: Not death is always a good option. Again, Part II has the specifics.

Handy Haversack/Bag of Holding/Muleback Cords: You will need a way to carry all
of your magical goodies around with you. Here are your Santa Sacks.

In PFS you can not make custom items, meaning you can not “re-slot.” However,
there is nothing in particular which states that you are not allowed to change which slot
an item uses so long as your DM doesn’t have an issue with it. You can generally
assume that the price is the same as it would be for the original item as there is not any
form of price modifier for the various slots, Just for effects. So for example you could
turn a belt of stoneskin (belt) into a shirt of stoneskin (chest) with your DM’s approval.

One of the recurring issues many players encounter with Pathfinder’s Items is
that there are some which are essentially unavoidable picks for their slot. We have
already covered the Big Six as being the “essentials” but their functions can somewhat
be adjusted. Ie: a weapon might be in the neck slot if you are a monk, and a resistance
bonus to saves can come from a variety of slots other than cloak.

However, there are some slots that are essentially always spoken for; Headband,
Ring Slot 1, and Belt Slots are the top of the list. No character really has an option when
it comes to these 3 item slots. Ring of Protection, Headband & Belt of + Stat. those are
pretty much your only options. Everyone could use +5 Deflection AC, (especially for the
touch AC), and everyone can make use of the Stat Item slots. Physical characters can
at minimum use the headband to get a Bonus to their Will save and casters can benefit
from either +Dex for ray attacks and AC, or more likely +Con just for some extra Health.

As these 3 item slots are essentially spoken for 90% of the time It comes to be
apparent that players have only a few options when considering the plethora of gear
that can’t be used in these slots. 1. Re-Slot items, as mentioned above, 2. Go without, &
3. The Pathfinder Unchained Automatic Bonus Progression System (ABP).

Regarding option 3, the Pathfinder Unchained Books have created a few novel
solutions to the issue discussed above which DM’s can implement in their campaigns.

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 Automatic Bonus Progression

The better of the two systems introduced in the unchained books is the
Automatic Bonus Progression. This alternate rule system gives Players the bonuses of
the Big Six as innate bonuses as they level up. For example at level 8 they have a +1
Armor Bonus +1 Shield Bonus (if applicable), +2 Saves, +1 Nat AC, +1 Deflection AC,
+1 to up to two Weapons,+2 to a mental attribute, & +2 to a Physical Attribute. This
system is great for a low wealth, or low magic setting, and also provides players with a
lot more options for equipment. It is advised that you reduce the player’s wealth by level
to half in order to compensate for these bonuses. If you are a DM I highly advise you try
this system in your game.

A quick reading of the ABP rules will raise the concern of the Attunement not
allowing for bonuses to weapons to go above +5. Special properties, while cheaper,
reduce the static bonus of the weapon. To compensate for this issue, there is an
additional system created to compensate for this deficiency. The Capacity System
makes it so that your weapon can have a special property without reducing your
Attunement modifier. The Capacity System basically makes it so that enchantments can
be applied without reducing the static enhancement bonus, allowing you to have an
effective +10 weapon, as in the normal rules.

Interpreting the capacity chart may be slightly confusing at first, so a quick

explanation is in order. The capacity is the amount of your ABP attunement you want to
apply and the enhancement value is the amount of special properties on the weapon. A
Flaming sword (+1 Enhancement) with +3 capacity allows you to apply 3 points of
attunement to the weapon and have the flaming property, thus at lvl 14 it is functionally
a +3 Flaming Sword.

The capacity math is as follows. The Weapon price (P) is the normal cost of a
weapon with the same effective bonus (N) minus the cost of a weapon with a flat
enhancement equal to the capacity (C).

So P = N - C

Example: I want a +4 Shocking, Keen, Bane Weapon. That would be an effective

bonus of +7 (+4 enhancement & +3 from abilities) and it would cost 98,000gp in the
normal rules.

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 To convert this to work with my ABP I must get a capacity enchantment. The
Capacity I want is +4, and a normal +4 weapon would cost 32,000gp. So I subtract.
98,000gp - 32,000gp = 66,000gp which is the cost for this weapon in the ABP system.
The same basic formula applies for Armor.

Specific Weapons & Ammo

Lightning Javelin: a good way to get a ranged touch attack in for a martial character.
It’s a 120’ touch attack and does 5d6. Probably not worth the 1,500gp but hell if it ain't
cool to be Zeus.

Searing/Sizzling Arrow: also 1,500gp these +1 arrows do 4d6 elemental damage.

Most of the time they probably won’t be worth the gold, but they do give some nice utility
if you’re fighting trolls or something.

Mephit Arrow: at a measly 200gp each these arrows can give you some AoE
Elemental damage for dealing with swarms, trolls, or various low level mooks.

Quarterstaff of Entwined Serpents: Being able to cast magic missile at will is every lvl
1-6 caster’s dream.

Dagger of Doubling: this is a good way to get a never ending supply of +1 daggers for
your thrown weapon build.

Heartripper Blade: You can totally munchkin this item with the old “Bag of Rats” trick
and have an unlimited source of Remove Disease, Restoration, & Cure Serious
Wounds on hand. Not to mention Divination and Scrying. (it’s not even explicitly evil)

Rapier of Puncturing: this bad larry lets you deal 1d6 con damage as a touch attack
3/day no save.

Blade of the Rising Sun: now this thing is just cool. If you have a nice DM you might
even get to use it twice. This is a decent weapon and a great out if you face a TPK.

Lightning Bow: This is an intelligent item, but god damn. This thing.
For ~54,000gp you get:

● A +3 adaptive composite longbow,

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● A lightning bow needs no ammunition, With the pull of a string, it creates a
+3 shock arrow or a +3 brilliant energy arrow (the wielder’s choice with each shot)

Ok so this thing is already pretty sweet, but. it. gets. Better.

● Three times per day, the wielder can cast true strike as a swift action.
● Three times per day, the wielder can use lightning bolt (CL17) as a spell-like ability.

The only downside is that the bow cannot attack other elementals. Which, if your DM
lets you have this, you probably will be fighting a lot of them.

There are also a few non-magic items i want to touch on as well in this section,
specifically those would be various types of arrows that can be found/made.

Crossbow Bolts:
Acid & Fire bolts do +1d4 elemental damage via Alchemical means. At 50gp each
they’re a little pricy but worth noting as a better alternative to the 1,500gp arrows
mentioned above.

Arrows:
DURABLE: Buy these. They’re 1gp each but they don’t break on hit.
Pro-Tip get one Durable Adamantine Arrow for early level options to get around
hardness. Use it to break locks and other fun things. You can even use it like an
improvised dagger in a pinch. Only 63gp

Trip: Make a free trip attempt. The arrows CMB is only +5 but that’s ok.

Thistle: I’m not really sure how these exactly work. But 1d6 rounds of some amount of
bleed damage for only 1gp each is decent, even if it’s only 1 point per turn. No
drawbacks. Also can help mess up an enemy’s concentration check.

Splintercloud: Turn an arrow into a burst weapon. Albeit only 1d3 base damage. Could
possibly be used against swarms or as a way to apply an effect like flaming to multiple
enemies.

Raining: these things are great. They basically allow you to tack on a potion or
alchemical effect to an arrow. Now your bow fires holy water or alchemist’s fire with
each shot.

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Blunt: Now you can hurt skeletons

Stingchuck
Whatever this gross thing is it’s pretty good at low levels. It does 1d4 as a ranged
thrown weapon which spawns a vermin swarm that attack for 1d6 and cause a DC 11
Fortitude save to avoid being nauseated for 1d3 rounds and an additional 1d3 damage.
Also they’re free. The save DC is low, but you probably won’t use these past lvl 2.

Specific Armors
Armored Kilt: This isn’t magical but it can be worn in addition to a normal set of armor
or on its own to grant +1AC. The only downside would be that it bumps you into the next
tier of armor, ie from medium to heavy. As a Wizard or similar you could pick up a set
just in case you want any armor enchantments as it has no Spell Failure %.

Zombie Skin Shield: Lets you create a zombie to flank with or otherwise use to set off
traps, etc.. 1/day

Celestial Armor: This is some of the best armor in the game for dex characters.

Mithral Fullplate of Speed: lets you haste yourself 10/day.

Wondrous Items
Belt
Body
Chest
Eyes
Feet
Hands
Head
Headband
Neck
Shoulders
Wrists
Slotless
Ioun Stones
Rings
Rods
Staves

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 Belts
Belt of Tumbling: Gives a nice cheap boost to acrobatics checks to avoid AoOs

Beneficial bandoleer: If you’re keeping track of ammo then this is the gunslinger’s
efficient quiver.

Dawnflower’s Sash: This item has a lot of utility for worshipers of Sarenrae and it’s
cheap too. Featherfall, Light, CLW that acts as a pseudo Breath of Life, & Endure
(warm) Elements.

Heavyload Belt: If you’re low on Str and need to carry around a backpack this is a
decent option, but there’s a better one.

Blinkback belt: If you’re making a thrown weapon build this is the item for you.

Security Belt: This thing is very cool. A true utility belt. 1/day You can shrink any 10’
cubic item down to a small patch and store it for 5 days in the belt, returning it to normal
at your discretion.

Belt of Stoneskin: Who doesn’t like DR10/Adamantine for 100 points of damage a
day?

Body
Robe of Infinite Twine: Rope is one of the most useful items in the game, and now you
have unlimited supplies. Very cheap too.

Robe of Blending: A great Spy item. Lets you alter self, and learn a language for an
hour.

Robe of the Master of Masters: If you Worship Irori you can have Haste for 1 round
per day as a free action, along with a few other minor effects.

Pathfinder Greatcoat: This is a great item for DMs to give to their players early on as a
quest reward. I’d say it’s rarely worth purchasing one as a player but it’s a neat item and
great to give new players as a freebie. Personally I’d love one as a freebie

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Shozoku of the Night Wind: Great item for Ninjas, but not bad for everyone else
either. Gives 2AC, +5 Stealth, and invisibility 1/day in shade

Blazing/Shocking/Voidfrost Robes: Gain resistance 5 and a 2d6 burst ability for the
relevant element.

Robe of the Archmagi: Arcane casters want this.

Otherworldly Kimono: This robe. If you can get one and you’re not using ABP it’s
probably the best item in the body slot. +4 resistance to saves, and +4 to CL checks,
along with a 1/day no save remove target enemy from the fight for at least one round.
Great item.

Chest
Quick Runner’s Shirt: Pre-errata was better, but it’s still a cheap way to get an extra
move at the end of a turn.

Endless Bandolier: Similar to the beneficial bandoleer, it’s slightly worse in my opinion,
but nearly identical otherwise. Uses a less common slot at least.

Vest of Escape: Gives +4 to Disable Device and +6 to Escape Artist. Not a bad choice
for an underutilized item slot.

Unfettered Shirt: Freedom of Movement 1/day is a good use for the chest slot.

Bane Baldric: My personal favorite for Martial Characters, 5 rounds of Bane /day
chosen as a swift action. +2 Atk & +2d6 +2 damage 5/day is a nice combat boost.

Eyes
Eyes of the Eagle: +5 Perception on a cheap item.

Lens of Detection: 1,000gp more than the Eagles but it also gives +5 Survival when
tracking. Can also be had in a slotless version for no extra cost.

Feet
Boots of the Cat: Always take minimum falling damage. Pretty nifty and very cheap.

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Daredevil Boots: these are a little funky as they have two different printings, but they
give you a boost to acrobatics to avoid AoOs and some amount of attack bonus if you
succeed. Cheap and a neat effect either way.

Feather Step Slippers: Ignoring difficult terrain is a nice benefit for a cheap item.

Stagger-Proof Boots: These bad boys will let you take an immediate action to move
30’ once per day, as well as a few other boons.

Burglar’s Boots: if you suspect a large number of traps, these will help you deal with
them.

Boots of Striding and Springing: +10’ of move speed is good for most Martial classes

Spiderclimb Slippers: Sometimes you’ll just need a climb speed. Great for when you
have to deal with flying enemies or to get around obstacles.

Boots of the Earth: These boots make it so you essentially always will have full HP
after every fight as long as you can stand around for a few minutes.

Shoes of the Lightning Leaper: I just think these are cool.

Boots of Speed: Grant yourself the benefits of Haste (one of the best spells) for free 10
rnds/day

Boots of the Battle Herald: Greater Heroism for 11 minutes 1/day isn’t anything to
shake your head at, but being unable to break up that 11 minutes is a little dissatisfying.

Winged Boots: they’re like an upgrade to the Spiderclimb Slippers. Fly for 15 mins /day
in 5 min spurts.

Boots of Teleportation: For some reason cheaper than Helm of Teleportation.

Hands
Whispering Gloves: These are a very cheap way to communicate silently with your
allies.

Gloves of Reconnaissance: Pre-errata these were amazing. Post-errata they are still
moderately useful and they’re cheap.
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Apprentice’s Cheating Gloves: Mage hand and Prestidigitation at will is pretty handy
at times. The more creative you are, the more use you’ll have for these.

Gauntlets of the Skilled Maneuver: If you are making a combat maneuver build then
this is a nice way to get a bonus to your favorite move.

Trapspringer’s Gloves: +5 to disable device and +1 to all saves vs traps is handy if

you’re the group’s “scout” unfortunately the bonuses are exclusively for traps only.

Gloves of Arcane Striking: If you have arcane strike these give a few effects but the
most notable one is the ability to have some AoE damage with your attacks.

Poisoner’s Gloves: You can use these to deliver potions, extracts, and infusions to
yourself, an enemy, or ally. (poisons too I guess if you want.)

Gloves of Swimming and Climbing: It’s unfortunate how expensive these are since a
lot of characters could use +5 to these two skills.

Deliquescent Gloves: gain the Corrosive weapon quality on any weapon you wield.

Demonic Smith’s Gloves: Similar to the Deliquescent Gloves, these grant the flaming
weapon property as well as a bonus to craft checks.

Head
Cap of Human Guise: It’s a cheaper hat of Disguise but you can only look like a small
commoner, ie human child or adult halfling. But it’s probably more than sufficient for
most needs.

Hat of Disguise: Use Disguise Self at will. Very useful. The greater version lets you
alter self at will, which has some nice benefits.

Buffering Cap: Turn a crit into non-lethal damage.

Circlet of Persuasion: +3 on Cha based checks is a good boost for many out of
combat encounters and incidentally interacts nicely with a variety of class features.

Crown of Swords: This is a good way to get the party wizard a self defense
mechanism.
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Mask of the Skull: By the time you can afford this a DC20 save isn’t too tough for a lot
of enemies, but even if they pass it’s still a ranged touch attack that deals a decent
amount of damage.

Helm of Teleportation: For some reason this is more expensive than the identical
boots of teleportation.

Headband
Headband of Twisted Intellect: There’s not a lot in the headband department, and ioun
stones have some great effects in wayfinders, so this isn’t a bad grab, especially if you’d
be looking for +Int anyway.

Headband of the Wolf: Scent is a nice ability to be able to have all the time.

Headband of Intuition: 3/day get a meaningful augury reply.

Headband of Fortune’s Favor: I have been avoiding items which give flat bonuses to
the Big 6 (Common Core) but this one gives a Luck Bonus to your Saves, so I figure it’s
worth mentioning as it will stack with a cloak of resistance.

Neck
Talismans: I am going to recommend primarily the greater versions as they’re reusable,
but a couple of the lesser ones aren’t bad. The one I would mostly suggest is Beneficial
Winds as, at 50gp, a one and done feather fall isn’t too bad. There are probably better
things to have in slot, but these are very cheap so good early. Two particularly good
ones to have are Healing Power & Life’s Breath. Other ones I like are Danger Sense &
Freedom.

Necklace of Fireballs:While this could possibly blow up in your face it doesn’t actually
occupy the neck slot, meaning you can have another item on top, but a necklace of
grenades is pretty handy at times.

Fortunate Charm: Rerolling any skill check once a day can be a lifesaver.

Charm of Fate: 1/day auto pass a save you failed by 5 or less.

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Talisman of Soul Eating: If you’re Evil this is a great way to stock up on healing
supplies. There’s no mention of a limit to the number of soul gems you can have at any
given time, so fill up when you can and use them when you need them.

Gorget of Umbral Hunger: Somewhat expensive, but with the extreme ease of finding
“dim light” and 2 mins to heal 20HP /day it’s worth considering. Especially when you’re
probably already using a wand of Infernal Healing several times a day anyway.

Hand of Glory: You get an extra ring slot and can cast Daylight and See Invisibility
1/day. Pretty decent all around.

Amulet of Hidden Strength: Better if you’re a monk, but a swift action attack at full
BAB 1/day isn’t bad either.

Shoulders
Cloak of Human Guise: As the head slot item Cap of Human Guise

Muleback Cords: As Heavyload Belt

Cloak of the Hedge Wizard: Comes in a variety of flavors and provides some nice
utility.

Rockfall Cloak: I don’t really advocate single use items, but i really want someone to
use this to shoot themselves from a cannon. 200Lb 5’ Smooth Spherical Rock. Say it
with me; Giant. Cannon. Ball.

Cloak of Heavenly Fire: Provides some nice utility. Can do a bit of damage to an
attacker as an immediate action and casts CMW 1/day

Cape of the Mountbank: Dimension door 1/day can be quite handy.

Wings of Flying: Hopefully your wizard can help you fly by the time you can buy these,
but if not they’re quite useful.

Cloak of Minor Displacement: makes enemies have a 20% miss chance against you.
All the time.

Charlatan's Cape: An upgraded Cape of the Mountebank.

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 Wrist
Sleeves of Many Garments: This is suuuuper cheap and lets you get a lot of mileage if
you’re clever.

Burglar’s Bracers: Being able to take 10 whenever you need 1/day on disable device
is pretty convenient.

Longarm Bracers: Gaining 5’ of reach will come in handy more often than you might
think. Even if you take -4 on melee attacks.

Vambraces of the Genie: Take your pick for flavor, they’re all pretty useful.

Ioun Spite Bracers: These are quite costly for what they are, but they have a few
noteworthy benefits so i’ve included them. Primarily they let you have 4 Ioun Stones on
your person without needing them to be floating above your head. The additional utility
of up to 4 uses of CL5 Magic Missile every 2d4 hours can come in handy.

Greater Bracers of Archery: The number 1 item for most archers.

Slotless

Effortless Lace: this nifty item will help you dual wield one handed weapons without
penalty.

Ioun Torch: Never need a lantern or torch again, this thing floats above your head
meaning you have both hands free for other things. Also it’s a 3rd lvl spell so it’s good to
get rid of darkness and the like. If you get it Heightened to lvl4 it can dispel almost all
darkness effects and it’s only a little more money (see Ultimate Adventurer’s Kit above)

Traveler’s Any-Tool: You can Judge this book by it’s cover. It is every tool you’ll ever
need.

Bag of Everlasting Dung: I just wanted you to know that this was an Item

Wayfinder: These Magic compasses can cast light, be used to tell direction, and if you
have an ioun stone then they can give you some special effects.

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Pearl of Power, Boro Bead, etc…: Pick your classes flavor these are a handy way to
get an extra spell.

Bookplate of Recall: Never lose your spell book again.

Bottled Cloud: Being able to avoid difficult terrain or cross over “liquid” and solid
surfaces is quite handy, but replicating a pretty good 4th lvl battlefield control spell with
no saves as well is great, give it to your rogue why not.

Efficient Quiver: So you can stop micromanaging your arrows.

Blood Reservoir of Physical Prowess: Fill it on down time to negate ability damage
later or to give yourself a boost to atk/dmg

Traveler’s Translator: Better than using Tongues potions or similar.

Scabbard of Vigor: A good way to get a secondary weapon a bonus.

Lens of Detection: For some reason this is both an eye and a slotless item?

Four Leaf Clover: 3/day you get +2 to a save, skill or ability check. Pretty cheap for
what it is.

Looter’s Satchel: Bag of auto-looting!? Count me in. Now stopping to scrounge bodies
for treasure isn’t an ordeal.

Horse-Caller Flute: Summoning a Horse for a few hours a day can be just what you
need to get somewhere quickly, haul loot out of a dungeon, or disarm a trap.

Quill of Passage: Being able to make a door anywhere you need one without all the
noise of an adamantine pickaxe

Decanter of Endless Water: I’m sure you can come up with plenty of uses for unlimited
water

Carpet of Flying: It’s a good way to always have flight available for a couple people all
the time.

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Broom of Flying: Similar to a carpet of flying, but a little cheaper and more limited in
use, but it is capable of flying on its own

Portable Hole: A good way to loot a massive treasure pile. Holds as much as a Type IV
bag of Holding and weighs as much as a napkin. Double the price of a BoH-IV though. It
does have neat interactions with bags of holding though.

Evergreen Seed Pouch: I’ve been trying to avoid items specific to one class or
situation, but if you want to cast plant related spells you’ll want to get this.

Caster’s Tattoo: 1/day Silent & Still spell can be a lifesaver

I am not going to cover the items above ~20,000gp as they’re generally going to be too
specific for a general character’s needs.

Ioun Stones
Cracked Incandescent Blue Sphere: Mostly used for +1 to Perception

Cracked Deep Red Sphere: +1 to a dex based skill

Cracked Scarlet & Blue Sphere: +1 to an Int based Skill (gives blind fight in wayfinder)

Cracked Magenta Prism: +2 to any one skill (and +1 to a save in a wayfinder)

Cracked Dusty Rose Prism: +1 Initiative

Dusty Rose Ioun Prism: +1 AC

(Cracked) Clear Spindle: Need less food/water. Also a great wayfinder candidate

Cracked Vibrant Purple Prism: having a first level spell stored can be a nice effect for
2k. I’m a fan of using one for a situational spell like swift girding but a free protection
from evil isn’t bad either.

Cracked Pearly White Spindle: While it’s not quite true regeneration it will help you
regain lost limbs and will heal you for a little bit.

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Cracked Pale Green Prism: +1 to attack or saves is pretty nice, especially since it
stacks with a cloak of resistance and most other buffs as a competence bonus. Good
for barbarians in a wayfinder. Pick up two whynot

Eastern/Western Star: Both give a nice spell effect and are relatively inexpensive,
although there are slotted items which do the same things for less gp.

Silver Spindle: Expensive, but giving your rogue 3/day Acid Splash to sneak attack
with is very good. You can also certainly do other things with a 3/day 1st or 0th level
spell.

Rings
Kyton Ring: Similar to the robe of infinite twine this is a ring of 100’ of chain per day.

Ring of Feather Fall: It’s a convenient way to ensure cliffs aren’t an issue.

Ring of Sustenance: One of the best rings in the game. Only need 2hrs of sleep and
no food or water.

Communique Rings: Walkie Talkies. You may need these at some point.

Scholar’s Ring: Comprehend languages is fine and +5 to Kn History is fine, but legend
lore is a very powerful spell to be able to use 1/week

Ring of Foe Focus: Who doesn’t like free bonuses?

Ring of Invisibility: The classic

Ring of Evasion: How are you not taking damage from this giant explosion!?

Ring of Freedom of Movement: Never get stuck again

Rods
Metamagic Rods are up to you. They’re all good as needed. Obviously Quicken,
Extend, Empower & Maximize are all good choices

Immovable Rod: There are dozens of uses for this thing. I’m sure you’ll be able to
make use of it at least a few times, even just as a climbing aid.

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Rod of Security: This is one of those Items where you probably wouldn’t buy it but
getting it as loot would be very nice. This is colloquially known as the rod of vacation.
You can use this to escape a dangerous meteor impact or dragon attack or orc raid or
etc. Really anything you think will be over in 200 days. Or that you want time to set up to
deal with. You can take up to 199 people with you so this is a really good “nope” option
for the party. 4 people can nope out for about 2 months, free of all life’s worries. Good
for downtime.

Rod of Lordly(Dwarven) Might: Well, this thing is very expensive, but it is pretty
versatile.

Staves
Staff of Minor Arcana: Kinda a bummer that it casts Shield and not Mage armor, but
oh well. Still useful for the magic missile effect.

Grave Digger’s Spade: Pit spells are pretty good, and having them always available is
pretty handy.

Staff of the Master: Ok, free Metamagic with no downside? Yes please! At your GM’s
Discretion you could maybe get one for a school other than Necromancy, but the spells
are ok.

Staff of Healing: These are spells which are great to not have to prepare and have in a
pinch.

Staff of Travel: all great spells

Part IV
Consumables of Note
This Section will cover Potions, Oils, Scrolls, and other single use magic items
that you may consider worthwhile.

Potions/Oils

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 A general note on potions, they are generally not good combat options and when
deciding if you should use one you should base that decision on “I waste my turn using
this potion so the caster doesn’t have to use his turn to cast a spell on me.” waste is a
very subjective term here, but we have to base the decision on our floor not our ceiling.
That means we have to consider the worst case and not the best case. There are also
many times when saving the caster an action is a great help to your party.

Always check what levels different classes get these spells. You could be missing
out on a bargain!

Cure X: Your default Healing potion for a good portion of the game will be Cure Light.
Moderate and Serious are only marginally better for a lot more gold. Drinking a potion is
a standard action, so that means your whole turn pretty much was healing yourself for
5-20 points on average and provoking an attack of opportunity at the same time no less.
They are good for when your healer goes down and you have no other viable way to get
them back into the fight but as an in combat option you will typically find they are
lacking. Alright for out of combat healing, though a wand is better. As stated their best
use will be to stabilize a fallen ally or to stop a bleed effect.

Swift Girding: This Will be good to have a few doses of especially if you wear Heavy
armor, but any armor wearer will feel safer at night with this ready. It allows you to
instantly suit up in your armor as a Standard Action.

Infernal Healing: Better than a Cure Light Wounds Potion for the same price. This
Potion gives Fast Healing 1 for 1 minute (10 rounds.) So this potion will always heal 10
points of damage no matter what, but it takes a little longer and gives you an evil aura
for the duration. No permanent downside though. Divine classes may have some
negative interaction with their deity however, so be sure to clarify with your DM on how
this will interact.

Spider Climb: You will always come across a situation where being able to walk on
walls will be useful. Sometimes you need to get at the flying monster, sometimes you
just want to get up a cliff.

Fly: Similar to Spider Climb, but this will be much more costly, so consider it an
emergency potion

Heroism: Get it from a Bard as a lvl 2 Potion. An all around good self buff with decent
duration at ~40 mins.

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Delay X: Poison, Disease, completely negate them all … for a time. But you can use
these to get you through a tough spot until you can seek out a cleric to actually cure
you. Buy from Rangers/Witches etc at lower levels for less gp.

Remove X: See Above, except these cure the condition. Good at higher levels with
more cash since they are fairly expensive can also get them as scrolls.

Water Breathing/ Air Bubble: Similar function with vastly different costs. I Favor Air
Bubble as it can potentially get you out of more situations (gases, etc.) but water
breathing lasts much much longer.

Iron Skin: Enhance your existing Natural Armor

Tongues: Probably better to have a scroll, but good to have on hand if you meet non
common speaking NPCs.

Vanish: A few rounds of invisibility is usually plenty but you will have to buy it from a
higher caster level meaning it’s more expensive. I recommend lvl 3. Its 150g and lasts 3
rounds, which should be plenty for most situations.

Lesser Restoration: Buy it from a paladin for 50gp

Magic Weapon: in case of Ghosts at low levels.

Wands
Cure Light Wounds: much more effective than either potions or the cleric’s spells/day
heals 1d8+1 per charge.

Infernal Healing: As we mentioned earlier this spell heals 10HP per use. That means
this is your most efficient out of combat healing option. Best part is it’s on the wizard list
so you can get by without a divine caster.

Break: with 2 charges you can destroy any medium or smaller object. Doors, chests,
ropes, chains, etc.. unattended non magical objects always automatically fail saves, so
you can get really creative with this. Use it on the chest or the lock you can target any
object you want without affecting others, so the loot inside is safe.

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Magic Missile: We have all seen mages in early levels. Weak crossbowmen, all of
them. This will tide you over from lvl 2-5 while you’re still building up spells /day. And it’s
not a bad fallback even at higher levels as it still has some utility. I recommend going for
one with fewer than 50 charges though in order to save on cost.

Protection from Evil: This is a “spam” spell. You cast it a lot and having it on a wand is
helpful until you get the communal version.

Mount: Use it to travel or to set off traps.

Comprehend Language: Never need a translator again

Scrolls
Riffle Scrolls: These are a piece of secret tech. These scrolls variants are like flip
books. You don’t need to read them to use them. You just flip the pages and out comes
the magic. They’re more expensive than a regular scroll for obvious reasons, but their
uses are many. From using a scroll in the dark to using it to quietly surprise an enemy.

Lesser Restoration: This will help you fix a lot of problems you may encounter.

Speak with Dead: How to negate a lot of “mystery” quests.

Ant Haul (Communal): For when you need to haul 300 sets of full plate out of the
dungeon.

Gust of Wind: helps get rid of deadly gases and such.

Water Breathing: For the sudden aquatic adventure.

Daylight: Get out of dark free card. Good on a Riffle Scroll.

Remove X: Nice to not have to die from poison, disease, curses, etc..

Revival spell: It sucks not being able to revive a fallen ally until you get back to town (if
you can)

Trinkets

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Feather Token: almost all of these are good in some situation. I’d give them a look.
Tree is the most popular as it provides cover, height, and other uses for a tree.

Snapleaf: This unfortunately can only be used when falling, but falling how far? Can
you jump to activate it? Either way, a free featherfall when you need it isn’t bad, and the
invisibility effect is pretty nice too.

Dimensional Acid: Create pit in a bottle.

Caltrop Bead: I touched on caltrops as a moderately useful item before, and this
makes them a functional combat option plus it’s a Huge area. Rough terrain as a ranged
attack is useful. Shard Gel is cheaper though it covers less area.

Clandestine Voucher: 250gp up front and 25gp for each subsequent use, this is a
great way to transport large amounts of coin. It’s basically an adventurer’s check.
Unfortunately it caps out at 200 coins per quill (25gp), but the voucher can hold up to
1,600 coins (be they platinum or copper.) Obviously this is not cost effective to use on
copper pieces, but it is a relatively good way to transport a treasure pile of anything but
copper coins.

Bottled Sunlight: Note: The Heroes of the Darklands version is not on AoN so I have
provided the description here

50gp - sheds light as a candle. Can be thrown as a splash weapon, dealing 3d6 points
of damage to a target vulnerable to sunlight. Creatures adjacent to the target that are
vulnerable to sunlight take 1 point of splash damage. Regardless of its vulnerability to
sunlight, a creature directly struck radiates light as a torch for 1 round after being hit.
Alternatively, a jar can be poured over a 10-foot area to produce light like a lantern for
10 minutes.

Badge of Last Resort: most interesting is the ability to have versions which can turn
into custom selections of items as noted in the final lines of the entry.

Sterling Salt: being able to get your local wizard some aligned damage can be a big
help in some fights.

Godstar: Good utility for cheap. Lots of different effects just in case you need them.

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