Besides the satisfaction of taking down a tough mark, escorting a fragile NPC or retrieving a precious item, where is the fun of setting out on adventures without a more, shall we say, tangible reward? The staff that fuels wild shots of fire without spending a single Spell Slot. Ordinary-looking objects with the power to send adventurers to distant dimensions or bend reality to fit their needs.
That’s what this list is about. What are some of the most desired yet fairly obtainable magic items? These items help the players so much along their journey that DMs think twice before giving them out.
Full disclaimer: this list compiles only rare items that prove to be the most useful, scaling from individual players to a whole party, and items with great potential to break the campaign in benefit of the players. We acknowledge the game-breaking quality of the Deck of Many Things, but we leave it out of the list because it fails the main criteria of being a tool since players cannot control its random turns of events and it could go very well or very wrong for the characters.
Without further ado, here’s our list of the 15 Best D&D Magic Items.
15) Winged Boots
Image
We start the count with this pair of silly looking-boots that grants the wearer the always-useful ability to fly for four hours. DM’s will understandably think twice before giving away magic items that could potentially break the campaign, but this is one of the few, fun and versatile magic items the DM can give relatively easily because its benefits are limited to one player who won’t be able to mess up the campaign. Look for yourself:
Your walking speed also becomes your flying speed.
4 hours of flying. Burn it all at once or break it up in chunks of at least 1 minute.
Ran out of flying fuel? Don’t worry. These boots have a magic, fail-safe system that allows you to descend at a rate of 30 feet per round.
Boots recharge 2 hours of flying every 12 hours that you don’t use them.
Sure, these boots are meant for one player, but that lucky player could exploit them for the benefit of the group. Check it out:
Help the party out of a floor trap one player at a time.
Get to the hostages without provoking opportunity attacks as you zoom past the fight.
Scout ahead.
14) Cloak of Displacement
Image
Sun Tzu’s quote “fight the enemy where they aren’t” has never been more literal. This cloak projects a mirror image of you close to where you’re standing so when the orc, mad with rage, charges against your doppelganger, you can watch it through the sight of your crossbow with a smile on your face as it swishes its battleaxe through nothingness. Pretty sure this isn’t what Sun Tzu had in mind, but it’s still great for combat. Now on with the specifics:
A mirage-like doppelganger of you appears near your location on the battlefield, thus messing up the enemy’s attack rolls against you with disadvantage.
If you receive damage, your projection will vanish until the start of your next turn.
Keep in mind that if you get incapacitated or restrained from movement in any way, shape or form, your cloak won’t work.
You’ll want to use this:
If you’re wearing light armor or have a low Hit Dice.
If you’re the one tank of the party and no one else heals you.
if the enemy has disadvantage on attack rolls against everybody else but you.
13) Rod of Lordly Might
Image
The closest thing you’ll find to a swiss knife in the multiverse of Dungeons and Dragons would be this flange headed rod. Equally balanced between the categories: weapon and tool, this rod transforms into a variety of blades and other devices at the touch of one of its six buttons making it useful for both combat and dungeon crawling.
Button 1: turns rod into a Flame Tongue, meaning it becomes a sword of fire activated by your Command Word.
Buttons 2 and 3 turns the rod into a magic battleaxe or a 6ft. magic spear and each of them grant a +3 bonus to Attack and Damage rolls.
Button 4: turns rod into an adjustable climbing pole/ladder of 50 feet or less. This sturdy ladder grabs on to surfaces as hard as granite and holds up to 4,000 pounds. More weight than that or fragile surfaces will make the ladder revert to a rod.
Button 5: turns the rod into a battering ram, which gives the wielder a nice +10 bonus on strength checks to crack open those annoying locked doors and barriers.
Button 6: turns rod into a rod...a rod that indicates the magnetic north (unless there isn’t any) and tells you how deep you are beneath the surface or how high you are above it.
On top of all that, this item comes with three other properties you can use once after sunrise. You could:
Drain life by making a target you hit attempt a 17 DC Constitution Saving Throw and, if it fails, it takes 4d6 Necrotic damage as you gain Hit Points equal to half of that amount.
Paralyze for a whole minute a target that you hit if it fails a 17 DC Strentgh Saving Throw.
Terrify every creature you can see within 30 feet for a whole minute if they fail a 17 DC Wisdom Saving Throw imposed by your action.
12) Ring of Regeneration
Image
One ring to heal it all. Put this on your character and theywill pretty much become Wolverine or Deadpool when it comes to restoring Hit Points or regrowing lost body parts. To be specific, as long you have at least 1 Hit Point and you’re attuned to this item, the ring will: Restore 1d6 Hit Points every 10 minutes. Regrow a lost body part, which will become fully functional after 1d6+1 days. So when does this item come into play?
Save up those Hit Dice and let the ring magically restore your Hit Points to the maximum. We’re talking about at least 144 HP in 24 hours.
Need a hand? (bah dum tss), put the ring on the other hand and regrow the missing one in a matter of days.
11) Cape of the Mountebank
Image
Talk about making an entrance or leaving the building with style. The Cape of the Mountebank does exactly that:it lets you and another creature disappear in a cloud of smoke and reappear somewhere else in a range of 500 feet. Pretty sure Gandalf has one of these to conveniently pop up at the right moment. This is how the cape works:
You get one use of the Dimension Door spell every day after sunrise, which means:
You can teleport anywhere within 500 feet with a screen of smoke that lightly obscures your entry and exit points.
Bring along an object and/or a willing creature as long as none of you exceeds your respective carrying capacities.
If you try to teleport to an occupied space, the spell will blow up on your face inflicting 4d6 force damage and you won’t go anywhere.
When to poof in and out of a situation?
If you’re close enough to a village or main city, you could teleport there and run the errand of crafting or buying something the party needs. Maybe getting some information or taking a poisoned teammate to the medic.
This item is perfect for getting out of hot spots. Say a swarm of enemies corners you; just pull a Dumbledore and teleport somewhere else. You will definitely want to stay next to the NPC you are escorting (if any) at all times.
If you’re out on a heist mission, get your hands on the prize and poof! You’re out before you can raise any alarms. Same principle for interrogations, rescue missions and any other situation where you want to avoid guards.
10) Cloak of Invisibility
Image
Rogues and Monks of the Way of the Shadow are in a tug-o-war over the hooded cloak that makes the wearer invisible for two hours and hard to pin during combat. After all, Stealth is the bread and butter of these classes and the Cloak of Invisibility synergizes like clockwork with their features, which enhances their potential a thousandfold. The Cloak of Invisibility is the first of few of those controversial magic items with the potential to spin the campaign out of control. DM’s squirm a little before giving it away because even though it can be used by one player only, the actions of that player could benefit the party as a whole and substantially shorten the campaign by assuring almost unlimited access to rare items and key NPC’s, thus skipping the encounters in between. Here are the details:
Pull on the hood and become invisible for two hours. Without use, it takes the cloak 12 hours to recharge 1 hour of invisibility.
Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks. Disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks made against you.
Use your action to put on your hood and become invisible with a successful DC 12 Wisdom saving throw.
This cloak is perfect for:
Stealing heavily guarded items.
Popping up behind a hateful NPC and putting a dagger to his or her throat to interrogate him, then sneaking out the front door undetected by the army rushing in.
Infiltrating a cellblock or an enemy camp and helping your captive friends à la Bilbo Baggins.
9) Carpet of Flying
Image
Heavily inspired by the ancient oriental tales of King Solomon and the Thousand and One Nights, this magic carpet comes soaring, tumbling, freewheeling its way into our list to show us a whole new world of possibilities. It is useful in and out of combat because of its speed and carrying capacity. As long as it stays within 30 feet of you, this carpet will follow your Command Word allowing you to steer it from afar.The smaller it is, the faster it goes. On the other hand, the bigger it is, the more it can carry. Your DM will have the final say on the size of the carpet either by choosing or by rolling a d100. Here’s the chart in case you’re curious: D100 Size Capacity Flying Speed 01-20 3 ft. x 5 ft 200 lb. 80 feet 21-55 4 ft. x 6 ft. 400 lb. 60 feet 56-80 5 ft. x 7 ft. 600 lb. 40 feet 81-100 6 ft. x 9 ft. 800 lb. 30 feet Also, it can take twice of its carrying capacity by sacrificing half its speed. This item can have as many applications as you can come up with, but here are a few ideas:
If you’re a spellcaster or a ranger of any kind, you can ride it like a surfboard and use both of your hands to gun for the enemy as you float from a safe distance.
If you want to fight up close and personal, approach the target at half your speed, hit, and use the remainder of your speed to fly away. Look out for those opportunity attacks.
Carry ridiculous amounts of loot.
Hover you and your party across trap infested dungeons.
8) Portable Hole
Image
If you like cartoons, you’re going to love this one. Silly as it may seem, this silky piece of cloth of 6 feet in diameter is literally a portal to a cylindrical void10 feet deep in the Astral Plane where you can stash away all your junk regardless of weight and then fold it back into your pocket like a handkerchief. Things to keep in mind about the Portable Hole:
You may throw breathing creatures in there and they will have to succeed on a DC 10 Strength Saving Throw to escape the closed Portable Hole or suffocate after 10 minutes in the Astral Plane.
Definitely don’t throw it in a Bag of Holding or a Handy Haversack. It will turn into some kind of black hole that will destroy anything you stored and suck in any creatures in a radius of 10 feet only to spit them out into the Astral Plane, after which the portal will close forever.
This item is great for:
Looting
Hiding
Trapping enemies
Creating a black hole, if need be
7) Instant Fortress
Image
This item consists of a pocket sized toy until you say the Command Word and it becomes a virtually indestructible watchtower. Not only do you get an awesome shelter, but also a powerful weapon.Wouldn’t it be funny to throw this at your enemies and watch them laugh at it, then send them flying when making the tower grow? That 10d10 of damage to anything near it could surely end a fight quickly, which is why DM’s can be a bit reluctant to give it up, but done right, everyone gets to enjoy it, players and DM alike. Instant Fortress features:
Use an action to say the Command Word and watch this 1-inch hunk of metal become a tower of adamantine.
20 feet on the side, 30 feet high, 2 rooms, with battlements and a door that only opens with your Command Word (bonus action). Knock and Chime of Opening spells don’t do jack to it. Can’t be tipped over either.
Except for siege weapons, it remains impervious to any kind of non-magical weapons and it has resistance against all kinds of damage. All openings have 100 Hit Points each to keep baddies busy while you and your team set up one heck of a counter strike.
Alternatively, use it as a weapon by flicking it at incoming enemies. Any creature who fails a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw gets 10d10 bludgeoning damage or half as much if they succeed.
What’s the catch? It will only shrink down if it has nothing inside and it can only regain 50 Hit Points one Wish spell at a time.
Here you have some ideas to get the most out of this magic item:
Chill out safely inside an impenetrable portable clubhouse during your short and long rests.
Use it (in moderation) as a weapon during combat.
Forget about the welfare of your rangers and spellcasters by giving them the ultimate vantage point.
Use it as a siege weapon by sticking it into a crack on the wall and order it to grow. Boom! No more wall.
6) Staff of the Magi
Image
For this list, we focus on utility for the party and campaign breaking more than we care for damage, but we just couldn’t leave out The Staff of the Magi because of its destructive capabilities. We’re talking about a nuke on a stick. Snap the staff on your knee and the blowback will inflict a tremendous amount of damage to anyone standing within 30 feet of you depending on how charged the staff was. Someone standing 10 feet from you or closer could take 400 of force damage on a fully charged snappening. Downside: you could take 4 times more damage if you miss that 50% chance to jump to another plane of existence for a hot second to escape the explosion and come back. Aside from that, the staff allows you to do a great deal of spells for free. This staff comes with the following benefits:
Spell attack rolls, attack rolls, and damage rolls receive a +2 bonus.
50 charges you can use for some of your favorite spells, namely: Conjure Elementals, Dispel Magic, Fireball, Flaming Sphere, Ice Storm, Invisibility, Knock, Lightning Bolt, Passwall, Plane Shift, Telekinesis, Wall of Fire and Web.
4d6 +2 charges regained every day at sunrise. If you are a gambler at heart, expend all charges and go for a 20 on a d20 for a chance to get 1d12 + 1 charges.
Unlimited uses of Arcane Lock, Detect Magic, Enlarge/Reduce, Light, Mage Hand or Protection from Evil and Good.
How to use this:
Obliterate the enemy on the battlefield with the Charges from your staff and leave your Spell Slots for backup or use them for spells that are more defensive.
Reinforce the front door of your Instant Fortress with Arcane Lock, steal an important scroll with Mage Hand or imbue a fellow adventurer with resolve and other benefits with the spell Protection from Evil and Good. Do all of this without expending a single Charge or Spell Slot.
As the last, last, LAST resort, bend the knee...then snap the staff on it and hope to survive the blast.
5) Helm of Teleportation
Image
Forget about weeks worth of traveling, taking care of mounts, and random encounters. With this helm you, your companions, and mounts can teleport where you need to go. That is, as long as your destination is on the same plane of existence and you’re familiar with it. If you are the DM, get ready because players may break the campaign rushing an adventure, skipping crucial locations, or starting a new one all together in a random location. Either way here is what you need to consider about the helm:
Using the helm gives you 1d3 recharges of the Teleport spell every day at sunrise.
1-8 creatures or an object not bigger than 10ft gets to travel with you to a known location.
Based on your familiarity with the destination, the DM will check the spell chart and roll a d100 to determine whether you went straight to the place or missed it and by how much distance. The better you know the place, the more likely you are to arrive accurately
How to use it:
If you need to deliver something or someone to complete the quest, this would save you the hassle of having to travel all the way back.
Before entering a dungeon you could go to any of the main cities for a short or long rest, get supplies, weapons or armor and then teleport back to the main entrance of the dungeon.
If you grab an object associated to the battlefield, you could go crazy and teleport with a charmed creature to the sky and then teleport mid-air back to the battlefield as the creature falls and dies of bludgeoning damage when it plummets to the ground.
4) Amulet of the Planes
Image
Same principle as the Helm of Teleportation only now you get to travel to other planes of existence and you’re not restricted to a number of charges, so you may very well travel to another plane of existence then teleport back to your plane of origin, but in a different location. Why is this item so cool? Unlimited teleporting, skipping encounters and even banishing the big mean boss to another plane of existence. Maybe at your DM’s discretion start a new campaign somewhere else. This is how the amulet works: Clearly state your destination on another plane of existence and succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence check to use the Plane Shift spell. Fail and there’s a 60% chance of dragging everyone and everything within 15ft. of you to a different location on the plane that you named. Alternatively, your entire party may wind up in a random plane of existence. With this unlimited amount of jumps in and out planes of existence, you have access to endless possibilities, like:
Escaping from anything and anyone.
Going anywhere whenever you want.
Banishing foes by hitting them so hard with a melee spell attack that you send them to a completely different plane of existence.
3) Efreeti Bottle
Image
Quick reminder: Efreeti is just a fancy word for a genie from the Elemental Plane of Fire. Once you set oneloose, they show up in a cloud of thick smoke and maybe grant you three wishes or stick around to help you. There’s only one huge detail that should concern you: Efreetis could easily kill the party on a bad roll of the dice. Even with that considered, this item is still one of the best magic items you can get because you either have a hilariously overpowered entity at your service for an hour or three uses of the Wish spell. Three game-changing possibilities, like defeating the last boss without even fighting or healing the whole party up to their Max HP. It’s all in the wording. That’s the main feature of the genie, the Wish spell, but let’s focus on the actual Efreeti for a moment: Open the bottle and an Efreeti will materialize within 30 feet of you by the end of your turn. At this point, it’s up to your DM and his d100.
01-10 - The Efreeti will fight you for 5 rounds before disappearing. The genie has two devastating Multiattack options: Scimitar and Hurl Flame.
11 - 90 - The Efreeti will obey your commands for an hour and go back to the bottle, which will not open for another 24 hours. You get three shots at this and by the fourth time you open the bottle, the Efreeti will escape.
91-100 - The Efreeti grants you three wishes. You do not have to use them all up at once. You can make a wish and the Efreeti will disappear after an hour. It will go away after the last wish.
Possible Uses:
Have the Efretti cast Plane Shift to give you a ride to the plane of existence of your choice or get you out of a troublesome one.
Unleash the Efreeti’s fury upon an enemy to shave off a few targets or soften up the big boss for you.
If you do get the three wishes, you could ask for an object no bigger than 300ft. and worth a maximum 25,000gp.
Ask the Efreeti to restore all hit points or end all effects on twenty creatures that you can see.
Ask the Efreeti for anything else in its description or in the Wish spell description.
2) Luck Blade
Image
Any magic item that lets you make wishes becomes a game-changer. The Luck Blade is unique among them because it is the only one that is still useful after making the last wish. Bonuses on rolls, the ability to avoid critical failures without any actions required and make wishes without upsetting a murderous genie is all so perfect, it’s almost unfair.Then why is this magic item not the #1 on our list? Because it’s a bit of gamble and it has restrictions. This sword comes with a 1d4 – 1 wishes, meaning you could get one, two or three wishes when other items give you three of those up front. It’s not like you can expend them all at once either; you must wait until next sunrise to make another wish and the same applies to its Luck feature. The Lucky feat alone is way more flexible than that. It also requires attunement. Still, an awesome item all around.
This item will give you:
+1 bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls and saving throws.
Ability to reroll attack rolls, ability checks or saving throws once every day.
The sword comes with up to three wishes. You can expend one wish per day.
Possible Uses:
Big bad lich draining the life out of your party? Wish immunity for you and your companions for the next 8 hours.
Inconvenient critical hit against one of your friends? Undo it by making the bad guy reroll with disadvantage.
Maybe grant resistance to up to ten creatures on sight against a specific type of damage.
Ask for anything else in the Wish spell description
1) Ring of Three Wishes
Image
Self-explanatory, ain’t it? A nice piece of jewelry with the power to grant you three charges of the Wish spell.
Sure, it’s not a +1 weapon loaded with bonuses (looking at you, Luck Blade), but what makes this item so special is that, unlike the Luck Blade, this ring requires no attunement and you may expend your wishes whenever you want. No time restrictions.
Keep in mind it takes a level 18 wizard to pull-off such a magic stunt and the toll on the character is no joke. Strength drops to 3 for at least two days, during which the character can’t do much and there’s also the possibility of never being able to cast Wish again.
Therefore, to be able to cast Wish three times without recharging, taking damage or being a wizard places the Ring of Three Wishes as the #1 Magic Item in our list.
3 Charges to cast the Wish Spell 1 action, 1 spell Ring loses all magic after the last wish. Wish for something outrageous way beyond the description of the spell, but be careful with the wording or the DM will use it against you.
Wish for an infinite supply of Rings of Three Wishes and you might wind up with a self-recharging ring (unlikely) or all of earth covered with empty ones...or worse yet, functional rings in the hands of everyone, including villains.
Wish for a million trading ships, and you could become the richest merchant ever or end up with a million ships with your name on it...deep underwater in a different plane of existence.
Reviving someone, invincibility, immortality, wishing the fight to end and the villain to be defeated, etc. Those are all options, but the bigger the wish, the more precise it should be or it could blow up on your face.
