Wizards are arguably the strongest class in Dungeons & Dragons 5E. They come with insane magic, great ways to restore spell slots, and DCs that climb high into the sky. However, in order for your Wizard to reach its maximum potential, it’ll need a bit of help. The Dungeon Master’s Guide has you covered, thankfully! These are the Best Magic Items for Wizards 5E Guide that are allowed for every campaign that you come across.
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What Are The Best Magic Items for Wizards in 5E?
Thanks to the Wizard’s impressive magical resources, your magical items will be doing three things; improving your magic, giving you more magic, and making sure you don’t die. Thankfully, Wizards in 5E are actually shockingly good at getting easy access to all three of these types of magical items. These are some late and mid-game items that you can (and should) get your hands on.
Combat Magic Items
Bracers of Defense
There are few tropes in D&D that are as popular as wizards being squishy. Unlike martial options like the paladin class, wizards lack hit points and generally have a much lower armor class. Despite this reality, there are a few magical items that could vastly increase a wizard’s survivability. One of these is the bracers of defense. Wearing these bracers gives you +2 to your armor class so long as you are not wearing any armor. Sounds perfect for a wizard, right?
Elven Chain
Elven Chain is unique. While it is medium armor, it does not require any proficiency to use. That makes it a very good mid-game item! You can completely ignore Mage Armor from now on; you just have 14 + up to 2 AC from this armor. If you like Mage Armor and have nothing else to spend Level 1 spells on, Bracers of Defense can work just fine. And you’ll want those bracers, just in case you get a really cool and awesome robe…
Robe of the Archmagi
This is your end-game armor, and it does so much. Just to start, it gives you 15 AC to work with, with no Dexterity cap. That’s a crazy base armor, and you can improve it to 17 with Bracers of Defense! On a Wizard! But, that’s not all. This robe also gets anti-magic; advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects. Finally, you get a +2 to your Spell DCs; the only way to boost your DCs magically in the generally accepted DMG. Extremely strong, even if you do get Tasha’s content. This is one of the items that can really increase survivability for a wizard.
Rod of Absorption
The rod of absorption is another cool option that is tailor made for wizards. it lets you use your reaction to target a spell that is targeting you and absorb that spell into your wand. Its worth noting you must be targeted specifically, not in the way of an AoE effect. Each absorbed spell becomes a charge in the wand. You can then use each charge to cast spells. the rod holds up to 50 charges, and each charge can be expended as a spell level. For example, casting a fifth level spell would use up 5 charges. This item is great because it expands your already potent casting ability.
Staff of the Magi
The Staff of the Magi is a generally powerful weapon for your end-game shenanigans. With a +2 to Spell Attack rolls, it seems a little weak. But, it can nullify magic if it has missing charges and if the magic only targets you. What an insane reaction! Then, you can spend those charges on a wide variety of damaging or utility spells. If that wasn’t enough… You can even nuke your enemies. Though, that last part is more of a suicide bomb. Be careful!
Wand of Fireballs
If there is one offensive spell associated with wizards, it has to be fireball. This spell is a lot of fun, deals plenty of damage, and can wreck multiple enemies with the area of effect spell. Given how great the spell is, why not add a wand that lets you cast it a bunch without expending any spell slots. You get seven charges max with the wand, and you need three charges to cast it once. That means you can cast fireball up to twice a day most days. Or, you could use all the charges to cast it at a higher level.
Wand of the War Mage
This wand just gives a small buff to your attack rolls. Best for Cantrips, but by no means bad for your spells! Attacks like Scorching Ray or Disintegrate very much appreciate this bonus! If your DM is implementing Tasha’s content, then replace this with an enchanted Arcane Grimoire.
Weapon of Warning
In the worst case scenario, putting your hands on a Weapon of Warning isn’t going to be the worst thing in the world. A Wizard going early in a combat encounter is crucial, and can easily swing the whole encounter into your favor. So, if your only option is a magical weapon that you’re not even proficient with that gives you 2d20s to throw at the issue… That seems like a pretty alright last resort!
Winged Boots
For a Wizard, Winged Boots are definitely a “if I must” pick. Wizards have easy access to Fly and have plenty of options to otherwise move around a battlefield. However, these boots save spell slots and keep you safe from melee attackers. It’s perfectly reasonable to use these for Flying’s benefits until you have so many spells, you just have to cast Fly.
Other Magic Items
Arcane Grimoire
The arcane grimoire – found in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything – is tailor-made for a wizard. In fact, only wizards can attune to it! This makes sense, as one of the benefits is that it lets you boost your arcane recovery be an additional spell slot. More importantly, this grimoire can serve as your spellbook and comes with other bonuses based on its rarity. Specifically, you get a bonus to your spell attack and spell saving throw DC based on the rarity of the book. These bonuses are as follows:
- Uncommon: +1
- Rare: +2
- Very Rare: +3
Cloak of Displacement
Many think of a cloak of displacement as a magical item for martial classes. However, this object provides incredible survivability without negatively impacting a wizard’s ability to cast spells. This is by far one of my favorite items in the game. Wearing it creates an illusion of yourself near your actual location. Enemies that try to attack you must do so with disadvantage, as they cannot identify where you actually are in relation to the illusion. It is much easier to avoid damage when wrapped in one of these.
Cloak of Invisibility
Permanent invisibility? On a Wizard? That’s too good of a reference to pass up on! Not only can you join the Wonderful Wizarding World, but this invisibility is cheap! If your enemies don’t have the ability to see through it, you just get to cast spells with permanent disadvantage on attacks against you. And, with clever use of magic, you might be impossible to track down! Great, fantastic magic item to keep you safe.
Mastery Ioun Stone
Very simple, here. The Mastery Ioun Stone boosts your DC by 1. With the Robe of the Archmagi, Arcane Grimoire, and this, your DCs jump up by 6. 6! That’s an insane boost, and makes your magic nearly impossible to resist. If you just need to decimate your enemies (and your DM’s will to deal with magic), this stone is useful.
Ring of Spell Storing
Wizards have a lot of spells to work with. You get your normal spell list, and then Arcane Recovery just to get you a few more. The Ring of Spell Storing gets you 5 more levels of magic to play with. That can be important for long dungeons where Arcane Restoration just isn’t enough. The Ring should be stored with whatever you cast on a day-to-day basis, like important spells or good emergency options.
Tome of Clear Thought
You get the Intelligence tome. That’s just final. The Artificer can say that their Intelligence affects more than you, but… That’s just not true. It’s so important for you to get your DCs up, and your Intelligence still improves your School skills. While an Artificer certainly has reason to get this item, you definitely hold dominion over it as a Wizard.
Conclusion – Best Magic Items for Wizard 5E
The Wizard is basically hoping to turn into an utter killing machine with their magical items. Utility is important for them, but it’s not critical. And you can get some defensive items, but you are really wanting the juicy stuff that helps you crush enemies with magic. So, make sure to prioritize a healthy mix of items that keep you alive and keep your enemies dead.
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